Abstract: A diagnosis device is intended for an internal combustion engine including a supercharger, a blow-by gas passage that communicates between a portion of an intake passage and a crankcase, a PCV pressure sensor that detects a PCV pressure in the blow-by gas passage, and a crankshaft. The device executes specifying a specific period for which the amount of fluctuations in the intake air amount per unit time is a prescribed value or more on condition that the intake air amount is a determination air amount or more, calculating the amount of fluctuations in the PCV pressure during the specific period, and determining, based on the amount of fluctuations in the PCV pressure, the presence of an abnormality in the blow-by gas passage. The device sets the determination air amount to a smaller value when the rotational speed of the crankshaft is high than when the rotational speed is low.

Abstract: Provided is a wire rod for an I-type oil ring, which includes right and left rail portions and a web portion connecting the rail portions, which has an oil hole or a molten through hole formed in the web portion, and which has a circumscribing circle diameter of 10 mm or less in its transverse contour. The molten through hole has such a remolten portion formed on its exit side as encloses the exit of the molten through hole. The remolten portion exceeds such a molten portion in the transverse section along the center of the molten through hole as is formed in the molten through hole, and is formed to have 200 ?m or less from the outer circumference of the molten through hole and 100 ?m or less in the depth direction of the molten through hole.

Abstract: Provided is a wire rod for an I-type oil ring, which includes right and left rail portions and a web portion connecting the rail portions, which has an oil hole or a molten through hole formed in the web portion, and which has a circumscribing circle diameter of 10 mm or less in its transverse contour. The molten through hole has such a remolten portion formed on its exit side as encloses the exit of the molten through hole. The remolten portion exceeds such a molten portion in the transverse section along the center of the molten through hole as is formed in the molten through hole, and is formed to have 200 ?m or less from the outer circumference of the molten through hole and 100 ?m or less in the depth direction of the molten through hole.

Abstract: Provided is a wire rod for an I-type oil ring, which includes right and left rail portions and a web portion connecting the rail portions, which has an oil hole or a molten through hole formed in the web portion, and which has a circumscribing circle diameter of 10 mm or less in its transverse contour. The molten through hole has such a remolten portion formed on its exit side as encloses the exit of the molten through hole. The remolten portion exceeds such a molten portion in the transverse section along the center of the molten through hole as is formed in the molten through hole, and is formed to have 200 ?m or less from the outer circumference of the molten through hole and 100 ?m or less in the depth direction of the molten through hole.

Abstract: A toner is provided including toner particles A having a circularity of greater than 0.93 and not greater than 1.00 and toner particles B having a circularity of from 0.85 to 0.93, wherein the following relationships are satisfied: 70?RA?95, 5?RB?30, 0.014?SD?0.025, and 0.940?ED?0.950, wherein RA (% by number) represents a ratio of a number of the toner particles A to a total number of toner particles included in the toner, RB (% by number) represents a ratio of a number of the toner particles B to the total number of toner particles included in the toner, SD represents a standard deviation of circularity of the toner particles A, and ED represents an average envelope degree of the toner particles B.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus including: image bearing member; latent image forming unit; developing unit; transfer unit; fixing unit, wherein toner in the developing unit contains amorphous polymer, crystalline resin and releasing agent, when the toner is measured for G? at 40° C. to 210° C. with rheometer at 1 Hz and 1 deg, G?(100) is ?20,000 and G?(150) is ?500 Pa, and straight line drawn by connecting points of the G?(100) and G?(110) on curve of the G? has gradient of ?0.035, the gradient being “a” expressed by: a=|log10G?(100)?log10G?(110)|/10, and the fixing unit includes: heating member containing flexible endless belt; heat source fixed within the flexible endless belt; and press member in contact with the belt to form nip portion, and the fixing unit is configured to heat/press the medium passing through the nip portion to fix the image on the medium.

Abstract: To provide a toner, which contains: toner base particles each containing a binder resin and a colorant; and an external additive containing inorganic particles and fatty acid metal salt particles, wherein the inorganic particles contain at least hydrophobic silica particles, wherein a liberation ratio Ya of the hydrophobic silica particles from the toner is 1% by mass to 20% by mass, and wherein a libration ratio Yb of the fatty acid metal salt particles from the toner is 30% by mass to 90% by mass.

Abstract: A toner containing toner particles, each toner particle containing: a releasing agent; a colorant; and a binder resin containing at least a crystalline polyester resin and a non-crystalline polyester resin, wherein in the case where a volume average particle diameter of the toner is defined as Dv, the toner contains a group of the toner particles having 4/5 Dv, and a group of the toner particles having 6/5 Dv, and wherein an endothermic value A of the crystalline polyester resin at a first temperature increase in DSC of the toner, an endothermic value B of the crystalline polyester resin at a first temperature increase in DSC of the group of the toner particle having 4/5 Dv, and an endothermic value C of the crystalline polyester resin at a first temperature increase in DSC of the group of the toner particles having 6/5 Dv satisfy the relation represented by the following formulas: 50<(B/A)×100<90, and 110<(C/A)×100<150.

Abstract: A connector includes an insulator, into which a thin plate-like object is removably insertable, including contact insertion grooves and partition walls positioned therebetween and contacts inserted into the contact insertion grooves, each of the contacts including first and second contact portions spaced from each other to allow the thin plate-like object to be inserted therebetween, and including a connecting portion connecting the first and second contact portions. At least one of the first and second contact portions contacts the thin plate-like object when inserted into the insulator. A hollow portion having a greater width than the contact insertion grooves is formed in each partition wall to superimpose part of each contact as viewed in a contact arranging direction, and the partition walls prevent each hollow portion from being communicatively connected with the contact insertion grooves.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus including: image bearing member; latent image forming unit; developing unit; transfer unit; fixing unit, wherein toner in the developing unit contains amorphous polymer, crystalline resin and releasing agent, when the toner is measured for G? at 40° C. to 210° C. with rheometer at 1 Hz and 1 deg, G?(100) is ?20,000 and G?(150) is ?500 Pa, and straight line drawn by connecting points of the G?(100) and G?(110) on curve of the G? has gradient of ?0.035, the gradient being “a” expressed by: a=|log10 G?(100)?log10 G?(110)|/10, and the fixing unit includes: heating member containing flexible endless belt; heat source fixed within the flexible endless belt; and press member in contact with the belt to form nip portion, and the fixing unit is configured to heat/press the medium passing through the nip portion to fix the image on the medium.

Abstract: To provide a toner, which contains: toner base particles each containing a binder resin and a colorant; and an external additive containing inorganic particles and fatty acid metal salt particles, wherein the inorganic particles contain at least hydrophobic silica particles, wherein a liberation ratio Ya of the hydrophobic silica particles from the toner is 1% by mass to 20% by mass, and wherein a libration ratio Yb of the fatty acid metal salt particles from the toner is 30% by mass to 90% by mass.

Abstract: A toner containing: a non-crystalline polyester resin; a crystalline polyester resin; a releasing agent; a graft-modified polymer; and a colorant, wherein the graft-modified polymer is a polymer having a glass transition temperature of higher than 40° C. but lower than 80° C., and obtained by grafting an acrylic resin onto at least one of a hydrocarbon wax and a crystalline polyester resin, and wherein a SP value of the non-crystalline polyester resin is defined as SP1, a SP value of the crystalline polyester resin is defined as SP2, a SP value of the releasing agent is defined as SP3, and a SP value of the graft-modified polymer is defined as SP4, and SP1, SP2, SP3 and SP4 satisfy relations represented by Formulas (1) to (3): SP1 > SP4 > SP2 >SP3 Formula (1), 0.1 < SP1 ? SP4 < 1.0 Formula (2), and 0.1 < SP4 ? SP2 < 1.0 Formula (3).

Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing toner is provided which includes a pulverizer for pulverizing a material into particles, a classifier for classifying the particles by size, a discharging path for discharging the particles from the pulverizer to the classifier, a returning path for returning relatively coarse particles among the classified particles from the classifier to the pulverizer, and a handling unit for handling particles. A method for manufacturing toner is also provided which includes pulverizing a material into particles in a pulverizer, discharging the particles from the pulverizer to a classifier via a discharging path, classifying the particles by size in the classifier, and returning relatively coarse particles among the classified particles from the classifier to the pulverizer. The handling unit is provided on at least one of the discharging path and the returning path, and includes a mechanism for preventing accumulation of the particles using airflow.

Abstract: A toner is provided including toner particles A having a circularity of greater than 0.93 and not greater than 1.00 and toner particles B having a circularity of from 0.85 to 0.93, wherein the following relationships are satisfied: 70?RA?95, 5?RB?30, 0.014?SD?0.025, and 0.940?ED?0.950, wherein RA (% by number) represents a ratio of a number of the toner particles A to a total number of toner particles included in the toner, RB (% by number) represents a ratio of a number of the toner particles B to the total number of toner particles included in the toner, SD represents a standard deviation of circularity of the toner particles A, and ED represents an average envelope degree of the toner particles B.

Abstract: A connector includes an insulator, into which a thin plate-like object is removably insertable, including contact insertion grooves and partition walls positioned therebetween and contacts inserted into the contact insertion grooves, each of the contacts including first and second contact portions spaced from each other to allow the thin plate-like object to be inserted therebetween, and including a connecting portion connecting the first and second contact portions. At least one of the first and second contact portions contacts the thin plate-like object when inserted into the insulator. A hollow portion having a greater width than the contact insertion grooves is formed in each partition wall to superimpose part of each contact as viewed in a contact arranging direction, and the partition walls prevent each hollow portion from being communicatively connected with the contact insertion grooves.

Abstract: To provide a toner, which contains a binder resin containing a crystalline resin and a non-crystalline resin, a colorant, and a releasing agent, wherein the toner has ½ flow onset temperature T½ of 120° C. to 135° C., and wherein a peak intensity ratio of an intensity of a peak derived from the crystalline resin and the releasing agent to an intensity of a peak derived from the binder resin as measured in FTIR-ATR is 0.10 to 0.20.

Abstract: A connector includes an insulator having an accommodation space into which an object to be connected to the connector is removably insertable, the object being a thin plate having a pair of engaging recesses at opposite side edges thereof; at least one contact fixed to the insulator, the object being connected to the contact upon insertion into the accommodation space; and a pair of resilient engaging protrusions, each having an engaging portion, which are resiliently deformable away from each other in a plane in which the object lies, the engaging portions being respectively engaged in the pair of engaging recesses of the inserted object. A distance between the engaging portions of the pair of resilient engaging protrusions in a free state is smaller than a width of an insertion end of the object which is to be inserted into the accommodation space.

Abstract: A toner containing toner particles, each toner particle containing: a releasing agent; a colorant; and a binder resin containing at least a crystalline polyester resin and a non-crystalline polyester resin, wherein in the case where a volume average particle diameter of the toner is defined as Dv, the toner contains a group of the toner particles having 4/5Dv, and a group of the toner particles having 6/5Dv, and wherein an endothermic value A of the crystalline polyester resin at a first temperature increase in DSC of the toner, an endothermic value B of the crystalline polyester resin at a first temperature increase in DSC of the group of the toner particle having 4/5Dv, and an endothermic value C of the crystalline polyester resin at a first temperature increase in DSC of the group of the toner particles having 6/5Dv satisfy the relation represented by the following formulas: 50<(B/A)×100<90, and 110<(C/A)×100<150.

Abstract: To provide a toner, containing: a crystalline polyester resin; and a non-crystalline polyester resin, wherein the crystalline polyester resin has a melting point of 60° C. to 80° C., and wherein the toner satisfies the relationship represented by the following formula: (W1?W1?)/W1<0.50, where W1 is a temperature width at a 1/3 height of a height of an endothermic peak of the crystalline polyester resin at the time of an initial temperature elevation on a DSC curve of the toner as measured by differential scanning calorimetry, and W1? is a temperature width at a 1/3 height of a height of an endothermic peak of the crystalline polyester resin after the toner has been heated at 50° C. for 24 hours.

Abstract: A toner containing: a non-crystalline polyester resin; a crystalline polyester resin; a releasing agent; a graft-modified polymer; and a colorant, wherein the graft-modified polymer is a polymer having a glass transition temperature of higher than 40° C. but lower than 80° C., and obtained by grafting an acrylic resin onto at least one of a hydrocarbon wax and a crystalline polyester resin, and wherein a SP value of the non-crystalline polyester resin is defined as SP1, a SP value of the crystalline polyester resin is defined as SP2, a SP value of the releasing agent is defined as SP3, and a SP value of the graft-modified polymer is defined as SP4, and SP1, SP2, SP3 and SP4 satisfy relations represented by Formulas (1) to (3): SP1>SP4>SP2>SP3??Formula (1), 0.1<SP1?SP4<1.0??Formula (2), and 0.1<SP4?SP2<1.0??Formula (3).