Abstract: In a three-wavelength-compliant optical disk apparatus, the present invention enables to shorten time required for starting the apparatus such as discrimination of an optical disk and adjustment of a beam-expander. At the time of starting the apparatus, the operation of a tray driver which pulls a loaded optical disk within the apparatus is conducted in parallel with the operation of a beam-expander driver which allows a movable lens of the beam-expander to move to a predetermined position in accordance with the kind of optical disk. Further, at the time of discriminating the disk, the number of times an optical disk of a specific kind has continuously been loaded into the apparatus to date is stored in a memory, and a sequence of discriminating the kind of optical disk that is newly discriminated is switched by referring to the history information.

Abstract: In a focus controlling method of a laser beam for an optical disk, achieving a stable focus drawing-in, lowering ill influences due to stray lights, detecting an electric signal, which is obtainable upon basis of a reflection light from the optical disk loaded, in advance, while executing a focus sweep operation of gradually approaching the laser to a recoding surface of the optical disk, at an unnecessary light detection gain being higher than a gain of normal operation, thereby counting a number of signals generated due to unnecessary lights; and thereafter, detecting the electric signal, which is obtainable upon basis of the reflection light from the optical disk loaded, and thereby conducting a focus drawing-in, by considering an electric signal, which is generated just after a number detected thereof reaches to the counted number of signals generated due to the unnecessary lights, to be a signal reflected from the recording surface of the optical disk loaded.

Abstract: A molten metal supplying system comprising a container having a main body capable of being hermetically sealed and having a passage through which compressed gas is received, a pipe having an outlet supplying molten metal in the container to the outside, the outlet downwardly extending, a reception dish receiving the molten metal capable of being placed below the pipe outlet, a holding member having a fulcrum to the pipe rotatably holding the reception dish, a wire with a first and second end, the first end connected to the reception dish or holding member, a pair of channel members at the outer bottom of the container main body, and a vehicle having a fork that can be inserted and removed from the channel members, a carriage on which the fork is mounted, a lift mechanism for lifting up and down the carriage, and a wire pull and return mechanism mounted on the carriage pulling and returning the wire with it's second end.

Abstract: The object of the present invention is to provide a system that immediately after the supply of the molten metal is stopped, the molten metal that resides in the pipe can be prevented from dripping from the pipe.

Abstract: This invention provides an optical disc device and method for discriminating between DVD and HD-DVD more rapidly. After an optical pickup has been stopped above a data region on the optical disc, a tracking error signal generator acquires amplitude “Vdpp” based on a DPP method and amplitude “Vdpd” based on a DPD method as tracking error signals. A disc discriminator discriminates the kind of optical disc by comparing the acquired “Vdpp” and “Vdpd” data with a threshold level “Vth”. Alternatively, the optical pickup is stopped above the data region and a system lead-in region on the optical disc, and then amplitude values “Vdata” and “Vlead” of tracking error signals are acquired and compared.

Abstract: In a focus controlling method of a laser beam for an optical disk, achieving a stable focus drawing-in, lowering ill influences due to stray lights, detecting an electric signal, which is obtainable upon basis of a reflection light from the optical disk loaded, in advance, while executing a focus sweep operation of gradually approaching the laser to a recoding surface of the optical disk, at an unnecessary light detection gain being higher than a gain of normal operation, thereby counting a number of signals generated due to unnecessary lights; and thereafter, detecting the electric signal, which is obtainable upon basis of the reflection light from the optical disk loaded, and thereby conducting a focus drawing-in, by considering an electric signal, which is generated just after a number detected thereof reaches to the counted number of signals generated due to the unnecessary lights, to be a signal reflected from the recording surface of the optical disk loaded.

Abstract: In a three-wavelength-compliant optical disk apparatus, the present invention enables to shorten time required for starting the apparatus such as discrimination of an optical disk and adjustment of a beam-expander. At the time of starting the apparatus, the operation of a tray driver which pulls a loaded optical disk within the apparatus is conducted in parallel with the operation of a beam-expander driver which allows a movable lens of the beam-expander to move to a predetermined position in accordance with the kind of optical disk. Further, at the time of discriminating the disk, the number of times an optical disk of a specific kind has continuously been loaded into the apparatus to date is stored in a memory, and a sequence of discriminating the kind of optical disk that is newly discriminated is switched by referring to the history information.

Abstract: Within an optical disk recording/reproducing apparatus, in which a beam spot is irradiated upon an optical disk loaded therein, to obtain a reflection light obtainable therewith, and thereby conducting recording or reproducing of information upon an information recording surface of the optical disk, a microcomputer (?-computer) 9 for controlling the operation of the apparatus executes a predetermined process by considering the optical disk loaded into the apparatus to be an optical disk, which is loaded previously, executes a retry process when determined that the optical disk loaded into the apparatus is not the optical disk loaded into the apparatus previously, as a result of the process mentioned above, executes a process for recognizing kind of the optical disk inserted, and memorizes information of the kind of the optical disk inserted into said apparatus, which is obtained in the recognizing process mentioned above, thereby shortening the startup time of the apparatus, as a whole thereof.

Abstract: Within an optical disk apparatus for recording or reproducing information onto/from an optical disk 1, by irradiating one three (3) laser beams upon information recording surface RS thereof, each having wavelength different from each other, selectively, through a 3-wavelengths compatible objective lens 31, according to a method for discriminating a kind of optical disk loaded therein, focus sweep is conducted upon the optical disk loaded, in a descending order of distance between the position of the objective lens when it focus the laser beam upon the information recording surface and the disk surface DS, so as to detect a time between the disk surface DS and the information recording surface RS on the optical disk, from a reflection light obtained, and thereby discriminating the kind of the optical disk upon basis of the time between the reflections detected in the above.

Abstract: A semiconductor device has a first insulating film deposited over a semiconductor substrate, an interconnect opening portion formed in the first insulating film, an interconnect disposed in the interconnect opening portion, and a second insulating film formed over the first insulating film and the interconnect. The interconnect has a first conductor film, a second conductor film formed via the first conductor film and comprised of one of titanium silicon nitride, tantalum silicon nitride, tantalum nitride and titanium nitride, a third conductor film formed via the first and second conductor films and comprised of a material having good adhesion with copper; and a fourth conductor film formed via the first, second and third conductor conductor film having a copper as a main component. Thus, it is possible to improve adhesion between a conductor film composed mainly of copper and another conductor film having a copper-diffusion barrier function in the interconnect.

Abstract: Provided is a semiconductor device comprising a first insulating film deposited over a semiconductor substrate, an interconnect opening portion formed in the first insulating film, an interconnect disposed in the interconnect opening portion, and a second insulating film formed over the first insulating film and the interconnect, said interconnect having a first conductor film, a second conductor film formed via the first conductor film by chemical vapor deposition or ALS and comprised of any one of titanium silicon nitride, tantalum silicon nitride, tantalum nitride and titanium nitride, a third conductor film formed via the first and second conductor films and comprised of a material having good adhesion with copper; and a fourth conductor film formed via the first, second and third conductor films and having copper as a main component.

Abstract: In a sense amplifier including an amplifier circuit for amplifying a difference in potential between data lines, an amplifier circuit activating circuit for receiving a sense start signal to activate the amplifier circuit and receiving a sense end signal to deactivate said amplifier circuit, a first sense detecting circuit for determining whether or not the amplifier circuit is activated in accordance with a first output voltage thereof and generating a first sense detection signal, a second sense detecting circuit for determining whether or not the amplifier circuit is activated in accordance with a second output voltage thereof and generating a second sense detection signal, and a sense end signal generating circuit for receiving at least one of the first and second sense detection signals and generating the sense end signal when a predetermined time has passed after at least one of the first and second sense detection signals is received, a masking circuit is connected between the first and second sense de

Abstract: A sheet holder removably attached to a hopper of a image reading apparatus. The sheet holder has a front bottom wall, a rear top wall, and an intermediate wall connecting the front bottom wall to the rear top wall. The front bottom wall provides a sheet placing area onto which small and thick sheets like business cards are placed and a holding member holds the sheets on the sheet placing area. A pick roller of the image reading apparatus can contact the sheet on the sheet placing area when the sheet holder is attached to the apparatus. The apparatus has a box-shaped a casing having a drawable hopper table providing a hopper for placing normal thin sheets thereon.

Abstract: A superconducting magnet abnormality detection and protection apparatus is for early and surely detecting abnormality in superconducting coils mounted on a vehicle and protecting the superconducting coils. Magnetic flux detecting devices are mounted inside an outer vessel, which is a vacuum container of a superconducting magnet, so as to be opposite to the superconducting coil. Voltages induced in the magnetic flux detecting devices are detected. Voltage signals are led to a decision device. By monitoring the change of the voltage signals with time in a comparing judgment device, it is determined whether there is an abnormality. If there is an abnormality, an alarm indicator informs of an abnormal state, and a protection device takes protection measures such as interruption of the current of the superconducting magnet. Owing to such configuration, heat does not penetrate from the outside into the superconducting coil via instrumentation lead wires of the magnetic flux detecting devices.

Abstract: A levitation system of a magnetically levitated train is provided wherein superconducting magnets are installed in a car body, and the first layer and the second layer of levitation coils are so arranged as to be in a shifted location relative to each other in the moving direction of the train. By making the levitation coils two layers and by arranging the two layers in the shifted location relative to each other in the moving direction, amplitude of higher harmonic waves is reduced to a very small level, substantially to zero.

Abstract: Disclosed is a bar or conductor constituted by a plurality of strands disposed in a slot and extending outward from the opposite ends of the slot with each of the strands being substantially bisymmetrically vertically slanted so as to be transposed in the vicinity of a longitudinally central portion of the slot-inside bar portion. Each of the strands being transposed such that the respective strand arrangements at the opposite ends of the slot-outside bar end portions are reversed with respect to each other, with the total number of transposed portions of all the strands is less than three times the number of the strands.

Abstract: A method of relieving residual stress in a metal pipe comprises the steps of applying, by using a pressure medium, a low pressure to an interior of the metal pipe placed in dies, and applying, while preventing the buckling, an axial compression load to the pipe so as to effect a uniform plastic deformation of the entire metal pipe while maintaining the desired shape of the pipe, thereby relieving the residual stress in the metal pipe.

Abstract: An apparatus for connecting conductor strands with transposition in an electrical rotary machine is disclosed to include a plurality of electrically conductive connector rods respectively connected to ends of the individual strands of each conductor, and a plurality of electrically conductive plates arrayed in the axial direction of the conductive connector rods and adapted to mutually connect respective pairs of strands of the multiple strand conductors through the corresponding conductive rods while electrically insulating one strand pair from other strand pairs.

Abstract: A plurality of discrete length paper recirculation paths are connectable in series in accordance with the detected length of an original document, so that the shortest possible recirculation path length is selected to maximize copying speed.