Abstract: An oxide body formed of one or more of ferroelectric materials and antiferroelectric materials which exhibit asymmetric double hysteresis in a bipolar polarization-electric field characteristic obtained under a condition that the maximum value of an electric field applied to the oxide body and the magnitude of the minimum value of the electric field are equal (i.e., Emax=|Emin|), where the curve indicating the bipolar polarization-electric field characteristic has at least five points of inflection, and the maximum value of polarization of the oxide body and the magnitude of the minimum value of the polarization are different (i.e., Pmax?|Pmin|).

Abstract: A piezoelectric device constituted by a piezoelectric body and electrodes. The piezoelectric body is a monocrystalline piezoelectric film formed, above a substrate, of an inorganic crystalline compound containing a first ferroelectric crystal when no electric field is applied to the piezoelectric film, and having a characteristic that phase transition of at least a portion of the first ferroelectric crystal to a second ferroelectric crystal occurs when the electric field strength applied to the piezoelectric film is at or above a predetermined level E1, the first and second ferroelectric crystals correspond to different crystal systems, and the piezoelectric device is driven under a condition that the minimum strength Emin, the maximum strength Emax, and the predetermined level E1 of the applied electric field satisfy the inequalities, Emin<E1<Emax.

Abstract: A piezoelectric body contains a ferroelectric substance phase having characteristics such that, in cases where an applied electric field is increased from the time free from electric field application, phase transition of the ferroelectric substance phase to a ferroelectric substance phase of a different crystal system occurs at least two times. The piezoelectric body should preferably be actuated under conditions such that a minimum applied electric field Emin and a maximum applied electric field Emax satisfy Formula (1): Emin<E1<Emax ??(1) wherein the electric field E1 represents the electric field at which the first phase transition of the ferroelectric substance phase begins.

Abstract: In an automatic player piano, hammer sensors monitor associated hammers so as to report current positions on the hammer trajectories, and a data processor analyzes the hammer motion for producing pieces of music data representative of the performance on the acoustic piano; the aged deterioration is influential in the relative position between the hammers and the hammer sensors so that the data processor rectifies the relative position, the data processor determines the turning point at which the hammer changes the direction of motion, and compares the current value indicating the turning point with the previous value; if the difference is found, the data processor adds a value of deflection of strings to the current value so as to determine and memorizes the true value of the turning point; the data processor analyzes the hammer motion on the basis of the true value so that the music data are reliable.

Abstract: An automatic player musical instrument is a combination of an acoustic piano and an electric system, which serves as an automatic playing system and an electronic proof system, and a controller of the electric system has an information processing capability; when a user instructs the electric system to check performance on the keyboard, a subroutine program for electronic proof starts to run; while the user is fingering a music tune, the controller monitors the keys with key sensors to see whether or not the user correctly plays the music tune; when the user mistakenly depresses a key instead of another key, the controller gives rise to vibrations of the mistakenly de-pressed key so as to give a notice of incorrect fingering to the user.

Abstract: A key sensor-less automatic player piano includes, key actuators so as to give rise to key motion without any fingering of a human player, key sensors producing key position signals expressing key motion and a data processing unit producing music data codes during a performance on the keyboard and a playback table expressing a relation between the hammer velocity and a reference key velocity; while the data processing unit is recording the performance, the hammer velocity is estimated on the basis of a key velocity-to-hammer velocity conversion table already prepared through an experiment where the keys are depressed by a human player; while the data processing unit is preparing the playback table, the hammer velocity is estimated on the basis of another velocity conversion table prepared through another experiment where the keys are actuated by the key actuators.

Abstract: An electronic system, which serves as a recorder and an automatic player, is installed in an automatic player piano, and hammer sensors, which are implemented by photo couplers, report current hammer positions through analog signals to a data processor so that the data processor analyzes pieces of hammer data for recording the performance in a set of music codes; the analog signals are amplified through an operational amplifier and, thereafter, converted to discrete values of digital hammer signals so that an offset voltage is unavoidably introduced into the analog signals; when the photo couplers vary the light-to-photocurrent converting characteristics due to the aged deterioration, the data processor takes the offset voltage into account, and calibrates the hammer sensors, thereby making the digital hammer signals correctly express the current hammer positions.

Abstract: A process for producing a piezoelectric oxide having a composition (A, B, C) (D, E, F)O3, where each of A, B, C, D, E, and F represents one or more metal elements. The composition is determined so as to satisfy the conditions (1), (2), (3), and (4), 0.98?TF(P)?1.01,??(1) TF(ADO3)>1.0,??(2) TF(BEO3)<1.0, and??(3) TF(BEO3)<TF(CFO3)<TF(ADO3),??(4) where TF(P) is the tolerance factor of the perovskite oxide, and TF(ADO3), TF(BEO3), and TF(CFO3) are respectively the tolerance factors of the compounds ADO3, BEO3, and CFO3.

Abstract: The apparatus has an evaluated value calculating means 102 for calculating the complexity of the object shape and the complexity of the modeling structure of the object CAD data input by the CAD data inputting means 101; a searching means 104 for searching the reference CAD data in the reference CAD data base 103 in accordance with the condition of said complexity; an evaluated value calculating means 106 for calculating the complexity of the object shape and the complexity of the modeling structure based on the searched reference CAD data; and a displaying means 105 for evaluated values obtained by the means 102 and the means 106 on the graphic representation defining its horizontal axis for the complexity of the object shape and its vertical axis for the complexity of the modeling structure. It will be appreciated that the man-hour for evaluating large amount of various models can be reduced by means of not using a CAD system.

Abstract: A method is for commercially producing by the SIMOX technique a perfect partial SOI structure avoiding exposure of a buried oxide film through the surface thereof and forming no step between an SOI region and a non-SOI region. A method for the production of an SOI substrate, includes forming on the surface of a semiconductor substrate made of a silicon single crystal a protective film designated to serve as a mask for ion implantation, forming an opening part of a stated pattern in the protective film, implanting oxygen ions into the surface of the semiconductor substrate in a direction not perpendicular thereto, and heat treating the semiconductor substrate thereby forming a buried oxide film in the semiconductor substrate, and inducing at the step of implanting oxygen ions into the surface of the semiconductor substrate the impartation of at least two angles to be formed between the projection of the flux of implantation of oxygen ions and a specific azimuth of the main body of the substrate.

Abstract: Pop-up display information is created and displayed in a dynamic manner even without establishing settings in advance related to pop-up display for an anchor or an icon or the like, and implementing simple and efficient browsing by a user of linked contents by varying the display size in accordance with the display region. Mouse events of a mouse cursor upon a screen of an information device by the user are observed, and the fact that the mouse cursor has entered into a region of an object which has a linked destination is detected from the mouse events; a new window is displayed upon the screen; linked contents which are connected to the object are acquired; contents for presentation are created based upon the linked contents which have been acquired; and they are displayed within the new window which has been displayed upon the screen.

Abstract: An automatic player piano is a combination between an acoustic piano and an electronic system serving as a recorder and an automatic player; while a user is fingering a piece of music on the acoustic piano, the player strongly depresses some keys and softly depresses other keys so as to give artistic expression to the tones, and the depressed keys give rise to hammer motion at different values of hammer velocity; since the hammer velocity is proportional to the loudness of tones, the controller is expected exactly to determine the hammer velocity; the hammers travel on linear trajectories and parabolic trajectories depending upon the hammer velocity so that the controller estimates the hammer velocity by using different methods, whereby the controller can produce music data codes exactly expressing the tones to be produced.

Abstract: Detector detects movement of a hammer (driven member) that strikes a string (abutted member) by moving in response to operation of a key. On the basis of detection outputs of the detector and a given abutment-presuming reference value, it is presumed that the hammer has struck or abutted against the string. For example, performance event data is generated on the basis of the abutment presumption. In order to minimize errors due to variation over time or aging of a hammer action mechanism, a determination section determines that the hammer has, actually or with a high probability, reached an abutting position where the hammer abuts against the string, and the abutment-presuming condition in accordance with the determination result. It is determined that the hammer has reached the abutting position, by comparing, on the basis of detection outputs of the detector, movement of the hammer toward the string and movement of the hammer away from the string.

Abstract: A simulation apparatus is disclosed that includes an actual programmable logic controller configured for actually controlling operations of a machine based on a ladder program; a simulator configured to develop a virtual three-dimensional space, construct a three-dimensional model of the machine within the virtual three-dimensional space, control the three-dimensional model constructed within the virtual three-dimensional space based on the ladder program of the programmable logic controller, and simulate operations of the three-dimensional model; and a display configured to display the simulated operations of the three-dimensional model. The actual programmable logic controller is connected to the simulator, and the three-dimensional model is operated within the virtual three-dimensional space developed by the simulator based on the ladder program of the programmable logic controller.

Abstract: A mute piano is responsive to key movements and pedal movements so as to produce music data codes expressing the pitch of tones and pedal effect to be given to the tones in accordance with the MIDI protocols, and the damper pedal stroke is divided into a rest region, a half-pedal region and a damper-free region which are expressed by difference numerical ranges of data bytes of the musical data code: since the piano has its own individuality, the relation between the pedal position and the value of data bytes is to be calibrated; the controller of the mute piano enters a calibration mode, and optimizes the relation to the actual damper actions, thereby causing the music data code exactly to express the effect of the damper pedal to be given to the tones.

Abstract: A motor control apparatus that drives and controls a holeless DC motor is disclosed. The motor control apparatus includes a breaking part configured to break the DC holeless motor, a detection part configured to detect whether the DC holeless motor is in a near halt rotation state, and a forced stopping part configured to forcibly stop rotation of the DC holeless motor when the detection part detects that the DC holeless motor is in the near halt rotation state.

Abstract: An automatic player piano is only equipped with key sensors, and the automatic player is expected to give rise to hammer motion to be varied together with the loudness of tones; the manufacturer prepared not only a velocity conversion table expressing a relation between measured values of the hammer velocity and measured values of the reference key velocity but also a reference table expressing a relation between measured values of hammer velocity and target values of reference key velocity through experiments, and the velocity conversion table and reference table were stored in a suitable memory in the automatic player; the automatic player determines a playback table partially through an experiment and partially through transcription from reference table so as to drive the hammers without influence of unstable key motion at large loudness.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a patterned film by which an accurately patterned film is formed when film formation is performed by using the AD method. The method includes the steps of: (a) disposing a multilayered mask containing at least one soft mask layer formed of a soft material and at least one hard mask layer formed of a hard material on a substrate or an electrode formed on the substrate; (b) spraying powder formed of a brittle material toward the substrate, on which the multilayered mask has been disposed, and allowing the powder to collide with an under layer to deposit the powder thereon, thereby forming a brittle material layer; and (c) removing the multilayered mask after step (b).

Abstract: The apparatus has an evaluated value calculating means 102 for calculating the complexity of the object shape and the complexity of the modeling structure of the object CAD data input by the CAD data inputting means 101; a searching means 104 for searching the reference CAD data in the reference CAD data base 103 in accordance with the condition of said complexity; an evaluated value calculating means 106 for calculating the complexity of the object shape and the complexity of the modeling structure based on the searched reference CAD data; and a displaying means 105 for evaluated values obtained by the means 102 and the means 106 on the graphic representation defining its horizontal axis for the complexity of the object shape and its vertical axis for the complexity of the modeling structure. It will be appreciated that the man-hour for evaluating large amount of various models can be reduced by means of not using a CAD system.

Abstract: An electrophotographic image forming apparatus and a developing method thereof are provided. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes an image carrier body on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a developing roller which faces the image carrier body and supplies toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the image carrier body, and an anti-toner-dispersion element which faces an outer circumferential surface of the image carrier body between an exposing section where the electrostatic latent image is formed and a developing section where the electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing roller. A collection bias is applied to the anti-toner-dispersion element to collect dispersed toner from the developing roller.