Abstract: A lifetime estimation system for a working machine is a lifetime estimation system for a working machine including a work portion provided on a machine body, a hydraulic actuator to actuate the work portion, and an operation detector to detect operation information obtained when the work portion and/or the hydraulic actuator is/are actuated. The lifetime estimation system includes a strain calculator to calculate a strain of a target portion to be subjected to lifetime estimation based on the operation information detected by the operation detector, and a lifetime calculator to calculate a lifetime of the target portion from the strain calculated by the strain calculator.

Abstract: Provided is a waterproof structure to prevent water ingress through an air hole in a casing of a communication device. A waterproof structure for a communication device, the communication device including a casing that houses an electronic substrate and has an air hole, includes a plate member facing the casing and attached to the casing such that the plate member covers the air hole, and a sealing member interposed between the plate member and the casing to prevent ingress of water into the air hole through a gap between the plate member and the casing.

Abstract: An oil passage change-over valve allows an alternate communication from a first opening portion in one side a second and a third opening portion provided in another side to be changed over. A first opening portion is formed in one side of a valve body and the second and third opening portions are formed in another side of the valve body; a valve element within a valve hole of the valve body; and a communicating oil passage is formed in the valve element for alternately communicating the three opening portions. Inside the valve body, there are formed a first oil passage for connecting the valve hole with the first opening portion, a second oil passage for connecting the valve hole with the second opening portion, and a third oil passage for connecting the valve hole with the third opening portion deviated by 120 degrees from the first oil passage, respectively.

Abstract: An oil passage change-over valve allows an alternate communication from a first opening portion in one side a second and a third opening portion provided in another side to be changed over. A first opening portion is formed in one side of a valve body and the second and third opening portions are formed in another side of the valve body; a valve element within a valve hole of the valve body; and a communicating oil passage is formed in the valve element for alternately communicating the three opening portions. Inside the valve body, there are formed a first oil passage for connecting the valve hole with the first opening portion, a second oil passage for connecting the valve hole with the second opening portion, and a third oil passage for connecting the valve hole with the third opening portion deviated by 120 degrees from the first oil passage, respectively.

Abstract: A speech synthesizing system using a redundancy-reduced waveform database is disclosed. Each waveform of a sample set of voice segments necessary and sufficient for speech synthesis is divided into pitch waveforms, which are classified into groups of pitch waveforms closely similar to one another. One of the pitch waveforms of each group is selected as a representative of the group and is given a pitch waveform ID. The waveform database at least comprises a pitch waveform pointer table each record of which comprises a voice segment ID of each of the voice segments and pitch waveform IDs the pitch waveforms of which, when combined in the listed order, constitute a waveform identified by the voice segment ID and a pitch waveform table of pitch waveform IDs and corresponding pitch waveforms. This enables the waveform database size to be reduced.

Abstract: A speech synthesizing apparatus for deforming and connecting speech pieces to synthesize speech has a speech waveform database for storing data of an accent type of a speech piece of a word or a syllable uttered with type-0 accent and type-1 accent, data of phonemic transcription of the speech piece and data of a position at which the speech piece can be segmented, an input buffer for storing a character string of phonemic transcription and prosody of speech to be synthesized, a synthesis unit selecting unit for retrieving candidates of speech pieces from the speech waveform database on the basis of the character string of phonemic transcription in the input buffer, and a used speech piece selecting unit for determining a speech piece to be practically used among the retrieved candidates according to an accent type of speech to be synthesized and a position in the speech at which the speech piece is used, thereby preventing degradation of a quality of sound when the speech piece is processed.

Abstract: A composite pitch pattern of an artificial waveform of a composite sound indicating characters is produced according to a general pitch pattern producing model, and a pitch pattern of a VCV phoneme-chain waveform of each of VCV phoneme-chains corresponding to the characters is produced from an actual voice sample. Each VCV phoneme-chain composed of a preceding vowel, a consonant and a succeeding vowel has a pitch fine structure and a pitch fluctuation. Thereafter, an overall inclination of the pitch pattern of each VCV phoneme-chain waveform is adjusted to that of a portion of the composite pitch pattern corresponding to the-same VCV phoneme-chain to overlap transitional portions of preceding and succeeding vowels in a changed pitch pattern of each VCV phoneme-chain waveform with those in the corresponding portion of the composite pitch pattern.

Abstract: A method for producing a light-emitting diode provided with a pn junction of GaP containing nitrogen on an n-type GaP substrate, includes the steps of: forming an n-type GaP layer on the n-type GaP substrate by epitaxial growth by bringing the n-type GaP substrate into contact with an oversaturated melted Ga; forming an n-type GaP:N layer having a low n-type carrier concentration on the n-type GaP layer by epitaxial growth by bringing the melted Ga into contact with NH.sub.3 gas; and forming a p-type GaP:N layer having a carrier concentration almost equal to a carrier concentration of the n-type GaP:N layer on the n-type GaP:N layer.