Abstract: A rubber composition including 100 parts by weight of a rubber component composed of 50 to 80 parts by weight of natural rubber (NR) and/or polyisoprene rubber (IR), 15 to 45 parts by weight of polybutadiene rubber (BR) and 2 parts by weight to less than 10 parts by weight of a solution polymerized styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber (S-SBR) having a styrene content of 15 to 35% by weight and a vinyl bond content of a butadiene portion thereof of more than 30% to less than 75%.

Abstract: An optical element which includes a reflection portion capable of reflecting a light beam in a desired direction is provided. The optical element comprises a substrate 21, a light reflection portion 101, and a support portion 102 which supports the light reflection portion 101 over the substrate 21. Each of the light reflection portion 101 and the support portion 102 is constructed of at least one film. The support portion 102 has one end 102c fixed to the substrate 21 and has the other end 102d joined with the film constructing the light reflection portion 101, and it bends from one end 102c toward the other end 102d, thereby to support the principal plane of the film constructing the light reflection portion 101, non-parallelly, for example, perpendicularly to the principal plane of the substrate 21.

Abstract: A movable plate is fastened to a substrate via flexure parts and can move upward and downward with respect to the substrate. The substrate serves as a fixed electrode. The movable plate has second electrode parts which generate an electrostatic force between these electrode parts and the substrate by virtue of a voltage that is applied across these electrode parts and the substrate and a current path which is disposed in a magnetic field, and which generates a Lorentz force when powered. A mirror advances into and withdraws from the optical path. When the movable plate moves from the lower position in which the electrostatic force is increased to the upper position, the control part controls the current so that the Lorentz force is generated in a downward orientation and gradually decreases while the movable plate moves from an intermediate position to the upper position.

Abstract: An optical device is configured such that an insertion plate is held by a flat cantilever having electric wiring, and the flat magnet is placed in such a manner that the magnet faces a surface of the cantilever opposite to the other surface of the cantilever facing an optical waveguide, and that the current flowing through the electric wiring is controlled in this state so that the Lorentz force caused by the interaction between the current and the magnetic field displaces the cantilever to drive the insertion plate, and to insert or remove the insertion plate into or out of the slit provided in the optical waveguide to switch the optical path of signal light or to adjust the quantity of an optical beam.

Abstract: The exhaust heat recovery muffler includes a muffler unit having the outer surface thereof covered, an exhaust heat recovery unit disposed integrally with the muffler unit, and a switching valve that switches the flow of exhaust gas into the muffler unit and into the exhaust heat recovery unit. An outer pipe of the muffler unit and a cylindrical shell of the exhaust heat recovery unit, covering the outer circumference of the outer pipe, are coaxially disposed. The exhaust heat recovery unit includes a heat exchange chamber, formed by a pair of partitions provided between the inner circumference of the shell and the outer circumference of the outer pipe, and small-diameter pipes penetrating through the pair of partitions and extending through the heat exchange chamber. A heat exchange medium flows inside of the heat exchange chamber.

Abstract: The light guide substrate 2 has mirror receiving grooves 24 and light guides. The light guides conduct light that is input into the input ports to selected output ports in accordance with the advance and retraction of the mirrors 31 with respect to the grooves 24. The actuator substrate 4 has mirrors 31 and actuators which place the mirrors 31 in a state in which the mirrors are drawn in toward the substrate 4, or a state in which the mirrors protrude from the substrate 4. The light guide substrate 2 and actuator substrate 4 are aligned using alignment marks and joined with a spacer 3 interposed so that the mirrors 31 retract from the grooves 24 when the mirrors 31 are drawn in toward the substrate 4, and so that the mirrors 31 advance into the grooves 24 when the mirrors 31 protrude from the substrate 4. This alignment is performed in a state in which all of the mirrors 31 are drawn in toward the substrate 4.

Abstract: A movable plate 21 is fastened to a substrate 11 via flexure parts 27a and 27b, and can move upward and downward with respect to the substrate 11. The substrate 11 also serves as a fixed electrode. The movable plate 21 has second electrode parts 23a and 23b which can generate an electrostatic force between these electrode parts and the substrate 11 by means of a voltage that is applied across these electrode parts and the substrate 11, and a current path 25 which is disposed in a magnetic field, and which generates a Lorentz force when powered. A mirror 12 which advances into and withdraws from the optical path is disposed on the movable plate 21. When the movable plate 21 is caused to move from the lower position in which the electrostatic force is increased to the upper position, the control part controls the current so that the Lorentz force is generated in a downward orientation and gradually decreases while the movable plate 21 is moving from an intermediate position to the upper position.

Abstract: The movable part 21 is fastened to the substrate 11 via flexure parts 27a and 27b, and can move upward and downward with respect to the substrate 11. The substrate 11 also serves as a fixed electrode. The movable part 21 has second electrode parts 23a and 23b which can generate an electrostatic force between these electrode parts and the substrate 11 by means of a voltage that is applied across these electrode parts and the substrate 11, and a current path 25 which is disposed in a magnetic field, and which generates a Lorentz force when a current is passed through this current path. A mirror 12 which advances into and withdraws from the light path is disposed on the movable part 21. As a result, the mobility range of the movable part can be broadened, and the power consumption can be reduced, without applying a high voltage or sacrificing small size.

Abstract: The movable part 21 is fastened to the substrate 11 via flexure parts 27a and 27b, and can move upward and downward with respect to the substrate 11. The substrate 11 also serves as a fixed electrode. The movable part 21 has second electrode parts 23a and 23b which can generate an electrostatic force between these electrode parts and the substrate 11 by means of a voltage that is applied across these electrode parts and the substrate 11, and a current path 25 which is disposed in a magnetic field, and which generates a Lorentz force when a current is passed through this current path. A mirror 12 which advances into and withdraws from the light path is disposed on the movable part 21. As a result, the mobility range of the movable part can be broadened, and the power consumption can be reduced, without applying a high voltage or sacrificing small size.

Abstract: An optical device is configured such that an insertion plate is held by a flat cantilever having electric wiring, and the flat magnet is placed in such a manner that the magnet faces a surface of the cantilever opposite to the other surface of the cantilever facing an optical waveguide, and that the current flowing through the electric wiring is controlled in this state so that the Lorentz force caused by the interaction between the current and the magnetic field displaces the cantilever to drive the insertion plate, and to insert or remove the insertion plate into or out of the slit provided in the optical waveguide to switch the optical path of signal light or to adjust the quantity of an optical beam.

Abstract: Component data including data of the circumferential length values of ring components 4 stored by a component storage facility 10 are managed by a component data managing unit 15. A processing unit 16 performs combinatorial trial calculations on the component data under a plurality of kinds of combinatorial conditions, generating lamination combinatorial data of component data of all layers of a laminated ring. A combinatorial condition which maximizes the number of generated lamination combinatorial data is used as an adequate combinatorial condition. A set of ring components that make up a laminated ring to be actually assembly is selected and unloaded based on lamination combinatorial data generated under the adequate combinatorial condition, and assembled into a laminated ring. With this arrangement, an increased number of laminated rings can efficiently be produced, and the mass-productivity of laminated rings can be increased.

Abstract: In a construction for electrically connecting electrical unit with joint surfaces thereof opposed to each other, wiring patterns electrically connected with distortion gauges are formed on function-element forming surfaces of each electrical three-dimensional unit and are extended to edge portions formed between the function-element forming surfaces and adjacent wiring surfaces as the joint surfaces to form first lands; second lands extending from the edge portions by a specified distance are formed at positions of the wiring surfaces corresponding to the first lands; and electrical connectors displaying a joining performance upon being pressed together are formed to bridge the first and second lands while being held in close contact with the first and second lands. A plurality of three-dimensional electrical unit can be securely and easily electrically connected with each other with high precision.

Abstract: The light guide substrate 2 has mirror receiving grooves 24 and light guides. The light guides conduct light that is input into the input ports to selected output ports in accordance with the advance and retraction of the mirrors 31 with respect to the grooves 24. The actuator substrate 4 has mirrors 31 and actuators which place the mirrors 31 in a state in which the mirrors are drawn in toward the substrate 4, or a state in which the mirrors protrude from the substrate 4. The light guide substrate 2 and actuator substrate 4 are aligned using alignment marks and joined with a spacer 3 interposed so that the mirrors 31 retract from the grooves 24 when the mirrors 31 are drawn in toward the substrate 4, and so that the mirrors 31 advance into the grooves 24 when the mirrors 31 protrude from the substrate 4. This alignment is performed in a state in which all of the mirrors 31 are drawn in toward the substrate 4.

Abstract: The movable part 21 is fastened to the substrate 11 via flexure parts 27a and 27b, and can move upward and downward with respect to the substrate 11. The substrate 11 also serves as a fixed electrode. The movable part 21 has second electrode parts 23a and 23b which can generate an electrostatic force between these electrode parts and the substrate 11 by means of a voltage that is applied across these electrode parts and the substrate 11, and a current path 25 which is disposed in a magnetic field, and which generates a Lorentz force when a current is passed through this current path. A mirror 12 which advances into and withdraws from the light path is disposed on the movable part 21. As a result, the mobility range of the movable part can be broadened, and the power consumption can be reduced, without applying a high voltage or sacrificing small size.

Abstract: An optical element which includes a reflection portion capable of reflecting a light beam in a desired direction is provided. The optical element comprises a substrate 21, a light reflection portion 101, and a support portion 102 which supports the light reflection portion 101 over the substrate 21. Each of the light reflection portion 101 and the support portion 102 is constructed of at least one film. The support portion 102 has one end 102c fixed to the substrate 21 and has the other end 102d joined with the film constructing the light reflection portion 101, and it bends from one end 102c toward the other end 102d, thereby to support the principal plane of the film constructing the light reflection portion 101, non-parallelly, for example, perpendicularly to the principal plane of the substrate 21.

Abstract: When ring components 4 of layers to assemble a laminated ring 3 are unloaded from a component storage facility 10, a computer 13 generates lamination combinatorial data representing a combination of ring components of layers. A target frequency distribution of circumferential length values of ring components 4 of each layer is established, and lamination combinatorial data including ring components of a class where an error of an actual inventory frequency with respect to a target frequency is large are selected in a layer where an error between the target frequency distribution and an actual inventory frequency distribution is maximum. Ring components 4 of all layers corresponding to the selected lamination combinatorial data are unloaded from the component storage facility 10.

Abstract: The disclosure presents a control method for an electric braking device which includes a brake switch, a pushing force sensor, a thrust sensor, and an electric motor which moves a pad thrust member in a direction in which the pad thrust member approaches to a rotor rotating with the vehicle wheel associated therewith, thereby performing a braking operation. In the control method, a brake target value as computed by using an output signal of the pushing force sensor is compared with a threshold value as set to a minute braking force when the brake switch is in an on state. When the brake target value is below the threshold value, the electric motor is controlled with a predetermined value as the target value, and after the brake switch is turned off, the electric motor is rotated for a predetermined time to retract the pad thrust member.

Abstract: Component data including data of the circumferential length values of ring components 4 stored by a component storage facility 10 are managed by a component data managing unit 15. A processing unit 16 performs combinatorial trial calculations on the component data under a plurality of kinds of combinatorial conditions, generating lamination combinatorial data of component data of all layers of a laminated ring. A combinatorial condition which maximizes the number of generated lamination combinatorial data is used as an adequate combinatorial condition. A set of ring components that make up a laminated ring to be actually assembly is selected and unloaded based on lamination combinatorial data generated under the adequate combinatorial condition, and assembled into a laminated ring. With this arrangement, an increased number of laminated rings can efficiently be produced, and the mass-productivity of laminated rings can be increased.

Abstract: A correspondence education system in which a terminal apparatus and an information processing apparatus are connected to each other via a network includes: authentication communication means disposed in the terminal apparatus for performing authentication processing on the basis of human body characteristics of a student and transmitting a predetermined authentication signal to the information processing apparatus via the network only when a positive result of the authentication processing is obtained; and control means disposed in the information processing apparatus for transmitting teaching material data representing lecture contents according to a predetermined educational program to the terminal apparatus via the network on the basis of the authentication signal received from the authentication communication means.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit for forming images on sheets in the copy mode, the facsimile mode, and the printer mode a plurality of storage units for storing the sheets on which images are formed by the image forming unit, a setting unit for setting storage units which are to store sheets on which images are formed in the respective modes, a detection unit for detecting empty states of the storage units, and a control unit for storing sheets on which images are formed in the facsimile or printer mode in the storage units that are set by the setting unit, and storing sheets on which images are formed in the copy mode in storage units whose empty states are detected by the detection unit independently of the setting state of the setting unit.