Abstract: To provide a substrate material made of an aluminum/silicon carbide composite alloy which has a thermal conductivity of 100 W/m×K or higher and a thermal expansion coefficient of 20×10−6/° C. or lower and is lightweight and compositionally homogeneous. A substrate material made of an aluminum/silicon carbide composite ally which comprises Al—SiC alloy composition parts and non alloy composition part and dispersed therein from 10 to 70% by weight silicon carbide particles, and in which the fluctuations of silicon carbide concentration in the Al—SiC alloy composition parts therein are within 1% by weight. The substrate material is produced by sintering a compact of an aluminum/silicon carbide starting powder at a temperature not lower than 600° C. in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.

Abstract: To provide a substrate material made of an aluminum/silicon carbide composite alloy which has a thermal conductivity of 100 W/m×K or higher and a thermal expansion coefficient of 20×10−6/° C. or lower and is lightweight and compositionally homogeneous. A substrate material made of an aluminum/silicon carbide composite ally which comprises Al—SiC alloy composition parts and non alloy composition part and dispersed therein from 10 to 70% by weight silicon carbide particles, and in which the fluctuations of silicon carbide concentration in the Al—SiC alloy composition parts therein are within 1% by weight. The substrate material is produced by sintering a compact of an aluminum/silicon carbide starting powder at a temperature not lower than 600° C. in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.

Abstract: A ceramic base plate of aluminum nitride ceramics, for example, as a power module board has a metal layer on a surface of the ceramic base plate at a fixing portion at which the ceramic base plate is fixed onto a heat radiating plate. Further, a metal film is provided entirely on the rear surface of the ceramic base plate. An IGBT chip or the like is fixed onto the ceramic base plate with a conductive layer interposed therebetween, to form a power module board. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the generation of cracks when the ceramic base plate is mechanically fixed onto the heat radiating plate without using solder, and heat radiation from the ceramic base plate to the heat radiating plate can be improved.

Abstract: An industrial playback robot having a teaching mode and a playback mode comprises a robot structure, a speech discriminating circuit for detecting an instruction from an input speech in the teaching mode, and a control board for controlling the movement and operation of the robot structure. The control board stores information about the position and operation of the robot structure in the teaching mode and controls the movement and operation of the robot structure depending on the stored information in the playback mode.

Abstract: A slot detecting apparatus comprises a sensor for detecting a slot of a workpiece, comparators, and a discriminating circuit. The sensor moves over the workpiece so as to traverse the slot and produce an output having a waveform which is substantially an M-shape. The comparators compare the level of the output of the sensor with a plurality of threshold levels which are mutually different, and each produce a comparison result for each of the plurality of threshold levels. The discriminating circuit discriminates the position of the slot based on a comparison result which indicates that the output of the sensor has a waveform which is substantially an M-shape, from among a plurality of comparison results which are obtained from the comparators for the plurality of threshold levels.

Abstract: A parts feeder which executes the selection of articles and lets those selected articles transfer to the fixed trough (in-line feeder) smoothly, at the time of which linear transfer of the articles is effected not within the bowl, but at the in-line trough section connected directly to the bowl, wherein the transfer and conveyance of many different kinds of articles is conducted on only one apparatus by replacing the in-line troughs as needed.

Abstract: A bowl having a spiral track on its own inner circumference is fixed fast on a vibrating plate. To this vibrating plate is given the obliquely rotational vibration composed of the horizontal rotation and the up-and-down motion, and the elliptical vibration as well, with the use of a driving mechanism driven by a motor jointly with an up-and-down mechanism. These vibrations may be made now linear now non-linear dependingly on the form of the cam attached to the shaft of the motor.