Hitachi, Ltd.

Nissan Motor Company Limited

Naoki Sasaki

Shunichi Oohara

Taichiro Yamashita

Masahisa Aoyagi

Junji Fujita

Hideo Inui

Kazushi Yoshida

Masakazu Ejiri

Yasuhiro Nemoto

Shogo Matsumoto

Hidefumi Ohtsuka

Masaoki Takaki

Tsuneo Fujikawa

Keiji Hideshima

Ryoko Sato

Syunichi Aoki

An overlap detection apparatus having a conveyance path for conveying letters including a letter release section where the letters are not held, a bending section formed in the letter release section, and a butt into which the forward end of the letters released from the conveyance path in the bending section is brought into contact. A detector is provided for detecting the forward end of a letter on the butt and an overlap judging arrangement for judging an overlap of letters based on the result of detection by the detector. The detector includes a light source for projecting light on the surface of a letter and a line sensor having a plurality of light receiving elements arranged in a line, wherein the line sensor detects a shadow of the forward end of the letters cast by the light source.

Overlap detection apparatus and method

An overlapped mail detection apparatus and method are disclosed. Since the postcard is shorter than the letter, the change in length is not sometimes detected even when the postcard is displaced. In the case where the exterior of the letter is deformed outward and an overlap is detected from the rise of the tail end of the letter after passing a guide, a thin letter or the like low in rigidity is hard to detect due to the slow rise after deformation in the guide. In view of this, a separator has a bent conveyance path for deforming the exterior of the letter outward. The conveyance surfaces constituting the inner and outer sides of the bent portion of the separator are spaced appropriately from each other. A detector detects the state of the letter surface in the neighborhood of the outer conveyance surface with which the forward end of the letter first comes into contact. An overlap of letters is judged from the result of detection by the detector.

In an image processing apparatus for performing image processing of a processed object by displaying the processed object and an operating cursor on an image display device, and by operating the operating cursor according to three-dimensional actions of the hand and the fingers of an operator, a processing function and a shape of the operating cursor are changed by judging the meaning of the three-dimensional actions of the hand and the fingers to support understanding of the processing function.

Three-dimensional input device with displayed legend and shape-changing

The system is used for imprinting indentification code on individuals of articles such as automobiles produced in quantity, particularly on an assembly line, and comprises an instruction unit to provide a data signal representing an identification code to be imprinted, a stamping machine in which setting of imprinting types is performed automatically according to the data signal, a sensor which provides a signal representing an actual state of the type setting, and a comparator which provides an operation signal to the stamping machine only when the signal from the sensor agrees with the data signal and otherwise provides an alarm signal. For further accuracy of imprinting operation, the system may include a sensor to detect the type of the individual article to be imprinted and another comprator to prevent the action of the stamping machine also when the type of the article differs from one implied by the data signal.

Code imprinting system having error preclusion function

A method and an apparatus for diagnosing a fault in a sequence control system performing control in accordance with a predetermined sequence, wherein memory means having bits corresponding to respective ones of a plurality of predetermined sequence steps is provided. The sequence of steps actually applied to an object to be controlled are sequentially stored in corresponding bits. Each time a sequence step is applied to the object to be controlled, the contents of the memory means are checked to see whether or not any of the sequence steps applied thus far have been skipped. If any sequence step has been skipped, a fault is determined. Preferably, a fault is also determined when any of the intervals of sequence steps successively applied exceeds a predetermined length of time. Upon determination of a fault, the sequence step associated with the fault is identified, and the control circuit associated with the sequence step in fault is preferably displayed.

Fault diagnosis apparatus and method for sequence control system

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Ibaraki-ken, Japan

Naoki Sasaki