Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

The University of Tokyo

Cambridge University Technical Services Limited

Narito Shibaike

Satoshi Kikuya

Seiko Minamide

Takahiro Asano

Soichiro Mima

Yoshio Watanabe

Satoshi Matsumoto

Hiroshi Terada

Tetsuya Kato

Osamu Zaitsu

Shinji Uchida

Michiyoshi Nagashima

Fumiaki Ueno

Toshinori Kishi

David Frank Moore

Toshinori Morikawa

Takashi Kiriyami

Hiang-Swee Chiang

Heather Klaubert

Stuart Clyde Burgess

A process assessment tool and a process assessment method are disclosed to allow a design of a manufacturing process to reduce environmental loads. The process assessment tool comprises: a data input unit having a section data input, a step data input, and a consumed material input; a data processing unit connected to an electric power environmental load database, a fossil fuel environmental database, and a material environmental database; and a display unit providing a cumulative graph, a pie graph, and a radar chart. Environmental loads including energy consumption, carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and others are calculated with data entered at the data input unit and data from the databases connected to the data processing unit. Displaying the calculation in a visual form at the display unit provides the design of the manufacturing process with the useful information, and allows the design to reduce environmental loads of the manufacturing process.

Process assessment tool, process assessment method, and medium storing the method

Microactuator

The invention relates to a method of disassembling a plasma display panel (&ldquo;PDP&rdquo;) for reutilization. A first method uses a component, which is thermally not contractible at a softening temperature of bonding material used for hermetically bonding a front and back plates, and positioned between the plates. The above component maintains or widens a space provided between the two plates when the PDP is heated, thereby facilitating disassembly of the PDP. The invention also provides a groove on a surface of either or both plates for communicating the bonding material to an exterior of the PDP. Softened bonding material can be drawn out or absorbed through the groove. Heating and cooling of the PDP may be made through a laminated graphite sheet placed on a surface of the PDP for uniformalizing thermal distribution. A second method separates a PDP into two plates by immersing the PDP in etching solution capable of selectively dissolving only lead glass, and melting the bonding material. A groove is provided between the perimeter of an image display screen and a bonded portion in order to prevent etching solution from permeating into the screen area. The groove is formed on the substrates in parallel with a longitudinal direction of electrodes. The separated plates are refurbished by restoring a deteriorated or defective portion into the original condition for use in manufacturing a new PDP.

Plasma display panel and method of separating the same

Plasma display panel including a component provided between front and back plates thereof

Micromechanical accelerometer

A method of producing a microscopic structure by anisotropic etching, in which ion etcing is conducted by irradiating an ion beam emitted by an ion source over a workpiece while a direction of progress of the ion etching is being changed.

Method of producing microscopic structure

In a recording/reproducing apparatus, a first support frame (22) supports a tape cassette (1), a second support frame (23) supports a tape guide drum (9) and loading rings (29), (30), (16), (17), and a third support frame (24) slidably supports the first support frame (22) and the second support frame (23). In a cassette loading operation, when the first support means (22) approaches the second support means (23) for a predetermined interval, a predetermined tape path is established by various loading posts, the tape guide drum (9) and the like. Then, the first support means (22) and the second support means (23) are slid together on the third support means (24) to be received compactly in the apparatus.

Recording/reproducing apparatus having plural sliding chassis for

An ink recording apparatus used with printers or the like is manufactured by semiconductor device manufacturing techniques. One wall of an ink chamber is formed of a single-crystal substrate and an ink jet port is formed by etching the single-crystal substrate. The ink chamber has a pressure-applying unit therein, and the pressure is applied to ink within the ink chamber so that the ink is jetted through the ink jet port. The pressure-applying unit has piezoelectric elements. A shutter and electrodes composed of polycrystalline-silicon film are formed on the single-crystal substrate by film forming in the LPCVD method and patterning through plasma etching. A front wall is formed by coating the shutter and electrodes further with a polycrystalline-silicon film. The shutter is movable between the wall surface of the ink chamber and the front wall, being driven by an electrostatic attracting force produced between voltage-applied electrodes and the shutter. The electrodes are formed at positions corresponding to those where the shutter blocks the ink jet port and releases the same.

Ink recording apparatus

An ink recording apparatus used with printers or the like and manufactured by applying semiconductor device manufacturing techniques. One wall of an ink chamber is formed of a single-crystal substrate and an ink jet port is formed by etching on the single-crystal substrate. A slider and electrodes composed of polycrystalline-silicon film are formed on the single-crystal substrate by film forming in the LPCVD method and patterning through plasma etching. The slider has a plurality of ink passing holes which have respectively different diameter, being driven by electrostatic attracting force produced between voltage-applied electrodes and the slider. The electrodes are formed at positions corresonding to those where the each ink passing hole is aligned with the ink jet port.

Ink recording apparatus with slider to control jetted ink amount

An ink recording apparatus used with printers or the like and manufactured by applying semiconductor device manufacturing techniques. One wall of an ink chamber is formed of a single-crystal substrate and an ink jet port is formed by etching on the single-crystal substrate. A shutter and electrodes composed of polycrystalline-silicon film are formed on the single-crystal substrate by film forming in the LPCVD method and patterning through plasma etching. A front wall is formed by coating the shutter and electrodes further with a polycrystalline-silicon film. The shutter is movable between the wall surface of the ink chamber and the front wall, being driven through electrostatic attracting force produced between voltage-applied electrodes and the shutter. The electrodes are formed at positions corresponding to those where the shutter blocks the ink jet port and releases the same.

Ink recording apparatus provided with shutter

An electrostatic micro-motor apparatus capable of transmitting a driving force of an electrostatic micro-motor comprises a rotor which has the shape of a gear substantially. A plurality of electrodes are disposed at a predetermined circumferential region around the rotor so as to confront the teeth of the rotor, and such that a circumferential gap is defined at the remaining circumferential region around the rotor. A transmission gear is provided in the circumferential gap so as to be brought into engagement with the rotor.

Electrostatic micro-motor apparatus

Disclosed is a recording apparatus for recording information by a recording head on a recording sheet in a cassette set therein. The recording apparatus basically includes a cassette receiving compartment coaxially rotatable with a cover of the recording apparatus and a slide member movable in response to a setting of a cassette in the cassette receiving compartment. The slide member is coupled through a spring to a base plate of the recording apparatus and is locked by a stopper member in response to a termination of the setting of the cassette. The cassette is inserted into the cassette receiving compartment in the direction parallel to the rotational axis of the cover. When released from the stopper member, the slide member discharges the cassette from the cassette receiving compartment.

Arrangement for setting and discharging of a cassette in electronic

Disclosed is a recording apparatus which is capable of efficiently driving a recording head with simple construction. The recording apparatus includes first and second slide members which are coupled through a spring to each other. The first slide member is arranged to be movable in response to the setting of a recording sheet holding cassette into a cassette receiving section of the recording apparatus and locked by a stopper member in response to the termination of the cassette setting. The movement of the first slide member generates a biasing force of the spring between the first and second slide members, and the generated biasing force is transferred through a transmission mechanism to the recording head so that the recording head moves along the recording sheet of the cassette. When released from the stopper member, the first slide member is moved together with the second slide member in the direction opposite to the cassette-setting direction and this causes the recording head to return to its initial position.

Head drive mechanism for electronic still camera

A tape cassette includes reel hubs rotatably received in the housing of the cassette, each reel hub being formed with a recess. The recess includes an opening at its lower end and reel pawls therein are adapted to engage with pawls of a reel drive on a reel base. The recess further includes a cylindrical-shaped portion disposed below the reel pawls and a conical-shaped portion disposed below the cylindrical-shaped portion, one of which portions is caused to engage with an engaging surface of the reel base of the reel drive on the reel base, thus enabling the centers of the reel hub and the reel base to correspond with each other.

Tape cassette

Disclosed is a tape cassette having a front cover urged in the direction for covering, by pivoting, a tape stretched along the front surface of a cassette case, and a cover-locking piece adapted to pivot within a plane thicknesswise of the tape cassette while being urged in the direction for holding the pivoting of the front cover when it is not in use. The tape cassette is further provided with an optical path aperture formed in a side surface portion thereof in order to form an optical path through the tape stretched inside the tape cassette when it is in use. The tape cassette is improved in its assembling efficiency while preventing disengagement of urging springs thereof in assembly. Moreover, it is possible to obtain satisfactory functions of the front cover and the cover-locking piece while preventing foreign matter such as dust from entering the inside of the tape cassette by covering the optical path aperture when the tape cassette is not in use. Furthermore, the tape cassette can be made microminiature by permitting the required widthwise dimension thereof to be extremely small.

Growing community of inventors

Hirakata, Japan

Narito Shibaike