Innovation

Sumitomo Riko Launches Bedsore Prevention Mattress

Sumitomo Riko Co. Ltd. (TYO:5191) has launched its SR Active Mattress, a rubber mattress aimed at preventing bedsores. The product automatically redistributes body contact pressure based on the user’s physique and sleeping position. Smart rubber (SR) sensors made with Sumitomo Riko’s proprietary conductive rubber allow the product to measure contact pressure with the user’s body. This information is used in...

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NOK Develops Low-Torque Rotary Seal Rings

NOK Corp. (TYO:7240) has developed two new low-torque rotary seal rings, the TS-Ring and the CT-Ring, for use in automatic transmission (AT) and continuously variable transmission (CVT) vehicles. Both rings exhibit world-first technology, utilizing dynamic pressure and an outer sliding surface to achieve low-torque performance. As the automotive industry strives to improve fuel efficiency, there is an increased need for...

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Nitta Launches Flexible, Flame-Retardant Tube for Spot Welding Robots

Nitta Corp. (TYO:5186) has developed the flexible, flame-retardant FUK Tube for spot welding robots. The new tube features a 40-percent improvement in flexibility over the company’s previous such products. With flexibility similar to that of polyurethane tubing, the new product can handle complex movements as found in robots. It also possesses high self-extinguishing properties, equivalent to that required for UL94...

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Bridgestone Develops High-Power Artificial Muscle for Tough Robots, Uses Non-Reinforced Rubber Tubes

Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) has succeeded in developing a hydraulically driven, high-power artificial muscle. It serves as one of the keys to realizing tough robots that can be used at extreme disaster sites. The artificial muscle was developed in collaboration with the Tokyo Institute of Technology as part of the Cabinet Office Council for Science, Technology and Innovation’s Impulsing Paradigm Change...

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Bridgestone Enters Joint Research Project to Help People Board Buses Easier

Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) said it is entering a joint-research project with Yokohama National University and the Japan Transportation Planning Association aimed at improving curb docking. By making it possible for bus tires to more closely approach curbs, the gaps between boarding entrances and bus stops can be minimized. A concept for a next-generation curb docking system and road edge design...

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Zeon to Build New Hydrogenation Facility for Low-VOC Petroleum Resin

Zeon Corp. (TYO:4205) will build a new facility for hydrogenation of Quintone petroleum resin with proprietary technology at its Mizushima Plant, Okayama Prefecture. Construction is set to commence this month, with operations scheduled for July. The company is making a capital investment of 1.2 billion yen ($10.46 million) into the plant, which has an annual Quintone production capacity of 40,000...

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