Refractory compositions comprising an acid stabilized aqueous zirconia sol and an active refractory material in an amount effective to gel said sol. A relatively non-active refractory material may also be present. The refractory mix can be made into molded articles or used to form casting molds. Methods of making fired refractory molds and methods of metal casting are disclosed.

A procedure that is well-known has been used in the past for making ceramic shapes, namely mixing a binder and a gelling agent with a refractory and allowing the mix to chemically set or gel to form a bond and then firing the body. Typically many shapes have been made using sodium silicate, potassium silicate, colloidal silica, and hydrolyzed ethyl silicate as bonds. However, to obtain the greatest refractoriness of a body, a bond leaving a residue of a more refractory oxide is preferable. For example, alumina and zirconia produce high temperature bonds for refractories.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,350 shows the use of an aqueous solution of a zirconium salt with a gelling inducing agent and a gelling delaying agent and a refractory powder to form a refractory article. This composition requires additional gelling agents for control thereby increasing costs and control problems. Also the by-products of the gelation of the zirconium salt would need to be eliminated from the refractory during firing. There is also an added cost of the zirconium salt versus the oxide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,594 describes the binding of refractory materials using zirconium salts and incorporating gelling agents and gel delaying agents. For the same reasons these compositions are less than desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,576 describes an unfired mixture of a refractory material bonded with a zirconia or hafnia sol in which the percent of solids in the dispersed phase is at least 30%. This patent does not describe the specific refractories useful with the present stable acidic zirconia sol but only as a bond for a variety of refractories.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,316 describes the process for producing a refractory from a refractory powder and a binder precursor which would include colloidal zirconia, but also requires the addition of a gelling agent.


Monoclonal antibodies that bind and inhibit activation of human Notch3 are disclosed. The antibodies can be used to treat cell proliferative diseases and disorders, including certain forms of cancer, associated with activation of Notch3.

Notch pathway signaling is involved in numerous cellular processes, including cell fate determination, differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, migration and angiogenesis. In mammals, there are four Notch proteins (sometimes called "Notch receptors"), designated Notch1-Notch4. All four Notch proteins have a similar domain structure, which includes an extracellular domain, a negative regulatory region (NRR), a single-pass transmembrane domain, and an intracellular domain. The extracellular domain contains a series of EGF-like repeats that are involved in ligand binding. During maturation, the Notch polypeptide is cleaved by a furin-like protease. This cleavage divides the Notch protein into two subunits that are held together by noncovalent interactions of the NRR. In the absence of ligand binding, the NRR domain functions to keep the Notch protein in a protease-resistant conformation. The intracellular domain is a transcription factor called Notch intracellular domain (NICD), which is released upon proteolytic cleavage by gamma secretase, in response to binding of the Notch protein by a ligand. In mammals, the Notch ligands are Delta-like (e.g., DLL1 and DLL4) and Jagged (also referred to as Jag, e.g., Jag1 and Jag2). When the NICD is released, it travels to the nucleus, where it activates transcription of the Notch-responsive genes, HES1, HES5, NRARP, Deltex1 and c-MYC. For reviews of Notch-related biology, see, e.g., Bray, 2006, NATURE REVIEWS 7:678-689; Kopan et al., 2009, CELL 137:216-233.
While Notch proteins play crucial roles in normal development, dysregulation of the Notch proteins is associated with various types of cancer, including T-cell acute lymphatic leukemia/lymphoma (T-All), breast cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer and lung cancer. See, e.g., Miele et al., 2006, CURRENT CANCER DRUG TARGETS 6:313-323. Accordingly, one therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer is inhibition of Notch pathway signaling. Inhibition of Notch pathway signaling has been achieved using monoclonal antibodies (Wu et al., 2010, NATURE 464:1052-1057; Aste-Amézaga et al., 2010, PLOS ONE 5:1-13 e9094).
Naturally-occurring antibodies are multimeric proteins that contain four polypeptide chains (FIG. 1). Two of the polypeptide chains are called immunoglobulin heavy chains (H chains), and two of the polypeptide chains are called immunoglobulin light chains (L chains). The immunoglobulin heavy and light chains are connected by an interchain disulfide bond. The immunoglobulin heavy chains are connected by interchain disulfide bonds. A light chain consists of one variable region (VL in FIG. 1) and one constant region (CL in FIG. 1). The heavy chain consists of one variable region (VH in FIG. 1) and at least three constant regions (CH1, CH2 and CH3 in FIG. 1). The variable regions determine the specificity of the antibody.
Each variable region contains three hypervariable regions known as complementarity determining regions (CDRs) flanked by four relatively conserved regions known as framework regions (FRs). The three CDRs, referred to as CDR1, CDR2, and CDR3, contribute to the antibody binding specificity. Naturally occurring antibodies have been used as starting material for engineered antibodies, such as chimeric antibodies and humanized antibodies.
There is a need for improved antibodies that neutralize the biological activity of human Notch3 and that can be used as therapeutic agents to treat human patients.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A heat-shrinkable polyester film characterized in that:    (A) the heat shrinkage percentages in the maximum shrinkage direction thereof is 10 to 50% in hot water at 70° C.;    (B) the heat shrinkage percentages in the maximum shrinkage direction thereof is 70% or more and that in the direction orthogonal to the maximum shrinkage direction is 10% or less in hot water at 85° C.; and    (C) when the heat shrinkage percentage in the maximum shrinkage direction in hot water at 95° C. is designated as X0 (%) and the heat shrinkage percentage in the maximum shrinkage direction of a film obtained by previously heat-shrinking said film to an extent of 10% in hot water at 95° C. is designated as X10 (%), the difference in heat shrinkage percentage Δ (%) calculated according to the following equation is 10 to 20%Δ=X0−X10.

Heat-shrinkable plastic films are widely used in applications such as shrinkage packaging, shrink labels, and the like due to their characteristic property of shrinking by heat. Among them, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyester and other drawn films are used for packaging various containers made of materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene, glass, and as labels and cap seals or for the purpose of collective packaging.
However, polyvinyl chloride films have problems that they are low in heat resistance and generate hydrogen chloride gas and dioxins during incineration. In addition, the heat-shrinkable polyvinyl chloride resin film is used as shrink labels for PET containers or the like there is a problem that the PVC labels would be separated from the containers if the containers are to be recycled and reused.
Alternatively, polystyrene films are reasonably more favorable in label appearance after shrinkage but poorer in solvent resistance, and thus demand inks that contain special ingredients for printing. Additionally, polystyrene resins demand a higher temperature for incineration and have a problem of generating black smoke and foreign odor in greater amounts during incineration.
Having no such problems, polyester films are highly expected as shrink labels replacing the polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene films, and the amount of their consumption is gradually increasing in parallel with the expansion in the amount of PET containers used.
After production, these heat-shrinkable films are once wound in the form of roll; and then sent in such a form to a printing process wherein various drawings are printed thereon. If desired, these heat-shrinkable films are slit to a size suitable for use as labels for wrapping end-products after printing. These heat-shrinkable films are then converted into a tubular form by superimposing and sealing both ends of the films by means of, for example, solvent bonding and the like, and cut into the form of labels, bags or the like. The labels and bags thus obtained are loaded on containers, and then tightly bound to the containers by heat shrinkage, as the wrapped containers are passed on a belt conveyer or the like through a shrinkage tunnel (steam tunnel) wherein steam is applied for the heat shrinkage or in a shrinkage tunnel (hot-air tunnel) wherein heated air is applied for the heat shrinkage.
In the progressive move toward restriction of the use of colored PET bottles from the viewpoint of material recycling, there exists an increasing demand for larger labels of heat-shrinkable polyester films that can cover most of the sidewall of the bottles (so-called full labels) for the purpose of replacing the colored bottles. However, the sidewall shapes of the PET bottles vary significantly and accordingly the diameters of a PET bottle at particular heights vary significantly. Therefore, if a single label is used for wrapping a bottle, the extent of desirable label shrinkage varies depending on the specific position of the label wrapped around the bottle. Therefore, there exists a need for a heat-shrinkable polyester film having a shrinkage property superior to the conventional films and a potential of exhibiting an excellent label shrinkage property even when used for wrapping the bottles having an irregular sidewall shape.
For example in the production of PET-bottled drinks, loading and shrinkage of such labels is carried out more frequently in the drink filling line, for the purpose of improving productivity. Generally such filling lines are operated at high speed, thus demanding high-speed loading and shrinkage of the labels, i.e., shrinkage in a shorter period of time. As a result, in demand are heat-shrinkable polyester films that have the physical properties sufficient large for enduring the high-speed loading and the shrinkage property allowing higher shrinkage in a shortened period of time.
In addition, recently, labels for use in wrapping PET bottles and other various containers are required to have an additional function of reinforcing containers. However, the labels obtained from conventional heat-shrinkable polyester films could not provide such a reinforcing effect sufficiently.
The present invention is completed taking into account the situation above, and an object thereof is to provide a heat-shrinkable polyester film having a potential of exhibiting a favorable label shrinkage property even when used as a full label, and having an additional function of reinforcing the container loaded and shrunk therewith, and a heat-shrinkable label using the same.


A memory access authority control method and a memory management system utilizing the method. By partitioning and designating permissible memory access intervals to different service programs in one system, it is ensured that each service program cannot access other service programs' confidential data. Thus, the security of confidential data is guaranteed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory access authority control method and related memory management system, and more particularly, to a memory access authority control method for determining permissible memory access intervals corresponding to caller programs according to program counter values and a memory management system utilizing the method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a normal system with a security protection mechanism, there are several caller programs, dedicated to different channel operators, stored in a television card for accessing confidential service data, also provided by corresponding channel operators, stored in the same television card, such as encoding/decoding algorithms or encryption/decryption keys. These caller programs are certificated by manufacturer of the television card. For the television card manufacturer, these caller programs and confidential service data created by corresponding caller programs stored in the television cards are trustable. However, since there is no trust relationship among the channel operators and the television card can access all of the caller programs and corresponding confidential service data provided by different channel operators, malicious channel operators may take advantage of the television card as there is no proper access authority control mechanism to preventing accessing confidential service data provided by other channel operators.

Memory access authority control method and memory management system thereof


A cover arrangement for a surface drainage device or similar hollow body is provided that is adapted to be installed in the ground and to be opened. This comprises a rectangular frame to be installed in the ground, a cover that can be inserted into the frame, hinge devices by means of which the cover is retained in the frame so that it can be pivoted upward in an opening direction, and latch devices by means of which the cover can be locked into the frame so that it will not open. These hinges and/or latch devices are constructed as spring-action cast rods and are integrally connected to the cover.

Such cover arrangements, for example to be used on street drains or the like, are known. For instance, the patent DE 3523423 C1 discloses a hinged gully top consisting of a frame and a grating, constructed so that hinge bolts can be inserted or screwed into the frame from outside. Hence it is a simple matter to open the grating by means of these hinges. This offers the advantage that, for example during cleaning and maintenance work, the grating does not need to be lifted completely out of the frame, but when necessary can simply be pivoted upward. The result is not only a reduction of the effort expended and the risk of injury during cleaning and maintenance work, but in addition the grating is secured against theft. The disadvantage of this design is that to disassemble the grating, the frame must be exposed in the hinge region in order to provide access to the hinge bolts. This inevitably involves damage to the adjacent pavement surface and hence a not inconsiderable expenditure of effort and materials in order to remove or exchange the grating. Furthermore, with this design the direction in which the cover arrangement is pivoted when raised must already be taken into account during installation, in order to ensure that the raised cover or grating is not opposed to the oncoming vehicles. A grating raised in such a way would seriously endanger the traffic.
Furthermore, in most of the known hinged cover arrangements there is nothing to prevent vandals from raising the grating or cover, because the cover arrangements can usually be tilted up without any special tool. In this case both the grating, projecting upward from the pavement, and the opening thus left in the shaft cover are a major source of danger.
The patent DE 299 14 492 U1 discloses a shaft cover with hinge bolts that are accessible from inside, which offers the advantage that, for example when the cover is being exchanged, the frame need not be exposed in the region where the hinge bolts are being attached. In other respects, this design involves the same disadvantages as the shaft covers previously described.
The patent DE 1834483 U1 discloses a hinge device consisting of 2 joint cogs, each of which lies in a cavity within a separate bracket on a grating. These two brackets are set into corresponding receptacles on the frame, so that the joint cogs lying loosely in the cavity slide partially into corresponding cavities within the frame and thus connect the grating or cover firmly to the frame. The joint cogs here are, for example, spherical in shape and are rolled by gravity into the associated cavities within the frame, or they consist of cylinders supported on springs, which are pressed into the associated frame cavities by the spring force. A disadvantage of this design is that the hinge mechanism for the cover arrangement consists not of a single part but rather of several individual elements. These must be installed in the cover device after it has been cast, which is cost-intensive. Furthermore, the presence of extra parts also increases the likelihood of faults developing, because such parts can be lost, and this system is very vulnerable to dirt, because such small parts (springs, balls) are readily harmed by corrosion and dirt. Another disadvantage is that once the grating has been installed, great effort is required to remove it. And in this design, again, there is the problem that the installation orientation depends on the direction of vehicle travel. If the traffic direction changes, great effort is required to adapt the grating accordingly.


A device for contactless measurement of a rotational angle of a rotating part that is rotatable via a rotating shaft. The device includes a cylindrical coil carrier with sensor coils and a tubular body of electrically conductive material that is firmly attached to the rotating shaft and which surrounds the coil carrier with radial play and has an electrically non-conductive zone extending circumferentially in the vicinity of the sensor coils. For the sake of an easy-to-assemble structure, the tubular body is slipped onto a face end of the rotating shaft in a form-fitting manner and the tubular body is surrounded with radial play by a housing cup, from the bottom of which the coil carrier, which is integral with it, coaxially protrudes. The housing cup is joined in a floating manner to a housing that receives the rotating part.

The invention relates to a device for contactless measurement of a rotational angle of a rotating part that is rotatable via a rotating shaft, in particular a throttle valve seated on a control shaft in internal combustion engines in a manner fixed against relative rotation, of the type defined hereinafter.
A measuring device of this type is distinguished by a relatively small structural volume and is suitable for contactless measurement of rotational angles up to 180.degree.. The measuring device includes a tubular body and operates on an eddy current principle, to which end sensor coils are subjected to a flow of a high-frequency alternating current. The resultant magnetic alternating fields of the coils generate eddy currents on the surface of the tubular body. The greater the surface area of the tubular body penetrated by the magnetic field, the more eddy currents are created. These eddy currents cause a reduction in the alternating current resistance of the sensor coils. Upon a rotational motion of the tubular body, the surface area penetrated by the alternating magnetic fields is altered asymmetrically by electrically nonconductive zones, so that in one sensor coil the alternating current resistance increases, while in the other sensor coil the alternating current resistance decreases. Depending on the number, the sensor coils are disposed in a half or full Wheatstone bridge circuit, so that measurement errors occurring at the same time and acting in the same direction are compensated for. The outset voltage of the half or full bridge is a standard for the measured rotational angle.
In this kind of measuring instrument, it is often quite complicated to connect the measuring instrument structurally with the rotating part in terms of the effort of assembly, because the tubular body must be guided around the coil carrier with radial play.

Measuring device for contactless measurement of a rotational angle of a rotating shaft using eddy currents


An end part of a piston on a front edge side is formed so as to have a crowning of a 1.2-order to 2.5-order curve where a length is 10% or more and 80% or less of a length of a cylindrical part and a height is 10% or more and 160% or less of a clearance. An end part of a cylinder block on a front edge side is formed so as to have a crowning of a 1.2-order to 2.5-order curve where a length is 8% or more and 60% or less of the length of a cylindrical part and a height is 12% or more and 125% or less of the clearance.

In a swash plate type piston pump motor, when a piston reciprocates within a cylinder bore by rotation of the cylinder block, a very high contact pressure is generated at a contact surface between the piston and the cylinder bore. Then, in a case where the swash plate type piston pump motor is used for construction machinery or the like under high pressure or in a case where working fluid is fire resistant fluid, fire resistant refrigerant, or the like and has low lubricity, seizure may be generated at the piston or the cylinder bore.
In such a background, the swash plate type piston pump motor described in Japanese Patent No. 4828371 (Patent Document 1) has been proposed as the swash plate type piston pump motor capable of suppressing the seizure. This swash plate type piston pump motor includes a cylinder block and a piston which is slide-fitted (inserted) into a piston chamber of the cylinder block so as to be capable of advancing and retreating. A taper part whose diameter is reduced from a piston inserting side to another side is formed on an inner circumferential wall of the piston chamber. Further, a tilt angle of the taper part is set to from 1° to 10°. Patent Document 1 describes that since the tilt angle of the taper part is set to from 1° to 10°, a contact stress between the piston and the cylinder can be reduced.

Piston of axial piston pump motor, cylinder block of axial piston pump motor, and axial piston pump motor


The present invention is a novel electrically powered cosmetic pencil sharpener which firmly sits on a flat surface to avoid shaking during the sharpening process and firmly grips the cosmetic pencil tip to enable the apparatus to rapidly sharpen the paraffin wax tip within three (3) seconds so that the tip will not shatter or crack. The apparatus rapidly sharpens the cosmetic pencil so that its applicator end is formed at a thirty (30) degree angle with a flat tip so as to provide an ideal applicator end. The apparatus includes an indicator light that tells the individual that the sharpening process is complete.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrically powered apparatus which are used to sharpen a cosmetic pencil which is comprised of two separate mediums, a handle portion which is usually made of wood but can be made of other material such as plastic or resin, and a cosmetic applicator portion which is usually made of paraffin wax.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, the concept of sharpening a cosmetic pencil is known in the prior art. The following fourteen (14) patents are relevant to the field of the present invention.
1. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 251,977 issued to Leuenberger on May 29, 1979 for "Dual Cosmetic Pencil Sharpener" (hereafter the "Leuenberger Patent");
2. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 262,295 issued to Kaye on Dec. 15, 1981 for "Cosmetic Pencil Sharpener" (hereafter the "'295 Kaye Patent")
3. U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,283 issued to Kaye on Feb. 3, 1981 for "Cosmetic Pencil Sharpener" (hereafter the "'283 Kaye Patent");
4. U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,698 issued to Mobius on Aug. 4, 1981 for "Pencil Sharpener" (hereafter the "Mobius Patent");
5. U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,354 issued to Halpern on Sep. 6, 1983 for "Sharpener For Cosmetic Pencils" (hereafter the "Halpern Patent");
6. U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,819 issued to Uang on Oct. 30, 1990 for "Pencil Sharpener" (hereafter the "Uang Patent");
7. U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,817 issued to O'Neil on Jan. 10, 1995 for "Sharpener For A Soft Element Pencil" (hereafter the "O'Neil Patent");
8. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 378,835 issued to Guerrero on Apr. 15, 1997 for "Cosmetic Pencil Sharpener" (hereafter the "Guerrero Patent");
9. U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,555 issued to Andrisin on Mar. 2, 1999 for "Crayon Sharpener Assembly" (hereafter the "Andrisin Patent");
10. U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,669 issued to Luttgens on Apr. 20, 1999 for "Sharpener For Soft Core Pencils" (hereafter the "Luttgens Patent");
11. U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,514 issued to New on May 23, 2000 for "Compact Handheld Battery Operated Cosmetic Pencil Sharpener" (hereafter the "New Patent");
12. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 431,263 issued to Greenhouse on Sep. 26, 2000 for "Cosmetic Pencil Sharpener" (hereafter the "Greenhouse Patent");
13. U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,153 B1 issued to Kleban on Mar. 11, 2003 for "Cosmetic Pencil Sharpener" (hereafter the "Kleban Patent");
14. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2004/0261275 to Fregeolle on Dec. 30, 2004 for "Sharpener For Creating A Frusto-Conical Tip" (hereafter the "Fregeolle Patent").
The Leuenberger Patent is a design patent which discloses a mechanical handheld cosmetic pencil sharpener having two barrels to receive and mechanically sharpen a cosmetic pencil.
The '295 Kaye Patent is a design patent which discloses a mechanical handheld pencil sharpener which as disclosed in FIG. 8, has the ability to sharpen two different sized cosmetic pencils.
The '283 Kaye Patent is a utility patent which discloses a mechanical handheld pencil sharpener which has the ability to sharpen two different sized cosmetic pencils.
The Mobius Patent is a utility patent which discloses a mechanical pencil sharpener which has two different sized chambers to sharpen two different sized cosmetic pencils.
The Halpern Patent is a utility patent which discloses a mechanical pencil sharpener which can sharpen two different sized cosmetic pencils.
The Uang Patent is a utility patent which discloses an electric pencil sharpener which sharpens the pencils by means of a pair of oppositely rotating rollers.
The O'Neill Patent is a utility patent which discloses a sharpener for a soft element pencil which achieves the sharpening by means of a rotating sharpening blade which cuts a point onto the end of the pencil being sharpened.
The Guerrero Patent is a design patent which discloses a cosmetic pencil sharpener in the shape of a pyramid.
The Andrisin Patent is a utility patent which discloses a mechanical crayon sharpener having a pair of convergent sharpening blades.
The Luttgens Patent is a utility patent which discloses a mechanical device having a shaving rib which causes the tip of a pencil to be formed into the desired shape.
The Fregeolle Published Patent Application discloses a writing instrument sharpener which has one blade for cutting a tip and a second transverse cutting blade to form a frusto-conical tip.
The New Patent is a utility patent which discloses a handheld electrically powered cosmetic pencil sharpener which has a cutting blade having two sections to cut a pointed tip into a cosmetic pencil. By virtue of the fact that it has only one battery and is handheld, the cutting is extremely slow and the device can move while a person is holding it so that the brittle tip of a cosmetic pencil will more than likely shatter during the sharpening process.
The Greenhouse Patent is a design patent which discloses a design for the shape of a mechanical cosmetic pencil sharpener.
The Kleban Patent is a utility patent which discloses a mechanical cosmetic pencil sharpener which has a multiplicity of different sized openings to receive different sized cosmetic pencils.
None of the prior art discloses a rapid sharpening electrically powered cosmetic pencil sharpener which can quickly and efficiently sharpen a cosmetic pencil to a proper blunt point and sharpens it in a manner that will prevent the brittle paraffin wax material from shattering or cracking.

Electrically powered rapid sharpening cosmetic pencil sharpener


An object of the present invention is to cover a drop in turning responsiveness of a vehicle to a driver's steering operation caused by a limit on the operating speed of a steerable wheel turning unit by a turn assist yaw moment independent of turn lateral forces of steerable wheels to thereby prevent the drop in turning responsiveness of the vehicle when the operating speed of the steerable wheel turning unit is limited. A vehicle travel control device comprises a steerable wheel turning unit capable of turning steerable wheels to steer independently of steering of a driver and a braking unit as a turn assist yaw moment generating means capable of generating a turn assist yaw moment independently of turn lateral forces of the steerable wheels. When a predetermined controlled variable limiting condition is established and the controlled variable of the steerable wheel turning unit is limited, the influence of limiting the controlled variable of the steerable wheel turning unit on the turn yaw moment of the vehicle can be reduced by changing braking forces of individual wheels and generating a yaw moment by differences in braking force between left and right wheels.

As one of vehicle travel control devices, there has been well known a steering device of transfer ratio varying type which has a transfer ratio varying actuator that varies a transfer ratio of rotational angle from a steering input shaft to a steering output shaft, a steering operation force alleviating actuator that generates an assist torque for alleviating the load on steering operation of a driver, and a control means that controls the operations of the transfer ratio varying actuator and the steering operation force alleviating actuator. Such a device is described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-131141 which corresponds to an application filed by the same applicant as the present application.
As is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-131141, it has already been known that in a steering device of transfer ratio varying type, it is preferable to compare the operational velocity of the steering operation force alleviating actuator and the rotation angular velocity of the steering output shaft with each other and to control the operation of the steering device of transfer ratio varying type at a velocity below the operational velocity of the steering operation force alleviating actuator.
According to such a steering device of transfer ratio varying type as described in the above publication, the operational velocity of the steering device of transfer ratio varying type can be limited to a rotation angular velocity which is below the operational velocity of the steering operation force alleviating actuator, which enables to prevent the rotational speed of the steering output shaft attained by the operation of the steering device of transfer ratio varying type from exceeding the operational velocity of the steering operation force alleviating actuator. Accordingly, a deterioration of steering feeling and an increase of steering operational load can be prevented from occurring which are caused by the rotational speed of the steering output shaft exceeding the operational velocity of the steering operation force alleviating actuator.
However, if the operational velocity of the steering device of transfer ratio varying type is limited to a rotation angular velocity which is below the operational velocity of the steering operation force alleviating actuator, a transfer ratio of rotational angle from a steering input shaft to a steering output shaft is as well restricted to a small value. Therefore, in such a steering device of transfer ratio varying type as described in the above publication, a vehicle turning responsiveness to steering operation of a driver inevitably decreases.
In particular, such a problem is notable when a steering operation is conducted at a very higher speed by a driver, such as in the case of urgent steering for avoiding collision against an obstacle. The above problem is not confined to a steering device of transfer ratio varying type having a transfer ratio varying actuator which varies a transfer ratio of rotational angle from a steering input shaft to a steering output shaft. That is, the problem occurs as well when a ratio of the velocity of turning steerable wheels to the velocity of steering operation of a driver is restricted in a so-called steer-by-wire type steering control device which has a steering input means operated by a driver and an actuator for drivingly turns steerable wheels to steer, and is capable of turning steerable wheels independently of steering operation of a driver.


Disclosed is a process for the production of dried earthworm powder which comprises the steps of leaving a species of living earthworms in fresh water or a slightly acidic aqueous solution until the alimentary canal thereof is freed of soil, wet-grinding the living earthworms, and freeze-drying and then vacuum-drying the resulting suspension under a vacuum of 10 mmHg or below for 10 to 100 hours while raising the temperature stepwise from -60.degree. C. to 80.degree. C. This dried earthworm powder may be combined with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers to form pharmaceutical compositions which are useful for the treatment or prevention of hyperlipemia, diabetes, hypertension and hypotension in human beings.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for the production of dried earthworm powder, as well as antihyperlipemic, antidiabetic and blood pressure regulator (antihypertensive and/or antihypotensive) preparations containing the dried earthworm powder as the active ingredient. More particularly, it relates to a novel and improved process for the production of pharmaceutically acceptable dried earthworm powder which has not only excellent antihyperlipemic, antidiabetic (or hypoglycemic), antihypertensive and/or antihypotensive effects but also a high degree of safety, as well as antihyperlipemic, antidiabetic and blood pressure regulator (antihypertensive and/or antihypotensive) preparations containing the dried earthworm powder as the active ingredient. Thus, the dried earthworm powder produced by the process of the present invention may be combined with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers to form pharmaceutical compositions which are useful for the treatment or prevention of hyperlipemia, diabetes, hypertension and hypotension in mammals and, in particular, human beings.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
It is recognized that hyperlipemia, along with hypertension, diabetes and smoking, is an important causative factor in arteriosclerosis, and a variety of antihyperlipemic drugs comprising synthetic organic compounds have been developed and used for the treatment and prevention of hyperlipemia. Typical examples thereof are clofibrate and nicomol. However, it is known that clofibrate and its derivatives may frequently cause muscle pain, hepatic functional disorders and gallstones formation. It is also known that nicomol has side effects such as facial suffusion and gastrointestinal disorders. Moreover, it has been reported that clofibrate may produce hepatoma in animals [D. J. Svoboda et al., Cancer Res., Vol. 39, p. 3419 (1979)].
In addition to the above-described problem of safety, special attention is also paid to the effect and pharmacology of antihyperlipemic drugs. Specifically, with the recent progress of research on the metabolism of lipids and, in particular, the functions of serum lipoproteins as serum lipid carriers, much importance has come to be attached not only to the ability of a drug to reduce the concentration of lipids in the serum, but also to its action on lipoproteins.
Serum cholesterol, together with triglycerides (hereinafter referred to as TG), phospholipids (hereinafter referred to as PL) and apoproteins, forms lipoproteins. According to density, these lipoproteins are divided into very low density lipoprotein (hereinafter referred to as VLDL), low density lipoprotein (hereinafter referred to as LDL) and high density lipoprotein (hereinafter referred to as HDL). Among these lipoproteins, VLDL and LDL are thought to induce arteriosclerosis. In contrast, HDL functions to participate in the transport of cholesterol from peripheral blood vessels to the liver, the formation of cholesterol ester and the catabolism of TG, and is believed to have the effect of preventing and retracting arteriosclerosis.
Accordingly, in the future development of an antihyperlipemic drug, importance should be attached not only to its effect of reducing the level of total cholesterol (hereinafter referred to as TC) in the serum, but also to the type of lipoprotein whose cholesterol it can act. In particular, it would be desirable to develop a drug not only having the effect of reducing the level of cholesterol in LDL (hereinafter referred to as LDL-C) and elevating the level of cholesterol in HDL (hereinafter referred to as HDL-C), but also having the effect of lowering the arteriosclerosis index (hereinafter referred to as AI) which is calculated from the formula: (TC - HDL-C)/HDL-C.
Conventionally, organic synthetic compounds such as sulfonylurea compounds and biguanide compounds have been widely used as oral antidiabetic drugs. Generally, antidiabetic drugs are medicines used to normalize the metabolism in the morbid state, and not medicines capable of curing diabetes itself. In the case of diabetic coma or juvenile diabetes, oral antidaibetic drugs are ineffective and insulin alone is effective. In several forms of diabetes in which insulin is mandatory (for example, diabetes associated with ketoacidosis or serious infection), oral antidiabetic drugs are ineffective. The chief indication for the use of oral antidiabetic drugs is maturity-onset diabetes which cannot be fully controlled by alimentotherapy. Also in this case, such oral antidiabetic drugs tend to produce side effects such as hypoglycemia, hepatic functional disorders and anorexia, and must be used under the rigid control of a physician. Thus, there is an eager demand for an antidiabetic drug having no side effects.
In recent years, there are a large numbers of patients with hypertension or hypotension, irrespective of age. In order to treat such patients, hypotensors are often administered to hypertensive patients and, though not mandatory, hypertensors (or pressors) are often administered to hypotensive patients.
Especially with the recent increase in the number of hypertensive patients, a wide variety of remedies for hypertension (or hypotensors) have been being developed and used. Once hypertensive patients begin to take a hypotensor, discontinuance of its use may cause the symptoms to become worse than before. Accordingly, it is often necessary to take the drug continuously for a long period of time. Also in the case of hypotensive patients to whom a drug is administered, its administration is often continued for a long period of time. Thus, there is an eager demand for a drug having no side effects.
For example, hydralazine known to be a hypotensor has the effect of dilating peripheral blood vessels and exhibits excellent hypotensive activity. However, it may cause tachycardia as a side effect, so that it is used in combination with a .beta.-blocker. Generally, hypotensors and hypertensors are used for a long of time, so that it would be highly desirable to provide such drugs having no side effects.
Especially in the Oriental countries, earthworms (also called "dilong") have been used as a drug from remote antiquity. The following pharmacological effects of easthworms have been reported in the literture.
(1) Shinryu Ofuchi ["Mimizu-to-Jinsei (Earthworms and Human Life)", Maki Shobo, Oct. 30, 1947, pp. 223-226] and Nikiji Hatai ["Mimizu (Earthworms), Reprinted Edition", Scientist Co., Apr. 30, 1980, pp. 160-163] have reported that earthworms have a variety of pharmacological activities, i.e., they are effective in reducing the size of vesical calculi and eliminating them from the body, in the treatment of jaundice, and as a parturifacient, restrative, hair grower, tonic and an antipyretic. On the other hand, they have also reported some toxic actions of earthworms. That is, earthworm poison injures the nervous systems and causes hemolysis (or the destruction of red blood cells).
(2) The following description is found in "Pharmaceutical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China" edited by the Pharmaceutical Dictionary Editing Committee, the Department of Hygienics, the People's Republic of China (1977 Edition, Part I, pp. 197-198).
Conventionally, there are two types of dilong. One of them is wide dilong (Lumbricus kwangtungesis) that is produced by cutting the body of each earthworm open, washing off the guts and soil, and drying it in the sun, in the shade or at low temperature. The other is soil dilong (Lumbricus nativus) that is produced by by killing earthworms in ash from plants, freeing them of ash, and drying them in the sun, in the shade or at low temperature. The dried earthworm so produced have soil within the body thereof. It is reported therein that these two types of dilong are used in a daily dose of 4.5 to 9 g as an antipyretic, anticonvulsant, circulation promoter, remedy for hemiplegia, articular analgesic, diuretic, antiasthmatic and antihypertensive.
(3) It is described in "Our Chinese Medicine Series 3: Dilong and Cuttlebone--Scientific Research in China" (Matsuura Yakugyo K. K., p. 7) that dilong tincture (i.e., an ethyl alcohol extract of dilong) has an hypotensive effect.
(4) It has been reported by Takuo Okuda ("Encyclopedia of Natural Medicines", Hirokawa Shoten, Apr. 15, 1986, p. 215) that dilong is being used as an antipyretic, analgesic, diuretic and antidote.
(5) Mamotu Tanaka [Hokkaido Medical Journal, Vol. 24, pp. 18-24 (1949)] has reported the results of an experiment with earthworms. Specifically, small pieces of dried earthworms were freed of soil and then extracted with boiling water. After the resulting extract was concentrated, ethyl alcohol was added thereto and the precipitated material (lumbrofebrin) was dissolved in Ringer's solution. When this solution was intravenously injected into an anesthetized cat, a sudden fall in blood pressure was caused. In addition, acceleration of blood coagulation was observed in proportion to the shock.
(6) Kenjiro Ikawa [Yamaguchi Igaku, Vol. 9, pp. 571-576 (1960)] has reported that test solutions were prepared by extracting dilong with physiological saline, or by extracting dilong with ethyl alcohol or acetone, evaporating the extract to dryness and dissolving the residue in physiological saline. When each of these test solutions was intravenously injected into a mature rabbit, a fall in blood pressure was observed.
(7) It is reported in "Enzyclopedia of Chinese Medicines, Volume Two" edited by the Koso New Medical Institute (Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishing Company, 1980, p. 2112) that, when wide dilong tincture, a suspension of dried earthworm powder, a hot water infusion of earthworms, or a decoction of earthworms was administered to anesthetized dogs, big rats, cats, or mice with chronic renal hypertension, a slow and long-lasting hypetnesive effect was noted. When dilong extract was intravenously injected into anethetized dogs or cats, a rapid hypotensive effect appeared. However, it is also reported that they were ineffective when administered orally and when used in clinical trials. Moreover, it is reported in the same book (p. 2114) that essential hypertension could be effectively controlled by oral administration of dilong. To this end, 10 ml of 40% dilong tincture (prepared by steeping 40 g of dilong in 100 ml of 60% ethyl alcohol) was given three times a day [i.e., in a daily dose of 12 g of dilong (as calculated by the present inventors)] and this treatment was continued for 30 to 60 days. For those who could not drink the tincture, pills were prepared from pure dilong powder mixed with water (and a small amount of filler, and 3 to 4 g of the pills were given three times a day [in a daily dose of 9 to 12 g of dilong (as calculated by the present inventors)]. Furthermore, it is reported that essential hypertension could also be effectively controlled by administering 2 ml of dilong B.sub.1 liquid (prepared by removing hypoxanthine from dilong with the aid of HgCl.sub.2 and then isolating hypotensive components therefrom by means of an ion-exchange resin) three times a day [in a daily dose of 24 g of dilong (as calculated by the present inventors)].
Conventional methods for producing the dried products of dried powder of earthworms are roughly divided into the following three types.
(i) The method in which the body of each earthworm is cut open, freed of its contents (i.e., the guts and soil), and then dried in the sun, in the shade or at low temperature (usually 50.degree. C. or below).
(ii) The method in which earthworms are killed by placing them in ash from plants or charcoal, freed of any soil, and then dried in the sun, in the shade or at low temperature (usually 50.degree. C. or below) to obtain dried earthworms having soil therein.
(iii) The method in which earthworms are freed of the soil present in their body and then dried by placing them in ash from plants or charcoal.
In case of need, the dried earthworms thus obtained are reduced to powder and used. The above-described methods are simple and economical ones and has the advatage that they can easily be carried out at home. However, if the dried earthworms (or dried earthworm powder) produced by these methods are preserved in an open state either in a referigerator at 0.degree. to 5.degree. C. or in a room at 5.degree. to 45.degree. C., they will become moldy within about 6 months and cannot be used any longer. Even if they are preserved in a well-closed state, they will become moldy within a year.
Where dried earthworms having soil within the body thereof, as produced by the aforesaid method (ii), or earthworms dried in ash from plants or charcoal, as produced by the aforesaid method (iii), are used as a medicine, it is common practice to extract them with hot water or decoct them in boiling water, filter the resulting extract or decoction, and take the filtrate. In particular, it is seldom that the dried earthworms produced by method (ii) is used in the form of dilong tincture, powder or pills.
The dried earthworms produced by method (i) are frequently used as a hot water infusion or decoction, or in the form of dilong tincture, dilong powder or pills (prepared from dilong powder mixed with a small amount of water or a small amount of filler). In the case of methods (ii) and (iii), the yield of dried earthworms having a moisture content of 10 to 16% is 5 to 19% based on the living earthworms used as the raw material.
Recently, Yoichi Ishii who is one of the present inventors has proposed a health food comprising, as principal components, the proteins and lipids derived from earthworms, and a process for producing the same [Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 216572/'84 (date of laying open: Dec. 6, 1984)]. This process is an excellent one for the purpose of producing dried earthworm powder as a health food. However, as a method for producing dried earthworm powder for use as antihyperlipemic, abtidiabetic and blood pressure regulating drugs, the aforesaid process is not satisfactory from the viewpoint of efficacy. Specifically, if an external action is exerted on living earthworms to eliminate the soil present in the body thereof, it is impossible to remove the soil selectively. It has been found that, even if the utmost care is taken, the internal organs and body fluids containing the major portion of components highly important from the viewpoint of medicinal effects is at least partially removed together with the soil, resulting in insufficient efficacy. Moreover, the yield is as low as 10 to 19% based on the living earthworms used as the raw material. Furthermore, it is a great disadvantage that, since the final stage of vacuum drying is carried out at 80.degree. C. under a vacuum of 0.3 torr for a long period of 20 hours or more, the enzymes present in the dried earthworm powder and playing an important role in the manifestation of medicinal effects are at least partially destroyed or inactivated. Accordingly, the antihypertensive effect of the dried earthworm powder produced by the process of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 216572/'84 has been found to be about 50% of that of the dried earthworm powder produced by the process of the present invention.
Recently, Hisahi Mihara, who is one of the present inventors, and his collaborators have demonstrated that the fibrinolytic substance derived from earthworms is an enzyme protein which has an optimum pH of 8 to 10; is stable in the pH range of 5 to 10; is inhibited by Trazirol (trade name), Transamine (trade name), soybean trypsin inhibitor and serum; has plasminogen-activating and fibrynolytic effects; and has no fibrinogenolytic effect.
A crude enzyme protein fraction obtained by extraction of an earthworm with an aqueous medium, and a process for the preparation of a fibrinolytic substance by purifying the crude enzyme enzyme protein fraction are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 148824/'83 (filed Feb. 27, 1982) and its corresponding foreign patent applications including U.S. patent application Ser. No. 470,394 (filed Feb. 28, 1983), U.K. Pat. Appln. No. 8305359 (filed Feb. 25, 1983), Italian pat. appln. No. 477954A (filed Feb. 25, 1983), French Pat. Appln. No. 03165 (filed Feb. 25, 1983), German Pat. Appln. No. P3306944.1 (filed Feb. 28, 1983) and Canadian Pat. Appln. No. 422034 (filed Feb. 21, 1983).
Furthermore, Hisashi Mihara and his collaborators have derived six novel proteases from earthworms, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63184/'84 (filed Oct. 2, 1982), and have developed a thrombolytic preparation comprising these proteases as the active ingredients, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 184131/'84 (filed Mar. 31, 1983). These inventions are also disclosed in their consolidated forein patent applications including Korean Pat. Appln. No. 2990 (filed Jul. 30, 1983), Au. Pat. Appln. No. 16293 (filed Jun. 27, 1983), Ca. Pat. Appln. No. 431387 (filed Jun. 28, 1983), Dk. Pat. Appln. No. 3008 (filed Jun. 29, 1983), Ep. Pat. Appln. No. 83106288.0 (filed Jun. 28, 1983), Es. Pat. Appln. No. 523754 (filed Jun. 30, 1983), Fi. Pat. Appln. No. 832383 (filed Jun. 29, 1983), No. Pat. Appln. No. 2399 (filed Jun. 30, 1983), Ph. Pat. Appln. No. 29151 (filed Jun. 30, 1983), Tw. Pat. Appln. No. 7211983 (filed Jun. 18, 1983) and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 508,163 (filed Jun. 27, 1983).
The present inventors made an investigation of the literature and obtained the following results:
(1) In the literature, no mention can be found of the antihyperlipemic effect of pharmaceutical preparations containing dried earthworm powder or dilong as the active ingredient. Still less, it is not reported therein that dried earthworm powder has not only the effect of reducing the serum TC level, but also the effect of reducing the serum LDL-C level and elevating the serum HDL-C level to cause a lowering of AI, and that dried earthworm powder is a highly safe drug which does not producing side effects such as hepatic hypertrophy and hepatic functional disorders.
(2) In the literature, no mention can be found of the antidiabetic or hypoglycemic effect of pharmaceutical preparations containing dried earthworm powder as the active ingredient.
That is, it is not reported in the literature that, in rats with diabetes experimentally induced by alloxan, the blood sugar level can be significantly reduced by administering dried earthworm powder thereto. As will be described later, capsules containing dried earthworm powder, in combination with alimentotherapy, were administered to diabetic patients for 4 to 9 months. Thus, in the case of patients with a mild or moderate degree of diabetes, the blood sugar level began to lower after 2 or 3 months of treatment, and returned to the normal value of healthy persons after 4 months of treatment. Such as excellent effect cannot be found in the literature.
(3) In the literature, no mention can be found of the antihypotensive effect of pharmaceutical preparations containing dried earthworm powder as the active ingredient. Moreover, it is not reported therein that dried earthworm powder has a blood pressure regulating effect, i.e., the administration of dried earthworm powder to patients with hypertension and/or hypotension restores their maximum and minimum blood pressures to normal.

Process for the production of dried earthworm powder and antihyperlipemic, antidiabetic, antihypertensive and antihypotensive preparations containing dried earthworm powder as active ingredient


This invention is a storage device that economically, handily, and orderly stores miscellaneous parts such as would appear in homes, hobby shops, professional shops, laboratories, technical work places, offices, parts stores, and many other places. It is a means of attaching bags in a hanging position to the under side of any surface, including a shelf, cabinet, ceiling, work bench, and others, in such a manner that the bags are readily slid into and out of the attaching structure. It uses otherwise unused space and frees up the higher valued space that the cluster of drawers now occupy on the top of work benches, and shelves, and is far more durable and economical.

In the past this need has been filled by the use of bins, drawers, boxes, bags, shelves, and the like. The said bins, drawers, and boxes have been adapted and fitted with various apparatus to organize them in stacks and rows, generally in a cluster to be placed on top of benches and shelves. When these clusters are placed on work benches, valuable work area is compromised. When they are placed on shelves space that is more valuable for other purposes is taken up.

Organized storage for miscellaneous parts


A moisture control system includes a moisture control coverlet (10) and a fluid pump (18). The moisture control coverlet (10) includes a fluid pathway therein for moisture removal fluid. The fluid pump (18) is coupled to the fluid pathway for pumping fluid out of the fluid pathway by negative pressure at a fluid pump rate. The fluid pump rate can be adjustable and/or can be greater than 1 CFM.

Conventional microclimate control systems typically are unable to remove significant amount of liquid from the vicnitiy of a patient, as may be needed for patients who suffer from incontinence, and/or are not designed to provide an effective means for adjustably drawing liquid and moisture from a patient while avoiding excessive cooling of a patient. As such, there is a need to develp a system that may facilitate rapid evaporation/removal of liquid and/or moisture while regulating heat loss of the patient.


The faucet assembly of this invention has the usual water inlet and outlet lines. The novel portion of the faucet assembly is the visibly clear water conduits or tubes that are attached to the handles of the faucet assembly. These visibly clear tubes are in water flow connection with both the water inlet and outlet lines and therefore provide a way to determine most water flow problems in the assembly. In addition, these visibly clear tubes are aesthetically pleasing.

It is known to use various types of faucet assemblies for use in home sinks. Some are used in sinks in bathrooms, kitcnens, laundry rooms and basements. Some of these faucet assemblies are relatively expensive because of their complex structure and construction. The more simple inexpensive structures lack eye appeal and often are difficult to install.
In addition, many ornamental faucet assemblies have been used which are both functional and appealing from a design aspect. Some of these ornamental faucets are disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 141,718; 253,607; 291,114; 294,631 and 304,609. Most of these illustrate novel designs for faucets having both one and two handle means, each of a unique configuration. Most faucet assemblies are constructed of metal with plastic accessories, for example, plastic snap-on indicators for both hot and cold handles. In addition, there are some plumbing fixtures and faucet assemblies constructed of plastic such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,380 (Johnson). In Johnson, a plastic faucet assembly is constructed of plastic by injection molding. This type faucet has the advantage of providing spouts and faucets having complex shapes yet are composed of relatively few parts to be assembled to complete the fixture. Plastic construction also provices non-corrosive materials in faucet construction. Most faucet assemblies of the prior art are either aesthetically pleasing or simple in construction; few are both. Usually, eye appealing faucet assemblies are also complicated and detailed in construction.
Therefore, while most faucet assemblies are designed to be functional, they must also provide aesthetically pleasing designs to become competitive with existing structures. There is a need for more aesthetically appealing faucet assemblies that at the same time provide functional components and a relatively simple construction.


One embodiment of the present invention is a wireless communication system including at least a first wireless communication device and a second wireless communication device that periodically switch a reception channel and wirelessly communicate. The first device detects an overlap schedule period during which the first device and the second device use an identical reception channel, based on use schedule periods of the reception channel of both the devices, determines to extend or reduce the use schedule period of the reception channel of the first device, based on the detected overlap schedule period, adjusts the use schedule period of the reception channel of the first device so as to be extended or reduced according to the determination, and switches the reception channel at an expiration time point of the adjusted use schedule period.

There is a wireless multi-hop network which includes multiple wireless communication devices and in which a packet is transferred through the wireless communication devices exist between a source and a destination of the packet. Because of its ability to provide a wide range communication service, the wireless multi-hop network is applied to a smart mater network that achieves remote reading meters such as of electricity, gas and running water in an urban area by connecting the meters.
In a wireless multi-hop network, it is proposed to reduce adverse effects of interference radio waves from the outside of the network by executing channel hopping. In the channel hopping, a reception channel can be switched according to a channel hopping schedule and a channel hopping timing that are different among the wireless communication devices. Accordingly, each wireless communication device periodically advertises the channel hopping schedule and the channel hopping timing to the other wireless communication devices and, when transmitting data to another wireless communication device, identifies the reception channel of a wireless communication device that is to receive a packet next and determines a transmission channel.
However, a plurality of adjacent wireless communication devices may unfortunately select the same reception channel at a certain time. In such a case, packet transmission to these wireless communication devices fails by collision of radio waves. A method is proposed that if there is a time slot in which the reception channels overlap each other, the reception channel scheduled to be used is changed in order to prevent the failure, and avoids the overlapping. However, change in reception channel scheduled to be used causes a great effect. This requires to readvertise the changed channel hopping schedule to adjacent wireless communication devices, thus possibly consuming a wireless communication band.

Wireless communication system, wireless communication device, and non-transitory storage medium


A system includes one or more processors configured to receive income-related data, receive an input comprising an image that corresponds to a desired acquisition, access at least one database to identify a cost of the desired acquisition, generate a first purchase plan for the desired acquisition based on the income-related data and the cost, graphically augment the image to generate a graphically-augmented version of the image comprising at least a portion of the image and the purchase plan, and display the graphically-augmented version of the image on a device.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to help provide the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Children may grow up with little financial awareness of the costs of purchasing items, such as toys, electronics, etc. To assist children in effectively understanding the costs of purchasing the items, adults may provide verbal explanations of what the items cost or whether the items fit into a family's budget. To better educate the children on the value of money, it may be desirable to provide a financial education tool to teach children about finances.

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)


An acoustic signal level limiter provides a telephone handset/headset user with protection against loud audible signals generated within a communications system. The acoustic signal limiter comprises an acoustic signal level attenuation circuit and at least one acoustic signal level relay circuit. Once activated, the acoustic signal level attenuation circuit creates an attenuation network that attenuates an electrical acoustic signal transmitted through the communications system. Additional acoustic signal level relay circuits are activated to further attenuate the electrical acoustical signal to prevent the acoustic signal level attenuation circuit from operating in a deep saturation mode and provide further hearing safety for the telephone headset/handset user. A fuse in series and “Zener Zap” shunting transistor diodes may provide additional failsafe protection.

This disclosure relates generally to acoustic signal level detection and control, and more particularly, to hearing safety protection in communication devices that limit the level of an acoustic signal that is transmitted to a listener through a communication device.
Proper control of electrical acoustic signal levels within a communication system is desirable to ensure high quality communication and hearing safety to individuals using the system. Generally, a telephone handset or headset includes a microphone and a speaker. For example, a telephone headset provides a microphone on an arm that is positioned proximate to a user's mouth and a speaker disposed within an earpiece that is positioned over the user's ear. In order to provide proper communication, the sound level of the audible signal emitted from the speaker should fall within a range of sound intensity. If the sound level is below this intensity range, then the user may not be able to hear or understand what is being said by the remote talker. Conversely, if the sound level is above this intensity range, then the user may be subjected to increasingly uncomfortable sound levels finally reaching the point of injury. Loud audible signals are of concern in communication devices, such as telephone handsets and headsets, that position a speaker near a user's ear.
These loud audible signals may be caused by a variety of different events. For example, accidental disturbances within a communication connection may cause an electrical signal level to increase dramatically (e.g., a malfunctioning amplifier, intense feedback, incorrect signal source, or phone line shorted to power line). Oftentimes, the transient time of a signal to reach a high level may be very short and a listener may have little or no time to remove an earpiece or other listening device from her ear before she is exposed to that high level. In the case of a telephone headset user, the listener may have to bring her hand to her ear, which may require a second or two before the earpiece is removed. Also, many headset users spend a large amount of time on the phone. For example, headset users, such as telemarketers, receptionists, and operators often spend eight hours a day answering telephone calls and speaking with people over a telephone. Consequently, these individuals are at a higher risk of sound exposure caused by a sudden or constant loud audible signal. Thus, due to the extended time headset users are on telephone calls and the extra time required to remove the headset, headset users are particularly vulnerable to exposure to loud audible signals generated from the headset speaker.
FIG. 1 depicts a varistor 100 that has been used to reduce the maximum level to the speaker, and hence, the sound exposure. Basically, a varistor 100 is a surge protector that senses peaks within a signal and, in response, creates a shunt path, using diodes, that attenuates these peaks. As shown in FIG. 1, a voltage source 105, with corresponding source impedance 110, provides an electrical signal to an attached load 125 via the varistor 100. Examples of this voltage source 105 include a telephone or telephone adapter, and examples of the load include a telephone handset or headset speaker. The varistor 100 has a first diode 115 connected in parallel to a second diode 120, each having a corresponding turn-on voltage. This turn-on voltage activates the diode, and typically, is between 0.5-0.7 volts. The diodes 115, 120 are used to shunt the positive and negative halves of an electrical signal through their corresponding paths after the electrical signal received from the voltage source 105 reaches the respective diode turn-on voltages.
The first diode 115 is used to shunt the negative half of the electrical signal current and is activated by a magnitude of the negative half exceeding the first diode's turn-on voltage. If this magnitude is below the turn-on voltage, then the first diode 115 remains cut off. However, if the magnitude is above the turn-on voltage, then the first diode 115 is on and conducts current from the voltage source 105, thereby creating a shunt path. The amount of current actually conducted through the shunt path depends on the impedance of the load 125. In any event, the level of the negative half of the electrical signal current received by the load 125 is reduced because of this activated negative shunt path.
The second diode 120 operates in a similar manner as the first diode 115, except that it creates a shunt path for the positive half of the electrical signal received from the voltage source 105. As a result, the magnitude of each half of the electrical signal is attenuated after the diodes 115 and 120 are turned on. However, as is apparent, the voltage across the load 125 is not totally clamped if the electrical signal power increases. Rather, voltage across the load 125 may continue to increase, although at a much lesser rate due to the clamping effects of the positive and negative shunt paths. The voltage increase across the load 125 is caused by the fact that the resistance levels of the diodes 115, 120 are finally fixed. The level of shunting provided by the diodes 115, 120 is dependent on the ratio of the diode resistance and the load resistance, both of which are finally fixed, resulting in the diodes being incapable of adjusting the level of shunting provided by the diode paths. Thus, the voltage across the load 125 may continue to rise and produce a very loud audible signal if the level of the electrical signal is sufficiently high.
The problems above are caused primarily by the non-linear effects of the two diodes 115, 120. Specifically, the relationship between the current through a diode and the voltage across the diode is nonlinear. As the voltage source reaches the turn on voltage of the two diodes 115, 120, the diodes 115, 120 are activated and shunt current from the load 125. Additionally, the nonlinear characteristics of the activated diodes 115, 120 cause higher distortion across the load 125. Thus, the quality of any audible signal generated by the load 125 is compromised as turn on voltage is approached.
FIG. 2 depicts another circuit that has been used to reduce the electrical signal peaks. As shown in FIG. 2, a discrete transistor circuit 200 is coupled in parallel to the first and second diodes 115, 120. The discrete transistor circuit 200 comprises a first transistor 220, a second transistor 225, a first resistor 215 and a second resistor 230. The first transistor 220 base and emitter are connected across voltage source 105. The second transistor 225 is coupled in parallel to the voltage source 105 in a similar manner. This discrete transistor circuit 200 is placed in front of the two diodes 115, 120 and is activated by an electrical signal voltage level from the voltage source 105 being above the turn-on voltage of the first and second transistors 220, 225.
The first transistor 220 attenuates the positive half of an electrical signal after the voltage level between the first transistor 220 emitter and base exceeds the first transistor's turn-on voltage. Typically, this transistor turn-on voltage is between 0.5-0.7 volts. Once this first transistor 220 is turned on, an attenuation network is created, comprising the first resistor 220 and the resistance (Rce1) between the emitter and the collector of the first transistor 220. This attenuation network functions to decrease the positive voltage at the load 125 by allowing current to flow through the first transistor 220. As the voltage level of the electrical signal increases, the transistor 220 goes into saturation mode, and the resistance (Rce1) between the emitter and collector of the first transistor 220 decreases. As a result, because this resistance (Rce1) forms a divider network with the first resistor 215, the current flowing through the first transistor 220 increases, thereby limiting the relative voltage across the load 125. As the voltage source increases, the saturation level within the first transistor 215 deepens. Hence, the voltage across the load 125 decreases.
The second transistor 225 operates in a similar manner as the first transistor 220, except that it operates on the negative half of the electrical signal from the voltage source 105. Specifically, after the second transistor 225 is turned on, an attenuation network is created comprising the second resistor 230 and the resistance (Rce2) between the collector and emitter of the second transistor 225. Thus, the negative half of the electrical signal is attenuated, resulting in limiting the relative voltage across the load 125 as the voltage level on the electrical signal from the voltage source 105 increases.
Although the use of the two transistors 220, 225 provides better attenuation characteristics than the varistor 100 shown in FIG. 1, the two transistors 220, 225 are not capable of sufficiently attenuating a very large signal. This failure results from the saturation characteristics of the two transistors 220, 225. Specifically, if the voltage on the electrical signal increases to a sufficiently high level to drive the transistors 220, 225 into a deep saturation mode, the resistance (Rce2) between the emitter and collector of the transistors 220, 225 becomes fixed. As a result, the two transistors 220, 225 function similar to diodes that operate within the varistor 100 and a resistor network is created. Thus, as the voltage level on an electrical signal increases sufficiently to drive the transistors 220, 225 into deep saturation, the voltage across the load 125 increases.
The first diode 115 and the second diode 120 are still required to provide the Zener short circuit to prevent the output from increasing. In order to compensate for the above-described problem, a varistor 100 may be placed behind the discrete transistor circuit 200. However, the above-described problems regarding varistors are then reintroduced. The resistor network resulting from the diodes 115, 120 is thus not able to clamp the voltage across the load 125, but rather, only to decrease the slope of any voltage increase of the load 125.
FIG. 3 graphically depicts the inability of the above-described prior devices to effectively limit the maximum voltage level across the load 125. As shown in FIG. 3, an electrical output voltage signal 305 operating below a turn-on voltage 320 is relatively unaffected by the discrete transistor circuit 200. However, after the turn-on voltage is reached, the rate at which the electrical output voltage signal 310 increases is reduced. If only the varistor 100 is used, then the voltage across the load 125 will continue to rise 325 as the voltage source 105 increases. If both the discrete transistor circuit 200 and the varistor 100 are used, then the voltage across the load 125 will initially decline 330. However, once the voltage source 105 is sufficiently high to drive the transistors 220, 225 into deep saturation, then the voltage across the load 125 will start to rise 335. Due to the fixed resistance of the deep saturation characteristics of the transistors 220, 225, the voltage across the load 125 is not absolutely clamped, but instead, increases slowly in relation to an increase in the source voltage 105. It is important to note that the output voltage 310 may still rise above a desired clamping level 315.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods and apparatus that limit an output voltage as the voltage source increases. Additionally, because the apparatus may be required to operate in small devices with a limited power, such as in communication headsets, there is an additional need that the apparatus minimize cost, power consumption, and distortion.

Acoustic signal level limiter for hearing safety


A stepper motor in which the end portions of each of a pair of conductors are connected to their corresponding terminal processing units arranged in one array in the circumferential direction outside of stator units. The terminal processing units are integral with bobbins on which the conductor is wound in the stepper motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a so-called two phase stepper motor in which each pair of conductors which is wound around each of two bobbins in different phase is disposed outside of a rotating shaft so that by sequentially applying input pulses through each conductor, the motor rotates through a predetermined angle.
The stepper motors of the type described have suddenly become very important since the development and uses of ICs advanced widely so that processing of digital signals can be carried out in a simple and economical manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
First referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings, the conventional stepper motors of the type described above will be explained prior to the detailed description of the present invention for the sake of better understanding thereof.
A conventional stepper motor as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, has a pair of stator units 2 and 3 which have different phases disposed in parallel in the vicinity of a rotating shaft 1 and bobbins 6 and 7 around which are wound conductors 4 and 5, housed in the stator units 2 and 3. A pair of terminal processing units in the form of a metal pin are extended from both ends of the bobbin 6 in the radial direction. In like manner, a pair of terminal processing units are extended radially from both ends of the bobbin 7. The end portions 4A and 4B; 5A and 5B of the conductors 4 and 5 are wound around the processing units 4A and 4B; 5A and 5B so that they are electrically interconnected. Furthermore, the bobbins 6 and 7 are so housed within the stator units 2 and 3 that the terminal processing units 8A and 8B; 9A and 9B are in opposing relationship with each other. The terminal processing units 8A and 8B; 9A and 9B are extended outwardly through an opening 10 defined at the adjacent portions of the stator units 2 and 3. It follows therefore that the terminal processing units 8A and 8B; 9A and 9B are arranged in two rows in the axial direction.
Next referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a second conventional stepper motor will be described. Like the first conventional stepper motor of the type described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the bobbins 6 and 7 are so disposed that the processing terminal units 8A and 8B; 9A and 9B extended from the bobbins 6 and 7 are arranged at one end portion of the rotating shaft 1 in the axial direction thereof. Therefore the terminal processing units 8A and 8B; 9A and 9B are arrayed in two rows and spaced apart from each other by a suitable direction in the axial direction. The bobbins 6 and 7 are housed within a stator unit 12 and the terminal processing units 8A and 8B; 9A and 9B are extended outwardly through an opening 13 defined in the stator unit 12. The remaining component parts are arranged in a manner substantially to that of the first conventional stepper motor described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
However, since in the first and second conventional stepper motors of the types described above, the terminal processing units 8A and 8B; 9A and 9B are arrayed in two rows in the axial direction, the portions of the stator units 2, 3 and 12 through which are extended the terminal processing units 8A and 8B; 9A and 9B outwardly must be defined widely through the outer walls of the stator units 2, 3 and 12. Especially in case of the small-sized stepper motors, it becomes difficult to secure a wide portion through which the terminal processing units 8A and 8B; 9A and 9B are extended outwardly.

Stepper motor with input connector array


A compact fluorescent lamp having an electronic ballast circuit arrangement which exhibits improved thermal management characteristics includes an input conditioning circuit which performs rectification and optionally, power factor correction of a standard power line current. The output of the conditioning circuit is coupled to a high frequency switching circuit which includes a pair of power MOSFET switching devices operated alternately between an on and an off condition in response to a control signal presented to the respective gate terminals thereof. The gate control signal is developed by sampling the load current and generating a speed-up pulse which, by being transformer coupled to the gate terminals, functions as the gate control signal. The gate control signal is of a duration to allow high frequency operation of the lamp without generating EMI in a compliance band between 400 kHz and 30 mHz and further, without subjecting the switching devices to dynamic loss conditions that could result in a thermal runaway condition.

In the field of residential and/or consumer lighting, there have been significant efforts made in the past several years to encourage more widespread public use of a compact fluorescent lamps in place of less efficient incandescent lamps. Because of the significant energy savings that a fluorescent lamp offers over the use of an incandescent lamp while still attaining a comparable level of light output, public acceptance of such a lamp could contribute to the overall aim of conserving energy and the natural resources that are used to generate such energy. It is also a significant advantage that such compact fluorescent lamps have a considerably longer life than a conventional incandescent lamp. To this end, compact fluorescent lamps have been introduced having a standard type of lamp base so that they may be inserted into a typical lamp socket. An example of such a compact fluorescent lamp can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,360 issued on Mar. 5, 1985 to D. E. Bedel. Although the lamp of this patent is an electroded compact fluorescent lamp, it is possible to achieve an even longer lamp life using an electrodeless fluorescent lamp as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,400 issued to Hollister on Mar. 1, 1977.
As with most fluorescent or low pressure discharge lamp devices, it is necessary to provide a ballasting circuit to perform the function of conditioning the current signal used to drive the discharge lamp. Examples of typical ballasting circuits for a compact fluorescent lamp can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,443,778 and 4,570,105 issued respectively on Apr. 17, 1984 to J. A. C. Mewissen and Feb. 11, 1986 to H. J. Engel. It will be noted that the ballasting circuits described in each of these patents relies on an electromagnetic type of ballasting; that is, one that requires the use of a magnetic core transformer to condition the current signal. Because such a ballasting arrangement operates at a power line current frequency of 60 hz which can result in lamp flicker, it has been determined that an electronic high frequency ballast that would eliminate the occurrence of lamp flicker or light variation, would be preferable. An example of a high frequency electronic ballast arrangement for a gas discharge lamp can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,290 issued to B. Kerekes on Oct. 8, 1985. An example of a circuit for an electrodeless fluorescent product can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,203 issued to Stanley on May 10, 1983. It will be noted that typical electronic circuits of this type are of a self-resonant variety wherein a sample of the resonant current is taken to signal the switching of the bipolar transistor. Though this arrangement has proven to be simple and reliable in some applications, its efficiency at operating frequencies above 20 kHz is less desirable since the dynamic losses in the switching devices can be prohibitive. The term "dynamic losses" can be considered as that amount of energy in the circuit that is diverted away from the energization of the lamp and is otherwise lost in the form of heat dissipated. As such, if dynamic losses are not kept in check, the switching devices could experience a thermal runaway condition or operate at such a high temperature that reliability guidelines are exceeded. U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,920 issued on Jan. 29, 1991 to G. S. Hoeksma illustrates a more recent example of an electronic ballast circuit for a typical fluorescent lamp. In this patent, semiconductor switching devices such as metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) are utilized to achieve the necessary switching frequency that allows the ballast to operate at a higher frequency than does a typical electromagnetic ballast arrangement or even electronic ballast which uses bipolar transistors for switching. It has been found that MOSFET devices offer advantages over the bipolar transistor approach and that such MOSFETs can also be reliably operated at yet a higher frequency than the bipolar devices. In addition to the advantage that an electronic ballast will weigh significantly less than its magnetic counterpart, the electronic ballast, by operating at the higher frequency, provides for a higher light output, avoids the problem of light flicker and further reduces light output variation relative to a ballast operating at 60 hz.
One of the inherent considerations in the design of the compact fluorescent lamp and an electronic circuit for driving such compact fluorescent lamp is the avoidance of generating electromagnetic interference (EMI) in a particular frequency range established by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as being between 400 kHz and 30 mHz, a range that can be referred to as the compliance band. An example of a lamp ballasting arrangement using MOSFETs and operating at a high frequency can be found in Application Note AN-973 entitled "HEXFETs, Improve Efficiency, Expand Life of Electronic Lighting Ballasts" published by International Rectifier of El Segunda, Calif. A circuit embodying the discussion of this publication is provided herewith as FIG. 1 which will be described hereinafter in further detail. It is sufficient to note at this time however that though the circuit of this approach avoids the problem of increased dynamic losses by increasing the switching speed, such increased switching speed results in an increased EMI which may fall within the previously stated compliance band. One approach to avoid emitting EMI in the compliance band is to utilize an interference shielding device such as a filter. Such devices however are bulky and costly thereby adding to the weight, size and/or cost of the discharge lamp. Therefore, it would be advantageous if one were to provide an electronic ballasting circuit for a compact fluorescent lamp that would operate without experiencing dynamic losses that could affect performance and life expectancy yet achieve this improved performance without creating significant amounts of EMI.

Electronic ballast arrangement for a compact fluorescent lamp


The first magnetic body, second magnetic body and third magnetic body have S-pole at the left end and N-pole at the right end. The second magnetic body acts rightward attractive force on the first magnetic body. The third magnetic body acts leftward attractive force on the first magnetic body. When the first magnetic body is at the left end of the bed, the magnetic shield body is inserted between the first and third magnetic body so that the magnetic attractive force between the first and third magnetic is restrained. A magnetic attractive force from the second magnetic force is mainly acts on the first magnetic body. Then, an rightward acceleration acts in the first magnetic body. Therefore, a driving power can be generated only by a control of a magnetic shield body with minimizing the energy consumption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving apparatus using magnetic power.
2. Prior Art
In recent years, attention is highly concentrated on ecology, and a lot of technologies are proposed concerning the saving energy, the natural energy and energy accumulation.
However, there is no driving apparatuses are proposed of saving-energy-type or energy-accumulation-type with controlling magnetic shield body.
As a magnetic shield, body, silicon steel and Fe—Ni are known which introduces most of magnetic fluxes into inside due to extremely high magnetic permeability when they are positioned within a magnetic field. Therefore, devices such as CRT (cathode ray tube) etc. which should be prevented from magnetic influences are covered by a magnetic shield body so that the magnetic flux does not reach the devices.
The magnetic shield body can control the magnetic field existing as a potential and it is expected that a driving power can be generated by much less energy comparing with a means for generating power by field generation.


Maintenance procedures for an article such as a component of a gas turbine engine are analyzed by defining a set of workscopes that may be performed upon the article, gathering maintenance frequency information for each type of subsequent trailing workscope that may be performed after a prior leading workscope, for a sample set of maintenance procedures, and determining a measured sample workscope mix in the form of a set of trailing workscope probabilities as a function of each leading workscope. A projected workscope mix is projected for a set of maintenance procedures from the measured sample workscope mix. From the projected workscope mix, labor, supplies, and monetary estimates for maintenance procedures may be calculated. Alternative maintenance strategies may be readily compared using this approach.

This invention relates to the analysis of maintenance procedures for complex machinery such as gas turbine engines and, more particularly, to predicting maintenance procedures and to comparing alternative maintenance procedures.
Aircraft engines and other complex, safety-critical machines are inspected and repaired on a routine basis. A routine inspection occurs at a preselected point, such as after a preselected number of flight hours or flight cycles in the case of the aircraft engine. At these points, the machine is taken out of service, disassembled as necessary, inspected as necessary, and repaired as necessary. This process is collectively termed a maintenance procedure.
In some cases, the repair of each component performed during the maintenance procedure may include any one of several workscopes. For example, the component may require only a light cleaning. It may instead require a more major repair, or in extreme cases the component may be scrapped and replaced by a new version of the same component. Gradations in these repairs may also be identified. In an aircraft gas turbine engine, for example, the turbine vanes are expensive and are subjected to extremely aggressive environments during service. Upon disassembly of the engine, the turbine vanes are inspected. Depending upon its individual condition, each turbine vane is cleaned only, repaired by welding, recoating, or other process, or replaced if the turbine vane is too damaged to be readily repaired. Each of the workscopes have associated labor requirements, supplies requirements, and financial implications.
The maintenance procedure for each gas turbine engine is typically performed many times over the life of the gas turbine engine, necessitating multiple shop visits for the engine. While the decisions as to what repairs are performed on each component at each shop visit are made primarily on the basis of technical criteria, there is a need for an approach that will allow owners and maintenance facilities to predict the labor and supplies requirements as well as the financial implications for each engine or other complex machine at each shop visit, as well as for an entire fleet of engines or other machines. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.
The present invention provides an approach for analyzing maintenance procedures for an article such as a component of a gas turbine engine, and for entire fleets of engines with those components (i.e., the same components present on each engine of the fleet of engine). The approach allows samples of the maintenance data to be used to predict entire maintenance procedures as well as the labor requirements, supply requirements, and financial implications. Further, this approach allows alternative maintenance procedures to be comparatively evaluated. The preferred embodiment deals with the analysis of maintenance procedures for aircraft gas turbine engines, but the present approach is equally applicable to other articles.
A method for analyzing maintenance procedures for an article such as a component of a gas turbine engine comprises the steps of providing the article, defining a set of workscopes that may be performed upon the article, and gathering maintenance frequency information for each type of subsequent trailing workscope that may be performed after a prior leading workscope, for a sample set of maintenance procedures. A measured sample workscope mix in the form of a set of trailing workscope probabilities is determined as a function of each leading workscope, using the maintenance frequency information from the step of gathering. The method further includes projecting a projected workscope mix for a set of maintenance procedures from the measured sample workscope mix. To verify the approach, a measured workscope mix may be determined and compared with the projected workscope mix.
In one application of the method, there is established a labor requirement, a supplies requirement, and/or a monetary value for each workscope. A respective labor requirement, supplies requirement, and/or monetary value for the projected workscope mix is thereafter calculated from the labor requirement for each workscope and the projected workscope mix. The labor requirement, supplies requirement, and/or monetary value (cost or price) for an entire set of maintenance procedures may thus be estimated from a sampling of the maintenance procedures.
In another application, the method further includes defining a second set of second workscopes for the article, and second gathering second maintenance frequency information for each type of subsequent second trailing workscope that may be performed after a second leading workscope, for a second sample set of maintenance procedures. The method further includes second determining a second measured sample workscope mix in the form of a set of second trailing workscope probabilities as a function of each second leading workscope, using the second maintenance frequency information from the step of second gathering, and second projecting a second projected workscope mix for a second set of second maintenance procedures from the second measured sample workscope mix. The (original) projected workscope mix and the second projected workscope mix are compared, typically as to labor requirements, supplies requirements, and/or monetary value. This approach allows different repair strategies to be compared over the entire set of maintenance procedures. Thus, for example, while a repair modification may produce a lower per-repair cost, evaluation by the present approach may show that the repair modification may result in greater repair costs when evaluated over the entire set of maintenance procedures and multiple shop visits.
In yet another application, these principles may be extended to an entire fleet of articles by providing maintenance status information for the fleet of articles, and projecting a projected fleet workscope mix for a set of maintenance procedures from the measured sample workscope mix and the maintenance status information.
Further, the results for any one component may be combined with those for other components of the engine or other machine, so that the totality of maintenance requirements may be evaluated for a single engine or the entire fleet of engines.
The present approach builds a statistical picture of the effects of alternative maintenance procedures (i.e., the leading workscopes) by assessing the frequencies of the subsequently required maintenance procedures (i.e., the trailing workscopes). The statistical picture allows the maintenance facility to plan its labor and supplies requirements, inventories, and the like. It also allows various alternative approaches to be evaluated. In an extreme example that illustrates the potential of this approach, if a first repair is inexpensive to apply in a first shop visit but results in a requirement that the component be scrapped in the next shop visit, it may be preferable to utilize a second repair that is slightly more expensive than the first repair but has a low scrap replacement level in the next repair. The present approach allows more sophisticated probabilistic judgments of this type to be made based on limited empirical data.
This technique is useful for both the owner of the engine and the provider of the maintenance services. The owner is able to project costs of ownership of the engine over time and cash flow, according to various maintenance requirements and workscope strategies. The provider of the maintenance services is able to project costs of providing services, to schedule labor and inventory of supplies for the maintenance services, and to evaluate alternative approaches to providing the maintenance services (i.e., the effect of introducing alternative workscopes). The present approach is also useful as a predictive tool. For example, if a new workscope were developed that successfully reduced the number of scrap replacements by a reconditioning process, an important question is when should the new workscope first be introduced. The present approach may show that introduction of the new workscope is not economically justified until after a certain number of shop visits have been experienced, and the full development and qualification may be scheduled with that information in mind.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. The scope of the invention is not, however, limited to this preferred embodiment.

Workscope mix analysis for maintenance procedures


A method of targeted advertisement distribution based on persona data derived from a social network, wherein the social network includes a plurality of content streams, each content stream associated with a user and a user summary. The method includes the steps of receiving an advertisement request from a third party environment with associated content, identifying a content stream that includes a reference to the third party content, identifying a persona based on the user associated with the identified content stream, and serving an advertisement to the third party environment based on the identified persona.

Social networks have become an integral part of the internet ecosystem in recent years. The social web has more recently begun to branch out of social network domains and has begun integrating with other websites. For example, commenting and discussions on many websites can now be carried out using social network identities. However, much of the rich information that a user customizes within a social network (e.g., through establishing connections with friends and entities) is lost when accessing a third party site. Thus, there is a need in the social network field to create a new and useful method and system for targeting users based on persona data. This invention provides such a new and useful method and system.