An information signal processing apparatus is arranged to detect an amplitude level of an input information signal with a first time constant and to obtain a first amplitude level detection signal which corresponds to the amplitude level of the input information signal detected; to detect an amplitude level of the input information signal with a second time constant which differs from the first time constant and to obtain a second amplitude level detection signal which corresponds to the amplitude level of the input information signal thus detected; to compare the first and second amplitude level detection signals with each other; and to detect any dropout of the input information signal according to the result of comparison.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an information signal processing apparatus for processing information signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known apparatuses designed for processing information signals include information signal recording/reproducting apparatuses which record information signals on recording media and reproduce the recorded information signals from the recording media.
Among the information signal recording/reproducing apparatuses, a video tape recorder or a still video camera is arranged, for example, to record an image signal on a magnetic recording medium after frequency-modulating the image signal and to restore the frequency-modulated image signal recorded on the medium to the original image signal by frequency-demodulating the signal.
In the video tape recorder or a still video camera, a temporary attenuation of amplitude, called a dropout, often takes place in the signal reproduced from the magnetic recording medium at the time of reproduction due to various causes such as a foul or clogged state of a magnetic head and dust sticking to or scars left in the magnetic recording medium. Then, the demodulated signal waveform of the image signal obtained by frequency-demodulating the reproduced signal which has the dropout becomes a signal waveform which resembles a white noise waveform and greatly degrades the picture quality of the restored image signal, because the normal demodulating action of a frequency demodulator is hindered by the occurrence of the dropout. In view of this, the conventional video tape recorder (VTR) or still video camera has been provided with a dropout compensation circuit which is arranged as shown in FIG. 1 to improve the picture quality by making compensation for the dropout occurring in the image signal reproduced.
Referring to FIG. 1, a weak reproduced signal obtained from a magnetic recording medium by a magnetic head which is not shown is amplified by a preamplifier 26. The reproduced signal thus amplified is supplied to a recorded/unrecorded detector 27, a frequency demodulator 28 and a dropout detector 29.
The recorded/unrecorded detector 27 is arranged to find if any image signal is recorded or not recorded in each track on the magnetic recording medium currently under the reproducing action of the magnetic head on the basis of the level of the signal reproduced. A detection signal which indicates the result of detection is outputted from an output terminal 34.
Further, if the detection signal outputted from the output terminal 34 indicates the presence of the record of the image signal in a track on the magnetic recording medium, a tracking control mechanism which is not shown performs tracking control in such a way as to cause the magnetic head to trace an optimum position of the track on the magnetic recording medium. The recorded/unrecorded detector 27 has its time constant set at a relatively long period of time of the order of several milliseconds for detection of any recorded signal. The length of this period corresponds to some fraction of one vertical scanning period of the TV signal.
A dropout compensation process is performed after the detection of recorded or unrecorded state of the image signal and the tracking control are performed in the manner described above.
At the frequency demodulator 28, the reproduced signal supplied from the preamplifier 26 is first frequency-demodulated. The demodulated image signal outputted from the frequency demodulator 28 is supplied as it is to one terminal A of an analog switch 32. The demodulated image signal outputted from the frequency demodulator 28 is supplied also to a 1-H delay line 31 which is composed of such elements as a CCD (charge-coupled device), etc., to be delayed as much as one H (H: one horizontal scanning period of a TV signal). The one-H delayed demodulated image signal is supplied to another terminal B of the analog switch 32. The analog switch 32 is normally in connection with the terminal A. The switch 32 is, however, connected to the other terminal B upon detection by the dropout detector 29 of occurrence of a dropout in the reproduced signal supplied from the preamplifier 26. With the switch 32 connected to the terminal B, the frequency-demodulated reproduced signal which has been delayed by one H period and has no dropout is outputted in place of the frequency-demodulated signal having a dropout. A dropout compensating action is carried out in this manner.
The details of the dropout detector 29 of FIG. 1 are described below with reference to FIG. 2:
As shown in FIG. 2, the dropout detector 29 is composed of an automatic gain adjustment circuit 37, an envelope detection circuit 38 and a pulse shaping circuit 39. Generally, the reproduced signal supplied from the preamplifier 26 of FIG. 1 has some fluctuations or waviness in amplitude due to uneven contact of a magnetic head with a magnetic recording medium or the magnetic orientation characteristic, etc., of the magnetic recording medium.
Therefore, in detecting the dropout, the adverse influence of the amplitude fluctuations is eliminated by causing the reproduced signal supplied from the preamplifier 26 of FIG. 1 to pass through the automatic gain adjustment circuit 37 of FIG. 2. After that, dropout detection is made at the envelope detection circuit 38 by following minute dropout parts at short time constant of the order of several hundred nanoseconds. A detection signal which is thus outputted from the envelope detection circuit 38 is supplied to the pulse shaping circuit 39. At the pulse shaping circuit 39, the pulse width and the time base of the detection signal are corrected in such a way as to make them correspond to the white noise generated in the demodulated signal outputted from the above-stated frequency demodulator 28 due to the occurrence of dropout. After the correction, the detection signal is supplied to the above-stated analog switch 32 as dropout detection pulses. The analog switch 32 is connected to the terminal B for the period during which the dropout is occurring in the reproduced signal. By this, the demodulated signal which has become the white noise due to the occurrence of the dropout is replaced with the demodulated signal which is obtained one horizontal scanning (H) period before. As a result, a dropout-compensated image signal is outputted from the output terminal 35 of FIG. 1.
In the dropout detector which is used for the dropout compensation process described above, the automatic gain adjustment circuit is deemed to be indispensable for the input stage of the circuit arrangement. Generally the automatic gain adjustment circuit consists of a detector for detecting the amplitude of the input signal and a variable gain amplifier which is controlled by the output of the detector. These circuits require many elements and are, therefore, not suited for discrete circuit arrangement.
In view of this, it has been practiced to have the dropout detector including the above-stated automatic gain adjustment circuit arranged as a custom-made IC or to utilize a multi-function signal processing IC which already includes a dropout detector and is adapted for a video tape recorder or the like.
However, with the dropout detector arranged to be a custom-made IC, it results in a great cost increase in the event of manufacture in a small quantity. In the case of use of a dropout detector which is supplied in a state of being included in a multi-function IC, if the functions of the IC are to be efficiently utilized, signal processing methods other than the dropout detecting method must be also arranged to comply with the multi-function IC. This imposes restrictions on design work.

Information signal processing apparatus for detecting both dropout of information signals and absence thereof


Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for providing a corrected dibit signal. As an example, various embodiments of the present invention provide dibit correction circuits. Such dibit correction circuits include a dibit sample buffer, a maximum sample detector circuit, a side sample detector circuit, and a dibit correction circuit. The dibit sample buffer includes a plurality of samples of an uncorrected dibit signal. The maximum sample detector circuit identifies a maximum sample of the plurality of samples of the uncorrected dibit signal, and the side sample detector circuit identifies a first side sample prior to the maximum sample on the uncorrected dibit signal and a second side sample following the maximum sample on the uncorrected dibit signal. The dibit correction circuit applies a correction factor calculated based at least in part on the maximum sample, the first side sample and the second side sample to at least a subset of the plurality of samples of the uncorrected dibit signals to yield a plurality of corrected dibit signals.

The present inventions are related to systems and methods for preparing dibit signals that may be used for estimating non-linear parameters, and more particularly, to systems and methods for correcting a dibit signal to remove DC offset and/or restore the baseline.
Dibit signals are used in a variety of processing scenarios. For example, a dibit signal may be used to estimate a variety of non-linear parameters in a hard disk drive system utilizing longitudinal or perpendicular recording approaches. Such non-linear parameters include non-linear transition shifts, magneto-resistive asymmetry, channel linear density, overwrite, and the like. These parameters help to understand the types and strengths of nonlinear distortions present in the recording channel and also for developing approaches for mitigating these distortions. Thus, dibit extraction circuits may be included in a variety of circuits. However, it is often difficult to use such extracted dibit signals due to DC offset or distorted baseline exhibited in the dibit signal. This DC offset is caused by the non-zero cross-correlation property of the pseudo-random bit sequence (PRBS) used for extracting the dibit in conjunction with the non-zero DC property of the recording channel. This DC offset issue is more serious in perpendicular recording, as compared to longitudinal recording. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary prior art dibit signal 100. Dibit signal 100 includes a main lobe 110 with a number of echoes 130 disposed on either side of main lobe 110. As shown, main lobe 110 exhibits a magnitude significantly larger than any of echoes 130. As shown, a DC offset 120 may be so great that dibit signal 100 may be unusable.
Some approaches rely on a high pass filter present in the analog front end (i.e., AC-coupling) to remove the DC offset. However, in many cases, the pole of the high pass filter is very narrow and focused on removing only the DC frequency data. Because the pole is so narrow, there is often a transient affect that results in an undesired modification to the dibit signal while not solving the DC offset problem. Where the pole is made broader, too much information is removed from the dibit signal. Other approaches use a non-echo region (i.e., a flat region of the dibit signal) to estimate the DC offset. This estimated DC offset is then added/subtracted from the entire dibit signal. This approach does not work well, however, because the non-echo region is generally not perfectly flat due to AC coupling and presence of echoes. Other approaches perform dibit correction where the post process bits are represented by the following equations:
                    h        b                          [        k        ]              =                  (                              p                                      [              k              ]                                -                                    1              N                                                                  ∑                l                                                          p                                                  [                  l                  ]                                                                    )                          N                  N          +          1                      ,for DC-free channel; and
                    h        b                          [        k        ]              =                  (                              p                                      [              k              ]                                +                                    ∑              l                                                  p                                            [                l                ]                                                    )                          N                  N          +          1                      ,for channels with DC.Such approaches provide accurate correction of the dibit signal only where no non-linear distortions or distortion from AC coupling are present.
Hence, for at least the aforementioned reasons, there exists a need in the art for advanced systems and methods for correcting dibit signals.

Systems and methods for dibit correction


Examples disclosed herein provide the ability to identify the location of an individual within a room by using a combination of microphone arrays and voice pattern matching. In one example, a computing device may extract a voice detected by microphones of a microphone array located in a room, perform voice pattern matching to identify an individual associated with the extracted voice, and determine a location of the individual in the room based on an intensity of the voice detected individually by the microphones of the microphone array.

When a meeting is held in a conference room, a number of participants may not be able to attend. Collaborative workspaces are inter-connected environments in which participants in dispersed locations can interact with participants in the conference room. Improvements in processing capabilities and the widespread availability of high speed internet allow for synchronous communications between the participants at the various locations.

Locating individuals using microphone arrays and voice pattern matching

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A system and a method are described for forming features at the bottom of a cavity in a substrate. Embodiments of the systems and methods provide an infrared transmitting, hermetic lid for a microdevice. The lid may be manufactured by first forming small, subwavelength features on a surface of an infrared transmitting substrate, and coating the subwavelength features with an etch stop material. A spacer wafer is then bonded to the infrared transmitting substrate, and a device cavity is etched into the spacer wafer down to the etch stop material, exposing the subwavelength features. The etch stop material may then be removed, and the microdevice enclosed in the device cavity, by bonding the device wafer to the lid.

This invention relates to a system and method for creating features at the bottom of a cavity. Embodiments of this invention relate to a method for making an infrared transmitting lid for an infrared-emitting or infrared detecting device using sub-wavelength structures.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are very small, often moveable structures made on a substrate using surface or bulk lithographic processing techniques, such as those used to manufacture semiconductor devices. MEMS devices may be moveable actuators, sensors, valves, pistons, or switches, for example, with characteristic dimensions of a few microns to hundreds of microns. A moveable MEMS switch, for example, may be used to connect one or more input terminals to one or more output terminals, all microfabricated on a substrate. The actuation means for the moveable switch may be thermal, piezoelectric, electrostatic, or magnetic, for example.
MEMS may also be non-moving devices, such as photonic devices, fabricated using surface or bulk lithographic processing techniques. In such cases, small features required for the device to emit radiation in a narrow spectrum, for example, may be formed using MEMS techniques. Such a photonic device is a photonic crystal, formed from two metal films separated by a dielectric, with small holes formed in the metal films which determine the radiation output pattern and spectrum of the device. The device may be heated to an operating temperature of about 350 degrees centigrade, by driving a current through the device, and heating it by Joule heating. When the operating temperature is achieved, the photonic device may emit the desired spectrum of radiation, often in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Because the device may emit radiation in the infrared portion of the spectrum, for example, at a wavelength of between about 8 um and about 12 um, it is often desirable to encapsulate the photonic device in a vacuum cavity of a lid wafer that transmits the infrared radiation. Providing the vacuum cavity may reduce the absorption losses of the radiation that might otherwise occur if a gaseous environment, such as air, surrounds the infrared device. However, in order to also reduce reflective losses from the surfaces of the vacuum cavity, it may be desirable to provide antireflective structures, such as thin optical coatings on the cavity surfaces. One option for providing such a low reflectivity vacuum cavity is to deposit an antireflective coating on the lid wafer with a lift off method. However, the lift off method may require a thick photoresist, which is hard to remove after the antireflective coating is deposited on the lid wafer, because of the very high temperatures which must be used to deposit the antireflective coating.
Another option for providing the infrared-transmitting lid is to pattern sub-wavelength structures on one or both surfaces of the lid wafer, as described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,897,469, incorporated by reference in its entirety. The subwavelength features effectively reduce the dielectric constant of the lid wafer material and thereby reduce its reflection coefficient, as described in the incorporated '469 patent. However, in order to make the subwavelength features within the device cavity of the lid wafer, a relatively deep cavity may first be formed, sufficient to clear the infrared device, and the sub-wavelength features may be formed at the bottom of this cavity. The high resolution lithography required to form these small features is difficult to accomplish when the features are located at the bottom of a cavity, because the lithography cannot be focused easily on the surface on which the features are to be formed. In addition it is very difficult to obtain a uniformly thick layer of photosensitive material when using standard coating methods in the presence of such extreme topography, and significant variations in thickness of the photosensitive material can make patterning of small features very difficult or impossible.

Lid structure for microdevice and method of manufacture


An overhead console bin for motor vehicles that allows the interior of the storage bin to be illuminated without illuminating the entire interior of the motor vehicle. This console bin comprises a storage bin, a plunger switch, and at least one lighting source. When the storage bin is opened the plunger switch turns on the at least one lighting source highlighting the interior contents of the storage bin. When the storage bin is in its stowed position, the at least one lighting source is turned off.

Providing storage by way of console bins in motor vehicles has become very popular in motor vehicles. These console bins allow drivers and/or passengers to store any number of things in them, from garage door openers to sunglasses, in a convenient location so that articles do not get lost or misplaced. Current console bins do not allow illumination of the inside of the console bin so that drivers and/or passengers to see what is in bin. This invention allows for the total illumination of the inside storage compartments within the console bins. The closest known technology to this invention is the technology involved in a vanity pack in visors for motor vehicles.


According to one embodiment, an X-ray imaging apparatus includes an X-ray image acquisition unit, a control system and a display processing part. The X-ray image acquisition unit acquires X-ray image data of an object by using at least one imaging system. The control system controls the imaging system to acquire X-ray image data corresponding to different directions by reciprocating the imaging system repeatedly. The display processing part acquires X-ray image data for stereoscopic viewing out of the X-ray image data corresponding to the different directions to generate and display stereoscopically visible image data on a display unit based on the X-ray image data for the stereoscopic viewing. The X-ray image data for the stereoscopic viewing are acquired in a period without a motion or a possibility of the motion in an imaging part of the object.

Conventionally, a technology for displaying X-ray diagnostic images which allow stereoscopically viewing an imaging target, such as a blood vessel, using an X-ray imaging apparatus has been proposed. Assuming that images which allow stereoscopic viewing of an imaging target are referred to as 3D (three dimensional) images, it is necessary to make an image for left eye and an image for right eye visible individually by the left eye and the right eye respectively in order to display one frame of 3D image.
Examples of method of respectively acquiring images for left eye and right eye using an X-ray imaging apparatus include a method of respectively acquiring 2D (two dimensional) X-ray projection images for left eye and right eye actually besides a method by image reconstruction processing. The X-ray projection images for left eye and right eye can be also acquired by an X-ray imaging apparatus having a single X-ray imaging system as well as an X-ray imaging apparatus having plural X-ray imaging systems.
In case of using an X-ray imaging apparatus having a single X-ray imaging system, the X-ray imaging system is positioned to the first position by moving the C-shaped arm of the X-ray imaging apparatus. Then, an X-ray projection image for left eye corresponding to the first position can be acquired with stopping the X-ray imaging system. Next, the C-shaped arm of the X-ray imaging apparatus are moved to position the X-ray imaging system to the second position. Then, an X-ray projection image for right eye corresponding to the second position can be acquired with stopping the X-ray imaging system. Alternatively, the X-ray projection images for left eye may be acquired after acquiring the X-ray projection images for right eye.
On the other hand, X-ray projection images for left eye and right eye can be acquired using an X-ray imaging apparatus having two X-ray imaging systems. In this case, the X-ray projection images for left eye and right eye can be acquired at a same timing by positioning the two X-ray imaging systems appropriately.
The X-ray projection images for left eye and right eye acquired as described above can be used as two-parallax images for displaying a 3D image. As a method of displaying one set of two-parallax images as a 3D image allowing stereoscopic viewing, a method of displaying images for left eye and right eye alternately with a time division so as to be viewed through a dedicated glasses, a method of displaying images for left eye and right eye on a dedicated display without using a glasses, and the like are known.
Especially, acquiring X-ray projection images for left eye and right eye at a same timing using an X-ray imaging apparatus having two X-ray imaging systems makes it possible to display a 3D image, having an improved image quality, less influenced by a motion of an object.
Furthermore, generating two-parallax images by image reconstruction processing makes it possible to display 3D images allowing stereoscopic viewing from various observation directions.

X-ray imaging apparatus, medical image processing apparatus, X-ray imaging method and medical image processing method


A portable laser source includes a flash lamp assembly defining a hollow central channel, an elongate laser rod extending within the hollow channel for receiving a flash of light emitted by the surrounding flash lamp assembly, and a hermetically-sealed enclosure housing both the flash lamp assembly and the laser rod and including at least one optical transmission window for transmitting a laser beam emitted by the laser rod. Preferably, the flash lamp assembly is hermetically-sealed from the laser rod within the enclosure to maintain physical and electrical isolation of the laser rod from combustible and electrically conductive components of the flash lamp assembly. The combustible component of the flash lamp assembly can include Zr wool and an accelerant, or like materials for emitting a flash of light. The laser source can include a second window used to test the condition of the laser rod via application of an external test light to activate the laser rod within the sealed enclosure.

The present invention relates to a laser source, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a portable self-contained laser source having a laser rod and flash lamp housed within a hermetically-sealed compact enclosure.
By way of example, and not by way of limitation, a laser source can be used for igniting pyrotechnic devices, explosive charges, and the like. Of course, laser sources also have other applications involving laser focus energy needs. With respect to laser-based ignition systems, the laser beams produced by the laser source is used to ignite explosive materials. For instance, a portable laser source can be used to ignite pyrotechnic devices in connection with airborne ejection seats and canopies of aircraft. Such sources can also be used to ignite explosive charges for mining and down hole and subsea exploration as well as munitions activation for cannons and ballistic devices.
While known laser sources and laser-based ignition systems may function in an acceptable manner, there continues to be a need for an improved portable laser source that provides high power output despite its relatively-compact size (i.e., high power to volume ratio) and that is of a self-contained rugged design capable of tolerating harsh environments such as chemically corrosive atmospheres and liquids, high and low temperature extremes, vacuum and high pressures, and high levels of shock and vibration. Further, the laser source should have high reliability and should be capable of being fired via various means, such as via electrical power, mechanically via use of a piezoelectric crystal or battery/capacitor, and via percussion caps.


A guard device for exposed acting portions of aerosol dispensing containers. The nozzle, which projects out of a cap upon use is taken in and all of the acting portions containing the nozzle are closed, making operation impossible to provide protection against pollution and external forces.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to guard means for exposed acting portions in an aerosol dispenser for dispensing, by means of finger pressure, solution or the like contained in a pressure container under pressure of an expellent.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Active portions of the foregoing aerosol dispenser comprises a dispensing valve portion which exists within a container, a hollow valve stem exposed externally from the container and mechanically connected to the dispensing valve portion, a push button for acting pressure to the valve stem, a nozzle extending externally from the push button for dispensing the solution or the like through a dispensing passage in the push button. These active portions provide a dispensing head.
Such a dispensing head of an aerosol dispenser is not only often subjected to the problem of dirty materials sticking thereto in an unclean environment and entry of dirt and filth, particularly into the nozzle orifice, but is subjected eventually to emission of the solution upon the active portion falling or receiving external forces in transport. In order to prevent these drawbacks, a cup-like guard cap is ordinarily attached to the container to cover the whole head portions containing the dispensing head of the container. However, such a guard cap heretofore used may be eventually be lost by failure to recap after use of the aerosol dispenser.
In recent years, guard means of the dispensing head called one-touch caps have been developed. This one-touch cap generally has an open top face or at least is a cylindrical body having an opening at the top face, which cylindrical body is provided with a window bore at a portion of the cylindrical wall. Upon fixing the skirt of the cylindrical wall to the top portion of a dispensing container and pressing the push button with a finger through the top face opening portion, the solution is dispensed through the window bore.
By means of such one-touch cap, the dispensing head is protected from external forces and, different from the foregoing cup-like cap, it is convenient because removal and reattaching of the cap after every use is not required. However, it is impotent against external forces from above and also it is defenseless against pollution on each portion of the dispensing head because the exterior and the interior of the cap are communicated through the top face opening and the window bore of the cylindrical wall.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to remove the drawbacks of the foregoing prior art.


In the termination of signal cables with two or more wire pairs, it is customary to effect a clamping of the cable in order to relieve the strain on the wires themselves and the terminal connections. This, however, results in an uncontrollable re-arrangement of the wire pairs with associated interference between them. With the invention, this is avoided in that the termination or the strain-relieving element is configured with mutually separated lead-in passages for the individual wire pairs, and with associated clamping means for each of the wire pairs led through the passage. There is hereby achieved a well-controlled electrical separation between the wire pairs, and also an improved mechanical strain relief, i.e. by a primary clamping of the wire pairs themselves. By using a wedge part for insertion into the end of the cable, it can be ensured that the wire pairs extend from the end of the cable in an evenly inclining manner, whereby signal reflections from the area will be minimised.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a strain-relieved leading-in connection for signal cables with twisted wire pairs. In particular, the present invention concerns a strain-relieved leading-in connection for signal cables with a cable jacket and with several twisted wire pairs, respectively an apparatus or a connection element of the plug or socket type with such a leading-in connection, where clamping means are provided for co-operation with the cable for the strain-relieving of a closely disposed termination area for the wires in the cable. Regardless of whether the ends of the wires are terminated by soldering or clamping, it will be unfortunate if forces arising on the cable shall be absorbed solely by these assemblies. The same applies for current supply cables, also including those for power lines where, e.g. in connection with input plugs, it is quite traditional to use strain-relieving by firm clamping of the cable in the relevant lead-in connection.
2. Description of Related Art
It must be ascertained that precisely this form of relieving technique has by and large been practiced in the signal cable area, i.e., by a simple clamping of the cable between opposing clamping strips, which with good tightening provides an excellent strain relief, in that the clamped-together cable jacket, which normally consists of flexible plastic, will pack well around the leads and hereby secure these with great friction. However, it is precisely with signal cables that this gives rise to distinct problems, which will now be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cross-section of a signal cable with an outer cable jacket 2 and a number of internal wire pairs, designated 4a-d.
Typically, each pair of cables is twisted with a quite definite pitch which is different from the others, and the pairs are twisted around one another throughout the whole length of the cable. In principle, this provides a perfect electrical balance between the wires in the individual pairs and between the pairs.
FIG. 2 shows that, when the same cable is terminated in a plug, by today""s standard, the round cable will be pressed into a common lead-in passage where, typically by using common clamping means 6, the jacket 2 with the wire pairs 4 are squeezed in a random and often quite unfortunate manner, in that the twist conditions are changed to a dramatic extent. Note, e.g., pairs 4a and 4c, where the possibility is created for a very inductive coupling, the reason being that the pair twisting has been ruined. The signal carried by the cable is hereby brought into great unbalance, in that undesirable signal coupling is generated between these pairs. Moreover, the impedance seen in the strain relief will be changed considerably because of the ruined pair twisting. This results in undesirable signal reflection from the cable relieving point.
In FIG. 3 is shown another known way of providing strain-relief for signal cables. Use is made here of a lead-through opening with an annular clamping arrangement 6 which can secure the cable by clamping around the cable jacket. This will result in less disturbance of the twist conditions, but on the other hand, will give rise to an unfortunate tight squeezing together of the twisted wire pairs. The cable Jacket can be secured in a reasonably effective manner by a moderate twisting together, but as indicated in FIG. 3, traction and/or torsion in the cable with thus give rise to longitudinal movements of the wire pairs, so that the termination points are loaded by these movements. Consequently, the terminations become unstable, regardless of whether use is made of soldering, crimping, blade contacts or the like.
The object of the invention is to provide a lead-in connection which does not display the above-mentioned disadvantages, and according to the invention this can be achieved by dividing the lead-in area into mutually separated lead-in passages for the individual wire pairs, in that each of these passages is provided with clamping means for the clamping of the wire pairs which are led through them. It will be seen that a fixing of the cable jacket is hereby more or less done away with, but on the other hand, it is achieved that the wire pairs will be completely separated and be individually and effectively secured, so that the termination areas are spared for undesirable influences on the cable. The individual wire pairs naturally cannot absorb the same high forces as those which can be absorbed by a strong clamping of the whole of the cable, but by virtue of the surface pressure against the insulation layer of the wires in the respective wire pairs, a particularly good holding effect can, however, still be created, and which in by far the majority of cases will be fully adequate.
In practice it will be necessaryxe2x80x94and even directly desirablexe2x80x94for the wire pairs to be led to lead-in positions -in which they are mutually separated by an even greater distance than inside the cable. The electrical couplings arising between the pairs will hereby be automatically weakened, and -it will thus be of less importance that the regular twisting of the individual wire pairs can be disturbed quite locally in the individual lead-in passages.
The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing.

Strain relieved leading-in connection for signal cables with twisted wire pairs


A font management system includes a font memory for storing a plurality of fonts each having a plurality of attributes and a system RAM containing a priority register table. The font memory has a receiving buffer in which is stored a font selection code transmitted from a host computer. The font selection code contains attribute information and is used to select a single font from among the plurality of the fonts. The system further includes a central control operation unit, in which the attribute information contained in the font selection code is compared with attribute information stored in the font memory in the order of priorities of the fonts stored in the system RAM. The system can select a desired font having attribute information in agreement with the attribute information contained in the font selection code at a high speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a font management system for use in a character image generator such as, for example, a printer having plural kinds of fonts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Character image generators such as printers having plural kinds of fonts are in wide practical use today. Font memories being frequently used are accommodated in advance as standard font memories in such apparatus whereas other font memories being used at a comparatively low frequency are prepared as ROM cartridges, IC cards or the like. The latter font memories are mounted in the apparatus as occasion demands.
The character image generators, however, cannot receive a number of fonts at the same time for the use thereof. Also, replacement of the ROM cartridges or the like takes time. Because of this, with the spread of large-capacity ROMs, character image generators accommodating a large-capacity ROM as a standard memory are proposed in which a number of fonts are stored in advance.
In applications where plural kinds of fonts are accessible during the use of a printer or the like, attribute information of all the accessible fonts is compared with that of a font specified by a font selection signal for the selection of an appropriate font. The same is true for a printer having a large-capacity ROM in which a number of fonts are stored as standard fonts. The aforementioned comparison processing is executed with respect to all the attribute information of a number of fonts stored in the ROM.
In the present situation, however, a CPU for executing the comparison processing cannot comply therewith in processing speed. In other words, the processing speed reduces and the comparison processing takes a great deal of time.


An ink jet printer which is designed to control the motions of horizontal and vertical drive motors collectively and thereby allow only one motor to be driven at time for the reduction of peak power consumption includes: a vertical drive motor for feeding and discharging a print paper; a horizontal drive motor for driving a carriage to carry an ink cartridge to a print position; an ASIC circuit section corresponding to a logic circuit for controlling the operations of the horizontal and vertical drive motors; an EEPROM saving initial setting values required to control the ASIC circuit section and a program for a system; a driver circuit for controlling the operations of the drive motors; and a converger for managing tasks requested by the driver circuit in a collective manner so as to prevent simultaneous driving of the vertical and horizontal drive motors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer and, more particularly, to a an ink jet printer which is adapted to reduce peak power consumption in the ink jet printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printers are a typical peripheral equipment output devices associated with computer so as to make a printed record of computer information for the user.
Particularly, an ink jet printer is commonly used as a low-priced printer which is excellent in print quality.
An ink jet printer has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for receiving a signal from a host computer through its printer interface, reading a system program in an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory) that stores initial values for operating the printer and the overall system, analyzing the stored values, and outputting control signals according to the content of the program; a ROM (read only memory) for storing a control program and several fonts; a RAM (random access memory) for temporarily storing data during system operation; an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) circuit for transmitting data and control signals from the CPU to the various peripheral components; a head driver for controlling the operation of an ink cartridge according to the control signals transmitted from the ASIC circuit; a main motor driver for driving a main motor and for "parling" the ink cartridge; a carriage return motor driver for controlling the operation of a carriage return motor; and a line feed motor driver for controlling the operation of a line feed motor which is a stepping motor for feeding/discharging it paper.
In the operation of the above apparatus, a printing signal from the host computer is supplied through the printer interface thereof, to drive each of the motors according to the control signal of the CPU and thus perform printing. The ink cartridge forms dots by spraying fine ink drops through a plurality of openings in its nozzle.
Ink jet printers of such a construction have been developed for the improvement of a printing rate without any consideration of their peak power capacity. Consequently, the ink jet printers sometimes have to provide a high cost large size power supply section.
Peak power consumption increases usually because the vertical drive motor is driven to transfer the print paper in the vertical direction during a horizontal printing operation or during switching the carriage to the next print line.
That is, the carriage return motor is driven to allow the carriage to return to the start position of the next line after printing a line while the line-feed motor is driven to print the next line.
Such a simultaneous drive operation of the two motors inevitably accompanies increased peak power consumption in the ink jet printer.
Furthermore, it is necessary to design the ink jet printer in accordance with the maximum capacity of the power supply so that disadvantageously the entire system becomes much more expensive and larger in size.
The following patents each disclose features in common with the present invention but do not teach or suggest the specifically recited features of the ink jet printer having reduced peak power consumption of the present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,581 to Tsuji et al, entitled Ink Jet Printing Apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,068 to Moon et al., entitled Ink-Jet Printer Carriage And Paper Motion Overlap Method And Apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,930 to Ludden et al., entitled High Speed Thermal Printing Apparatus, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,905 to Taylor et al., entitled Method And Apparatus For Controlling Peak Power Requirements Of A Printer.

Power saving ink jet printer and controlling method thereof


A hydraulic coupling device includes left and right vane pumps which discharge working oil in response to the relative rotation of main driven wheels and left and right subsidiary driven wheels. First orifices are defined in a side plate disposed between the left and right vane pumps to permit communication between intake ports and discharge ports in the vane pumps. Orifices are defined in the side plate to permit communication between the intake ports and between the discharge ports in the vane pumps. With the above arrangement, in a hydraulic coupling device of a power transmitting system in a four-wheel drive vehicle, the formation of the orifices can be easily carried out, and the characteristics of the orifices can be stabilized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power transmitting system in a four-wheel drive vehicle including a hydraulic coupling device comprising a pair of vane pumps.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A power transmitting system in a four-wheel drive vehicle is already known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 3-104736. In this power transmitting system, an orifice which permits the communication between an intake port and a discharge port in each of the vane pumps, is formed by a small bore provided in a vane. Orifices which permit the communication between the intake ports and the discharge ports in the left and right vane pumps, are formed by clearances between a side plate partitioning rotors of the vane pumps and a cam ring.
In the above known system, since an orifice for communication between the intake port and the discharge port in each of the vane pumps, is formed by the small bore provided in the vane, the manufacturing steps required for providing the orifices in a large number of the vanes are troublesome, and further, it cannot be avoided that variations in size and shape of the orifices in the vanes are generated. For this reason, there is a possibility that the operating characteristics of the hydraulic coupling device are not stable. In addition, since the orifices for communication between the intake ports and the discharge ports in the left and right vane pumps are formed by clearances between the side plate and the cam ring, it is difficult to ensure the dimensional accuracy of the orifices, and there is a possibility that the operating characteristics of the hydraulic coupling device are not stable.

Power transmitting system in four-wheel drive vehicle


This disclosure discloses a light-emitting bulb. The light-emitting bulb includes a cover, an electrical associated with the cover, a board arranged between the cover and the electrical connector, and a first light-emitting device disposed on the board. The first light-emitting device includes a carrier having a first side and a second side, a first electrode part disposed near the first side and extending to the second side, a bended part disposed near to the second side and spaced apart from the first electrode part, and a second electrode part extending from the bended part to the first side. No light-emitting diode unit is arranged on the second electrode part.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a light-emitting bulb, and in particular to a light-emitting bulb with an omnidirectional light pattern.
Description of the Related Art
The light-emitting diodes (LEDs) of the solid-state lighting elements have the characteristics of low power consumption, low heat generation, long operational life, shockproof, small volume, quick response and good opto-electrical property like light emission with a stable wavelength so the LEDs have been widely used in household appliances, indicator light of instruments, and opto-electrical products, etc. As the opto-electrical technology develops, the solid-state lighting elements have great progress in the light efficiency, operation life and the brightness, and LEDs are expected to become the main stream of the lighting devices in the coming future. However, in some application, there is a need to have a light-emitting apparatus with an omnidirectional light pattern which is not available using the conventional light emitting apparatus.
It is noted that the LEDs can be further connected to other components in order to form a light emitting apparatus. For example, the LEDs is disposed on a submount, and then on a carrier. Alternatively, a solder or an adhesive is formed between the LEDs and the carrier to form the light emitting apparatus. In addition, the carrier can further include electrode for electrically connecting to the LEDs.


The progression of chronic renal failure in humans may be retarded by administration of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in effective amounts. The administration of DHEA is preferably oral at a dose of about 400 to 1600 mg/day. Patients suffering from severe chronic renal failure are also preferably maintained on a protein-restricted diet during DHEA administration.

Advanced chronic renal disease in humans is typically associated with multiple endocrine and metabolic abnormalities. Conventional therapy for treating chronic renal failure has focused on protein-restricted diets in conjunction with administration of ketoacid analogs of amino acids; see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,100,160, 4,228,099 and 4,352,814, all of Walser, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,619 of Walser et al.
Another technique for slowing the progression of chronic renal failure is described by Walser in U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,144 and in U.S. application Ser. No. 07/996,757, where the treatment involves administration of ketoconazole or other agent that suppresses glucocorticoid production.
Although these therapies may be useful in slowing the progression of chronic renal failure in many patients, the mechanism and factors that lead to chronic renal failure are still not well understood.
The human adrenal cortex secretes a variety of steroid hormones, including androgens, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids. The predominant androgen produced by the adrenal cortex is dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). DHEA is a nineteen carbon atom steroid hormone that is well known to serve as the precursor of sex hormones such as testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol and estrone.
In recent years, many studies have been undertaken to elucidate the biological role of DHEA. The results of this research are far from conclusive but suggest that DHEA has many diverse biological, biochemical and physiological effects involving various cell types, tissues and organs.
A review article by Meikle et al. in "Adrenal Androgen Secretion and Biologic Effects ," Endrocrinol. Metab. Clinics N. Amer., 20:381-400 (1991), describes some of the biologic effects of DHEA and underscores the fact that its normal functions are not well understood.
DHEA studies involving laboratory rats or mice have reported that administration of DHEA prevents obesity, inhibits tumor development, ameliorates diabetes, prevents autoimmune anemia, prevents double-stranded DNA antibody formation and prolongs survival in lupus erythematosus-susceptible mice (see for example, Meikle et al. (supra); Lucas et al., J. Clin. Invest., 75:2091-2093 (1985); and Svec et al., Proc. Soc. Exp. Med. Biol., 209:92-97 (1995)).
A recent study in humans by van Vollenhoven et al., "An Open Study of Dehydroepiandrosterone in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus," Arthritis Rheum., 37:1305-1310 (1994), confirmed early animal studies that DHEA was useful in treating mild to moderate systemic lupus erythematosus. Three of the ten patients in the study also had proteinuria, which was improved by the administration of DHEA.
The Meikle et al. review article (supra) likewise mentions, in its discussion under renal effects, that aging laboratory rats, which typically develop proteinuria, had this condition reduced by long term treatment with DHEA.
Studies of patients with chronic renal failure have reported that plasma levels of the adrenal androgen DHEA in such patients are low (see Zumoff et al., "Subnormal Plasma Adrenal Androgen Levels in Men With Uremia," J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., 51:801-805 (1980)) but that the adrenal gland secretory capacity for production of DHEA and of other adrenal androgens and steroids is undiminished, as demonstrated by stimulation with a known adrenal stimulus, cosyntropin (see Winer et al., "Preservation of Normal Adrenal Androgen Secretion in End Stage Renal Disease," Metabolism, 31:269-273 (1982)).
Meikle et al. (supra) report that studies have shown that DHEA levels in the body are significantly reduced by the administration of a synthetic glucocorticoid. A recent study of the biologic effects of DHEA identified an anti-glucocorticoid effect of DHEA but concluded that minimal information was available on the cellular and molecular mechanism of DHEA; see Kalimi et al., "Anti-glucocorticoid Effects of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)", Mol. Cell. Biochem., 131:99-104 (1994).
One reported medical use for DHEA is as a topical treatment for preventing dry skin, described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,496,556 and 4,542,129 of Orentreich. The former patent notes that oral ingestion of DHEA results in the undesirable increase in oil production by all sebaceous glands over the entire body.
These reports in the prior art fail to suggest any usefulness of DHEA in the context of a treatment method for retarding the progression of chronic renal failure.

Method of retarding the progression of chronic renal failure


Mutant tumor necrosis factor proteins which retain full or near full capability to bind to a TNFR-p75 receptor while retaining only a limited capability to bind a TNFR-p55 receptor are provided. Methods of inhibiting toxicity induced by tumor necrosis factor by treating cells or tissues having a tumor necrosis factor receptor with these mutant human tumor necrosis factor proteins are also provided. Pharmaceutical compositions and methods of inhibiting systemic tumor necrosis factor induced toxicity in a patient undergoing antitumor TNF-.alpha. therapy with these compositions are also provided.

Tumor necrosis factor .alpha. (TNF.alpha.) is a cytokine primarily produced by activated macrophages. TNF.alpha. stimulates T-cell and B-cell proliferation and induces expression of adhesion molecules on endothelial cells. This cytokine also plays an important role in host defense to infection.
TNF.alpha. activities are mediated through two distinct receptors, TNFR-p55 and TNFR-p75. These two receptors also mediate activities triggered by soluble lymphotoxin .alpha. (LT-.alpha.) secreted mainly by activated lymphocytes. Specific stimulation of TNFR-p55 induces TNF activities such as in vitro tumor cell cytotoxicity, expression of adhesion molecules on endothelial cells and keratinocytes, activation of sphingomyelinase with concomitant increases of ceramide, activation of NF-.kappa.B and induction of manganese superoxide dismutase mRNA. Specific stimulation of TNFR-p75 results in proliferative response of mouse and human thymocytes and cytoxic T cells, fibroblasts and natural killer cells and in GM-CSF secretion in PC60 cells.
TNF, especially in combination with .gamma.-interferon (IFN-.gamma.), has the ability to selectively kill or inhibit malignant cell lines that is unmatched by any other combination of cytokines. Clinical trials in cancer patients with TNF-.alpha. antitumor therapy have been disappointing, however, because the toxic side effects of TNF have prevented obtaining effective dose levels in man. These toxic side effects have been attributed to TNF binding to the TNFR-p75 receptor while the cytotoxic activity on malignant cells has been attributed to binding of TNF to the TNFR-p55 receptor.
TNFR-p55 and TNFR-p75 from human (Loetscher et al., "Molecular cloning and expression of the human 55 kd tumor necrosis factor receptor", Cell 61:351-359, 1990; Gray et al., "Cloning of human tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor cDNA and expression of recombinant soluble TNF-binding protein", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:7380-7384, 1990; Schall et al., "Molecular cloning and expression of a receptor for tumor necrosis factor", Cell 61:361-370, 1990; Smith et al., "A receptor for tumor necrosis factor defines an unusual family of cellular and viral proteins", Science 248:1019-1023, 1990) and mouse (Goodwin et al., "Molecular cloning and expression of the type 1 and type 2 murine receptors for tumor necrosis factor", Mol. Cell Biol. 11:3020-3026, 1991); have been cloned. Random and site-specific mutagenesis have shown that amino acids involved in receptor binding of TNF are located at each interface between two subunits, particularly loops 29-36, 84-91, and 143-148. Loetscher et al., "Human Tumor Necrosis Factor .alpha.(TNF.alpha.) Mutants with Exclusive Specificity for the 55-kDA or 75-kDa TNF Receptors", J. Biol. Chem., 268(35):26350-26358, (1993) reported that generally, mutations in the loop from position 29 to 34 and at positions 86 and 146 preferentially impaired binding to the 75-kDa TNF receptor, while mutations in the region from 143 to 145 mainly affected binding to the 55-kDa TNF receptor.
Two TNF mutants, L29S and R32W, which have been characterized in detail, have maintained almost completely the ability to bind TNFR-p55, while the TNFR-p75 affinity is decreased drastically (Van Ostade et al., "Human TNF mutants with selective activity on the p55 receptor", Nature 361:266-268, 1993). Van Ostade et al. also found that charge reversal at position 146 (E146K) resulted in a marked differential binding and activity. The R32W and E146K mutants were also shown to have decreased activity toward neutrophils and endothelial cells, two cells type believed to play an important rule in TNF-induced systemic toxicity. Thus, it was suggested that the use of TNF-R55-specific mutants, L29S, R32W and E146K in cancer patients may result in reduced general toxicity. A reversed differential binding affinity for TNFR-p75 was less affected as compared to TNFR-p55, and concomitant receptor-mediated activity has also been observed with several substitutions at position 143 in human TNF.
Zhang et al., "Site-directed Mutational Analysis of Human Tumor Necrosis Factor-.alpha. Receptor Binding Site and Structure-Functional Relationship" J. Biol. Chem. 267(33):24069-24075 (1992) examined the structure and functional relationship of site-directed mutation of TNF on receptor binding and found the loop containing Tyr.sup.87 of the TNF molecule to be the most likely to make direct contact with the TNF receptor. It is suggested that since Tyr.sup.87 may form a hydrogen bond with Ala.sup.33, proline substitution at nearby residues on the same loop as Ala.sup.33 could impair the normal interaction of Ala.sup.33 with Tyr.sup.87 by altering the backbone conformation, leading to impaired receptor binding. The effect of mutation at the Ala.sup.33 position was not examined in these experiments.
It has now been found that conservative mutations of the alanine at position 33 does not impair receptor binding to TNFR-p75, but rather results in mutant human tumor necrosis factor-.alpha. proteins which retain full or near full capability to bind to the TNFR-p75 receptor while retaining only a limited capability to bind the TNFR-p55 receptor. These mutant tumor necrosis factor proteins, if acting as TNFR-p75 antagonists, are useful in inhibiting systemic toxicity induced by TNF. On the other hand, if these mutant TNF-.alpha. proteins act as TNFR-p75 agonists, they are useful as TNFR-p75 specific desensitizers at lower doses which suppress systemic toxicity. These mutant proteins are useful as immune stimulators due to their ability to promote lymphocyte proliferation.


The present invention provides methods and apparatuses for analyte detection.

The detection of the level of analytes, such as glucose, lactate, oxygen, and the like, in certain individuals is vitally important to their health. For example, the monitoring of glucose is particularly important to individuals with diabetes. Measurement of glucose levels is an essential part of diabetes treatment and monitoring, and glucose levels must be constantly monitored so that a diabetic can properly maintain a normal glucose levels and avoid the ill effects of diabetes. To this end, a variety of blood glucose monitoring devices has been developed to help people with diabetes maintain healthy levels of blood glucose. In some devices, a test strip is used to obtain a sample of blood for measurement of the glucose concentration in the sample. The test strip is then inserted into the blood glucose monitoring device, where the concentration of glucose in the blood is measured. The level is then interpreted as either within, above, or below a recommended level, so that the diabetic can take corrective action, if necessary.
Obtaining an accurate blood glucose reading is essential to those with diabetes. If the measurement is inaccurate, the user might take incorrect action to maintain proper blood glucose level, leading to a host of immediate and long-term health problems.
Unfortunately, many factors affect the blood glucose measurement and can cause inconsistent readings. One of these factors is hematocrit, the volume percentage of erythrocytes (red blood cells) in whole blood. See Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (1974).
Hematocrit levels affect the measurement of blood glucose in several ways. One way is through the effect of hematocrit on blood viscosity. Blood viscosity strongly correlates to hematocrit levels, as the greater the percentage of blood cells in the total blood volume, the more viscous the blood. The viscosity of blood then directly impacts glucose measurements, as these measurements are directly affected by the rate at which analytes and reagents diffuse within a sample chamber, and this rate of diffusion is inversely related to viscosity.
For example, in amperometric measurement methods (which measures the current being passed through a solution to determine the concentration of an analyte), low hematocrits are typically coupled to elevated glucose readings (and vice versa) for two reasons: (1) reduced viscosity increases the mobility of both glucose and the soluble reagents employed to react with it, and (2) reduced oxygen concentration lessens the percentage of electrons originating from glucose which ultimately are sidetracked to oxygen reduction. Both effects result in increased current, and therefore in elevated blood glucose readings. For high hematocrits, blood glucose readings are depressed, as (1) increased viscosity impedes the mobility of glucose as well as reacting strip reagents, and (2) additional glucose-derived electrons are shunted to oxygen.
More advanced testing techniques use coulometry, where the analyte concentration is determined by measuring the total charge consumed or produced during an electrolysis reaction. In coulometric methods, especially those employing an oxygen-insensitive enzyme, both the above sources of error are reduced. Nevertheless, coulometric methods may retain some hematocrit influence. Furthermore, as strip test times decrease to below 5 seconds, a further source of hematocrit dependence peculiar to coulometric methods may become significant. At very rapid test times, glucose stored inside the erythrocyte may not substantially diffuse out of the cell during the assay, leading to increased hematocrit influence.
Furthermore, hematocrit can vary significantly amongst individuals, which leads to inaccurate measurements of blood glucose in methods that provide a universal algorithm to correct for hematocrit dependence.
It is therefore desirable to know the hematocrit in a blood sample, so that a suitable correction can be applied to the blood glucose reading to increase its accuracy. Some efforts to measure hematocrit and correct blood glucose levels based on these measurements have been made; however, most current methods rely upon interelectrode impedance measurements. Impedance measurements are vulnerable to artifacts arising from incomplete filling and variations in electrode area and chamber thickness. Impedance measurements are also subject to interpersonal variation in blood conductivity due to non-hematocrit related effects such as varying salt concentrations. Additionally, to determine a hematocrit electrochemically, a second electrochemical measurement must be completed after the initial measurement for glucose concentration, which adds time to the testing process.
In addition, current technology typically requires a manual determination of whether the sample is of a control solution or a bodily fluid, such as blood. This can be problematic for several reasons; in particular, a patient's poor eyesight or lack of dexterity can make a manual selection to indicate whether the solution is a sample or control solution quite difficult. An error in this manual entry will result in an erroneous average, which can significantly affect a patient's choice of treatment options. For many patients, such manual intervention presents a substantial physical challenge. A distinct issue unrelated to the physical challenge of making such a manual adjustment, is that individuals who are responsible for showing their average glucose (a current function of most monitors) might willfully adjust their average glucose readings by using the low or normal glucose level control solution, and in this way lower, their average glucose level. Such a situation may be encountered when an individual's own actions would render the actual average glucose levels higher than desired. To further illustrate this example, when a teenager consumes food or beverages that violate a strict diet plan, he or she might be able to falsify the average glucose reading by substituting the blood sample with the low or normal glucose level control solution. Thus, manual determination of a control solution remains a substantial problem in patient care.
Therefore, what are needed are improved methods and devices for accurate measurement of blood glucose concentration and determination of a control solution. Of interest are methods and devices for measuring hematocrit in a sample to correct for hematocrit dependence.

Analyte determination methods and devices


Optoelectric article includes a substrate made of an optoelectric single crystal and a film of a single crystal of lithium niobate formed on the substrate by a liquid phase epitaxial process, wherein a ratio of lithium/niobium of a composition of the film of the lithium niobate single crystal falls in a range of 48.6/51.4 to 49.5 to 50.5 or 50.5/49.5 to 52.3/47.7.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optoelectric articles and a process for producing the same.
(2) Related Art Statement
The lithium niobate (LiNbO.sub.3) single crystals and the lithium tantalate (LiTaO.sub.3) single crystals have been expected as materials for optoelectronics. It is known that a thin film of lithium niobate may be formed on a substrate made of a single crystal of lithium niobate or the like by the liquid phase epitaxial process.
For example, according to the description in "Appln. Phys. Letters", vol. 26, No. 1 (1975), pp 8-10, a thin film of a single crystal of lithium niobate having an almost stoichiometric composition (Li/Nb=1) is formed on a substrate of a single crystal of lithium tantalate by the liquid phase epitaxial process. According to "J. Appln. Phys.", Vol. 70, No. 5 (1991), pp 2536-2541, a thin film of a single crystal of lithium niobate is formed on a substrate of lithium niobate doped with 5 mol % magnesium oxide by the liquid phase epitaxial process, while the ratio of Li.sub.2 O/Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 of a melt is varied and the lattice constant is varied. According to "J. Cryst. Growth", Vol. 132 (1993), pp 48-60, a thin film of a single crystal of lithium niobate having an almost stoichiometric composition is formed on a substrate of lithium niobate doped with 5 mol % magnesium oxide by the liquid epitaxial process. In unexamined Japanese patent application Laid-open No. 5-117096, a thin film of a single crystal of lithium niobate having a composition of Li/Nb=1 is formed by the liquid phase epitaxial process.
Single crystal substrates made of lithium niobate, which have been widely used in optical devices, etc., are now produced by the pull-up process (Czochralski process: CZ process), and their compositions have a congruent composition of Li/Nb=48.6/51.4. Single crystals of lithium niobate having compositions other than the congruent composition Li/Nb=48.6/51.4 are difficult to produce by the pull-up process, and crystalline substrates excellent enough to withstand optical applications have not been produced.
However, since the lattice constant of the single crystal films of lithium niobate formed on the single crystal substrates by the liquid phase epitaxial process differs from that of the substrate having the congruent composition, lattice mismatch occurs at the interface between the film and the substrate. Accordingly, it is difficult to form a thin film having excellent crystallinity on the substrate.
Further, the single crystals of lithium niobate have been used as substrates for optical devices. In this case, an optical waveguide is formed in the substrate by, for example, a proton-exchanging process. In such a proton-exchanging process, lithium atoms of the lithium niobate single crystal film are partially replaced by hydrogen atoms to form a layer made of H.sub.x Li-nNbO.sub.3 and having a high refractive index according to the following reaction: LiNbO.sub.3 +xH.fwdarw.H.sub.x Li-xNbO.sub.3 +xLi.
The present inventors formed a single crystal film of lithium niobate on a single crystal substrate by the liquid phase epitaxial process, and formed a proton-exchanged layer by using the resulting substrate. Then, the inventors examined the crystallinity of the proton-exchanged layer in detail. As a result, it was clarified that the crystallinity of the layer was deteriorated after replacement with the protons. It is believed that since lithium atoms are removed from the crystalline lattice of the single crystal film of lithium niobate, and instead replaced by hydrogen atoms, the crystalline lattice is distored during this step.

Optoelectric articles and a process for producing the same


A pressure switch valve which briefly raises a pressure during switching of the valve. The pressure switch valve has a cylindrical chamber with a first ball that engages a valve seat of an inflow conduit. A second, spring-loaded ball is supported on the first. Both balls are longitudinally movable with slight radial play in the cylindrical chamber. An outflow conduit branches off from the cylindrical chamber at one point in such a way that upon switching of the valve, a normal plane containing the spherical center of the first ball toward the valve seat and extending at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the chamber does not reach the mouth cross section of the outflow conduit until a corresponding normal plane of the second ball toward the spring has already exited from the mouth cross section.

The invention is based on a pressure switch valve as generically defined hereinafter.
In brake systems with an apparatus for limiting drive slip or wheel spin, also known as traction control, it is desirable when the traction control comes into play to have the brake linings of the wheel brakes engage the brake disk or drum as fast as possible. Contrarily, when brake pressure is next fed to the wheel brake or brakes of the spinning driven vehicle wheel or wheels, the brake pressure should rise at a defined speed. Better control of brake pressure metering can be attained in this way.
For the above reason, a hydraulic brake system for vehicles with an apparatus for limiting drive slip at the drivable vehicle wheels, has been proposed which has a pressure generator that can be acted upon hydraulically and operates by the plunger principle, to generate brake pressure (German Patent Application P 39 36 578.6). The pressure generator, connected to a pressure source, is preceded by a pressure switch valve with a throttle that is inoperative until the brake linings contact the drum or disk. The pressure rising in the activated part of the brake system upon brake lining application switches the valve, making the throttle operative and supplying the pressure generator with a reduced quantity of pressure fluid. The next time the brake pressure is increased, the result is a reduced speed of the pressure rise.
A hydraulic brake system with an apparatus for limiting drive slip has also been proposed that has a high-pressure pump to generate brake pressure in the wheel brake of a spinning vehicle wheel and a low-pressure pump, called a precharging pump, for supplying the high-pressure pump with pressure fluid (German Patent Application P 40 17 872.2). The low-pressure pump is connected in the brake system in such a way that as the traction control begins to become operative it first feeds directly into the wheel brake, causing the brake lining to contact the drum or disk, before pumping by the high-pressure pump begins. However, under extreme conditions, the pressure generated by the low-pressure pump is not always adequate for application of the brake lining. A pressure switch valve that is intended to limit the pressure generated by the pump is disposed parallel to the low-pressure pump.

Pressure switch valve, for hydraulic vehicle brake systems with traction control (ASR)


The invention relates to two lipopeptides a1 and a2 produced by Bacillus subtilis and their use as an anitfungal agent against Aspergillus flavus. Both peptides are cyclic, acidic and have broad range of antifungal and antimicrobial activity. Both peptides belong to the Bacillomycin D family. A method and composition for controlling aflatoxin contamination in plants susceptible to alflatoxin-producing fungi, like Aspergillus flavus or Aspergillus parasiticus is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the control of pathogenic microorganisms, particularly pathogenic fungi and certain bacteria. The invention also relates to lipopeptides having such antipathogenic activity i.e. high antifungal particularly against the Aspergillus genus and antibacterial activity. The invention also relates to the plants which have been treated with the lipopeptides or the microorganisms that synthesize and produce the lipopeptides. The invention also relates to other aspects further described herein.
An important objective of the invention is to address and to contribute to solve the aflatoxin problem that is caused by the aflatoxin-producing fungi, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bacillus ssp is known to produce a variety of peptide antibiotics that are antibacterial and/or antifungal. Although the peptides antibiotics are composed of amino acids, they often differed from gene-encoded polypeptides in their structure and mechanism of biosynthesis. Some are gene-encoded and synthesized ribosomally, but these often undergo posttranslational processing and modifications. Antibiotics produced non ribosomally are composed of 2 to 20 amino acids organized in a linear, cyclic or branched cyclic structure. Bacillus subtilis produced gene-encoded antibiotics and a variety of small antibiotic peptides with a molecular weight less than 2000 daltons, synthesized non-ribosomally. Subtilin is one gene-encoded lantibiotic peptide synthesized by B. subtilis as a prepropeptide that undergoes posttranslational processing (1). Among the antibiotics synthesized non ribosomally are two family: the lipopeptides including iturin, surfactin, fengycin, plistatin and the small hydrophilic di- and tripeptides. Iturin is a group of cyclic lipopeptides produced by Bacillus subtilis including iturin A, C, D and E (2,3), bacillomycin D, F and L (4), Bacillopeptin (5) and mycosubtlin (6). All contains a .beta.-amino fatty acid linked by amide bonds to the constituent amino acid residues of the iturin group. Iturin lipopeptide share a common sequence [.beta.-hydroxy fatty acid-Asx-Tyr-Asx] and show variation at the other four positions. Surfactin is also a cyclic lipopeptide containing seven residues of D- and L-amino acids and one residue of a .beta.-hydroxy fatty acid (7) with an amino acid sequence completely different from the iturin group. It is a powerful surfactant and has been described as an antifungal agent. Fengycin (8) and plipastatin (9) are lipopeptide with ten amino acid and a lipid attached to the N-terminal end of the molecule. They differed from iturin and surfactin by the presence of unusual amino acid such as ornithine and allo-threonine.
Table 1 shows the amino acid residues of the iturins and the chemical structure of Bacillomycin D.
TABLE I Amino acid residues Antibiotic L D D L L D L Major .beta. amino acid Iturin A Asn Tyr Asn Gln Pro Asn Ser n-C.sub.14, i-C.sub.15, a-C.sub.15 Iturin C Asp Tyr Asn Gln Pro Asn Ser n-C.sub.14, i-C.sub.15, a-C.sub.15 Bacillopeptin Asn Tyr Asn Ser Glu Ser Thr n-C.sub.14, i-C.sub.15, i-C.sub.16 Bacillomycin D Asn Tyr Asn Pro Glu Ser Tbr n-C.sub.14, i-C.sub.15, a-C.sub.15 Bacillomycin F Asn Tyr Asn Gln Pro Asn Thr i-C.sub.16, i-C.sub.17, a-C.sub.17 Bacillomycin L Asp Tyr Asn Ser Gln Ser Thr n-C.sub.14, i-C.sub.15, a-C.sub.15 Mycosubtilin Asn Tyr Asn Gln Pro Ser Asn i-C.sub.16, a-C.sub.17 Primary structure of iturins. Bacillomycin D ##STR1##
Iturin exhibit a restricted antibacterial activity and a broad range of antifungal activity against fungi and yeast but none of them has been shown to have antifungal activity against A. flavus although iturin A has already been patented for control of aflatoxin (10). Culture filtrate from B. subtilis were described in 1948 as antifungal against important dermatophytes and systemic fungi, and the undescribed antibiotic was named "Bacillomycin" (11). Since then 3 class of bacillomycin D (12), F (13) and L (14), have been characterized according to their amino acid sequence. Among each class, different antibiotics have been reported such as bacillomycin Fa, Fb, Fc, and Lc. Bacillomycin Fb and Fc differ from bacillomycin Fa by the presence of one or two carboxyl group respectively instead of carboxamide groups and bacillomycin Lc from bacillomycin L only by the sequence positions of a side chain amide and a carboxylic acid (15). An exhaustive study of the literature show that bacillomycin F has been tested against a wide range of fungi and bacteria (Table II).
TABLE II MIC (ug/ml) Bacillomycin Bacillomycin Bacillomycin Test Organisms Fb Fc Fa Aspergillus niger 25 30 40 Botrytis cinerea 20 Cladosporium cladosporioides 25 40 Fusarium oxysporum >200 >200 >320 Mycosphaerella pinodes 100 30 10 Neurospora crassa 80 Penicillium chysogenum 20 Pleospora herbarum 10 Rhodotorula pillimanae 80 Sclerotina fructigena 40 Sclerotina sclerotiorum 50 Stemphylium radicinum 320 Trichophyton mentagrophytes 20 Candida albicans >200 >200 40 Candida tropicalis >200 >200 40 Saccharomyces cerevisiae 25 30 10 Azotobacter vinelandii >400 Brucella brochiseptica >400 Escherichia coli K12 >400 Streptomyces albus G >400 Bacillus cereus >400 Micrococcus luteus 200 Sarcinia lutea >400 Staphylococcus aureus >400 Kluyveromyces bulgaris 75 40
Bacillomycin F showed a strong antifungal activity against various yeasts, fungi and phytopathogenic fungi but a weak antibacterial activity (16). Bacillomycin Lc has been described as a new antibiotic of the bacillomycin family with antifungal activity against phytopathogenic fungi such as Ophiostoma ulmi, Verticillium dahliae, Ceratocystis fagacearum and Cryphonectria parasitica the causal agents of Dutch elm disease, Verticillium wilt of maples, oak wilt and chestnut blight respectively. Bacillomycin D has been reported to be antifungal against Absydia corymbifera, Aspergillus Niger, Candida Albicans, Fusarium oxysporum, Kluyveromyces bulgaris and Saccharomyces cerevisae (17).
Mycosubtlin, iturin A and bacillomycin L inhibited the growth of Micrococcus luteus, their activity are different upon Micrococcus luteus protoplast. Mycosubtlin and Iturin A are able to lyse Micrococcus luteus protoplast and bacillomycin L has no effect (18). Even a slight modification of the molecule as the methylation of the aspartyl residues of bacillomycin L gives a strong lytic activity while natural bacillomycin L has no lytic activity (19). The phenolic group of the tyrosine residue has been shown to be essential for the antifungal activity, when the tyrosine residue was substituted no activity was observed (20).
Aflatoxin Problem
The invention relates and contributes to solve an important scientific problem of serious economic and business consequences in the United States and in the world. To date, there is no acceptable and effective way and means to control aflatoxin on plants susceptible to aflatoxin-producing fungi. There are no known aflatoxin-resistant plants, genetically transformed or otherwise.
Drought stress and high temperatures at critical times during kernel or seed development and/or insect injury of crops can contribute heavily to aflatoxin contamination of corn by the aflatoxin-producing fungi, A. flavus and A. parasiticus. The aflatoxin-producing fungi, A. flavus and A. parasiticus, present health hazards to humans and animals through the toxic and carcinogenic properties of their secondary products. Even a very low level of aflatoxin contamination can lead to severe economic losses in the peanut industry. To control this problem, breeding peanut varieties resistant to Aspergillus sp. or which support less aflatoxin production has been attempted with limited success.
No commercial corn hybrids with high resistance to either infection by A. flavus or to aflatoxin accumulation are currently available. Aflatoxin detected at levels of 20 parts per billion (ppb) (established by the FDA) or above can make the crop unsalable. Aflatoxin is considered to be toxic to livestock being fed contaminated grain and to be a carcinogen, correlated with liver cancer, in certain human populations around the world. Cottonseed grown in the Yuma Valley, Ariz., corn grown in certain states of the southern U.S. and peanuts grown in certain regions of Georgia are chronically contaminated with aflatoxins resulting in direct losses by farmers amounting to tens of millions of dollars annually. Corn grown in the mid western states are contaminated with aflatoxin on a sporadic basis. Exact economic losses due to sporadic or limited aflatoxin outbreaks are difficult to determine, particularly in terms of detrimental impact at each of the various steps in the marketplace (including foreign markets). However, during drought years (1983 and 1988) in the mid west corn belt, which led to large aflatoxin outbreaks, losses were estimated to total in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
A major outbreak of aflatoxin in Southern Grown Corn, occurred recently in 1998. Aflatoxin contamination of corn in Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas in 1998 was one of the worst ever recorded. A potentially record number of grain-load rejections, due to aflatoxin levels in excess of FDA limits, occurred in some southern states. The aflatoxin outbreak in 1998 has additional significance since corn production in certain southern states has probably tripled in the past three years. It is certainly no coincidence that continuous days of 90(+) F temperatures and low or no rainfall dominated weather conditions for significant portions of the 1998 growing season in Southern states. The literature indicates that these conditions are highly conducive, even necessary for large aflatoxin outbreaks in susceptible crops. Insect injury is often suggested to be the major mode of entry by aflatoxin producing fungi. However, insect injury apparently does not account for the enormity of the aflatoxin outbreak experienced this past year in the South. Thus, controlling insects (e.g. cultivation of transgenic corn containing Bt, an insect toxin), although an essential part of good management practices, would not necessarily have been effective in reducing aflatoxin levels in Southern-grown corn in 1998. Some observations suggest that the fungus gained entry by some other, little understood means associated with high temperature and drought conditions. This highlights the need for extensive research on drought and temperature effects on plant health and physiology and fungal virulence and to find a solution to these problems.
In accordance with the invention, a method, microorganisms of the Bacillus family, peptides synthesized by the Bacillus, especially by B. subtilis have been discovered that contribute an important technical advance to the resolution of the aflatoxin problem.

Small peptides with antipathogenic activity, treated plants and methods for treating same

USDA/ARS Southern Regional Research Center


An apparatus and method for continuously casting thin steel strip includes a pair of counter-rotatable casting rolls laterally positioned to form a nip there between through which thin cast strip can be cast, an actuator capable of moving each casting roll independently toward and away from a given reference location as desired, location sensors capable of sensing the location of the casting rolls relative to the given reference location and producing electrical signals indicative of each casting roll position and a control system capable of receiving the electrical signals and causing the actuator to move the casting rolls into desired position. Force sensors may be provided capable of sensing the forces exerted on the strip and producing electrical signals indicative of the sensed forces, and the control system may be capable of receiving the electrical signals indicative of the sensed forces and causing actuators to vary the position of the casting rolls responsive to the electrical signals as desired.

This invention relates to the casting of metal strip by continuous casting in a twin roll caster.
In a twin roll caster molten metal is introduced between a pair of counter-rotated horizontal casting rolls that are cooled so that metal shells solidify on the moving roll surfaces and are brought together at a nip between them to produce a solidified strip product, delivered downwardly from the nip between the rolls. The term "nip" is used herein to refer to the general region at which the rolls are closest together. The molten metal may be poured from a ladle into a smaller vessel or series of smaller vessels from which it flows through a metal delivery nozzle located above the nip, so forming a casting pool of molten metal supported on the casting surfaces of the rolls immediately above the nip and extending along the length of the nip. This casting pool is usually confined between side plates or dams held in sliding engagement with end surfaces of the rolls so as to dam the two ends of the casting pool against outflow.
Further, the twin roll caster may be capable of continuously producing cast strip from molten steel through a sequence of ladles. Pouring the molten metal from the ladle into smaller vessels before flowing through the metal delivery nozzle enables the exchange of an empty ladle with a full ladle without disrupting the production of cast strip.
The casting rolls must be accurately set to properly define an appropriate width for the nip, generally of the order of a few millimeters or less. There must also be some means for allowing at least one of the rolls to move relative to the other casting roll to accommodate fluctuations in strip thickness, particularly during start up.
In the past, one of the casting rolls was mounted in fixed journals or was mounted in supports urged against physical stops. The other casting roll was rotatably mounted on supports that could move outwardly against the action of a resisting force enabling that roll to move laterally to accommodate fluctuations in strip thickness. The resisting force was applied by helical compression springs, or alternatively, pressure fluid cylinder units.
A strip caster with spring resisting force against the laterally moveable roll is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,943 to Fish et al. In that case the resistive springs act between roll supports and a pair of thrust reaction structures, the positions of which can be set by operation of a pair of powered mechanical jacks to enable adjustment of the initial compression of the springs to set initial compression forces. The initial compression forces are generally equal at both ends of the roll. The positions of the roll supports on the moveable casting roll are subsequently adjusted after commencement of casting, so that the gap between the rolls is constant across the width of the nip to produce a strip of constant profile. However, as casting continues the profile of the strip will inevitably vary due to eccentricities in the rolls and dynamic changes due to variable heat expansion and other dynamic effects. U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,943 does not provide strip thickness profile control to suppress thickness profile fluctuations during casting.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,301 to Nikolovski, et al. provides for controlling strip thickness profile during casting using sensors positioned downstream of the nip. However, U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,301 discloses strip thickness profile control obtained by enabling one of the casting rolls to move laterally outward from the other casting roll against variable resistive forces. The other casting roll is maintained substantially fixed against an adjustable stop.
There remains a need to improve control over the forces that the rolls apply against the strip irrespective of the variation in thickness profile of the strip during production. An apparatus is disclosed for continuously casting thin steel strip comprising:                (a) a pair of counter-rotatable casting rolls having casting surfaces laterally positioned to form a nip there between through which thin cast strip can be cast, and on which a casting pool of molten metal can be formed supported on the casting surfaces above the nip,        (b) at least one actuator capable of moving laterally each casting roll independently toward and away from a given reference location as desired,        (c) location sensors capable of sensing the location of the casting rolls relative to the given reference location and producing electrical signals indicative of each casting roll position in relation to the given reference location, and        (d) a control system capable of receiving the electrical signals indicative of each casting roll position and causing the actuator to move the casting rolls into desired position relative to the reference location for casting metal strip.
Each casting roll may be mounted on a roll cassette, and may further include actuators disconnectable from the casting rolls to enable the casting rolls to be changed out without dismantling the actuators.
By independently moving, each casting roll is able to move toward and away from the reference location and the nip between the casting rolls. There are reaction forces on the casting rolls from the cast strip and the movement of the adjacent casting roll, but these reaction forces are forces to which the independent movement of the casting rolls is responsive. Usually separate actuators are provided capable of independently moving each casting roll relative to the given reference location, although with mechanical linkage it may be possible to provide independent movement of the casting rolls with one actuator mechanism. The actuators may also be provided to vary the distance between the casting rolls at each end of the casting rolls independently as desired. In any event, the actuators may be selected from the group consisting of servo-mechanisms, hydraulic mechanisms, pneumatic mechanisms, rotating actuators and magnetostrictive actuators, and be capable of moving the casting rolls independently to vary the distance between each casting roll and the given reference location.
The apparatus for continuously casting strip may also have separate location sensors capable of sensing the position of the casting rolls relative to the given reference location at each end of each casting roll independently.
The apparatus for continuously casting strip may further include force sensors capable of sensing the forces exerted on the strip adjacent the nip and producing electrical signals indicative of forces exerted on the strip. The control system may be also capable of receiving the electrical signals indicative of the sensed forces exerted on the strip and causing the actuator to move the casting rolls responsive to the sensed forces exerted on the strip as desired.
The control system may capable of receiving and combining the separate electrical signals indicative of the sensed forces exerted on the strip from each end of each casting roll, and causing one or more actuators to vary the position of the casting rolls responsive to the combined electrical signals. Alternately or in addition, the control system may be capable of receiving the electrical signals indicative of the sensed forces exerted on the strip and combining the electrical signals from an end of one casting roll with the electrical signals from the corresponding end of the other casting roll and causing one or more actuators to vary the position of the casting rolls responsive to the combined electrical signals. Alternately or in addition, the control system may be capable of receiving the electrical signals indicative of the sensed forces exerted on the strip and combining the electrical signals from opposite ends of one casting roll and causing the actuators to vary the position of the casting rolls responsive to the combined electrical signals.
The apparatus for continuously casting strip may also include profile sensors positioned downstream of the nip capable of sensing the strip thickness profile at a plurality of locations along the strip width and producing electrical signals indicative of the strip thickness profile downstream of the nip, and the control system capable of processing the electrical signals indicative of the strip thickness profile and causing the actuator to move the casting rolls responsive to the electrical signals and further control the thickness profile of the cast strip responsive to the electrical signals indicative of the strip thickness profile.
Further, the apparatus for continuously casting strip may include temperature profile sensors positioned downstream of the nip capable of sensing the strip temperature profile at a plurality of locations along the strip width, and producing electrical signals indicative of the strip temperature profile downstream of the nip. The temperature profile sensors may be positioned to determine the temperatures across the cast strip at segments adjacent the nip or further downstream of the nip, and generate electrical signals corresponding to the strip temperature profile in segments across the strip adjacent the nip. Then, the control system may be capable of processing the electrical signals indicative of the strip temperature profile, and causing the actuators to move the casting rolls and further control the thickness profile of the cast strip responsive to the electrical signals indicative of the strip temperature profile.
Also disclosed is a method of continuously casting metal strip comprising the steps of:                (a) assembling a pair of counter-rotatable casting rolls having casting surfaces laterally positioned to form a nip there between through which thin cast strip can be cast, and on which a casting pool of molten metal can be formed supported on the casting surfaces above the nip,        (b) sensing the location of each casting roll relative to a given reference location and producing electrical signals indicative of each casting roll position in relation to the given reference location,        (c) controlling the location of each casting roll independently responsive to the electrical signals indicative of the position of the casting rolls, and        (d) moving each casting roll independently toward and away from the given reference location as desired.
Each casting roll may be mounted on a roll cassette, with each casting roll being mounted to be capable of moving toward and away from the nip during casting.
The method may include the step of separately moving each casting roll relative to the given reference location. Alternately or in addition, the method may further include the steps of:                sensing the forces exerted on the strip adjacent the nip at each end of each casting roll and producing electrical signals indicative of force exerted on the strip at each end of each casting roll; and        causing actuators to move each end of each casting roll responsive to the electrical signals indicative of the forces exerted on the strip to vary the distance between each end of the casting roll and the given reference location as desired.
In the method, the moving step may be performed by one or more actuators. However, generally two or more actuators are desired to independently move the casting rolls in relation to the given reference location. In any event, the actuator or actuators are selected from the group consisting of servo-mechanisms, hydraulic mechanisms, pneumatic mechanisms, rotating actuators, and magnetostrictive actuators, and are capable of moving the casting rolls independently to vary the distance between each casting roll and the given reference location. The moving step may be performed by independently varying the distance between the casting rolls at each end of the casting rolls. Alternately or in addition, the moving step is performed by controlling a force urging each roll against the thin cast strip there between during casting. The method may include the additional step of disconnecting the casting rolls to enable the casting rolls to be changed out without dismantling the actuators.

Strip casting apparatus with casting roll positioning