A symbol display apparatus for game machine includes lined up plural reel units. Each reel unit has double reel structure composed of an outer reel and an inner reel. Inside the inner reel, backlights are disposed. Peripheries of the outer and inner reels are so colored lightly as to be semitransparent, so the outer and inner reels make an object disposed inside indistinct but transmit light. Inner symbols arranged on the periphery of the inner reel are printed with light color. When the inner and outer symbols are overlapped, the backlight emits white light. Color of the inner symbol illuminated with the white light does not affect adversely to appearance of the outer symbol. When the inner symbol is displayed through a transparent portion provided in the outer reel, the backlight emits light color of which is correspondent to the inner symbol for displaying the inner symbol emphatically and clearly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a symbol display apparatus used for a game machine, such as a slot machine, a pachinko machine, and the like.
2. Background Arts
Many game machines such as a slot machine, a pachinko machine, and the like are equipped with a symbol display apparatus. As for the known symbol display apparatus for the game machine, for example, there are a mechanical reel type using reels outer peripheries of which carry plural kinds of symbols, and a video type displaying simulative reels on a CRT or a liquid crystal display based on graphic data stored on a ROM.
In the slot machine, when a start button or a start lever is operated after insertion of a coin (the coin described in this specification includes a token and a medal.), symbols start rotating. Then, when the reels are stopped by operation of stop buttons provided for each of the reels, or the reels stop automatically after passing predetermined time, a win or loss is decided according to a combination of the symbols displayed on a winning line crossing display windows. When a win occurs, coins the number of which is correspondent to the combination of the symbols are paid out as a prize.
By the way, an ordinary symbol display apparatus has a disadvantage that a game tends to be monotonous because only one symbol combination is completed in one game. Also in the symbol display apparatus of the mechanical reel type, it is difficult to increase diversity of the symbol combinations because many kinds and a number of symbols cannot be arranged on one reel. To solve this disadvantage, are suggested various symbol display apparatuses having a double reel, which is composed of an outer reel and an inner reel rotating inside the outer reel. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 3-60681 discloses to form an opening in a reel body of the outer reel which is made of light shielding material. In a slot machine disclosed in the document, when the outer reel stops and the opening appears in the display window the inner reel rotates again and changes the symbol, so that another chance for a win is given to a lost game.
However, in the symbol display apparatus with the double reel like above, inner symbols arranged on the inner reel and outer symbols arranged on the outer reel are overlapped. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that when a backlight disposed inside the inner reel illuminates the inner and outer reels, colors of the inner symbols are reflected in the outer symbols and spoil appearance of the outer symbols. Against the disadvantage, there is away that does not color the inner symbols. However, this way makes it impossible to clear and emphasize a value and a part of each inner symbol.

Symbol display apparatus for game machine


An adjustable headgear assembly (10) for securing a respiratory interface device (26) to the head of a patient that includes a headgear member (12) that fits over the crown and back portion of a human head. The headgear member (12) has upper side portions (14) positionable above and forward of the ears of a human head and lower side portions (16) positionable below the ears and along the back portion of the head. A pair of upper retention members (20) are provided. Each pair of upper retention members (20) extends downwardly and forwardly from the upper side portions (14). A pair of lower retention members (30) extend forwardly and upwardly from each of the side portions. Each pair of upper (20) and lower (30) retention members are structured to engage a respiratory interface device (26).

Respiratory interface devices are used for various reasons. Typically a respiratory interface device includes a mask portion interconnected with a source of breathable fluid to be inhaled by a patient. Examples of uses of these devices include the delivery of anesthesia, non-invasive ventilation, and for providing positive air pressure to a patient in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. In the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, positive air pressure is provided to a patient while the patient is sleeping.
Accordingly, in uses such as the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, mask comfort is important to ensure that the patient may sleep and also to ensure that the patient complies with the treatment. For the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, the mask must provide a sufficient seal to enable pressure to be maintained within the airway of the patient.
Typical respiratory interface devices are bulbous and enclose a large portion of the nose and engage the face of the patient. Additionally, such devices are typically secured to a patient's head via the use of multiple straps and other apparatus. It is common for such devices to include a forehead support and related straps to counteract the forces exerted on the device by the conduit or other member supplying the breathable fluid to the mask and thus maintain proper alignment of the mask. These devices tend to be cumbersome to position and secure on a patient's head and also produce a claustrophobic effect on the patient. Examples of such devices and related headgear can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,517,986; 6,119,694, and 7,069,932.


The present invention is made to not only reduce voltage drop when a power supply circuit makes a selection between a power supply voltage from a main power supply and a backup power supply voltage from an auxiliary power supply, but also reduce the power consumption of the auxiliary power supply. The power supply circuit, which is in a semiconductor integrated circuit, includes a measurement circuit, a switch control circuit, and a switch circuit. The switch circuit includes a first switch element and a second switch element. The first switch element is coupled between an output terminal and a first input terminal. The second switch element is coupled between the output terminal and a second input terminal. The measurement circuit operates on the main power supply voltage at the first input terminal and compares the main power supply voltage with the auxiliary power supply voltage.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit having a power supply circuit and to a method of operating the semiconductor integrated circuit. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technology that is effective not only for reducing voltage drop when the power supply circuit makes a selection between a power supply voltage from a main power supply and a backup power supply voltage from an auxiliary power supply, but also for reducing the power consumption of the auxiliary power supply.
It is conventionally known that a backup power supply voltage from an auxiliary power supply is supplied to an electronic device in order to maintain the supply of power to the electronic device even in the event of a decrease in a power supply voltage from a main power supply that supplies electrical power to the electronic device.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 11 (1999)-252825, a power supply voltage from a main power supply formed of an automotive battery is supplied to an electronic device through a first backflow prevention diode and a backup power supply voltage from an auxiliary power supply formed of an auxiliary battery is supplied to the electronic device through a second backflow prevention diode. The power supply voltage from the main power supply formed of the automotive battery is supplied to the anode of the first backflow prevention diode. The backup power supply voltage from the auxiliary power supply formed of the auxiliary battery is supplied to the anode of the second backflow prevention diode. The cathode of the first backflow prevention diode and the cathode of the second backflow prevention diode are commonly coupled and further coupled to the electronic device.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5 (1993)-276688, a power supply voltage from a main power supply formed of an AC adapter is supplied to a DC-to-DC converter and a load through a backflow prevention diode and a power switch, and a backup power supply voltage from an auxiliary power supply formed of a secondary battery is supplied to the DC-to-DC converter and the load through a MOS transistor and the power switch. As a charge circuit is coupled between the auxiliary power supply and the main power supply formed of the AC adapter, the secondary battery of the auxiliary power supply is charged by the charge circuit. The gate of the MOS transistor coupled to the output terminal of a comparator. A voltage obtained when the power supply voltage from the main power supply is divided by two voltage divider resistors is supplied to the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator. A reference voltage, which is generated by a reference voltage circuit formed of a resistor and a Zener diode from a power supply voltage supplied to the DC-to-DC converter and the load through the backflow prevention diode and the power switch, is supplied to the inverting input terminal of the comparator. Therefore, if the AC adapter is shut off from an AC power supply, the backflow prevention diode turns off. Thus, the divided voltage derived from the two voltage divider resistors becomes lower than the reference voltage of the reference voltage circuit. This turns on the MOS transistor. As a result, the secondary battery supplies a DC voltage to the DC-to-DC converter and the load through the drain-source path of the MOS transistor.

Semiconductor integrated circuit and operating method thereof


A mounting structure is provided that can allow gaseous matter generated when performing a heat treatment to escape to outside efficiently. A mounting structure 10 includes a substrate 1 having electrodes 2a and 2b, an electronic component 3 having electrodes 21a and 21b, joints 15a and 15b that electrically connect the electrodes 2a and 2b of the substrate 1 and the electrodes 21a and 21b of the electronic component 3 and also fix the electronic component 3 to the surface of the substrate 1, and a convex portion 4 that abuts against the electrode 2a of the substrate 1 and the electrode 21a of the electronic component 3 and is used as a spacer.

A method in which metal nanoparticles are used as a bonding material is receiving attention as a method of mounting an electronic component such as a semiconductor device on a base material made of ceramic or polyimide or the like. The term "metal nanoparticles" refers to metal particles of a size with a mean particle diameter that is less than 50 nm, such as Au, Ag, or Cu (hereunder, referred to as "metal nanoparticles"). Since the surface activity of such metal nanoparticles is high compared to a bulk material as the result of miniaturization, bonding is possible at a low temperature, and a high fusing point that is equivalent to a bulk material is obtained when bonding occurs and the size increases. Consequently, there are expectations regarding the application of methods that use metal nanoparticles as a bonding material to a wide range of products for which a need exists to decrease thermal stress when mounting electronic components and improve a heat resistant temperature after mounting. Further, compared to a conductive paste material that does not use metal nanoparticles, in a conductive paste material that uses metal nanoparticles, since metal is bonded and not merely touching, the resistivity is low and the bonding strength is also enhanced, and thus superior bonding is achieved. A conventional process of mounting an electronic component using such kind of metal nanoparticles as a bonding material is illustrated in FIGS. 16 to 18.
FIG. 16(a), FIG. 17(a), and FIG. 18(a) are plan views that illustrate a substrate during a mounting step. FIG. 16(b), FIG. 17(b), and FIG. 18(b) are cross-sectional views that represent a section along a line GG′ in FIG. 16(a), FIG. 17(a), and FIG. 18(a), respectively.
First, as shown in FIGS. 16(a) and (b), a substrate 1001 is prepared in which conductor wiring 1002 is formed on a base material. Next, as shown in FIGS. 17(a) and (b), a bonding material portion 1013 is formed at component mounting positions on the conductor wiring 1002 using a paste material that includes metal nanoparticles (hereunder, referred to as "metal nanoparticle paste material").
Next, as shown in FIGS. 18(a) and (b), electrodes 1014 of an electronic component 1003 are positioned facing the bonding material portion 1013, and the electronic component 1003 is mounted on the substrate 1001. Further, by applying energy such as heat to the bonding material portion 1013, the bonding material portion 1013 is bonded and cured to form joints 1015, and thereby bond the electrodes 1014 of the electronic component 1003 and the conductor wiring 1002 of the substrate 1001. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 18(a) and (b), a mounting structure is produced in which the electrodes 1014 of the electronic component 1003, the joints 1015, and the conductor wiring 1002 are connected in that order in a layered structure.
The metal nanoparticle paste material is stabilized by means of a dispersing agent to prevent polymerization of the metal nanoparticles. By applying energy such as heat to the metal nanoparticle paste material, the dispersing agent in the bonding material portion 1013 is decomposed using oxygen, so that metal nanoparticles fuse together and bond to form the joint 1015.
A method has been proposed that uses this kind of metal nanoparticle paste material when mounting an LED as an electronic component (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-136399). According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-136399, a metal nanoparticle paste is cured by applying ultrasonic vibrations thereto. However, when using ultrasonic vibrations, in some cases damage is caused to the electronic components or the bonding is insufficient. Hence, a method has also been proposed in which curing is performed by heating in the same way as described above together with the use of ultrasonic vibrations or instead of using ultrasonic vibrations.

Mounting structure, and method of manufacturing mounting structure

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


A right inductive coil is coupled to a vehicle at a first location offset from the vehicle's centerline for generating a first signal in response to an electromagnetic signal in a guide wire beneath the vehicle. Similarly, a left inductive coil coupled to the vehicle opposite the right coil relative to the centerline for generating a second signal in response to an electromagnetic signal in the guide wire. A signal comparator receives the signals and generates a guidance signal representative of the combination of the signals. Also, a position antenna is movably mounted in the vertical dimension on the vehicle for generating query pulses and detecting echo pulses from transponders embedded in a test track.

New models of vehicles are thoroughly tested by manufacturers at proving grounds prior to marketing the vehicles. Indeed, vehicle models that have been marketed for some time often undergo continued testing. Such testing includes prolonged operation of test vehicles around a test track, to determine the vehicles' operational fitness. The advantages of vehicle testing in ensuring safe, satisfactory vehicles having long been recognized, vehicle testing has become a necessary and ubiquitous part of vehicle development. It can be readily appreciated, however, that using human drivers to test drive vehicles hundreds of thousands of miles is economically costly for manufacturers to use human drivers, and physically demanding on the drivers.
It happens that test time and mileage can be reduced, and test effectiveness enhanced, by driving test vehicles over rough test tracks, in addition to driving test vehicles over smoothly paved tracks. In other words, time can be saved, testing costs can be reduced, and test effectiveness can be improved by using rough tracks. Unfortunately, prolonged driving over rough tracks is extremely physically demanding on human test drivers. Indeed, a human driver's operating time over such tracks must be severely limited for the driver's protection.
As advantageously recognized by the present invention, the above-stated advantages of using vehicle testing can be realized without requiring human test drivers by providing a computer-controlled facility for testing vehicles. Thereby, test costs are significantly reduced and test driver fatigue and discomfort are eliminated.
Of importance to the present invention is the computer control system of the test facility. As recognized herein, to provide for completely automated test driving and safety, the computer control system must perform a plethora of tasks. These tasks include providing for the interactive definition of vehicle test profiles (referred to herein as "missions"), and the avoidance of mutual interference ("MI") between vehicles. Also, vehicle operation must be monitored and displayed for facility operators. The present invention both advantageously recognizes the above-noted problems, and addresses them using the novel inventive principles discussed below.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide, in an automated durability road facility, a computer control system for automatically controlling the operation of the vehicles to be tested. Another object of the present invention is to provide a computer control system for an automated test facility that avoids mutual interference between vehicles during testing. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a computer control system for an automated test facility that provides for displaying and updating vehicle status. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an automated durability road facility that is easy to use and cost-effective.

Vehicle mounted guidance antenna for automated durability road (ADR) facility


Provided is a semiconductor device including a transistor that has a silicide layer formed over a semiconductor substrate. The gate electrode of each transistor is composed of a polysilicon electrode and the silicide layer formed thereon. Each transistor further has source/drain impurity-diffused layers composed of low-concentration doped regions and high-concentration doped regions, and silicide layers formed over the source/drain impurity-diffused layers. The surface of each silicide layer is positioned above the surface of the semiconductor substrate. The silicide layers contain a silicidation-suppressive metal, and have a concentration profile of the silicidation-suppressive metal over a region of the silicide layers ranging from the surface to a predetermined depth, such as increasing the concentration from the surface of each silicide layer in the depth-wise direction of the semiconductor substrate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same, and in particular to a semiconductor device having a silicide layer and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Related Art
In semiconductor elements, such as MOS transistors, composing semiconductor integrated circuits silicide layers are formed over the source/drain impurity-diffused layers and over the gate electrodes, in order to lower the contact resistance. Titanium silicide, cobalt silicide, nickel silicide and so forth are adoptable to the silicide layers. In particular in recent years, Pt-doped nickel silicide has been used in view of improving the heat resistance.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-067225 may be exemplified as a publicly-known literature disclosing a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-067225 discloses a technique of forming Er-doped nickel silicide.
As described in the above, the conventional semiconductor devices have been suffering from increase in the junction leakage and resistivity, as a result of thinning of the silicide layers.

Semiconductor device and method of fabricating the same


A tool for facilitating threading of a ponytail type of hair style within itself to achieve an attractive in appearance hair style. The tool includes a loop through which the ponytail is conducted with this loop to then be tightened on the ponytail prior to being pulled through the inner portion of the ponytail.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention relates to tools and more particularly to a tool which facilitates the achieving of a rather unique hair style which heretofore has been difficult to achieve without the use of any tool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hair styles have long been important to human beings. Women are the primary utilizers of hair styles. For a substantial number of years a desirable form of hair style is what is termed to be a ponytail. A ponytail condenses the hair rearwardly of the head of the user into a rope or cord-like strand with a banding means such as a rubber band being placed around the ponytail to maintain the hair in this position. Once the hair is in the position of a ponytail it can be wound up into a bun or altered to assume many other numerous configurations.
One of the configurations of a ponytail would be to take the outer portion of the ponytail and downwardly thread such through the inner portion of the ponytail (that portion of the ponytail which is located directly adjacent the head). However, for most people, this is difficult to do and usually requires a second person to assist in manipulating the hair in this manner.
However, a tool was constructed and patented in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,870 issued Aug. 6, 1991 which facilitated this threading of the outer portion of the ponytail through the inner portion of the ponytail. This tool comprised an elongated handle and a wire or plastic loop of a particular configuration attached to one end of the handle. This plastic loop was of a fixed size configuration. The disadvantage of this tool is that there was no way to compress the size of the loop to make it threadable through the hair in a easier manner. Additionally, because the ponytail was retained within the loop in a very loose manner, some individual hair strands might not get threaded through the hair which would result in a rather unattractive appearance generally requiring the threading procedure to be redone.


According to the present invention, there is provided a heterodyne interferometer comprising a laser oscilator, a frequency modulator which splits the laser beam into two beams and causes the beams to have different frequencies, a photodetector which composes both beams after at least one beam is reflected or transmitted by an object under test, and produces an interference signal from a composed laser beam, a frequency analyzer which reveals a Doppler frequency component of the interference signal, and an x-axis and y-axis fine movement command circuit and a photodetector positioning mechanism which detects the amplitude of the a.c.(alternating current) component of the interference signal and positions the photodetector so that the amplitude is maximum. The present invention also provides the heterodyne interferometer which, instead of the x-axis and y-axis fine movement command circuit and a photodetector positioning mechanism, comprises a plurality of photodetector disposed in the direction perpendicular to the laser beam axis, a peak value discriminator which discriminates a peak amplitude of the interference signals output by the photodetectors, and a multiplexer which discriminates interference signal having the largest amplitude and transmits this interference to the frequency analyzer. The heterodyne interferometer is capable of obtaining interference signal of a predetermined level irrespective of the surface condition of an object under test at the laser beam focal point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heterodyne interferometer capable of measuring the velocity or vibration of an object under test accurately in a non-contact manner by utilizing the interference of light.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 7 shows the arrangement of a conventional heterodyne interferometer disclosed in publication "Optics and Laser Technology", Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 11-16, by P. Buchhave, published in 1975 by IPC Science and Technology Press. In the figure, symbol 1 denotes a laser oscillator, 2 is a beam splitter, 3 is a frequency non-modulated beam, 4 is a frequency modulated beam, 5 is a mirror, 6 is a frequency modulator, 7a and 7b are converging lenses, 8 is a photodetector, 9 is an interference signal, and 10 is a frequency analyzer.
This heterodyne interferometer operates as follows. A laser beam produced by the laser oscillator 1 is split into two beams by means of the beam splitter 2. One beam as a frequency non-modulated beam 3 reaches the converging lens 7a without any rendition of frequency modulation, and another, beam as a frequency modulated beam 4 is reflected by the mirror 5 and is incident to the frequency modulator 6, where the beam is subjected to a small frequency modulation (with a frequency shift of f.sub.o) and the resulting beam reaches the converging lens 7a. Both beams 3 and 4 are focused by the converging lens 7a to a point P in a fluid including very small particles and moving at velocity V in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis (shown by the arrow in the figure). The beams 3 and 4 are reflected by particles and subjected to the Doppler shift depending on their frequencies.
In case the object under test is a transparent fluid, the beams 3 and 4 after the focal point P are collected by the converging lens 7b and are incident to the photodetector 8. The photodetector 8 integrates the amount of light received on its entire light-sensitive plane thereby to produce an interference signal 9 for the two beams 3 and 4. The interference signal 9 has a Doppler frequency f.sub.d expressed as follows. EQU f.sub.d =.vertline.F.sub.o -(2V/.lambda.) sin(.theta./2).vertline.(1)
where .lambda. is the wavelength of the laser beam emitted by the laser oscillator 1, and .theta. is the angle of intersection of the non-modulated beam 3 and modulated beam 4. Accordingly, the frequency analyzer 10 evaluates the velocity V of the object under test from the Doppler frequency f.sub.d of the interference signal 9 through the calculation of the above expression (1).
However, in the foregoing conventional heterodyne interferometer, the amount of light incident to the photodetector 8 varies due to the of the surface of particles included by the fluid at the moving focal point P of the laser beams, or in the multi-point measurement based on the scanning of the laser beams, and consequently the resulting interference signal fluctuates. In some cases, the level of the interference signal becomes too low to ensure the accuracy of measurement of the moving velocity of the object under test.


An exhaust gas purification system that is equipped, from an upstream side toward downstream side through which an exhaust gas flows, with a plasma reactor and a NOx selective reduction catalyst unit having a NOx selective reduction catalyst layer acting on the exhaust gas, and which system provides a reducing agent adding means adding a reducing agent to the exhaust gas at an upstream side of the plasma reactor, wherein the NOx selective reduction catalyst layer comprises nickel and a NOx selective reduction catalyst or wherein the NOx selective reduction catalyst layer contains γ-alumina that supports magnesium or wherein the NOx selective reduction catalyst unit comprises a first purification unit where an exhaust gas via the plasma reactor is introduced, and a second purification unit where an exhaust gas via the first purification unit is introduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust gas purification system, and in more particular, to an exhaust gas purification system for purifying a NOx in an exhaust gas exhausted from a NOx exhaust source such as a lean-burn engine and a gasoline direct-injection engine under an excess oxygen atmosphere.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a system for purifying nitrogen oxides (hereinafter referred to as NOx) even under a condition where an oxygen concentration is high like an exhaust gas of a diesel engine, an exhaust gas purification system using a NOx adsorptive catalyst and another one using an urea-selective catalytic reduction (Urea-SCR) are known. However, the exhaust gas purification system using the NOx adsorptive catalyst has a problem that a huge fuel consumption loss occurs because it needs to change an air-fuel ratio of an engine from lean to rich and further to stoichiometric. On the other hand, in the exhaust gas purification system using the urea-selective catalytic reduction, a problem remains in a point that a development of infrastructure of an urea becomes indispensable.
Consequently, to solve these problems, systems using NOx selective reduction catalysts, to be more precise, a platinum catalyst (for example, from a 14th row in a fifth column to a 25th row in a sixth column of page 3 of Japanese patent 2909553), an iridium catalyst (for example, from a fourth row in a fifth column to a 20th row in a sixth column of page 4 of Japanese patent laid-open publication Hei 6-31173), and a silver catalyst (for example, from a 35th row in a sixth column of page 4 to a 22th row in an eighth column of page 5 of Japanese patent-laid open publication Hei 5-92125) instead of the NOx adsorptive catalyst and urea-selective catalytic reduction are proposed.
However, in an exhaust gas purification system using the platinum catalyst if a reducing agent, for example, a hydrocarbon (hereinafter referred to as HC) is not added to an exhaust gas, a NOx purification ratio becomes low, and if an added amount of the reducing agent is increased, a temperature of the NOx selective reduction catalyst becomes out of a range of a purification temperature region due to oxidizing heat, so a system with a high purification ratio cannot be built.
In addition, in an exhaust gas purification system using the iridium catalyst, a NOx purification temperature of the catalyst is high and moreover the catalyst cannot be said to be sufficient in a selectivity for a paraffin. Accordingly, in the exhaust gas purification system an exhaust gas temperature is low, so if it is applied to a diesel engine of which paraffin concentration is high in an exhaust gas, it cannot sufficiently purify the NOx in the exhaust gas.
In addition, in an exhaust gas purification system using the silver catalyst, a NOx purification temperature of the catalyst is high, so if it is applied to a diesel engine of which exhaust gas temperature is low, it cannot sufficiently purify the NOx in the exhaust gas.
Relating to such the technologies, "Plasma-Assist Catalyst for Cleaning NOx" in which a plasma reactor and silver/alumina catalyst are combined is proposed (for example, see pages 2 to 5 and FIG. 1 in Japanese patent laid-open publication 2002-210366).
However, in "Plasma-Assist Catalyst for Cleaning NOx" disclosed in Japanese patent laid-open publication 2002-210366, there exists a problem that when adding the HC and the like as a reducing agent to maintain the NOx purification ratio, caulking occurs and thereby the NOx purification ratio is lowered with a change over time. As one of its causes, as shown in FIG. 11, it is thought that the HC and the like invade in a recessed position of narrow porosities 124 of a NOx selective reduction catalyst layer 120 stacked on a support body 111. The HC and the like are then self-collected on surfaces of porous supports 121, and thereby become incrustations 126 with which NOx selective reduction catalysts 122 such as silver supported on the surfaces of the porous supports 121 are coated.
Thus, since the incrustations 126 damage a catalytic function of the NOx selective reduction catalysts 122 and decrease a contact area with an exhaust gas finally occluding the narrow porosities 124, there exists a problem that the NOx purification ratio becomes lowered. Meanwhile, a phenomenon that the NOx purification ratio thus becomes lowered due to the incrustations 126 is called "caulking."
In addition, as a configuration of another conventional exhaust gas purification system is known such one where an HC adding device, a plasma reactor, a purification device having a NOx selective reduction catalyst are provided with an exhaust pipe of an diesel engine from its NOx exhaust resource side in this order and thereby purifies the NOx in an exhaust gas. The HC adding device is a device to add the HC as a reducing agent to the exhaust gas since an HC amount is few in the exhaust gas of the diesel engine, and in the purification device a catalyst where a zeolite is made to support active compositions such as Cu, Co, and the like is used (for example, see pages 2 to 5 and FIG. 1 in Japanese patent laid-open 2002-210366).
When using the zeolite as a support as described above, the zeolite partially oxidizes the HC of a reducing agent and produces an active CHO with a strong reducing ability by an oxidizing ability of the active compositions and an acid titer of the zeolite, thereby the NOx being able to be reduced and purified by the active CHO. Since even if a temperature of an exhaust gas is low, the CHO is produced, the zeolite is suitable for an exhaust gas treatment of the diesel engine.
However, since in the zeolite an adsorption of the HC tends to precede a partial oxidization of the HC and the zeolite is added comparatively more in amount taking its reactivity into consideration, the adsorption amount of the HC mounts. Therefore, when an exhaust gas temperature is low, an adsorbed HC is not separated, and resultingly, there exists a problem that an occurrence of caulking could cause a lowering of the NOx purification ratio.
Accordingly, an exhaust gas purification system of which NOx purification ratio is higher is strongly requested.
In addition, an exhaust gas purification system that is designed to be able to maintain a higher NOx purification ratio over a long period by restraining the occurrence of the caulking in the zeolite when using it as a support is also requested.


The present invention relates to a substrate for an organic electrode device, a manufacturing method thereof, and an organic electronic device. An exemplary substrate of the invention, if an organic light emitting element is formed on an upper part of the substrate, can obtain luminance with high emission and uniformity by efficiently controlling the surface resistance of an electrode even when the device is configured into larger sizes.

An organic electronic device (OED) may be a device exhibiting various functions through exchange of charges between an electrode and an organic material, and for example of the OED may be included an organic light emitting device (OLED), an organic solar cell, an organic photo conductor (OPC) or an organic transistor and the like.
In the OED, electrode characteristics are very important. For example, an OLED used as lighting is conventionally composed of a pixel having an emitting area in which a length of one side is 5 cm or more. Since the OLED has a large emitting area as described above, if a sheet resistance of an electrode is high, electrons or holes are not uniformly injected throughout an entire area, thereby generating an emitting spot, or uniform luminance may not be obtained from an entire emitting region.
Conventionally, the OED includes two electrodes, at least one of which is a transparent electrode to facilitate extraction or incidence of light. Particularly, the transparent electrode may not have an excessively high thickness to ensure transparency, and thus it is not easy to control the sheet resistance.


A shipping container is provided for transporting biologically hazardous materials. The shipping container includes a rigid gas permeable exterior enclosure and an interior positioned substantially gas impermeable flexible bag. Preferably, the exterior enclosure includes an outer cardboard box and inner foam box made of expanded polystyrene. Preferably, the inner bag is made of polyethylene and includes a conventional open top. Preferably, the bag also includes two laterally extending lines. A first line provides a visual indication to the user where air should be evacuated from the bag. A second line is provided to indicate where the bag should be sealed.

The present invention relates to shipping containers. More specifically, the present invention relates to improved shipping containers for safely, conveniently, and inexpensively shipping hazardous materials within the non-pressurized cargo hold of an aircraft.
Shipping containers are used to transport small sizes or quantities of hazardous materials such as medical diagnostic specimens, biological materials, and infectious substances by private or public carriers. These samples are routinely collected and then shipped for medical implantation, diagnosis and other tasks. For example, blood samples are commonly taken at the office or home and then packaged and mailed to a laboratory for testing. With the onslaught of diseases which may be transmitted via bodily fluid contact, and the ever increasing number of biological specimens being transported via the mail and courier services, the integrity and safety of shipping devices used to transport these specimens has become of greater and greater importance. Thus, the shipping of biological specimens poses a significant health risk if the specimen is not placed within a suitably safe container. To this end, there are numerous federal regulations in the United States including those in Titles 29, 39, 42 and 49 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations. In addition, additional agencies have imposed safe packaging and shipping standards. These agencies include the International Civil Aviation Organization, United States Department of Transportation, United States Center for Disease Control, and United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration, among others.
In trying to transport hazardous items in compliance with the foregoing regulations and standards, problems have arisen concerning the shipping container's durability, rigidity, size, weight and cost. These issues are especially significant because the containers must be leak proof and pressure resistant. Durability problems exist with rigid containers due to the inevitable bangs, scrapes and dents that can occur to containers during handling and transport. These potential problems can bring about a loss of integrity. Another problem that exists is that containers can be very large in comparison to the material or specimens being transported, thereby creating unnecessary cost of the container and increased cost for transportation.
As a result of the foregoing problems, various attempts have been made to develop shipping containers which can withstand the rigors of transportation and withstand the atmospheric changes that result from non-pressurized aircraft flight. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,519 describes a package for aircraft travel. The container includes a semi-rigid outer casing, foam insulation and a flexible plastic liner for encasing articles to be shipped. Unfortunately, the container includes an unconventional foldable package which locks in place around articles to be shipped. The package is relatively expensive to manufacture and it is dubious whether it provides an airtight seal.
Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,695 describes a structure including a cardboard box, foam package and sealable, flexible package. Unfortunately, the package requires a vacuum source to seal the package, thereby adding cost to shipping. U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,799 discloses a shipping container including an inner flexible bag and an outer flexible bag. The structural integrity of both bags is required to enable the container to meet national and international testing criteria for transportation. Moreover, the structure utilizes flexible sidewalls which does not protect the contents of the package from damage during shipping.
Thus, there is a significant need for a shipping container which is inexpensive to manufacture and meets applicable federal regulations and standards for the air transport of biological specimens.

Method of shipping container with expanding bag


The invention relates to apparatus and a method for preparing a fine oil mist, in particular to be fed into tool lubrication ducts of a CNC machine tool.

The above apparatus also is known as a minimum amount lubrication system. Such type of apparatus includes at least one oil-air mix generator producing the oil-air mix. This mixture is fed in pressurized form for purposes of lubrication to the tools of a CNC machine tool.
The nearest state of the art is a well known and previously used "minibooster system" made by the entity to which the instant application is assigned. This system comprises three oil-air mix generators each with its associated pump, which may be applied individually depending on the tool used, i.e. depending on the cross-section of the internal lubricating ducts of the particular tool.
Large diameter tools typically also exhibit large lubricating duct cross-sections, and consequently all three pumps must be operated to produce the oil-air mix in order to assure both an adequate amount of lubrication and corresponding conveyance pressure. As regards tools of smaller diameters that are fitted with commensurately smaller lubricating duct cross-sections, only one or two pumps are needed to generate an adequate film of lubrication.
It is typical practice in the state of the art to manually program the lubrication output as function of the particular tools used, namely by employing so-called M functions. M functions are standardized machine or switching commands operating a CNC machine tool. Different M functions must be used in the CNC program for each different tool. Accordingly a large number of tools must be programmed to attend to a large plurality of tools.
Programming is used to assure smooth-running production. The operation of too many pumps for a small-diameter tool and for a small cross-section of the lubrication ducts results in excessive feed pressure. Accordingly, due to this small lubrication duct cross-section, a back pressure may become so large that, in spite of sufficient lubricant in the supply receptacle, the tool nevertheless is lubricated insufficiently. In the reverse case of large tools, a similar situation arises when an insufficient number of pumps are operating.
In both instances insufficient lubricant at the tool entails increased tool wear and possibly tool failure.
Even though the previously used minibooster system has been successfully used in practice, it still leaves room for improvement because on occasion problems arise in erroneous operation, i.e. defective programming of the M-functions. In principle cutting may be fully automatic, the more so that the machines also are able to automatically change the particular tools. Therefore degradation of production on account of defective programming is considered a substantive impediment.
Accordingly embodiments of the present invention are directed to a new apparatus minimizing application of lubricants while retaining the conventional feed to tools having different and strongly diverse cross-sections of lubricant ducts, and to do so without involving elaborate, manual programming.

Device and procedure for providing a fine mist of oil

Abstract: The apparatus is turned ON/OFF solely using the standardized machine commands M08 (“Cooling lubricant ON”) and M09 (“Cooling lubricant OFF”).

Abstract: The control/regulation of the tools' aerosol supplies then will be fully automatic. It involves—contrary to known quantitative regulations—a simple regulation by means of aerosol pressure values.

Abstract: When starting the apparatus or following a change of tools, all aerosol pumps are operating, including, where tools exhibit cross-sectionally large boreholes, an oil over-enriching pump.

Abstract: At least one aerosol pump operates when regulated within a range of supply pressures. When the upper pressure value of the supply pressure range is exceeded, the pump(s) shut(s) down until the aerosol supply has been exhausted and will turn ON again when the lower pressure value of the supply pressure range is crossed downward because of aerosol consumption.


New pyrrole based compounds, compositions and methods of inhibiting the activity of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK3) in vitro and of treatment of GSK3 mediated disorders in vivo are provided. The methods, compounds and compositions of the invention may be employed alone, or in combination with other pharmacologically active agents in the treatment of disorders mediated by GSK3 activity, such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, obesity, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, essential hypertension, polycystic ovary syndrome, syndrome X, ischemia, traumatic brain injury, bipolar disorder, immunodeficiency or cancer.

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) is a serine/threonine kinase for which two isoforms, α and β, have been identified. Woodgett, Trends Biochem. Sci., 16:177-81 (1991). Both GSK3 isoforms are constitutively active in resting cells. GSK3 was originally identified as a kinase that inhibits glycogen synthase by direct phosphorylation. Upon insulin activation, GSK3 is inactivated, thereby allowing the activation of glycogen synthase and possibly other insulin-dependent events, such glucose transport. Subsequently, it has been shown that GSK3 activity is also inactivated by other growth factors that, like insulin, signal through receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Examples of such signaling molecules include IGF-1 and EGF. Saito et al., Biochem. J., 303:27-31 (1994); Welsh et al., Biochem. J. 294:625-29 (1993); and Cross et al., Biochem. J, 303:21-26 (1994).
Agents that inhibit GSK3 activity are useful in the treatment of disorders that are mediated by GSK3 activity. In addition, inhibition of GSK3 mimics the activation of growth factor signaling pathways and consequently GSK3 inhibitors are useful in the treatment of diseases in which such pathways are insufficiently active. Examples of diseases that can be treated with GSK3 inhibitors are described below.
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is a serious metabolic disease that is defined by the presence of chronically elevated levels of blood glucose (hyperglycemia). This state of hyperglycemia is the result of a relative or absolute lack of activity of the peptide hormone, insulin. Insulin is produced and secreted by the β cells of the pancreas. Insulin is reported to promote glucose utilization, protein synthesis, and the formation and storage of carbohydrate energy as glycogen. Glucose is stored in the body as glycogen, a form of polymerized glucose, which may be converted back into glucose to meet metabolism requirements. Under normal conditions, insulin is secreted at both a basal rate and at enhanced rates following glucose stimulation, all to maintain metabolic homeostasis by the conversion of glucose into glycogen.
The term diabetes mellitus encompasses several different hyperglycemic states. These states include Type 1 (insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or IDDM) and Type 2 (non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus or NIDDM) diabetes. The hyperglycemia present in individuals with Type 1 diabetes is associated with deficient, reduced, or nonexistent levels of insulin that are insufficient to maintain blood glucose levels within the physiological range. Conventionally, Type 1 diabetes is treated by administration of replacement doses of insulin, generally by a parental route. Since GSK3 inhibition stimulates insulin-dependent processes, it is consequently useful in the treatment of type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is an increasingly prevalent disease of aging. It is initially characterized by decreased sensitivity to insulin and a compensatory elevation in circulating insulin concentrations, the latter of which is required to maintain normal blood glucose levels. Increased insulin levels are caused by increased secretion from the pancreatic beta cells, and the resulting hyperinsulinemia is associated with cardiovascular complications of diabetes. As insulin resistance worsens, the demand on the pancreatic beta cells steadily increases until the pancreas can no longer provide adequate levels of insulin, resulting in elevated levels of glucose in the blood. Ultimately, overt hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia occur, leading to the devastating long-term complications associated with diabetes, including cardiovascular disease, renal failure and blindness. The exact mechanism(s) causing type 2 diabetes are unknown, but result in impaired glucose transport into skeletal muscle and increased hepatic glucose production, in addition to inadequate insulin response. Dietary modifications are often ineffective, therefore the majority of patients ultimately require pharmaceutical intervention in an effort to prevent and/or slow the progression of the complications of the disease. Many patients can be treated with one or more of the many oral anti-diabetic agents available, including sulfonylureas, to increase insulin secretion. Examples of sulfonylurea drugs include metformin for suppression of hepatic glucose production, and troglitazone, an insulin-sensitizing medication. Despite the utility of these agents, 30-40% of diabetics are not adequately controlled using these medications and require subcutaneous insulin injections. Additionally, each of these therapies has associated side effects. For example, sulfonylureas can cause hypoglycemia and troglitazone can cause severe hepatoxicity. Presently, there is a need for new and improved drugs for the treatment of prediabetic and diabetic patients.
As described above, GSK3 inhibition stimulates insulin-dependent processes and is consequently useful in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Recent data obtained using lithium salts provides evidence for this notion. The lithium ion has recently been reported to inhibit GSK3 activity. Klein et al., PNAS 93:8455-9 (1996). Since 1924, lithium has been reported to have antidiabetic effects including the ability to reduce plasma glucose levels, increase glycogen uptake, potentiate insulin, up-regulate glucose synthase activity and to stimulate glycogen synthesis in skin, muscle and fat cells. However, lithium has not been widely accepted for use in the inhibition of GSK3 activity, possibly because of its documented effects on molecular targets other than GSK3. The purine analog 5-iodotubercidin, also a GSK3 inhibitor, likewise stimulates glycogen synthesis and antagonizes inactivation of glycogen synthase by glucagon and vasopressin in rat liver cells. Fluckiger-Isler et al., Biochem J 292:85-91 (1993); and Massillon et al., Biochem J 299:123-8 (1994). However, this compound has also been shown to inhibit other serine/threonine and tyrosine kinases. Massillon et al., Biochem J 299:123-8 (1994).
One of the main goals in the management of patients with diabetes mellitus is to achieve blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible. In general, obtaining normal postprandial blood glucose levels is more difficult than normalizing fasting hyperglycemia. In addition, some epidemiological studies suggest that postprandial hyperglycemia (PPHG) or hyperinsulinemia are independent risk factors for the development of macrovascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Recently, several drugs with differing pharmacodynamic profiles have been developed which target PPHG. These include insulin lispro, amylin analogues, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors and meglitinide analogues. Insulin lispro has a more rapid onset of action and shorter duration of efficacy compared with regular human insulin. In clinical trials, the use of insulin lispro has been associated with improved control of PPHG and a reduced incidence of hypoglycemic episodes. Repaglinide, a meglitinide analogue, is a short-acting insulinotropic agent which, when given before meals, stimulates endogenous insulin secretions and lowers postprandial hyperglycemic excursions. Both insulin lispro and repaglinide are associated with postprandial hyperinsulinemia. In contrast, amylin analogues reduce PPHG by slowing gastric emptying and delivery of nutrients to the absorbing surface of the gut. Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors such as acarbose, miglitol and voglibose also reduce PPHG primarily by interfering with the carbohydrate-digesting enzymes and delaying glucose absorption. Yamasaki et al., Tohoku J Exp Med 1997 November; 183(3):173-83. The GSK inhibitors of the present invention are also useful, alone or in combination with the agents set forth above, in the treatment of postprandial hyperglycemia as well as in the treatment of fasting hyperglycemia.
Alzheimer'S Disease
GSK3 is also involved in biological pathways relating to Alzheimer's disease (AD). The characteristic pathological features of AD are extracellular plaques of an abnormally processed form of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), so called β-amyloid peptide (β-AP) and the development of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles containing paired helical filaments (PHF) that consist largely of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. GSK3 is one of a number of kinases that have been found to phosphorylate tau protein in vitro on the abnormal sites characteristic of PHF tau, and is the only kinase also demonstrated to do this in living cells and in animals. Lovestone et al., Current Biology 4:1077-86 (1994); and Brownlees et al., Neuroreport 8: 3251-3255 (1997). Furthermore, the GSK3 kinase inhibitor, LiCl, blocks tau hyperphosphorylation in cells. Stambolic et al., Current Biology 6:1664-8 (1996). Thus GSK3 activity may contribute to the generation of neurofibrillary tangles and consequently to disease progression. Recently it has been shown that GSK3β associates with another key protein in AD pathogenesis, presenillin 1 (PS1). Takashima et al., PNAS 95:9637-9641 (1998). Mutations in the PS1 gene lead to increased production of β-AP, but the authors also demonstrate that the mutant PS1 proteins bind more tightly to GSK3β and potentiate the phosphorylation of tau, which is bound to the same region of PS1.
Interestingly it has also been shown that another GSK3 substrate, β-catenin, binds to PS1. Zhong et al., Nature 395:698-702 (1998). Cytosolic β-catenin is targeted for degradation upon phosphorylation by GSK3 and reduced β-catenin activity is associated with increased sensitivity of neuronal cells to β-AP induced neuronal apoptosis. Consequently, increased association of GSK3β with mutant PS1 may account for the reduced levels of β-catenin that have been observed in the brains of PS1-mutant AD patients and to the disease related increase in neuronal cell-death. Consistent with these observations, it has been shown that injection of GSK3 antisense but not sense, blocks the pathological effects of β-AP on neurons in vitro, resulting in a 24 hr delay in the onset of cell death. Takashima et al., PNAS 90:7789-93. (1993). In these latter studies, the effects on cell-death are preceded (within 3-6 hours of β-AP administration) by a doubling of intracellular GSK3 activity, suggesting that in addition to genetic mechanisms may increase GSK3 activity. Further evidence for a role for GSK3 in AD is provided by the observation that the protein expression level (but, in this case, not specific activity) of GSK3 is increased by 50% in postsynaptosomal supernatants of AD vs. normal brain tissue. Pei et al., J Neuropathol Exp 56:70-78 (1997).
Even more recently, it has been shown that therapeutic concentrations of lithium, a known GSK3 inhibitor, block the production of β-AP by interfering with amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleavage. Phiel et al., Nature 423(22): 435-438 (2003). Since GSK3 also phosphorylates tau protein, the principal component of neurofibrillary tangles, inhibition of GSK3 provides both a reduction in amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, and is useful in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Other CNS Disorders
In addition to the effects of lithium described above, there is a long history of the use of lithium to treat bipolar disorder (manic depressive syndrome). This clinical response to lithium may reflect an involvement of GSK3 activity in the etiology of bipolar disorder, in which case GSK3 inhibitors could be relevant to that indication. In support of this notion it was recently shown that valproate, another drug commonly used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, is also a GSK3 inhibitor. Chen et al., J. Neurochemistry 72:1327-1330 (1999). One mechanism by which lithium and other GSK3 inhibitors may act to treat bipolar disorder is to increase the survival of neurons subjected to aberrantly high levels of excitation induced by the neurotransmitter, glutamate. Nonaka et al., PNAS 95: 2642-2647 (1998). Glutamate-induced neuronal excitotoxicity is also believed to be a major cause of neurodegeneration associated with acute damage, such as in cerebral ischemia, traumatic brain injury and bacterial infection. Furthermore it is believed that excessive glutamate signaling is a factor in the chronic neuronal damage seen in diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntingdon's, Parkinson's, AIDS associated dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Thomas, J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 43: 1279-89 (1995). Consequently GSK3 inhibitors are believed to be a useful treatment in these and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Immune Potentiation
GSK3 phosphorylates transcription factor NF-AT and promotes its export from the nucleus, in opposition to the effect of calcineurin. Beals et al., Science 275:1930-33 (1997). Thus, GSK3 blocks early immune response gene activation via NF-AT, and GSK3 inhibitors may tend to permit or prolong activation of immune responses. Thus GSK3 inhibitors are believed to prolong and potentiate the immunostimulatory effects of certain cytokines, and such an effect may enhance the potential of those cytokines for tumor immunotherapy or indeed for immunotherapy in general.
Other Disorders
Lithium also has other biological effects. It is a potent stimulator of hematopoiesis, both in vitro and in vivo. Hammond et al., Blood 55: 26-28 (1980). In dogs, lithium carbonate eliminated recurrent neutropenia and normalized other blood cell counts. Doukas et al. Exp Hematol 14: 215-221 (1986). If these effects of lithium are mediated through the inhibition of GSK3, GSK3 inhibitors may have even broader applications.
Since inhibitors of GSK3 are useful in the treatment of many diseases, the identification of new inhibitors of GSK3 would be highly desirable.

Pyrrole based inhibitors of glycogen synthase kinase 3


Network node (110) and method (600) in a network node (110), for admission control of an additional radio access bearer based on load of control channel elements on a control channel, assigned by a scheduler (700) comprised in the network node (110). The method (600) comprises assigning (601), by the scheduler (700), control channel elements on the control channel for already admitted radio access bearers. Further, a first and a second load of the control channel is computed (606, 607) based on the usage of assigned control channel elements subframes on which both downlink assignments and uplink grants are enabled, and on which downlink assignments are enabled, respectively. If any of the first or second loads exceeds a respective threshold value, the radio access bearer to be admitted is rejected (609A).

Network nodes, such as e.g. User Equipment (UE), also known as mobile stations, wireless terminals and/or mobile terminals are enabled to communicate wirelessly in a wireless communication system, sometimes also referred to as a cellular radio system. The communication may be made e.g. between two user equipment units, between a user equipment and a regular telephone and/or between a user equipment and a server via a Radio Access Network (RAN) and possibly one or more core networks.
The user equipment units may further be referred to as mobile telephones, cellular telephones, e-readers, laptops with wireless capability etc. The user equipment units in the present context may be, for example, portable mobile devices, enabled to communicate voice and/or data wirelessly, via the radio access network, with another entity, such as a network node.
However, the network nodes herein discussed may comprise a base station e.g. a Radio Base Station (RBS), which in some networks may be referred to as "eNB", "eNodeB", "NodeB" or "B node", depending on the technology and terminology used. The network nodes may be of different classes such as e.g. macro eNodeB, home eNodeB or pico base station, based on transmission power and thereby also cell size. A cell is the geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the network node/base station at a base station site. One base station, situated on the base station site, may serve one or several cells. The network nodes communicate over the air interface operating on radio frequencies with the user equipment units within range of the respective network node.
In some radio access networks, several network nodes may be connected, e.g. by landlines or microwave, to a Radio Network Controller (RNC) e.g. in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The RNC, also sometimes termed a Base Station Controller (BSC) e.g. in GSM, may supervise and coordinate various activities of the plural network nodes connected thereto. GSM is an abbreviation for Global System for Mobile Communications (originally: Groupe Spécial Mobile).
In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), network nodes, or base stations, which may be referred to as enhanced Node Bs, eNodeBs or eNBs, may be connected via a gateway e.g. a radio access gateway, to one or more core networks.
The 3GPP is responsible for the standardization of LTE. LTE is a technology for realizing high-speed packet-based communication that may reach high data rates both in the downlink and in the uplink, and is thought of as a next generation mobile communication system relative UMTS.
Some embodiments discussed herein may fall into the area of Admission Control and Quality of Service (QoS) in particular for Time-Division Duplex (TDD) in LTE. TDD is an application of time-division multiplexing to separate uplink and downlink signals in time, possibly with a guard period situated in the time domain between the uplink and downlink signalling.
However, embodiments of the wireless communication system described herein may be configured to operate according to the Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) principle, according to different embodiments.
FDD means that the transmitter and receiver operate at different carrier frequencies. The subsequently described explanations and embodiments are exemplified in an FDD LTE environment, as a non-limiting example. However the methods and apparatuses may easily be generalized and applied to e.g. a TDD LTE system, and also to cellular systems other than based on the LTE standard, or in fact any other cell based access technology where in-band relaying may be applied.
The task of Admission Control is to admit or reject resource requests. In mobile radio communication systems, these establishment requests are made for new radio bearers. Admission control considers the overall resource situation, e.g. in the network nodes and infrastructure comprising both radio access network and core network, the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, the priority levels and the provided QoS of in-progress sessions and the QoS requirement of the new radio bearer request.
In LTE air interface resources like Resource Blocks (RBs) for Physical Downlink Shared Channel/Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PDSCH/PUSCH) and Control Channel Elements (CCEs) are allocated to Evolved-Radio Access Bearers (E-RABs), or radio access bearers as they also may be referred to as. A prioritisation scheme may be used by the scheduler to make sure resources are assigned to E-RABs in accordance to their QoS requirements on sub-frame basis.
Of particular interest may be the situation when the resources comprising control channel elements are associated with Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in TDD LTE.
A scheduler comprised within a network node, or eNodeB may try to assign resources to the QoS E-RABs to fulfil their QoS requirements. Whenever the scheduler is congested, it assigns resources such that the QoS requirements are fulfilled in the order indicated by the priority of the QoS E-RABs. There may be two aspects related to this way of prioritising with respect to QoS requirements.
Firstly, some E-RABs do not have any QoS requirements at all, so-called best-effort or non-Guaranteed Bit Rate (non-GBR) bearers. This means that scheduling may not consider those E-RABs in congested scenarios. Then there is a risk that this class of E-RABs is starved out since only E-RABs with specified QoS requirements are scheduled.
Secondly, if too many E-RABs with QoS requirements are admitted scheduling will at some point fail to provide resources to all of them. Users may have been admitted at a point in time when radio conditions and mobility were favourable in the sense that QoS could be provided. But due to increasing mobility and worsened radio conditions the resources may at a later point in time not be enough to provide QoS for the admitted E-RABs.
Those two aspects may be dealt with by an Admission Control function that monitors the resources handled by the scheduler. These resources are typically control channel elements of the PDCCH and resource blocks of PDSCH/PUSCH. Admission Control strives for having the load due to E-RABs with QoS requirements below a QoS threshold expressed as a percentage of the maximum amount of the resource. It does so by rejecting initial access whenever load due to E-RABs with QoS requirements is above the QoS threshold. The QoS threshold could for instance relate to the contribution from all the Guaranteed Bitrate Bearers (GBRs).
This kind of Admission Control may then assist in protecting E-RABs without any QoS requirements. It also allows for statistical fluctuations with regard to the air interface resources, since the load for high-priority traffic may be limited to a value lower than the maximum level of the resource. Then integrity of the QoS E-RABs may be protected with some level of probability since resources above the threshold are available for the high-prioritized traffic in congested scenarios. Tuning the threshold makes possible to adjust that probability. Tuning the margin between the threshold and the maximum level of the resource is of special interest when the high-prioritized traffic consists of GBR traffic where service blocking is desired rather than service dropping.
In FIG. 1A are the loads on different resources handled by scheduling in a FDD case illustrated. Whenever load on a resource exceeds its threshold, Admission Control rejects any E-RAB request with an associated QoS requirement.
The load is separately measured for each resource. This means one load measure for resource blocks utilization on PDSCH and PUSCH respectively. Moreover, since PDCCH is a common resource for both downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) in the sense that it transmits assignments for both PDSCH and PUSCH, control channel element utilisation on PDCCH are treated as one resource.
In the present context, the expressions downlink, downstream link or forward link may be used for the transmission path from the network node to the user equipment. The expression uplink, upstream link or reverse link may be used for the transmission path in the opposite direction i.e. from the user equipment to the network node.
In this disclosure the focus is on the control channel element resource in the case of TDD in LTE. It is however possible to generalise the method to any time division duplex wireless technology with a downlink control channel similar to PDCCH.
In FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the load on different resources measured in percentage of maximum capacity for each specific resource is illustrated. The maximum limits for the various resources vary, but a QoS Admission threshold is configured as a percentage of the maximum limit.
For FDD, the PDCCH is a resource common to downlink and uplink since it is always, in every subframe, possible to transmit in both links. Then scheduling lets both downlink (requesting assignments) and uplink (requesting grants) to compete for these resources. The competition is based on a prioritization scheme where the priority of the user equipment is based on its E-RABs and their QoS requirements. An admission control function can then monitor the control channel element resource load due to E-RABs with QoS requirements as a resource common downlink and uplink.
This situation is however completely different for TDD. Firstly, simultaneous uplink and downlink transmission is not allowed. What subframes are for downlink and what subframes are for uplink is determined from the specific uplink-downlink configuration.
Second, PDCCH sent in a specific subframe always carry assignments for downlink transmission, but only for a subset of these subframes there are control channel elements carrying grants for uplink transmission.
To represent the control channel element utilisation in TDD LTE as one resource without considering there are different types of subframes with respect to whether downlink only or downlink/uplink combined are competing for PDCCH resources would be similar to combining the resource block utilisation of PDSCH and PUSCH (for downlink and uplink) as one resource. That way the Admission Control function would be out of touch as to how the different links are loading the scheduler, with regard to E-RABs with QoS requirements.


A stored energy-type circuit breaker includes a sensor that operates as a full open sensor, and that is used to prevent the circuit breaker from closing in response to either a closing signal or a manual operation. The full open sensor exhibits a first output condition when the moveable contact is in a fully open position and a second output condition when the moveable contact begins to leave the fully open position. An electronic trip unit (ETU) is electrically connected to the sensor and, when in a close break mode, blocks the circuit breaker from closing. The ETU does this by, upon detecting that the sensor is in the second output condition, generating a signal that will cause the breaker's opening spring to return the moveable contact to the fully open position.

This disclosure generally relates to electrical switching devices such as circuit breakers. More particularly, this disclosure describes a switching device having an improved design to help prevent the device's switch from closing if closure would cause an unsafe condition.
In a self-contained switching device such as a circuit breaker with an electronic trip unit (ETU), features are sometimes added to prevent closing the device and completing the primary circuit. These are often user-configurable features of the ETU that protect against closure if the closure would cause an unsafe condition. A simple example of an unsafe condition is a ground fault or other overcurrent condition. As another example, in power delivery systems that supply two loads from two power sources in a main-tie-main configuration, closing the system's tie breaker when the sources are not well-matched in voltage, frequency or phase could cause damage to system components. If the tie breaker's ETU detects such a mismatch, or if a remote controller that is monitoring the system detects the mismatch, the ETU or remote controller may respond by blocking any attempts to close the tie breaker.
Configurations in which the ETU or remote controller prevents closing are effective when the close command is initiated electronically, such as by a remote or local electrical actuator. In such situations, the system's programming may prioritize a "block closure" command over a command to close the switch. However, such configurations are not effective to block closure when closure is initiated locally by physical action, such as by an operator who depresses a mechanical pushbutton to manually operate the switch. This ineffectiveness occurs because electronic logic cannot intervene in the direct mechanical actuation of the circuit breaker mechanism. In order to prevent closing, the circuit breaker's ETU would need to operate the trip actuator and override the closing attempt, but trip actuators are typically intermittent operation devices and are not always maintained in an active state. Further, the trip actuators of some circuit breakers cannot mechanically operate to stop a close attempt when the circuit breaker is open. This is because the circuit breaker mechanism holds the trip actuator mechanism in the reset position whenever the switch is open. Further, ETUs of prior art circuit breakers typically will not detect when closure starts, but instead will only detect when the breaker's contacts touch, at which point it will have been too late to prevent the closure from happening. Even a few milliseconds of closure could damage system components and/or create safety hazards in overcurrent or voltage mismatch conditions.
This document describes an improved switching mechanism that is designed to help prevent closure of a switching device, even if the closure is initiated manually, when closure could result in an unsafe condition.

Switching device with improved closing prevention


An auxiliary switch operator for a circuit breaker operates auxiliary contacts between open and closed positions. The auxiliary switch operator includes a hub which is biased to follow a pole shaft of the circuit breaker and follow the pole shaft when it rotates in a first direction to close separable contacts of the circuit breaker. A first spring mechanism biases the hub to follow the pole shaft when the pole shaft rotates in the first direction. When the pole shaft rotates in the first direction, an arm of the hub engages a rotatable shaft to drive an operating lever and operate the auxiliary contacts to the closed position. When the pole shaft rotates in the second direction, another arm of the hub recharges the first spring mechanism. A second spring mechanism biases the rotatable shaft and the operating lever toward a position corresponding to the open position of the auxiliary contacts when the pole shaft rotates in the second direction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to electrical switching apparatus and, more particularly, to an auxiliary contact operator for an electrical switching apparatus, such as a circuit breaker, and, most particularly, to a mechanism-operated cell (MOC) switch operator for a vacuum circuit breaker.
2. Background of Information
Electrical switching apparatus include, for example, circuit switching devices and circuit interrupters such as circuit breakers, contactors, motor starters, motor controllers and other load controllers. Circuit breakers are generally old and well known in the art. A typical example of a circuit breaker is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,191. Circuit breakers are used to protect electrical circuitry from damage due to an overcurrent condition, such as an overload condition or a relatively high level short circuit condition.
Metal-clad switchgear for removable main circuit breakers is well known in the prior art. A typical example of such switchgear may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,876. Metal enclosed or metal-clad switchgear apparatus are employed with draw-out circuit breakers which may be levered into position or otherwise disposed in a metal-clad switchgear cabinet for operation. Usually a levering-in or racking-in device with associated and appropriate safety interlocks are taught.
It is also known to utilize auxiliary contacts in association with the main interrupter contacts of metal-clad switchgear apparatus. The auxiliary contacts usually perform indicating or control functions and are not meant to carry the main load current, but are meant to open and close in some direct correspondence with the opening or closing of the main circuit interrupter contacts. In some cases the auxiliary contacts are opened and closed in direct conjunction with the opening and closing of the circuit interrupter contacts and in other cases they are not. In cases where the auxiliary contacts are mounted as part of the metal-clad cabinet rather than on the circuit interrupter itself, it is necessary to provide an inter-linkage between the circuit interrupter and the auxiliary contacts when auxiliary contact operation is desirable.
Drawout circuit breakers are well known in the art. A typical example may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,908. Such circuit breakers include a drawout mechanism which permits an operator to physically disconnect the circuit breaker from a power source and a load which are electrically interconnected with the circuit breaker by terminals at the rear of the circuit breaker.
A mechanism-operated cell (MOC) switch is typically located in a switchgear cell and is operated by a circuit breaker MOC operator mechanism. A typical example may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,262. The MOC switch is employed to provide extra or redundant contacts for circuit breaker status and status control.
It is well known that modern technology circuit breaker mechanisms operate with different force, travel, and velocities than older technology breakers. When applying modern technology circuit breaker elements, as retrofit or replacement circuit breakers, for the older technology circuit breakers, worn MOC assemblies may possibly create problems.
Older switchgear MOC assemblies were designed for the circuit breaker technology of the time. Older technology circuit breakers employed relatively massive mechanisms, with relatively high forces and inertias. The resultant travel times and velocities were fairly slow such that, for example, the MOC switch may close in approximately 100 ms, measured from the time the circuit breaker begins to close.
The MOC assembly is typically the only component outside the circuit breaker that affects the dynamics of the circuit breaker. The loading and dynamic characteristics of the MOC assembly are highly variable, as the existing MOC assembly typically may have been in service for some time, with mechanical wear and degradation.
The modern technology vacuum circuit breaker is typically much smaller and lighter than a magnetic air circuit breaker. The vacuum breaker has a much smaller travel specification than the magnetic air breaker and operates much faster. When the state of the art vacuum breaker is used with an existing MOC assembly, the resultant speed of operation of the MOC assembly becomes much faster than with a magnetic air breaker. This results in higher impact loads and mismatched inertias with existing MOC assemblies.
For example, with the state of the art vacuum breaker directly driving the MOC assembly, the vacuum breaker and the MOC assembly complete the closing stroke in about 25 ms versus about 100 ms for the magnetic air breaker. The velocity of the MOC assembly is essentially about four times what it was with the magnetic air breaker. Since kinetic energy is proportional to velocity squared, the kinetic energy of the MOC assembly has increased to about 16 times that of the original design. A similar velocity multiplication also occurs during the opening stroke.
This dramatic increase in kinetic energy may typically create the following results: (1) significant MOC switch overtravel and bounce; (2) the MOC switches malfunction during overtravel and bounce; (3) increased MOC assembly component wear; and (4) increased MOC assembly component breakage. In other words, the new vacuum breaker operates too fast for the existing MOC assembly.
Another aspect of this situation is potentially much more serious. Because the MOC assembly is driven directly by the circuit breaker, the MOC assembly affects the circuit breaker dynamics. In the worst case, a badly worn or broken MOC assembly may stall the circuit breaker.
There remains a need, therefore, for an improved MOC operator mechanism for an electrical switching apparatus which slows down the operation of the MOC assembly.
There is also a need for an improved MOC operator mechanism for an electrical switching apparatus which precludes the stalling of such apparatus by the MOC assembly.
There is a more particular need for such a MOC operator mechanism which increases the reliability of the electrical switching apparatus and the MOC assembly.
There is another more particular need for such a MOC operator mechanism which permits the user to evaluate the condition of the MOC assembly.

Auxiliary contact operator for electrical switching apparatus