Stable insulin formulations can be prepared by mixing a monomeric insulin and a soluble acylated insulin analog.

Diabetes is a general term for disorders in man having excessive urine excretion as in diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder in which the ability to utilize glucose is partly or completely lost. About 5% of all people suffer from diabetes.
Since the introduction of insulin in the 1920's, continuous strides have been made to improve the treatment of diabetes mellitus. To help avoid extreme glycemia levels, diabetic patients often practice multiple daily injection therapy, whereby monomeric insulin is administered with each meal and acylated or intermediate acting insulin is administered once or twice daily to cover the basal need.
In the treatment of diabetes mellitus, many varieties of insulin formulations have been suggested and used, such as regular insulin, isophane insulin (designated NPH), insulin zinc suspensions (such as Semilente®, Lente®, and Ultralente®), and biphasic isophane insulin. As diabetic patients are treated with insulin for several decades, there is a major need for safe and life quality improving insulin formulations. Some of the commercial available insulin formulations are characterized by a fast onset of action and other formulations have a relatively slow onset but show a more or less prolonged action. Fast-acting insulin formulations are usually solutions of insulin, while retarded acting insulin formulations can be suspensions containing insulin in crystalline and/or amorphous form precipitated by addition of zinc salts alone or by addition of protamine or by a combination of both. In addition, some patients are using formulations having both a fast onset of action and a more prolonged action. Such a formulation may be an insulin solution wherein protamine insulin crystals are suspended. Some patients do themselves prepare the final formulation by mixing an insulin solution with an insulin suspension formulation in the ratio desired by the patient in question.
Human insulin consists of two polypeptide chains, the so-called A and B chains which contain 21 and 30 amino acid residues, respectively. The A and B chains are interconnected by two cystine disulphide bridges. Insulin from most other species has a similar construction, but may not contain the same amino acid residues at the same positions.
The development of the process known as genetic engineering has made it possible to prepare a great variety of insulin compounds being analogous to human insulin. In these insulin analogues, one or more of the amino acids have been substituted with other amino acids which can be coded for by the nucleotide sequences.
Normally, insulin formulations are administered by subcutaneous injection. What is important for the patient, is the action profile of the insulin formulation which is the action of insulin on the glucose metabolism as a function of the time from the injection. In this profile, inter alia, the time for the onset, the maximum value, and the total duration of action are important. A variety of insulin formulations with different action profiles are desired and requested by the patients. One patient may, on the same day, use insulin formulations with very different action profiles. The action profile requested is, for example, depending on the time of the day and the amount and composition of any meal eaten by the patient.
Stable insulin formulations are particularly required for use in delivery devices that expose these agents to elevated temperatures and/or mechanical stress. For example, stable insulin formulations are required for use in continuous infusion systems and pen delivery devices.
There is a need for new ways of stabilizing since a stablizer, Genapol® (poloxamer 171), which for a long period of time has been used for stabilizing human insulin for pumps, may have some undesired effects (see Diabetes Metab. 26 (2000), 304-306).
In continuous infusion systems, a fluid containing an insulin formulation is pumped from a reservoir, usually to a subcutaneous, intravenous, or intraperitoneal depot. The reservoir, which must be exchanged or refilled periodically, is attached to the patient's body, or implanted into the patient's body. In either case, the patient's body heat and body motion, plus turbulence in the tubing and pump impart a relatively high amount of thermo-mechanical energy to the formulation. In the interest of minimizing the frequency with which the reservoir is filled, and of minimizing the size of the reservoir, formulations having a relatively high concentration of insulin are highly advantageous. It is desirable to have insulin formulations which are stable for at least one month under stressful in-use conditions.
Formulations of insulin for use in continuous infusion systems must remain soluble and substantially free of aggregation, even though subjected to the patient's body heat and motion for periods ranging from a few days to several months. Instability is promoted by the thermo-mechanical stress to which formulations are exposed in continuous infusion systems. Therefore, improvements in the physical stability of concentrated insulin formulations is urgently needed to permit them to be used successfully in continuous infusion systems.
It has become usual to use monomeric insulins in pumps. However, compared with human insulin, monomeric insulins have an increased tendency to form insoluble fibrils.
Among others, there are two major problems in connection with the use of insulin formulations in a continuous infusion system:    1. Due to fibrillation of the insulin component, the catheter may clog, and    2. There is a risk of fast development of ketoacidosis which may be fatal. Ketoacidosis may result from discontinuation of insulin delivery, for example due to fibrillation, pump failure, or the patient forgetting to reapply the pump after disconnection.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,118, pharmaceutical solutions of dissolved insulin having improved physical stability can be prepared by using ionized zinc salts. These solutions are particularly adapted for use in continuous insulin delivery equipment.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,385, pharmaceutical solutions of dissolved insulin having improved physical stability particularly adapted for use in continuous insulin delivery equipment can be by using a calcium or magnesium salt.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,730, insulin solutions may be stabilized by using a phospholipid.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,538, insulin formulations of superior chemical stability can be obtained in the presence of glycerol and/or mannitol and rather low halogenide concentrations.


A video signal level detector is configured to avoid the erroneous recognition of channels adjacent to normal channels as those which are to be stored during performance of an automatic channel detection and storage function. The video signal level detector separates at least two target signals whose levels are to be detected from an input composite video signal; detects signal levels of the target signals; compares each of the detected levels with a reference voltage level; and logic-operates the result to obtain a final detection so that a storage possibility of automatically detected channels is determined. The video signal level detector includes a signal separator for separating at least two target signals whose levels are to be detected from an input composite video signal; at least two signal level detectors for detecting signal levels of the target signals separated by the signal separator, respectively; at least one comparator installed in each one of the signal level detectors for comparing the signal level of a corresponding one of the target signals with a reference voltage level; and a logic gate for receiving and logic-processing outputs of the comparators.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video signal level detector and, more particularly, to a video signal level detector for detecting a signal level of an input composite video signal for the purpose of recognizing and storing a receivable television channel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A television (TV) or a video tape recorder (VTR) is a video instrument which may be capable of performing a function of automatically detecting a receivable TV channel or storing the detected channel. To perform the automatic channel detection or storage function, such an instrument is constructed such that if the input signal level is greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that an input signal is receivable, and the input signal is stored.
In a conventional TV having the received channel automatic detection function, during automatic channel detection, adjacent channels may be also recognized to be receivable together with normal channels in an area or geographic location where the reception state is particularly good. In such a case, a user may manually remove the adjacent channels other than the normal channel from the channel storage device. This problem is caused by improved functions of broadcasting wave reception apparatus, tuners, and video signal processing integrated circuit (IC) technology, and by a lowering of the standards for determining selectivity of an input signal in consideration of areas having difficulty in viewing. Another cause of the problem is the comparison of the received level of a composite video signal among the input signals with a reference voltage to detect receivable channels.


A capped electric lamp for use at mains voltage includes a lamp vessel (1), a lamp cap (10) and a mounting member (40). The lamp cap has a shell (20) and an insulator body (30), the shell being secured to the lamp vessel by an adhesive compound. The insulator body is secured to the shell. Current supply conductors (6) extend from the lamp vessel and through the insulator body, and where they emerge therefrom are connected to contact pins (31) which are anchored in the insulator body. The contact pins extend through the mounting member (40) and are secured in cavities (32) in the insulator body. The mounting member may have various different shapes, e.g., it may be composed of two parts, one of which is rotatably supported in the other. Such a lamp construction is reliable and easily manufactured.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a capped electric lamp for operation at mains voltage, comprising:
a lamp vessel which is vacuum sealed and has an end portion which is fused to a stem tube which projects into the lamp vessel and surrounds an exhaust tube;
an electric element in the lamp vessel connected to current supply conductors which extend to the exterior alongside the exhaust tube;
a lamp cap provided with a shell having an axis, a first end of the shell being fixed around the said end portion of the lamp vessel with an adhesive compound, and a second end of the shell being coupled to an insulator body;
contact pins fixed in the insulator body and extending to the exterior therefrom for connection to respective current supply conductors.
The invention also relates lamp cap unit suitable for use in the lamp according to the invention.
A lamp of the kind described in the opening paragraph and suitable for operation at low power is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,730,689, issued Jan. 10, 1956. Such lamp has the disadvantage that a lampholder is required for mounting the lamp against a surface, for example against a wall of an electric appliance such as, a refrigerator or a microwave oven. Moreover, the lamp provides no points of application for positive retention by a lampholder. It can be held only by its contact pins.
Another disadvantage of the known lamp is that the current supply conductors must be passed between the legs of respective contact pins, which each consist of a metal strip curved in a hairpin shape, during assembly of the lamp vessel with the lamp cap. Then, the lamp cap must be affixed around the lamp vessel. During this assembly, the current supply conductors must pass on further between the legs of the contact pins of their own accord. If they do not, there is a great risk of short-circuiting inside the lamp cap. Subsequently, the contact pins are flattened, by which contact with the current supply conductors is to be achieved. Such a contact is unreliable in the event of corrosion of the supply conductors and/or the contact pins.

Capped electric lamp for operation at mains voltage and lamp cap unit for use therein


A key unit is received within a key unit receiving cavity in a housing and is pivotally connected to the housing for pivotal movement between a first position in which it is substantially within the key cavity and a second position in which it extends outwardly from or is aligned with an open end in the housing. A key unit mounting pin extends across the cavity and into an opening in the head of the key unit. A spring is positioned in the mounting opening, and includes a helical portion surrounding the mounting pin. The spring has a first end portion connected to the housing and a second end portion connected to the key unit. The key unit is pivotally connected to the housing by said mounting pin, for pivotal movement between a first position in which it is substantially within the key unit receiving cavity, and a second position in which it projects outwardly from the open end of the cavity. The spring biases the key unit into the second position. The key unit is hand movable from the second position into the first position and this movement of the key unit stores energy into the spring. The stored energy in the spring moves the key unit from its first position into its second position.

The key holder art includes key holders for one or more keys in which the keys are each movable between an extended position and a folded position. The following U.S. States patents show example key holders that are in the patent literature: U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,679, granted Nov. 28, 1967, to James E. Le Fave; U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,799 granted Jul. 17, 1973 to Carl R. Fagiano; U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,717 granted Dec. 16, 1986 to Alvin S. Blum; U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,913, granted Mar. 3, 1987, to Russell T. Wing and David H. Palmer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,803, granted Nov. 17, 1987 to Shih-Fu Wang; U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,190, granted Jun. 1, 1993, to Raymond Hoffpauir, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,702, granted Oct. 18, 1994 to Augusto Escribens; U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,291, granted Jan. 30, 1996, to Barnard Voigt; U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,889, granted Aug. 31, 1999 to Kuang-Yen Chiu; U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,756 B1, granted May 29, 2001 to Scott Caudle; U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,539, granted Feb. 17, 2004 to Dirk Jacob and Elrich Muller; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,705,141 B1, granted Mar. 16, 2004, to Dick Jacob, Elrich Muller, and Jeffery D. Plate.
There is a need for providing an improved way of mounting a key and a coil spring for moving the key from a stowed or folded position into an extended position. There is also a need for providing an improved lock for locking the key in the folded position which is easily operable to unlock the key, allowing a spring to move the key from its folded position into its extended position. It is an object of the present invention to fulfill these needs.
Herein the term "key unit" is generic to both a key member having a head and a lock engaging portion extending from the head, and such a key member in combination with a key head holder which receives the head of the key member.


On receiving a new call, a controller in a telephone station apparatus compares the incoming caller information with caller information in stored records. On a match, an associated name is spoken over a handsfree speaker and then the controller places the telephone station apparatus in a handsfree off-hook condition. In this way, someone in a hands-busy situation or a handicapped individual may have calls from pre-selected callers automatically connected. The controller may also store a two-way or one-way communication path indication with each record and, accordingly, establish either one-way communication path from the calling party to the telephone station apparatus or a two-way communication path to and from the telephone station apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for selectively automatically answering a telephone station apparatus in a telephone network and telephone station apparatus for a telephone network.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,145 issued Nov. 23, 1993 to Lim discloses a telephone station apparatus which can speak the name of a caller. This helps the called party, who might otherwise be occupied, to decide whether or not to take the call. A drawback with this arrangement is that it may still be inconvenient for the called party to drop what is his doing and take the call.
The subject invention seeks to overcome drawbacks of known systems.

Caller information (CLID) controlled automatic answer feature for telephone


A blast cabinet, translation system, and process for use in blasting a surface of a part with abrasive particulate. The blast cabinet includes a basin for gathering abrasive particulate, a covering movable to enclose an opening over the basin, a frame supporting the basin, and a plurality of wheels for rolling movement of the cabinet. The system also includes a plurality of supports for holding the part to be blasted and a track system to guide movement of the cabinet. At least one of the wheels may be configured to mate with the track system, and the track system can be clamped to at least one part support.

This invention relates to a cabinet used to enclose or partially enclose a work piece in order to blast at least part of the surface with a particulate material, and in particular, the invention relates to a cabinet that is mounted on a track system to provide lateral movement of the cabinet for accessing different areas of the surface of the work piece.
It is well known that surfaces of parts may be treated by such techniques as blast cleaning, peening, abrading, etc. Such treatments are typically accomplished by projecting abrasive particulates, such as steel shot, grit, sand, plastics and the like, against the surface to be treated with necessary velocity and exposure time to accomplish the desired treatment effect. The abrasive particulates may be projected against the surface by means of air pressure blasting or by airless means, for example, such as a centrifugal blasting wheel.
It is also known that a cabinet may be provided in which to place the part to be blasted. Such a cabinet provides a controlled environment and containment for the blasting process. That is, the abrasive particulates that are used to blast the part can be contained within the blast cabinet for reuse and to minimize cleanup.
It is desirable to minimize the size of a blast cabinet for portability and space considerations; however, parts to be blasted may be longer than the blast cabinet. Accordingly, it is known to provide one or more openings in a blast cabinet with a seal arrangement, such as brushes through which an elongated part may have a surface to be cleaned contained within the cabinet, but a portion of the part extends through the openings. The seal members help maintain any blasting material that is projected towards the openings within the cabinet.
It can be cumbersome to move and readjust the part in the blast cabinet to blast another portion of the surface area of the part that was initially protruding out from an opening in the cabinet. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a mechanism and method for easily locating or relocating a portion of the part in the blast cabinet to be blasted. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a track system in which the blast cabinet can be readily translated along the length of the part to blast different surface areas of the part.


A method is disclosed for generating data encoded RF (radio frequency) waveform without a separate memory device/chip. The hardware in the proposed method consists of entities performing the operations of time-delay (B), phase shifting (C), attenuation, power dividing (D) and power combining (E). An integral part of the invention is the application of the method in designing radio frequency identification devices or RFID-tags.

Two widely used methods for identifying objects today are barcodes and magnetic strips. Bar codes are commonly used for identifying objects in shops and supermarkets. An application of magnetic strips is the credit card. The main reason for the popularity of barcodes and magnetic strips is that they are inexpensive. One drawback of barcodes and magnetic strips is the distance range in which they can be used. The reader has to have a physical contact or has to be very close, say a few centimetres. If there is no physical contact, then the space between the code and the reader should not have any obstruction. In addition, the reader and the code have to be properly aligned for correct readability. This demands concentration from the part of the human operator and therefore is inconvenient.
RFID (radio frequency identification) tag (or RFID-tag) is another technology used for identifying the identity of an object. In an RFID system, the interrogator or the reader and the tag can be separated by a larger distance compared to that of the magnetic strip technology or the bar-code technology. Once interrogated by the reader, RFID-tags will return an encoded radio signal that contains the identity of the object. RFID-tag devices can be broadly divided based on the criteria weather they contain an integrated memory chip or not. Those that contain a memory chip, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,902, in general have more memory capacity than those of chip-less tags, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,881. However, chip based tags have a significantly higher cost compared to that of the chip-less tags. RFID-tags can also be divided based on the criteria weather they contain a battery or not, active and passive tags. In general active tags, which are the most commonly available tags in market today, have a larger operational distance range when compared to the passive tags, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,621,417.


A locking-status judging circuit is composed of a comparator that compares a phase error signal with a reference signal for judging whether or not a digital PLL circuit locks on an input signal and outputs a signal “0 (zero)” or a signal “1 (one)”, a selector that outputs a positive or negative number in response to the inputted signal whether it is “0” or “1”, a limiter that limits an accumulated number to be within a range of prescribed upper and lower limits, a feedback section that returns the accumulated number, an accumulator that adds the accumulated number and a positive or negative number from the selector and outputs a newly accumulated number, and a lock-state judging section that judges the digital PLL circuit whether it is in a lock-state or an unlock-state in response to an accumulated value of the newly accumulated number whether it is positive or negative.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking-status judging circuit for a digital PLL (Phase Locked Loop) circuit, which judges whether or not the digital PLL circuit locks on an input signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an optical disc, which is recorded with an information signal such as a video signal and an audio signal, has been introduced into markets, wherein the information signal is converted into a digital signal, compressed, encoded and modulated digitally. When reproducing such an optical disc, the digitally modulated signal that is recorded in the optical disc is read out, and a clock signal for decoding the digitally modulated signal is extracted. By using the extracted clock signal, the digitally modulated signal is demodulated, and then the compression encoded information signal is decoded. In other words, a clock signal is generated by inputting a signal that is reproduced from an optical disc into a digital PLL (Phase Locked Loop) circuit. Then, by using the clock signal, an information signal that is recorded in the optical disc is reproduced.
In this connection, if a lock-state detector circuit enables to detect immediately a status of the digital PLL circuit whether the digital PLL circuit is in synchronism with an input signal, that is, in a lock-state or out of synchronization, that is, in an unlock-state, the digital PLL circuit enables to be advanced to the lock-state by increasing a loop gain of the digital PLL circuit in case of the unlock-state. On the contrary, in case of the lock-state, by reducing the loop gain of the digital PLL circuit, the digital PLL circuit enables to be hardly affected by a noise signal component to be possibly inputted and enables to obtain a clock signal of which frequency is stable. Consequently, an optical disc reproducing apparatus, which enables to start to reproduce an information signal recorded in an optical disc immediately, enables to be realized.
Further, the optical disc reproducing apparatus enables to reproduce a signal to be demodulated in higher stability although the signal contains excessive phase fluctuation components.
With referring to a drawing, operations of a PLL circuit are depicted.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a conventional PLL circuit provided with a lock-state detecting section according to the prior art.
As shown in FIG. 10, a conventional PLL circuit having a lock-state detector function is composed of a PLL section 8 and a lock-state detecting section 9. The PLL section 8 is further composed of a phase comparator circuit 81, a loop filter 82, and a voltage controlled oscillator 83. The lock-state detecting section 9 is further composed of a phase difference detector circuit 91 and a lock-state detector circuit 92.
An input signal having a noise component and a phase fluctuation component is supplied to one input terminal of the phase comparator circuit 81 and the phase difference detector circuit 91 respectively. The other input terminal of the phase comparator circuit 81 and the phase difference detector circuit 91 is respectively supplied with an oscillator output signal that is generated by the voltage controlled oscillator 83.
The phase comparator circuit 81 detects a phase difference between the input signal and the oscillator output signal outputted from the voltage controlled oscillator 83, and results in outputting an error signal based on the phase difference. The error signal is inputted into the loop filter 82, and a low frequency component of the error signal is boosted through an accumulation process therein. The error signal of which low frequency component is boosted by the loop filter 82 is inputted into the voltage controlled oscillator 83.
The voltage controlled oscillator 83 oscillates at a frequency in response to the inputted error signal and outputs an oscillator output signal. Then, a clock signal for driving other digital circuit (not shown) such as a demodulator circuit for a digitally modulated signal and a decoder circuit for a compression encoded signal is generated by using the oscillator output signal.
The phase difference detector circuit 91 detects a phase difference between the inputted two signals, the input signal and the oscillator output signal through the synchronous detection. In other words, the phase difference detector circuit 91 outputs a phase error signal in low level in case the conventional PLL circuit locks on the input signal. On the contrary, in case the conventional PLL circuit does not lock on the input signal or the input signal contains excessive noise components and excessive phase fluctuation components, the phase difference detector circuit 91 outputs a phase error signal in high level.
The lock-state detector circuit 92 compares an absolute value of the phase error signal with a prescribed reference value, and detects a status of the conventional PLL circuit. The status of the conventional PLL circuit is detected as the unlock-state in case the absolute value of the phase error signal is larger than the prescribed reference value.
An optical disc reproducing apparatus installed with the PLL section 8 and the lock-state detecting section 9 conducts to demodulate a reproduced digitally modulated signal and decodes a compression encoded information signal on the basis of the detected signal in the lock-state.
The Japanese publication of unexamined patent applications No. 2002-358739 discloses that detecting the unlock-state of the PLL circuit is realized by detecting a phase error signal such that an average of phase error signals in the prescribed time period exceeds the predetermined value, wherein the phase error signal is the output signal from the phase comparator of the PLL circuit. Unstableness of phase synchronism in the PLL circuit enables to be detected by detecting the unlock-state of the PLL circuit. By detecting a status of phase synchronism in the PLL circuit, the circuit operation in the error correction section is stopped when unstableness is detected. Consequently, the optical disc reproducing apparatus in which power consumption of the circuit is reduced is realized.
Further, the Japanese Patent No. 3028955 discloses the method of detecting a lock-state in the PLL locking circuit. According to the Japanese Patent No. 3028955, by comparing a phase error signal with the prescribed reference value, the PLL locking circuit outputs a phase error signal, which is utilized for judging whether the PLL circuit is in the lock-state or not, only when a phase error signal falls below the prescribed reference value continuously a plurality of times that exceeds the prescribed number of times.
However, according to the method of reproducing data disclosed in the Japanese publication of unexamined patent applications No. 2002-358739, it is hardly discriminated whether a phase error signal in higher level to be detected is generated on the basis of a signal having a short inversion interval or the phase error signal is generated by the PLL circuit that is in the unlock-state, in case a signal having large phase fluctuation such as a signal having a short inversion interval is inputted into the reproducing apparatus although the PLL circuit is in the lock-state when reproducing an optical disc. Particularly, it is hard to discriminate the distinction when a higher frequency range of the signal to be inputted is attenuated due to deterioration of transfer characteristics that occurs in a process from recording to reproducing.
Further, in case loop gain of the PLL circuit is increased to compensate the attenuated high frequency component so as to shift the PLL circuit from the unlock-state to the lock-state, it is difficult to discriminate whether a phase error signal that is detected by the phase difference detector circuit 91 is generated on the basis of phase fluctuation of the signal to be inputted or the phase error signal is generated by the PLL circuit that is in the unlock-state.
Furthermore, with respect to the method of detecting the lock and unlock states disclosed in the Japanese Patent No. 3028955, further details are given to a specific case in which an input signal to be detected whether it is in the lock-state or the unlock-state is obtained by reproducing a n optical disc.
When reproducing an optical disc, an input signal having a long inversion interval is hardly affected by deterioration of transfer characteristics, so that a PLL circuit easily locks on the input signal, and discriminating the lock-state is also easy. However, in case of an input signal having a short inversion interval, the input signal is easily affected by deterioration of transfer characteristics in a higher frequency range, and resulting in detecting phase error larger due to enhancing high frequency range so as to compensate the deterioration of the high frequency range. Consequently, phase error exceeding a reference value is often detected. On the other hand, in case of a signal having a short inversion interval, such a signal is often contained in the input signal at random. Therefore, when a signal having a short inversion interval is inputted into the PLL circuit in succession, the locking status of the PLL circuit might be detected as the unlock-state although the PLL circuit locks on the input signal. In other words, the method of judging the locking status of the PLL circuit disclosed in the Japanese Patent No. 3028955 sometimes misjudges.

Locking-status judging circuit for digital PLL circuit


A method and system of certifying RF coverage in a structure. A grid is superimposed on a floor plan of a structure to be certified. Each sector in the grid is given an identifier. A test unit is placed in one of the sectors. An RF test signal is transmitted from the test unit to a base unit located outside the structure. The RF test signal as received by the base unit is analyzed to determine whether it is satisfactory. An RF reply signal is transmitted from the base unit to the test unit. The reply signal as received by the test unit is analyzed to determine whether it is satisfactory. This process is repeated for each sector of the grid.

Wireless communications are essential in today's society to support law enforcement, emergency medical treatment, firefighting, disaster relief, and other governmental and private service providers. The individuals who provide these services must be able to communicate reliably and accurately with each other and with their bases of support or other remotely-located facilities in order to function effectively or even at all. Often these services must be performed inside structures including for example commercial and government office buildings, courthouses, hospitals, schools, and retail stores.
FIG. 1 shows a building 100 having a basement 102 below ground level 104, a first floor 106 at ground level, and second through fifth floors 108, 110, 112, and 114. An RF transceiver 116, for example a cell tower, a police or fire-service dispatch station, or other transceiver operating in any of the wavelengths used for two-way radio communications, transmits signals that must be receivable by personnel in the structure. The transceiver 116 must also be able to receive signals transmitted from within the structure, for example by personnel using portable transceivers, cellphones, or the like.
As indicated by RF coverage area 118, there is clear signal passage between the transceiver 116 and portions of the building 100, specifically the third floor 110, most of the fourth floor 112, and a portion of the fifth floor 114. However, a small portion 120 of the fourth floor 112, and a larger portion 122 of the fifth floor 114, as indicated by RF coverage area 118, do not have adequate coverage. This may be due to such factors as distance from the transceiver 116, or walls or other structural members of the building 100.
In addition, another building 124 is located between the building 100 and the transceiver 116. The building 124 attenuates signals between the transceiver 116 and portions of the building 100 including the basement 102 and the first two floors 106 and 108.
If this need for availability of reliable radio communication at any time and often with no advance notice is taken into account during building design and construction, various steps can be taken to ensure that adequate signal coverage will be provided. Building codes in many municipalities now require that a newly-constructed building be certified as providing adequate RF signal passage in wavelengths used for two-way radio communications before the building will be approved for occupancy.
Certification is typically carried out by an inspector who walks through the building carrying a portable test transceiver, making transmissions back to a remotely-located base station at each of a plurality of locations in the building. A person at the base station notes the quality of the received signal for each transmission. Some codes require at least one transmission in each 15-square-foot (1.4-square-meter) sector of each floor. An example of apparatus that may be used for such certification is described in Anritsu Application Note "In-building Mapping with the Anritsu S412E LMR Master and the MA8100A Series TRX Neon Signal Mapper", Anritsu Company, 2016.


A relay situated in series between an AC line source and an AC load has a core conductor connected with the fixed N.O. contact, so that load current flows axially through the core of the actuator coil. Alternatively, the fixed N.C. contact may be connected with the core conductor. A plate armature with leaf springs can achieve linear axial action. A sensor connected to leads of a winding of the actuator coil picks up a an induced voltage that is representative of the current supplied to the load. This provides a simple arrangement for monitoring for current level and can be used for measuring power factor or ΔΦ at the load device. In a three phase embodiment, phase imbalance can be detected.

This invention relates to electromagnetic relays and contactors, and is more specifically related to the structure of an electromagnetic or electromechanical relay of the type that has a winding or coil that is energized to move an armature such that a load current may be applied to a load device. Relays and contactors may be considered as devices in which the appearance of a pilot current or voltage causes the opening or closing of a controlled switching device to apply or discontinue application of load current. The invention is particularly concerned with a combination of a relay and a current sensor for measuring the amount of load current, or the quality thereof, that is being applied to the load device.
Electromagnetic or electromechanical relays or contactors are devices in which current that flows through an actuator coil closes or opens a pair of electrical contacts. This may occur in a number of well-known ways, but usually an iron armature is magnetically deflected towards the core of the coil to make (or break) the controlled circuit. In electromechanical relays, the voltage drop across the switching or output contacts is low, i.e., on the order of millivolts, so any power loss through the relay contacts is kept low in comparison with solid state relays, where the forward voltage drop may be one volt or sometimes higher.
Electromagnetic or electromechanical relays are commonly used to control the application of power to a load, for example, to control the application power to a blower or fan in a ventilation, heating, or air conditioning system. These devices are inexpensive and in general have good reliability over a reasonable life span. Wear of the contacts may occur in time due to arcing if the relay acts to break the circuit at a time when there is significant current load flowing. This may also produce switching noise, which may disturb electronic devices located near the relay.
If it is desired to monitor the load current to the associated load device, a separate current sensor is employed. This may involve a hall-type solid-state device or other current detector device. This adds circuit complexity and cost to the control circuitry for the load device.

Relay with core conductor and current sensing

International Controls and Measurements Corporation


A method for a closed power control feedback loop allows a single portable transceiver architecture to be used for systems in which a transmit signal including both a phase modulated (PM) component and an amplitude modulated (AM) component are supplied to a power amplifier and in systems in which the transmit signal has only a PM component supplied to a power amplifier. By injecting the inverse of the AM portion of the desired transmit signal into the closed power control feedback loop, the feedback loop will not cancel the AM portion of the signal, thus allowing a system where both a PM component and an AM component of the transmit signal are present at the output of the power amplifier to function using a closed power control feedback loop.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to power control in a wireless communication device transmitter, and, more particularly, to a system for allowing a time division multiple access (TDMA)/code division multiple access (CDMA) portable transceiver to operate using a closed loop power control feedback system.
2. Related Art
With the increasing availability of efficient, low cost electronic modules, mobile communication systems are becoming more and more widespread. For example, there are many variations of communication schemes where various frequencies, transmission schemes, modulation techniques and communication protocols are used to provide two-way voice and data communications in a handheld telephone-like communication handset. The different modulation and transmission schemes each have advantages and disadvantages.
As these mobile communication systems have been developed and deployed, many different standards, to which these systems must conform have evolved. For example, in the United States, portable communications systems complying with the IS-136 standard specify the use of a particular modulation scheme and access format. In the case of IS-136, the modulation scheme can be 8-quadrature phase shift keying (8QPSK), offset π/4 differential quadrature phase shift keying (π/4-DQPSK) or variations and the access format is time division multiple access (TDMA). Other standards may require the use of, for example, code division multiple access (CDMA).
Similarly, in Europe, the global system for mobile communications (GSM) standard requires the use of the gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) modulation scheme in a narrowband TDMA access environment. Although there are many differences that distinguish systems complying with IS-136 from systems complying with GSM, a substantial difference is the manner in which transmit power is controlled. In IS-136 systems, the transmit power control is achieved using a reference voltage control signal supplied to the portable transceiver from the base station with which the portable transceiver is communicating. In this "open loop" feedback control system, the base station sends a reference signal requesting that the portable transceiver either increase or decrease transmit power. In response, the portable transceiver will comply by adjusting the transmit power in pre-determined steps of, for example, 2 dB. The base station continues sending the power control adjustment signal until the portable transceiver is supplying an appropriate transmit power level.
In contrast to portable communication systems complying with the IS-136 standard, those systems complying with the GSM standard have a much stricter transmit power control requirement. Instead of having to adjust transmit power in relatively large steps, systems complying with GSM are required to set transmit power at a particular level, with very little variation. In order to achieve this strict transmit power control requirement, systems complying with GSM implement a closed feedback loop power control system. The closed feedback loop power control system measures a portion of the transmit power, compares this transmit power with a reference power level developed within the portable transceiver to develop an error signal and the resulting error signal is fed back to the input of the power amplifier to adjust the transmit power to comply with the reference power level. Importantly, the closed feedback loop resides completely in the transmit portion of the portable communication device.
Furthermore, in a typical GSM mobile communication system using narrowband TDMA technology, a GMSK modulation scheme supplies a very clean phase modulated (PM) transmit signal to a non-linear power amplifier directly from an oscillator. In such an arrangement, a non-linear power amplifier, which is highly efficient, can be used thus allowing efficient modulation of the phase-modulated signal and minimizing power consumption. Because the modulated signal is supplied directly from an oscillator, the need for filtering, either before or after the power amplifier, is minimized. Other transmission standards, such as those employed in IS-136, however, use a modulation scheme where both a PM signal and an amplitude modulated (AM) signal are transmitted. Standards such as these increase the data rate without increasing the bandwidth of the transmitted signal. Unfortunately, existing GSM modulation schemes are not easily adapted to transmit a signal that includes both a PM component and an AM component. One reason for this difficulty is that in order to transmit a signal containing a PM component and an AM component, a highly linear power amplifier is required. Unfortunately, highly linear power amplifiers are very inefficient, thus consuming significantly more power than a non-linear power amplifier and drastically reducing the life of the battery or other power source.
This condition is further complicated because transmitters typically employed in GSM communication systems transmit in bursts and must be able to control the ramp-up and ramp-down of the transmit power as well as have a high degree of control over the output power level over a wide power range. As mentioned above, in GSM this power control is typically performed using a closed feedback loop in which a portion of the signal output from the power amplifier is compared with a reference signal and the resulting error signal is fed back to the input of the power amplifier.
When attempting to include a PM component and an AM component in a GSM type modulation system, the power control loop will tend to fight against the amplitude variations present in the signal while attempting to maintain the desired output power. In such an arrangement, the power control loop tends to cancel the AM portion of the signal.
In systems that transmit signals containing both PM and AM components, the output power can be controlled by setting a calibrated control signal on the power amplifier. Unfortunately, this requires the use of a highly linear, and therefore very inefficient, power amplifier. In non-burst transmission systems the output power may be controlled by a feedback loop having a time-constant that is very low compared to the time-constant of the amplitude variations of the modulator. Another known method to control the output power is to "pre-distort" the modulated signal in such a way that the power control loop will cancel the effect of the pre-distortion. In such a method, the amplitude information is passed through a transfer function that is the inverse of the power control loop transfer function. Unfortunately, these methods are costly and inefficient.
In systems complying with IS-136, transmit power control is achieved via an open loop feedback path in which the base station sends a reference power signal to the portable transceiver. In such a system, there is no specific power requirement, just the command to either increase or decrease power output. This is known as an open loop power control system.
In those transmission standards where both a PM signal and an AM signal are sent to a power amplifier, unless the power amplifier is very linear, it may distort the combined transmission signal by causing undesirable AM to PM conversion. This conversion is detrimental to the transmit signal and can require the use of a costly and inefficient linear power amplifier.
With the increasing desirability of developing one worldwide portable communication standard, it would be desirable to allow portable transceivers that comply with the IS-136 standard, and provide both a PM component and an AM component to the transmit signal to operate in a GSM system in which there is typically only a PM component to the transmit signal. Furthermore, as the GSM standard evolves further, such as with the development of enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), it is desirable to have one portable transceiver that may operate in all systems. Unfortunately, because the GSM system requires closed loop power control, it is currently not possible to use a portable transceiver complying with the IS-136 standard in a GSM/EDGE mobile communication environment.

System and method for allowing a TDMA/CDMA portable transceiver to operate with closed loop power control


An electronic device is provided including a mainboard having a ground; a conductive bracket coupled to the mainboard; and an elastic member coupled to the mainboard, and electrically connected with the ground of the mainboard; wherein the elastic member is in elastic contact with the conductive bracket; and wherein the elastic member is electrically connected to the conductive bracket.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an electronic device and more particularly to a shielding structure for use in an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile communications devices, such as mobile communications terminals (e.g., cellular phones), electronic schedulers, tablet computers, and laptops have become ubiquitous. Such mobile communications devices normally include noise shielding mechanisms to prevent noise from interfering with their operation. For example, FIGS. 1A and 1B depict an electromagnetic shielding apparatus 1 that is known in the art. The electromagnetic shielding apparatus 1 includes a mainboard 11 and an electromagnetic shielding structure 12 laminated and coupled to the mainboard 11. The electromagnetic shielding structure 12 prevents the escape of electromagnetic waves originated from the mainboard 1 as well as the flow of external noises into the mainboard 11.
The electromagnetic shielding structure 12 includes a conductive plate 121, and a conductive rubber gasket 122 attached to the conductive plate 121 and electrically connected with the conductive plate 121. The conductive plate 121 includes a bottom part 1211, and a wall part 1212 protruding at a predetermined height from the bottom part 1211. The conductive rubber gasket 122 is attached to a top of the wall part 1212. The mainboard 11 includes a ground pad 113 which is electrically connected with the ground of the mainboard. The ground pad 113 is formed on a surface of the mainboard 11 on which electronic parts 111 are mounted.
When the mainboard 11 and the electromagnetic shielding structure 12 are coupled with each other, the conductive rubber gasket 122 comes in elastic and electrical contact with the ground pad 113.
In some aspects, the foregoing shielding apparatus may suffer from several disadvantages. For example, due to variations in the shape of the wall part 1212, the electrical contact between the wall part 1212 and the conductive rubber gasket 122 can be disrupted. Similarly, due to variations in the shape of the conductive rubber gasket 122, the electrical contact between the conductive rubber gasket 122 and the ground pad 113 can also be disrupted. Furthermore, the elastic force of the conductive rubber gasket 122 may deteriorate due to aging, which in turn can also result in a disruption of the electrical contact between the conductive rubber gasket 122 and the ground pad 113. And still furthermore, when the conductive rubber gasket 122 is oxidized, the surface resistance of the conductive rubber gasket 122 is increased, thus making more difficult the electrical communication between the conductive rubber gasket 122 and the ground pad 113. As will be readily appreciated, any of the aforementioned disruptions in electrical contact may cause the noise shielding provided by the shielding apparatus to deteriorate.
Accordingly the need exists for improved mechanisms and techniques for noise shielding.

Shielding structure for use in an electronic device


A BD-ROM contains a plurality of titles which can be branched among, and a Java application. The Java application is a program described in a programming language for a virtual machine. A life cycle where execution by the virtual machine is enabled is predetermined. Each of the titles contains an application management table indicates an application that has a life cycle bound to the title.

In the movie business that uses recording media, there is a sales strategy whereby a digitized movie work and an application for online shopping are sold recorded on a same recording medium. The creator has an expectation that by incorporating a mechanism for selling character goods relating to the movie work online on the one recording medium, the synergy effect of the movie work and the application will increase sales of the character goods. To realize such contents, there is a desire that upcoming recording media and playback apparatuses be equipped with an application execution environment that has a greater degree of freedom.
In order to realize simultaneous execution of such a movie work and online shopping application, a technique is required to execute the application in accordance with playback of digital video. One known technique for executing Java applications is "signaling" set forth in the DVD-MHP specification. Signaling involves defining, on a playback time axis of a digital stream, a start point at which the application is to be run and an end point at which the application is to be terminated, transmitting information called an AIT (application information table) at this point, and causing the playback apparatus to perform control in accordance with this AIT.
However, regression of the playback time axis may occur in the procession of playback. This means that playback proceeds in the reverse direction of the time axis due to Backward play. If regression and progression back and forth of the content is repeated with the point at which the application should be run and the point at which the application should be terminated being reversed, loading and discarding to and from the work memory will also be performed numerous times, thus causing and excessive load for reading.

Recording medium, playback apparatus, program, and playback method


For forming an annular magnetostrictive coat on an outer peripheral surface of a rotational shaft associated with a magnetostrictive torque sensor, a magnetostrictive coat forming method comprises a step of fitting a cylindrical masking jig over the outer peripheral surface of the rotational shaft and securing the masking jig to the outer peripheral surface, a step of placing the rotational shaft in a plating tank to thereby form the magnetostrictive coat by plating on the outer peripheral surface, and a step of detaching the masking jig from the rotational shaft.

As well known, the electric power steering apparatus are steering assisting apparatus which are designed to drive an electric motor as a human operator or driver manually operates a steering wheel, during driving of a motor vehicle, to thereby assist the driver's manual steering effort. In such electric power steering apparatus, the steering assisting motor, which provides a steering torque assist (or steering assist torque), is driven by a motor control device in accordance with a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) scheme, using a steering torque signal generated by a steering torque detector section detecting steering torque that is produced on the steering shaft by driver's operation of the steering wheel and a vehicle velocity signal generated by a vehicle velocity detection section detecting a traveling velocity of the vehicle, so as to reduce manual steering force to be applied by the human driver.
FIG. 38 is a view showing an overall setup of a typical example of the conventional electric power steering apparatus. This electric power steering apparatus 100 includes a steering torque detector section (torque sensor) 102 for detecting steering torque applied by a human driver via a steering wheel 101, an electric steering assisting motor 103 for providing an steering torque assist to the steering by the driver, a power transmission device 104 for boosting the rotational torque of the motor 103, a control device 106 for controlling operation of the motor 103 on the basis of output signals from the torque detector section 102 and vehicle velocity detector section 105, and a rack and pinion mechanism 108 for varying a direction of steerable front road wheels 107.
The electric power steering apparatus 100 is constructed to provide the steering assist torque to an upper steering shaft 109a etc. connected to the steering wheel 101. The upper steering shaft 109a is also connected at its lower end to a lower steering shaft 109b via a universal joint 109c and connected at its upper end to the steering wheel 101. The lower steering shaft 109b is operatively connected at its lower end to a pinion gear 110 meshing with a rack gear 111a provided on a rack shaft 111. The pinion gear 110 and rack gear 111a together constitute a rack and pinion mechanism 108. Tie rods 112 are connected to axial opposite ends of the rack shaft 111, and the front road wheels 107 are connected to respective outer ends of the tie rods 112. The steering assisting motor 103 is operatively connected to the lower steering shaft 109b via the power transmission mechanism 104. The power transmission mechanism 104 comprises a worm gear 104a and worm wheel 104b. The motor 103 generates steering assist torque that is delivered via the power transmission mechanism 104 to the steering shafts 109b and 109a. The steering torque detector section (torque sensor) 102, which is provided on the lower steering shaft 109b, detects steering torque applied to the steering shafts 109a and 109b through driver's operation of the steering wheel 101. The vehicle velocity detector section 105 detects a traveling velocity of the vehicle, and the control device 106 is implemented by a computer. The control device 106 receives a steering torque signal T output from the torque detector section 102, vehicle velocity signal V output from the vehicle velocity detector section 105, etc., on the basis of which it generates a driving control signal SG1 for controlling the rotation of the steering assisting motor 103. The above-mentioned rack and pinion mechanism 108 etc. are accommodated in a gearbox 113 not shown in FIG. 38.
In short, the electric power steering apparatus 100 of FIG. 38 may be constructed by adding, to the construction of the traditional steering apparatus, the torque detector section 102, vehicle velocity detector section 105, control device 106, steering assisting motor 103 and power transmission device 104.
In the electric power steering apparatus 100, the steering assist torque, generated by the steering assisting motor 103 on the basis of the steering torque signal T, vehicle velocity signal V, etc., is boosted via the power transmission device 104 and delivered to a pinion shaft of the rack and pinion mechanism 108 so as to reduce steering torque to be manually applied by the driver. As the driver operates the steering wheel 101 to vary the traveling direction of the motor vehicle, a rotational force based on steering torque applied to the steering shafts 109a and 109b is converted into axial linear movement of the rack shaft 111, via the rack and pinion mechanism 108, to thereby vary the direction of the front road wheels 107 via the tie rods 112. During that time, the torque detector section 102, provided on the lower steering shaft 109b, detects the steering torque applied to the steering shaft 109b to generate an electric steering torque signal T, representative of the detected steering torque, that is supplied to the control device 106, and the vehicle velocity detector section 105 detects a traveling velocity of the vehicle steering to generate an electric vehicle velocity signal V that is supplied to the control device 106. Thus, on the basis of the steering torque signal T and vehicle velocity signal V, the control device 106 generates a motor current for driving the steering assisting motor 103, which in turn provides a steering assist force to the steering shafts 109b and 109a via the transmission mechanism 104. The motor 103 thus driven can reduce the steering force to be manually applied to the steering wheel 101 by the driver.
If the steering torque is represented by "TH" and a coefficient of a steering assist amount AH is assumed to be a constant value "kA", then AH=kA×TH.
Thus, if a load or pinion torque is represented by "TP",
                                                                        T                                                                                P                            =                                                T                                                                                H                                +                                  A                                                                                H                                                                                =                                                T                                                                                H                                +                                  k                                                                                A                  ×                  T                                                                                H                                                                                (        1        )            Therefore, the steering torque TH can be expressed asTH=TP/(1+kA)   (2)Namely, the steering torque TH can be reduced to "pinion torque TP/(1+kA)", where kA is equal to or greater than zero.
FIG. 39 shows detailed organization of mechanical and electric components in the electric power steering apparatus 100, where part of left and right end portions of the rack shaft 111 are shown in section. The rack shaft 111 is accommodated in a cylindrical housing 131, disposed in a widthwise direction (left-and-right direction of FIG. 39) of the vehicle, for axial sliding movement therein. Ball joints 132 are secured via screws to opposite ends of the rack shaft 111 that project beyond the housing 131, and left and right tie rods 112 are connected to the ball joints 132. The housing 131 has brackets 133 via which the housing 131 is secured to the body of the vehicle, and stoppers 134 at its opposite ends. In FIG. 39, reference numeral 135 represents an ignition switch, 136 an on-vehicle battery, and 137 an A.C. generator annexed to an engine of the vehicle. The A.C. generator 137 is activated to generate power in response to operation of the vehicle engine. Necessary electric power is supplied to the control device 106 from the battery 136 or A.C. generator 137. Further, reference numeral 138 represents a rack end that abuts against one of the stoppers 134 during axial movement of the rack shaft 138, and 139 a dust-sealing boot for protecting the interior of the gearbox from water, mud, dust, etc.
FIG. 40 is a sectional view taken along the A-A lines of FIG. 39, which clearly shows a structure for supporting the lower steering shaft 109b and detailed organization of the steering torque detector section 102, transmission mechanism 104 and rack and pinion mechanism 108. The lower steering shaft 109b is rotatably supported, via four bearings 141a, 141b, 141c and 141d, within a housing 113a forming the gearbox 113. The transmission mechanism 104 and rack and pinion mechanism 108 are also accommodated within the housing 113a, and the torque detector section 102 is secured to an upper portion of the housing 113a. The steering torque detector section 102 includes magnetostrictive films or coats 102b and 102c that are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the lower steering shaft 109b and surrounded by coils 102d, 102f, 102e and 102f and yoke section 102g; that is, the lower steering shaft 109b are surrounded by the coils 102d, 102f, 102e and 102f and yoke section 102g. The housing 113a has an upper opening closed with a lid 143 bolted thereto. The pinion 110 provided on a lower end portion of the lower steering shaft 109b is positioned between the bearings 141a and 141b. The rack shaft 111 is guided along a rack guide 145 and pressed against the pinion 110 via a compression spring 146. The power transmission mechanism 104 includes the worm gear 104a connected via a transmission shaft 148 to an output shaft of the steering assisting motor 103, and the worm wheel 104b secured to the lower steering shaft 109b. Specifically, the torque detector section 102, which is secured to the lid 143 in the steering gearbox 113, detects steering torque acting on the lower steering shaft 109b and outputs a value of the detected steering torque (steering torque signal) to the control device 106, which in turn supplies a motor signal to cause the motor 103 to generate appropriate steering assist torque.
The steering torque detector section 102 of the electric power steering apparatus 100 comprises a magnetostrictive torque sensor designed to directly detect steering torque applied to the steering shaft 109b, as compared to the traditional torque sensor that detects an twist or torsional angle of a torsion bar, converts the detected torsional angle into axial displacement and detects the converted axial displacement to thereby indirectly detect steering torque.
As illustrated in FIG. 40, the lower steering shaft 109b connected to the steering wheel 101 is rotatably supported, via the bearings 141c and 141d, within the gearbox 113, and two magnetostrictive coats, each in the form of a nickel-iron plating or the like, are provided on two, upper and lower, portions 102b and 102c of the outer surface between the bearings 141c and 141d. The magnetostrictive coats, each having a predetermined thickness, are imparted with opposite magnetic anisotropies and reverse magnetostrictive characteristics, as will be later described in relation to FIG. 40.
FIG. 41 is a diagram showing positional relationship among an exciting coil, detecting coils and magnetostrictive coats in the magnetostrictive torque sensor 102. The magnetostrictive coats 102b and 102c are formed, with a predetermined axial interval therebetween, on the surface of the lower steering shaft 109b, and the exciting coil 102f is disposed near the magnetostrictive coats 102b and 102c with a slight air gap left between the coil 102f and coats 102b and 102c. The exciting coil 102f is connected to an exciting voltage supply source 102h. Further, the detecting coil 102d is disposed near the magnetostrictive coat 102b with a slight air gap therebetween, while the detecting coil 102e is disposed near the magnetostrictive coat 102c with a slight air gap therebetween. When torque acts on the lower steering shaft 109b in the magnetostrictive torque sensor 102, the torque also acts on the magnetostrictive coats 102b and 102c, and reverse magnetostrictive effects are produced in the coats 102b and 102c in accordance with the applied torque. Thus, as a high-frequency A.C. voltage (exciting voltage) is supplied from the exciting voltage supply source 102h to the exciting coil 102f, magnetic field variation due to the reverse magnetostrictive effects of the coats 102b and 102c, based on the input torque, can be detected as variation in impedance or induced voltage. Then, the torque applied to the steering shaft 109b can be detected on the basis of the detected impedance or induced voltage variation.
Example of such reverse magnetostrictive characteristics is shown in FIG. 42, where the horizontal axis represents the steering torque while the vertical axis represents the impedance or induced voltage detected via the detecting coils when an A.C. voltage is applied to the exciting coil. Curve C100 represents variation in the impedance or induced voltage detected via the detecting coil 102d, and a curve C101 represents variation in the impedance or induced voltage detected via the detecting coil 102e. As indicated by the curve C100 corresponding to the detection via the detecting coil 102d, the impedance or induced voltage increases as the steering torque changes from a negative value to a positive value, takes a peak value P1 when the steering torque reaches a positive value T1, and decreases after the steering torque gets greater than the value T1. As indicated by the curve C101 corresponding to the detection via the detecting coil 102e, the impedance or induced voltage increases as the steering torque changes from a positive value to a negative value, takes a peak value P1 when the steering torque reaches a negative value −T1, and decreases after the steering torque gets smaller than the value −T1. As shown, a steering-torque-vs.-impedance (induced voltage) characteristic obtained via the detecting coil 102d and a steering-torque-vs.-impedance (induced voltage) characteristic obtained via the detecting coil 102e present substantial mountain (upwardly-convex) curve shapes that are generally symmetrical with respect to the vertical axis, reflecting the opposite magnetic anisotropies of the upper and lower magnetostrictive coats 102b and 102c. Further, a straight line L100 represents a difference calculated by subtracting the characteristic curve C101, obtained via the detecting coil 102e, from the characteristic curve C100 obtained via the detecting coil 102d. The straight line L100 indicates that, ideally, the difference is zero when the steering torque is zero but varies linearly relative to variation in the steering torque within a steering torque range R. The magnetostrictive torque sensor uses particular regions or ranges of the characteristic curves C100 and C101 which present substantially constant gradients of sensitivity around a neutral torque point, so as to output detection signals corresponding to the direction and intensity of the input torque. Furthermore, using the characteristics of the straight line L100, the magnetostrictive torque sensor can detect the steering torque on the basis of the values detected via the detecting coils 102d and 102e.
From Japanese Patent Publication No. 3268089, there is known a magnetostrictive torque sensor for detecting steering torque input to the steering shaft (rotational shaft), where a magnetostrictive coat is formed by first masking the surface of the rotational shaft and then performing an electroless plating process on the masked surface. However, in the case where an annular magnetostrictive coat is formed on the rotational shaft by first wrapping a masking tape on part of the surface of the rotational shaft to thereby mask the surface and then plating the masked surface as taught in the No. 3268089 patent publication, the magnetostrictive coat would have a greater thickness at its opposite axial end portions than the remaining coat portion, which would unavoidably deteriorate the detection accuracy due to reasons to be described later.
Further, FIGS. 43A-43E show a manner in which the magnetostrictive coats 102b and 102c are imparted with magnetic anisotropies in the conventional magnetostrictive torque sensor, according to which the steering shaft 109b is subjected to a plating process to form the magnetostrictive coats 102b and 102c (see FIG. 43A; however, only the magnetostrictive coat 102b is shown with the other magnetostrictive coat 102c omitted for clarity). After completion of the plating, counterclockwise twisting torque Tq is applied to an upper portion of the steering shaft 109b while clockwise twisting torque Tq is applied to a lower portion of the steering shaft 109b, to thereby impart stress to the circumferential surface of the steering shaft 109b (FIG. 43B). Then, with the twisting torque Tq kept applied, the magnetostrictive coats 102b and 102c are heated in a thermostatic bath (FIG. 43C) and then cooled (FIG. 43D). After the cooling, the twisting torque Tq is removed from the surface of the steering shaft 109b (FIG. 43E), and necessary sensor output setting is performed to manufacture a substantially complete steering shaft 109b. For details of such a magnetostrictive torque sensor manufacturing method, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-82000.
In FIGS. 43A-43E, each circle or oval D100 depicted alongside a drawing of the steering shaft 109b represents an enlarged drawing of a minute portion of the magnetostrictive coat 102b, and arrows F1 and F2 represent a tension load and compressing load, respectively. Note that the "minute portion" is a model portion of the magnetostrictive coat assumptively extracted for the purpose of showing typical physical changes occurring in the magnetostrictive coat. In the step of FIG. 43B, the minute portion D100 of the magnetostrictive coat 102b is simultaneously subjected to the tension load F1 and compressing load F2, so that it is deformed into an oval shape with its longitudinal axis extending upward and rightward (i.e., in a lower-left-to-upper-right direction of the figure). In the step of FIG. 43C, undesired creep is produced in the magnetostrictive coat 102b due to the heating, and the minute portion D100 assumes a near-circular oval shape. FIG. 43D shows the minute portion D100 having shrunk after the cooling but still generally keeping the near-circular oval shape of FIG. 43C. Further, FIG. 43E shows a state where torsional torque acting in an opposite direction to the twisting torque Tq has been applied to the magnetostrictive coat 102b due to removal of the twisting torque Tq, and where the minute portion D100 has assumed an oval shape with its longitudinal axis extending upward and leftward, i.e. in a lower-right-to-upper-left direction of the figure.
Specifically, in the conventional magnetostrictive torque sensor, the magnetostrictive coat 102b is formed into a thickness of 40 μm, and the steering shaft 109b is subjected to the twisting torque Tq of 70 Nm, and then heated at a temperature in a range of 150-550° C. for 10-20 minutes with the twisting torque Tq still kept applied thereto.
However, the above-discussed conventional magnetostrictive torque sensor 102 has several drawbacks, such as instable detected values of the steering torque, great hysteresis, a considerably long time for heating the steering shaft (magnetostrictive coats) and poor productivity. FIG. 44 is a graph showing an example of actual reverse magnetostrictive characteristics of the conventional magnetostrictive torque sensor 102, where the horizontal axis represents the input steering torque while the vertical axis represents the impedance or induced voltage detected by the detecting coils when an A.C. voltage has been supplied to the exciting coil. In FIG. 44, a curve C102 represents a difference, i.e. (A−B) value, calculated by subtracting an actual characteristic curve obtained via the detecting coil 102e (corresponding to the curve C101 of FIG. 42) from an actual characteristic curve obtained via the detecting coil 102d (corresponding to the curve C100 of FIG. 42), and the curve C102 corresponds to the straight line L100 of FIG. 42. From FIG. 44, it can be seen that the curve C102 presents occurrence of a hysteresis instead of actually presenting a zero "(A−B)" value when the steering torque is zero. Therefore, in the case where such a magnetostrictive torque sensor is employed in an electric power steering apparatus, the magnetostrictive torque sensor would deteriorate a steering feel and thus can not be suitably put to practical use.
Further, the conventional magnetostrictive torque sensor suffers from another problem that the reverse magnetostrictive characteristics are susceptible to influences of characteristics of the magnetostrictive coat formed by the plating performed prior to the heating process, as shown in FIGS. 45A-45D comparatively illustrating measurements of the reverse magnetostrictive characteristics before and after the heating process. Specifically, FIGS. 45A and 45B illustrate the reverse magnetostrictive characteristics of the magnetostrictive coats 102b and 102c before the heating, where curves C110 and C111 represent variation in the impedance detected when clockwise torque was applied while curves C112 and C113 represent variation in the impedance detected when counterclockwise torque was applied. It can be seen that the magnetostrictive coat 102b presents a greater hysteresis than the other magnetostrictive coat 102c. Further, FIGS. 45C and 45D illustrate the reverse magnetostrictive characteristics of the magnetostrictive coats 102b and 102c detected when the coats 102b and 102c were heated at 300° C. for one hour. In the figures, curves C114 and C115 represent variation in the impedance detected when clockwise torque was applied while curves C116 and C117 represent variation in the impedance detected when counterclockwise torque was applied. It can be seen that the magnetostrictive coat 102b presents a greater hysteresis than the other magnetostrictive coat 102c. Namely, it was found that the magnetostrictive coat (e.g., 102b) having a relatively great hysteresis before the heating would present a great hysteresis even after the heating while the magnetostrictive coat (e.g., 102c) having a relatively small hysteresis before the heating would present a small hysteresis even after the heating; this means that the reverse magnetostrictive characteristics after the heating would be significantly influenced by the reverse magnetostrictive characteristics before the heating. Therefore, there has been a demand for a more sophisticated manufacturing method which can provide a magnetostrictive torque sensor capable of constantly achieving satisfactory torque detection with a small hysteresis without being influenced by characteristics of the magnetostrictive coats present before the heating.
Further, the magnetostrictive torque sensor, made by the above-discussed conventional manufacturing method, has the problem that its zero torque point and sensitivity would vary if it has been exposed for a long time in an engine room heated to a high temperature in the order of 80-100° C. FIG. 46 is a diagram showing high-temperature durability characteristics of the magnetostrictive torque sensor made by the above-discussed conventional manufacturing method. In FIG. 46, a characteristic curve C120 represents variation in the values detected by the detecting coil 102d at the beginning of actual use or operation of the magnetostrictive torque sensor, while a characteristic curve C121 represents variation in the values detected by the detecting coil 102e at the beginning of use of the magnetostrictive torque sensor. Characteristic curve C130 represents variation in the values detected by the detecting coil 102d after exposure, to the high temperature, of the sensor, while a characteristic curve C131 represents variation in the values detected by the detecting coil 102e after exposure, to the high temperature, of the sensor.
The characteristic curves C130 and C131, obtained through detection after the exposure to the high temperature (e.g., after the sensor has been used 1,000 times), each present a greater peak value of the impedance and a peak value of the input torque shifted toward the neutral torque point. By comparison between the characteristic curve C120 at the beginning of the use and the characteristic curve C130 after the exposure to the high temperature, it can be seen that there are a change in the peak impedance value from 26.6Ω to 26.9Ω, and a change in the peak impedance value from 45.1 Nm to 42.8 Nm. Such changes are due to a creep of the plating (which would remove distortion from the plating), and the characteristics at the beginning of the use can not be restored because the characteristics after occurrence of the creep are retained even after the cooling.
The above-mentioned changes result in a change or shift in the zero point Z200 to a zero point Z210. If such a zero point change occurs, detection values of the detecting coils 102d and 102e would exceed a predetermined range when a failure check is performed to determine presence of any failure in the sensor by ascertaining whether a sum of the detection values of the detecting coils 102d and 102e falls within the predetermined range; as a result, the failure check can not be performed appropriately.
Furthermore, with the conventional technique, where the detected torque value is determined on the basis of the difference between the characteristic curves obtained via the detecting coils 102d and 102e, the sensitivity of the torque sensor would undesirably vary as a gradient of the difference varies in accordance with the above-mentioned changes. Because the sensitivity of the torque sensor is generally set, during manufacture of the torque sensor, so as to achieve an optimal control amount of the torque, variation from the thus-set sensitivity may often lead to an uncomfortable steering feel. Further, if the neutral torque point is erroneously set with a deviation from the optimal point during manufacture of the torque sensor, then the torque sensor would present greater variation in the zero torque point and sensitivity.

Method for manufacturing a magnetostrictive torque sensor


The present invention provides a system, method and apparatus for troubleshooting one or more communications between a first device and a second device. A monitoring device disposed between the first device and the second device receives a message associated with the communication(s), analyzes the received message and stores the analyzed message whenever the analyzed message satisfies one or more troubleshooting criteria. The one or more troubleshooting criteria may include one or more data element criteria, one or more event-based criteria, one or more time-based criteria, one or more logical operators or a combination thereof. The method can be implemented using a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium having one or more code segments to perform the method steps.

Existing Internet Protocol (IP) based monitoring devices, systems and software that are used to troubleshoot IP-based networks only decode messages at a single protocol layer. Moreover, the trace files collected by these devices only contain data about messages passing through the interface at the specific layer. In addition, these devices, systems and software do not provide trace files and troubleshooting files: (1) based on specific data element criteria; (2) based on specific event criteria; or (3) containing messages received before and after the troubleshooting criteria are detected. In other words, the troubleshooting report does not contain all messages exchanged during the call setup procedure for the call that corresponds to specific troubleshooting criteria.
Furthermore, these devices, systems or software cannot correlate traces and troubleshooting information extracted: (1) at the same protocol layer; (2) at multiple protocol layers on a given network interface; or (3) at multiple protocol layers on multiple network interfaces. Finally, these devices, systems or software do not provide an intelligent node or device that can trace, filter and process several traces and troubleshooting files from several protocol layers and several network interfaces in order to narrow down and identify specific individual problems. As a result, there is a need for a system, method and apparatus for troubleshooting an IP network that overcomes the aforementioned deficiencies.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System, method and apparatus for troubleshooting an IP network


An inkjet printing apparatus includes a control unit which, in order to reduce a failure of an air pump, when starting ink circulation, executes preparatory processing of feeding ink from the pressurizing tank toward the inkjet head by applying a positive pressure to a pressurizing tank by an air pump in a state in which the pressurizing tank is sealed by a pressurizing-side atmospheric air opening valve and a negative-pressure tank is opened to the atmosphere by a negative-pressure side atmospheric air opening valve; and feeding ink from the negative-pressure tank to the pressurizing tank by the ink pump until the liquid level height of the negative-pressure tank reaches less than a reference height.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an ink-circulation type inkjet printing apparatus.
2. Related Art
An ink-circulation type inkjet printing apparatus is known which performs printing by discharging ink from an inkjet head while circulating ink.
As the ink-circulation type inkjet printing apparatus, there is one that includes a pressurizing tank and a negative-pressure tank arranged below the inkjet head, and an air pump for feeding air from the negative-pressure tank to the pressurizing tank (see Patent Literature 1, for example).
In this type of inkjet printing apparatus, a negative pressure and a positive pressure are applied to the negative-pressure tank and the pressurizing tank, respectively, by feeding air from the negative-pressure tank to the pressurizing tank by the air pump when printing is performed. As a result, ink flows from the pressurizing tank toward the inkjet head. The ink not consumed in the inkjet head is recovered into the negative-pressure tank. The ink is fed from the negative-pressure tank to the pressurizing tank by the ink pump. Ink is thus circulated.
In this type of inkjet printing apparatus, since the pressurizing tank and the negative-pressure tank are arranged below the inkjet head, overflow of the ink from a nozzle of the inkjet head during standby can be avoided.


In railroad applications, a new method of simultaneously lubricating the rail gage side (RAGS) and wheel flanges ahead of a locomotive's tractive wheels and lubricating the top of the rail (TOR) behind the tractive wheels to reduce the resistance of the trailing cars and reduce the locomotive wheel flange wear. The method involves controlling both lubricating units with the same computer controller when a single locomotive is used and two controllers located in two different locomotives in the case of a locomotive consist. The rail gage side lubricant spray is applied on curves of 2 degrees or more only on the high rail. For the top of rail lubrication at the trailing end of the locomotive or locomotive consist this invention requires that the angle of the lubricant jet on the rail from the vertical be between 0 and 80 degrees from the vertical, with the angle increasing in the rear or trailing direction. It further requires that the lubricant jet be a solid jet without breaking into a spray cone.

In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,930,600 and 5,477,941 Kumar and Kumar have presented the state of the art in intelligent on-board rail/wheel lubrication systems for railroad use. Those comments continue to apply and the disclosures of the 4,930,600 and 5,477,941 patents are incorporated by reference herein. They showed a method in which one or two lubricants are applied to the rail by an applicator after the last axle of the last locomotive has passed. There are situations where the lubricants may be applied differently for better advantage. The present invention is a new method of achieving such an advantage for both top of rail (TOR) lubrication and rail gage side (RAGS) lubrication.

On board lubrication systems for lubricating top of rail for cars and rail gage side/wheel flange for locomotives


Methods and compositions for restoring sensitivity to the antitumorigenic effects of antiestrogen therapy and/or cytotoxic therapy and inducing cell apoptosis are provided. Contacting tumor cells to GP88 antagonists (e.g., anti-GP88 antibodies, anti-GP88 antisense nucleic acids, GP88 siRNA, and small molecules) induces apoptosis and restores sensitivity to the antitumorigenic effects of antiestrogen therapy and cytotoxic therapy.

The proliferation and differentiation of cells in multicellular organisms is subject to a highly regulated process. A distinguishing feature of cancer cells is the absence of control over this process; proliferation and differentiation become deregulated resulting in uncontrolled growth. Significant research efforts have been directed toward better understanding this difference between normal and tumor cells. One area of research focus is growth factors and, more specifically, autocrine growth stimulation.
Growth factors are polypeptides which carry messages to cells concerning growth, differentiation, migration and gene expression. Typically, growth factors are produced in one cell and act on another cell to stimulate proliferation. However, certain malignant cells, in culture, demonstrate a greater or absolute reliance on an autocrine growth mechanism. Malignant cells which observe this autocrine behavior circumvent the regulation of growth factor production by other cells and are therefore unregulated in their growth.
Study of autocrine growth control advances understanding of cell growth mechanisms and can lead to important advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Toward this end, a number of growth factors have been studied, including insulin-like growth factors ("IGF1" and "IGF2"), gastrin-releasing peptide ("GRP"), transforming growth factors alpha and beta ("TGF-a" and "TGF-b"), and epidermal growth factor ("EGF").
The present invention is directed to a recently discovered growth factor. This growth factor was first discovered in the culture medium of highly tumorigenic "PC cells," an insulin-independent variant isolated from the teratoma derived adipogenic cell line 1246. This growth factor is referred to herein as "GP88" or "GP88." GP88 has been purified and structurally characterized. Amino acid sequencing of GP88 indicates that GP88 has amino acid sequence similarities with the mouse granulin/epithelin precursor.
Granulins/epithelins ("grn/epi") are 6kDa polypeptides and belong to a novel family of double cysteine rich polypeptides. U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,192 (Shoyab et al.) is directed to 6 kDa epithelins, particularly epithelin 1 and epithelin 2. According to Shoyab, both epithelins are encoded by a common 63.5 kDa precursor, which is processed into smaller forms as soon as it is synthesized, so that the only natural products found in biological samples are the 6 kDa forms. Shoyab et al. teaches that the epithelin precursor is biologically inactive.
Contrary to the teachings of Shoyab et al., the inventor's laboratory has demonstrated that the precursor is not always processed as soon as it is synthesized. Studies, conducted in part by this inventor, have demonstrated that the precursor (i.e., GP88) is in fact secreted as an 88kDa glycoprotein with an N-linked carbohydrate moiety of 20 kDa. Analysis of the N-terminal sequence of GP88 indicates that GP88 starts at amino acid 17 of the grn/epi precursor, demonstrating that the first 17 amino acids from the protein sequence deduced from the precursor cDNA correspond to a signal peptide compatible with targeting for membrane localization or for secretion. Also in contrast to the teachings of Shoyab et al., GP88 is biologically active and has growth promoting activity, particularly as an autocrine growth factor for the producer cells.
Multi-cellular organisms require a careful balance between the production and destruction of cells in tissues throughout the body. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a controlled process by which damaged cells or cells replicating outside of normal cellular control can be eliminated without causing the tissue destruction and inflammatory responses often associated with acute injury and necrosis.
Recent studies indicate that apoptosis is controlled through a metabolic pathway which may be induced by a variety of signals (e.g., hormones, serum growth factor deprivation, chemotherapeutic agents, ionizing radiation, and viral infection). See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,586,395 and 6,570,002. The Bcl-2 family of genes regulate apoptosis in many cell types. The normal function of Bcl-2 is to block apoptosis in response to a variety of signals (e.g., radiation, hyperthermia, growth factor withdrawal, glucocorticoids, and multiple classes of chemotherapeutic agents). Id. Thus, blocking the activity of Bcl-2 induces apoptosis. Zhang et al., Clinical Cancer Research, 5:2971-2977 (October 1999). For example, the anti-estrogen compound tamoxifen down regulates Bcl-2 and thus induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells. Id. In addition to inhibiting the growth promoting effect of estrogen, tamoxifen has also been shown to induce programmed cell death in breast cancer cell lines and in clinical samples. Failure to undergo apoptosis in response to tamoxifen confers tamoxifen resistance.
Anti-estrogen therapy is widely used for the treatment of breast cancer. Tamoxifen has been the major agent used for this purpose. The activity of tamoxifen is typically observed in breast tumors that are estrogen receptor positive, since estrogen is the major growth stimulator for these types of tumors. However, after prolonged anti-hormonal therapy, breast cancer can progress from an estrogen sensitive to insensitive state. Breast tumors that were previously growth inhibited by tamoxifen and other anti-estrogen compounds then become resistant to anti-estrogen treatment.
The morphological changes induced by tamoxifen are characteristic of the changes induced by apoptosis. Up-regulation of Bcl-2 by HER2 suppresses tamoxifen-induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells. Kumar et al., Clin. Cancer Res. 1996 Jul.2(7):1215-9. Thus, modulation of Bcl-2 levels provides a mechanism for inducing apoptosis. Inducing apoptosis leads to tumor regression by eliminating, shrinking, and destroying tumor cells. Trauth et al., Science. 1989 Jul. 21;245(4915):301-5. Administration of antisense oligonucleotides directed to the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 gene induces tumor regression in mice in vivo. Elez et al., Oncogene (2003) 22: 69-80.
What is needed are new methods and compositions for inducing apoptosis and restoring sensitivity to the antitumorigenic effects of antiestrogen therapy and cytotoxic therapy.

Compositions and methods for restoring sensitivity of tumor cells to antitumor therapy and inducing apoptosis