Author: claimsbot

1. A vehicular air conditioner equipped with a blower fan, an air conditioner casing having a flow path through which air flows and a blower opening for blowing the air into interior of a vehicle cabin, a cooling unit disposed in interior of the air conditioner casing configured to cool the air, and a heating unit disposed in the interior of the air conditioner casing configured to heat the air, the flow path including a cold air passage in which the cooling unit is arranged, a warm air passage formed on a downstream side of the cold air passage and in which the heating unit is arranged, and a bypass passage provided on a downstream side of the cooling unit in bypassing relation to the heating unit, wherein air, which has passed through the warm air passage and the bypass passage, is blown into the interior of the vehicle cabin from the blower opening, the vehicular air conditioner comprising:
an air mixing damper disposed on a downstream side of the cooling unit for adjusting a proportion at which air is blown into a warm air opening that communicates from the cold air passage to the warm air passage, and into a cold air opening that communicates from the cold air passage to the bypass passage; and
a drive mechanism configured to drive the air mixing damper, wherein:
the air mixing damper includes a first damper configured to open and close one of the warm air opening and the cold air opening, and a second damper configured to open and close another of the warm air opening and the cold air opening; and
the drive mechanism includes a drive source that is rotated to drive the first and second dampers, the first damper being turned proportional to a rotational angle of the drive source over entirety of a rotary driven range of the drive source, and the second damper being turned such that a temperature of the air blown from the blower opening and the rotational angle of the drive source establish a linear relationship or a substantially linear relationship.
2. The vehicular air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the drive mechanism comprises:
the drive source;
a link plate connected to the drive source and including first and second link grooves;
a first driven link, which is engaged with the first link groove and transmits rotation of the link plate to the first damper; and
a second driven link, which is engaged with the second link groove and transmits rotation of the link plate to the second damper,
wherein the link plate comprises a rotary shaft to which the drive source is connected, the first link groove being formed such that a radius thereof about the rotary shaft changes at a constant rate of change over an entire range by which the first damper is turned, and the second link groove being formed such that a radius thereof about the rotary shaft undergoes a change at a midway point within the entire range by which the first damper is turned.
3. The vehicular air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein:
the first damper is a warm air damper that closes the warm air opening, and the second damper is a cold air damper that closes the cold air opening; and
when closing the bypass passage with the cold air damper, the cold air damper is rotated at a high speed until reaching a predetermined angle, and is rotated at a low speed after having reached the predetermined angle.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A small-hole electrical discharge machining device, comprising:
a controller which controls vertical movement of a rod electrode for small-hole machining, and guides an electrode guide guiding a lower end portion of the rod electrode;
a work tank which reserves a working fluid in which a work is machined;
a working-fluid discharger which is provided in the work tank and discharges the working fluid;
a diaphragm which moves vertically along the discharger and adjusts a height of the working fluid;
a hoisting unit which moves the diaphragm vertically in response to vertical movement of the electrode guide; and
a working-fluid supply unit, which supplies the working fluid to the work tank, wherein
the controller keeps a distance between a fluid level of the working fluid and the electrode guide constant.
2. The small-hole electrical discharge machining device according to claim 1, wherein
the hoisting unit comprises a master cylinder which operates in correspondence to vertical movement of the electrode guide, and a slave cylinder which is connected with the master cylinder through a pipeline and moves by a same distance as the master cylinder.
3. The small-hole electrical discharge machining device according to claim 1, wherein
the hoisting unit further comprises one pair of first chains which can be rotated and moved along the working-fluid discharger at both sides thereof,
wherein a lower end portion of the diaphragm is folded in a U-shaped which rotates around a roller driven by the pair of first chains, and both end portions of an upper portion of the diaphragm are connected with the pair of first chains, and wherein
a second chain which is driven by the pair of first chains is provided in parallel to the first chains and a slave cylinder is provided in connection with the second chain.
4. The small-hole electrical discharge machining device according to claim 3, wherein
one pair of fluid-level detecting units, which protrude into the inside of the work tank from the working-fluid discharger, are provided at the upper end portion of the diaphragm and are set so that fluid levels detected by the pair of detecting units are different from each other, and
detection signals detected by the pair of fluid-level detecting units are output to the controller.
5. The small-hole electrical discharge machining device according to claim 1, wherein
a turntable in the work tank, to which the work fixes, rotates about an axis parallel to a vertical direction in which the electrode guide moves and about an axis perpendicular to the vertical direction in which the electrode guide moves.
6. A multiple diesinking-and-small-hole electrical discharge machining devices comprising:
a controller which controls vertical movement of a rod electrode for small hole machining, an electrode guide which guides a lower end portion of the rod electrode and an electrode for diesinking which is provided on the electrode guide, the electrode for diesinking comprising a through hole into which the rod electrode penetrates, and moving vertically in parallel to the rod electrode;
a work tank which reserves a working fluid in which a work is machined;
a working-fluid discharger which is provided in the work tank and discharges the working fluid;
a diaphragm which moves vertically along the discharger and adjusts a height of the working fluid;
a hoisting unit which moves the diaphragm vertically in response to vertical movement of the electrode guide; and
a working-fluid supply unit, which supplies the working fluid to the work tank, wherein
the controller keeps a distance between a fluid level of the working fluid and the electrode guide constant.
7. The multiple diesinking-and-small-hole electrical discharge machining device according to claim 6, wherein
the hoisting unit comprises a master cylinder which operates in correspondence to vertical movement of the electrode guide, and a slave cylinder which is connected with the master cylinder through a pipeline and moves by a same distance as the master cylinder.
8. The multiple diesinking-and-small-hole electrical discharge machining device according to claim 6, wherein
a turntable rotates about an axis parallel to a vertical direction in which the electrode guide moves and about an axis perpendicular to the vertical direction in which the electrode guide moves, and moves in a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction in which the electrode guide moves.
9. The multiple diesinking-and-small-hole electrical discharge machining device according to claim 6, wherein
the hoisting unit further comprises one pair of first chains which rotate and move along the working-fluid discharger at both sides thereof,
a lower end portion of the diaphragm is folded in a U-shape and rotates around a roller driven by the one pair of first chains,
both end portions of an upper portion of the diaphragm are connected with the one pair of first chains, and
a second chain which is driven by the one pair of first chains is provided in parallel to the first one pair of chains and a slave cylinder is provided in connection with the second chain.
10. A method for multiple diesinking-and-small-hole electrical discharge machining, which uses an electrical discharge machining device comprising:
a controller which controls vertical movement of a rod electrode for small hole machining, an electrode guide which guides a lower end portion of the rod electrode and an electrode for diesinking electrical discharge machining which is provided on the electrode guide as one body, the electrode for diesinking comprising a through hole into which the rod electrode penetrates, and moving vertically in parallel to the rod electrode;
a work tank which reserves a working fluid in which a work is machined;
a working-fluid discharger which is provided in the work tank and discharges the working fluid;
a diaphragm which moves vertically along the discharger and adjusts a height of the working fluid;
a hoisting unit which moves the diaphragm vertically corresponding to vertical movement of the electrode guide; and
a working-fluid supply unit, which supplies the working fluid to the work tank, the method comprising:
moving the electrode for diesinking and the electrode guide toward the work;
moving the electrode for diesinking and the electrode guide while the hoisting unit is moved in order to keep a distance between the work and the electrode guide constant while a depth of the working fluid is set at a predetermined depth for diesinking electrical discharge machining;
executing diesinking electrical discharge machining;
moving the rod electrode and the electrode guide towards the work;
moving the electrode guide and the rod electrode while the hoisting unit is moved in order to keep the distance between the work and the electrode guide constant while the depth of the working fluid is set at a predetermined depth for small-hole electrical discharge machining; and
executing small-hole electrical discharge machining.

1. A method of inhibiting theft of merchandise contained in a shopping cart, the method comprising:
monitoring a location of a shopping cart in a store via bi-directional radio frequency communications with communication circuitry of the shopping cart;
automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store based, at least in part, on whether the shopping cart passed through a checkout zone before proceeding to an exit of the store, as determined from said monitoring, said checkout zone corresponding in location to a checkout area of the store, and being created via radio frequency transmissions from an antenna mounted at said checkout area, wherein the automatic determination of whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store is made without determining whether a payment transaction has actually occurred; and
when the shopping cart is determined to not be authorized to exit the store, automatically taking an action to inhibit theft.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store further comprises determining whether the shopping cart entered a particular merchandise area of the store before proceeding to said exit.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store further comprises making a programmatic determination that depends on an amount of time spent by the shopping cart in the store since entry.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the location of the shopping cart comprises monitoring entry of the shopping cart into each of a plurality zones in said store, said zones created via transmissions from respective antennas mounted in the store.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the location of the shopping cart comprises communicating with the communication circuitry via wireless access points mounted in the store to collect data regarding access-point-specific zones entered by the shopping cart.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store comprises assessing whether the shopping cart passed through a checkout lane associated with said checkout zone.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store further comprises assessing whether said checkout lane was active when the shopping cart passed through the checkout lane.
8. A method of inhibiting theft of merchandise contained in a shopping cart, the method comprising:
monitoring a location of a shopping cart in a store via bi-directional radio frequency communications with communication circuitry of the shopping cart;
automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store based, at least in part, on whether the shopping cart passed through a checkout zone before proceeding to an exit of the store, as determined from said monitoring, said checkout zone corresponding in location to a checkout area of the store, and being created via radio frequency transmissions from an antenna mounted at said checkout area; and
when the shopping cart is determined to not be authorized to exit the store, automatically taking an action to inhibit theft;
wherein automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store further comprises assessing whether the shopping cart passed through a checkout lane associated with said checkout zone, and analyzing data reflective of a speed at which the shopping cart passed through the checkout lane, said data reflective of speed generated via sensor circuitry of said shopping cart.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically taking an action to inhibit theft comprises activating a motion inhibiting mechanism of said shopping cart.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically taking an action to inhibit theft comprises activating a store alarm.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically taking an action to inhibit theft comprises activating a video surveillance system.
12. A system comprising communication circuitry that attaches to a shopping cart, and comprising a plurality of devices that are adapted to be mounted to structures in a vicinity of a store, said devices configured to communicate wirelessly with the communication circuitry of the shopping cart, said system operative to inhibit theft of merchandise contained in the shopping cart by at least:
monitoring a location of the shopping cart via bi-directional radio frequency communications between said devices and the communication circuitry;
automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store based, at least in part, on whether the shopping cart passed through a checkout zone before proceeding to an exit of the store, as determined from said monitoring, said checkout zone corresponding in location to a checkout area of the store, and being created via radio frequency transmissions from an antenna mounted at said checkout area, wherein the system is configured to determine whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store without determining whether a payment transaction has actually occurred; and
when the shopping cart is determined to not be authorized to exit the store, automatically taking an action to inhibit theft.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein each of said devices is a wireless access point device.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein each wireless access point creates a respective zone via transmissions from a respective antenna, each zone corresponding to a different location, and the system is operative to monitor the location of the shopping cart, at least in part, by detecting zone entry events in which the shopping cart enters into particular zones.
15. The system of claim 12, wherein the communication circuitry that attaches to the shopping cart is operative to generate received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values based on the radio frequency transmissions from said antenna, and the system is operative to use the RSSI values to assess whether the shopping cart is in said checkout zone.
16. A system comprising communication circuitry that attaches to a shopping cart, and comprising a plurality of devices that are adapted to be mounted to structures in a vicinity of a store, said devices configured to communicate wirelessly with the communication circuitry of the shopping cart, said system operative to inhibit theft of merchandise contained in the shopping cart by at least:
monitoring a location of the shopping cart via bi-directional radio frequency communications between said devices and the communication circuitry;
automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store based, at least in part, on whether the shopping cart passed through a checkout zone before proceeding to an exit of the store, as determined from said monitoring, said checkout zone corresponding in location to a checkout area of the store, and being created via radio frequency transmissions from an antenna mounted at said checkout area; and
when the shopping cart is determined to not be authorized to exit the store, automatically taking an action to inhibit theft;
wherein the system is additionally operative, in determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store, to determine whether a check-out register associated with said checkout zone was active when the shopping cart passed through the checkout zone.
17. A system comprising communication circuitry that attaches to a shopping cart, a rotation sensor that senses rotation of a wheel of the shopping cart, and a plurality of devices that are adapted to be mounted to structures in a vicinity of a store, said devices configured to communicate wirelessly with the communication circuitry of the shopping cart, said system operative to inhibit theft of merchandise contained in the shopping cart by at least:
monitoring a location of the shopping cart via bi-directional radio frequency communications between said devices and the communication circuitry;
automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store based, at least in part, on whether the shopping cart passed through a checkout zone before proceeding to an exit of the store, as determined from said monitoring, said checkout zone corresponding in location to a checkout area of the store, and being created via radio frequency transmissions from an antenna mounted at said checkout area, wherein the system is additionally operative to take into consideration, in determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store, a speed of the shopping cart in said checkout area as measured via said rotation sensor; and
when the shopping cart is determined to not be authorized to exit the store, automatically taking an action to inhibit theft.
18. The system of claim 12, wherein the system is configured such that the determination of whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store is made programmatically by a processor housed within a wheel of the shopping cart.
19. The system of claim 12, wherein the system is configured such that the determination of whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store is made by a node that is separate from the shopping cart.
20. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the location of the shopping cart comprises, via circuitry of said shopping cart:
generating received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values based on radio frequency transmissions received by said shopping cart from said antenna; and
using said RSSI values to determine whether the shopping is in said checkout zone.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein using said RSSI values to determine whether the shopping is in said checkout zone comprises generating a filtered RSSI value from a plurality of said RSSI values.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein using said RSSI values to determine whether the shopping is in said checkout zone further comprises comparing the filtered RSSI value to an RSSI threshold corresponding to said checkout zone.
23. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic determination of whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store is made by data processing circuitry of the shopping cart.
24. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic determination of whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store is made by a node that is separate from the shopping cart, and is based at least partly on data transmitted by the shopping cart.
25. The method of claim 1, wherein the antenna is connected to an access point that communicates bi-directionally with the communication circuitry of the shopping cart via said antenna.
26. A , A method of inhibiting theft of merchandise contained in a shopping cart, the method comprising:
monitoring a location of a shopping cart in a store via bi-directional radio frequency communications with communication circuitry of the shopping cart;
automatically determining whether the shopping cart is authorized to exit the store based, at least in part, on whether the shopping cart passed through a checkout zone before proceeding to an exit of the store, as determined from said monitoring, said checkout zone corresponding in location to a checkout area of the store, and being created via radio frequency transmissions from an antenna mounted at said checkout area; and
when the shopping cart is determined to not be authorized to exit the store, automatically taking an action to inhibit theft;
wherein the antenna is connected to an access point that communicates bi-directionally with the communication circuitry of the shopping cart via said antenna, and the method comprises the access point determining whether a checkout register associated with the checkout zone is active.
27. The method of claim 25, wherein the communication circuitry of the shopping cart notifies the access point of the shopping cart’s entry into the checkout zone.
28. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the location of the shopping cart comprises the shopping cart detecting, and reporting over a wireless network, zone entry events in which the shopping cart enters into particular zones.
29. The method of claim 1, wherein the antenna is a directional antenna.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A magnetic field detecting apparatus comprising:
a magnetic field detecting unit, energized in response to a potential level of an input signal and outputting any one of two signals having different potential levels from each other in response to a peripheral magnetic field;
an energizing control unit, producing a periodic energizing control signal indicative of timing at which said magnetic field detecting unit is energized by employing a clock signal and another signal obtained by frequency-dividing or frequency-multiplying said clock signal, the energizing control unit supplying said produced energizing control signal to said magnetic field detecting unit;
a first inverting unit, inverting the potential level of the output signal of said magnetic field detecting unit; and
an energizing time period control unit, supplying a time period control signal to said energizing control unit, said time period control signal controlling the time period of said energizing control signal in response to the potential level of the output signal of said magnetic field detecting unit and the potential level of the signal obtained by inverting the potential level of said output signal by said first inverting unit;
wherein said energizing time period control unit supplies any one of two pieces of said energizing control signals whose durations and time periods are different from each other, during which said magnetic field detecting unit is not energized, in response to the potential level of said time period control signal supplied from said energizing time period control unit.
2. The magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
as operation modes of said magnetic field detecting apparatus, a test mode when the operation of said magnetic field detecting apparatus is investigated, and a normal mode when said magnetic field detecting apparatus is operated under normal condition are prepared; and wherein:
both a non-energizing duration and a time period of said energizing control signal when said test mode is selected are shorter than those of said energizing control signal when said normal mode is selected.
3. The magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein:
both a signal responding to the potential level of the output signal from said magnetic field detecting unit, and another signal responding to the potential level of the signal obtained by inverting the potential level of said output signal by said first inverting unit are inputted to said energizing time period control unit; and
when the potential levels of said two signals entered to said energizing time period control unit are forcibly set to the same potential only for a predetermined time during said normal mode, said energizing time period control unit supplies a time period control signal having a potential level which is different from the potential level of said time period control signal during said normal mode to said energizing control unit, so that the operation mode of said magnetic field detecting apparatus is transferred from said normal mode to said test mode.
4. A magnetic field detecting apparatus comprising:
a magnetic field detecting unit, energized in response to a potential level of an input signal, and outputting any one of two signals having different potential levels from each other in response to a peripheral magnetic field of an S pole, and outputting any one of the two signals having the different potential levels from each other in response to a peripheral magnetic field of an N pole;
an energizing control unit, producing a periodic energizing control signal indicative of timing of which said magnetic field detecting unit is energized by employing a clock signal and another signal obtained by frequency-dividing or frequency-multiplying said clock signal, the energizing control unit supplying said produced energizing control signal to said magnetic field detecting unit; and
an energizing time period control unit, supplying a time period control signal to said energizing control unit, said time period control signal controlling the time period of said energizing control signal in response to both the potential level of the output signal of said magnetic field detecting unit, which responds to the magnetic field of the S pole, and the potential level of the signal of said magnetic field detecting unit, which responds to the magnetic field of the N pole; and wherein:
said energizing time period control unit supplies any one of two pieces of said energizing control signals whose durations and time periods are different from each other, during which said magnetic field detecting unit is not energized in response to the potential level of said time period control signal supplied from said energizing time period control unit.
5. The magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein:
as operation modes of said magnetic field detecting apparatus, a test mode when the operation of said magnetic field detecting apparatus is investigated, and a normal mode when said magnetic field detecting apparatus is operated under normal condition are prepared; and wherein:
both a non-energizing duration and a time period of said energizing control signal when said test mode is selected are shorter than those of said energizing control signal when said normal mode is selected.
6. The magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein:
both a signal responding to the potential level of the output signal from said magnetic field detecting unit, which is produced in response to the magnetic field of the S pole, and another signal responding to the potential level of the output signal from said magnetic field detecting unit, which is produced in response to the magnetic field of the N pole are inputted to the energizing time period control unit; and wherein:
when the potential levels of said two signals entered to said energizing time period control unit are forcibly set to the same potential only for a predetermined time during said normal mode, said energizing time period control unit supplies a time period control signal having a potential level which is different from the potential level of said time period control signal during said normal mode to said energizing control unit, so that the operation mode of said magnetic field detecting apparatus is transferred from said normal mode to said test mode.
7. The magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 3, or claim 6, wherein:
said energizing control unit includes a counter for measuring a time elapsed after the operation mode of said magnetic field detecting apparatus has been transferred to said test mode; and when a predetermined time has elapsed, said energizing control unit initializes said energizing time period control unit.
8. The magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein:
said energizing time period control unit is comprised of:
a logic gate for outputting a signal having an \u201cH\u201d level when the potential levels of said two signals entered to said energizing time period control unit are set to the same potentials;
a first flip-flop having an input terminal into which the signal outputted from said logic gate is entered;
a second inverting unit for inverting a potential level of a signal outputted from said first flip-flop; and
a second flip-flop having a reset terminal, a clock terminal into which the output signal of said first flip-flop is inputted, and an input terminal into which the \u201cH\u201d-level signal is continuously inputted; and wherein:
said time period control signal is an output signal of said second flip-flop.
9. A magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein:
the production of said energizing control signal by said energizing control unit is initialized, or the initializing operation thereof is released in response to a potential level of a signal obtained by inverting the potential level of the output signal of said first flip-flop by said second inverting unit.
10. A magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein:
said logic gate is a NOR gate, or an AND gate.
11. The magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein:
said energizing time period control unit is comprised of:
a logic gate for outputting a signal having an \u201cH\u201d level when the potential levels of said two signals entered to said energizing time period control unit are set to the same potentials;
a first flip-flop having an input terminal into which the signal outputted from said logic gate is entered;
a second inverting unit for inverting a potential level of a signal outputted from said first flip-flop;
a second flip-flop having an input terminal into which the output signal of said first flip-flop is entered; and
a third flip-flop having a reset terminal, a clock terminal into which the output signal of said second flip-flop is inputted, and an input terminal into which the \u201cH\u201d-level signal is continuously inputted; and wherein:
said time period control signal is an output signal of said third flip-flop.
12. A magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein: the production of said energizing control signal by said energizing control unit is initialized, or the initializing operation thereof is released in response to a potential level of a signal obtained by inverting the potential level of the output signal of said first flip-flop by said second inverting unit.
13. A magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein: said logic gate is a NOR gate, or an AND gate.
14. An electronic appliance comprising:
the magnetic field detecting apparatus recited in claim 1 or claims 4.
15. A magnetic field detecting apparatus comprising:
a magnetic field detecting unit which is energized in response to a potential level of an input signal, and outputs any one of two signals having different potential levels from each other in response to a peripheral magnetic field;
an energizing control unit for producing a periodic energizing control signal indicative of timing of which said magnetic field detecting unit is energized by employing a clock signal and another signal obtained by frequency-dividing, or frequency-multiplying said clock signal, and for supplying said produced energizing control signal to said magnetic field detecting unit; and
a comparing unit for comparing a potential responding to a power supply voltage with a reference potential, and for outputting any one of two signals having different potential levels from each other in response to largesmall relationship between said potential and said reference potential; wherein:
said energizing time period control unit supplies any one of two pieces of said energizing control signals whose durations and time periods are different from each other, during which said magnetic field detecting unit is not energized in response to the potential level of said signal outputted from said comparing unit.
16. A magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein:
as operation modes of said magnetic field detecting apparatus, a test mode when the operation of said magnetic field detecting apparatus is investigated, and a normal mode when said magnetic field detecting apparatus is operated under normal condition are prepared; and wherein:
both a non-energizing duration and a time period of said energizing control signal when said test mode is selected are shorter than those of said energizing control signal when said normal mode is selected.
17. The magnetic field detecting apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein:
a power supply voltage during said test mode is higher than a power supply voltage during said normal mode; and wherein:
when a potential responding to said power supply voltage becomes higher than said reference potential, the operation mode of said magnetic field detecting apparatus is transferred from said normal mode to said test mode.