An amplifier having a pair of transistors arranged in a cascode amplifier arrangement serially connected to a first voltage source. A DC bias regulator is provided having: a DC bias circuit for producing a reference voltage at a control electrode of a first one of the pair of transistors: and a voltage combiner having a pair of inputs, a first of the pair of inputs being coupled to the reference voltage and a second one of the pair of inputs being coupled to the first voltage source. The DC bias regulator produces a DC bias voltage at a control electrode of a second one of the pair of transistors related to a combination of the reference voltage and the first voltage source.

As is known in the art, a cascode amplifier may be formed with either Field Effect Transistors (FETs) or Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs). In the case of a FET a gate is used as a control electrode for controlling a flow of carriers between a source electrode and a drain electrode and in the case of a BJT a base electrode is used as a control electrode to control a flow of carriers between a collector electrode and a drain electrode. Thus, it should be noted that while a FET cascode amplifier is described, the material can be equivalently applied to a BJT. Thus, the gate electrode of a FET is equivalent to a base electrode of a BJT; either being referred to herein as a control electrode for the transistor. In like manner the terms drain and source may be interchanged for a FET as well as the terms emitter and collector for a BJT.
Thus, considering a Field Effect Transistor (FET) cascode amplifier, such FET cascode amplifier includes a common source (CS) connected FET serially connected to a common gate (CG) connected FET with the drain of the CS FET being coupled to the source of the CG FET; the drain of the common gate (CG) FET being coupled to a Vdd voltage supply. In a typical cascode arrangement, the sizes of the CS and CG FETs are equal (i.e. the total gate widths for the two transistors are the same Wg_cs=Wg_cg).
In general, DC biasing circuit or regulators, in order to operate effectively, must provide DC bias regulation (i.e. produce gate DC bias voltages for the CS and CG FETs or base DC bias voltages for BJTs) in such a way that the cascode amplifier performance (measured by DC drain/collector current, RF gain, noise figure, output power, linearity) is insensitive to variation in manufacturing process, temperature and external DC bias voltage. The first two variations typically manifest themselves as variations in transistor pinch off, Vp, or threshold voltage,
An additional requirement, specific to a cascode amplifier, is a controlled division of Vdd (or Vcc for a bipolar cascade amplifier) between the drain to source voltage (Vds) of the common gate FET (Vds_cg) drain-source junction and the drain to source voltage of the common source FET (Vds_cs) drain-source junction in order to ensure that both FETs are always in the saturation regime (Vds>Vknee), (where Vknee is the voltage at the knee of the saturation curve) so that the drain to source current (Ids) is nearly independent of Vds for both transistors in the cascode). For example, if Vdd=2V and Vknee=0.5V, one would like to avoid situations when Vds_cg=0.4V and Vds_cs=1.6V or Vds_cg=1.6V and Vds_cs=0.4V. Also, as is known in the art, the equal division results in the maximum output power and linearity of a cascode amplifier. Thus, a DC bias regulator for a cascode amplifier should be capable of enforcing a condition wherein the drain-source voltages for the common-source and common-gate (common-emitter and common-base) transistors are equal by design and remain equal in presence of variation in manufacturing process, temperature and external DC bias voltage.
One DC bias regulator for a cascode transistor amplifier is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,799 inventor Milberger, et al., entitled "Multistage cascode radio frequency amplifier" issued Jul. 16, 1991. However, such DC bias regulator is a passive DC bias regulator circuit and therefore does not provide compensation for variations in manufacturing process, temperature and external DC bias voltage. Two active DC bias regulators are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,544, inventor Staudinger et al., entitled "Bias Circuit for Depletion Mode Field Effect Transistors", issued Apr. 9, 1996 and in U.S. Pat. No. 7,961,049, Busking et al., entitled "Amplifier with compensated gate bias", issued Jun. 14, 2011; while these two DC bias regulators do compensate for process condition variations, they are specific for a common source FET and are used to maintain constant drain current through that single FET and not applicable for a cascode amplifier having a pair of FETs.
As is also known in the art, it is sometimes required that resistors used in an integrated circuit have a precise predetermined relationship in the value of their resistances for the circuit to operate properly. It is also known in the art that it is easier to fabricate resistor of equal resistance as compared fabricating resistors requiring a predetermined difference in resistance for proper operation of a circuit.
As is also known in the art, one circuit shown in FIG. 1, used to combine a pair of input voltages in a so-called Millman "Passive Averager", is described in an article entitled "A Useful Network Theorem" by Jacob Millman, published in the Proceedings of the IRE, September 1940, pages 413-471. As described therein, in a specific case an output voltage Vout is produced from a pair of input voltages Vx and Vy:
      V    out    =                                          V            x                                R            x                          +                              V            y                                R            y                                                1                      R            x                          +                  1                      R            y                                =                                        V            x                                          R            y                          +                              V            y                                          R            x                                                R          x                +                  R          y
and in the specific case where Rx=Ry;
      V    out    =                    V        x            +              V        y              2


The present invention provides for a polymer composite foam with a treated filler and methods for making the same. The polymer composite foam includes a polymer capable of being formed into a polymeric foam and a treated filler, wherein the polymer defines a plurality of cells dispersed therethrough and the treated filler is dispersed throughout the polymer. The filler is treated by techniques which exfoliate, delaminate or intercalate the filler particles into individual micro and/or nano size particulates and platelets. Ideally, the treated filler has a median particle size ranging from about 0.1 nm-10 μm. The treated filler enhances the rigidity, barrier properties, heat deflection temperature, nucleation characteristics, fire retardant characteristics and impact properties of the foam. The products fabricated from the polymer composite foam include containers, cups, sleeves, bags, plates, bowls, protective packaging, boards, sheets, void fillers, storageware, dinnerware and cookware. The present invention also provides for methods of fabricating the polymer composite foam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polymer material with treated fillers and articles and methods of using same. Particularly, the present invention is directed to the use of treated filler materials in the manufacture of polymer composite foams, to be formed or molded into packaging or consumer products having enhanced properties.
2. Description of Related Art
Packaging structures such as boxes, containers, trays, cups, dinnerware and the like, are formed from a variety of thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers. Mineral fillers are used extensively to enhance the performance of a wide range of such polymers. It is well known that the improvement in the properties of polymers can occur with the proper use of well-dispersed fillers possessing high aspect ratios and small particle sizes. Physical properties of the polymer that can be improved by the use of such fillers include stiffness, strength, temperature resistance, dimensional stability, surface hardness and scratch resistance. Other properties that can be improved with the use of well-dispersed fillers possessing high aspect ratios and small particle sizes include clarity, chemical resistance, flame retardancy, rheological properties, and crystallinity. Such fillers can also be used to reduce permeability to gases and liquids, thereby improving the barrier property of the polymer.
The most commonly used fillers in plastics are calcium carbonate, wollastonite, silica and the phyllosilicates such as kaolin, talc and mica. Many fillers, such as calcium carbonate, silica and phyllosilicates, however, are hydrophilic and therefore must be surface treated in order to improve their dispersion and interaction with the polymer matrix.
Conventional surface treatment of fillers includes reacting the filler surfaces with organosilanes, modified oligomers and polymers containing anhydride functional groups and a wide variety of surfactants. More recently, it has been determined that the exfoliation and nanoscale dispersion of small amounts of treated fillers into polymers results in composite materials with enhanced physical features and significant reductions in weight as compared to polymers with conventional or non-treated fillers. Nanocomposites are a new class of composites that are particle-filled polymers for which at least one dimension of the dispersed filler is in the nanometer range (10−9 meter).
Various methods are known in the art for creating composites with modified fillers which are exfoliated and dispersed in a polymer matrix. Under current methods known in the art, large quantities of volatile polar surfactants are required to ensure complete exfoliation, intercalation or delamination of fillers. There thus remains a need for enhancing the properties of polymer composite foams through the use of treated fillers, particularly, fillers that do not require large quantities of surfactants.

Polymer foams with treated fillers, fabrication method and products using same


Coil segments of the same phase are inserted into each group of circumferentially consecutive three slots. Assuming that the grouped three slots are A, B, and C, and six groups are U1 to U6, respectively, and that slot y of group Ux are slot Uxy, a coil starting from the slot U1A is wired to pass through one turn of a stator in the order of slots U1A→U2B→U3B→U4C→U5C→U6A, and connected to slot U1A of the next turn. In this turn, coil segments with a wide straddle width are used for the connections of U1A→U2B and U3B→U4C, and a coil segment with a narrow straddle width is used for the connection of U5C→U6A.

As a coil of a stator or rotor of an electrical rotating machine, so-called segment type coil is well known, wherein coil segments respectively formed by processing a linear wire rod into a U-shape are inserted into a plurality of slots arranged along a circumferential direction of the stator or rotor, respectively, and free end sides of these coil segments are electrically connected with one another by welding or the like to form the coil.
This type of coil segment is also referred to as a hairpin.
In an electrical rotating machine having parallel circuits in which paths respectively formed by a plurality of coil segments are connected in parallel, if the number of the coil segments passing through the slots of each phase is not the same, the phase difference will not be canceled, and thus the parallel circuits will not have equivalence, resulting in a circulating current.
Most of the circulating current is a reactive current, which causes a reactive power loss (e.g., reduced output of the motor) and a copper loss.
PTL1 discloses a wire connection structure for suppressing the circulating current in the case where the number of slots formed in the stator core is forty-eight, the number of magnetic poles of the rotor is eight, the coils (U-shaped conductor segments) of each phase of the stator winding are housed in each circumferentially neighboring (consecutive) two slots, and each phase is formed by 4×n (n is a natural number) lines of parallel windings connected in parallel.
As described in paragraphs 0031 to 0041 and FIG. 8 of PTL1, this wire connection structure adopts, for the interpair connections between the pairs of slots A and B which are circumferentially neighboring two slots, conductor segments having a pitch of five slots and those having a pitch of seven slots for switching between the A and B, in addition to conductor segments having a pitch of six slots straddling with a normal width. In the wire connection structure, by switching slots to be the path in the middle of the turn of the winding by using the above conductor segments, the number of conductor segments arranged in the slots A and B of each pair is equalized.
That is, the number of the conductor segments (the number of insertions) arranged in the slots is equalized in each pair in each phase to balance the parallel windings, thereby suppressing occurrence of the circulating current.

Wire connection method for electrical rotating machine, method of manufacturing electrical rotating machine, wire connection structure of electrical rotating machine, and electrical rotating machine


The present invention provides amphiphilic prodrugs comprising a therapeutic compound conjugated to an PEG-oligomer/polymer and methods for using said prodrugs to enable oral drug delivery and/or delivery of drugs across the blood brain barrier into the central nervous system.

1.1 Field of the Invention
The present invention provides amphiphilic prodrugs comprising a therapeutic compound conjugated to an PEG-oligomer/polymer and methods for using said prodrugs to enable oral drug delivery and/or delivery of drugs across the blood brain barrier (BBB).
1.2 Related Art
The following is a discussion of art related to the present invention.
1.2.1 Cancer of the Central Nervous System (CNS)
The American Cancer Society estimates that 16,800 people will be diagnosed with primary tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) in the United States in 1999, and that 13,100 of these will eventually die of their disease (American Cancer Society, 1999). Primary CNS tumors are among the most intractable cancers to treat. While such tumors rarely metastasize, their anatomic location causes a high incidence of morbidity and mortality resulting from compression of surrounding tissue as well as destruction of tissue invaded by such tumors. Additionally, CNS tumor cells often migrate away from the tumor to other locations in the brain. These migratory cells eventually form recurrent tumors. Multiple CNS tumors can also result from metastases of non-CNS neoplasmas.
Standard treatment for CNS tumors includes surgery and radiation therapy. However, with regard to surgery, complete surgical resection is often not possible. Normal brain tissue adjacent to the tumor is often critical to the survival or the quality of life of the patient. Consequently, survival of patients treated by surgery is low. The problems associated with radiation therapy are widely known in the art.
Systemic chemotherapy, would be a valuable therapeutic option for CNS tumors due to its ability to target microscopic deposits of tumor cells, including cells missed by radiation and surgery. However, the inability to get such agents across the BBB has proven to be a significant limitation to the use of chemotherapy in the CNS. Many agents with activity against tumors do not cross the BBB to enter the brain parenchyma. Further, although many proven antineoplastic agents, including etoposide, will accumulate in brain tumors (Kiya, Uozumi et al. 1992), the concentration of these drugs decreases rapidly with distance from the tumor (Donelli, Zucchetti et al. 1992). In order to achieve effective treatment of the whole brain and expose microdeposits of tumor cells to drug, it would be desirable to have means for delivering therapeutic concentrations of anti-cancer drugs to the entire volume of the brain.
1.2.2 Barriers to CNS Drug Delivery
The brain is equipped with a barrier system which must be traversed to permit therapeutic drug delivery to the CNS. This brain barrier system has two major components: the choroid plexus and the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The choroid plexus separates cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the bloodstream, and the BBB separates brain interstitial fluid (ISF) from blood.
The BBB has about 1000 times more surface area than the choroid plexus and is the primary obstacle to delivery of therapeutic compounds to the CNS. The BBB acts as a selective partition, regulating the exchange of substances, between the CNS and the peripheral circulation. The primary structure of the BBB is the brain capillary endothelial wall. The tight junctions of brain capillary endothelial cells prevent circulating compounds from reaching the brain ISF by the paracellular route. Furthermore, recent work suggests the existence of a separate physiological barrier at the level of the basal lamina (Kroll et al. 1998). Other unique characteristics of the BBB include lack of intracellular fenestrations and pinocytic vesicles and a net negative charge on the luminal surface of the endothelium (Kroll et al. 1998).
The mechanisms by which substances traverse the BBB may generally be divided into active and passive transport mechanisms. Lipophilic molecules readily traverse the BBB by passive transport or diffusion through the endothelial plasma membranes, while hydrophilic molecules typically require an active transport system. Diffusion of many therapeutic compounds, across the BBB is also inhibited by size.
Many currently existing drug substances are unable to overcome these structural and metabolic barriers to enter the BBB in sufficient quantities to be efficacious. There is therefore a need for pharmaceutical compounds which can enable penetration of anti-cancer drugs through the BBB in sufficient amounts and at sufficient rates to be efficacious. Furthermore, many substances which, in theory, should be able to cross the BBB due to their lipophilicity, are not suitable for parenteral or oral delivery in the absence of potentially allergenic formulation ingredients. There is a need in the art for prodrugs which increase the solubility of drugs, preferably resulting in amphiphilic drugs which are orally available, soluble in the bloodstream, and which improve the ability of such drugs to enter the CNS. Conversely, there is a need in the art for prodrugs which increase the lipophilicity of hydrophilic drugs to produce amphiphilic prodrugs. Moreover, it is desirable that such amphiphilic prodrugs are hydrolyzed in vivo to release the active parent compound.
1.2.3 Strategies for Delivering Therapeutic Compounds to the CNS
Many attempts have been made in the art to deliver therapeutic compounds to the CNS with varying levels of success. Such attempts can generally be grouped into two categories: invasive and pharmacological.
Invasive delivery strategies include, for example, mechanical procedures, such as implantation of an intraventricular catheter, followed by pharmaceutical infusion into the ventricular compartment. Aside from general considerations relating to the invasiveness of mechanical procedures, a major difficulty with mechanical approaches is the lack of drug distribution. For example, injection of drugs into the CSF compartment commonly results in very little distribution beyond the surface of the brain. This lack of distribution is due in part to rapid exportation of drugs to the peripheral circulation.
Another invasive strategy for delivering therapeutic compounds to the CNS is by intracartoid infusion of highly concentrated osmotically active substances, such as mannitol or arabinose. Their high local concentration causes shrinkages of the brain capillary endothelial cells, resulting in a transient opening of the tight junctions which enable molecules to traverse the BBB. Such procedures have considerable toxic effects, including inflammation, encephalitis, etc. Furthermore, such procedures are not selective: the opening of the tight junctions of the BBB permits many undesirable substances to cross the BBB along with the therapeutically beneficial molecule. For a recent review of osmotic opening and other invasive means for traversing the BBB, see Kroll, Neurosurgery, Vol. 42, No. 5, May 1998.
There is therefore a need in the art for means for selectively enabling therapeutic agents, such as peptides, to cross the BBB in a controlled manner which permits accumulation of sufficient quantities of the therapeutic in the brain to induce the desired therapeutic effect.
The present inventors have surprisingly discovered that conjugation of small amphiphilic polymers to drugs, such as etoposide, solves many of the aforementioned difficulties. This approach relies on rational oligomer design using a hydrophobic component plus a hydrophilic component to balance the physiochemical properties of the parent molecule. By varying the molecular weight of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic components of the oligomer and/or the molecular weight of the amphiphilic portion of the oligomer, the overall physiochemical profile of the conjugated molecule can be systematically adjusted to produce the desired degree of amphiphilicity with concomitant alterations in solubility and pharmacokinetics.
The etoposide prodrugs of the present invention can effectively cross the blood-brain barrier. Based on the empirical data presented herein and on the results of our prior research described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/134,803, entitled "Blood-Brain Barrier Therapeutics," the etoposide prodrugs are predicted to have improved oral bioavailability as well. These two elements, coupled with the ability to control the rate of hydrolysis of the prodrug from the drug compound, facilitate the use of chronic dosing regimens for the treatment of cancer of the CNS and other malignancies.
1.2.4 Treatment for CNS Tumors
The present inventors have surprisingly discovered that covalent modification of a hydrophobic drug with the oligomers of the present invention counteracts the hydrophobic nature of the parent compound and vastly improves its ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Furthermore, the inventors have discovered that conjugation of a lipophilic parent drug, e.g., etoposide, with the oligomers of the present invention using a labile chemical bond that hydrolyzes in vivo, freeing the fully bioactive parent drug, improves solubility of the drug in the bloodstream and permits delivery of the drug to the CNS.
The prodrugs of the present invention exhibit the following useful properties:                The inactive prodrug form helps to mitigate administration-related toxicity;        A therapeutically significant amount of free drug reaches the CNS;        It is expected that the prodrug can be delivered to the CNS via the oral route;        The prodrug is more readily formulated in hydrophilic formulations;        The half-life of elimination of etoposide is extended; and        The conjugate has improved ability to pass from the intestine into the bloodstream.1.2.5 Etoposide as a Treatment for CNS Tumors
Etoposide is a member of the epipodophyllotoxin class of compounds and is active against a broad spectrum of tumor types in vitro, including gliomas and astrocytomas (Giaccone, Gazdar et al. 1992; Kasahara, Fujiwara et al. 1992; Brown, McPherson et al. 1995; Chresta, Masters et al. 1996; Beauchesne, Bertand et al. 1998). Etoposide has a molecular weight of 589 daltons, is lipophilic and is nearly insoluble in water (Hande 1998). As a result, it is typically formulated in a mixture of benzyl alcohol, polysorbate 80/Tween 80, polyethylene glycol 300 and ethanol (VePesid®, Bristol Myers Squibb). For administration VePesid is diluted in physiologically compatible solutions to 0.2 mg(m to 0.4 mg/mL. Dose levels of 100 mg/m2 to 600 mg/m2 infused intravenously require volumes of 0.4 L to 5.1 L.
Although etoposide is hydrophobic, it does not readily penetrate the blood-brain barrier. As a result, concentrations of etoposide in brain parenchyma remain low after systemic administration (Hande, Wedlund et al. 1984; Donelli, Zucchetti et al. 1992; Kiya, Uozumi et al. 1992). Additionally, while etoposide can reach brain tumors, the concentration of etoposide in the tumor and surrounding tissue remain subtherapeutic (Donelli, Zucchetti et al. 1992). Due to the invasive nature of gliomas and astrocytomas and the difficulty of surgical resection, there is an urgent need for means for delivering drugs, such as etoposide, to areas of the brain that may harbor residual tumor cells.
One way to overcome the hydrophobicity of etoposide is to chemically modify the parent compound to increase its hydrophilicity. However, often such modifications destroy the desired biologic activity. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for amphiphilic etoposide prodrugs which increase penetration of the prodrug across the BBB and to thereby provide active etoposide to the CNS. Additionally, there is a need for a prodrug which facilitates delivery of etoposide into the CNS by other routes of administration, including oral administration. In rodent biodistribution studies, I.V. etoposide is found at significant concentrations in most non-CNS tissues, especially liver and kidney. However, its accumulation in the CNS is very low (Hande, Wedlund et al. 1984; Donelli, Zucchetti et al. 1992). The hydrophobicity of etoposide makes it a good substrate for the P-glycoprotein multidrug pump or related drug transporters found in the endothelium of CNS blood vessels (Schinkel, Smit et al. 1994; Schinkel, Wagenaar et al. 1996). Experimental evidence suggests that these drug transporters act as the element of the blood-brain barrier responsible for actively barring etoposide from the CNS (Abe, Hasegawa et al. 1994). These drug transporters appear also to be partly responsible for clearance of etoposide and other drugs from the blood via direct extrusion through the intestinal wall into the lumen (Leu and Huang 1995; Mayer, Wagenaar et al. 1997; Sparreboom, van Asperen et al. 1997). There is an urgent need in the art for etoposide prodrugs which have been modified to permit the delivery of therapeutic concentrations of etoposide to the CNS by disabling export of the prodrugs by the P-glycoprotein multidrug pump and related drug transporting of the CNS epithelium.
A considerable amount of effort has been devoted to developing extended dosing regimens for etoposide (Greco, Johnson et al. 1991; Hande 1998). These efforts were based on clinical studies demonstrating the superior response rates obtained with 3 to 5 day schedules of administration versus 1 day (Cavalli, Sonntag et al. 1978). Accordingly, there is a need in the art for prodrug versions of the etoposide which extend the metabolic half-life of etoposide.
Etoposide has been shown to be effective in vitro at concentrations as low as 0.1 g/mL (Kasahara, Fujiwara et al. 1992). However, removal of etoposide reverses its inhibition of topoisomerase II, allowing cells to recover (Joel 1996). In addition, etoposide's effect on topoisomerase II is toxic primarily in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. As a result, a relatively brief treatment with etoposide will kill cells in G2 but allow cells in other phases of the cell cycle to recover. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for etoposide prodrugs which permit chronic dosing, thereby extending treatment of a cycling cell population and leading to cell death of a much greater proportion of the population.
Due to the relatively brief half-life of etoposide, daily (or more often) I.V. infusions are needed to maintain plasma etoposide concentrations in the therapeutic range. Thus, there is a need for etoposide prodrugs which permit an oral dosing regimen with its convenience and lower cost. As noted above, studies with oral etoposide have determined that its bioavailability is erratic, leaving a physician with little assurance that the adequate dose had been delivered. Accordingly, a more consistently bioavailable etoposide prodrug is needed.
In summary, there is a need in the art for a means for permitting producing consistent bioavailability of drugs, such as etoposide, without the necessity of multiple, prolonged I.V. infusions. Furthermore, there is a need for prodrugs which provide anti-cancer agents, such as etoposide, with a sufficiently extended plasma half-life to maintain in vivo concentration in a therapeutic range. Finally, there is a need in the art for prodrugs which enable effective oral delivery of drugs, such as etoposide, and which enables such orally delivered prodrugs to cross the BBB to enter the CNS.
1.2.6 Toxicity and Formulation Problems Associated with Etoposide.
Researchers have modified the physiochemical and pharmacologic properties etoposide by covalently attaching chemical moieties. Etoposide phosphate (Etopophos®, Bristol Myers Squibb) contains a phosphate group at the 4′-position of etoposide, resulting in a prodrug with increased aqueous solubility. The phosphate group hydrolyzes rapidly in vivo, and the compound has the same pharmacologic profile as etoposide. The improved water solubility of this etoposide analog increases the convenience of intravenous infusion; however, the oral bioavailability is only slightly improved, and the variability in bioavailability is still high, presumably because etoposide phosphate is converted into etoposide rapidly in the gut.
Several researchers have pursued formulation of cytotoxic drugs such as paclitaxel, adriamycin and doxorubicin in liposomal or micellar form. One objective of these strategies has been to create "sustained release" etoposide, producing extended periods of plasma etoposide concentrations in the therapeutic range. A second objective has been to sequester drugs in these vehicles to restrict access to non-target tissues. However, due to the large size of these particles, it is unlikely that this approach will facilitate improved oral bioavailability or penetration of the BBB. Accordingly, a need remains for etoposide prodrugs which facilitate improved oral bioavailability as well as penetration of the BBB.
A third approach is to conjugate the drug molecule to hydrophilic polymers to improve its solubility. Both polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyglutamate have been used as hydrophilic polymers in this strategy. It appears that both polymers will increase the solubility of etoposide and therefore improve its handling characteristics. However, the conjugated polymers have been relatively large, resulting in etoposide prodrugs with altered pharmacokinetics and low drug loading. There is therefore a need in the art for etoposide prodrugs with smaller polymers, which prodrugs have improved solubility characteristics as well as the other advantageous attributes described above.

Treatment of cancers, tumors and malignancies using amphiphilic prodrugs


The disclosure presents processes and methods for determining an adjusted drag friction factor, where the adjusting utilizes a hole cleaning function. In some aspects, the drag friction factor utilizes viscous drag. In some aspects, the drag friction factor utilizes viscous torque. In some aspects, the drag friction factor can be utilized to determine one or more decomposed friction factors. The decomposed friction factors or the adjusted drag friction factor can be utilized in a friction processor to improve the efficiency of borehole operations. The hole cleaning function can utilize various parameters, for example, a cuttings density, a cuttings load, a cuttings shape, a cuttings size, a deviation, a drill pipe rotation rate, a drill pipe size, a flow regime, a hole size, a mud density, a mud rheology, a mud velocity, a pipe eccentricity, and other parameters. A system is disclosed that is capable of implementing the processes and methods.

In developing a borehole, there can be many factors affecting borehole operations, such as friction, the factors related to friction, and borehole cleaning. Friction can affect the wear of equipment, alter the characteristics of the surrounding formation of the borehole while decreasing borehole operation efficiency. Borehole cleaning can affect friction as well as affecting the ability to trip out a drill string. It would be beneficial to be able to improve the accuracy of torque and drag predictions including the effect of hole-cleaning, applied to a portion of the borehole to improve the operational efficiency of borehole operations.

Effect of hole cleaning on torque and drag


A system, method, and computer readable medium directed to communication with a remote component in an aircraft environment are described. The system includes the remote component in the aircraft environment to control a single phase alternating or direct current input drawn from a constant voltage power source, and a controller in the aircraft environment configured to monitor the current input to the remote component and determine a message from the remote component based on a current pattern in the current input.

Exemplary embodiments pertain to the art of signal transmission.
In many systems that include multiple components, several of those components may be remote such that they are not visible or accessible to an operator. In these systems, the ability to receive communication regarding the health or other information about the remote components may be desirable. Such information may facilitate more reliable operation of the system through better control of the remote components, for example. However, current forms of receiving such information involve the addition of discrete signal wires or communication buses. For example, the additional wires may present issues with respect to added weight (e.g. in aircraft systems) and/or technical complexity.

Signal transmission via current modulation of power input


A slider is attached to a spring with an epoxy adhesive. The thermal expansion coefficient of the spring is set greater than that of the slider by 10% to 60%. In this range, the deformation of the slider is reduced more effectively than when the thermal expansion coefficients of the slider and the spring are set substantially identical. The slider has a crown. The crown is formed by attaching a face of the slider to a concave surface, forming flat another face of the slider opposing the attached face, and disengaging the slider from the concave surface.

The present invention relates to a magnetic head assembly for use in magnetic disk apparatuses.
A magnetic had assembly for use in a hard disk apparatus or a floppy disk apparatus includes a slider and a gimbal spring.
The slider is an extremely hard member highly resistent to wear. Typical slider materials include sintered metallic oxide such as ceramics and ferrites. An electromagnetic transducer element is attached to the slider for converting electric signals into magnetization and vice versa. The slider itself may also constitute part of the electromagnetic converter. The slider is fixed to the gimbal spring with an adhesive.
The gimbal spring is an elastic metallic member. The gimbal spring, typically made of stainless steel, holds the slider over a magnetic recording medium.
The gimbal spring positions the slider on/above the slider against the magnetic recording medium. Therefore, when the magnetic recording medium is stationary, the slider is in contact with the recording medium. When the magnetic recording medium begins rotating, the slider glides over the medium and it takes off the medium to fly. When the magnetic recording medium is rotating, the slider flies over the recording medium keeping a small gap between the slider and the disk. When the recording medium stops, the slider again comes into contact with the magnetic recording medium.
The usual shape of the slider is illustrated in FIG. 1. A slider 10 is secured to a gimbal spring 20. The slider 10 has flying surfaces 11 and 12.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the flying surfaces 11 and 12 are formed to be slightly convex. These convex faces are called "crown". The crown height C here refers to the distance C between the straight line connecting the terminal points X and Y of the flying surfaces 11 or 12 and the point Z on the flying surfaces 11 or 12 where the distance from the straight line is the greatest. When the flying surface is 2 mm long and 0.3 mm wide, the crown height C is about 0.010-0.050 .mu.m.
The crown prevents the slider from sticking to the media. The crown also serves to shorten the gliding distance at a time of disk start and stop and contributes to increasing the durability of the medium.
As shown in FIG. 1, at the fore ends of the flying surfaces 11 and 12 in the direction of the disk's movement are formed chamfered portions 15 and 16 at an angle of about 30 minutes. The chamfered portions 15 and 16 produce flying pressure particularly when the disk speed is low.
In order to read/write signals properly, the flying attitude of the slider 10 should be kept stable so that distance between the transducer and the media is kept constant. The flying attitude of the slider 10 are affected by the shape of the flying surfaces 11 and 12. Therefore, in order to keep the flying attitude of the flying slider 10 constant, the shape of the flying surfaces 11 and 12, i.e. The shape of the crown, should be kept constant under every possible operating condition.
However, the crown is significantly deformed by a thermal change. This crown deformation can be assessed by a change in the crown height C. The varying rate of the crown height C by a thermal change may exceed 50%.
An example of a technique to restrain the deformation of the crown by a thermal change (hereinafter referred to as "the prior art technique") is described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. 133362 of 1989.
The prior art technique presumes that the deformation of the magnetic head results from the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the slider material and that of the gimbal spring. The slider material is attached (e.g. glued) to the gimbal spring at an elevated temperature. After the glue is cured, the slider material and the gimbal spring are cooled to room temperature. If the thermal expansion difference between the slider material and the gimbal spring is significant, the slider material deforms because of the temperature difference between before and after the gluing.
The prior art technique reduces the magnetic head deformation by equalizing the thermal expansion coefficient of the slider material and that of the gimbal spring. Specifically, according to the prior art technique, alumina carbide titanate (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 TiC) is used as the material for the magnetic head, and 43 wt % Ni, as that for the gimbal spring. In this case, the thermal expansion coefficients of the magnetic head and the gimbal spring are substantially identical at 7.9.times.10.sup.-6.
However, experiments have revealed that the prior art technique cannot reduce the magnetic head deformation sufficiently. This experiment will be hereinafter referred to as experiment #0. In experiment #0, the slider was made of alumina carbide titanate and the gimbal spring was made of 42 alloy containing 42 wt % of Ni.
Before experiment #0, the thermal expansion coefficient of the slider was measured, and the result is shown in FIG. 3. In this test, the thermal expansion coefficients of six samples were measured at 10.degree. C. intervals. The average of the measurements demonstrated that the thermal expansion coefficient of the slider was about 5.7.times.10.sup.-6 in the temperature range of 0.degree. C. to 80.degree. C.
On the other hand, the thermal expansion coefficient of the gimbal spring was 6.0.times.10.sup.-6.
Thermal expansion coefficient difference D between the slider and the gimbal spring was about 5%. The thermal expansion coefficient difference D is defined as ((E1/E2)-1).times.100, where E1 and E2 are the thermal expansion coefficient of the gimbal spring and the slider, respectively. The thermal expansion coefficient difference of 5% means that the thermal expansion coefficient of the slider and that of the gimbal spring are substantially identical.
The results of experiment #0 are illustrated in the chart of FIG. 4.
In the graph of FIG. 4, the horizontal axis represents the temperature, and the vertical axis represents the crown height C. The solid circles indicate measurements when the temperature is rising. The open circles indicate measurements when the temperature is falling. In this experiment, after the crown height C was measured while increasing the temperature from about 20.degree. C. to 40.degree. C., it was measured again while decreasing the temperature to 20.degree. C. This two-way process is defined to be one trial. The measurements in a trial are linked by curves in the graph. In the experiment, three sliders each having different crown heights by about 10 nm were subjected to the trial, with results corresponding to the three curved lines being illustrated in FIG. 11.
According to experiment #0, the average variation of the crown height C per 20.degree. C. temperature change was 8 nm, which reveals that the prior art technique cannot sufficiently reduce the crown deformation.

Magnetic head assembly with slider and spring having a predetermined thermal expansion coefficient


A current sensor which can measure accurately current of a wide range, at low cost. A C-shaped shield plate is positioned around a flow direction of a current of the bus bar. When the current flows through the bus bar, magnetic flux density of a magnetic field is generated. A magneto-electronic conversion element detects the magnetic flux density of the magnetic field, and converts the magnetic flux density into an electric signal. Furthermore, the magneto-electronic conversion element is arranged near a position where the previously measured magnetic flux density of the magnetic field, which is generated when a current flows through the bus bar, is minimized between the conductor and the shield plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a current sensor and a molding method thereof, and especially to a current sensor having a conductor through which a current flows, a shield plate of ring shape and a magneto-electronic conversion element and a molding method thereof. The shield plate is arranged around a flow direction of the current. The magneto-electronic conversion element detects magnetic flux density of a magnetic field which is generated when the current flows through the conductor, and converts the magnetic flux density into an electric signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A current sensor shown in FIG. 9 is generically known as the above mentioned current sensor. (For example, see the patent documents 1-3). As shown in FIG. 9, the current sensor has a bus bar 1 as a conductor through which a current flows, a core 2 of ring shape as a shield plate and a magneto-electronic conversion element 3. The core 2 is arranged around a flow direction Y1 of a current of the bus bar 1. The magneto-electronic conversion element 3 detects magnetic flux density of a magnetic field which is generated when the current flows through the conductor, and converts into an electric signal. The magneto-electronic conversion element 3 is arranged in a gap mounted in the core 2.
When a current flows through the bus bar 1, the above mentioned current sensor generates a magnetic field of magnetic flux density according to the current thereof. The magnetic conversion element 3 converts magnetic flux density of a magnetic field which is converged by the core 2 into an electric signal, and outputs a signal according to the current. Furthermore, the core 2 shields an effect on the magnetic field from an outside.
The magnetic flux density of the magnetic field, which is generated in the gap of the core 2, peaks at the central part of the gap, and decreases quickly toward the end part of the gap. Consequently, a case and a filter (resin) are expanded and contracted depending on a surrounding temperature. When a position of the magneto-electronic conversion element 3 moves in the gap, the magnetic flux density of the magnetic conversion element 3 is changed. Thereby, an output of the magneto-electronic conversion element 3 is changed. As a result, a current can not be measured accurately.
Linearity of the current flowing into the bus bar 1 cannot be maintained so that the core 2 magnetically saturates immediately when the gap is small. For this reason, a current range which can be measured by the current sensor is narrow.
According to the above problem, heretofore, by increasing the gap area and keeping a portion which a change of magnetic flux density is equalized with, magnetic-saturation does not occur when a large current flows. In general, after a core winds annularly a zonal member configured with anisotropic silicon steel, the core is formed by cutting the gap portion. Also, the core is formed by laminating multiple plate members having a permalloy which is cut in C-shaped. As discussed previously, it is required to increase number of turns of the zonal member and laminations of the plate member so that the gap area is increased. Thereby, it causes an increase in cost.
Patent Document 1:                Japan published patent application 2006-78255        Japan published patent application 2005-308527        Japan published patent application 2001-66328

Current sensor and molding method thereof


An electronic clearinghouse allows for owners of collectible objects to store detailed information in an off-site, secure database system. A separate record is created for each object and holds various types of detailed information about the object (history, pedigree, provenance, third-party authenticity documentation, etc.). The current physical location of the collectible object may also be stored in the database record and, preferably, one or more digital images of the collectible object is also stored. An unclonable, unique RFID tag is created for each collectible object and linked to its record in the e-clearinghouse database. The RFID tag is affixed to the object and needs to store only a minimal amount of information and can therefore take the form of a “passive” RFID tag. When used with large collectibles, the tag includes a window to allow for a digital image of a portion of the collectible to be created.

There are many businesses today that involve the buying and selling of various types of collectibles: coins, gold or silver bullion bars, art work, sports cards, memorabilia, and the like. The ability to verify that a specific item offered for sale is not a "fake" is problematic, at best. The addition of buying and selling these items over the internet has only led to an increase in untoward business practices in these areas.
There have been various attempts in the past to address these concerns. US Patent Publication 2008/0023351, entitled "Protection, Authentication, Identification Device for a Collectable Object" issued to J. J. Macor on Jan. 31, 2008 describes the utilization of a "protection, authentication, identification device" to encase a collectible object (such as a coin), where the encasement includes a "data storage device" that stores specific ID information about the collectible object. The disclosed "data storage device" may take the form of an RFID tag that holds information including a digital image of the object. An "active" RFID tag (that is, a tag including its own power supply) is required in the Macor device for the volume of information required for digital image storage. Inasmuch as the owner is also the creator of the active RFID tag, a prospective buyer must rely on the owner's integrity that the object offered for sale is indeed the "collectible" it is purported to be. Additionally, while an active RFID tag can hold a relatively large amount of data, it cannot retain a detailed "history" of information and/or a digital image of a collectible object (that is, information such as pedigree, provenance, etc.)—the particular kinds of information a prospective purchaser may be interested in reviewing prior to completing a transaction.
Thus, a need remains for providing a third-party holder of detailed information for collectible objects, where the third party is electronically accessible by both owners and prospective purchasers and allows for prospective purchasers to have a higher level of comfort about the authenticity of a collectible object prior to purchase.
Moreover, there is a need to provide a system of creating and maintaining secure and credible information associated with "large" objects that cannot be encased within an enclosure that incorporates ID information with the object. For example, it may be desired to create and maintain a database of information associated with collectible objects such as cars, paintings, furniture and household items (e.g., china, silver, pottery or the like). To date, there is no system in place that can catalogue and verify the authenticity of large pieces.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Verification system and method for a collectible object


A data driver for display panels includes: multiple driver output terminals coupled to multiple data lines of a display panel; and multiple output circuits that output output signals from the driver output terminals. Each output circuit includes: an output buffer that outputs an output signal; a first resistor having one end coupled to one of the driver output terminals; a first switch and a second resistor coupled in series between an output node of the output buffer and the other end of the first resistor; and a second switch coupled in parallel to the first switch and the second resistor between the output node of the output buffer and the other end of the first resistor.

The present invention relates to a data driver for panel display apparatuses and in particular to a driver configured to drive the data lines of flat panel display apparatuses (LCDs, OLED displays).
Many types of flat panel display apparatuses, including liquid crystal display apparatuses and organic light-emitting diode display apparatuses, have been commercialized in recent years. One of the methods for driving such display apparatuses is active matrix. Referring to FIGS. 3A to 3C, a typical configuration of an active-matrix flat panel display apparatus (liquid crystal display apparatus or organic light-emitting diode display apparatus) will be outlined. FIG. 3A is a block diagram showing the main part configuration of a flat display apparatus; FIG. 3B shows the main part configuration of a unit pixel of the display panel of a liquid crystal display apparatus; and FIG. 3C shows the main part configuration of a unit pixel of the display panel of an organic light-emitting diode display apparatus. The unit pixels of FIGS. 3B and 3C are represented by schematic equivalent circuits.
Referring to FIG. 3A, a typical active-matrix flat panel display apparatus includes a power supply circuit 940, a display controller 950, a display panel 960, a gate driver 970, and a data driver 980. In the display panel 960, unit pixels each including a pixel switch 964 and a display element 963 are arranged in a matrix. (In a color SXGA (super extended graphics array) panel, for example, 1280×3 pixel columns×1024 pixel rows are arranged.) Scan lines 961 for transmitting scan signals outputted from the gate driver 970 and data lines 962 for transmitting gray-scale voltage signals outputted from output buffers (not shown) of the data driver 980 are arranged in a grid. The gate driver 970 and the data driver 980 are controlled by the display controller 950. Clocks CLK, control signals, and the like required for these drivers are provided thereto by the display controller 950. Image data is provided to the data driver 980 in the form of digital signals. The power supply circuit 940 supplies required power to the gate driver 970 and the data driver 980. The display panel 960 includes a semiconductor substrate. In particular, most of large-screen display apparatuses use a semiconductor substrate obtained by forming pixel switches using thin-film transistors (TFTs) on an insulating substrate such as a glass substrate or plastic substrate.
The above-mentioned display apparatus displays an image by on-off controlling the pixel switches 964 using scan signals, applying gray-scale voltage signals corresponding to pieces of image data to the display elements 963 when the pixel switches 964 are turned on, and changing the luminance of the display elements 963 in accordance with the gray-scale voltage signals.
Data corresponding to one screen is rewritten in one frame period (usually, about 0.017 sec at a 60-Hz drive frequency). Specifically, pixel rows (lines) corresponding to the scan lines 961 are sequentially selected, that is, the pixel switches 964 are turned on. Gray-scale voltage signals are provided from the data lines 962 to the display elements 963 via the pixel switches 964 in a selection period. In some cases, multiple pixel rows are simultaneously selected by a single scan line or the display apparatus is driven at a frame frequency of 60 Hz or more.
Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the display panel 960 of the liquid crystal display apparatus includes a semiconductor substrate, a counter substrate, and liquid crystal sealed between the opposite two substrates. The semiconductor substrate has unit pixels each including a pixel switch 964 and a display element 963 arranged in a matrix thereon. The counter substrate has a single transparent electrode 974 formed on an entire surface thereof. A display element 963 included in a unit pixel includes a pixel electrode 973, the counter substrate electrode 974, a liquid crystal capacitance 971, and an auxiliary capacitance 972. The display panel is also provided with a backlight as a light source over its back. When the pixel switches 964 are turned on (activated) by scan signals from the scan lines 961, gray-scale voltage signals from the data lines 962 are applied to the corresponding pixel electrodes 973. The potential difference between each pixel electrode 973 and the counter substrate electrode 974 changes the transmittance of light emitted by the backlight and passing through the liquid crystal. The potential difference is held in the corresponding liquid crystal capacitance 971 and auxiliary capacitance 972 for a given period of time even after the corresponding pixel switch 964 is turned off (inactivated), thereby displaying an image. Meanwhile, to prevent degradation of the liquid crystal, liquid crystal display apparatuses are driven in such a manner that the polarity (positive or negative) of the common voltage of the counter substrate electrode 974 is inverted for each pixel, usually, every one frame period (inversion drive). Typical inversion drive types include dot inversion drive, where adjacent pixels show different voltage polarities, and column inversion drive, where adjacent data lines show different voltage polarities. In dot inversion drive, gray-scale voltage signals having different voltage polarities are outputted to the data lines 962 every selection period (every data period); in column inversion drive, gray-scale voltage signals having the same voltage polarity are outputted to the data lines 962 every selection period (every data period).
Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a display panel 960 of an organic light-emitting diode display apparatus includes a semiconductor substrate having unit pixels each including a pixel switch 964, an organic light-emitting diode 982, and a thin-film transistor (TFT) 981 arranged in a matrix thereon. The organic light-emitting diode 982 is composed of an organic film between two thin film electrode layers. The TFT 981 controls the current supplied to the organic light-emitting diode 982. The TFTs 981 and the organic light-emitting diodes 982 are coupled in series between power supply terminals 984 and 985 that receive different power supply voltages. The unit pixel further includes an auxiliary capacitance 983 for holding the control terminal voltage of the TFT 981. A display element 963 corresponding to the unit pixel includes the TFT 981, the organic light-emitting diode 982, the power supply terminals 984 and 985, and the auxiliary capacitance 983. When the pixel switches 964 are turned on (activated) by the scan signals from the scan lines 961, gray-scale voltage signals from the data lines 962 are applied to the control terminals of the corresponding TFTs 981. The TFTs 981 supply currents corresponding to the gray-scale voltage signals to the corresponding organic light-emitting diodes 982, which then emit light with luminance corresponding to the currents, thereby displaying an image. Even after the pixel switches 964 are turned off (inactivated), the gray-scale voltage signals applied to the control terminals of the TFTs 981 are held in the auxiliary capacitances 983 for a given period of time. Thus, the light emission is maintained. While the pixel switch 964 and the TFT 981 are composed of n-type transistors in this embodiment, they may be composed of p-channel transistors. Alternatively, the organic EL element may be coupled to the power supply terminal 984. The organic light-emitting diode display apparatus does not need to be driven by inversion drive unlike the liquid crystal display apparatus; gray-scale voltage signals corresponding to the pixels are outputted every selection period (every data period). While the organic light-emitting diode display apparatus makes an image on the basis of the gray-scale voltage signals from the data lines 962 in this embodiment, it may make an image on the basis of gray-scale current signals outputted from the data driver.
As described above, in the above-mentioned display apparatuses, data corresponding to one screen is rewritten every frame period (usually, about 0.017 sec at a 60-Hz drive frequency). Specifically, pixel rows (lines) corresponding to the scan lines are sequentially selected (that is, the pixel switches are turned on), and the data lines provide gray-scale voltage signals to the display elements via the pixel switches turned on in a selection period. One selection period refers to a period of time obtained by dividing about one frame period by the number of scan lines. The data driver outputs gray-scale voltage signals corresponding to pieces of image data to the data lines every selection period. Hereafter, a data driver configured to drive active-matrix display apparatuses will be described.
The data driver includes multiple digital-analog conversion circuits (D/A converters). Each D/A converter generates reference voltages corresponding to gray-scale characteristics by dividing γ-voltages applied externally using resistors and selects a reference voltage corresponding to received digital image data from the reference voltages. The selected reference voltage is inputted to the output buffer (output amplifier) of a voltage follower. The respective numbers of D/A converters and output buffers correspond to the number of data lines of the display panel. Gray-scale voltage signals corresponding to pieces of image data are outputted to the data lines of the display panel. Generally, data drivers comprise semiconductor driver LSIs (large scale integrated circuits). One or more driver LSIs corresponding to the number of data lines of the display panel are mounted on the display panel. The driver LSIs provide gray-scale voltage signals to the data lines of the display panel.
Display apparatuses for use in televisions or display apparatuses for personal computer have been provided with larger screens with higher resolutions in recent years. The number of data lines of the display panel has been increased accordingly. As a result, the data driver (driver LSIs) has been required to have more outputs (more pins). For example, with regard to liquid crystal televisions or the like supporting full high-definition (full HD) (height 1080×width 1920×RGB), the number of data lines is 1920×3. The data drivers (driver LSIs) are coupled to these data lines. For a data driver having 720 outputs, 8 data drivers are required; for a data driver having 960 outputs, 6 data drivers are required; and for a data driver having 1440 outputs, 4 data drivers are required. As the number of data drivers to be mounted is reduced, the number of members required to mount data drivers is reduced. As a result, cost can be reduced. However, the distance between the output pads of the data drivers (driver LSIs) is smaller than that between the data lines of the display unit of the display panel. This increases the difference between the lengths (the difference between the maximum length and the minimum length) of the leader lines in the fan-out region extending from the edge of the display unit to the pads of the driver LSIs. Thus, the difference in resistance between the leader lines is increased, which may cause unevenness in display. As a countermeasure, a method is proposed for reducing the difference in resistance between the leader lines.
FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a flat display panel. A display panel 90 shown in FIG. 4 includes a display unit 91, a scan line drive circuit 92, and data drivers (driver LSIs) 100. The data drivers 100 are composed of silicon LSIs or silicon LSIs packaged with a tape-shaped thin film (called TCP (Tape Carrier Package) or COF (Chip on Film)).
While three data drivers 100 are shown for the sake of convenience in the example shown in FIG. 4, the number of data drivers 100 varies depending on the number of data lines of the display panel and the number of outputs of one data driver 100. In a display apparatus having a large display panel, the display panel 90 is driven using multiple data drivers 100. The display panel 90 is divided into the same number of regions as the number of data drivers 100, and each region is driven by the corresponding data driver 100.
The pitch of the output terminals of one data driver 100 is smaller than the distance between the data lines installed in the display unit 91. (The driver output terminals may be the output pads of TCP or COF.)
To couple the data lines of the display unit 91 to the data drivers 100, the leader lines of the data lines are installed obliquely in the shape of sectors in a fan-out region 99 extending from the edge of the display unit 91 to the data drivers 100 in such a manner that the distance between the adjacent leader lines is reduced toward the data drivers 100.
Thus, a shorter leader line (low resistance) is coupled to the chip center of the data driver 100, and a longer leader line (high resistance) is coupled to the chip end thereof. A large difference in resistance between the leader lines makes a large difference between the data line drive waveforms (rounding, etc.) of gray-scale voltage signals outputted from the data driver 100.
For this reason, even when gray-scale voltage signals having the same gray scale are outputted, the rate of voltage write to the pixel may vary depending on the difference in rounding between the signal waveforms. This may make a difference in luminance between the display regions corresponding to the respective data lines coupled to the chip center and the chip end, causing unevenness in display.
Data drivers have been required to have more outputs than conventional 720 or fewer outputs in recent years, for example, 960 outputs or 1000 or more outputs. As the number of outputs of one data driver 100 increases, the difference in resistance between the leader lines increases, easily causing unevenness in display.
Where the scan line drive circuit 92 is composed of a gate driver (LSI), the leader lines take a shape similar to that for the data drivers 100. Where the scan line drive circuit 92 is formed as a thin film transistor circuit on the display panel 90, the leader lines coupled to the outputs thereof may have an equal length.
A method for compensating for the differences in resistance between the leader lines of the data lines (or gate lines) in the fan-out region 99 is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 10(1998)-153791. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 10(1998)-153791 discloses a liquid crystal display apparatus including: multiple display-side electrodes disposed at an edge of a liquid crystal display unit, multiple terminal-side electrodes disposed at the junction of TCP, parallel lines connecting the corresponding display-side electrodes and terminal-side electrodes and extending from the terminal-side electrodes in a direction identical to the direction of the disposition of the terminal-side electrodes, radial lines extending from the parallel lines radially and reaching the display-side electrodes, and line electrodes having a small width, wherein the lengths of the parallel lines become longer as the distances between the corresponding display-side electrodes and terminal-side electrodes are shorter and wherein parts of the parallel lines in the line electrodes are formed into bent lines that each have one or more bends in accordance with the length thereof and that approximately match the resistances of the line electrodes with each other. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 10(1998)-153791, the shorter leader line coupled to the chip center is bent in such a manner that the resistance of the shorter leader line is matched with that of the leader line coupled to the chip end.
However, bending the leader line reduces the distance between the adjacent lines. This may easily cause shorting between the adjacent lines or a break in the bend, reducing the yield of the display panel.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-70317 discloses a configuration where compensation resistors are disposed at the outputs of a driver LSI so as to compensate for the differences in resistance between the leader lines. FIG. 5 is a diagram obtained by referring to FIG. 5 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-70317. In FIG. 5, compensation resistors 109 are disposed between output buffers 101 corresponding to the outputs of a data driver 100 and driver output terminals 102. The resistances of the compensation resistors are set such that the respective sums of these resistances and the resistances of the corresponding leader lines in a fan-out region 99 are the same.
For the compensation resistors 109 of FIG. 5, the resistances of the compensation resistors adjacent to the chip ends (outputs OUT1, OUT384 of the data driver 100) and corresponding to the longest leader lines (high resistance) in the fan-out region 99 are set to 0Ω; the resistances of the compensation resistors coupled to the chip center (outputs OUT92, OUT93 of the data driver 100) and corresponding to the shortest leader lines (low resistance) in the fan-out region 99 are set to 1069Ω; and the resistances of the other compensation resistors are set such that a compensation resistor closer to the chip center has a higher resistance.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a typical output configuration of a data driver (driver LSI) of a display apparatus as the related art. (FIG. 6 is drawn by the inventors.) Referring to FIG. 6, a data driver 100 includes multiple driver output terminals (pads) 102_1 to 102_4, output protective resistors 104_1 to 104_4 having ends coupled to the driver output terminals (pads) 102_1 to 102_4, output buffers 101_1 to 101_4, and multiple output switches 103_1 to 103_4 coupled between the output nodes of the output buffers 101_1 to 101_4 and the other ends of the output protective resistors 104_1 to 104_4. To simplify the description, FIG. 6 shows four output buffers 101, four driver output terminals (pads) 102, four output switches 103, and four output protective resistors 104.
The output buffers (amplifiers) 101_1 to 101_4 amplify and output image signals to be outputted to data lines 96_1 to 96_4. The output switches 103_1 to 103_4 have the function of temporarily blocking gray-scale voltage signals outputted from the output buffers 101_1 to 101_4 to the corresponding data lines in accordance with a common control signal S1. For example, the output switches 103_1 to 103_4 are temporarily turned off to change the gray-scale signals so as to prevent transition noise caused by the change of the gray-scale signals from being transmitted to the data lines. For another example, to recover the electric charge of the data line capacitance by shorting adjacent data lines in order to reduce power consumption, the output switches 103_1 to 103_4 are turned off in common to block gray-scale voltage signals outputted from the output buffers 101_1 to 101_4 to the corresponding data lines. The output protective resistors 104_1 to 104_4 are disposed in order to prevent electrostatic damage, and the resistances thereof are set to similar resistances.

Data driver for panel display apparatuses


A light-diffusing sheet includes a transparent film and a light-diffusing layer formed on at least one side of the transparent film. The light-diffusing layer is composed of a resin coating layer having a rough surface. The transparent film contains a thermoplastic resin having a substituted and/or unsubstituted imide group at a side chain and a thermoplastic resin having a substituted and/or unsubstituted phenyl group and a nitrile group at a side chain.

Conventionally, in image viewing displays, such as LCD, an indoor lighting such as a fluorescent light, or incidence from sunlight from windows, or a reflection of operator's shadow etc. given to the viewing display surface sometimes aggravates visibility of pictures. Therefore, a light-diffusing layer is provided, on display surface, in which minute unevenness structure showing antiglare property, formed in order to diffuse a surface reflected light, to stop a regular reflection of outdoor daylight and to prevent a reflection of outside environment for the purpose of improvement in the visibility of images. As a formation method of light-diffusing layer, a method is mainly used in which a resin layer is formed from a coated layer having a resin containing fine-particles in dispersed state on a transparent film, because fine structure may be easily realized and at the same time excellent productivity may be realized by the method.
In a case of application to a high definition LCD, however, only mounting a sheet with the light-diffusing layer has caused problems that a portion (glittering) of strong and weak brightness combined is generated on a display surface and that surface reflected light excessively diffuses to thereby whiten a screen image (whitening).
In order to reduce such phenomena, a method has been proposed in which internal diffusibility and surface diffusibility are controlled. Described, for example, in JP-A No. 11-305010 is that a surface haze value is controlled in the range of from 7 to 30% and an internal haze value is controlled in the range of 1 to 15%. A light-diffusing sheet with an internal haze value in the range has not been able to exert a sufficient glittering preventive effect. Further described therein is that if the sum of a surface haze value and internal haze value of the light-diffusing sheet exceeds 30 in the light-diffusing sheet, whitening of a screen image surface increases, and it has been difficult to provide a screen image excellent in both of a glittering preventive effect and a whitening preventive effect even if a surface haze value and internal haze value are adjusted in the respective ranges.
As transparent films on each of which a light-diffusing layer is formed, there have generally been used films made of materials excellent in transparency such as triacetyl cellulose, polyethylene terephthalate and polycarbonate. A triacetyl cellulose film low in birefringence is main stream as a transparent film used on a polarizing plate indispensable in an LCD.
A light-diffusing sheet having a triacetyl cellulose film on a surface of which a minute unevenness is formed, however, has had a problem that if the light-diffusing sheet is exposed to a humidified environment at a high temperature for a long time, the light-diffusing layer is peeled off or degenerates because of hydrolysis of the triacetyl cellulose film. Recently, a norbornene-based resin film has been used as a transparent film, whereas such a film is poor in adhesion to the resin coating layer, thereby causing formation of a light-diffusing layer thereon to be difficult.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a light-diffusing sheet exhibiting almost no birefringence and excellent in adhesion and durability.
It is an another object of the present invention to, even in a case of application to a high definition LCD, provide a light-diffusing sheet, suppressing a screen glittering phenomenon and whitening hardly seen while maintaining antiglareness, exhibiting almost no birefringence, and excellent in adhesion and durability.
Also it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical element having the light-diffusing sheet provided thereto, and further to provide an image viewing display using the optical element.

Light-diffusing sheet, optical element and image viewing display


An LED lighting device and a method for making the LED lighting device, the LED lighting device having a PCB positioned over a cooling substrate on the top of a metallic heat-dissipation lamp cup. LED light sources are provided on the PCB and are connected to a power supply. Screws are used to attach the PCB to the cooling substrate. At least one screw includes a screw head electrically connected to one of the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and a screw body electrically connected to the metallic heat-dissipation lamp cup, such that the at least one screw provides a bypass discharge path between the LED light sources and the metallic heat-dissipation lamp cup to release leakage current and to protect the LED light sources.

LED lighting devices are often tested under high voltages before leaving the factory. Such high-voltage testing is designed to detect voltage-resistant capabilities of the LED lighting devices under extreme conditions and to detect whether an electric shock would occur when touched by a human body.
Conventional testing methods include wrapping a metal heat-dissipation lamp cup and a lamp head with a layer of metal foil and then using electrical clamps to clamp two pieces of metal foil. A high voltage of about 1500V to 4000V can be applied to the two pieces of metal foil to detect eligibility of the LED lighting device.
However, LED light sources (often made by a chip) of LED lighting devices may be broken down to cause damages and big losses during such high-voltage testing. This may be because that a circuit for a small amount of leakage current can be formed between the lamp head, a power supply, and the LED light sources during the high-voltage testing. When this small amount of leakage current exceeds a tolerance limit of the LED light sources, these LED light sources may be broken down.

LED lighting device and method for making the same


A golf putter and method is disclosed which allow accurate sighting and positioning of the golf putter head relative to the target or hole, and which has perpendicular elongated teeth that run along the bottom face of the putter head thereby increasing friction and reducing the resultant tendency for the putter head to twist when moving from a rearward optically accurate alignment position to a putting position. The accurate sighting is possible by tilting the golf putter rearward and sighting along the face and top of the putter head. This tilting causes a rear parallel tooth to engage the turf, keeping the putter head in position As the golfer moves from the sighting position. As to the golfing position, the golf putter is held in place, and when the putter is tilted back to the proper putting position, the rear tooth disengages the turf while at the same time the perpendicular elongated teeth engage the turf thereby preventing twisting of the putter head while moving from an alignment position to a putting position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a golf putter and method of putting and more particularly relates to putter alignment wherein the putter has both a mechanism on the (1) back and (2) bottom portion of the putter for providing an improved method for lining up the putter to thereby more accurately and consistently propel a golf ball along an intended line or path.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally speaking, many or most prior art golf putters have a smooth or rounded bottom surface. Although this type of surface may facilitate the hitting of a putt, these smooth surfaces do not aide the process of initially aligning the putter nor do they contribute to the maintenance of alignment once it is established. As a consequence, prior art putters impair the golfer's ability to use an optimal aiming/alignment method. The present invention permits and assists in the use of an optimal aiming/alignment method.
Successful putting requires more than just a smooth stroke. If the ball is to roll into the cup, there are many physical and mental steps which must be successfully accomplished before the actual stroke. Putting can be usefully thought of as a three step process consisting of; (1) target selection from behind the ball (2) aiming/alignment of the putter to the target from behind the ball, and (3) stroking or hitting the putt from beside the ball.
The preferred aiming/alignment method essentially begins with the proposition that there is one best position to select a target and to align the putter--behind the ball. In this position a short distance behind the ball, the player crouches or bends with eyes and head level gazing directly above the ball's intended line of travels The player's body and feet generally straddle an imaginary line running from the target through the ball. The Rules of Golf, while permitting the golfer to select a target and align a putter from this preferred aiming/alignment position, prohibit the golfer from actually hitting the putt while so situated. (If the rules did permit the player to maintain this position during the stroke of a putt, a golfer could arguably use a putter like pool cue. Carried to an extreme, one could imagine a player prostrated on the putting surface as if it were a billiard table.)
Even though the Rules of Golf prohibit the putting of the ball from the preferred aiming/alignment position, virtually all golfers, except the rankest beginner, begin their putting routine from it. It is from behind the ball that a golfer is afforded an optimal view of ball, hole and surface contour. While crouched or bent in this location, the golfer is best able to assess the many factors, including contour, which will cause the ball's path to bend or "break" as the ball rolls toward the cup. Accomplished putters learn how to accurately assess both the contour of the green and numerous other subtle conditions (erg., the "grain" of the grass) and select an aiming target which accounts for the break of the putt. If the target is properly selected ("read" in golf vernacular), the putter accurately aimed or aligned to the target, and the putting stroke smoothly made; the ball will ultimately fall into the cup. It is the initial position of the golfer behind the ball in relationship to the cup that is the foundation of the preferred putter alignment method.
In contrast, any golfer attempting to "read" the green from the stroking or putting position standing beside and above the ball will be less successful. Although it is possible for the golfer to select a target from the stroking position, it is rarely done because such a position provides the worst possible view of the factors affecting the path of the ball along its intended line. Standing above the ball in the putting position reveals little in the way of ground contour or other important visual information necessary for a successful "read". This paucity of useful visual information is the result of the application of well understood optical/visual principals concerning contrast and depth perception. It is not surprising then that virtually all golfers will select an aiming target from the preferred aiming/alignment position behind the ball. The actual aiming target can be anything from a small blemish in the putting surface to a wayward leaf or speck of dirt.
Once the target has been selected from behind the ball, the preferred aiming/alignment method dictates that the golfer align or aim his putter from this position. However, due to the design of prior art putters, virtually all players move to the stroking position before aligning the putter to the selected target. Although it is possible to align prior art putters from the preferred aiming/alignment position, this initial alignment is highly unstable and virtually impossible to maintain while the golfer moves to the stroking position. Prior art putters do not provide a means to mechanically "fix" the correctly aligned putter while the golfer maneuvers his body to the correct position. Rather than contend with this lack of mechanical connection, most golfers prefer to align the putter to the target from the stroking position. Trying to aim the putter from the preferred position is problematic.
Any player attempting to align a prior art putter from the preferred position must rely on physical and athletic skill to maintain the putter's aim as the player shifts to the stroking position. Any movement of the player, the player's hands or other portion of the player's body after alignment is established is likely to cause an undesired change in the alignment of the putter. Moreover, the golfer may not be aware of the movement of the putter while the golfer is moving to the stroking position. Upon arrival at the stroking position, the player has no means to judge whether the putter has retained its alignment. It is the fragility of the putter's alignment that cause most players to attempt to align it from the stroking position. But, accurately aiming a putter from this position is inherently more difficult than aiming or aligning it from behind the ball.
This alignment challenge is analogous to aiming a pistol held no higher than the waist while turned sideways. Although it might be possible with practice to occasionally hit a bullseye from this position, greater accuracy is likely to result if one faces the target and the pistol is brought to eye level so that it can be sited along the actual line created by the target and the barrel of the pistol. Accurately aligning a putter while looking down upon it presents no less of a challenge. Moreover, the golfer must contend with optical anomalies and illusions which arise from this perspective. A number of highly respected books and articles have been written about the visual challenges inherent in aligning the putter from the stroking position. For an example of such materials see "Aim to Win" by Chuck Hogan.
In summary the preferred aiming/alignment method dictates that the golfer select an aiming target and aim the putter at the target from behind the ball. Prior art putters do not provide a workable means to fix the alignment of the putter while the player moves to the stroking position. Consequently, golfers are forced to aim the putter from the stroking position which results in less accurate alignment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,902 discloses a golf putter with an in-line aiming and control apparatus which facilitates sighting the putter along the desired path of the ball by engaging the putting surface in order to keep the club in position as the golfer moves from the rear sighting position to the side golfing position. While this apparatus may achieve the desired aiming of the putter, the face of the putter has a sharp edge on the bottom side extending downward from the face and parallel to it. This sharp edge remains engaged with the turf as the putter is tilted back up. This prevents a smooth unimpeded takeaway or stroke. Also it has the tendency to catch and thereby slow down the putter speed or to cause the putter to twist if this edge inadvertently comes in contact with the turf during putting.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,428 (Perkins) discloses a putter with multiple grooves cut up into the bottom surface of the putter for engagement of the blades of grass growing out of the turf. The grass is not stiff enough to provide the putter head with lateral stability. And, the grooves do not engage the turf that underlies the grass. In order to be effective the turf must be received up into the grooves, which does not readily occur in either long or short putting surfaces. Even assuming that blades of grass could provide sufficient mechanical stability if engaged by the grooves, because most modem putting surfaces are closely mown, there is not sufficient grass to engage them. When used on the increasingly prevalent artificial putting surfaces like no-nap carpet or felt, the grooves have nothing to engage,
Other types of golf clubs such as fairway woods and irons have used runners on the bottom surface of the club head. The runners for woods and irons are used to lift the club off the ground to reduce the chance that the club will dig in during the swing, i.e., prevent engagement with the turf and facilitate the passage of the club head over the ground. They are not intended nor do they function as a means to provide directional stability to the head of the club. These runners need sufficient surface contact to support the clubhead so that the head does not sink to the ground.
A need exists to provide an improved putter and method that will permit a golfer to more accurately align the putter's striking face and then permit the golfer to resume the normal putting position without changing the putterhead's alignment to thereby maintain the alignment of the putter and, at the same time, provide for a smooth and unimpeded stroke.


A hydraulic tool working head including a frame, a ram and a connection between the ram and the frame. The frame has a first section with a hydraulic cylinder area, an opposite second section and a middle section connecting the first and second sections to each other. The ram is movably located in the hydraulic cylinder area and extends out of the first section of the frame towards the opposite second section of the frame. The connection between the ram and the middle section includes the middle section of the frame having two slots extending into opposite sides of the middle section and the ram having two cantilevered hook sections which generally face towards each other. The hook sections have ends slidably respectively located in the two slots of the middle section.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a working head of a hydraulic tool and, more particularly, to a sliding connection between a ram and a frame of the working head.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,290 discloses a hydraulic tool having a movable ram. The C-shaped head of the tool has a dovetail key mounted in a vertical recess. The ram has a dovetail channel which receives the dovetail key to form a sliding connection between the ram and the head. U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,980 discloses a crimping tool having a frame with recesses and a lower die member, connected to a ram, which has two ribs that extend into the recesses. The ribs are provided to restrict rotation about the ram axis.
Hydraulic crimping tools having a C-head are known to exist in the art. The C-head of these tools is known to deflect due to the high force produced by the tool. Although the C-head can be designed to minimize this deflection, it still exists. When the head deflects, it is no longer aligned with the ram and the lower die holder. The Burndy division of FCI USA, Inc. sells the Y750 and the Y46 hydraulic compression tools which have a T track where the male profile is on the die holder and the female profile is on the head. This is referred to as an interior T track.
There is a desire to provide an alignment system to keep the die holder aligned during deflection of a C-head. Also, there does not exist an exterior T track where the male profile is on the head and the female profile is on the die holder. There is a desire to provide a frame head having an exterior T track design.


A toner container comprises a container main body having a toner discharge port, a toner conveying section having an auger and a mixer, a handle at a first end portion of the container main body, a toner filling port at a second end portion of the container main body, a cap covering the toner filling port, a cylindrical supporting section positioned at a central part of the cap, a first gear positioned at one end portion of the mixer and configured to rotate the mixer and having a rotary axis inserted into the cylindrical supporting section, a coupling member configured to transmit rotation force from a driving device to the auger, and a second gear which rotates with the coupling member and is engaged with the first gear so that the first gear rotates when the driving device transmits rotation force from the driving device.

Generally, in an image forming apparatus of the electrophotographic recording type, an electrostatic latent image is formed by irradiating laser beam on a photoconductive drum. The photoconductive drum forms a toner image with the toner supplied from a developer, and then the toner image on the photoconductive drum is transferred to a paper to form an image thereon. In the developer, the toner is replenished from a toner container when the toner in the developer is insufficient.
In addition, the toner container is provided with a toner filling port arranged at one end portion positioned on the front side of the image forming apparatus. In addition, a handle for inserting the toner container into or removing the toner container from the image forming apparatus is also arranged at the same end portion. In recent years, there has been a demand for a reduction in size of the image forming apparatus. As a result, the size of the toner container has also been required to be reduced.
However, the size of the toner filling port cannot be too small since the filling efficiency is deteriorated if it is set too small. In addition, from the viewpoint of operability, the size of the handle also cannot be too small. Thus, there remains a problem that the handle becomes smaller in a case of increasing the size of the toner filling port, and the toner filling port becomes smaller in a case of increasing the size of the handle.
In addition, a rotary axis of a mixer for stirring toner is installed at one end portion of the toner container. It is necessary to arrange the toner filling port at a position that avoids the rotary axis. However, there is also a limit in the increase of the size of the toner filling port.

Toner container and image forming apparatus


A magnetic ionization device is disclosed that reduces the toxic effects of diesel emissions. The magnetic ionization device comprises a pair of brackets secured together around a fuel line, and at least two permanent rare earth magnets secured to the pair of brackets. The pair of brackets each comprises an interior surface and an exterior surface, and are generally V-grooved in shape. Furthermore, the brackets comprise a recess for receiving a portion of a fuel line. Once the permanent rare earth magnets are secured to the brackets, the brackets and magnets can be coated with plastic, powder metal, or any other suitable protective layer as is known in the art. The pair of brackets is then secured together around a fuel line via plastic ties, nuts, bolts, and/or washers, etc.

Without complete combustion, emissions are a form of wasted fuel. These emissions are released into the environment in the form of smog and other toxic substances. Medical scientists now confirm that diesel engine emissions are associated with lung cancer for non-smokers, potential organ failures, as well as other ailments and harmful side effects. Furthermore, these dangerous side effects increase the health care costs for both the engine operators and the employer's compensation liability. Additionally, without complete combustion, diesel engine emissions can result in engine downtime for maintenance by increasing engine wear, lost profits and increased operational costs, among other things. Further, prior art systems used electrostatic, electro-mechanical, invasive and weaker magnets to magnetize gasoline or diesel fuel. These prior art systems tend to not work as efficiently, or may feature fuel and air magnetic conditioning of opposite poles. Thus, a system for reducing harmful emissions while increasing operational efficiency is necessary.
The present invention reduces harmful emissions to human health in the environment while reducing the carbon footprint caused by incomplete combustion. The magnetic ionization device of the present invention when used with diesel engines provides better combustion, and reduces the potential health care costs for the engine operators and drivers as well as the employer's compensation liability. For example, field tests showed that smoke opacity for a truck's diesel engine was reduced by 66% within one hour of installation of the device at a government approved facility. Additionally, EPA approved equipment showed lower smoke opacity numbers for other diesel engines in tractors, box trucks and a coach bus when this device was installed.
Furthermore, this device uses permanent rare earth magnets, designed with physics, chemistry, and current metallurgical market availability of Lanthanide series with atomic numbers 57 to 71 in the periodic table, commonly known as the rare earth elements. Cobalt and/or Boron may also be included in the mix. The advantage of rare earth compounds over other magnets is that their crystalline structures have magnetic anisotropy. This means that a crystal of the material is very easy to magnetize in one particular direction, but resists being magnetized in any other direction. Additionally, it retains high magnetic moments in the solid state. The magnetization is also done during the heat treating process.
Furthermore, the magnetic ionization device is non-invasive and is installed around the exterior of a diesel fuel line prior to the point where the diesel fuel enters the combustion chamber. This device reduces the toxic effects of diesel emissions while increasing overall performance efficiency by attracting and aligning hydrocarbons, polarizing or charging fuel molecules so that the fuel breaks apart, disrupting molecular clusters of fuel, ionizing fuel, improving fuel burn through magnetic resonance, and lowering surface tension of the fuel, etc. Further, using this device to reduce emissions can increase profits and reduce operating costs by decreasing maintenance downtime and engine wear. Anyone who regularly uses a diesel engine may appreciate the benefits afforded by this device.

Ionization by magnetic induction for diesel fueled engines


A riding stirrup (10) includes a hanger rod (11) for connecting the stirrup to a saddle, and a stirrup loop (12) connected to the hanger rod. The stirrup loop (12) defines a stirrup opening (14) through which a rider may extend their foot when the rider is sitting in the saddle. The stirrup loop (12) also includes an elongated base support tread (17) positioned generally at the bottom of the loop. The base support tread (17) extends at a slant with respect to a stirrup centerline (CL) which extends perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the hanger rod (11), through a midpoint of the rod, and through the base support tread. This slant places the distance between an outer tread section (21) and the hanger rod (11) greater than the distance between an inner tread section (20) and the hanger rod.

The traditional western riding stirrup helps dictate the position of the rider's body and legs while also providing a base of support for the rider. Stirrups are generally used in pairs, with one stirrup hanging on stirrup leathers on each side of the saddle. The stirrups hang from the saddle in position to accept the rider's feed when the rider is sitting in the saddle. Each stirrup includes generally a hanger for connecting to the stirrup leathers, two lateral sides, and a base or tread portion on which the rider's foot actually rests.
Traditionally, a new rider assumes a sitting position in a western saddle and adjusts the stirrup leather length in an attempt to place the bottom or base of each stirrup where it provides the most stability to the rider. Over an extended period of practice, the rider then learns to adjust their foot, leg, and body position to facilitate an acceptable horsemanship quality to the riding position.
There have been many variations in western stirrups. Common variations include variations in the length and width of the tread or base portion of the stirrup. In all of the numerous prior art variations in riding stirrups, however, the rider's weight was unevenly distributed on their feet. Specifically, straddling the horse placed greater pressure on the outer most side of the rider's feet and toes. This uneven pressure on the stirrups often resulted in numbness in the feet, knee, ankle, foot, and leg pain, blisters and general riding discomfort.
Traditional saddles were, and still are, built with a rearward seat pocket and the stirrup leathers hung generally forward on the saddle to allow riders to more easily spread their knees and adjust their leg and foot position to lessen the pressure on the outer edge of each foot. However, this solution to the problem of uneven pressure on prior art stirrups severely degraded the rider's balance. The more pressure that is added to the stirrups to control balance, the more torque is generated, on the feet, to force the riders' knees in toward the horse. The riders' balance is adversely affected since the rider's center of gravity is raised significantly.
The vertical balance saddle which is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,889 severely, and by design, restricted the ability of the rider to adjust in the saddle. The saddle forces a pre-defined, good, and effective horsemanship position in the saddle. However, the riding position causes the base (sole) of the rider's feet to tip (horizontally) with the outer edge of each foot considerably lower (closer to the ground) than the inside edge of the foot. These same conditions were also evident to a lesser extent in prior western equestrian saddles.