This document describes systems and techniques that use a virtual temperature-sensor for active thermal-control of a lighting system having an array of LEDs. The system and techniques use a forward voltage across the array of LEDs as the virtual temperature-sensor, converting the forward voltage to a level that is detectable by an MCU of the lighting system. In response to determining that the forward voltage exceeds a threshold, the lighting system may reduce an amount of an electrical current provided to the array of LEDs to decrease the forward voltage and alleviate a thermal condition that may be detrimental to the array of LEDs, thereby maintaining luminance capabilities of the array of LEDs and prolonging life of the array of LEDs.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are temperature-sensitive devices whose luminance and useful life may be affected by operation at elevated temperatures. For example, a 60-degree Celsius (° C.) increase in a temperature of an LED can degrade luminance by 10%. As another example, a 10° C. increase in the temperature of the LED may reduce a useful life of the LED by 50%.
In certain lighting systems, such as a floodlight including a printed circuit board (PCB) populated with an array of LEDs, active thermal-control to maintain luminance and prolong life of the array of LEDs may pose multiple challenges. For instance, an active thermal-control system of the floodlight may include instrumentation that uses a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor attached to, or embedded within, the PCB to measure a temperature of the array of LEDs. This instrumentation may require additional electrical connections for signaling between the NTC thermistor and a microcontroller (MCU) that controls power activating the LEDs, adding to expense and complexity of the floodlight. Readings from the instrumentation may also represent a temperature of the PCB as opposed to a junction temperature of one or more of the LEDs included in the array of LEDs.
Furthermore, variances in LED manufacturing processes may yield individual LEDs with differing forward voltage activation levels needed to illuminate the LEDs. In such an instance, and due to LEDs having an inherent relationship between forward voltage and junction temperature, a large temperature variance may manifest across the array of LEDs while they are under power. This large temperature variance may (i) make choosing a location for the NTC thermistor to measure a temperature of the array of LEDs difficult and/or (ii) render a single temperature measurement of the array of LEDs by the NTC thermistor moot.

Virtual temperature-sensor for active thermal-control of a lighting system having an array of light-emitting diodes


Intramuscular stimulation (IMS) pain relief therapy is facilitated by a hand-held tool which, once positioned against a patient's skin, can be controlled to automatically advance a needle to penetrate the patient's flesh, reciprocate the needle within the patient's flesh a predetermined number of times through a predetermined stroke, and retract the needle. A tubular guide member is provided at its distal end with a skin contact member forming a constricted orifice closely matching the diameter of the needle. The orifice allows substantially free passage of the needle therethrough and at the same time prevents bowing of the needle as it is advanced--a primary source of patient pain. Automation and control of the needle penetration, reciprocation and retraction sequence reduces the amount of manual and mental effort required on the part of the treating physician, thereby allowing physicians to perform IMS procedures more consistently, effectively and efficiently. This leads to better results (increased pain relief), decreased procedure induced patient pain and tissue trauma, and reduced risk of repetitive strain injury to the treating physician.

The present invention relates to pain management. In particular, the invention relates to intramuscular stimulation therapy utilizing pin (i.e. needle) penetration and manipulation to help relieve severe chronic pain for which a specific cause cannot be determined, and for which medicinal and other usual methods of pain relief have proven ineffective, i.e., neuropathic pain.
Non-chemical, non-electrical intramuscular stimulation (IMS) is used in the management of regional and diffuse myofascial pain (fibromylagia) of radiculopathic origin where musculoskeletal pain resulting from muscle shortening is the predominant feature. Unlike acupuncture, where many pins which remain stationary are inserted into points on imaginary meridians, in IMS generally only one pin is used at a time. The pin, which is inserted into a tender muscle motor point, is continuously manipulated to achieve pain relief. The IMS technique was pioneered by C. Chan Gunn, M.D. and is described in the following publications, each of which is, in its entirety, incorporated by reference herein: Gunn C. C. et al., Dry Needling of Muscle Motor Points for Chronic Low-Back Pain, A Randomized Clinical Trial With Long-Term Follow-Up, Spine, Vol. 5 No. 3, May/June 1980, pp. 279-291; Gunn C. C., Treatment of Chronic Pain. Intramuscular Stimulation for Myofascial Pain of Radiculopathic Origin. London, UK, Churchill Livingston, 1996.
Building on the work of Gunn, and based upon a clinical study of pain relief experienced by patients who have undergone electromyography (EMG) to determine the effects of IMS on pain symptoms, the present physician inventor developed and has used with success a modified IMS technique. In EMG, a pin electrode is inserted into muscles for detection of electromyographic signals. During EMG, the pin is moved in all directions for examination of the electrical activity of the muscle during rest, and minimal and maximal contraction. The inventor's modified IMS technique focuses on eliciting twitch responses from muscles by stimulation of motor end plate zones, as opposed to stimulation of motor points as described by Gunn. In the inventor's original technique, a somewhat randomly directed needle insertion was followed with needle movement in all directions and at different depths in the muscle, as in EMG studies, in order to localize and accurately position the pin in the motor end-plate zone. See Chu J., Dry Needling (Intramuscular Stimulation) In Myofacsial Pain Related To Lumbosacral Radiculopathy, Eur. J. Phys. Med And Rehabil. 5(4): 106-121, 1995 (hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). Later, the present inventor observed that increased pain relief effects could be obtained by needling muscle tender points with a simple in-out motion of a needle along the myofascial bands of the muscles.
IMS, whether in accordance with the modality taught by Gunn or that taught by the present inventor, has been performed manually. In accordance with Gunn's teaching, a thin flexible acupuncture needle is inserted into the patient's flesh utilizing a tubular guide. The needle is attached at its proximal end to a distal end of a plunger which is reciprocable within the guide. The plunger protrudes from the proximal end of the tubular guide to provide a finger grip surface, whereby the plunger (and attached needle) can be advanced and retracted. An example of such a tubular guide is the Showa #6 available from Nikka Industries Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., Canada. In accordance with the inventor's modified IMS technique, the same type of tubular guide can be used. However, a stiffer EMG needle is preferred for certain applications.
Despite its effectiveness in ultimately providing pain relief, the manual IMS treatment is itself quite painful to the patient. The pain is primarily due to the irregular deflection of the needle from its proper path as it is manually pushed in and pulled out repetitively through tissues of differing resiliencies. With the manual method of IMS, it is difficult to maintain proper positioning and directivity of the needle insertion with each to and fro movement, because of the manual effort required of the physician. As a result, the twitch point is easily lost. In such a situation, the pin direction is changed (often several times) within the muscle in order to return the pin to the vicinity of the twitch point. This causes significant additional discomfort to the patient, as well as increased bleeding and tissue trauma. Uneven starts and stops within the muscle are also inevitable because the movements are dependent on the treating physician's skill and strength on encountering different resistance of skin, subcutaneous and muscle tissue at any given point. Less pain would be experienced by the patient if the pin movements could be kept regular, even and steady.
In addition, the work involved on the physician's part in performing manual IMS is laborious, tedious, time-consuming and likely to lead to repetitive stress injury. This is due to the repetitive and resisted upper extremity movements required in performing the procedure. The problem for physicians is particularly acute when, as is typically the case, many areas of a patient's body have to be treated in one session, and when the majority of the patients require this type of multi-area treatment. Under these circumstances, physicians performing manual IMS on a long term basis likely will suffer from repetitive strain injuries and eventually have to stop practicing the method.

Intramuscular stimulation therapy facilitating device and method


A pigment dispersion of the present invention includes a bisacetoacetarylide pigment (a); a styrene-acrylic acid-based copolymer (b); a basic compound (c); and a wetting agent (d), wherein the wetting agent (d) includes at least one diol compound (e), the diol compound (e) is selected from the group consisting of dipropylene glycol, 2-ethyl-1,3-hexanediol, and 1,2-hexanediol

Aqueous inks have become the major ink for an ink-jet recording use other than an industrial use because the danger of fire breaking and toxicity such as mutagenicity, which are major problems of oil-based inks, can be reduced.
However, a pigment-containing ink, which is used as an ink-jet recording aqueous ink, has the significant problem of nozzle clogging due to the aggregation/sedimentation of pigments although they are advantageous in that good light fastness is prepared. Sedimentation of pigments caused from aggregation results in the serious problems such as reduction in yield and destabilization of quality even in a production process of an aqueous pigment liquid dispersion that is an intermediate of an ink.
In order to improve this, various methods have been investigated, which use polymer-based dispersants to disperse pigments in an aqueous medium. However, it is generally difficult to stably disperse pigments over a long period only with polymer-based dispersants. In particular, there are only a few yellow pigments that are excellent in light fastness, and it is difficult to produce, by using limited types of a pigment, an aqueous pigment liquid dispersion and an ink-jet recording aqueous ink which are excellent in both light fastness and dispersion stability.
In view of such situation, the present applicant previously proposed an aqueous pigment liquid dispersion that contains Pigment Yellow 155, i.e. a bisacetoacetarylide pigment, and uses a styrene-acrylic acid-based copolymer as a dispersant (Patent Reference 1).
However, the aqueous pigment liquid dispersion obtained in Patent Reference 1 has the problem that the sedimentation of pigments cannot be sufficiently suppressed when it is used as an ink-jet ink that requires good discharging properties at a low viscosity although it has excellent color developing and light fastness that are peculiar to Pigment Yellow 155. Furthermore, in order to accept the demand for photograph image quality of high luster in recent years, higher luster needs to be realized, and these improvements have been strongly desired.
Meanwhile, the production process is disclosed, in which dispersion is performed under the presence of a diol compound when the pigment is dispersed in a liquid medium (Patent Reference 2). When this production process is used, it is said that a large dot diameter can be formed on a recording medium with a small discharging quantity. However, in the production process disclosed in Patent Reference 2 which includes no kneading step, since coating of pigments with resins is not sufficiently performed, the effects of anti-sedimentation and luster improvement were not obtained, and the problems such as the increase in viscosity due to free resins were likely to occur on the contrary.
[Patent Reference 1]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2005-060419
[Patent Reference 2]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2004-002698 (Example B2)

Pigment dispersion, aqueous pigment liquid dispersion, and ink-jet recording ink

Abstract: the mass ratio (e)/(a) of the diol compound (e) and the bisacetoacetarylide pigment (a) is within a range from 3/100 to 8/100.


An apparatus for controlling a flow of a fluid between a wellbore tubular having an opening and a formation includes a particulate control device and a flow control device positioned adjacent to the particulate control device. A flow path is formed between the opening of the wellbore tubular and the formation and that is internal to the particulate control device and the flow control device. The apparatus may include an additive supply line having an outlet positioned to dispense at least one additive into the flow path. A related method for controlling a flow of a fluid between a wellbore tubular having an opening and a formation may include positioning a flow control device adjacent to a particulate control device in the wellbore and dispensing at least one additive into a flow path internal to the particulate control device and the flow control device.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for selective control of fluid flow between a wellbore tubular such as a production string and a subterranean formation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hydrocarbons such as oil and gas are recovered from a subterranean formation using a wellbore drilled into the formation. Such wells are typically completed by placing a casing along the wellbore length and perforating the casing adjacent each such production zone to extract the formation fluids (such as hydrocarbons) into the wellbore. Fluid from each production zone entering the wellbore is drawn into tubing that runs to the surface. It is desirable to control drainage at the production zone(s). Additionally, it may be desired to inject a fluid into the formation in order to enhance production rates or drainage patterns. Thus, wells can include various subsurface equipment suited to manage fluid flow at one or more production zones. The well environment, however, can contain substances that are corrosive or otherwise harmful to subsurface well equipment.
The present disclosure addresses the need to protect well equipment from harmful substances as other needs of the prior art.

System and method for treatment of well completion equipment


The invention provides a method for treating devices based on semiconductor and dielectric materials for improving their electrical, photoelectric, optical, luminescent and noise characteristics, for decreasing internal residual stresses in heterostructures and for increasing the device lifetime and the stability of its parameters. The method comprises subjecting the device to acoustic vibrations in the frequency range of 0.01 to 100 MHz, at an amplitude of relative acoustic strain in the range of 0.2.multidot.10.sup.-5 to 8.multidot.10.sup.-5, for a period of at least 0.25 hour.

The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor and dielectric material and devices and to a method of production of such devices. The devices and method may be utilized in the fields of electronics, microelectronics, optoelectronics, electrooptics and related fields. The method of the invention permits improvement of the electrical, photoelectric, optical, luminescent, noise and mechanical parameters of such devices, decreases the level of internal residual stress in heterostructures, and increases the devices' lifetime and the stability of their parameters by changing the defect structure of semiconductor and dielectric materials in a controlled and repeated manner.

Method of treatment of devices based on semiconductor and dielectric materials


The invention provides compositions and methods containing novel bis-(2,4-diaminophenoxy)benzene coupling compounds, and cosmetically acceptable salts thereof, for use with conventional primary intermediate dye compounds and oxidizing agents for the oxidative coloring of human hair. The compositions of the invention may also contain other components typically used in oxidative hair dye preparations to impart intense and lasting coloration to hair.

Oxidative hair dye colorants are essential elements in hair dyeing preparations for the permanent dyeing of human hair. The hair dyeing process is achieved, in general, by the reaction of certain dye compounds (known as primary intermediates or primary dye intermediates) with certain coupling compounds in the presence of a suitable oxidizing agent or compound, such as hydrogen peroxide. Oxidative dyes are especially useful for their intense color formation and fastness to light and washing.
In order for procedures using permanent oxidative dyes to work properly, a number of parameters and conditions are important to consider in the use of these dyes in admixture with couplers in hair color preparations for human hair. Among these are the final color and color intensity that are produced after application to the subject's hair; the wash fastness and the light fastness of the resulting dye; the resistance of the dye to perspiration; the type of hair being dyed, e.g., virgin hair or waved hair; and the resistance of the dye to various hair treatments, such as permanent wave, straightening, shampooing, conditioning and rubbing. In addition, the dye must have virtually no allergenicity or dermal adverse reactions. Ideally, the dye product remains stable against the above-mentioned external influences and against chemical agents for a suitable period of time after application to the hair, for example, for at least four to six weeks. The dye-containing composition is economical to produce and has a reasonable shelf life. Further, the components of oxidative hair dye compositions should optimally produce the strongest possible color shades that correspond as closely as possible to the natural hair color nuances.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,371,370 and 4,314,809 to D. Rose et al. describe bis(2,4-diaminophenoxy) alkanols and bis(2,4-diaminophenoxy) alkanes, respectively, as coupling compounds in oxidative hair dyes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,429 to A. Junino et al. describes compounds consisting of N,N'-bis(.beta.-hydroxyethyl)-N,N'-bis(4'-aminophenyl)-1,3-diamino-2-propa nol and N,N'-bis(ethyl)-N,N'-bis(4'-amino-3'-methylphenyl)ethylenediamine for use in the dyeing of keratinous fibers, including human hair. German Patent Application No. DE 2,934,329 to Henkel describes binuclear analogs of 2,4-diaminoanisole for use as hair dyeing compounds. German Patent Application No. DE 3,235,615 describes bis(2,4-diaminophenyl) alkanes as couplers in hair dye compositions. In general, the primary intermediates and couplers described in these patents and published patent applications are linked by alkyl chains. Phenylalkyl-substituted primary intermediates and couplers are also described in the art. The types of primary intermediates and couplers disclosed in the art are benzene, pyridine and pyrimidine, pyrazolone, naphthalene, indole, indolinone or other heterocyclic rings containing electron-donating groups such as amino, alkylamine, hydroxyl, and alkoxy groups.
A continued need in the art is the discovery of hair dye components, including primary intermediates and couplers, that optimally satisfy all of the above-mentioned requirements and afford advantageous properties to the user. Until the compounds of the present invention, oxidative hair colorants having a phenyl group as a linker were not known or available to those having skill in the art. The structural features of the novel coupling compounds in accordance with the present invention provide two coupler units connected by a phenyl group as a linker, thereby producing coupling compounds that are larger than standard or commonly known human hair colorants and which provide intense and lasting coloration to hair. Indeed, that the compounds of the present invention are able to penetrate hair fibers to produce lasting colors of deep intensity in spite of their large molecular size is a surprising result to those having skill in the art.

BIS-(2-4-diaminophenoxy) benzenes and their use as coupling components in oxidative hair coloring compositions and methods


A degradable EVOH high-barrier composite film, characterized in that the materials of various layers in the composite film all obtain approximately-consistent biodegradability by introducing biomass, and the additive amount of the additive master batch in the materials of each layer is controlled within the range of 0.3-15% of the total mass of the materials of the corresponding layer; the hydrophilic activity of the hydrophilic groups in the additive master batch should be greater than or equal to that of the hydrophilic groups in the materials of each layer; by adding the additive master batch, the mole ratios of the hydrophilic groups to carbon atoms of the materials of various layers tend to be consistent, namely, the bioactivities tend to be consistent, so that the degradation rates of the materials of various layers in the composite film tend to be consistent. The present invention makes contribution to obtaining approximately-consistent bioactivities and approximately-consistent biodegradation rates by balancing the mole ratios of the hydrophilic groups to carbon atoms in the materials of various layers, and the appearance, the functions and the physical and mechanical properties of a product remain unchanged.

A multi-layer co-extrusion composite film is a film formed by compositing multiple different polymers through adopting a co-extrusion blow molding method, a co-extrusion tape casting method or a co-extrusion drawing method. Such film as a plastic packaging material is widely applied to food, processing of meat products, daily supplies, cosmetics, chemical products, pesticides, military products, etc., can realize sealing soft packaging of products and meet various packaging functions of inflating or vacuumizing, hot molding, etc., and has various barrier performances such as a high resistance to humidity, oxygen and oil and retention of aroma under various environments.
Along with the use of massive composite films in respective fields, pollution of the composite film to environment is aggravated day by day. Since it is hard to degrade, along with the daily increase of a use level, the pollution caused by the composite film has become a worldwide public hazard. At present, some traditional methods such as incineration, burying and recycle for disposing the composite film waste have defects and certain limitation that brings about a serious load to environment. Therefore, development of a biodegradable composite film capable of reducing environmental pollution is important means of solving the environmental pollution.
As far as the applicant knows, there is still a blank in a biodegradation technique and an application technology about the composite film having same degradation rates, and no relevant reports appear at home and abroad. But in view of the status quo of a market demand quickly increased and protection of ecological balance, it is urgent to research a multi-layer co-extrusion composite film with biodegradability, wherein how to cause degradation rates of the materials of various layers in the multi-layer co-extrusion composite film tend to be consistent in a biodegradation process without losing original mechanical properties and shield life is an important research project with practical significance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Degradable EVOH high-barrier composite film


A method and an arrangement for distributing processor load in a data processing system while executing of block-based computing instructions, as well as a corresponding computer program and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium, which can be used to uniformly distribute the processor load in processors for periodically occurring computing operations. The block-based computing instructions are divided into blocks. Each block requires a number of time-sequential incoming input values. The number can be predetermined for each block. A particular area of application is the field of digital processing of multimedia signals, such as audio signals, video signals, and the like. For distributing the processor load in a data processing system during execution of block-based computing instructions, the operations of the computing instruction to be performed in a block are divided into at least two computing steps, and the computing steps within a block are sequentially processed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and arrangement for distributing the computing load in data processing systems during execution of block-based computing instructions, as well as a corresponding computer program and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium, which can be used to uniformly distribute the computing load in processors for periodically occurring computing operations. A particular application is related to the field of digital processing of multimedia signals, in particular audio signals, video signals and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The described method can be used, inter alia, for computing the time-discrete convolution, which due to its versatility has gained considerable importance in the field of digital processing of audio signals. The time-discrete convolution can be used to implement any type of linear and time-independent system of arbitrary complexity by mathematically linking the impulse response of the system to the audio signal. The time-discrete convolution is particularly important in the simulation of reverberations of rooms, because reverberations are difficult and complicated to model to their complexity and because the impulse response of a room can be obtained relatively easily. Impulse responses of rooms may sometimes be quite long, which causes the time-discrete convolution to be a very computing-intensive operation.
A computing instruction, which can be applied to the input signal in the time domain, is directly obtained from the definition of the convolution operation. The complexity for computing the time-discrete convolution scales linearly with the length of the impulse response. Depending on the power of the employed processor, the time-discrete convolution for long impulse responses can therefore frequently no longer be computed in real time.
A more efficient approach for computing the convolution is the so-called fast convolution, which is based on the equivalence of convolution in the time domain and multiplication in the frequency domain. Accordingly, impulse response and audio signal are transformed into the frequency domain, where they are multiplied, and the result is back-transformed into the time domain. The computing complexity can be significantly reduced by using the fast Fourier transformation (FFT), because the computing complexity no longer scales linearly with the impulse response, but instead only logarithmically. Because the entire audio signal must be available for the fast convolution, before the transformation can be started, the fast convolution in the aforedescribed form is not suitable for real-time computations.
Other methods are disclosed in the publication Kulp, Barry D.: "Digital Equalization Using Fourier Transform Techniques", 85th AES Convention, Paper Number 2694; 1988, wherein impulse response and audio signal can be divided into several blocks for performing a fast convolution segment-by segment. The convolution with a segment of the impulse response will be referred to hereinafter as "segment convolution". The time-discrete convolution can be efficiently computed in real time by suitable selection of the segmentation pattern.
Disadvantageous with this method is the distribution of the computing load. As shown in FIG. 1, "input and output phases" (brick-pattern hatching) alternate in this method with "computing phases" (wavy hatching). During the input and output phases, sampled values from the input signal stream are sampled for the subsequent computing phase and the output signal stream is filled with the result from the preceding computing phase. The next computing phase always commences when N sampled values have been collected, making an additional FFT with the block size 2*N possible. (With the method overlap-add and overlap-save, the FFT length must be twice the size of the individual time segments.)
A load distribution of this type is very unfavorable for real-time processing, because the processing power of the executing system must be dimensioned such that the system is not overloaded during the computing phases. As a result, the processing power must be significantly higher than would otherwise be required with a uniform capacity utilization of the system.
A method for improved load distribution is disclosed in the publication Gardner, William G.: "Efficient Convolution without Input-Output Delay", JAES Volume 43, Issue 3, pp. 127-136; March 1995, which computes the different segment convolutions asynchronous with respect to the processing of the input and output signal stream. The input and output phases are hereby separated from the computing phases. However, because the input and output phases need the results from the computing phases, a synchronization must be performed at certain times in spite of asynchronous computation so as to ensure that the sampled values to be outputted are completely computed at the time they are outputted. Such synchronization can sometimes be time-consuming and is frequently not compatible with the boundary conditions which govern execution of the method. For example, if the method is executed on a computer with a multithreading operating system, then the real-time thread must never have to wait for another thread, because the real-time capability of the system could then no longer be guaranteed. In particular, the distribution of the computing capacity would then be subordinate to the operating system and cannot be influenced by implementing the method. In addition, according to this method, only the computing phases of different segment convolutions are temporally interleaved with one another. In particular, this method does optimally utilize the available computing capacity for arrangements with a limited number of segment convolutions.
Another method for improved load distribution in block based algorithm is described in the publication US 2003/0046637 A1. This system, which is a decoder, takes as its input a sequence of blocks of data. A certain predefined integer number of these blocks form a code word that needs to be decoded following a number of decoding steps. For each step, a specific algorithm is used and the steps have to be processed in chronological order. According to US 2003/0046637 A1 each algorithm is broken down into the same number of sub-steps as there are blocks in a code word. In this case, every time the system receives one new code block, it will process one sub-step of one of the several decoding steps, for one of the already received code words. This results in a constant computing load over time, where an entire block is the smallest unit, which is considered. A load distribution within a block is not considered. However, because only one sub-step is processed every time a code block is coming, the overall latency of the system is equal to X times a code word length, where X is the number of decoding steps. In a real time system, latency is often a crucial parameter and needs to be minimized, as a result this invention can be unsuitable.

Method for distributing computing load in a data processing system


A PDP and a manufacturing method for the PDP are provided, the PDP being capable of suppressing discharge delay due to improved discharge properties of a protective layer, and exhibiting superior image display performance despite having a high-definition cell structure. A magnesium oxide powder layer (16) is formed by distributing magnesium oxide particles (16a) flatly on a surface layer (8). Each of the magnesium oxide particles (16a) includes halogen atoms at and in a vicinity of the surface thereof. The magnesium oxide particles (16a) are manufactured such that the halogen atoms exist particularly at the surface of each of magnesium oxide particles (16a) through to a depth of 4 nm or less toward the core of each of the magnesium oxide particles (16a).

Plasma display panels (hereinafter referred to as PDPs) are a type of flat screen device that is capable of high speed display and can also easily be made in large sizes. As such, PDPs are widely used in a wide variety of fields such as image display apparatuses and advertisement display apparatuses.
FIG. 10 shows a schematic elevation of the structure of a discharge cell that is a unit of discharge in a general AC PDP. A PDP 1x shown in FIG. 10 is composed of a front panel 2 and a back panel 9 sealed together. The front panel 2 includes a front panel glass 3. A plurality of display electrode pairs 6 each composed of a scan electrode 5 and a sustain electrode 4 are disposed on the surface of the front panel glass 3. A dielectric layer 7 and a surface layer 8 are layered in the stated order to cover the display electrode pairs 6. The scan electrode 5 and the sustain electrode 4 are composed of respective transparent electrodes 51 and 41 and bus lines 52 and 42 layered together.
The dielectric layer 7 is made of low-melting glass having a softening point of approximately 550 C.° to 600 C.°, and has a current limiting function that is peculiar to AC PDPs.
The surface layer 8 protects the dielectric layer 7 and the display electrode pairs 6 from ion bombardment caused by plasma discharge. The surface layer 8 also efficiently emits secondary electrons and lowers firing voltage. Generally, magnesium oxide (MgO) that has high secondary electron emission properties, high sputtering resistance, and high optical transparency is used to form the surface layer 8 with a thickness of approximately 0.5 μm to 1 μm using a vacuum deposition method (Patent Documents 1 and 2) or a printing method (Patent Document 3). Note that a protective layer that has the identical structure to the surface layer 8 may be provided in order to ensure secondary electron emission properties and to protect the dielectric layer 7 and the display electrode pairs 6.
The back panel 9 includes a back panel glass 10 and a plurality of data (address) electrodes 11 disposed thereon so as to intersect the display electrode pairs 6 substantially at a right angles. The data electrodes 11 are used for writing image data in the discharge cells. On the back panel glass 10, a dielectric layer 12 made of low-melting glass is disposed to cover the data electrodes 11. Disposed at boundaries between adjacent discharge cells (not illustrated) on the dielectric layer 12 at a predetermined height are barrier ribs 13 made of low-melting glass. More specifically, the barrier ribs 13 are composed of pattern parts 1231 and 1232 that combine to form a lattice pattern to partition a discharge space 15 into the plurality of discharge cells. Phosphor ink of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) is applied to the surface of the dielectric layer 12 and the lateral surfaces of the barrier ribs 13, and baked to form phosphor layers 14 (phosphor layers 14R, 14G and 14B).
The front panel 2 and the back panel 9 are sealed together at edge portions thereof such that the display electrode pairs 6 are orthogonal to the data electrodes 11 via the discharge space 15. In the sealed discharge space 15, a rare gas mixture such as Xe—Ne or Xe—He is enclosed as a discharge gas at some tens of kilopascals. This how the PDP 1x is structured.
In order to display an image on the PDP, the method employed is one that expresses gradations in an image by dividing one field of the image into a plurality of subfields (S.F.) (e.g. intra-field time division grayscale display method).
In view of the need for PDPs to be capable of high-definition display (for full spec high vision television and the like) and to be driven at high speed, research into improving discharge properties of PDPs is being widely carried out. One of the important issues addressed by such research is the prevention and suppression of "discharge delay".
Discharge delay is a phenomenon of a lag from the rising edge of the driving pulse to when discharge occurs when the PDP is driven at high speed with a narrowed driving pulse. When there is a significant occurrence of discharge delay, discharge becomes less likely to be completed within the width of the applied pulse. As a result, there is a risk that some cells will not be addressed properly, and will therefore fail to light. The likelihood of discharge delay occurring in a cell structure for high-definition display is particularly marked when the PDP is driven at high speed. There is a desire to find a solution to the problem of discharge delay as soon as possible.
The cause of discharge delay is thought to lie principally in the properties of the protective layer. One response has been to attempt to improve the discharge properties of the protective layer by adding a dopant such as Fe, Cr and V or a dopant such as Si and Al to the MgO (Patent Documents 1 and 2). Another response has been to attempt to improve discharge properties of the surface of the protective layer by manufacturing single-crystal particles of MgO using a gas phase method, and providing a layer of the single crystal particles either directly on the dielectric layer, or via an MgO film formed using a thin film method (Patent Document 3). The method disclosed by Patent Document 3 achieves some reduction in discharge delay at low temperature.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H08-236028    Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H10-334809    Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-173018    Patent Document 4: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-147417    Patent Document 5: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. S64-28273

Plasma display panel and its manufacturing method


An antenna device includes a plate-shaped conductor and a radiating conductor that extends outward from an end portion of the conductor and has a length corresponding to a quarter wavelength of a first frequency. A strip-shaped slot portion formed by removing a part of the plate-shaped conductor extending inward from the end portion has a length corresponding to a quarter wavelength of a second frequency. A feed portion is perpendicular to the slot portion and crosses over the slot portion. The feed portion feeds the same signals to the slot portion and the radiating conductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna device, having improved wideband frequency characteristics, suitable for being used in a communication system requiring wideband characteristics, such as ultrawideband (UWB) communications where impulses are directly used without carriers in an electrical manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a technique for widening a band in wireless communications using carriers, which is shown in FIG. 8.
Referring to FIG. 8, an antenna device according to the related art is configured such that two plate-shaped radiating conductors 53 and 54 are provided on a surface of a plate-shaped dielectric 52 provided to stand on a ground plane 51, the two plate-shaped radiating conductors 53 and 54 being vertically provided parallel to each other and having slightly different lengths from each other, one end of the radiating conductor 53 facing the ground plane 51 is connected to a feed line 55 such as a coaxial cable, one end of the radiating conductor 54 is connected to the ground plane 51, and the radiating conductors 53 and 54 are coupled through a capacitor 56 that adjusts an impedance.
Further, when carrier signals are fed through the feed line 55, the two radiating conductors 53 and 54 resonate at different frequencies so as to radiate electric waves, respectively, because the radiating conductors 53 and 54 are coupled to each other and have slightly different lengths from each other even though the signals having the same frequency are fed thereto. Thus, as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 7, it is possible to widen the band (for example, see JP-A-2003-133838).
However, in a case in which the lengths of the radiating conductors 53 and 54 are greatly different in order to widen the band even more in the conventional antenna device, the radiating conductors 53 and 54 are not properly coupled to each other, and the resonance of the radiating conductor 54 becomes weak because the wavelength of the carrier signal fed thereto and the length of the radiating conductor 54 are greatly different from each other, which makes it impossible to widen the band in a bilaterally symmetrical manner.
Further, when the length of the radiating conductor 54 is set to be extremely different from the wavelength of the carrier signal fed thereto in order to widen the band, the radiating conductor 54 cannot resonate.
Therefore, even though various design conditions, such as a coupling condition, are optimized in the antenna device according to the related art, only several percent of a band can be widened as compared with the band which can be widened when only one radiating conductor is used.
Furthermore, even though conditions, such as the length difference between two radiating conductors, the coupling condition due to the arrangement gap, or the capacitance of a capacitor that adjusts the impedance, are set in the antenna device according to the related art, it is not possible to perform the radiation in a frequency band required for the ultrawideband communications.

Antenna device having radiation characteristics suitable for ultrawideband communications


A micro-opto-electromechanical systems (MOEMS) device comprises a micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) device and a silicon optical-bench (SiOB) device or system. The MEMS device interacts with the SiOB mechanically or electromagnetically. In one embodiment, the MEMS device is operable to provide a switching function for the SiOB device. The MEMS device comprises an actuator that is mechanically linked to an optical interruptor that prevents at least a portion of an optical signal incident thereon from propagating therethrough. In an actuated state, the actuator causes the optical interrupter to move into an optical path of an optical signal traveling through an SiOB device. The signal is at least partially reflected or absorbed such that only a portion of the signal propagates beyond the point of contact with the optical interrupter. Since SiOB processing is typically incompatible with MEMS device processing, the MEMS and SiOB devices are formed on separate supports and then attached, such as via flip-chip bonding methods.

In hybrid optical systems, individual optical components, typically semiconductor based, are disposed on a single substrate and placed in optical communication with other such components to collectively perform one or more optical functions. Such hybrid systems allow the system designer the flexibility to select optimal materials/technology for each component of the hybrid system.
Hybrid systems often combine III-V semiconductors, desirable as light emitters and active optics (i.e., modulators and detectors), with silicon. In particular, since silicon is readily and precisely micromachinable, it is useful as a support for providing accurate and stable alignment of III-V devices or other components. In addition to its utility as a physical support, silicon provides electronics capabilities, and is useful for forming and/or supporting passive optics (e.g., waveguides, etc.). Used in such a manner, silicon serves as an "optical bench." Optical devices, systems and technology implemented in this manner are conventionally referred to as silicon optical bench (SiOB) devices, etc.
A switching function is often required in SiOB systems. Conventionally, the switching function has been provided using a Mach Zehnder interferometer. The interferometer splits an optical signal into two signals that traverse different optical paths through two waveguide arms. Once separated in that manner, a relative phase shift is, or is not, induced between the two signals. The two signals are then reunited. In the absence of a phase shift, the signals constructively interfere resulting in a maximum output intensity. When an appropriate phase shift (i.e., .pi.) is imparted, destructive interference results, providing a substantial attenuation of the original signal. Thus, an "on-off" function is provided.
Unfortunately, such interferometric switches suffer several drawbacks or limitations, including the polarization dependence of phase modulation, insertion losses, electroabsorption effects and parasitic interference between the two waveguide arms. As such, the art would benefit from a device capable of providing a switching capability to a SiOB device that avoids many of the performance limitations of interferometric switches.

Micro-opto-electromechanical devices and method therefor


A self-pressurization gas-liquid mixing device used for making a beverage is provided. The self-pressurization gas-liquid mixing device includes a container, a liquid inlet pipe configured to allow liquid to enter the container, a gas inlet pipe configured to allow gas to enter the container, and a liquid discharging pipe configured to discharge the liquid; a partition plate is arranged in the container to divide the container into a premixing chamber and a mixing chamber, the premixing chamber is arranged at the side of the liquid inlet pipe and the gas inlet pipe, the partition plate is provided with a plurality of premixing through holes, a mixing layer is further arranged between the mixing chamber and the liquid discharging pipe and includes a plurality of miniature pipes, and whisker holes which are opened and closed in one direction are formed in pipe walls of the miniature pipes.

For the beverage, gas shall be mixed into the liquid beverage usually. For example, much carbon dioxide shall be dissolved into the beverage when a carbonated beverage is prepared, and water and carbon dioxide are generally pressed into the gas-liquid mixing device of the beverage by a pressurization device such as a pump to achieve dissolution of carbon dioxide in water in the gas-liquid mixing device of the beverage. The defects in the prior art lie in that the liquid is mixed with another material directly according to a high-pressure method, and high pressure is required to be kept all the time during the whole process, so that not only the requirement on pressurization equipment, but also the requirement on high-pressure resistance of the whole gas-liquid mixing device is higher; moreover, the energy consumption of high-pressure equipment is much higher than that of low-pressure equipment.

Self-pressurization gas-liquid mixing device used for making beverage


A photoelectric conversion device comprises: a clipping unit including a MOS transistor which has a source connected to a signal line and a drain being connected to a power supply, and the clipping unit clipping an electric potential of the signal line to an electric potential corresponding to an electric potential of the source; a holding capacitance which has a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode being connected to a gate of the MOS transistor, and the holding capacitance holding at least a voltage transferred to the signal line while the charge-voltage converter has been reset; and a shift unit which shifts an electric potential of the second electrode in a direction such that the electric potential of the second electrode comes close to a level to be transferred to the signal line while the charge-voltage converter has been reset.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photoelectric conversion device and imaging system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, photoelectric conversion devices having an amplification function, especially CMOS photoelectric conversion devices, have attracted attention. When very strong light (bright light) such as solar light enters the CMOS photoelectric conversion device, the gray level of the output voltage of a pixel irradiated with the strong light abruptly drops, and the gray level of the pixel may decrease to black level. This phenomenon will be called a high-brightness darkening phenomenon.
The high-brightness darkening phenomenon occurs when performing correlated double sampling (CDS) processing. This phenomenon arises from charges (signal charges) overflowing from a photoelectric conversion unit upon irradiation with strong light during a period in which a noise-level signal is output. More specifically, for example, when reading out a noise-level signal from the detection node (floating diffusion) of a pixel, some of many charges generated in the photoelectric conversion unit (photodiode) leak to the detection node of the pixel. If many charges enter the detection node, a noise-level voltage becomes lower than an (ideal) reset-level voltage and comes close to an optical signal-level voltage. In this case, if an image signal is obtained by CDS processing of calculating the difference between a noise-level voltage and an optical signal-level voltage, the luminance component of the image signal is calculated to be smaller than an original luminance component. This is the mechanism of the high-brightness darkening phenomenon. The above-mentioned voltage relationship assumes that electrons are used as signal charges and an NMOS transistor is used as an amplification MOS transistor for reading out a signal to a signal line. The voltage change direction is reversed when holes are used as signal charges or a PMOS transistor is used as an amplification MOS transistor. The high-brightness darkening phenomenon raises a noise-level voltage.
As a conventional photoelectric conversion device considering the high-brightness darkening phenomenon, a photoelectric conversion device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-57612 is known. As shown in FIG. 6, the photoelectric conversion device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-57612 includes a pixel 4, detection unit 2, and second holding means 3.
The detection unit 2 includes a detection means, a first holding means, a feedback means, and a clipping means for clipping an electric potential of a signal line SIG in accordance with a fed-back voltage. The detection means detects an electric potential of the signal line SIG. The first holding means holds a voltage based on the electric potential detected by the detection means. The feedback means feeds back a voltage held by the first holding means to the clipping means. The clipping means clips the electric potential of the signal line SIG in accordance with the fed-back voltage by the feedback means.
In the photoelectric conversion device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-57612, the electric potential of the signal line SIG that is detected by the detection means is held by the first holding means, and then fed back by the feedback means to the clipping means. For this reason, the difference between the electric potential of the signal line SIG and the input electric potential of the clipping means cannot be arbitrarily set. More specifically, the clipping means is formed from an NMOS transistor. An electric potential (clipping electric potential) clipped by the NMOS transistor is subject to the restriction that the clipping electric potential has to be lower than the electric potential of the signal line SIG by the threshold voltage of the NMOS transistor.
To effectively suppress generation of the high-brightness darkening phenomenon, the clipping electric potential is preferably as close as possible to a reset level which should be transferred via the signal line SIG while the detection node of a pixel is reset. However, in the photoelectric conversion device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-57612, the clipping electric potential is subject to the restriction that the clipping electric potential has to be lower than the reset level by the threshold voltage of the NMOS transistor. As a result, it becomes difficult to effectively suppress generation of the high-brightness darkening phenomenon.

Photoelectric conversion device and imaging system


Methods for transmitting additional information together with image data involve replacing pixel values to take in-gamut points to out-of-gamut points. The additional information may constitute metadata describing the image data and/or useful for controlling display and/or processing of the image data; watermark information; or other information. In some embodiments the image data is restored to its original form after extraction of the additional information.

Metadata may be used to guide the display of image data. Metadata may, for example, convey a wide range of information such as locations and types of light sources depicted in an image; protected colors that should not be altered; statistical information regarding an image that may be of use in decoding and/or displaying a high quality version of the image; information regarding how image data has been encoded; and so on.
Metadata may be transmitted between a source and a display via any suitable data communication channel however it can be undesirable to have to set up separate communication channels for image data and related metadata. The inventors have recognized that there is a need for ways to provide metadata or other information in a format that facilitates delivery of the metadata together with image data. There is a particular need for such formats which allow image data packaged for delivery together with metadata or other information to be carried by a standard image data transmission fabric.

Data transmission using out-of-gamut color coordinates

Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation


A magnetic head slider suitable for a disk drive measuring 1.8 inches or less in disk size incorporates preventive measures against the decreases in lifting force that occur in small sliders with a slider width of 0.8 mm or less. The present invention improves the inclination margins of the flying slider in a rolling direction at the lowest flying point, and achieves low flying height and stable flying. The slider is constructed with stepped surfaces on the slider's leading-side flying surface formed up of shallow-grooved surfaces and a deep-grooved surface so that a trailing-side width W2 between the stepped surfaces is smaller than a leading-side width W1.

The present invention relates to magnetic head sliders that, in magnetic disk drives and the like, travel along the surfaces of recording media with a very small flying clearance or come into intermittent contact with the recording medium surfaces. More particularly, the invention is concerned with magnetic head sliders that are not only excellent in shock resistance and in flying characteristics in a disk drive that uses small-diameter disks of 1.8 inches or less, but also suitable for mass production.
Magnetic head sliders are each supported by the flexure installed on a suspension, and fly along the surfaces of magnetic disks with a very small clearance or come into intermittent contact with the magnetic disk surfaces. Data is written and read in this way. A prior art slider 101 is illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12. The slider 101 has a medium-facing surface (bearing surface) 108, which is constructed of a flying surface 102 (102a, 102b, 102c), a shallow-grooved surface 104 (104a, 104b, 104c) slightly lower than the flying surface 102, and a deep-grooved surface 105 even lower than the shallow-grooved surface 104 provided below the flying surface 102. The flying surface 102 includes one pair of left and right leading flying surfaces 102a and 102b provided at rear portions of the shallow-grooved surface 104, near a leading edge, and a central pad 102c provided at a trailing edge and mounted with a magnetic head 103. The shallow-grooved surface 104 includes a shallow-grooved surface 104a present at a leading edge, shallow-grooved rails 104b on lateral sides, and a central pad shallow-grooved surface 104c on the leading side of the central pad 102c. The deep-grooved surface 105 is surrounded by a shallow-grooved surface 104a present at the leading edge, flying surfaces 102a, 102b on the leading side, and the shallow-grooved rails 104b on the lateral sides. In this configuration, a stepped air-bearing action by the shallow-grooved surface 104a and the flying surfaces 102a, 102b, generates a lifting force to make the slider fly above a magnetic disk, and the deep-grooved surface 105 generates a negative pressure at the same time, whereby appropriate air-bearing rigidity and stable flying are ensured. The slider may measure 1.25 mm in length Lx, 1.0 mm in width Ly, and 0.3 mm in height Lz.
In recent years, magnetic disk drives tend to be enhanced in density and to shift to the smaller magnetic disk drives that use smaller disks and are intended for application to more compact digital equipment. In order to respond to these tendencies, sliders are dimensionally reduced as a method of obtaining effective data areas on disk surfaces. A plan view of a compact slider dimensionally reduced to about 70% of the foregoing slider now commonly used is shown in FIG. 12. Slider 101 measures 0.85 mm in length Lx, 0.7 mm in width Ly, and 0.23 mm in height Lz. Use of the compact slider 101 increases a disk's effective data area by 0.3 mm. This increase is a significant improvement for compact magnetic disk drives having a disk size of 25.4 mm (1″) or 20.3 mm (0.8″).
During conventional slider processing, the bearing surfaces for about 40 such sliders lined up in single file from left to right to be lapped as a set in a bar condition. Then the shapes of the bearing surfaces are formed in a dry process such as ion milling, and the bar is split into individual sliders by chipping. Chipping alleviates stresses, thus resulting in the chipped sections of each bearing surface 108 being locally deformed. Both ends of the bearing surface have a concave-shaped profile, looking as if they would jump out toward a recording medium. Local deformation is observed particularly on both sides of the slider. The local deformation causes fluctuations in flying characteristics, impedes low flying and stable flying, and results in disk damage due to contact during load/unload states. In the conventional processes, therefore, flying surfaces 102a and 102b on the leading side are each provided, at both edges, with a 30-μm-wide shallow-grooved surface 109 and externally thereto, a 30-μm-wide chipping allowance 110 having the same depth as that of a deep-grooved surface 105. Length L2 from an edge of the flying surface to an end of the slider is 60 μm, and length L1 from the edge of the flying surface to the shallow-grooved surface is 30 μm.
As its size is reduced, the compact slider decreases in the area of the bearing surface and thus significantly decreases in lifting force based on air-bearing characteristics. To ensure a balance with respect to the reduced lifting force, the suspension load applied to the slider also needs to be reduced. Since the lifting force based on air-bearing characteristics changes in proportion to disk speed, the above tendency is significant in low-disk-speed 2.5-inch magnetic disk drives and in the drives that use magnetic disks 45.7 mm (1.8″) or less in diameter. The problem of the insufficiency in the lifting force based on air-bearing characteristics does not occur in conventional 3.5-inch magnetic disk drives or in the high-speed types of 2.5-inch magnetic disk drives operating at magnetic disk speeds such as 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm. The problem of a decrease in the lifting force is a new problem that is produced by practical use of magnetic disk drives that use a small disk such as 25.4 mm (1″) or 45.7 mm (1.8″).
A decrease in the lifting force causes several problems. A first problem is that air-bearing rigidity decreases and thus that the flying characteristics of the slider deteriorate. A second problem is that since the suspension load needs to be reduced, the shock resistance of the drive during operation decreases. A third problem is that the sliders operating at both positive and negative pressures have a stabilization region in which negative pressures occur in a negative-pressure area, and a "Bi-Stable" region allowing the slider to take both a high-flying mode in which it generates positive pressures even in the negative-pressure area and flies with a flying height of at least 1 μm, and a low-flying mode in which the slider flies with its intended flying height. In systems of a small suspension load, the slider enters the "Bi-Stable" region, taking the high-flying mode very frequently, and thus disabling read/write operations. A fourth problem is that when the suspension load applied is too small and the slider is too short, if the above-mentioned decrease in flying height is caused by an external disturbance, vibration, or a decrease in atmospheric pressure or if, at a leading edge, the slider comes into contact with the disk during slider loading (hereinafter, the contact is referred to as pitch-down), the slider maintains its attitude and continue to be in contact because the slider is unable to escape from that state. Consequent damage to the contact section of the disk will result in information being lost. In a worst case scenario, a crash may even occur. A fifth problem is that because a decrease in bearing area reduces the lifting force and the negative pressure at the same time, the decrease rate of flying height with respect to a decrease in atmospheric pressure is increased, which results in flying height margins being lost.
Although the above-mentioned problems can be solved by providing the leading-side flying surface with a stepped surface of height "h", the provision of this stepped surface on the flying surface gives the slider the potential that the lowest flying point on the flying surface exists in two places. More specifically, the two places are the trailing edge of the conventional central flying surface and the trailing edge of the stepped surface mentioned above. To achieve low and stable flying, the lowest flying point must always be set at the air outflow edge of the central flying surface, even for this slider.
An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic head slider that has a stepped surface on a leading-side flying surface, the slider always having its lowest flying point at the trailing edge of a central flying surface.

Magnetic disk slider having improved inclination margins in a rolling direction

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B. V.


In a balancer apparatus of an engine having an oil pump, a space on a chain side and a space on an oil strainer side are partitioned by a projecting portion projecting in a direction which perpendicularly crosses balancer shafts in a balancer housing formed on an oil pump housing. An oil strainer is attached to a side wall on the anti-chain side of the projecting portion, and a chain tensioner for applying tension to a chain is arranged in the space on the chain side formed by enlarging the attaching surface of the oil pan outwardly so as to enclose the projecting portion. Thus oil which has been stirred by the chain and in which air has been mixed is prevented from being sucked into the oil strainer.

In, a 4-cycle 4-cylinder internal combustion engine for a vehicle, a secondary inertia force occurs at a center of gravity of a piston connecting rod system due to its layout.
As means for cancelling the secondary inertia force, the engine has a balancer apparatus for rotating balancer shafts at a speed that is twice as high as an engine rotational speed.
As a method of disposing the balancer apparatus, generally, there is a method whereby the balancer apparatus is integrated with a cylinder block or a method whereby the balancer apparatus is attached to a lower crank casing or an oil pan at a position just under a crank shaft.
In the case of the disposing method of attaching the balancer apparatus to the lower crank casing or the oil pan at the position just under the crank shaft, there is such a construction that the balancer shafts and the crank shaft are coupled by a chain. In the case of using the chain as mentioned above, it is indispensable to provide a chain tensioner.
Hitherto, as a driving apparatus of a balancer unit, JP-A-2000-9291 discloses an apparatus with a balancer apparatus arranged just under a crankshaft, a chain wound between a sprocket of the crank shaft and a sprocket of a balancer shaft of the balancer apparatus, and a cover provided in the oil pan for shutting off the sprocket of the crank shaft and a part of the chain from oil in the oil pan, thereby preventing an air-mixed oil from being sucked into an engine.
JP-A-2000-65145 discloses a balancer apparatus of a reciprocating piston engine, wherein the balancer apparatus is arranged just under a crank shaft, a chain is wound between a sprocket of a crank shaft and a sprocket of a balancer shaft of the balancer apparatus, a rotor of a lubricating oil pump is directly coupled with one of two balancer shafts, and a chain tensioner is arranged in an edge portion of the other balancer shaft, thereby miniaturizing the balancer apparatus.
Hitherto, a balancer apparatus of an engine having an oil pump is attached to the lower crank casing or the oil pan at a position just under the crank shaft. Since the balancer shafts and the crank shaft are coupled by the chain, there are such inconveniences in that the oil which has been stirred by the chain and in which the air has been mixed is liable to be sucked into the oil strainer and thus performance of the balancer apparatus deteriorates due to the layout or to the arrangement of the chain tensioner for applying tension to the chain.
Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a balancer apparatus for an engine having an oil pump, wherein oil in which the air has been mixed is prevented from being sucked into the oil pump, and thus assembling performance of the balancer apparatus is improved.


Laulimalide and epothilone derivatives useful as microtubule stabilizing agents, and in the treatment of cancers are disclosed. Methods of making the compounds and using the compounds as therapeutic agents in treating cancers also are disclosed.

An important and significant goal in healthcare is to discover and make available safer and more effective drugs for the treatment of cancer. Most chemotherapeutic agents act by disrupting DNA metabolism, DNA synthesis, DNA transcription, or microtubule spindle function, or by perturbing chromosomal structural integrity by introducing DNA lesions.
One important chemotherapeutic in the treatment of cancer is taxol, also known as paclitaxel, which first was isolated from the Pacific yew tree in 1971 (M. C. Wani et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 93, 2325–2327 (1971)). Taxol enhances polymerization of tubulin and forms stable microtubule polymers. More recent studies indicate that paclitaxel binding to Bcl-2 may involve a second pathway to apoptosis.
The clinical effectiveness of taxol (1) is well recognized. Since its approval in 1992, taxol has prolonged the lives of more than 800,000 patients with ovarian, breast, and lung carcinomas. The sales of taxol in 2000 alone exceeded $1.6 billion. Recently, taxol has been approved for treatment of myeloid leukemia and has shown promise in the treatment of a number of other carcinomas, including the skin, head, and neck.
The introduction of taxol, a plant-derived anticancer agent, is an example of the importance of natural products in the treatment of complex human diseases. However, despite its clinical successes, taxol possesses a number of major limitations including: (i) debilitating side effects; (ii) poor aqueous solubility leading to complexities in its formulation; (iii) ineffectiveness against colon cancer and many other carcinomas, and critically, (iv) significant loss of therapeutic value due to the emergence of P-glycoprotein mediated multidrug-resistance (MDR), as well as drug-induced resistance-conferring tubulin mutations.
The clinical usefulness and commercial success of taxol has stimulated intense research to find other antimitotic agents that overcome many of the disadvantages associated with taxol and, therefore, provide new cancer treatments having improved therapeutic profiles. As a result, several pharmaceutical companies currently are performing clinical trials using other microtubule stabilizing agents, such as the epothilones and discodermolides.
A number of these novel natural products deviate from the taxoid platform, and still exhibit microtubule-stabilizing properties. In particular, the epothilones (A and B) and their analogs have generated interest because of a less complex structure than taxol, a minimal structural analogy to taxol, and significant biological properties (K. C. Nicolaou et al., Agnew. Chem., 37, 2014–2045 (1998)).

Epothilones A and B were isolated as a cytotoxic antifungal agent from a strain of myxobacteria found in soil. Subsequently, it was discovered that the epothilones stabilize microtubule assemblies and their mode of action is similar to that of taxol. Competitive binding studies indicated that the epothilones occupy a similar binding site on microtubules as [3H]taxol. Furthermore, the epothilones maintain cytotoxicity against P-glycoprotein expressing MDR cells. In addition, the epothilones are active against a number of taxol-resistant cell lines.
An epothilone derivative, BMS-247550 (5), has shown improved properties compared to epothilone B and is undergoing clinical trials. Another epothilone analog, desoxyepothilone B (6), is as potent, and less toxic, than epothilone B (4). Recent in vivo studies using compound (6) showed that it is less toxic and more effective than taxol in an MX-1 human mammary carcinoma xenograft model. Discodermolide (7), another nontaxane natural product isolated from a Caribbean sponge, also has been shown to inhibit mitosis and promote tubulin assembly more potently than taxol. Compound (7) also is an effective inhibitor of cell growth in taxol-resistant cell lines. Eleutherobin (8) and a related aglycon, sarcodictyin A, also have been shown to bind to the taxol site of microtubules. However, these compounds exhibit cross resistance to taxol-resistant cell lines.

Laulimalide (2), also known as figianolide B, is an 18-membered macrolide isolated in miniscule quantities from the marine sponge Cacospongia mycofijiensis (E. Quinoa et al., J. Org. Chem., 53, 3642–4644 (1988)). Corey et al. (J. Org. Chem., 53, 3644–3646 (1988)) also isolated laulimalide from the Indonesian sponge Hyattella sp. Laulimalide possesses significant antitumor properties, and has generated significant attention in recent years because laulimalide shares the same mechanism of action as taxol.
Laulimalide demonstrates potent microtubule-stabilizing properties and also displays significant antitumor properties against numerous cell lines. For example, laulimalide displays cytotoxicity against the KB cell line with an IC50 value of 15 ng/mL, and its cytotoxicity against P388, A549, HT29, and MEL28 cell lines ranged from 10–50 ng/mL (IC50 values). In two drug-sensitive cell lines, MDA-MB-435 and SK-OV-3, laulimalide is a potent inhibitor of cell proliferation with IC50 values of 5–12 nM compared to 1–2 μM for taxol. Furthermore, laulimalide maintained a high level of potency against the multidrug resistant cell line SKVLB-1 (IC50=1.2 μM). In contrast, isolaulimalide (a) is significantly less potent against the KB cell line (IC50>200 nM) and the SKVLB-1 line (IC50=2.6 μM). More importantly, laulimalide is 100-fold more potent than taxol against P-glycoprotein-mediated MDR cell lines.
The unique structural features, potent microtubule-stabilizing properties, and low natural abundance of laulimalide stimulated interest in its synthesis, structure-activity studies, tubulin binding properties, and molecular and cell biology. The first total synthesis of (−)-laulimalide (2) was reported in A. K. Ghosh et al., J. Org. Chem., 66, 8973–8982 (2001) and A. K. Ghosh et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 122, 11027–11029 (2000), incorporated herein by reference.
Laulimalide also has a considerable structural resemblance to the epothilones, which have generated major interest due to their activity against drug-resistant cell lines. Laulimalide shares a common pharmacophore with respect to the epothilones, yet possesses unique structural features. Based upon a structural resemblance to the epothilones, and because laulimalide possesses the same mechanism of action, it initially was hypothesized that laulimalide shared the same binding site as the epothilones. However, it now is evident that the laulimalide binding site is distinct from the binding site of taxol and the epothilones. Research already has shown that epothilones are competitive inhibitors of taxol.
The present invention is directed to compounds that provide the benefits of taxol, while overcoming various disadvantages associated with taxol, including multidrug resistance. Such compounds are analogs of laulimalide and the epothilones, and can be used in methods of treating various carcinomas, including, but not limited to, breast, refractory ovarian, small-cell lung, myeloid leukemia, metastatic carcinomas, and carcinomas of the skin, head, and neck. More particularly, the present invention is directed to more potent and less structurally complex analogs of laulimalide and the epothilones, in optically active form, that demonstrate biological activities and are useful in the treatment of cancers.

The Board of Trustees of the University Illinois


In a method for de-watering a gas well, the water is pumped by an inverted API pump acting as a reciprocating pump from a position in the well casing below the gas formation and the gas escapes through the well casing around the transport tubes. The reciprocating pump is driven by a downhole engine in the form of a cylinder and piston which is moved by a hydraulic pump at the surface acting to generate a flow in a hydraulic fluid to drive the piston from a start position to an end position and causing fluid to be transferred from the cylinder on the other side of the piston to a counterbalance chamber against a back pressure provided by a charge of nitrogen gas. At the end of a pumping stroke of the reciprocating pump, pressure in the hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic pump through is released to cause the back pressure of the counterbalance chamber to drive the piston back to the start position.

The unique design requirement of lifting water from economically marginal gas wells, flows from a user group planning meeting on Mar. 4, 2004. PTAC (Petroleum Technology Alliance of Canada) which issued a call for technical papers on the topic of de-watering marginal shallow gas wells, with the southeast Alberta, Brooks area shallow gas pools in mind. The PTAC forum was subsequently held in Calgary, Alberta, May 12, 2004. The transcripts and reaction comments arising from the forum are available to the public. Proposals submitted for funding assistance did not meet the collective needs of the planning group at a June 2004 deadline. To date producer needs are still being met using labour intensive frequent swabbing and/or endless tubing cleanouts.
Down-hole hydraulic pumps with the valving, piston and pump (and its variations) were originally developed under the trade names "Kobe" and "Oilmaster". Both have been available to the industry for more than five decades. The product enjoys worldwide acceptance under the current direction of Weatherford Oil Tool. These pumps find special application lifting large volumes of light oil in deep wells.
More recently Canadian application 2,258,237 by Cunningham suggested bringing the valving to the surface, and proposed using a downhole double acting hydraulic piston, three (3) strings of tube and a conventional oil well pump for placement in a horizontally drilled heavy oil well. The double acting feature of the hydraulic piston would be particularly useful as a pump pull-down in the highly viscous heavy oil applications for which the system was conceived.
Canadian application 2,260,518 proposes using a down-hole rotary hydraulic drive, coupled to a progressing cavity pump rather than the reciprocating version suggested by the Cunningham application. Both address the task of pumping heavy oil in deviated well-bores.
While not detracting from the general applicability of this invention and claim(s) therein, it is useful to focus on a specific pumping system designed for de-watering marginal gas wells.
Data has not yet been made public, quantifying the increased cash value of recoverable gas reserves expected under pumped off de-watering conditions, as cited in Canadian application 2,341,129 by Nicholson.


A semiconductor device capable of reducing a temperature increase during operation thereof is provided. In the semiconductor device, an interface chip is stacked on a plurality of stacked semiconductor elements. Both an “Si” interposer and a resin interposer are arranged under the plural semiconductor elements. The Si interposer is arranged between the resin interposer and the plural semiconductor elements. The Si interposer owns a thickness which is thicker than a thickness of a semiconductor element, and also has a linear expansion coefficient which is smaller than a linear expansion coefficient of the resin interposer, and further, is larger than, or equal to linear expansion coefficients of the plural semiconductor elements.

The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor device. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a semiconductor device suitably designed for mounting a plurality of semiconductor elements in a stack manner.
Semiconductor devices, especially, semiconductor memories have been used in various sorts of information appliances such as large-scaled computers, personal computers, and portable appliances, while memory capacities required thereof are increased year by year. On the other hand, mounting areas of these semiconductor memories are increased in connection with large memory capacities, which may cause a certain factor to impede compactnesses of these information appliances. Under such a circumstance, various techniques capable of mounting semiconductor memories in high mounting density have been developed. As techniques capable of realizing memories having large storage capacities within limited mounting areas, for instance, JP-A-11-40745, JP-A-8-236694, and JP-A-2000-286380 describe such a technical idea that semiconductor packages are stacked on mounting substrates. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,131, U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,245, U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,647, JP-A-59-222954, JP-A-61-88546, and JP-A-63-156348 disclose such a technical idea that a plurality of semiconductor elements are mounted in a stack manner within a single semiconductor package, and then, the stacked semiconductor elements are connected to each other by employing through holes formed in the semiconductor elements.
However, in the case that a plurality of DRAMs are mounted in a stack manner within a single semiconductor package, a heat value of the entire semiconductor package becomes large, as compared with that of a semiconductor package on which a single sheet of DRAM is mounted. As a result, there are certain risks as to operation failures and destruction of semiconductor elements, which are caused by temperature increases during operations of the semiconductor devices.


Monoclonal antibodies are provided which are specific for human interleukin-4. Also provided are complementary DNAs which encode the heavy and light chain variable regions of such monoclonal antibodies and complementarity determining regions from such DNAs; and kits and methods for detecting, measuring and immunopurifying human interleukin-4, and for blocking the biological activity of human interleukin-4.

Human interleukin-4 (IL-4) was first cloned and characterized by Yokota et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 83:5894 (1986)!. IL-4 is a highly pleiotropic lymphokine which affects many different components of the immune system. It has T cell growth factor (TCGF) activity, and B cell growth factor activity. It is capable of potentiating the TCGF activity of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and the colony-forming activity of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
It induces the preferential production of IgG.sub.1 and IgE, induces the low affinity receptor for IgE (CD23), and induces the expression of human leukocyte class II DR antigens.
These activities suggest several possible therapeutic uses for IL-4, e.g., as an anti-tumor agent Tepper et al., Cell 57:503 (1989)!, a potentiating agent for IL-2 anticancer therapy, as a potentiating agent for GM-CSF-stimulated bone marrow regeneration, or as an agent to treat bare lymphocyte syndrome Touraine, Lancet, pgs. 319-321 (Feb. 7, 1981); Touraine et al., Human Immunology 2:147 (1981); and Sullivan et al., J. Clin. Invest. 76:75 (1985)!. IL-4 and IL-4 agonists are thus potentially useful therapeutic agents.
The IgE- and CD23-inducing activity of IL-4 could have important consequences for persons suffering from allergic diseases. The availability of IL-4 antagonists could provide an alternative to the use of glucocorticoid steroids, which have many deleterious side effects, especially with prolonged usage Goodman and Gillman, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 6th Ed. (MacMillan Publishing Company, New York, 1980)!.
Strongly blocking monoclonal antibodies specific for human IL-4 provide a means for constructing agonists or antagonists by generating anti-idiotype antibodies (U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,237) or by mimotope screening Geysen et al., J. Immunol. Meth. 102:259 (1987); PCT patent applications WO 86/00991 and WO 86/06487!. Because most monoclonal antibodies are of rodent cell origin, however, there is a possibility that they would be immunogenic if used therapeutically in a human being, particularly if used over a long period of time. To avoid this possibility, it would be desirable to have human antibodies, or "humanized" antibodies, against human IL-4.
Initial efforts to reduce the immunogenicity of rodent antibodies involved the production of chimeric antibodies, in which mouse variable regions were fused with human constant regions Liu et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:3439 (1987)!. It has been shown, however, that mice injected with hybrids of human variable regions and mouse constant regions develop a strong anti-antibody response directed against the human variable region. This suggests that in the human system, retention of the entire rodent Fv region in such chimeric antibodies may still give rise to human anti-mouse antibodies.
It is generally believed that CDR loops of variable domains comprise the binding site of antibody molecules, the grafting of rodent CDR loops onto human frameworks (i.e., humanization) was attempted to further minimize rodent sequences Jones et al., Nature 321:522 (1986); Verhoeyen et al., Science 239:1534 (1988)!. Studies by Kabat et al. J. Immunol. 147:1709 (1991)! have shown that framework residues of antibody variable domains are involved in CDR loop support.
It has also been found that changes in framework support residues in humanized antibodies may be required to preserve antigen binding affinity. The use of CDR grafting and framework residue preservation in a number of humanized antibody constructs has been reported, e.g., by Queen et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:10029 (1989)!, Gorman et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:4181 (1991)! and Hodgson Bio/Technology 9:421 (1991)!. Exact sequence information has been reported for only a few humanized constructs.
From the foregoing, it is evident that there is a need for monoclonal antibodies specific for IL-4 that can be used therapeutically. Preferably, these antibodies should be humanized antibodies.

Humanized monoclonal antibodies against human interleukin-4


A laminated stretch cushion strap assembly having a stretchable cover, a stretchable cushion filler and a stretchable bottom or bottom fabric. The cover includes a stretchable top fabric, a first adhesive web layer positioned on one side of the top fabric and a stretchable base layer positioned on the first adhesive layer on a side opposite that of the top fabric. The stretchable bottom fabric forms with the cover an enclosure. The stretchable cushion filler is adapted to be completely enclosed within the enclosure. The stretchable cushion filler has a first cushion layer, and adhesive for securing during lamination the cover to the stretchable cushion filler, and the cushion filler to the stretchable bottom fabric. The adhesive is a second adhesive web layer positioned between the stretchable base layer and the first cushion layer to secure the cushion filler to the cover, and a third adhesive web layer positioned on the first cushion layer to secure the bottom fabric to the cushion filler. The components of the cushion strap assembly are laminated together completely by heat and adhesive. The present invention also provides a method and device for making this cushion strap.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a strap assembly and, more particularly, to a stretch cushion strap assembly for use in a shoulder strap. This stretch cushion strap assembly provides relief from the normal discomfort associated with shoulder straps, while maintaining the desired aesthetic appearance even after repeated machine washings. The strap assembly is uniquely designed to move with the wearer to support her. In addition, the present invention provides a method and device for making such a stretch cushion strap assembly. A primary use of this stretch cushion strap assembly is in shoulder straps of a brassiere.
A well known problem associated with brassiere shoulder straps is the discomfort caused by the strap on the shoulder of the wearer. Specifically, each brassiere strap will normally cause either a depression or irritation in the shoulder and may even interfere with arterial or venous drainage. Numerous attempts have been made to relieve this discomfort. Some attempts have included use of shoulder pads of cotton or foam rubber that are interposed between the strap and the wearer's shoulder or releasably attachable to the strap.
Significantly, such pads have proven to be bulky and unsightly. Also, there are inconveniences attendant with such attachments since such pads will need to be removed, and subsequently reattached, each time the brassiere is washed.
Some brassiere straps have attempted to incorporate a pad structure in the strap itself. Such brassiere straps may have achieved a modicum of success in relieving discomfort. However, such brassieres have limited user life since they fail to maintain their desired appearance after several machine washings, apparently due to the effect cleaning detergents have on the construction and materials of the brassiere strap. Particularly well known is that pads and straps made of foam have been found to yellow after a few washings. It is also common that brassieres that have incorporated a pad therein have a knotted or bumpy appearance after repeated machine washings. Moreover, none of these straps provided the comfort of a stretch shoulder strap, that can stretch longitudinally to move with the wearer.
Other attempts to relieve discomfort, yet provide a modicum of pleasing appearance, have included widening the shoulder strap in order to better distribute the weight in the shoulder area. Still other attempts have been to incorporate elastic bands with a padded cover in the strap to provide more flexibility and thus attempt to better distribute the pressure in the shoulder area.
These attempts have, heretofore, failed to achieve the desired results, namely relief of the discomfort in the shoulder area, with a smooth attractive appearance that is maintained even after repeated wear and machine washing, combined with flexibility and give to allow the strap to move with the wearer. Thus, long wear life and comfort have evaded prior art shoulder straps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,681 to Smith et al., assigned in common with the present invention, discloses a Cushion Strap Assembly and Method of Making Same that addresses most of these problems. The unique structure and components of the claimed cushion strap provide a sleek strap that is comfortable and durable.
The present invention relates to an improved, stretchable cushion strap that provides additional advantages above and beyond those disclosed in the Smith et al. patent.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of prior art patents illustrate the use of a pad that is secured to a shoulder strap. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,785 to F. Allen, titled: Hinged Shoulder Pad, is directed to a shoulder pad that has a laminated unitary structure arrangement comprising a plurality of juxtaposed panels overlying one another, and hinge means integrally connecting adjacent panels to enable relative flexible pivotal movement therebetween.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,399 to W. W. Davis, titled: Brassiere Shoulder Strap Bearing Pad, is directed to a bearing pad for brassiere shoulder straps that is intended to alleviate irritating indentations to the skin of the wearer. The pad comprises a composite elongated member having two plies of material fastened together, one of said plies defining an upper ply adapted to engage one shoulder strap to act as a bearing surface, and the other ply defining a lower ply for contacting the skin of the wearer. The upper ply is a stiff, high density, polyethylene synthetic plastic material, and the lower ply is a low density, soft, non-woven cushion material comprising polyester fibers. The upper ply has attaching means that entrap the brassiere strap while permitting the pad to adjustably slide along the strap for positioning on the shoulder of the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,523,720 to W. Riedler, et al., titled: Shoulder Pad, provides a cover having superposed thereon plies that are placed one upon another. The plies are preferably formed of a relatively loose mass of fibers, the surface of which is coated with a thermosetting plastic and adhesive. See also, U.S. Pat. No. 2,485,720 to G. B. Elliott, et al., titled: Pad For Shoulder Straps, provides a shoulder pad having an upper fabric layer adhesively secured to a lower fabric layer, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,511,483 to B. Skirow, et al., titled: Shoulder Pad For Garments And The Like, that includes a plurality of superimposed layers of loosely felted fibrous material, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,093 to J. A. Talalay, titled: Apparel Pad, that shows a plurality of layers of woven fabric separated apart by layers of rubber. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,547 to G. H. Sack, et al., titled: Extensible Sheet Material, that provides an intermediate layer of non-elastic fibers contained between a top covering layer and a bottom covering layer of polyurethane sponge that are bonded together by a continuous heat seal along the edges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,576 to A. R. Melton, titled: Shoulder Pad and Brassiere Strap Cushion Apparatus, is directed to a shoulder pad and strap cushion that includes an outer layer, an inner layer, cushion means disposed between the outer and inner layers, and fastening means secured to the inner layer means for securing the bra strap between the inner and outer layer means of the pad.
Other prior art patents provide for the padded material as an insert or an integral part of the brassiere shoulder strap. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,402,292 to B. Nichols, titled: Shoulder Pad, discloses a pad or bat of soft material that gives the shoulder pad substantial thickness. The bat is held in place by the arrangement of an upper fabric layer and a lower fabric layer that form a pocket. In addition, the pad is substantially wider at the mid-portion than at the area at which the straps are connected.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,924 to F. M. Rosenberg, titled: Shoulder Strap, is directed to a shoulder strap that includes a flexible elongated main strap portion, a widened flexible intermediate portion, a first single pocket extending diagonally to the length of the strap across the intermediate portion, a second single pocket having a width less than the width of the first pocket and extending at an angle with respect to the length of the strap across the intermediate portion, and a pair of stays each disposed within a pocket. The stays substantially bridge the scapula and clavicle of the person's shoulder without interfering with arterial or venous drainage of the shoulder.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,859 to F. M. Rosenberg, titled: Shoulder Load Carrying Strap, provides a strap that comprises a relatively wide intermediate supporting portion that is integrally connected to the respective shoulder strap elements. The strap comprises a flexible outer fabric layer and a relatively soft yieldable cushioning material or flexible inner layer that is adapted to engage the wearer's body.
Still other prior art patents includes an elastic member, or form a laminate that include a padded material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,513 to A. J. Woods, titled: Laterally Stabilized Bra Strap, is directed to a strap that has elastic ribbon means adapted to stretch in at least the longitudinal direction, padding means enclosing the elastic ribbon means, smooth-faced material means enclosing the padding means, and stitching means attaching the ribbon means, the padding means, and the material means along each longitudinal edge of the strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,400 to B. Greenberg, titled: Brassiere Strap, provides a brassiere strap that includes a laminate band consisting of a foam laminate located between an outer laminae, an inner laminae formed of at least a ply of fabric, and first and second cold adhesive layers sealing the foam laminae to the outer and inner laminae. The combined laminate and elastic bands provide sufficient rigidity to prevent substantial bowing in response to longitudinal stresses in the brassiere strap, yet sufficient flexibility to permit the strap to conform to the configuration of the shoulder of the brassiere.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,148 to I. Edelman, titled: Laminated Shoulder Strap, is laminated from a nylon tricot fabric tape, a cotton fabric tape, and a thermoplastic web formed of a material capable of bonding together tapes. See also U.S. Pat. No. 3,256,131 to A. G. Koch, et al., titled: Embossed Laminate And Method Of Making Same, which provides a cover material placed over foam that in turn is placed over backing material, such as nylon fabric, to form a laminate; and Japanese reference '976 provides a core material of urethane foam, adhesive and a cover, that are heated and pressed together.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,113 to A. Hyams, et al., titled: Padded Straps For Garments and Method of Making Same, is directed to a padded strap for a garment that includes a core of resilient material having a pad portion of a first thickness and density, and a compressed base portion surrounding the pad portion of a second lesser thickness and second greater density, and tab portions that provide means for securing the strap to a garment formed from a part of the compressed portion. The core is, preferably, an ester-polyurethane foam, although apparently fiberfill can be used. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,538 to A. Hyams, et al., titled: Method For Making Padded Straps For Garments, which is a division of the application that resulted into the above patent, is directed to a method of making the padded strap of the above patent.
Other attempts to distribute pressure and therefore ease discomfort include U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,868 to P. E. Christopher, titled: Shoulder Pad Harness, that provides an adjustable narrow band, first and second shoulder straps and first and second shoulder pads, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,935 to C. R. Greifer, titled: Comfort Accessories For Brassieres, that is directed to strap adjusting means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,633 to K. Yamauchi, et al., titled: Method For Producing A Shoulder Pad Material, is directed to a method of producing a shoulder pad blank having a thick walled portion and a thin walled portion. It specifically provides for cutting a sheet of shoulder pad stock material sinusoidally into two intermediate blanks each having a plurality of ridges, as well as other features. This patent provides for high production yields by minimizing wasted stock.
Thus, all of these patents fail to provide the strap construction of the present stretch cushion strap assembly. They also appear to fail to use the materials that, in conjunction with this construction, achieve comfort and long wear life coupled with a good appearance.

Stretch cushion strap assembly and method and device for making same