Abstract: A cardiograph having a keypad includes an internal disc drive for reading a floppy disc provided to the drive. ROM and RAM in the cardiograph incudes a program for loading a macro instruction contained on a floppy disc into the cardiograph RAM. Another program executes the macro instruction responsive to an operator-actuated input. The macro instruction includes keypad codes which provide patient data and configuration and control instructions to the cardiograph. Several special function codes which do not correspond to keypad codes are provided for pausing the macro instruction, ending the instruction and other special functions. In one aspect, patient data is copied onto the floppy disc from a hospital information system and thereafter provided to the cardiograph preliminary to a cardiographic recording session with the patient.

Abstract: Water-insoluble black dyes are formulated in a micro-emulsion-based ink. When printed adjacent to color inks (yellow, magenta, cyan) containing water-soluble dyes, bleed does not occur between the black and the color dyes.

Abstract: Color bleed on paper media printed by ink-jet is alleviated by altering the dyes such that they become more bleed resistant. To this end, an organic compound with surfactant properties is substituted as the dye counter-ion. Specifically, a dye having one or more sulfonate or carboxylate groups is provided with a counter-ion comprising an amine having the formula given by.sup.+ N--(CH.sub.3).sub.m H.sub.3-m -(CH.sub.2).sub.n --Rwhere m ranges from 1 to 3, n ranges from 3 to 6, and R is a hydrophilic substituent or cycloaliphatic or aromatic group with a hydrophilic substituent. An ink employing the dye of the invention comprises (a) about 0.5 to 40 wt % of one or more low vapor pressure solvents (b) about 0.5 to 5 wt % one or more water-soluble dyes in which one or more of the counter-ions have been substituted with the above amine, and (c) water.

Abstract: A defibrillator/monitor architecture is disclosed with a defibrillator-only mode of operation to provide for shocking a patient notwithstanding failure of the monitor subsystem. The defibrillator/monitor subsystem is partitioned into a defibrillator subsystem and a monitor subsystem. The defibrillator subsystem includes the patient charging circuits and other components necessary to carry out basic defibrillation. The monitor subsystem includes an ECG front-end, CRT display, data recorder and other features. In normal operation, the defibrillator subsystem relies on periodic ECG data ready interrupts from the monitor subsystem for system timing. In the event that the ECG interrupts do not arrive within a predetermined time limit, the monitor subsystem is presumed dead and the defibrillator subsystem switches to defibrillator-only mode of operation, in which system timing is provided by a local standby timer.

Abstract: An ink-jet pen for storing at below-ambient pressure has an orifice formed therein for providing air bubbles to prevent the back pressure from rising above a level that would cause malfunction of the pen. The amount of air drawn into the reservoir is restricted by the reservoir ink that covers the orifice whenever the pen is in an upright position. The valve operates to occlude the orifice whenever the pen is moved into a position, such as inverted, where the reservoir ink no longer covers the orifice. The occlusion of the orifice prevents the unrestricted flow of ambient air into the reservoir that would otherwise eliminate the required back pressure in the reservoir. The valve includes a sealing liquid selected so that the liquid occludes a passage between the orifice and ambient air without flowing through that passage.

Abstract: A CMOS operational amplifier input senses a rail-to-rail differential voltage and provides an amplifier rail-to-rail single-ended output voltage. A first P-channel input section sources a first differential signal current that is proportional to a first portion of the input voltage, and a second N-channel input section sinks a second differential signal current that is proportional to a second portion of the input voltage. The first and second differential currents are combined in a folded cascode gain stage to produce an intermediate single-ended voltage that is not rail-to-rail. The single-ended intermediate voltage is converted to a rail-to-rail output voltage in a current-limited rail-to-rail output section.

Abstract: A molded plastic printer carriage mountable in the printer on a pair of slider rods uses a pair of spaced front bushings and single rear bushing positioned on a line intermediate the two front bushings. The rear bushing is eccentricly spring biased in a direction away from the front bushings and each bushing has two line contacts with the slider rod on which it is mounted, the first of the line contacts being at the top of the bushing and the second being on the side of the bushing substantially facing the opposite slider rod. The eccentric spring biasing and the two line contact configuration of the bushings prevents rotation of the carriage around the slider rods during rapid movement thereof during printing.