Patents Examined by Elizabeth Gemmell
  • Patent number: 6485196
    Abstract: A fixing component for fixing an optical fiber cord to an optical connector in a press-fitting manner by compression deformation is formed with a connected combination of a tension member fixing portion for fixing, in a press-fitting manner, a tension member of the optical fiber cord put on an outer peripheral surface of the optical connector to the outer peripheral surface and a sheath fixing portion for fixing, in a press-fitting manner, a sheath of the cord put on the outer peripheral surface of the connector to the outer peripheral surface, and has a slit formed between the tension member fixing portion and the sheath fixing portion, and adapted to absorb compressed and deformed part of either or both of the two fixing portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Shiino, Naoko Shimoji
  • Patent number: 6483960
    Abstract: An optomodule has a carrier substrate; wiring applied on a front side of the carrier substrate; contacts configured on a rear side of the carrier substrate and electrically connecting to a line of the wiring via at least one plated-through hole formed in the carrier substrate; and an optosemiconductor for transmitting and/or for receiving light. The optosemiconductor electrically contacts the line of the wiring and is configured on a front side of the carrier substrate in the region of a through opening formed in the carrier substrate, in such a way that the light can be transmitted and/or received through the through opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Karl Schroedinger
  • Patent number: 6466713
    Abstract: The head of an optical fiber comprising the sensing probe of an optical heterodyne sensing device includes a planar surface that intersects the perpendicular to axial centerline of the fiber at a polishing angle &thgr;. The planar surface is coated with a reflective material so that light traveling axially through the fiber is reflected transverse to the fiber's axial centerline, and is emitted laterally through the side of the fiber. Alternatively, the planar surface can be left uncoated. The polishing angle &thgr; must be no greater than 39° or must be at least 51°. The emitted light is reflected from adjacent biological tissue, collected by the head, and then processed to provide real-time images of the tissue. The method for forming the planar surface includes shearing the end of the optical fiber and applying the reflective material before removing the buffer that circumscribes the cladding and the core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2002
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Matthew J. Everett, Billy W. Colston, Dale L. James, Steve Brown, Luiz Da Silva
  • Patent number: 6457860
    Abstract: Imaging assemblies comprise thin metal screens adjacent fluorescent intensifying screens. Such assemblies can be included as part of radiographic imaging assemblies in which a radiographic film is positioned behind the metal and fluorescent intensifying screens. The metal screen is from about 0.01 to about 0.75 mm in thickness when composed of copper and from about 0.05 to about 0.40 mm when composed of lead. Photospeed and other imaging characteristics are not diminished with the use of these relatively thin metal screens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2002
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: William E. Moore, David J. Steklenski
  • Patent number: 6456005
    Abstract: An arc discharge lamp comprising an arc tube comprising a starting aid is provided. The starting aid comprises a coating on the surface of the arc tube. The coating is comprised of metal oxide, nitride, carbide, silicide, and mixtures thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2002
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Martin L. Panchula, Karthik Sivaraman, Curtis Edward Scott
  • Patent number: 6450684
    Abstract: An X-ray image receiver is supported through a guide mechanism on a support bench. The guide mechanism consists of a pair of first guide members, a pair of first sliding members, a pair of second sliding members, a pair of third sliding members, a pair of second guide members, and a rotation link member. The first guide members, which are disposed opposite to each other, extend on top of the support bench along the shorter side of the tabletop. The first sliding members are slidably installed on the inside of the first guide members. The second sliding members are slidably installed on the inside of the first sliding members. The third sliding members are secured to the sides of the X-ray image receiver. The second guide members are installed on the outside of the third sliding members. The rotation link member rotatably links the second guide members with the second sliding members. Using a lock lever, the third sliding members are locked so that they do not slide with respect to the second guide members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2002
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masaaki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 6449339
    Abstract: Disclosed is a rotary anode type X-ray comprising a substantially columnar stator, a cylindrical first rotor coupled around the stator, at least one hydrodynamic slide bearing region including a spiral groove, and arranged in the coupled portion between the stator and the first rotor, and a cylindrical second rotor arranged coaxial with and outside the first rotor with a gap for the heat insulation and bonded directly or indirectly to a anode disk, the second rotor being bonded to the first rotor in an open edge region positioned remote from the anode disk in terms of the heat transmission route, wherein a plurality of slits extending substantially along the axis of rotation are formed apart from each other in the circumferential direction in the open edge region in which the second rotor is bonded to the first rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2002
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventor: Hiroto Yasutake
  • Patent number: 6449340
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides an adjustable collimator for collimating a beam of energy emitted from a focal spot of a beam source. The collimator is particularly intended for collimating an x-ray beam of a computed tomography scanner after the x-ray beam has passed through a patient being scanned. The collimator includes two elongated parallel plates arranged side by side to define a collimating slit between the plates. At least one of the plates is movably relative to the other plate for varying a width of the collimating slit. The collimator also includes a movable cam operatively arranged with respect to the at least one movable plate such that movement of the cam in a first direction causes the width of the collimating slit to increase, while movement of the cam in a second direction causes the width of the collimating slit to decrease.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2002
    Assignee: Analogic Corporation
    Inventors: Andrew P. Tybinkowski, Lidia Nemirovsky, Michael J. Duffy, Jack M. Tybinkowski
  • Patent number: 6449333
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional fluoroscopy for continuous stereoscopic observation of a human blood vessel by using a contrast medium, 3-D visualization in nondestructive inspection of materials, baggage check and so on. The present invention also relates to an X-ray bulb for the three-dimensional fluoroscopy. According to the three-dimensional fluoroscopy provided by the present invention, two X-ray beams are irradiated to an object from sources spaced from each other by an interpupillary distance of a human inspector, for projection of alternating X-ray images for the left eye and the right eye on a fluorescent screen for a predetermined exposure time and at a predetermined interval, and the images for the left eye and the images of the right eye are projected on a stereoscopic viewer continuously but independently from each other, thereby providing a three-dimensional fluoroscopic view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2002
    Inventor: Tomoki Yamasaki
  • Patent number: 6445772
    Abstract: Fourier telescopes permit observations over a very broad band of energy. They generally include synthetic spatial filtering structures, known as multilayer grids or grid pairs consisting of alternate layers of absorbing and transparent materials depending on whether neutrons or photons are being imaged. For hard x-rays and gamma rays, high (absorbing) and low (transparent) atomic number elements, termed high-Z and low-Z materials may be used. Fabrication of these multilayer grid structures is not without its difficulties. Herein the alternate layers of the high-Z material and the low-Z material are inserted in a polyhedron, transparent to photons of interest, through an open face of the polyhedron. The inserted layers are then uniformly compressed to form a multilayer grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2002
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: Jonathan W. Campbell
  • Patent number: 6434219
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for creating a beam of penetrating radiation of specified cross section that raster scans over a two-dimensional area, using a chopper wheel rotated about two axes. The wheel has a set of apertures of which at least one is illuminated to form the beam. Rotary actuators rotate the wheel about an axis of rotational symmetry of the wheel and about an axis not parallel to the axis of rotational symmetry of the wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2002
    Assignee: American Science and Engineering, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter Rothschild, Lee Grodzins
  • Patent number: 6434214
    Abstract: An X-ray CT apparatus includes a scanner mounted with a detection system having an X-ray source for generating X-rays applied radially to an object and a detector arranged so as to be opposite to the X-ray source and adapted to detect the image of the transmitted X-rays transmitted through the object, wherein the scanner is rotated around the object. A three-dimensional X-ray absorption coefficient distribution image of the object is reconstructed from the transmitted X-ray image and the rotation-axis projection position which is the position where the rotation center of the scanner is projected on the detection plane of a two-dimensional sensor constituting the detector is decided. On the basis of the contrast of the X-ray absorption coefficient distribution image reconstructed by using the decided rotation-axis projection position, the rotation-axis projection position is estimated, and an X-ray tomographic image or/and a three dimensional X-ray image of the object is generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2002
    Assignee: Hitachi Medical Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Kawai, Kenichi Okajima
  • Patent number: 6429448
    Abstract: Image storage assemblies comprise thin metal screens adjacent storage phosphor screens. The thin metal screen is from about 0.01 to about 0.75 mm in thickness when composed of copper and from about 0.05 to about 0.4 mm when composed of lead. These image storage assemblies can be used in portal imaging whereby both imaging and stimulating radiation are directed through the thin metal screens before the radiation reaches the storage phosphor screens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2002
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: William E. Moore, David J. Steklenski
  • Patent number: 6428207
    Abstract: Image storage assemblies comprise thin metal screens adjacent phosphor storage screens. The thin metal screen is from about 0.01 to about 0.75 mm in thickness when composed of copper and from about 0.05 to about 0.4 mm when composed of lead. These image storage assemblies can be used in portal imaging whereby imaging radiation is directed through the thin metal screens before the phosphor storage screens. Stimulating radiation can then be directed to the phosphor storage screen before it reaches the thin metal screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2002
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: David J. Steklenski, William E. Moore, Jeffrey W. Byng
  • Patent number: 6422750
    Abstract: In a digital x-ray imager alignment method, a low exposure x-ray image of an object is taken. The dose is sufficient to create an image of an object and alignment bars on an antiscatter grid. The relative position of the alignment bars on the image is measured. The relative angle of the detector to the x-ray source is adjusted. This adjustment brings the grid into alignment with the x-ray source. A diagnostic x-ray exposure image of the object is then taken.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2002
    Assignee: GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC
    Inventors: Robert Forrest Kwasnick, Paul Richard Granfors
  • Patent number: 6421483
    Abstract: Techniques for optically sampling the output of a Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator without interfering with the output optical signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2002
    Assignee: Versatile Optical Networks, Inc.
    Inventor: Roger A. Hajjar
  • Patent number: 6404971
    Abstract: A compound for the sheaths of optical or electrical cables, based on polyurethane with the addition of so-called fire retardants, wherein the fire retardant comprises a metal hydroxide and at least one phosphoric acid ester.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2002
    Assignee: Nexans
    Inventor: Alfred Mehl
  • Patent number: 6400877
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a negative-dispersion optical fiber for compensating in a shorter length for chromatic dispersion of a positive-dispersion optical fiber in a signal wavelength band, and an optical transmission line incorporating it. The negative-dispersion optical fiber has the following properties at the wavelength of 1550 nm; chromatic dispersion D of not more than −150 ps/nm/km; a dispersion slope satisfying such a condition that a ratio thereof (S/D) to the chromatic dispersion D is not less than 2.0×10−3/nm nor more than 4.7×1031 3/nm; and an effective area of not less than 12 &mgr;m2 but less than 25 &mgr;m2. For satisfying these properties, the negative-dispersion optical fiber has, in the order stated from the center toward the outer periphery, a core region of a maximum refractive index n1, a first cladding of a refractive index n2 (<n1), a second cladding of a refractive index n3 (>n2), and a third cladding of a refractive index n4 (<n3).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takatoshi Kato, Masaaki Hirano
  • Patent number: 6396901
    Abstract: An X-ray source is proposed having a rotating piston tube (2) which is mounted such that it can rotate, in which a stationary guide body (12), which at least partially surrounds the tube, is provided for cooling the anode plate (4). The guide body (12) is designed such that a liquid coolant, which is supplied to the tube (2) from a reservoir (15) concentrically with respect to the anode-bearing shaft (17), is initially positively guided along the tube outside of the anode plate (4) and along the beam outlet window (20) of the tube forming narrow gaps (18, 19), and is then passed out radially via at least one baffle plate (21) which is arranged on the tube (2) and engages in a correspondingly designed gap in the guide body (12). The high-voltage parts have an insulating gas applied to them, which is physically not separated from the liquid coolant in the source housing (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2002
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Erich Hell, Wolfgang Knüpfer, Detlef Mattern, Peter Schardt
  • Patent number: 6389099
    Abstract: A system and method for utilizing a radiation source for irradiating a product, the system including an radiation reflector comprised of a low Z, high density material. The reflector is positioned to receive radiation penetrating and exiting the product, and the reflector reflects the radiation back to the product to provide additional irradiation energy to the product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Assignee: Rad Source Technologies Inc.
    Inventor: Gueorgui Gueorguiev