Abstract: The invention relates to a suturing device used to place sutures inside the human body during various medical procedures. The suturing device includes an elongate body member, a needle deployment mechanism and a needle receiving portion. The elongate body member has a distal portion that defines an opening. The needle deployment mechanism is disposed at least partially within the elongate body member for moving a needle out of the opening at the distal portion of the elongate body member into a tissue; and the needle receiving portion is provided at the distal portion of the elongate body member to capture the needle. The needle receiving portion has a non-planar surface with walls that are non-parallel with respect to a longitudinal direction of the needle receiving portion such that the walls converge to form an aperture formed in the needle receiving portion to receive the needle.

Abstract: A method according to one embodiment includes establishing, by Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) circuitry of an access control device, a BLE communication connection with a first mobile device while a main microprocessor and a Wi-Fi circuitry of the access control device are in sleep states; waking, by the access control device, the Wi-Fi circuitry of the access control device from the sleep state in response to establishing the BLE communication connection with the mobile device; establishing, by the Wi-Fi circuitry of the access control device, a Wi-Fi communication connection with an access control server in response to waking the Wi-Fi circuitry from the sleep state; and receiving, by the access control device and from the access control server via the Wi-Fi communication connection, access control data for the access control device transmitted from a second mobile device to the access control server.

Abstract: A pump, such as a vacuum pump, includes at least one housing and a motor and oil reservoir disposed within the housing. The pump housing can include a bottom exterior surface and one or more side and/or front exterior surfaces that extend generally up from the bottom exterior surface. An oil drain port can be positioned at or near the intersection of the bottom exterior surface and the side or front exterior surface. The housing can include an interior bottom surface that defines at least a portion of a drain passageway for the pump and can be fluidicly coupled to the oil reservoir. At least a portion of the interior bottom surface can be angled downward at an acute angle to the horizontal towards the oil drain port to improve the draining and replacement of oil in the pump.

Abstract: A reciprocating saw blade includes an elongated blade body extending along a blade axis and having a rear end, a front end, a cutting edge having a plurality of teeth, a non-cutting edge opposite the cutting edge; and a tang coupled to the rear end and configured to be received in a blade holder of a powered reciprocating saw. The cutting edge includes inclined and declined cutting edge portions. The inclined cutting edge portion extends away from the blade axis and toward the front end at an acute first angle and extends from a first tooth to a second tooth. The first tooth is closer to the rear end and closer to the blade axis than the second tooth. The declined cutting edge portion extends toward the blade axis and toward the front end at an acute second angle that is greater than the first angle and extends from a third tooth to the first tooth. The first tooth is closer to the front end and closer to the blade axis than the third tooth.

Abstract: A method of enabling shoe identification comprises receiving at a server apparatus information relating to a unique identity of a shoe comprising a physiological sensor configured for operation in an active mode and a shipping mode. The server apparatus causes an NFC tag to be generated comprising at least the information relating to the unique identity. The method further comprises scanning the tag at a testing device during the manufacture of the shoe. The testing device is configured to test the functioning of the physiological sensor in association with the shoe. When it is determined that the at least one physiological sensor is working properly, the information relating to the unique identity is written to a storage device of the physiological sensor.

Abstract: A saw blade includes an elongated body extending along a longitudinal axis and having an elongated cutting edge. A first hard metal strip is attached to a first portion of the cutting edge and includes at least one first full hard metal cutting tooth that is set left at a first angle relative to a vertical axis of the body that is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. A second hard metal strip attached to a second portion of the cutting edge and includes a second full hard metal cutting tooth that is set right at a second angle relative the vertical axis.

Abstract: A hole cutter has a cylindrical blade body including a cutting edge and one or more axially-elongated apertures formed within a side wall of the blade body. The axially-elongated aperture is configured to receive a lever, such as a screwdriver, therethrough. Each axially-elongated aperture includes a first fulcrum axially spaced adjacent to the cutting edge, a second fulcrum axially spaced further away from the cutting edge than the first fulcrum, and optionally a third fulcrum axially spaced between the first and second fulcrums. A lever, such as a screwdriver, can be inserted into the aperture and placed against each of the fulcrums to lever slugs out of the interior of the blade body.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for increasing the overall network performance experienced by a group of devices by forming a dynamic and collaborative cluster of computing devices. In particular, the computing devices within the cluster collectively may identify and leverage the current capabilities of each of the individual members of the cluster to respond efficiently to network resource requests from computing devices inside or outside the cluster. As such, various embodiments provide for a dynamic cluster of computing devices that tailor the responsibilities of the members of the cluster to the current capabilities, capacities, and state of these computing devices. In particular, devices in the cluster may participate dynamically in the cluster to ensure that a device in the cluster that is currently most suited to performing a task is the device selected to perform that task.

Abstract: A fitness tracking system includes a shoe, a monitoring device, and a controller. The monitoring device is mounted on the shoe and includes an accelerometer configured to generate acceleration data corresponding to acceleration of a foot received by the shoe. The controller is operably connected to the accelerometer and is configured to collect sampled acceleration data by sampling the generated acceleration data, to identify foot strike data of the sampled acceleration data, to identify a local minimum of the sampled acceleration data collected prior to the foot strike data, and to determine foot strike characteristic data corresponding to the foot strike data based on an acceleration value at the local minimum.