A protective case is provided for receiving and supporting a medication infusion pump of the type used to deliver a selected medication such as insulin to a patient. The protective case comprises a transparent housing of impact resistant material for slide-fit reception of the pump, in combination with a seal cap for removable mounting onto the housing to define a substantially waterproof pump enclosure. The seal cap is formed from a resilient shock absorbing material and cooperates with additional shock absorber elements to resiliently support the pump within the housing. A catheter port is formed in the seal cap for sealed passage of a catheter tube extending from the pump to the patient. A belt clip is removably mounted onto the assembled case to prevent seal cap separation from the housing, and to provide a convenient structure for belt mounting of the protective case onto the body of patient.

This invention relates generally to a watertight and impact resistant protective case for receiving and supporting a compact medication infusion pump during normal pump operation to administer a selected medication to a patient. The protective case thus enables the patient to participate in a broad range of activities, including sports activities and/or aquatic activities wherein the pump is safeguarded against impact or water-caused damage.
Medication infusion pumps are generally known in the art, for use in delivering or dispensing a prescribed medication to a patient. In one common form, such devices comprise a relatively compact housing adapted to receive a syringe carrying a prescribed medication for administration to a patient through a catheter or the like. The infusion pump includes a small drive motor for controlled advancement of a syringe piston plunger to administer the medication to the patient. Programmable control means are normally provided for operating the drive motor continuously or at periodic intervals to obtain a closely controlled and accurate delivery of medication over an extended time period. Such infusion pumps are utilized to administer insulin and other medications, with exemplary pumps being marketed by MiniMed Technologies of Sylmar, Calif. under Model designations 504 and 506. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,562,751; 4,678,408; and 4,685,903.
Medication infusion pumps of the general type described above provide significant advantages and benefits with respect to accurate delivery of the medication over an extended period of time. The infusion pump is often designed to be extremely compact and thus may be adapted to be carried by the patient. As a result, the medication can be administered with precision and in an automated manner, without significant restriction on the patient's mobility or life-style.
In the past, however, it has been necessary for the patient to exercise caution in order to prevent damage to the medication infusion pump as a result of impact shock or significant exposure to water. From a practical standpoint, these considerations have restricted the patient's activities to at least some degree. That is, to prevent impact damage, the patient is generally unable to participate in many sports activities wherein the pump might be exposed to significant impact with a ball, other athletes, etc. Similarly, patient participation in aquatic activities has been severely limited to prevent water damage to the internal components of the pump. This risk of water damage is particularly important, since undesired exposure of the pump to water occurs regularly in the course of a bath or shower. Theretofore, it has been necessary for the patient to be extremely careful to avoid impact or water-caused damage to the infusion, or otherwise disconnect the pump and catheter from the patient for the duration of any activity wherein pump damage might occur.
The present invention provides a relatively simple and easy to use, yet highly effective protective case for receiving and supporting a medication infusion pump, in a manner protecting the pump against impact or water-caused damage, without requiring disconnection of the infusion catheter from the patient. The present invention thus significantly expands the range of normal patient activities.

Proctective case for a medication infusion pump


An optical telephone wire comprising an optical conductor having a first covering of a circular cross-section and a messenger cable having a second covering of rectangular cross-section with one set of sides of the two sets of parallel sides of the second covering being longer than the diameter of the first convering and with the first and second coverings being integrally juxtaposed along their longitudinal axes so that spaces exist between the other set of sides of the second covering and the circular surface of the first covering.

This invention relates to an improved optical telephone wire, such as used as drop wires in combination with known clamps.
As is known, wiring of optical wires is desired to be made as straight as possible. Thus, the well known wedge type clamps have been used for such optical wires because they permit the wiring to be clamped in a nearly straight condition.


A method for providing sensor data, including providing a maximum measuring range for the sensor, providing a first measuring range which is within the maximum measuring range, providing the sensor data in a data structure having a size that corresponds to the first measuring range, providing a second measuring range which is different from the first measuring range and is within the maximum measuring range, adapting the provided sensor data of the first measuring range for the second measuring range so that the adapted sensor data are provided in an expanded data structure having a size that corresponds to the maximum measuring range, and the provided sensor data being arranged as a function of the difference of the size between the maximum and the second measuring range and the size of the second measuring range within the expanded data structure, and the sensor-data-free sections being filled with values.

Conventional sensor systems, for example acceleration sensors, rotation rate sensors, pressure sensors or the like, may provide the possibility of expanding their measuring range at the expense of accuracy. For example, an acceleration sensor may offer the following measuring ranges: 2 g, 4 g, 8 g and 16 g or a rotation rate sensor may offer the following measuring ranges to choose from: 2,000 degrees/s, 1,000 degrees/s, 500 degrees/s, 250 degrees/s, or 125 degrees/s. The change in the measuring range effectuates a change in the configuration of the analog and/or digital filters of the sensor system. Depending on the measuring range, the output sensor data are to be interpreted differently: A provided acceleration sensor value of 0×4,000, for example, means a measurement of 4 g in a measuring range of 8 g, but it means 1 g in a measuring range of 2 g. Depending on the adjusted measuring range, the sensor data must then be adapted, appropriate algorithms being provided in the sensor system for this purpose.

Method for providing sensor data of a sensor, and sensor system


A display panel for a portable computer includes an LCD device, a cover and a frame joined together to receive the LCD device, a plurality of first screws fastening together the cover and the frame, and a plurality of second screws fastening the LCD device to the cover. The cover has a plurality of first screw holes disposed adjacent to a first rear end wall to receive the first screws. Each of opposite first side end walls has a recessed outer face formed with a plurality of second screw holes for receiving the second screws. The second screw holes open at and extend inwardly from the recessed outer face. The frame has a plurality of third screw holes disposed adjacent to a second rear end wall and aligned with the first screw holes to receive the first screws. Each of opposite second side end walls has a flap member projecting into the recessed outer face of a corresponding one of the first side end walls to cover the second screws. A plurality of clasp loops project from one of first and second front end walls of the cover and the frame to the other one of the first and second front end walls. A plurality of latches project inwardly and rearwardly from the other one of the first and second front end walls, and are inserted into the clasp loops.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a display panel for a portable computer, more particularly to a display panel that has a cover and a frame which are locked at their sides.
2. Description of the Related Art
Display panel casings of portable computers are generally locked at their sides when LCDs have relatively large dimensions. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional display panel includes an LCD device 12, a cover 10 and a frame 14.
The LCD device 12 has opposing sides provided with a plurality of threaded holes 120. The cover 10 includes a pair of opposite left and right side end walls 15 formed with a plurality of recessed outer faces 102. Each of the recessed outer faces 102 is formed with a screw hole 100 aligned with the corresponding threaded hole 120 of the LCD device 12. Each recessed outer face 102 adjacent to a front end wall 13 has an indention 104 surrounding the screw hole 100. The frame 14 has an opening 108 for exposing a display screen (not shown) of the LCD device 12. Each side end wall 145 of the frame 14 has a flap member 142 adjacent to a front end wall 143 to project into the indention 104 of the corresponding side end wall 15. Each flap member 143 has a screw hole 140 aligned with the screw hole 100.
Two frontmost screws 16 extend through the screw holes 140 and the screw holes 100, and engage threadedly the threaded holes 120 to fix the LCD device 12 to the cover 10 and the frame 14. The remaining screws 16 engage threadedly the threaded holes 120 to fasten the LCD device 12 to the cover 10. Two screws 20 (only one is shown) engage threadedly screw holes 144 and screw holes 106 to fasten the cover 10 and the frame 14 together. A plurality of stickers 18 are attached on the recessed outer faces 102, respectively, as shown in FIG. 2.
The following are some of the drawbacks of the conventional display panel:
1. As the frontmost screws 16 extend through the screw holes 140, the screw holes 140 must be aligned with the screw holes 100. Assembly as such is inconvenient.
2. The stickers 18 used to cover the screws 16 affect adversely the appearance of the display panel.
3. The use of the stickers 18 is inconvenient since the stickers 18 must be detached during repair and must be reattached after repair.
4. The stickers 18 cannot be reused after being detached from the display panel, thereby creating a waste problem.


A system for machining a work-piece is described which includes a machine tool and coolant delivery unit, pressure and flow rate sensors, and a control unit. The control unit controls coolant delivery and is adapted to detect a first anomaly when either a measured flow rate or pressure deviates from target flow rates and pressures by a first predetermined amount, and to detect a second anomaly when the measured flow rate or pressure deviates from the target flow rates and pressures by a second predetermined amount greater than the first. An alarm signal is outputted when the first anomaly is detected, and the machine tool is stopped when the second anomaly is detected.

Superabrasive machining is an enabling process for machining nickel-based alloys for gas turbine engine applications, for example. Similarly, end-milling, point-milling, and flank-milling are enabling processes for machining titanium and magnesium alloys. These machining processes usually require cooling of the work-piece being machined. However, these machining processes are sensitive to the efficiency of the coolant delivery system since any deficiencies in the coolant reaching a work-piece being machined may result in damage or destruction of the work-piece. In addition, some of these processes require the use of inflammable coolants and/or are used to machine work-pieces made from inflammable material.
Accordingly, there is a need for controlling coolant flow provided to a machining tool during a machining process.

Active coolant flow control for machining processes


An Image Based Document Management (IBDM) server includes a table generator, a query engine and a user interface engine. The table generator generates a table that includes a label image and at least one field image in a column. The label image represents a column header for the at least one field image. A query engine receives requests to modify the table and in response generates queries to query the table. A user interface engine provides the table for display and modifies the table in response to user input.

1. Field of the Invention
The specification relates to generating a table from form images. In particular, the specification relates to automatically generating the table, modifying the table in response to queries and providing the table for display.
2. Description of the Background Art
The use of portable computing devices has become commonplace for many users. In addition to having a conventional desktop computer, many users also have some type of portable computing device. Examples of present-day computing devices include electronic devices for reading such as the Reader from Sony Corp., the Kindle from Amazon and the Nook from Barnes & Noble. As memory size becomes smaller, people are increasingly foregoing laptops for tablets, such as the iPad from Apple Computer Inc., the Kindle Fire from Amazon and the Galaxy Tab from Samsung. Smaller portable computing devices such as smartphones are also useful because of their portability. Smartphones include the iPhone from Apple Computer Inc., the Droid from Motorola and the Blackberry from Research in Motion, just to name a few.
Portable computing devices can be used to input information into forms. Users will input information using a stylus and the form will be converted entirely into symbolic information including the stroke information using optical character recognition (OCR) or optical mark recognition (OMR). If a user wants to aggregate the symbolic information from the plurality of forms for subsequent querying and processing, the user has to rely upon the symbolic conversion being effectively carried out for the plurality of forms. However, the symbolic conversion is error prone, particularly for handwritten stroke information and often requires expensive human intervention to correct recognition errors while taking up computing resources that could be used in other ways.

Automatic creation of a table and query tools


A single non-rotationally symmetric fiducial mark, such as a Universal Alignment Target, is placed on an object and the alignment of the object is determined with a vision tool that can align objects with translation and at least one additional degree of freedom, such as angular orientation. Alternatively, if a unique non-rotationally symmetric feature occurs naturally on the object, that feature may be used instead of a fiducial mark. In one embodiment, a geometrical feature matching vision tool is used to locate the single fiducial mark. In another embodiment, a normalized correlation search tool is used to locate the mark. The tool internally generates a set of rotated and scaled patterns that are then stored. The stored patterns are subsequently used to perform the search. In still another embodiment, a normalized correlation search tool internally generates a set of rotated and scaled patterns at runtime when the search for the mark is being performed.

This invention relates to machine vision systems for object location and inspection and, more particularly, to techniques for fixturing targets.
In many applications, it is necessary to determine the two-dimensional location or translation and angular orientation of an object of interest. Depending on the application, a determination of one or more of these properties is called determining the xe2x80x9calignmentxe2x80x9d of an object. In some applications, alignment also may include additional degrees of freedom, such as scale, aspect, shear or even various types of non-linear deformations. For example, in a robotic assembly system, it may be necessary to determine the alignment of a printed circuit board so that a robotic arm can place an integrated circuit onto the board at a precise location. One way to perform this alignment is to mechanically constrain the board at a predetermined location and angular orientation. Guides, brackets and many other well-known mechanical arrangements can be used to accomplish this alignment. However, in other applications, it is not feasible to mechanically constrain each object. In these latter systems, machine vision systems are often used to determine the alignment of objects.
Machine vision systems acquire images of an environment, process the images to detect objects and features in the images and then analyze the processed images to determine characteristics of objects and other features detected in the images. The system generally includes a camera/frame grabber system that generates an image that consists of a plurality of digitized image pixels. The image pixels are then processed with an algorithm implemented in software and/or hardware typically called a vision xe2x80x9ctool.xe2x80x9d These systems can be used to determine the alignment of objects, such as printed circuit boards.
One way to perform this alignment is to acquire an image of the entire object and then use the vision system to determine the alignment of the object. However, since some objects can be quite large, the image acquisition apparatus may not be able to acquire an image of the entire object. Thus, the image may be constrained to only a portion of the object at any one time. Further, even if the entire image can be acquired at once, the processing time required to process the large image might be prohibitive. Also, examining only a portion of the entire image allows the alignment procedure to ignore substantial variations in the object in regions outside the selected portion; for example, circuit boards with different circuit trace patterns could be treated equivalently so long as the selected portions were similar or had similar identifying marks.
Consequently, in many applications, the alignment of an object is determined by examining only selected areas of the object. In order to facilitate this examination xe2x80x9cfiducialxe2x80x9d marks are placed on the object in the selected areas. These marks might comprise one or more small circles, squares or other shaped marks, where the shape is selected so that it would not occur on the object for any reason other than a fiducial mark. Then, the machine vision system can be instructed to examine the selected areas of the object and to locate the fiducial marks within these areas. The marks assist in determining the alignment of the object because they are in predetermined location is on the object.
Although fiducial marks work well, the alignment problem is complicated because the fiducial marks are generally placed on the object during the manufacture of the object. For example, fiducial marks can be placed on a printed circuit board by etching the marks into the board during the circuit board manufacturing process. However, manufacturing tolerances can distort or degrade the marks. In the case of etching, the etching process can change the original size of the mark if the edges of the mark are over etched or the mark can be distorted during the etching process, which distortion might, for example, distort a circular mark into an oval-shaped mark. Also, the angular orientation of the object, and thus of the fiducial mark on the object, with respect to the camera may not be precisely known. Therefore, the vision tool used to locate the marks must be capable of tolerating some variations in size, shape and angular orientation and still locate the mark.
The manner of determining the alignment of the object depends on the type of vision tool used to locate the marks. Some tools can tolerate variations in size, shape and angular orientation during the location procedure, but have other deficiencies. For example, the earliest vision tool widely used for object location and inspection in industry was blob analysis. In this type of tool, image pixels are classified as object or background pixels by some means, the object pixels are joined to make discrete sub-objects using neighborhood connectivity rules, and various moments of the connected sub-objects are computed to determine object position, size, and orientation. Blob analysis tools can tolerate and measure variations in orientation and size.
However, such tools cannot tolerate the presence of various forms of image degradation. A more serious problem was that the only generally reliable method ever found for separating object pixels from background pixels was to arrange for the objects to be entirely brighter or entirely darker than the background. This requirement is difficult to achieve in other than the most controlled conditions.
In order to overcome the limitations of blob analysis tools, techniques called xe2x80x9ctemplate matchingxe2x80x9d tools were developed to locate objects based on their pattern rather than grayscale intensities. A template matching tool typically starts with a training step. In this step, a software representation called a pattern, or template, of an image or synthetic description of an ideal object is created and stored. At run-time, the template is moved in various positions over the digitized image and compared to like-sized pixel subsets of the image. The position where the best match between the template and image sub-set pixels occurs is taken to be the position of the object. Because a xe2x80x9csearchxe2x80x9d is performed for the best match, this type of tool is often called a search tool. The degree of match (a numerical value) can be used for inspection, as can comparisons of individual pixels between the template and image at the position of best match.
The first template matching tools used a brightness threshold to reduce the pixels of the template and image to two states: xe2x80x9cbrightxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdark.xe2x80x9d This reduced the computation necessary for the comparison operation to a reasonable level for the available computation facilities. Unfortunately, the thresholding step made sub-pixel accuracy impractical and made the results highly susceptible to the selection of the threshold and variations in illumination and object reflectivity.
Later tools overcame the thresholding problem by using a normalized correlation operation for the template and image comparison step, albeit at the cost of considerable additional computation. Normalized correlation template matching tools also overcame many of the limitations of blob analysis toolsxe2x80x94they can tolerate touching or overlapping objects, they perform well in the presence of various forms of image degradation, and the normalized correlation match value is useful in some inspection applications. Most significantly, perhaps, in order for the tool to operate properly, objects need not be separated from background by brightness, enabling a much wider range of applications.
Unfortunately, while normalized correlation template matching tools work well in determining the location of objects that are translated, they will tolerate only small variations in angular orientation and size: typically a few degrees and a few percent (depending on the specific template). Even within this small range of orientation and size variation, the accuracy of the results falls off rapidly when the objects deviate from fixed sizes and orientations and such a system may not be able to distinguish between two objects that do not differ much in size.
Other search tools have been devised that can determine the alignment of objects in the presence of variations in one or more other characteristics or xe2x80x9cdegrees of freedomxe2x80x9d in addition to translation. For example, such tools may be able to determine the alignment of objects in the presence of significant variations in translation and rotation, translation and size or translation and skew. Other tools can determine the alignment of objects in the presence of variations in multiple degrees of freedom, such as variations in translation, rotation and size. These tools can be used to locate objects in the presence of such variations.
For example, normalized correlation matching tools have been extended to tolerate variations in several degrees of freedom by using multiple templates in the search. In order to accommodate objects that vary in size, a separate template for each object size is created and stored during the training process. Similarly, in order to accommodate objects that have been rotated, a separate template is created for each object that is rotated with a different degree of rotation.
However, with such tools, a separate pattern must be trained for each object size and each orientation of each object size, and then a search must be performed using each pattern over the entire runtime image. Each pattern occupies computer memory, and, depending on the techniques and the size or complexity of the training image or description, a typical pattern may occupy tens or hundreds of kilobytes or even several megabytes of memory. Aside from the training time required to create the patterns, a large number of patterns can easily consume large amounts of memory. If the patterns are stored in a central location and downloaded to local computers when needed, the network connecting the computers must have significant bandwidth. Further, the need to search the image with a large number of patterns increases the search time significantly. In addition, because patterns must be created for each size and rotation, the patterns are created in discrete steps and the accuracy of the system suffers.
Still other search tools use geometric feature matching to locate and determine the alignment of objects with variations in several degrees of freedom, such as translation, rotation and size. In these systems, a feature detection algorithm produces a geometric description of object boundaries. This geometric description comprises a set of boundary points that lie along contours separating dissimilar regions in the image. Each boundary point specifies both position and orientation. In this system, the training process uses a training pattern to select features to represent the object. Once the boundary points have been generated, they can be transformed by parameterized mathematical algorithms to produce translated, rotated, scaled, and stretched patterns. The pattern search is thereby reduced to searches over parameter values. An example of such a system is the PatMax(copyright) search tool developed and sold by Cognex Corporation, One Vision Drive, Natick, Mass.
Other vision tools are available that can locate and determine the alignment of objects with variations in several degrees of freedom. These vision tools include the HexSight(copyright) Locator machine vision system developed and sold by Adept Technology, Inc., San Jose, Calif. and SMART Search(copyright) machine vision system developed and sold by Imaging Technology, Inc., 55 Middlesex Turnpike, Bedford, Mass. 01730.
In order to accommodate vision tools that do not tolerate variations in size and angular orientation well, fiducial marks are typically arranged to have rotational symmetry. For example, a small circle may be used. In this manner, the vision tool can still locate the fiducial mark although the mark may appear rotated in the image, as might be the case if the object were not fixtured with respect to the camera. Because the fiducial marks have rotational symmetry, once a mark is located, it cannot be used to determine the rotational alignment of the object on which it is located. Therefore, it is common practice to use two fiducial marks. Once both marks have been located, the rotational alignment of the object can be determined.
In order to increase the accuracy of the determination of rotational alignment using two marks, the marks are usually separated by a significant distance. For example, the marks might be located at opposite ends of an object. One problem with this arrangement is that when the object is processed with a camera that has a limited field of view, either the camera or the object must be moved in order to locate both marks. Further, two separate images must be acquired and processed, thereby lengthening the processing time to determine the alignment of the object. In addition, the marks occupy space on the object which, in some cases, is at a premium. Further, additional time is required during the manufacturing process to place additional marks on each object.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus that can quickly and accurately determine the alignment of an object using fiducial marks.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a single non-rotationally symmetric fiducial marks is placed on an object and the alignment of the object is determined with a vision tool that can align objects with both angular orientation and translation. Alternatively, if a unique non-rotationally symmetric feature occurs naturally on the object, that feature may be used instead of a fiducial mark. In one embodiment, a geometrical feature matching vision tool is used to locate the single fiducial mark.
In another embodiment, a normalized correlation search tool is used to locate the mark. The tool internally generates a set of rotated and scaled patterns that are then stored. The stored patterns are subsequently used to perform the search.
In still another embodiment, a normalized correlation search tool internally generates a set of rotated and scaled patterns at runtime when the search for the mark is being performed.

Method and apparatus for performing fixturing in a machine vision system


An accommodating portion (13) is formed at the center of a body (8) of a first member (1) having a belt attachment (10). The accommodating portion (13) has an opening (14) on the front and back sides thereof, the opening (14) being sufficient for molding a bulging head (42) of the rotary shaft (40) therein, a groove (15) sufficient for molding a neck portion (41) of the rotary shaft (40) is provided at the center of the lower side of the opening, and a concave groove (22) capable of molding a part of the neck portion (41) is formed in lateral direction. The rotary shaft (40) is integrated with the second member (2) at an upper side of a body (9) thereof and has an insert hole of an insert-type male body at a lower side. Since a gap is generated between the first member and the second member during the molding process and movement thereof becomes shaky, a retainer (34) having a bearing (35) at a distal end thereof is fitted between the bulging head (42) of the rotary shaft and the lower side (23) of the accommodating portion (13) to prevent shaky movement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fastening such as a buckle for a belt used as a baby-nursing band, belt adjuster and a swivel hook, the fastening being used as a belt connector with a belt being attached to an end thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a buckle 100 shown in FIG. 18 is known, the buckle being used for baby-nursing band. The buckle 100 shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-83709 has a belt connecting member 110, a male-female connector (a female member 120 and a male member 130) and a rotary mechanism 140 for freely rotating the belt connecting member 110 and the male-female connector, so that a baby-nursing band 150 is not twisted.
Another belt connector 200 shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 7-208440 has, as illustrated in FIG. 19, an integrally molded belt attachment 210 and an engaging member 220 using synthetic resin for strengthening connection therebetween.
When such buckles are used as a baby-nursing band, an adult initially puts a baby on the baby-nursing band, lifts the baby together with the baby-nursing band and connects the buckle to attach the baby-nursing band onto the body for holding the baby. At this time, though the band is felt unpleasant when twisted, it is troublesome to re-connect the buckle while holding a baby. Accordingly, it has been desired that a twist of a baby-nursing band can be easily fixed.
In order to eliminate the twist of the buckle, the buckle 100 shown in FIG. 18 has been proposed. In the buckle 100, in order to connect the belt connecting member 110 and the male-female connector (120, 130), a bearing 111 of the belt connecting member 110 is fitted to a rotary shaft 121 projecting on the female member 120 and a C-shaped snap ring 123 is pushed into a groove 122 of the rotary shaft 121. However, the C-shaped snap ring 123 may be damaged when a strong tension is applied to the belt 150 and, once damaged, the belt connecting member 110 comes off the rotary shaft 121 of the female member 120, thereby losing its function.
On the other hand, since the belt attachment 210 and the engaging member 220 of the belt connector 200 shown in FIG. 19 is integrally molded by injection molding means, the belt connector 200 is not easily damaged. However, since the belt attachment 210 and the engaging member 220 is molded by integral injection, a gap is generated between the belt attachment 210 and the engaging member 220 on account of die structure thereof, thus causing shakiness of the belt connector 200.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a belt connector capable of eliminating shakiness by the gap between a first member and a second member of the belt connector generated for integrally molding the first member and the second member in a rotatable manner.
A belt connector according to an aspect of the present invention has: a first member (1) having a first body (8) provided with an accommodating portion (13) for accommodating a rotary shaft (40); and a second member (2) having a second body (9) from which the rotary shaft is projected, at least one of the first member and the second member being provided with a belt attachment (10), the first member and the second member being connected in a rotatable manner, in which the first member and the second member are integrally molded so that the rotary shaft does not come off from the accommodating portion, and a retainer (34) for restricting relative movement of the first member and the second member in axial direction of the rotary shaft is attached to the rotary shaft.
According to the above arrangement, the gap between the first and the second member can be eliminated by the retainer, so that rotary movement can be conducted smoothly without causing shakiness between the two members, thus improving the quality of the fastening.
In the present invention, the retainer (34) may preferably be fitted to the rotary shaft (40) where the rotary shaft (40) is exposed between the first member (1) and the second member (2).
According to the above arrangement, the shakiness between the two members can be effectively eliminated with a simple construction by fitting the retainer to the rotary shaft exposed between the first member and the second member.
In the present invention, the rotary shaft (40) may preferably have a neck portion (41) and a bulging head (42) formed at a distal end of the neck portion, and the retainer (34) may preferably be located between the lower side of the bulging head and the inner circumference of the accommodating portion (13) facing the lower side of the bulging head.
According to the above arrangement, the retainer can be arranged so that the gap between the first member and the second member can be most effectively blocked, thus improving the durability against external force such as tension and twist with a simple construction and preventing damage thereof.
In the present invention, the retainer (34) may preferably be formed in a bearing (35) having semicircular distal end.
According to the above arrangement, the bearing as the retainer can be easily and securely held to the rotary shaft contained in the accommodating portion from front and back sides thereof, so that the shakiness between the two members can be prevented and stability of the belt connector can be enhanced.
In the present invention, a cover (26) for concealing the rotary shaft (40) in the accommodating portion (13) may preferably be fitted to the accommodating portion (13).
According to the above arrangement, the rotary shaft exposed from the accommodating portion can be concealed by the cover and the damage on the rotary shaft and the retainer and deterioration of the rotation of the rotary shaft on account of invasion of dust can be prevented.
In the present invention, the accommodating portion (13) may preferably have an opening (14) opening to the front and back sides of the first body (8), the opening being covered with a pair of covers (26).
According to the above arrangement, the cover for concealing the rotary shaft can be located in the most suitable arrangement and the rotary shaft inside the accommodating portion can be securely covered from two directions, thereby improving appearance of the product.
In the present invention, the pair of covers (26) may preferably be of identical shape.
According to the above arrangement, since the pair of covers are of identical shape, inventory management and assembly work of the cover can be facilitated.
In the present invention, the belt attachment (10) may preferably have a belt attachment hole (11), the belt attachment hole being provided with a concave portion (17) intercommunicating with the accommodating portion (13), and the cover (26) may preferably be fitted to the concave portion so that the rotary shaft (40) is accommodated therein.
According to the above arrangement, the rotary shaft can be securely and easily concealed by the cover and the rotary shaft inside the accommodating portion can be securely concealed from one direction, thereby improving appearance thereof.
In the present invention, the retainer (34) and the cover (26) may preferably be integrally molded to be connected.
According to the above arrangement, since the retainer and the cover are integrally molded to be connected, the number of the components and production cost can be reduced and the assembly efficiency can be improved.
In the present invention, the retainer (34) may preferably be formed in a bearing (35) having a slit (36) on a part thereof.
According to the above arrangement, the bearing as the retainer can be easily and securely fitted to the rotary shaft inside the accommodating portion or between the first and the second members, so that the shakiness between the first and the second members can be eliminated and the stability of the belt connector can be enhanced.
In the present invention, the retainer (34) may preferably have a rotation-stop projection (37), the rotation-stop projection capable of being fitted to a groove (15) provided to the accommodating portion.
According to the above arrangement, the retainer can be stably attached to the rotary shaft, thereby facilitating attachment of the retainer.
In the present invention, a thick portion (44) may preferably be provided on the second body (9) by thickening a base (43) of the second body (9) from which the rotary shaft (40) is projected.
According to the above arrangement, since the thick portion is provided on the base of the body from which the rotary shaft is projected, the diameter of the rotary shaft can be increased, thereby increasing the strength of the rotary shaft and preventing damage thereon.
In the present invention, the belt attachment (10) may preferably be provided on either one of the first member (1) and the second member (2), and a third member (3) capable of attachment and detachment through an engaging mechanism may preferably be provided on the other, the third member being provided with another belt attachment (54).
According to the above arrangement, since the second member and the third member are arranged as a male member and a female member, the components can be easily applied to a male-female buckle type fastenings.
In the present invention, the belt attachment (10) may preferably be provided on either one of the first member (1) and the second member (2), and wherein the other is made of a swivel hook (6).
According to the present invention, the components can be easily applied to a swivel hook type fastenings including a belt attachment and a swivel hook.
In the present invention, a mechanism for adjusting belt length may preferably be provided on either one of the first member (1) and the second member (2).
According to the above arrangement, the components can be easily applied to the belt adjuster as a connector.
In the present invention, a bulging portion (60) having arc-shaped periphery may preferably be formed on an inner circumference of a hole (11) for a belt to be inserted, so that the hole for the belt to be inserted has wider space on both sides thereof and narrow space at the central portion thereof.
According to the above arrangement, in inserting a belt, an end of a belt is inserted from a side of the bulging portion (60), i.e. from a portion having larger space, and is directly drawn out to the opposite side. After the distal end, the intermediate portion of the drawn-out belt is guided to the portion having narrower space along the arc-shaped periphery at the distal end of the bulging portion (60). As a result, inserting work of the belt can be facilitated and the belt can be securely engaged to the belt attachment without twisting the belt.


A coating for a medical device is described which enhances the bio-activity of the surface of a medical device, rendering the surface substantially bio-compatible. The bio-compatible coating is formed from a composition which includes an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition and an excess of polyfunctional cross-linking agent.

This invention relates generally to medical devices having bio-compatible substrate coatings. More particularly, the present invention relates to an implantable medical device or a part thereof which has a bio-compatible coating for enhancing the biostability of the device. Such a coating can also serve as a primer for a second coating layer which contains certain bio-active agents. Coatings and methods for incorporating such coatings onto the surface of medical devices are also described.
It is generally known to provide a substrate, such as a medical device or parts of such a device with various types of coatings for enhancing the biocompatability of the device when it is introduced into a mammal, such as a human body.
In particular, implantable medical devices used for minimally invasive procedures in body conduits, such as for example in blood vessels, the esophagus or urethra may be provided with bio-compatible coatings. Among the various intraluminal prostheses commonly used today are vascular grafts which include endovascular grafts, stents and graft-stent combinations. Various types of stents are available such as wire stents and tubular stents. These constructions may be made from metals or polymers and may be of the balloon expandable type or the self-expanding type. Among the self-expanding type are those made from superelastic, shape-memory materials such as nitinol. Other devices which can benefit from such coatings include catheters, guide wires, trocars, introducer sheaths and the like.
Medical devices coated with bio-compatible coatings and methods for providing substrates with such coatings have been described in a number of references, some of which are described below.
Various biocompatible coatings have been employed with medical devices in an attempt to impart enhanced bio-compatibility and other properties to such devices. For example, therapeutic agents have been incorporated into polymeric films made from polyurethane, polyester, polylactic acid, polyamino acid, polyorthoester, polyphosphate ester and the like, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,823. U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,958 discloses a stent having a binder layer and an anti-thrombogenic pyrolytic amorphous carbon layer attached to the binder layer to provide an anti-thrombogenic surface.
Biologically active agents have been incorporated into polymeric films for slow or controlled release of the active agent into the body. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,348 discloses porous polyurethane and PTFE stents having biodegradable polymeric filaments attached thereto which release drug over time. U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,928 discloses delivery of a drug using a stent-sheath structure made from both degradable and non-degradable polymers, such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA).
Endoprostheses have also been developed for targeted drug delivery to sites within a body. Such endoprostheses can be coated with microporous materials having pores in which bio-active agents may be anchored for controlled delivery thereof over time. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,382 to Dayton (hereinafter the xe2x80x9c""382 patentxe2x80x9d) discloses a minimally invasive bio-activated endoprosthesis for vessel repair. This endoprosthesis is coated with a polymer having a microporous structure with a predetermined pore size and a bio-active substance disposed within these pores for elution therefrom. The coating described by the ""382 patent is made from a polymeric solution which includes silicone, polyurethane, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene, biodegradable polylactic acid polymers, polyglycolic acid polymers, polyesters, hydrogeels, tetrafluoroethylene, pollytetrafluoroethylene, fluorosilicone etc. Admixed into one of these polymers is a bio-active agent, such as for example heparin, for controlled and prolonged release thereof.
One drawback to conventional biocompatible coatings is the use of organic solvents. Such organic solvents may be highly reactive in vivo if not completely removed prior to implantation. Furthermore, in instances where the bio-active agent is admixed with the polymer, the surface of the article coated with such a composition is not necessarily continuously bio-active, i.e., active throughout the entire surface. Thus, such a coating may be less effective at preventing, e.g., thrombosis formation, than coatings which are designed to provide resistance to thrombosis throughout the surface.
Although polyurethane coatings have been employed as biomaterials, they are known to suffer from stability problems and such coatings are quickly bio-degraded and or bio-eroded. Thus, attempts have been made to develop medical devices and polyurethane coatings therefor which contain compositions which are less susceptible to biodegradation and bio-erosion.
In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,742 to Pinchuk (hereinafter the xe2x80x9c""742 patentxe2x80x9d) discloses a prosthesis formed from polycarbonate-urethane polymers. Such polycarbonate-urethane compositions are bio-compatible and less susceptible to biodegradation and/or bio-erosion than simple polyurethane coatings. The ""742 patent describes forming the polycarbonate-urethane polymer from the reaction of a polycarbonate diol, a diisocyanate and a chain extender in a suitable organic solvent. This polymer is then spun through a spinnerette into a filamentous vascular graft. Prostheses formed entirely from such a composition, however, are expensive to produce.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,818 to Pinchuk discloses a locking ring or barb-type braided stent coated or lined with porous bio-compatible coating materials which include polyurethane, spun polyurethane, spun polycarbonate urethane, spun polyolefin, silicone coated polyurethane, spun silicone and combinations thereof. This patent, however, suffers from the drawback, that most of the materials, including the spun polycarbonate urethane coatings or linings are applied in a non-efficient, labor intensive manner. In particular, the preferred method for forming the liner or coating includes spinning the polymer on a mandrel at an angle coincident with the pitch angle of the stent (i.e., the pitch angle of the stent""s body section, as well as, the locking ring ends thereof). The lining is then applied to an adhesive-covered stent.
EP Publication No. 627 226 to Severini (hereinafter the xe2x80x9cSeverini publicationxe2x80x9d) also describes a stent which is coated with a polycarbonate-urethane composition. This coating composition, however, suffers from the drawback that it is applied to the stent as a segmented thermoplastic polycarbonate-urethane solution containing an organic solvent, such as dimethylacetarnide. A stent coated with such a composition is clearly not desirable because of the danger to the patient should all of the organic solvent not be evaporated prior to implantation. Furthermore, the evaporation of organic solvents, such as dimethylacetarnide, not only increases the health risks to manufacturing personnel but also pollutes the environment. Moreover, the required evaporation step adds a significant amount of time to the coating process, i.e., 24 hours. Still further, in the Severini publication, the process of applying the polycarbonate-urethane coating to the stent is slow and inefficient. In particular, the process includes rotating the stent at a speed of 2 rpm while the coating is dripped onto the stent from a pipette suspended thereover. Coatings formed in such a manner are unequal and nonuniform.
The present invention is directed to aqueous dispersions or emulsions of polycarbonate-polyurethane coatings for implantable devices and methods of preparation thereof. These coatings are particularly advantageous because they make it possible to impart implantable devices with long-term biostability and such coatings serve as superior primer layers for attachment of optional bio-active agents. Furthermore, due to the aqueous-based nature of the coatings of the present invention, they are less hazardous than the prior art coatings cited hereinabove. Moreover, these coatings are highly versatile and can be efficiently applied to a wide range of substrates including heat sensitive substrates, such as, polyethyleneterphlate (PET) balloon catheters and stents. Because the optional bio-active agents of the present invention are covalently bonded to the polycarbonate-polyurethane primer, the bio-active agents are permanently attached to the substrate unlike certain of the transient coatings discussed above.
In summary, all of the references cited above suffer from the drawback that they use organic solvents in their coating layer and/or cure at high temperatures. Thus, there is a need for improved bio-compatible coatings which enhance the biostability, abrasion-resistance, lubricity and bio-activity of the surface of implantable medical devices, especially heat sensitive medical devices and coatings which have heat-sensitive biomolecules. In particular, there is a need for improved, cost efficient compositions and devices which have antithrombogenic properties and for more efficient methods of providing same. The present invention is directed to meeting these and other needs.
In one embodiment of the present invention there is provided a medical device having on a surface thereof a continuous bio-compatible coating. This bio-compatible coating is formed from an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition containing one or more internal emulsifying agents.
In another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a process for rendering a medical device bio-compatible. This process includes providing a substrate with a coating which contains an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition having at least one internal emulsifying agent. The coating is then dried onto the substrate to attach the coating to said substrate.
In a farther embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a coating for enhancing the bio-activity of a surface of a medical device. This coating is formed from an aqueous emulsion or dispersion which includes a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition containing an organic acid functional group and an excess of a polyfunctional cross-linking agent. This composition forms a coating on a surface of the medical device and is reactive with thrombo-resistant agents.
In yet a further embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a medical device with enhanced thrombo-resistance. This medical device includes a substrate having a surface to which a continuous thrombo-resistant coating may be attached. The thrombo-resistant coating contains an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition containing an internal emulsifying agent. This composition is attached to the substrate surface.
In another embodiment, a medical device is provided which has a surface which is rendered bio-compatible by means of a first coating layer. This coating layer includes a layer of a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition which contains an internal emulsifying agent.
In still a further embodiment, there is provided a medical device which has a surface coated with a bio-active layer. This bio-active layer is the reaction product of a polycarbonate-polyurethane first layer which contains an internal emulsifying agent and a polyfunctional cross-linking agent and a bio-active agent second layer which has at least one organic acid functional group.
The present invention is directed to medical devices having bio-compatible coatings attached to a surface thereof. These bio-compatible coatings are formed from an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition containing one or more internal emulsifying agents. Specifically, the internal emulsifying agents may comprise one or more organic functional groups selected from the group consisting of free carboxylic acid, free sulfonic acid, free phosphoric acid and combinations thereof. Such coatings alone are sufficient to provide a medical device with a bio-compatible surface. To augment such a bio-compatible coating, a second coating layer may be applied over the polycarbonate-polyurethane coating composition. When such augmentation is desired, it is preferred that the internal emulsifier in the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition contain one or more organic acid functional groups or metal salts thereof. When such augmentation is not desired, however, the internal emulsifying agent in the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition can be any internal emulsifier known in the art which is compatible with the intended use of the present invention.
For purposes of the present invention, the term xe2x80x9corganic acid functional groupxe2x80x9d is meant to include any functional group which contains an organic acidic ionizable hydrogen. Examples of such functional groups include free carboxylic, free sulfonic, and free phosphoric acid groups, their metal salts and combinations thereof. Such metal salts include, for example, alkali metal salts like lithium, sodium and potassium salts; alkaline earth metal salts like calcium or magnesium salts; and quaternary amine salts of such acid groups, particularly quaternary ammonium salts.
In the present invention, the organic acid functional group-containing polycarbonate-polyurethane composition is selected based on the nature of the substrate to be coated. Such compositions are aqueous based and provide enhanced biostability to the surface of a medical device over conventional polyurethane coatings. Furthermore, such compositions have increased bio-compatibility and are environmentally friendly because traditionally used organic solvents are not required in order to apply the composition of the present invention to the surface of a medical device. Moreover, because these compositions are aqueous-based, they can be applied to a wide variety of substrates without concern for attack of a solvent on the substrate.
Polycarbonate-polyurethane aqueous dispersions and/or emulsions useful in the present invention include those which are commercially available from Zeneca Resins under the trade names NeoRez R-985 (aliphatic polycarbonate diol) and NeoRez R-986 (aliphatic polycarbonate diol); from Industrial Copolymer Ltd. under the trade names W830/048 (polycarbonate backbone), W830/092 (modified polycarbonate background), W830/140 (polycarbonate backbone)and W830/256 (polycarbonate background); and from Miles Inc. (Bayer AG) under the trade names Bayhydrol 121 (anionic dispersion of an aliphatic polycarbonate urethane polymer in water and n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone with a tensile strength of 6700 psi and an elongation at break of 150%) and Bayhydrol 123 (anionic dispersion of an aliphatic polycarbonate urethane polymer in water and n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone with a tensile strength of 6000 psi and an elongation at break of 320%).
In the present invention, the useful concentration of the polycarbonate-polyurethane aqueous emulsion or dispersion is from about 0.1% to about 60% by weight, and preferably from about 1% to about 20% by weight. These percent weight values are calculated based on the amount of solid polymer compared to the total weight of the first coating.
When it is desired to augment the first polycarbonate-polyurethane coating with a second coating containing a bio-active agent, the polycarbonate-polyurethane aqueous emulsion or dispersion optionally includes one or more polyfunctional cross-linking agents that are reactive with organic acid functional groups, including those functional groups functioning as internal emulsifiers on the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition of the present invention. Various polyfunctional cross-linking agents may be used. In the present invention, preferred polyfunctional cross-linking agents include polyfunctional aziridines and polyfunctional carbodiimides.
Furthermore, in the present invention, other cross-linking agents may also be used which include, for example, commercially available preparations sold by Zeneca Resins under the trade name NeoCryl CX 100 and those preparations sold by EIT Industries under the trade name XAMA-7. A commercially available polyfunctional carbodiimide which is also useful in the present invention is Ucarlink XL-29SE, sold by Union Carbide.
Among the polyfunctional aziridines particularly useful in the present invention are the trifunctional aziridines of the following formula:
Preferably, the cross-linking agent has more than two functional groups per molecule. Furthermore, the present invention also encompasses a combination of different polyfunctional cross-linking agents.
Not wishing to be bound by a particular theory, it is believed that the functional groups on the cross-linking agent serve at least two purposes. In particular, these groups serve to cross-link the polycarbonate-poly-urethane composition when the internal emulsifier contains an organic acid functional group. Additionally, these groups on the cross-linking agent participate in covalently bonding a second coating composition containing a bio-active agent which has one or more organic acid functional groups to the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition through the excess organic acid functional groups on the polyfunctional cross-linking agent. Thus, there must be sufficient functionality in the cross-linking agent, e.g. an excess of cross-linking agent, to accomplish both purposes. In particular, there must be a molar excess of cross-linking agent relative to the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition to ensure that it is substantially cross-linked, and that there are enough unreacted functional groups left on the cross-linking agent to covalently bond the bio-active agent to the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition.
One indication that insufficient functional groups from the optional cross-linking agent are present is the inadequate bonding of the optional bio-active agent to the surface of the medical device. This is evidenced by the lack of bio-activity on the surface of medical devices treated with such a deficient polycarbonate-polyurethane composition.
The concentration of the optional cross-linking agent in the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition is in the range from about 0.2% to about 30% by weight, and preferably in the range from about 0.5% to about 20% by weight.
The aqueous polycarbonate-polyurethane composition may include other conventional additives, such as for example, leveling agents, various stabilizers, pH adjustment agents, defoaming agents, thickening agents, fillers, and the like, as long as, such agents are compatible with the intended use of the coated substrate.
The polycarbonate-polyurethane composition is applied to a substrate, i.e., an implantable medical device, by conventional methods, including dipping and spraying. This composition is then dried to obtain a continuous, thrombo-resistant, substantially water-insoluble coating on the surface of the medical device. Thus, the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition alone is able to effectively function as a thrombo-resistant top coat for implantable medical devices. As set forth above, when the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition is used alone, any internal emulsifying agent may be used which is compatible with the intended medical uses of the present invention. The selection of such internal emulsifying agents is well within the knowledge of one skilled in the art.
If, however, it is desired to modify and/or augment the final properties of an implantable medical device coated with the present polycarbonate-polyurethane top coat, it is a simple matter to modify this composition to function as a binder for a second coating layer which contains a bio-active agent as described in more detail below. In particular, when a bio-active agent coating is to be applied over the polycarbonate-polyurethane coating, the internal emulsifying agent must contain at least one organic acid functional group or similar functioning moiety. A polyfunctional cross-linking agent as described above is then added to the polycarbonate-polyurethane coating composition.
This modified polycarbonate-polyurethane aqueous emulsion or dispersion includes a cross-linking agent which has functional groups which are reactive with the internal emulsifying agent""s organic acid groups. This modified coating composition is then applied to a surface of the implantable medical device and dried as described below. The implantable medical device is then contacted with an aqueous solution or dispersion of an organic acid functional group-containing bio-active agent. This solution is applied over the polycarbonate-polyurethane top coat in the same or a different manner as the polycarbonate-polyurethane coating was applied to the substrate. The bio-active coating is then permitted to dry, thereby covalently bonding the organic acid functional group-containing bio-active agent to the polycarbonate-polyurethane top coat via the excess, unreacted functional groups of the cross-linking agent.
Bio-active agents for use in bio-compatible coatings include those known in the art. In the present invention, any bio-active agent may be used in the second coating provided that it contains at least one organic acid functional group in its structure which can react with the polyfunctional cross-linking agent and still retain its bio-active function.
The bio-active agent of the present invention may include, for example, thrombo-resistant agents, antibiotic agents, anti-tumor agents, antiviral agents, anti-angiogenic agents, angiogenic agents, anti-mitotic agents, anti-inflammatory agents, angiostatin agents, endostatin agents, cell cycle regulating agents, genetic agents, including hormones such as estrogen, their homologs, derivatives, fragments, pharmaceutical salts and combinations thereof. Other useful bio-active agents include, for example, viral vectors and growth hormones such as Fibroblast Growth Factor and Transforming Growth Factor-xcex2.
Furthermore, the bio-active agent of the present invention can include organic acid functional group-containing thrombo-resistant agents. For purposes of the present invention, such thrombo-resistant agents include heparin, heparin sulfate, hirudin, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, keratin sulfate, lytic agents, including urokinase and streptokinase their homologs, analogs, fragments, derivatives and pharmaceutical salts thereof.
Moreover, the bio-active agent of the present invention can also include organic acid functional group-containing antibiotics. For purposes of the present invention, such antibiotics include penicillins, cephalosporins, vancomycins, aminoglycosides, quinolones, polymyxins, erythromycins, tetracyclines, chloramphenicols, clindamycins, lincomycins, sulfonamides their homologs, analogs, fragments, derivatives, pharmaceutical salts and mixtures thereof.
Additionally, the bio-active agent of the present invention can also include organic acid functional group-containing anti-tumor agents. For purposes of the present invention, such anti-tumor agents include paclitaxel, docetaxel, alkylating agents including mechlorethamine, chlorambucil, cyclophosphamide, melphalan and ifosfamide; antimetabolites including methotrexate, 6-mercaptopurine, 5-fluorouracil and cytarabine; plant alkaloids including vinblastine, vincristine and etoposide; antibiotics including doxorubicin, daunomycin, bleomycin, and mitomycin; nitrosureas including carmustine and lomustine; inorganic ions including cisplatin; biological response modifiers including interferon; enzymes including asparaginase; and hormones including tamoxifen and flutamide their homologs, analogs, fragments, derivatives, pharmaceutical salts and mixtures thereof.
Still further, the bio-active agent of the present invention can include organic acid functional group-containing anti-viral agents. For purposes of the present invention, such anti-viral agents include amantadines, rimantadines, ribavirins, idoxuridines, vidarabines, trifluridines, acyclovirs, ganciclovirs, zidovudines, foscamets, interferons their homologs. analogs, fragments, derivatives, pharmaceutical salts and mixtures thereof.
In certain cases, such bio-active agents may also become lubricous upon contact with an aqueous medium. Such lubricity will depend on a number of factors, including the type of bio-active agent, its molecular weight, the exposure level to the aqueous medium, as well as, the presence of agents which facilitate wetting. In the present invention, the molecular weight of the bio-active agent can vary from, for example, about 3,000 to about 30,000 for heparin to an excess of 8,000,000 for hyaluronic acid.
The concentration of the bio-active agent will vary depending upon the particular agent used, its intended function and the chosen substrate. It is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art, knowing the above-referenced variables, to calculate appropriate bio-active agent concentrations for use in accordance with the present invention.
As set forth above, when used as a thrombo-resistant top coat for an implantable medical device, the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition is applied to a surface thereof and permitted to dry at a temperature below 120xc2x0 C. Preferably, this drying takes place between about 10xc2x0 C. to about 70xc2x0 C. More preferably, this top coat is dried at ambient or room temperatures, such as for example, at or between about 15 xc2x0 C. and about 35xc2x0 C.
The drying step for the optional second coating as described above is chosen based on the composition of the medical device, the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition and the bio-active agent. The selection of the appropriate driving temperature is within the skill of the art given the properties of the substrate and the compositional make up of the polycarbonate-polyurethane and bio-active agent coatings. Preferably, the drying steps take place well below 120xc2x0 C. If desired, however, and compatible with the nature of the medical device to be coated, higher temperatures may be used, such as for example, when the substrate is metal.
Nevertheless, the present invention is particularly intended to be used to coat temperature-sensitive substrates using temperature sensitive bio-active agents. Thus, the optional bio-active agent, as well as the polycarbonate-polyurethane top coat are preferably dried at low temperatures, particularly at ambient or room temperatures, such as for example, at or between about 15xc2x0 C. and about 35xc2x0 C. In many cases, drying at about room temperature for about 12 hours will be adequate. Surface coatings formed in such a manner are long lasting, highly bio-active, anti-abrasive and, depending upon the bio-active agent used, may also be highly lubricious.
Obviously, the drying time will depend on the drying temperature used, higher drying temperatures requiring shorter drying times and lower drying temperatures requiring longer drying times. As set forth above, it is within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art to determine a suitable combination of drying temperatures and drying times for a specific coating and substrate.
Furthermore, the organic acid functional groups of the cross-linking agent do not necessarily have to have the same reactivity towards the organic acid functional groups of the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition and the bio-active agents, respectively. Moreover, the selection of drying conditions will be made with these reactivities in mind.
Still further, in the present invention, multiple layers of the polycarbonate-polyurethane coating, either alone or in combination with multiple layers of the bio-active agent coatings may be applied to the surface of an implantable medical device. It is within the skill of the art to determine appropriate drying times when multiple coatings are applied to an implantable medical device.
For purposes of the present invention, the term xe2x80x9cmedical devicexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cmedical devicesxe2x80x9d includes implantable medical devices, including endoprosthetic devices. Such devices include, for example, vascular and nonvascular stents, grafts and stent-graft combinations. Also included in the present invention are catheters and guide wires. Nonvascular stents encompassed by the present invention include, for example, esophageal stents, urinary stents, biliary stents, and colonic stents. Stents useful in the present invention include those which are balloon expandable and self-expanding. Superelastic, shaped memory materials, such a nitinol, are among those materials useful for the self-expanding type of stents.
The medical device of the present invention is made from any material which is suitable for implantation into the body of a mammal, such as a human, and to which the present bio-compatible coating compositions can bind. In particular, the present device can be a polymer, a non-polymer or mixtures thereof. Furthermore, the medical device of the present invention may include a combination of one or more polymers and/or one or more non-polymers.
The types of polymers which can be used to manufacture the present medical devices are quite diverse. Such polymers include both degradable and non-degradable polymers. The medical device of the present invention is made from, for example, non-degradable polymer compositions, such as, olefin polymers including polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinyl acetate, polystyrene, poly(ethylene terephthalate), polyurethane, polyurea, silicone rubbers, polyamides, polycarbonates, polyaldehydes, natural rubbers, polyether-ester copolymers, styrene-butadiene copolymers and combinations thereof.
As set forth above, the medical device of the present invention can also be made from degradable polymer compositions including polysaccharides such as for example, methyl cellulose, hydroxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxy-propylmethyl cellulose, hydroxpropylethyl cellulose, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, chitosan, dextran, xanthan, gellan, alginic acid, jota carrageenan; polypeptides such as for example, collagen, gelatin, elastin, albumin; and synthetic polymers such as for example, poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(lactic acid), polyglycolic acid, poly-xcex5-caprolactone, polyanhydride their copolymers and mixtures thereof.
As set forth above, the medical device of the present invention can also be made from non-polymer compositions. Such compositions include, for example, ceramics, metals, glasses and combinations thereof. When the medical device is made from a metal, a variety of biocompatible metals may be utilized such as for example, stainless steel, nitinol, tantalum, titanium, gold, silver, their alloys and mixtures thereof.
In another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a process for rendering a medical device bio-compatible. This process includes providing a substrate with a continuous surface coating of an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition having at least one internal emulsifying agent, as previously described. The polycarbonate-polyurethane composition is then permitted to dry onto the substrate as previously described. Substrates treated in such a manner are provided with enhanced thrombo-resistance over the entire coated surface area.
When it is desired to add a bio-active agent coating on top of the polycarbonate-polyurethane top coat, the polycarbonate-polyurethane top coat is modified by selecting an internal emulsifying agent which contains at least one organic acid functional group. An excess of a polyfunctional cross-linking agent which is reactive with these organic acid functional groups is then added to the aqueous polycarbonate-polyurethane emulsion or dispersion. Thus, to enhance, augment or modify the anti-thrombogenic nature of a substrate coated as described above, a bio-active agent as previously described can optionally be attached to the substrate via the excess polyfunctional cross-linking agent. In particular, the polycarbonate-polyurethane coated substrate is further contacted with a bio-active agent to form a continuous coating thereon. The bio-active agent is then dried as described previously to bond covalently the bio-active agent to the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition via the excess polyfunctional cross-linking agent. Thus, in this embodiment, the polycarbonate-polyurethane coating composition functions as an effective undercoat or primer to which the bio-active agent is applied.
In another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a coating for enhancing the bio-activity of a surface of a medical device. The coating is formed from an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition having an organic acid functional group and an excess of a polyfunctional cross-linking agent as previously described. As set forth above, this composition is attached to the surface of the medical device and is reactive with bio-active agents also as described previously.
In yet a further embodiment of the present invention, a medical device is provided with enhanced thrombo-resistance. This medical device includes a substrate as described previously which has a thrombo-resistant coating attached thereto. As set forth above, this thrombo-resistant coating is attached to the substrate surface and contains an aqueous emulsion or dispersion of a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition having an internal emulsifying agent. This polycarbonate-polyurethane composition is prepared, for example, by reacting a polyfunctional isocyanate with a polycarbonate diol. As set forth above, such compositions are normally obtained from commercial sources.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a medical device is provided which has a surface rendered bio-compatible by means of a first coating layer as previously described. This first coating layer includes a polycarbonate-polyurethane composition containing an internal emulsifying agent. When it is desired to use the polycarbonate-polyurethane composition as a top coat for a bio-active agent coating, the internal emulsifying agent is selected to have at least one organic acid functional group. This composition may also include a polyfunctional cross-linking agent.
As set forth above, a second coating layer may also be applied to the above-referenced medical device. In particular, the second coating layer includes a bio-active agent covalently bonded to the first coating layer. The second coating layer is formed by the process which has been described previously.
In still a further embodiment, a medical device is provided which has a surface coated with a bio-active layer. This bio-active layer is the reaction product of a polycarbonate-polyurethane first layer as described above which includes a polyfunctional cross-linking agent and a bio-active agent also as previously described.
The invention will now be further illustrated in the following non-limiting examples representing presently preferred embodiments of the invention.

Polycarbonate-polyurethane dispersions for thrombo-resistant coatings


A fixing device includes a fixing member, a heat source for heating the fixing member, a pressure member urged against the fixing member so as to form a nip portion between the pressure member and the fixing member, and a release agent applying unit that applies a release agent to the fixing member or the pressure member. An amount A (weight parts) of wax contained in the toner, and an amount B (mg/sheet) of a release agent applied to the fixing member or the pressure member by the release agent applying unit per printing medium of A4 size satisfy the following relationships (1) through (3):0≦A≦20   (1)0≦B≦1.0   (2)8≦A+(12×B)≦32.   (3)

This invention relates to a fixing device and an image forming apparatus using the fixing device.
A fixing device is used in an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile or the like. The fixing device applies heat and pressure to a printing medium to which a toner image has been transferred, so that the toner image is fixed to the printing medium. A type of fixing device (i.e., a heat roller type) has a heat roller, and another type of fixing device (i.e., a belt type) has a heat transferring belt. In these fixing devices, a release agent is applied to the surface of the heat roller or the heat transferring belt, in order to prevent the toner from sticking to the surface of the heat roller or the heat transferring belt. An example of the fixing device is discloses in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication NO. 2003-98884 (particularly, Page 3 and FIG. 1).
Recently, the image forming apparatus is required to be adaptable to a borderless printing, i.e., a printing without leaving a blank margin on the perimeter of the printing medium. However, if the margin on the leading edge of the printing medium in the feeding direction of the printing medium is small, there is a possibility that the printing medium may not separate from the heat roller or the like and may be wound around the heat roller or the like. Thus, a sufficient margin needs to be left on the leading edge of the printing medium, and therefore the borderless printing is not enabled. Further, in order to easily separate the printing medium from the heat roller, it is necessary to apply a large amount of release agent to the heat roller. However, in such a case, a large amount of release agent may adhere to the surface of the printing medium, with the result that the printing quality may be degraded.

Fixing device having release agent applying unit and image forming apparatus


A fastener assembly and method are provided. In one embodiment, the fastener assembly comprises a nut compatible with a threaded shaft. A rotation indicator having at least one indicator extension is attached to the nut. At least one protruding structure extends from the nut. The protruding structure interferes with the indicator extension when the nut is rotated on the threaded shaft and the rotation indicator is compressed between the nut and a surface.

It is very common for individuals to replace a fill valve in a toilet that may leak or be faulty in some other manner. When a typical fill valve is installed in the toilet, a threaded shaft of the fill valve may be placed through a hole in the bottom of a porcelain toilet tank. Thereafter, a nut is engaged on the thread, thereby clamping the porcelain between a sealing face of the fill valve and a face of the nut. Unfortunately, due to the fact that many unskilled individuals are concerned that a leak may form at the junction of the fill valve and the porcelain itself, it is often the case that individuals apply too much torque the nut to prevent leaks. This generates unwanted compression of the porcelain that, over time, often results in cracking of the porcelain resulting in the leaks that individual wished to avoid in the first place. Also, the application of too much torque to the nut may result in stripping of threads or cracking of the nut or the threaded shaft.


A process for tracking a consumer's behavior based on his or her entries into a number of cybernetic device sources such as personal computers, automated goods and services dispensing kiosks, automated teller machines and cell phones does not depend exclusively upon the presence of cookies implanted into such devices by vendors or upon a consumer's having provided a positive identification form. The process uses a pairing algorithm to comb elements of information from the source device visitation records in search of one or more common characteristics that can be presumptively attributed to a single consumer. Characteristics such as source device identifiers, phone numbers, street addresses or email addresses are each weighted by a weighting factor that is used to identify the consumer and attribute the visitation record and its associated activity to that consumer at a calculated confidence level. The attributed information can analyzed to track that consumer's behavior.

Ordinarily, web analytics depends on cookie record identifiers placed by vendors in consumer devices and/or consumer registration information maintained by the vendor in order to track certain activities of a particular consumer across a plurality of interactive visits. Nowadays, if a consumer deletes the cookie in her computer, there may be no practical means to tie her next visit with an earlier one.
An individual may employ different devices from one time to another such as when she uses her home computer for a first visit then her employer's computer for a subsequent one. She may also visit the same vendor using a cell phone, a goods or services dispensing kiosk, or the vendor's brick and mortar store. The individual can use a credit card to make a purchase through one of these devices and use the same card at an automated teller machine (an ATM). Moreover, several individuals may use the same device loaded with a single successively updated cookie. Many catalog vendor sites do not admit cookies. A single vendor can be visited by a single consumer using a single device such as a mobile phone through different disintegrated channels such as the vendor's website supporting mobile phone access, and the vendor's telephonic support line.
Unless each consumer provides with every use of a device a clear identification such as a registration number, the analytic systems either miss a great deal of information about a particular consumer's activities, or combine information about unrelated persons.
There is a need for some identifying process or system that can track the behavior of a consumer over many visits using a variety of potentially disparate devices, through a variety of potentially disparate channels where the consumer does not provide a clear identification with each visit.

Multi-source consumer behavior tracking system

International Business Machines Corporation


Film forming compositions and methods for preventing stains and increasing shine and gloss of teeth. The film forming compositions may include a polymer, such as a hydrophobic polymer, and an orally acceptable solvent. The hydrophobic polymer may include an acrylate component and a hydrophobic group coupled with one another. The hydrophobic group may include an alkyl chain, a polyethylene glycol, a polypropylene, a polyester, a polyorthoester, a phospholipid, a long chain fatty acid, a vinyl chloride, fluorethylene, a siloxane, a urethane, an octylacrylamide, a butylaminoethyl, a styrene, and combinations thereof.

Conventional oral care products, such as dentifrices, may often incorporate abrasives to clean plaque and stains from surfaces of teeth. In addition to removing plaque and stains, the abrasives may also be capable of polishing the teeth to thereby increase the gloss and shine thereof. While conventional oral care products incorporating abrasives have proven to be effective for removing plaque and stains and for increasing gloss and shine, the sustained use of these oral care products may often result in excessive abrading of enamel on the surfaces of the teeth.
What is needed, then, are improved oral care products and film forming compositions, and methods for protecting teeth from stains and/or improving gloss and shine of the teeth without abrasives.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Oral care compositions and methods for the same


The present disclosure concerns automatically generating data retrieval queries. A system may include data residing on a first data store and a knowledge graph residing on a second data store. The knowledge graph may include a semantic model of the data. The knowledge graph may be structured differently than the data and may be stored in a format different from the data. The system may include a query builder that receives one or more inputs through a user interface. The user interface may be based in part on the knowledge graph. The one or more inputs may indicate a subset of the data. The query builder may retrieve metadata from the knowledge graph based on the one or more inputs. The query builder may then generate a query for retrieving the subset of the data using the one or more inputs and the metadata retrieved from the knowledge graph.

Data may be stored in a database. A database is an organized collection of data. Retrieving information from the database may involve formulating a query in a query language understood by the database. A user may formulate a query describing information the user wants to retrieve from the database and submit the query to the database. In response, the database may return the requested information.
A database may contain a large amount of data. The amount of data contained in a database may make it difficult to review the data. The amount of data contained in a database may also make it difficult to draw conclusions from the data. Large databases may also contain various types of information. The diversity of information contained in a database may make it difficult to review and understand the data.
Individuals and entities may use data analytics to better understand data. In general terms, the term "data analytics" refers to the process of examining data to discover trends, patterns, and correlations that may otherwise be hidden in large amounts of data. Individuals and entities may use insights discovered from examining data to optimize processes or increase overall efficiency of a business or system.

Generating data retrieval queries using a knowledge graph


The invention provides a liquid coating composition for forming a transparent and hard coating film on a plastic member such as a polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate plate. The liquid composition comprises 100 parts by weight of an organotrialkoxysilane R.sup.1 Si(OR.sup.2).sub.3, where R.sup.1 is a C.sub.1 - or C.sub.2 -alkyl group and R.sup.2 is a C.sub.1 -, C.sub.2 - or C.sub.3 -alkyl group, 5-20 parts by weight of an organotrialkoxysilane R.sup.3 Si(OR.sup.2).sub.3, where R.sup.3 is an organic group containing epoxy group, 50-200 parts by weight of an aqueous colloidal silica sol in which the content of SiO.sub.2 is 10-40 wt %, and 0.5-3 parts by weight of a dicarboxylic acid (CF.sub.2).sub.n (COOH).sub.2, where n is an integer from 1 to 5, preferably hexafluoroglutaric acid. On a surface of a plastic member a coating film of this composition is partially cured at 70.degree.-150.degree. C. to turn into a fairly hard but still pliable film. Then the plastic member can be shaped so as to bend the coated surface without suffering from cracking or peeling of the partially cured film. After that the film is treated with an aqueous alkali solution and then further cured at 80.degree.-150.degree. C.

This invention relates to a liquid coating composition for forming a hard and abrasion resistant coating film on a plastic member and a method of forming such a coating film on a plastic member which is to be shaped after the application of the liquid coating composition thereto. The liquid coating composition is of the type using an organotrialkoxysilane and colloidal silica.
It is prevailing to use a synthetic resin high in transparency, such as polymethyl methacrylate or polycarbonate as a so-called organic glass. For plastic articles using a plate of such a resin it is almost indispensable to protect the plate surface with a coating film which is transparent, hard and resistant to abrasion and scratching. For example, it is well known to form a satisfactorily hard and transparent coating film by using a liquid coating composition containing an alkoxysilane and colloidal silica as the principal components.
When a plastic plate is to be shaped and provided with a hard coating film, the coating is made before and after shaping the plate. In the case of first forming the coating film on a flat plate the coating operation is easy, but in this case it is necessary to afford some flexibility and pliability to the coating film so that the coating film may not be damaged by shaping the plastic plate under heating, and therefore the surface hardness of the coating film is inevitably sacrificed. In the case of forming the coating film after shaping the plastic plate it is possible to form a sufficiently hard coating film, but in this case it is often that strict restrictions are placed on the coating method by reason of intricately curved shapes of the surfaces to be coated, and it is very difficult to form a coating film uniform in thickness and smoothness.
To bend a plastic plate having a hard coating film, there is a proposal of forming a linear notch in a coated surface of the plate to a depth greater than the coating film thickness, bending the plate along the notch such that the notched surface becomes the outside surface of the bent plate and thereafter machining the notched region of the outside surface to eliminate the notch by reducing the thickness of the plate in that region. However, this method entails complicated operations, and by this method the notched and subsequently machined region becomes relatively low in transparency, and it is impossible to form a gently curved surface.
JP No. 63-30934 proposes to accomplish shaping and hard coating of a polycarbonate plate by first applying a liquid coating composition comprising methyl-etherified methylolmelamine, glycol, hydrolytic partial condensate of an alkoxysilane and a curing agent to the flat plate, partially curing the coating film by heating at 120.degree.-150.degree. C. and then bending the plate at 150.degree.-180.degree. C. to fully cure the coating film during the bending operation. However, the surface hardness of the obtained coating film is insufficient since a melamine resin is used as a principal component of the coating material.

Liquid coating composition and coating method for forming hard-coat film on plastics


A method and system are presented for optical measurements in multi-layer structures to determine the properties of at least some of the layers. The structure is patterned by removing layer materials within a measurement site of the structure from the top layer to the lowermost layer of interests. Optical measurements are sequentially applied to the layers, by illuminating a measurement area in the layer under measurements, when the layer material above said layer under measurements is removed, thereby obtaining measured data portions for the at least some of the layers, respectively. The properties of each of the at least some layers are calculated, by analyzing the measured data portion of the lowermost layer, and then sequentially interpreting the measured data portions of all the other layers towards the uppermost layer, while utilizing for each layer the calculation results of the one or more underlying layers.

A semiconductor wafer typically presents a patterned structure, wherein the pattern is in the form of multiple-layer stacks. Various steps in the manufacture of semiconductor devices require measurements of thickness and/or other characteristics of each layer in the semiconductor wafer. NovaScan machines commercially available from Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. utilize spectrophotometric thickness measurements applied to predetermined sites on the wafer, each containing a known layer stack described by a predefined optical model based on optical properties of all the stack layers.
It is especially important to determine the optical properties of each layer (film) of the actual stack resulting from the mandating steps and before performing further measurements such as measurement of the uppermost layer thickness, etc. Unfortunately, in cases when measurements are performed on the entire stack, the accurate determination of the properties of eat separate layer is difficult to implement, and in some cases, even impossible, because of too many independent parameters to be involved, and thus causing uncertainty in data interpretation. In order to exclude such uncertainty, usually each unknown layer is separated by its deposition on a known substrate without other layers of the multi-layer stack and measured independently. However, the properties of the individually deposited layer may be different from those of the similar layer that passes all processing steps during the manufacture of a required multi-level stack.

Method and system for thin film characterization


A semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device comprises an inductor in a far back end of line layer and a capacitor adjacent to and electrically coupled with the inductor. The capacitor comprises a first electrode layer arranged over sidewalls and a bottom surface of a via in a first insulating layer A dielectric layer is provided over the first electrode layer. A second electrode layer is provided over the dielectric layer and a metal fill layer is provided over the second electrode layer. The metal fill layer has a top surface at least level with a top surface of the first insulating layer.

An inductor capacitor (LC) filter device includes an inductor and a capacitor having a common node. A load resistor may be connected to the common node and to a ground terminal. The LC filter may be used as a low pass filter with a node of the capacitor connected to the ground terminal or as a high pass filter with a node of the inductor connected to the ground terminal. The term "low pass filter" may refer to a filter that allows signals with a frequency lower than a cut off frequency to pass. The term "high pass filter" may refer to a filter that allows signals with a frequency higher than a cut off frequency to pass.
Current wafer level LC filter devices have low density capacitance with less than a few nano Farad per mm square (nF/mm2) and inductance of less than a few nano Henry per mm square (nH/mm2). The low density capacitance and inductance is not suitable for low frequency applications such as power management in mobile devices. Discrete inductors and capacitors which are not integrated into the semiconductor chip may have higher capacitance and inductance values, respectively but they are bulky and expensive. Thus, there is a need for an improved LC filter device to overcome the challenges mentioned above.

Inductor capacitor filter in far back end of line and integration schemes