What is claimed is:
1. A suture loading assembly for threading suture material through a surgical instrument, the suture loading assembly comprising:
a body,
an attaching member extending from the body for attaching the body to the surgical instrument; and,
a flexible loop extending from a distal end of the body.
2. The suture loading assembly of claim 1 wherein the body includes a bore from which the loop extends.
3. The suture loading assembly of claim 1 wherein the attaching member includes two legs extending from the body, an inner portion of each leg curved to accept a cylindrical member of a surgical instrument, wherein the attaching member is slidable along the cylindrical member of the surgical instrument.
4. The suture loading assembly of claim 3 wherein an outer portion of each leg includes an indented area for forming a finger grip.
5. The suture loading assembly of claim 1 further comprising a cap surrounding a portion of the body.
6. The suture loading assembly of claim 5 wherein the cap includes finger grips.
7. The suture loading assembly of claim 6 wherein the finger grips are indents in sides of the cap.
8. The suture loading assembly of claim 5 wherein the cap includes openings for receiving the body and the attaching member.
9. The suture loading assembly of claim 1 wherein the loop is made from wire.
10. The suture loading assembly of claim 9 further comprising a plug inserted within a proximal end of the body for retaining the wire within the body.
11. In combination, a suture securing instrument and a suture loading assembly,
the suture securing instrument comprising:
an elongated tubular portion having a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end including a ferrule accepting opening, the proximal end attached to a handle assembly;
the suture loading assembly comprising:
a body,
an attaching member extending from the body for attaching the body to the elongated tubular portion of the suture securing instrument; and,
a flexible loop extending from a distal end of the body.
12. The combination of claim 11 wherein the loop is threaded through the ferrule accepting opening.
13. The combination of claim 11 wherein the attaching member is slidable along the tubular portion of the suture securing instrument.
14. The combination of claim 13 wherein the attaching member includes two legs extending from the body, an inner portion of each leg curved to accept the tubular portion of the suture securing instrument.
15. The combination of claim 14 wherein an outer portion of each leg includes an indented area for providing a finger grip.
16. The combination of claim 11 wherein the suture loading assembly further comprises a cap surrounding the body and attaching member, the cap extending past the tubular portion.
17. The combination of claim 16 wherein the cap includes a pair of indents usable as finger grips.
18. The combination of claim 11 wherein the suture securing instrument further comprises an aperture in the elongated tubular portion, the aperture located proximally of the ferrule accepting opening, the flexible loop threaded through the aperture prior to threading through the ferrule accepting opening.
19. The combination of claim 18 further comprising a ferrule positioned in the ferrule accepting opening, the flexible loop threaded through the ferrule.
20. The combination of claim 11 wherein the loop is made from a preformed wire bent into a diamond shape.
21. A method of threading a suture securing instrument comprising:
mounting a suture loading assembly upon a tubular portion of the suture securing instrument; and,
threading a flexible loop extending from the suture loading assembly through a ferrule within a distal end of the suture loading assembly.
22. The method of claim 21 further comprising inserting suture material through the flexible loop.
23. The method of claim 22 further comprising pulling the flexible loop proximally until the suture material is threaded through the ferrule.
24. The method of claim 23 wherein pulling the flexible loop proximally comprises sliding the suture loading assembly proximally along the tubular portion of the suture securing instrument.
25. A kit for securing suture material within a body of a patient, the kit comprising:
a cutting and crimping device;
a ferrule loaded into the cutting and crimping device; and,
a suture loading assembly mounted on a tubular portion of the cutting and crimping device, a flexible loop extending from the suture loading assembly threaded through the ferrule.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of communication between a master circuit and two slave circuits over a serial bus wherein:
the two slave circuits simultaneously transmit their associated identifiers;
the two slave circuits simultaneously transmit the inverse of these identifiers; and
each slave circuit uses combinations of the identifiers and inverse identifiers present on the bus from both simultaneous transmissions to determine an order of communication between the two circuits.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the master circuit triggers the steps of transmitting, by the two slave circuits, identifiers and inverse identifiers by the sending of a specific control signal over the bus.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein said control signal is preceded by sending, by the master circuit, an address common to the two slave circuits.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein each slave circuit determines a relation between its own identifier and that of the other slave circuit.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the relation between the identifiers is an order relation.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein each slave circuit transmits to the master circuit an address concerning it, the transmission order being set by the relation between the respective identifiers of the slave circuits.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein each slave circuit transmits to the master circuit its identifier as an address.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the bus is an open-drain (or open-collector) bus in which a bit is transmitted over a period having a duration independent from the state of the bit.
9. An electronic circuit of transmission over a serial bus, comprising means capable of implementing the method of claim 1.
10. A master-slave system of transmission between a master and two slaves, comprising circuits of claim 9.
11. A method for a first slave circuit to communicate with a master circuit in a system of devices configured to communicate over a serial bus, the method comprising:
transmitting, by the first slave circuit, an identifier of the first slave circuit to the master circuit responsive to receiving a first control signal from the master circuit; and
transmitting, by the first slave circuit, an inverse of the identifier of the first slave circuit to the master circuit responsive to receiving the same control signal from the master circuit.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
receiving, by the first slave circuit, a first signal associated with the transmitted identifier of the first slave circuit while transmitting the identifier of the first slave circuit;
receiving, by the first slave circuit, a second signal associated with the transmitted inverse identifier of the first slave circuit while transmitting the inverse identifier of the first slave circuit; and
determining, by the first slave circuit, a communication order between the first slave circuit and a second slave circuit with the master circuit based at least upon the first signal and second signal.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the identifier of the first slave circuit is transmitted to a data line of the serial bus and the first signal is received from the same data line.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising checking a communication order rule to determine the communication order.
15. The method of claim 12, further comprising transmitting an address for the first slave circuit to the master circuit according to the determined communication order.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the address for the first slave circuit is the identifier of the first slave circuit.
17. A system of devices configured to communicate over a serial bus, the system comprising:
a master circuit;
a first slave circuit having a first address; and
a second slave circuit having the first address, wherein the first and second slave circuits are configured to determine a communication order with the master circuit based at least upon a logical AND of identifiers of the first and second slave circuits and a logical NOR or NAND of the identifiers of the first and second slave circuits.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the first slave circuit is configured to:
transmit the identifier of the first slave circuit responsive to the master circuit transmitting the first address; and
receive a first signal associated with the transmitted identifier of the first slave circuit while transmitting the identifier of the first slave circuit.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the first slave circuit is further configured to transmit the identifier of the first slave circuit to a data line of the serial bus and receive the first signal from the same data line.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the first slave circuit is further configured to:
transmit an inverse identifier of the first slave circuit responsive to the master circuit transmitting the first address;
receive a second signal associated with the transmitted inverse identifier of the first slave circuit while transmitting the inverse identifier of the first slave circuit; and
use the first signal and second signal to determine the communication order with the master circuit.
21. The system of claim 17, wherein the first slave circuit comprises a cartridge of a printer.
22. The system of claim 17, wherein the first slave circuit comprises a battery.
23. The system of claim 17, wherein the first slave circuit comprises a microcontroller.
24. The system of claim 17, wherein the serial bus is a multi-wire bus comprising an open-drain or open-collector data line.
25. A first slave circuit configured to communicate in a system of devices linked by a serial bus, the first slave circuit comprising:
a signal receive circuit coupled to the serial bus; and
an open-drain or open-collector signal transmitter circuit coupled to the serial bus, wherein the first slave circuit is configured to:
transmit an identifier of the first slave circuit to a master circuit responsive to receiving an address of the first slave circuit from the master circuit; and
transmit an inverse of the identifier of the first slave circuit to the master circuit responsive to receiving the same address of the first slave circuit from the master circuit.
26. The slave circuit of claim 25, wherein the first slave circuit is further configured to:
receive a first signal associated with the transmitted identifier of the first slave circuit while transmitting the identifier of the first slave circuit;
receive a second signal associated with the transmitted inverse identifier of the first slave circuit while transmitting the inverse identifier of the first slave circuit; and
determine a communication order between the first slave circuit and a second slave circuit with the master circuit based at least upon the first signal and second signal.
27. The slave circuit of claim 26, wherein the first slave circuit is further configured to transmit the identifier of the first slave circuit to a data line of the serial bus and receive the first signal from the same data line.
28. The slave circuit of claim 25, wherein the first slave circuit comprises a battery.
29. The slave circuit of claim 25, wherein the first slave circuit comprises an ink cartridge.
30. The slave circuit of claim 25, wherein the first slave circuit includes a microcontroller.