I claim:
1. A crutch for assisting in the ambulation of a patient, said crutch comprising a unitary upright member, said unitary upright member having an upper section, a lower section and a intermediate section forming an indentation, said upper and said lower sections having longitudinal axes, said intermediate section having a generally horizontal handle depending outwardly therefrom, an upper arm cradle movably affixed to said upper section and being adjustable with respect to said upper section to selectively vary the distance between said arm cradle and said handle and a bottom member adjustably affixed to said lower section to position said bottom member at a plurality of locations along said lower section to selectively adjust the position of said bottom member with respect to said lower section.
2. A crutch for assisting in the ambulation of a patient as defined in claim 1 wherein said intermediate section is formed in an angular configuration.
3. A crutch for assisting in the ambulation of a patient as defined in claim 1 wherein said upper arm cradle is affixed to said upper section by telescoping said upper arm cradle within said upper section and wherein said upper arm cradle is movable between a plurality of locked positions affixed to said upper section.
4. A crutch for assisting in the ambulation of a patient as defined in claim 3 wherein said upper section has a plurality of circular apertures and wherein said upper arm cradle has a cylindrical support extending into said upper section and said cylindrical support has at least one biased button adapted to extend through at least one of said apertures to fix said upper arm cradle into its locked position.
5. A crutch for assisting in the ambulation of a patient as defined in claim 1 wherein said crutch is oriented with a forward direction in the direction the patient is facing and a rearward direction, and wherein said longitudinal axis of said lower section is oriented generally vertically and said longitudinal axis of said upper section is angled rearwardly with respect to said lower section at an angle of between about 5 degrees and about 15 degrees.
6. A crutch for assisting in the ambulation of a patient as defined in claim 5 wherein said longitudinal axis of said upper section is angled rearwardly about 10 degrees.
7. A crutch for assisting in the ambulation of a patient as defined in claim 5 wherein said upper arm cradle comprises a cradle for supporting a patient and a cylindrical support forming a tee with said cradle, and wherein said cylindrical support extends into said upper section, said cradle having forwardly directed upward slope at generally a right angle to the longitudinal axis of said upper section.
8. A crutch for assisting in the ambulation of a patient as defined in claim 7 wherein said horizontal handle has a longitudinal axis and said cradle has a longitudinal axis and wherein said longitudinal axis of said cradle is at an acute angle with respect to said longitudinal axis of said horizontal handle.
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 scanner illuminator comprising:
one or more light guides;
a light source coupled with the one or more light guides for emitting light into each of the one or more light guides, wherein each light guide is configured to divert the light emitted in the light guide outside of the light guide; and
an IR filter configured in a light path of the emitted light to filter out an IR component prior to the light diversion through the light guide.
2. The illuminator of claim 1, wherein the IR filter is configured within the light source or within each light guide.
3. The illuminator of claim 1, wherein the light source comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs), wherein the IR filter is configured over each LED to filter out the IR component from the light emitted by the LED.
4. The illuminator of claim 1, wherein the light source has an illuminating power of at least about 1,000 lux.
5. The illuminator of claim 1, wherein the IR component that is filtered out from the emitted light has a wavelength ranging from about 650 nm to about 1200 nm.
6. The illuminator of claim 1, wherein each light guide has a length of about 200 mm to about 350 mm.
7. The illuminator of claim 1, wherein each light guide has a length of less than about 200 mm for a bank note scanner.
8. The illuminator of claim 1, wherein a surface of each light guide comprises a plurality of surface patterns that is laser engraved or etched into the surface.
9. The illuminator of claim 1 further comprising a light splitter configured for splitting the emitted light from the light source into each light guide of a plurality of light guides; wherein the light splitter comprises a V-shaped light splitter or an L-shaped light splitter.
10. The illuminator of claim 1 further comprising a reflective material coated on an interior surface of each light guide.
11. A scanner illuminator comprising:
one or more light guides;
a light source coupled with the one or more light guides for emitting light into each of the one or more light guides, wherein each light guide is configured to divert the light emitted in the light guide outside of the light guide; and
an IR-absorbing coating disposed on at least one surface portion of an interior surface of each light guide, wherein the IR-absorbing coating absorbs an IR component from the emitted light in the light guide.
12. The illuminator of claim 11, wherein the IR-absorbing coating comprises an IR-absorptive dye.
13. The illuminator of claim 11, wherein the IR-absorbing coating comprises a material selected from the group consisting of W, Ni, Ti, Si, Ta, Al2O3, Cr2O3, SiO2, and a combination thereof.
14. The illuminator of claim 11, wherein the IR-absorbing coating absorbs the IR component at a wavelength ranging from about 650 nm to about 1200 nm from the emitted light.
15. The illuminator of claim 11, wherein a surface of each light guide comprises a light-diverting structure; wherein the light-diverting structure comprises a plurality of surface patterns that is laser engraved or etched into the surface.
16. The illuminator of claim 11, wherein a light splitter is configured for splitting the emitted light from the light source into each light guide of a plurality of light guides.
17. A scanner illuminating system comprising:
a light source coupled with one or more light guides for emitting light into each light guide, wherein each light guide is configured to divert the light emitted in the light guide outside of the light guide to illuminate a document, and
wherein each light guide comprises at least one of an IR filter configured in a light path of the emitted light prior to the light diversion to filter out an IR component, and an IR-absorbing coating coated on one or more portions of an interior surface of the light guide to absorb an IR component from the emitted light in the light guide; and
a lens adapted to receive an imaging light reflected from the illuminated document and to focus the reflected imaging light onto a sensor element, wherein the sensor element generates an electronic signal corresponding to the reflected imaging light.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein each of the filtered IR component and the absorbed IR component has a wavelength ranging from about 650 nm to about 1200 nm.
19. The system of claim 17, wherein the light source comprises one or more LEDs, and wherein the IR filter is configured over each LED.
20. The system of claim 17, wherein the sensor element comprises a charge coupled device (CCD), a contact image sensor (CIS), a full width array (FWA), or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS).