1. A linear motion guide unit; comprising a track rail provided on both lengthwise sides thereof with first raceway grooves, and a slider that fits over and conforms to the track rail to move lengthwise along the track rail;
wherein the slider is comprised of a carriage made thereon with second raceway grooves in opposition to the first raceway grooves to define races between them and also made therein with return passages extending in parallel with the races, end caps to be attached to forward and aft ends of the carriage, the end caps being each made therein with turnaround passages communicated with the races and the return passages, and more than one rolling element of ball allowed to roll through a circulating circuit made up of the race, return passage and turnaround passage;
wherein the return passages lie biased more widthwise center-ward than the races so as to make an interval between the return passages less than a widthwise interval between the races; and
wherein the turnaround passages are each formed in a curved route whose radius of curvature is constant, the curved route extending from a center of the associated race to a center of the associated return passage, with making a detour to clear an upper edge of the track rail when viewed in a sliding direction of the slider.
2. A linear motion guide unit constructed as defined in claim 1 wherein the curved route whose radius of curvature is constant is arced over a semicircular range of 180 degrees when viewed in the sliding direction of the slider.
3. A linear motion guide unit constructed as defined in claim 1 wherein the end cap is made up of an end cap major part and a spacer part that fits into the end cap major part, and wherein the spacer part is grooved to form curved inward halves spaced widthwise apart from one another for the turnaround passages while the end cap major part is grooved to form curved outward halves spaced widthwise apart from one another for the turnaround passages.
4. A linear motion guide unit constructed as defined in claim 3 wherein the end cap major part is made therein with mating depressions while the spacer part is made therein with mating edges adapted to fit into the mating depressions, the mating edges and depressions being made rounded at their ends joining together with the associated return passage and the associated load race, and wherein the turnaround passages are defined between the curved inward halves in the spacer part and the curved outward halves in the end cap major part, which come into opposition to one another after the end cap major part has once assembled together with the spacer part in a way the mating edges has fit into the mating depressions.
5. A linear motion guide unit constructed as defined in claim 1 wherein the carriage is made therein with a hole to fit over a tubular member impregnated with lubricant while the end caps are each made with an integral spigot to fit into the tubular member in a way coming into abutment against any one of the opposite ends the tubular member, thereby making the return passage.
6. A linear motion guide unit constructed as defined in claim 5 wherein the end cap major part has a lubrication port while the spacer part has a lubricant path in opposition to the lubrication port, and wherein the lubricating path extends to hug around the spigots, reaching the turnaround passages.
7. A linear motion guide unit constructed as defined in claim 3 wherein any one of the outward circular groove in the end cap major part and the inward circular groove in the is cut somewhat larger in depth with respect to a middle line of the turnaround passage while the other is made just less in depth than the middle line of the turnaround passage so that the outward circular groove cut somewhat larger in depth makes it easier to guide the rolling elements in a circulating manner.
8. A linear motion guide unit constructed as defined in claim 1 wherein the end cap is made of synthetic resin stained blue different in color from the carriage.
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. An optical coherence tomography system for depth-resolved imaging of a sample, comprising:
a substantially flexible polymer substrate bonded to a layer of semiconducting material, wherein the layer of semiconducting material is patterned to form a plurality of waveguides, and wherein the substrate is bent;
an optical element disposed at a distal end of the plurality of waveguides;
one or more interferometers configured to combine a reference light with light received by at least a portion of the plurality of waveguides on the bent substrate to resolve contributions from a given depth of the sample using optical coherence tomography; and
a light guiding element coupled between the plurality of waveguides on the bent substrate and the one or more interferometers.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the polymer substrate comprises PDMS.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the polymer substrate comprises parylene.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of waveguides are composed of at least one of silicon, gallium arsenide, and indium phosphide.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an optical multiplexer configured to switch a path of light from the light guiding element to one or more of the plurality of waveguides.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the substrate is configured to be rolled into a substantially cylindrical shape.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the substrate is disposed within a substantially cylindrical housing.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical element comprises one or more mirrors.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical element comprises one or more lenses.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the one or more lenses is a gradient index lens.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the light guiding element is an optical fiber.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of waveguides comprise single-mode waveguides.
13. An optical coherence tomography system for depth-resolved imaging of a sample, comprising:
a substantially flexible polymer substrate bonded to a layer of semiconducting material, wherein the layer of semiconducting material is patterned to form a plurality of waveguides, and wherein the substrate is bent;
an optical element disposed at a distal end of the plurality of waveguides;
one or more interferometers configured to combine a reference light with light received by at least a portion of the plurality of waveguides on the bent substrate to resolve contributions from a plurality of depths of the sample using optical coherence tomography; and
a light guiding element coupled between the plurality of waveguides on the bent substrate and the one or more interferometers.
14. The system of claim 13, further comprising an optical multiplexer configured to switch a path of light from the light guiding element to one or more of the plurality of waveguides.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein the substrate is configured to be rolled into a substantially cylindrical shape.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the substrate is disposed within a substantially cylindrical housing.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein the depth-resolved imaging includes optical coherence tomography (OCT).
18. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of waveguides comprise single-mode waveguides.
19. The system of claim 1, wherein each waveguide in the plurality of waveguides has a thickness between 1 and 10 microns.
20. The system of claim 13, wherein each waveguide in the plurality of waveguides has a thickness between 1 and 10 microns.