1. Single-surgery, elongate selectively adjustable, length-change bone-spacing apparatus comprising
an elongate, unidirectionally pre-stressed, length-change, spring-force component having a relaxed condition toward which it is self-biased, and in which relaxed condition it is either one of longer or shorter than when it is in its pre-stressed condition,
a pair of spaced, relatively moveable bone drivers coupleable selectively to selected, spaced bones, and drivingly connected, one each, to opposite ends of said spring-force component, and
a two-state, RF-activated, stress-control constraining medium embedding at least a portion of the length of said spring-force component, and having a hardened state wherein it immobilizes said length portion against any length change, and a softened, fluid state to which it converts reversibly under the influence of received radio-frequency (RF) energy of a defined character which is specific to said constraining medium, and in which softened state, the constraining medium permits length change of said length portion.
2. The bone-spacing apparatus of claim 1, wherein said spring-force component takes the form of an elongate coil spring.
3. Single-surgery, elongate, selectively adjustable, length-change bone-spacing apparatus comprising
an elongate, unidirectionally pre-stressed, length-change, spring-force component having a relaxed condition toward which it is self-biased, and in which relaxed condition it is either one of longer or shorter than when it is in its pre-stressed condition,
a pair of spaced, relatively moveable bone drivers coupleable selectively to selected, spaced bones, and drivingly connected, one each, to opposite ends of said spring-force component,
a two-state, RF-activated, stress-control constraining medium operatively linked effectively to said spring-force component, and having a hardened state wherein it effectively immobilizes the spring-force component against any length change, and a softened, fluid state to which it converts reversibly under the influence of received radio-frequency (RF) energy of a defined character which is specific to said constraining medium, and in which softened state the constraining medium permits a spring-force-component length change, and
structure for coupling said drivers to a pair of selected, spaced bones in a manner which, when such coupling exits, permits, with respect to any current condition of internal stress then existing in said spring-force component, reversible relative motion between said drivers in a range of motion which is associated with a lessening of the current condition of internal stress in said spring-force component.
4. The bone spacing apparatus of claim 3, wherein said constraining medium embeds at least a portion of the length of said spring-force component.
5. The bone-spacing apparatus of claim 3, wherein said spring-force component takes the form of a coil spring.
6. A single-surgery method for producing a change in the spacing existing between a pair of selected, spaced bones in a patient comprising
implanting, in a position of driving interposition such selected bones, elongate bone-spacing apparatus including a constraining medium as set forth in claim 1, and
from outside the patient, selectively communicating to the constraining medium in the implanted bone-spacing apparatus radio-frequency (RF) energy of the character associated with the constraining medium in that apparatus.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the selected bones include a pair of next-adjacent ribs.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the selected bones include split portions of a single rib.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein the selected bones include the pelvis and a rib.
10. The method of claim 6, wherein the selected bones include a first vertebral body, and one of (a) another, next-adjacent vertebral body, (b) the pelvis, and (c) a rib.
11. The method of claim 6 which is practiced in relation to plural pairs of selected bones, including any combination of (a) next-adjacent ribs, (b) adjacent rib portions of a single rib, (c) the pelvis and one or more rib(s), (d) two next-adjacent vertebral bodies, (e) a vertebral body and a rib, and (f) a vertebral body and the pelvis.
12. A single-surgery method for producing a change in the spacing existing between a pair of selected, spaced bones in a patient comprising
implanting, in a position of driving interposition such selected bones, elongate bone-spacing apparatus including a constraining medium as set forth in claim 3, and
from outside the patient, selectively communicating to the constraining medium in the implanted bone-spacing apparatus radio-frequency (RF) energy of the character associated with the constraining medium in that apparatus.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the selected bones include a pair of next-adjacent ribs.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the selected bones include split portions of a single rib.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein the selected bones include the pelvis and a rib.
16. The method of claim 12, wherein the selected bones include a first vertebral body, and one of (a) another, next-adjacent vertebral body, (b) the pelvis, and (c) a rib.
17. The method of claim 12 which is practiced in relation to plural pairs of selected, spaced bones, including any combination of (a) next-adjacent ribs, (b) adjacent rib portions of a single rib, (c) the pelvis and one or more rib(s), (d) two next-adjacent vertebral bodies, (e) a vertebral body and a rib, and (f) a vertebral body and the pelvis.
18. A method for producing a change in the spacing existing between a pair of selected, spaced skeletal bones in a patient comprising
implanting an elongate, unidirectional, distributed-RF-controllable, length-change force-applying instrumentality in an operative driving condition between a pair of such bones,
selectively subjecting the implanted instrumentality to RF activation distributed along its length in a manner wherein length-change action in the instrumentality occurs therealong at plural, distributed points of RF control, and
as a consequence of said subjecting, effecting a controlled spacing change between the selected bones.
19. The method of claim 18 which further comprises enabling a selected character of relative spacing-change motion between the selected bones notwithstanding the presence therebetween of the implanted instrumentality.
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 liquid cartridge comprising:
a container having a liquid supply port connectable to a flowing path communicating with a recording head of liquid jet printer, said container being a bottomed-box type container having said liquid supply port, and a lid member sealing an opening portion of said container;
a memory unit including a memory section storing therein data about a liquid housed in the container and an electric power generating section; and
an antenna portion provided on a wall opposed to a wall in which said liquid supply port is formed, and including a rectangular conductive pattern electrically connected to said memory unit, which communicates the data in said memory section to a recording apparatus by radio, and said antenna portion can receive a carrier wave, which is converted into DC electric power by said electric power generating section to become working electric power,
wherein the carrier wave is transmitted from the recording apparatus, and
after stopping transmission of the carrier wave, the memory unit calculates an amount of said liquid housed in the container based on a signal from a sensor, and the amount of said liquid and said data about said liquid stored in the memory section are transmitted from said antenna portion to the recording apparatus.
2. The liquid cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said antenna portion is formed with a base body on which the conductive pattern is provided.
3. The liquid cartridge according to claim 2, wherein said memory unit and the sensor are provided on said base body.
4. The liquid cartridge according to claim 3, wherein an expansion part is formed at one end of said base body, and said sensor is mounted on said expansion part.
5. The liquid cartridge according to claim 2, wherein said antenna portion is formed of a conductive layer formed on a rectangular said base body, said conductive layer having a rectangular and at least one spiral pattern.
6. The liquid cartridge according to claim 2, wherein said conductive pattern of said antenna portion is provided so as to occupy at least 70% of one wall surface region of said container.
7. The liquid cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said antenna portion is formed with the conductive pattern constituting an antenna on a base body and by mounting said memory unit.
8. The liquid cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said container is formed so that a width thereof is different according to a kind of the liquid, and another antenna portion of the same specification is provided on a wall opposed to a wall of said container on which said liquid supply port is formed.
9. The liquid cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a recess is formed in a region where said antenna portion is arranged, and the antenna portion is housed in said recess.
10. The liquid cartridge according to claim 9, wherein said recess is formed so that a depth thereof is larger than a thickness of said antenna portion.
11. The liquid cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a protective cover material is stuck onto at least an upper surface of said antenna portion.
12. The liquid cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a lever supporting an attachment operation is provided on at least one wall surface.