Author: claimsbot

1. A method for dynamically filtering network performance test results comprising the steps of:
displaying a performance index for each of one of a plurality of applications that execute on a network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network and an identification of each of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network;
filtering the network performance test results based on a first user selection of one of the identifications to provide network performance test results associated with the selected one of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network as first filtered results;
obtaining performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network based on the first filtered results responsive to the first user selection; and
displaying the obtained performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network responsive to the first user selection.
2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of applications are application programs executing on the first plurality of devices and the network performance test results are based on passive monitoring of the application programs executing on the first plurality of devices.
3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the network performance test results are associated with a client-server communications network and wherein the first plurality of devices are client devices on the communications network.
4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of applications are application scripts and the network performance test results are based on active network testing of a communications network by the first plurality of devices using the application scripts.
5. A method according to claim 4 wherein the network performance test results are based on endpoint pair based active network testing using an endpoint specific test protocol between a designated first endpoint and an associated second endpoint and wherein the first plurality of devices are designated first endpoint devices.
6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of displaying the obtained performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices further comprises the step of displaying identifications of the other of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices and wherein the step of displaying the obtained performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices is followed by the steps of:
filtering the first filtered results based on a second user selection of one of the identifications of the other of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices to provide second filtered results;
obtaining performance indexes for a second plurality of devices coupled to the network based on the second filtered results responsive to the second user selection; and
displaying the obtained performance indexes for the second plurality of devices coupled to the network responsive to the second user selection.
7. A method according to claim 6 wherein the network performance test results are associated with a client-server communications network and wherein the first plurality of devices are client devices on the communications network and wherein the second plurality of devices are server devices on the communications network.
8. A method according to claim 6 wherein the network performance test results are associated with a client-server communications network and wherein the first plurality of devices are server devices on the communications network and wherein the second plurality of devices are client devices on the communications network.
9. A method according to claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining performance indexes further comprises the step of generating a severity index for each of the other of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices characterizing network performance test results based on a number of exception events for each of a plurality of types of network performance tests and wherein the step of displaying the obtained performance indexes comprises the step of displaying the generated severity indexes.
10. A method according to claim 9 wherein the plurality of types of network performance tests include at least one of throughput, response time, application availability and transaction rate.
11. A method according to claim 9 wherein the step of generating a severity index further comprises the step of identifying exception events for each of the plurality of types of network performance tests using threshold criteria for each of the plurality of types of network performance tests which are based on a specified percentage of baseline results for the respective types of network performance tests.
12. A method according to claim 11 wherein the step of identifying exception events further comprises the step obtaining the specified percentages from a user to provide threshold criteria having a user selected sensitivity.
13. A method according to claim 11 wherein the step of identifying exception events further comprises the following steps performed for each of the plurality of types of network performance tests:
designating a number of data buckets for the respective type of network performance test and an associated range for each of the data buckets, at least one of the number of data buckets or the associated range for each of the data buckets being selected based on a desired range for the specified percentages, the data buckets comprising the baseline results;
generating a network performance test data record based on a transaction that is performed over the network;
incrementing one of the designated data buckets having an associated range including the generated network performance test data record to record the network performance test data record;
determining ones of the data buckets satisfying the specified percentage for the respective type of network performance test based on numbers of records recorded in the data buckets; and
identifying an exception event if the generated network performance test data record corresponds to a data bucket not satisfying the specified percentage.
14. A method according to claim 13 wherein the specified percentage falls within the range of one of the data buckets and wherein the step of determining ones of the data buckets satisfying the specified percentage further comprises the step of designating a first portion of the one of the data buckets as satisfying the specified percentage and a second portion of the one of the data buckets as not satisfying the specified percentage based on the specified percentage and treating the data records within the one of the data buckets as being uniformly distributed.
15. A method according to claim 9 further comprising the steps of:
obtaining information related to the number of exception events for each of a plurality of types of network performance tests associated with a displayed one of the generated severity indexes responsive to a user selection of the displayed one of the generated severity indexes; and
displaying the obtained information responsive to the user selection of the displayed one of the generated severity indexes.
16. A method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
displaying a trend associated with the performance index for each of one of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices;
obtaining trends associated with each of the obtained performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices responsive to the first user selection; and
displaying the obtained trends associated with each of the obtained performance indexes responsive to the first user selection.
17. A method according to claim 16 wherein the steps of displaying a performance index for each of one of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices and displaying a trend associated with the performance index for each of the one of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices are executed concurrently and wherein the steps of displaying the obtained performance indexes and displaying the obtained trends are executed concurrently and wherein the trends are displayed associated with their respective performance indexes.
18. A method according to claim 17 further comprising the steps of:
obtaining information related to performance trends for each of a plurality of types of network performance tests associated with a displayed one of the obtained trends responsive to a user selection of the displayed one of the obtained trends; and
displaying the obtained information responsive to the user selection of the displayed one of the obtained trends.
19. A method for identifying a network performance problem based on network performance test results comprising the steps of:
generating a performance index for each of one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a plurality of first devices coupled to the network and an identification of each of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a plurality of first devices coupled to the network based on the network performance test results;
selecting one of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a plurality of first devices coupled to the network associated with a worst one of the generated performance indexes to provide a first selection;
filtering the network performance test results based on the first selection to provide network performance test results associated with the selected one of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network as first filtered results;
obtaining performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network based on the first filtered results responsive to the first selection;
selecting one of the obtained performance indexes associated with a worst one of the obtained performance indexes to provide a second selection;
obtaining information related to a number of exception events for each of a plurality of types of network performance tests, the exception events being associated with the selected one of the obtained performance indexes, responsive to the second selection;
selecting one of the plurality of types of network performance tests associated with a worst one of the number of exception events to provide a third selection; and
obtaining information related to the worst one of the number of exception events responsive to the third selection.
20. A method for recording network Performance measurements for a communications network comprising the steps of:
designating a number of data buckets for the network performance measurements and an associated range for each of the data buckets, at least one of the number of data buckets or the associated range for each of the data buckets being selected based on a user interest criterion;
obtaining one of the network performance measurements based on a communication transaction over the communications network;
incrementing one of the designated data buckets having an associated range including the obtained one of the network performance measurements to record the generated one of the network performance measurements; and
wherein designating a number of data buckets comprises:
determining a maximum and a minimum expected value for the network performance measurements;
determining a desired granularity for the network performance measurements; and
determining the number of data buckets based on the maximum and minimum expected values and the desired granularity.
21. A method according to claim 20 wherein the step of designating a number of data buckets further comprises the steps of:
identifying a first range of values between the maximum and the minimum expected value as a preferred range; and
associating a portion of the data buckets to the preferred range which exceeds a ratio of the preferred range to a difference between the maximum and the minimum expected value to provide an increased granularity in the preferred range.
22. A method according to claim 21 wherein the step of identifying a first range further comprises the step of identifying the first range to cover an expected range of performance threshold criteria for the network performance measurements.
23. A method for characterizing performance of a communications network comprising the step of generating a severity index associated with at least one of an application executing on the network or a device coupled to the network based on a number of exception events for each of a plurality of types of network performance tests, wherein the step of generating a severity index comprises the step of generating the severity index based on a function of a ratio of the severity points to a total transaction count over which the severity points were obtained.
24. A method according to claim 23 wherein the plurality of types of network performance tests include at least one of throughput, response time, application availability and transaction rate.
25. A method according to claim 24 wherein the step of generating a severity index further comprises the step of providing each of the plurality of types of network performance tests a selected weighting in the severity index.
26. A method according to claim 25 wherein the step of generating a severity index further comprises the step of pre-scaling each of the exception events based on a degree of deviation of the exception event wherein an exception based on a larger degree of deviation is provided a greater magnitude of severity points.
27. A method according to claim 26 wherein the step of generating a severity index comprises the step of generating the severity index based on a logarithmic function of the ratio of the severity points to the total transaction count over which the severity points were obtained.
28. A system for dynamically filtering network performance test results comprising:
a display that displays a performance index for each of one of a plurality of applications that execute on a network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network and an identification of each of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network;
a filter module that filters the network performance test results based on a first user selection of one of the identifications to provide network performance test results associated with the selected one of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network as first filtered results;
a performance index generation module that obtains performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network based on the first filtered results responsive to the first user selection; and
wherein the display is configured to display the obtained performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network responsive to the first user selection.
29. A system for dynamically filtering network performance test results comprising:
means for displaying a performance index for each of one of a plurality of applications that execute on a network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network and an identification of each of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network;
means for filtering the network performance test results based on a first user selection of one of the identifications to provide network performance test results associated with the selected one of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network as first filtered results;
means for obtaining performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network based on the first filtered results responsive to the first user selection; and
means for displaying the obtained performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network responsive to the first user selection.
30. A system for recording network performance measurements for a communications network comprising:
means for designating a number of data buckets for the network performance measurements and an associated range for each of the data buckets, at least one of the number of data buckets or the associated range for each of the data buckets being selected based on a user interest criterion;
means for obtaining one of the network performance measurements based on a communication transaction over the communications network;
means for incrementing one of the designated data buckets having an associated range including the obtained one of the network performance measurements to record the generated one of the network performance measurements; and
wherein the means for designating a number of data buckets comprises:
means for determining a maximum and a minimum expected value for the network performance measurements;
means for determining a desired granularity for the network performance measurements; and
means for determining the number of data buckets based on the maximum and minimum expected values and the desired granularity.
31. A system for characterizing performance of a communications network comprising:
means for detecting exception events for a plurality of types of network performance tests; and
means for generating a severity index associated with at least one of an application executing on the network or a device coupled to the network based on a number of exception events for each of a plurality of types of network performance tests, wherein the step of generating a severity index comprises the step of generating severity index based on a function of a ratio of the severity points to a total transaction count over which the severity points were obtained.
32. A computer program product for dynamically filtering network performance test results, the computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising:
computer-readable program code that displays a performance index for each of one of a plurality of applications that execute on a network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network and an identification of each of the one of a plurality of applications that execute on the network or a first plurality of devices coupled to the network;
computer-readable program code that filters the network performance test results based on a first user selection of one of the identifications to provide network performance test results associated with the selected one of the one of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices as first filtered results;
computer-readable program code that obtains performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices based on the first filtered results responsive to the first user selection; and
computer-readable program code that displays the obtained performance indexes for the other of a plurality of applications or a first plurality of devices responsive to the first user selection.
33. A computer program product for recording network performance measurements for a communications network, the computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising:
computer-readable program code that designates a number of data buckets for the network performance measurements and an associated range for each of the data buckets, at least one of the number of data buckets or the associated range for each of the data buckets being selected based on a user interest criterion;
computer-readable program code that obtains one of the network performance measurements based on a communication transaction over the communications network;
computer-readable program code that increments one of the designated data buckets having an associated range including the obtained one of the network performance measurements to record the generated one of the network performance measurements; and
wherein the computer-readable program code that designates a number of data buckets comprises:
computer-readable program code that determines a maximum and a minimum expected value for the network performance measurements;
computer-readable program code that determines a desired granularity for the network performance measurements; and
computer-readable program code that determines the number of data buckets based on the maximum and minimum expected values and the desired granularity.
34. A computer program product for characterizing performance of a communications network, the computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising:
computer-readable program code that detects exception events related to a communication transaction on a communications network for a plurality of types of network performance tests; and
computer-readable program code that generates a severity index associated with at least one of an application executing on the network or a device connected to the network based on a number of exception events for each of a plurality of types of network performance tests, wherein the step of generating a severity index comprises the step of generating severity index based on a function of a ratio of the severity points to a total transaction count over which the severity points were obtained.

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 controlling a laser diode for use in an optical disk player, the laser diode reading a data signal from an optical disk, said method comprising the steps of:
creating a data playback clock signal from said data signal; and
turning off light emitted from said laser diode in synchronism with said data playback clock signal;
wherein said light emmitted from said laser diode is turned off in synchronism with a signal obtained by multiplying said data playback clock signal created from said data signal that is read from said optical disk.
2. The method of controlling a laser diode for use in an optical disk player as set forth in claim 1, wherein said laser diode is switched from continuous operation to intermittent operation after said data playback clock signal has stabilized.
3. The method of controlling a laser diode for use in an optical disk player as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein said laser diode is switched from continuous operation to intermittent operation according to a focus lock signal produced when laser light is focused onto a surface of the disk.
4. The method of controlling a laser diode for use in an optical disk player as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein said laser diode is switched from intermittent operation to continuous operation according to a mute signal obtained when sound is muted.
5. The method of controlling a laser diode for use in an optical disk player as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein a ratio of an emitting time for said laser diode to a non-emitting time for said laser diode is arbitrarily variable.
6. A laser control circuit for an optical disk player, comprising:
a frequency multiplier circuit for receiving a data playback clock signal created from a data signal that is read from an optical disk and multiplying said data playback clock signal;
a pulse width-adjusting circuit for adjusting a ratio of the width of an ON pulse of an output signal from said frequency multiplier circuit to a width of an OFF pulse to an arbitrary value and for producing said ration as an output signal;
a mode-switching circuit for receiving said output signal from said pulse width-adjusting circuit; a focus lock signal produced when laser light directed to a surface of said disk is brought to a focus, and a mute signal obtained when sound is muted, and for switching a mode of operation of said laser diode between continuous operation and intermittent operation in which said laser diode emits intermittently according to said output signal from said pulse width-adjusting circuit, and for producing a mode-switching circuit output signal;
a laser diode driver circuit for controlling emission of said laser diode according to said mode-switching circuit output signal;
a laser diode, capable of emitting and whose emission is controlled by said laser diode driver circuit;
wherein said mode-switching circuit switches a mode of operation of said laser diode from continuous operation to intermittent operation according to a focus lock signal produced when said laser light directed to said disk surface is brought to a focus and switches said mode of operation of said laser diode from intermittent operation to continuous operation according to a mute signal obtained when sound is muted.
7. A laser control circuit for an optical disk player having a driver circuit for controlling emission of a laser diode for reading an optical disk, said laser control circuit comprising a frequency multiplier circuit for receiving a data playback clock signal created from a data signal that is read from said optical disk and multiplying said data playback clock signal;
wherein said driver circuit produces a drive signal for driving said laser diode according to an output signal from said frequency multiplier circuit to cause said laser diode to emit intermittently in synchronism with said data playback clock signal.
8. A method of controlling a laser diode for use in an optical disk player, the laser diode reading a data signal from an optical disk, said method comprising the steps of:
creating a data playback clock signal from said data signal; and
turning off light emitted from said laser diode in synchronism with said data playback clock signal;
wherein said laser diode is switched from continuous operation to intermittent operation according to a focus lock signal produced when laser light is focused onto a surface of the disk.
9. A method of controlling a laser diode for use in an optical disk player, the laser diode reading a data signal from an optical disk, said method comprising the steps of:
creating a data playback clock signal from said data signal; and
turning off light emitted from said laser diode in synchronism with said data playback clock signal;
wherein said laser diode is switched from intermittent operation to continuous operation according to a mute signal obtained when sound is muted.
10. A method of controlling a laser diode for use in a optical disk player, the laser diode reading a data signal from an optical disk, said method comprising the steps of:
creating a data playback clock signal from said data signal; and
turning off light emitted from said laser diode in synchronism with said data playback clock signal;
wherein a ratio of an emitting time for said laser diode to a non-emitting time for said laser diode is arbitrarily variable.

1. A method of performing reduction printing in an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:
receiving image data, in which a reduction print option is set, from a host device connected to the image forming apparatus;
determining whether there is at least one unprintable line due to the reduction print option based on line widths of lines forming at least one object included in the image data;
when it is determined that there is an unprintable line, determining whether a line width of the unprintable line will be compensated;
rendering the object based on the image data, in which a result of the determining of whether the line width of the unprintable line will be compensated is reflected; and
performing a reduction printing operation by printing the object based on a rendering result.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein, in the determining of whether there is at least one unprintable line, it is determined that there is an unprintable line when there is a line width less than a threshold value.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the threshold value is 1 dot.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising compensating for the line width of the unprintable line to be a value that is printable by the image forming apparatus, when it is determined that the line width of the unprintable line will be compensated,
wherein, in the rendering of the object, the object is rendered based on the compensated line width.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the value that is printable is 1 dot.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating a line width of a line that will be reduced by a reduction ratio set in the reduction print option,
wherein the determining of whether there is at least one unprintable line is performed based on the calculated line width.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of compensation is performed based on a raster operator between lines, when the image data includes a plurality of lines that will be printed as overlapping each other due to compensation of line widths.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein, in the determining of compensation, it is determined that line widths of non-overlappable lines are not compensated based on the raster operator.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein it is determined that line widths of overlappable lines are compensated based on the raster operator.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the reduction print option is at least one of an option for reducing a plurality of pages on one printing medium, and an option for reducing one page on one printing medium by a predetermined reduction ratio.
11. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing a method, the method comprising;
receiving image data, in which a reduction print option is set, from a host device connected to the image forming apparatus;
determining whether there is at least one unprintable line due to the reduction print option based on line widths of lines forming at least one object included in the image data;
when it is determined that there is an unprintable line, determining whether a line width of the unprintable line will be compensated;
rendering the object based on the image data, in which a result of the determining of whether the line width of the unprintable line will be compensated is reflected; and
performing a reduction printing operation by printing the object based on a rendering result.
12. An image forming apparatus comprising:
a network interface unit to receive image data, in which a reduction print option is set, from a host device;
a line determiner to determine whether there is at least one unprintable line due to the reduction print option based on line widths of lines forming at least one object included in the image data;
a compensation determiner to determine whether a line width of the unprintable line will be compensated when it is determined that there is an unprintable line;
a rendering unit to render the object based on the image data in which a result of the compensation determiner is reflected; and
a printing unit to perform a reduction printing by printing the object based on a rendering result.
13. The image forming apparatus of claim 12, wherein the line determiner determines that there is an unprintable line when there is a line width less than a threshold value.
14. The image forming apparatus of claim 13, wherein the threshold value is 1 dot.
15. The image forming apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a compensator to compensate for the line width of the unprintable line to be a printable value in the image forming apparatus when it is determined that the line width of the unprintable line will be compensated,
wherein the rendering unit performs the rendering of the object based on the compensated line width.
16. The image forming apparatus of claim 15, wherein the value that is printable is 1 dot.
17. The image forming apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a calculator to calculate a line width of a line that will be reduced according to a reduction ratio set in the reduction print option,
wherein the line determiner performs the determining based on the calculated line width.
18. The image forming apparatus of claim 12, wherein the compensation determiner determines the compensation based on a raster operator between lines, when the image data includes a plurality of lines that will be printed as overlapping each other due to compensation of line widths.
19. The image forming apparatus of claim 18, wherein the compensation determiner determines that line widths of non-overlappable lines are not compensated based on the raster. operator.
20. The image forming apparatus of claim 18, wherein the compensation determiner determines that line widths of overlappable lines are compensated based on the raster operator.

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 pneumatic chest compression vest comprising:
a front panel with an inner and outer surface and a first air port;
an air bladder which is in communication with the first air port;
a belt which is connected to one end of the front panel, is long enough to wrap around sides and back of a patient and across the outer surface of the front panel and having a first belt hole; and
a first air coupling which extends through the first belt hole and through the first air port to hold the belt in position and to connect the air bladder to a source of pneumatic pressure.
2. The vest of claim I and further comprising:
a second air port on the front panel in communication with the air bladder;
a second belt hole longitudinally spaced from the first belt hole along the belt; and
a second air coupling which extends through the second belt hole and the second air port to hold the belt in position and to connect the air bladder to the source of oscillating pneumatic pressure.
3. A pneumatic chest compression vest comprising:
a front panel with an inner and outer surface and a plurality of longitudinally spaced air ports extending therethrough;
an air bladder which is in communication with the air ports;
a belt which is connected to one end of the front panel, is long enough to wrap around sides and back of a patient and across the outer surface of the front panel, and has a plurality of longitudinally spaced belt holes, the plurality of belt holes being greater in number than the plurality of air ports, wherein when the belt is wrapped across the first panel each of the air ports is alignable with one of the belt holes; and
a plurality of air couplings, equal is number to the air ports, which extend through the alignable belt holes and through the air ports to hold the belt in position and to connect the air bladder to a source of pneumatic pressure.
4. The vest of claim 3 and further comprising:
a tab on the front panel that is insertable into one of the belt holes to assist in aligning belt holes with air ports.
5. The vest of claim 3 wherein the belt holes have slits.
6. The vest of claim 3 wherein the belt is made of an inelastic material.
7. The vest of claim 3 wherein the front panel is made of an inelastic material.
8. The vest of claim 3 wherein the belt is made of a material which produces no toxic emissions when burned and little particulate matter.
9. The vest of claim 3 wherein a height of the belt is between about 6.0 to 9.0 inches.
10. The vest of claim 3 wherein a length of the belt is about 36 inches.
11. The vest of claim 3 wherein the front panel and belt are made of 8 mil polycarbonate.
12. A pneumatic chest compression vest for applying pressure to a chest of a patient, the vest comprising:
an inflatable bladder;
a front panel positionable over the patient’s chest, the front panel carrying the inflatable bladder on an inner surface and having a first air port extending therethrough;
a belt having a first end portion connected to the front panel, having a middle portion for wrapping around a back of the patient, and having a second end portion for wrapping across an outer surface of the front panel, the second end portion having a first belt hole therethrough which is alignable with the first air port; and
an air coupling insertable through the first belt hole and through the first air coupling when they are aligned, for holding the second end portion of the belt in position and for connecting the air bladder to a source of pneumatic pressure.
13. The vest of claim 12 wherein the inflatable bladder engages a front and sides of the patient’s chest.
14. The vest of claim 12 wherein the inflatable bladder engages a region of the patient’s chest which encompasses lungs of the patient.
15. The vest of claim 12 wherein the vest is asymmetric from front to back.
16. The vest of claim 12 wherein the vest is shaped to apply a compressive force to cause the patient’s chest to change shape.
17. A pneumatic chest compression vest comprising:
a front panel with an inner surface, an outer surface, and a first air port extending between the inner surface and the outer surface;
an air bladder positioned on the inner surface of the front panel and in communication with the first air port;
a belt which is connected at a first end to the front panel and which is long enough to wrap around sides and back of a patient so that a second end portion of the belt extends across the outer surface of the front panel, the second end portion having a first belt hole which is alignable with the first air port; and
a first air coupling insertable through the first belt hole and through the first air port when they are aligned, for holding the belt in position and for connecting the air bladder to a source of pneumatic pressure.
18. The vest of claim 17 and further comprising:
a second air port on the front panel in communication with the air bladder;
a second belt hole longitudinally spaced from the first belt hole along the belt; and
a second air coupling which extends through the second belt hole and the second air port to hold the belt in position and to connect the air bladder to the source of oscillating pneumatic pressure.
19. The vest of claim 17 wherein the air bladder is shaped to produce compressive forces of a magnitude to induce deep sputum from a lung of the patient or fully clear the patient’s lung of mucus.
20. The vest of claim 17 and further comprising:
suspenders for positioning the vest.
21. The vest of claim 17 wherein the air bladder is integral with the front panel.
22. The vest of claim 17 wherein the front panel and belt remain substantially unchanged in shape when subjected to a source of oscillating pneumatic pressure.
23. The vest of claim 17 wherein a top edge of the front panel is positioned near a collar bone of the patient, and a bottom edge of the front panel is positioned near a bottom of a rib cage of the patient.
24. A pneumatic chest compression vest comprising:
a front panel with an inner and outer surface and a first air port;
an air bladder which is in communication with the first air port;
a belt which is connected to one end of the front panel, is long enough to wrap around sides and back of a patient and across the outer surface of the front panel, and has a plurality of longitudinally spaced belt holes; and
a first air coupling which extends through one of the belt holes and the first air port to hold the belt in position and to connect the air bladder to a source of oscillating pneumatic pressure.
25. A method of securing a pneumatic chest compression vest, the method comprising:
positioning a front panel of the vest over a patient’s chest, the front panel carrying an inflatable bladder;
wrapping a belt around the patient’s back and across the front panel so that belt holes are aligned with air ports in the front panel; and
inserting an air coupling through the aligned belt holes and air ports.