1. A bracelet donning assistance device, comprising:
a tray having a base and at least one sidewall, the tray defining an open interior region;
a shaft having opposed upper and lower ends, the lower end being pivotally attached to an upper surface of the base of the tray;
a clamp attached to the upper end of the shaft for releasably holding a bracelet; and
a pair of lids pivotally attached to the at least one sidewall for releasably covering and sealing the open interior region of the tray, each of the lids having a central recess formed therein to define a central opening when the pair of lids are in a closed position, the shaft extending through the central opening when the shaft is in an upright position.
2. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 1, further comprising a hollow mount having opposed upper and lower ends, the upper end thereof being open, the shaft being slidably received within the hollow mount, the lower end of the hollow mount being pivotally secured to the base.
3. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 2, further comprising an interior wall mounted within said tray, the lower end of the hollow mount being pivotally secured to a central portion thereof.
4. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 3, further comprising a pair of brackets mounted on said base and positioned adjacent the central portion of the interior wall, a pair of posts being formed on the lower end of the hollow mount, the pair of posts extending through a corresponding pair of apertures formed through the central portion of the interior wall and pivotally engaging the pair of brackets.
5. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 2, further comprising means for releasably angularly locking said shaft with respect to the hollow mount.
6. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 5, further comprising a spring-loaded locking pin mounted within said shaft for releasably engaging at least one opening formed through the hollow mount.
7. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 1, wherein said clamp comprises:
a clamp housing;
a plunger slidably received within the clamp housing; and
a hinged clip, whereby the bracelet is releasably held between an inner face of the hinged clip and a front face of the plunger.
8. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 7, wherein the plunger is spring-biased against the inner face of the hinged clip.
9. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 8, further comprising a handle mounted on the clamp housing and secured to the plunger for selectively disengaging the front face of the plunger from the inner face of the hinged clip.
10. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 9, further comprising a pair of pads secured to the front face of the plunger and the inner face of the hinged clip, respectively.
11. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 10, further comprising a plug for releasably sealing the central opening of said pair of lids when the shaft is in a stored position within said tray, said plug being mounted on said hollow mount.
12. A bracelet donning assistance device, comprising:
a tray having a base and at least one sidewall, the tray defining an open interior region;
a shaft having opposed upper and lower ends, the lower end thereof being pivotally secured to an upper surface of the base of the tray;
a clamp attached to the upper end of the shaft for releasably holding a bracelet, the clamp comprising:
a clamp housing;
a plunger slidably received within the clamp housing; and
a hinged clip adapted for releasably holding the bracelet between an inner face of the hinged clip and a front face of the plunger; and
a pair of lids pivotally attached to the at least one sidewall for releasably covering and sealing the open interior region of the tray, a central recess being formed in each of the lids to define a central opening when the pair of lids are in a closed position, the shaft extending through the central opening when the shaft is in an upright position.
13. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 12, further comprising a hollow mount having opposed upper and lower ends, the upper end thereof being open, the shaft being slidably received within the hollow mount, the lower end of the hollow mount being pivotally secured to the base.
14. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 13, further comprising an interior wall mounted within the tray, the lower end of the hollow mount being pivotally secured to a central portion thereof.
15. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 14, further comprising a pair of brackets mounted on said base and positioned adjacent the central portion of the interior wall, a pair of posts being formed on the lower end of the hollow mount, the pair of posts extending through a corresponding pair of apertures formed through the central portion of the interior wall and pivotally engaging the pair of brackets.
16. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 15, further comprising means for releasably angularly locking said shaft with respect to the hollow mount.
17. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 16, further comprising a spring-loaded locking pin mounted within said shaft for releasably engaging at least one opening formed through the hollow mount.
18. The bracelet donning assistance device as recited in claim 17, wherein the plunger is spring-biased against the inner face of the hinged clip.
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 waveguide-type polarization beam splitter formed on a substrate, the waveguide-type polarization beam splitter comprising:
one or two input optical waveguides;
a first optical coupler optically coupled to the one or two input optical waveguides and having one input and two outputs or two inputs and two outputs;
a second optical coupler having two inputs and one output or two inputs and two outputs; and
a pair of optical waveguide arms each optically coupled to a corresponding one of the outputs of the first optical coupler and to a corresponding one of the inputs of the second optical coupler such that each of the optical waveguide arms extends between the first and second optical couplers,
wherein
a groove is provided to extend across the pair of optical waveguide arms, two quarter wave plates are inserted in the groove to extend respectively across the pair of optical waveguide arms, and polarization axes of the respective two quarter wave plates are orthogonal to each other,
one of the first optical coupler and the second optical coupler is an optical coupler which gives a phase shift of about 90\xb0 or about \u221290\xb0 between coupled or split light beams, and another one of the first optical coupler and the second optical coupler is an optical coupler which gives a phase shift of about 0\xb0 or about 180\xb0 between coupled or split light beams, and
each of the optical waveguide arms has a length measured from the first optical coupler to the second optical coupler, the length of each of the optical waveguide arms being equal so as to reduce wavelength dependence of the waveguide-type polarization beam splitter.
2. The waveguide-type polarization beam splitter according to claim 1, wherein the optical coupler which gives the phase shift of about 0\xb0 or about 180\xb0 between coupled or split light beams is any one of a Y-branch coupler, a multimode interference optical coupler having one input and two outputs, a multimode interference optical coupler having two inputs and one output, and an X-branch coupler.
3. The waveguide-type polarization beam splitter according to claim 1, wherein the optical coupler which gives the phase shift of about 90\xb0 or about \u221290\xb0 between coupled or split light beams is a multimode interference optical coupler having two inputs and two outputs or a directional coupler.
4. The waveguide-type polarization beam splitter according to claim 1, wherein the angles of the polarization axes of the two quarter wave plates respectively form angles of 0\xb0 and 90\xb0 with respect to a substrate plane of the waveguides.
5. The waveguide-type polarization beam splitter according to claim 1, wherein each of the two quarter wave plates is a polyimide wave plate.
6. The waveguide-type polarization beam splitter according to claim 1, wherein the waveguide-type polarization beam splitter further comprises tapered portions before and after the groove.
7. The waveguide-type polarization beam splitter according to claim 1, wherein the waveguide-type polarization beam splitter further comprises waveguide lenses before and after the groove.
8. The waveguide-type polarization beam splitter according to claim 1, wherein each of the optical waveguides is a quartz-based optical waveguide formed on a silicon substrate.
9. A waveguide-type polarization beam splitter formed on a substrate, the waveguide-type polarization beam splitter comprising:
an input optical waveguide;
a first optical coupler having an input and first and second outputs, the input optical waveguide being optically coupled to the input of the first optical coupler;
a second optical coupler having first and second inputs and one or two outputs, one of the first and second optical couplers being configured to give a phase shift of about 90\xb0 or about \u221290\xb0 between coupled or split light beams, and the other of the first and second optical couplers being configured to give a phase shift of about 0\xb0 or about 180\xb0 between coupled or split light beams;
first and second optical waveguide arms extending respectively from the first and second outputs of the first optical coupler to the first and second inputs of the second optical coupler, the first and second optical waveguide arms each having a length measured from the first optical coupler to the second optical coupler, the lengths of the first and second optical waveguide arms being equal so as to reduce wavelength dependence of the waveguide-type polarization beam splitter; and
first and second quarter wave plates extending respectively across the first and second optical waveguide arms, the first and second quarter wave plated being positioned in a groove extending across the first and second optical waveguide arms, the first and second quarter wave plates having polarization axes orthogonal to each other.
10. A waveguide-type polarization beam splitter formed on a substrate, the waveguide-type polarization beam splitter comprising:
first and second input optical waveguides;
a first optical coupler having first and second inputs and first and second outputs, the first and second input optical waveguides being optically coupled respectively to the first and second inputs of the first optical coupler;
a second optical coupler having first and second inputs and one or two outputs, one of the first and second optical couplers being configured to give a phase shift of about 90\xb0 or about \u221290\xb0 between coupled or split light beams, and the other of the first and second optical couplers being configured to give a phase shift of about 0\xb0 or about 180\xb0 between coupler of split light beams;
first and second optical waveguide arms extending respectively from the first and second outputs of the first optical coupler to the first and second inputs of the second optical coupler, the first and second optical waveguide arms each having a length measured from the first optical coupler to the second optical coupler, the lengths of the first and second optical waveguide arms being equal so as to reduce wavelength dependence of the waveguide-type polarization beam splitter; and
first and second quarter wave plates extending respectively across the first and second optical waveguide arms, the first and second quarter wave plates being positioned in groove extending across the first and second optical waveguide arms, the first and second quarter wave plates having polarization axes orthogonal to each other.