Author: claimsbot

1. A rotational atherectomy device for ablation of occluding material in a blood vessel having a diameter, comprising:
a catheter having an outer diameter less than the diameter of the blood vessel and a lumen therethrough and further comprising a distal end and a longitudinal axis;
a rotatable drive shaft having a lumen therethrough and rotatable and axially translatable within the lumen of the catheter; and
an ablating element attached to the distal end of the rotatable drive shaft, comprising more than one flexible finger, each flexible finger comprising a cutting edge, the cutting edge having an obtuse angle as defined by the angle of intersection of the cutting edge and a line tangent to a circle formed by the cutting edge’s tip during rotation and an external surface having a grinding surface thereon, the ablating element comprising deformed retracted position when constrained within the lumen of the catheter and an undeformed expanded position automatically achieved when the ablating element is not constrained within the lumen of the catheter, wherein the deformed retracted position comprises a symmetric profile and the undeformed expanded position comprises an asymmetric profile.
2. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 1, further comprising a rotating means, whereby the ablating element may be rotated to cut and to grind when rotated in one direction and grind when rotated in the opposite direction.
3. The rotational device of claim 1, further comprising the expanded asymmetric ablating element having a resting diameter and a rotating diameter, wherein the resting diameter is less than the rotating diameter.
4. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 1, wherein the more than one flexible finger of the ablating element comprises a shape memory alloy.
5. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 1, wherein the undeformed asymmetric expanded position is achieved by increasing the temperature differentially to select fingers of the ablating element.
6. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 1, wherein the undeformed asymmetric expanded position is achieved by decreasing the temperature differentially to select fingers of the ablating element.
7. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 1, wherein asymmetric undeformed expanded profile of the ablating element is achieved by differential density of the material used in one or more of the more than one fingers.
8. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 1, wherein the retracted position of the ablating element comprises a diameter of 6 French and the expanded position of the ablating element comprises a diameter of 9 mm.
9. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 1, further comprising a piezo device in operative communication with the ablating element, wherein actuation of the piezo device results in ablation by high-frequency vibration of the ablating element.
10. A rotational atherectomy device for ablation of occluding material in a blood vessel having a diameter, comprising:
a catheter having an outer diameter less than the diameter of the blood vessel and a lumen therethrough and further comprising a distal end and a longitudinal axis;
a rotatable drive shaft having a lumen therethrough and rotatable and axially translatable within the lumen of the catheter;
an ablating element attached to the distal end of the rotatable drive shaft, comprising more than one flexible finger, each flexible finger comprising a cutting edge having an obtuse angle defined by the angle of intersection of the cutting edge and a line tangent to a circle formed by the cutting edge’s tip during rotation and an external surface having a grinding surface thereon, the ablating element comprising deformed retracted position when constrained within the lumen of the catheter and an undeformed expanded position automatically achieved when the ablating element is not constrained within the lumen of the catheter, wherein the deformed retracted position comprises a symmetric profile and the undeformed expanded position comprises a symmetric profile; and
a rotating means, whereby the ablating element may be rotated to cut and grind when rotated in one direction and grind when rotated in the opposite direction.
11. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 10, further comprising at least part of at least one of the more than one flexible fingers manufactured from a material that is more dense than the material of the remaining fingers and wherein the ablating element comprises an undeformed expanded resting diameter and a rotating diameter, wherein the rotating diameter is greater than its resting diameter.
12. A rotational atherectomy device for ablation of occluding material in a blood vessel having a diameter, comprising:
a catheter having an outer diameter less than the diameter of the blood vessel and a lumen therethrough and further comprising a distal end and a longitudinal axis;
a rotatable drive shaft having a lumen therethrough and rotatable and axially translatable within the lumen of the catheter;
an ablating element attached to the distal end of the rotatable drive shaft, comprising more than one flexible finger, each flexible finger comprising a cutting edge having an obtuse angle as defined by the angle of intersection of the cutting edge and a line tangent to a circle formed by the cutting edge’s tip during rotation and an external surface having a grinding surface thereon; and
an actuating device having a profile and operable by an operator of the rotational atherectomy device, the ablating element further comprising an undeformed retracted position and a deformed expanded position achieved by actuation of the actuating device, the deformed expanded position comprising a profile that is in accordance with the profile of the actuating device.
13. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 12, wherein the actuating device comprises a symmetric profile and wherein the deformed expanded position of the ablating element comprises a symmetric profile.
14. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 12, wherein the actuating device comprises an asymmetric profile and wherein the deformed expanded position of the ablating element comprises an asymmetric profile.
15. The rotational atherectomy device of claim 12, wherein the actuating device comprises one of the group consisting of a symmetric wedge, an asymmetric wedge, a symmetrically inflatable balloon, and an asymmetrically inflatable balloon.
16. A method of ablating material within a lumen using the present invention may comprise:
providing a catheter having an outer diameter smaller than the lumen;
advancing the catheter through the lumen to a position proximate the occluding material;
advancing a drive shaft comprising an ablating element in a first deformed and retracted position within the catheter lumen;
urging the deformed retracted ablating element distally out of the catheter lumen and into an automatically undeformed expanded second position, wherein the fingers of ablating element comprise a cutting edge having an obtuse angle and a grinding surface;
allowing the cutting edge and the grinding surface to engage the occluding material by rotating in a first cutting and grinding direction;
allowing the grinding surface to engage the occluding material to engage the occluding material by rotating in a second grinding direction;
urging the expanded ablating element into its deformed retracted position; and
withdrawing the retracted ablating element from the lumen.
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:
providing a piezo device in operative communication with the ablating element;
vibrating the ablating element at high-frequency to ablate occluding material.
18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:
applying heat to urge the deformed retracted ablating element uniformly across all fingers of the ablating element into an undeformed expanded symmetric position; and
cooling the ablating element in its undeformed expanded position to urge the ablating element into its deformed retracted position.
19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:
applying heat to urge the deformed retracted ablating element differentially to selected fingers of the ablating element into an undeformed expanded asymmetric position; and
cooling the ablating element in its undeformed expanded position to urge the ablating element into its deformed retracted position.
20. The method of claim 16, further comprising applying electrical current uniformly to all fingers of the ablating element to urge the ablating element into its undeformed expanded and symmetric position and its deformed retracted position.
21. The method of claim 16, further comprising applying electrical current non-uniformly to all fingers of the ablating element to urge the ablating element into its undeformed expanded and asymmetric position and its deformed retracted position.
22. The method of claim 16, further comprising using a Peltier device to urge the ablating element from its undeformed expanded position into its deformed retracted position.

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 card presenting high quality image properties and desirable physical characteristics, the card comprising:
a polymeric backing sheet having a backing sheet thickness;
a lens sheet having a lens sheet thickness, wherein at least a portion of a first side of the lens sheet comprises a plurality of lenses, wherein a ratio of the lens sheet thickness to the backing sheet thickness is from about 0.5 to about 6.5;
an image layer viewable through the lens sheet;
an adhesive layer interposed between the polymeric backing sheet and the lens sheet, wherein the polymeric backing sheet and the lens sheet of the resulting card are physically inseparable without at least partially destroying the polymeric backing sheet, or the lens sheet; and
a machine-readable image on a side of the polymeric backing sheet opposite the adhesive layer.
2. The card of claim 1, wherein the plurality of lenses has a pitch of about 70 to about 100 lenses per inch.
3. The card of claim 1, wherein the lenses are lenticular lenses.
4. The card of claim 1, wherein the card has an overall thickness of about ten to about forty mil.
5. The card of claim 4, wherein the overall thickness is about thirty mil plus or minus ten percent.
6. The card of claim 5, wherein the backing sheet thickness is from about four to about twenty mil.
7. The card of claim 5, wherein the lens sheet thickness is from about ten to about twenty-six mil.
8. The card of claim 1, wherein the adhesive layer comprises a radiation curable adhesive or a moisture cure adhesive.
9. The card of claim 1, wherein the polymeric backing sheet is chosen from polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyester film laminated PVC, polyester film laminated polystyrene, PVC film laminated PVC, PVC laminated polystyrene, PVC film laminated polystyrene, compression laminated polystyrene, compression laminated PVC, polyester, polyolefin, polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS, acrylic, epoxy, polyurethane, and polycarbonate.
10. The card of claim 1, wherein the lens sheet material is chosen from polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (APET), and polyvinylchloride (PVC).
11. The card of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable image comprises a bar code or a magnetic stripe.
12. The card of claim 1, wherein the plurality of lenses comprises about ten to about seventy-five percent of the first side.
13. The card of claim 1, wherein the plurality of lenses comprises one hundred percent of the first side.
14. The card of claim 1, wherein the card has a finished trim size of about 3 \u215c inches by about 2 \u215b inches.
15. A card presenting high quality image properties and desirable physical characteristics, the card comprising:
a polymeric backing sheet having a backing sheet thickness;
a lens sheet comprising a polymeric material, wherein at least a portion of a first side of the lens sheet comprises a plurality of lenses, the plurality of lenses having a pitch of about 70 to about 100 lenses per inch;
an image layer viewable through the lens sheet; and
an adhesive layer interposed between the polymeric backing sheet and the lens sheet, wherein the polymeric backing sheet and the lens sheet of the resulting card are physically inseparable without at least partially destroying the polymeric backing sheet, or the lens sheet;
wherein the card has a total thickness of about 30 mils +\u221210%, and a finished trim size to about 3 \u215c inches by about 2 \u215b inches.
16. The card of claim 15, wherein the lenses are lenticular lenses.
17. The card of claim 15, wherein the backing sheet thickness is from about four to about twenty mil.
18. The card of claim 15, wherein the lens sheet thickness is from about ten to about twenty-six mil.
19. The card of claim 15, wherein the adhesive layer comprises a radiation curable adhesive or a moisture cure adhesive.
20. The card of claim 15, wherein the polymeric backing sheet is chosen from polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyester film laminated PVC, polyester film laminated polystyrene, PVC film laminated PVC, PVC laminated polystyrene, PVC film laminated polystyrene, compression laminated polystyrene, compression laminated PVC, polyester, polyolefin, polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS, acrylic, epoxy, polyurethane, and polycarbonate.
21. The card of claim 15, wherein the lens sheet material is chosen from polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (APET), and polyvinylchloride (PVC).
22. The card of claim 15, wherein the machine-readable image comprises a bar code or a magnetic stripe.
23. The card of claim 15, wherein the plurality of lenses comprises about ten to about seventy-five percent of the first side.
24. The card of claim 15, wherein the plurality of lenses comprises one hundred percent of the first side.

1. A device removingre-inserting structure for a construction machine configured such that an upper member is mounted above a lower member as a load support member by a plurality of pillars in a state that a device installation space is formed between the lower and upper members, and that a device is horizontally removedre-inserted in the device installation space from the outside through an insertionremoval port formed in a lateral portion of the device installation space, the structure comprising:
the demountable pillar, of the plurality of pillars, which is disposed on a removalre-insertion path of the device in a state that the demountable pillar obstructs a removalre-insertion of the device, wherein
the demountable pillar is demountably mounted to the lower and upper members in such a manner as to allow a removalre-insertion of the device through the insertionremoval port.
2. The device removingre-inserting structure as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
a switching unit which switches the demountable pillar between a load support state where a total height dimension of the demountable pillar including other members is equal to the interval between the lower and upper members to support a load, and a no-load state where the total height dimension is smaller than the interval by demounting the other members, wherein
the demountable pillar is demounted from between the lower and upper members in the no-load state to allow the removalre-insertion of the device.
3. The device removingre-inserting structure as defined in claim 2, wherein
the other members include a spacer,
the switching unit is provided with a screw unit which is adapted to raise or lower a member on an upper side of the spacer by a screw thrust force of the screw unit, and
a spacer detachmentre-attachment gap is formed by the screw unit to detachre-attach the spacer, and the spacer is detached to form a pillar demountingre-mounting gap between the upper member and the lower member so as to bring the demountable pillar to the no-load state for demountingre-mounting the demountable pillar.
4. A device removingre-inserting method for a construction machine configured such that an upper member is mounted above a lower member as a load support member by a plurality of pillars in a state that a device installation space is formed between the lower and upper members, and that a device is horizontally removedre-inserted in the device installation space from the outside through an insertionremoval port formed in a lateral portion of the device installation space, the method comprising the steps of:
a first step of demountably mounting the demountable pillar, of the plurality of pillars, which is disposed on a removalre-insertion path of the device in a state that the demountable pillar obstructs a removalre-insertion of the device;
a second step of demounting the demountable pillar from between the lower and upper members; and
a third step of removingre-inserting the device in the device installation space in a state that an upper load including the upper member is supported by the other pillars.
5. The device removingre-inserting method as defined in claim 4, wherein
the demountable pillar is configured to be switchable between a load support state where a total height dimension of the demountable pillar including other members is equal to an interval between the lower and upper members to support a load, and a no-load state where the total height dimension is smaller than the interval by demounting the other members, and
the demountable pillar is demounted from between the lower and upper members in the no-load state, and is re-mounted after the removalre-insertion of the device.
6. The device removingre-inserting method as defined in claim 5, wherein
the construction machine is provided with a spacer which increases the total height dimension of the demountable pillar to bring the demountable pillar to the load support state, and a screw unit which is adapted to raise or lower a member on an upper side of the spacer by a screw thrust force of the screw unit, and
in the second step, a spacer detachmentre-attachment gap is formed by the screw unit to detachre-attach the spacer, and the spacer is detached to form a pillar demountingre-mounting gap between the upper member and the lower member so as to bring the demountable pillar (16) to the no-load state for demountingre-mounting the demountable pillar.
7. The device removingre-inserting method as defined in claim 5, wherein
the construction machine is provided with a spacer which is disposed between the upper member and the lower member, and has a predetermined thickness on an upper side or a lower side of the demountable pillar, and a screw unit which raises a member on an upper side of the spacer by a screw thrust force of the screw unit, and
the second step includes
a sub step of raising the member on the upper side of the spacer until a spacer detachmentre-attachment gap is formed by the screw unit,
a sub step of detaching the spacer upon formation of the spacer detachmentre-attachment gap,
a sub step of releasing a raised state of the upper member by the screw unit to bring the demountable pillar to the no-load state, and
a sub step of demountingre-mounting the demountable pillar fromin between the upper member and the lower member.
8. The device removingre-inserting method as defined in claim 4, wherein
a fuel tank as the device is formed with a vertically extending recess groove in a lateral portion thereof toward the insertionremoval port, and
the demountable pillar is demountably mounted to the lower and upper members in a state that the demountable pillar is received in the recess groove.

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 photonic crystal defect structure for a vertical cavity surface emitting laser:
a plurality of holes arranged in a pattern; and
at least one missing hole defect in the pattern, a ratio of the hole diameter divided by the hole pitch being dependent upon the hole depth and set to produce single transverse mode operation.
2. The structure of claim 1, wherein a radius of said missing hole defect is set to achieve single mode operation.
3. The structure of claim 1, formed as part of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser, the laser including:
a substrate;
a bottom distributed Bragg reflector;
a top distributed Bragg reflector;
an electrical current aperture;
top and bottom electrodes; and
a vertical cavity between said bottom and said top distributed Bragg reflectors containing an active region.
4. The structure of claim 3, wherein said plurality of holes and said defect are finite depth holes formed in said top distributed Bragg reflector.
5. The structure of claim 3, wherein said plurality of holes and are finite depth holes that extend through said vertical cavity and extend through at least a part of each of said top and bottom distributed Bragg reflectors.
6. The structure of claim 3, wherein said plurality of holes and are infinite depth holes.
7. The structure of claim 3, comprising a plurality of defects arranged in said pattern.
8. The structure of claim 7, wherein said pattern comprises a seven point defect pattern.
9. The structure of claim 8, further comprises additional seven point defect patterns.
10. The structure of claim 3, comprising a plurality of said patterns, wherein some of said patterns are different and some are matched to provide transverse optical coupling.
11. The structure of claim 10, wherein patterns are matched by having matched dimensions of said holes, pitch between holes, hole depth and defect radius.
12. The structure of claim 3, wherein said electrical current aperture comprises an oxidized region in said vertical cavity.
13. The structure of claim 3, wherein said electrical current aperture comprises an ion implanted region in said vertical cavity.
14. The structure of claim 3, wherein a refractive index difference within said vertical cavity is small enough to achieve single transverse mode operation.
15. The laser of claim 3, wherein a radius of said missing hole defect is set to achieve single mode operation.
16. The laser of claim 15, wherein dimensions are set such that the V-parameter of the laser is set such that Veff is less than 2.405, wherein Veff is defined by:
3
V
eff

=
2
r
n
eff
2

–
(
n
eff

–
n
)

2
where is an operating wavelength, r is an equivalent defect radius, neff is the effective refractive index of the said vertical cavity without a photonic crystal hole pattern and defect structure present, n is the refractive index reduction introduced by the said pattern and said one or more defects, and is the depth dependence single transverse mode factor.
17. The laser of claim 16, wherein n is set through optimization to an increased amount that maintains Veff is less than 2.405.
18 The laser of claim 17, wherein n is set to be greater than 103.
19. The structure of claim 1, comprising a plurality of defects arranged in said pattern.
20. A photonic crystal defect structure in a vertical cavity surface emitting laser, comprising:
a substrate;
a bottom electrode electrically contacting said substrate;
a bottom distributed Bragg reflector formed on an opposite side of said substrate from said bottom electrode;
a top distributed Bragg reflector;
a plurality of finite depth holes arranged in a pattern and a missing hole defect in the pattern, the pattern being formed in at least a portion of said top distributed Bragg reflector, the diameter, pitch and depth of the holes being defined by a depth dependence single transverse mode factor;
a vertical cavity including claddings that clad an active region, said vertical cavity being between said top and bottom distributed Bragg reflectors; and
a top electrode including an aperture larger than the pattern.
21. The structure of claim 20, comprising a plurality of defects arranged in said pattern.
22. The structure of claim 20, comprising a plurality of said patterns, wherein some of said patterns are different and some are matched to provide transverse optical coupling.