Dual-action pneumo-hydraulic crimping apparatus
Granted: January 17, 1995
Patent Number:
5381686
An apparatus for crimping a terminal onto a wire includes a hydraulic cylinder including a hydraulic ram, two normally open crimper jaws closeable by the hydraulic ram, and a hydraulic pressure supply for delivering hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic cylinder to operate the hydraulic ram and close the crimper jaws. The hydraulic pressure may be applied initially at a first level sufficient to cause the crimper jaws to close on and grip the terminal but less than sufficient to cause the…
Solid state laser with interleaved output
Granted: December 20, 1994
Patent Number:
5375132
A pulsed solid state laser system is disclosed which utilizes a plurality of individual laser rods which are sequentially pumped and whose beans are combined into a single interleaved output bean. The individual laser rods are pumped at an average power level which is below that for maximum output power from each rod, thereby obviating the need for refrigeration cooling. A compact optical system is disclosed which permits a constant beam size even at different pump levels and other…
Laser assisted hair transplant method
Granted: November 1, 1994
Patent Number:
5360447
A hair transplant procedure is described which includes preparing a plurality of hair plugs from a donor site on the scalp. A corresponding number of incisions are drilled into the hairless recipient site using a pulsed laser beam. Preferably, the beam is generated from a high power, RF excited, carbon dioxide, slab waveguide laser. The pulse characteristics of the laser are chosen to ablate the tissue to the desired depth while minimizing bleeding. The plugs are inserted into the…
Materials processing with a high repetition rate isotopic carbon dioxide laser
Granted: October 4, 1994
Patent Number:
5353296
An laser system is disclosed for materials processing. The system includes an RF excited, conduction cooled, sealed gas laser. The lasing species in the gas mixture is an isotope of carbon dioxide and in the preferred embodiment is defined by the .sup.13 CO.sub.2 isotope. The use of the .sup.13 CO.sub.2 isotope functions to shorten the rise and fall times of the laser pulses. By this arrangement, the laser may be operated at higher repetition rates with a full depth of power modulation.
Gas slab laser with folded resonator structure
Granted: October 4, 1994
Patent Number:
5353297
A resonator design is disclosed particularly suited for a RF excited, carbon dioxide, slab waveguide laser. The laser includes a pair of elongated electrodes spaced apart in a manner to define a slab discharge region having a narrow waveguide axis between the electrodes and a wide axis extending parallel to the electrode surfaces. The resonator is a hybrid design and is a stable, waveguide in the narrow axis, and a negative branch unstable resonator in the wide axis. A pair of mirrors…
Dichroic optical filter
Granted: August 23, 1994
Patent Number:
5341238
A dichroic optical filter including a substrate that is substantially transparent to visible radiation, and an oxide semiconductor layer on the substrate for reflecting an infrared wavelength (such as an infrared treatment beam wavelength). An example of a suitable oxide semiconductor for reflecting a treatment beam from a CO.sub.2 layer is indium tin oxide. Preferably, the filter includes a specially designed multilayer coating on the oxide semiconductor layer to enhance the reflection…
Apparatus for delivering a defocused laser beam having a sharp-edged cross-section
Granted: August 9, 1994
Patent Number:
5336216
An apparatus for delivering a defocused laser beam to a sharp-edged spot (having variable size) in a target plane. The beam has a low power density in a plane of interest between the delivery apparatus and the target plane. In a preferred embodiment, the target plane is the retina of a patient's eye, and the defocused beam profile is controlled so that the beam has low power density at the eye's cornea. The beam produced by the invention is useful not only for ophthalmic surgery, but…
Optical stencil
Granted: August 2, 1994
Patent Number:
5335003
A variable optical stencil assembly has a plurality of discs (1) each of which discs (1) is of substantially equal diameter and comprises a plurality of windows (3) therein, disposed around the periphery thereof and each having a respective character or combination of characters or a set of characters therein. Each disc is rotatably driven about a respective axis of rotation by drive means (2). The assembly comprises not less than three discs (1) and not more than five discs (1) and each…
Resonator for CO.sub.2 slab waveguide laser
Granted: August 2, 1994
Patent Number:
5335242
A CO.sub.2 slab waveguide laser (10) is disclosed including a pair of spaced apart electrodes (36,38) having opposed light reflecting surfaces. The electrodes are dimensioned in a manner to guide light in a plane perpendicular to the reflecting surfaces. Light parallel to the reflecting surfaces is not constrained other than by the resonator mirrors (30,32). The resonator structure includes a negative branch unstable resonator in the nonwaveguide dimension. A stable resonator is used in…
Optical coating for reflecting visible and longer wavelength radiation having grazing incidence angle
Granted: July 26, 1994
Patent Number:
5333090
A coated reflector reflective of radiation having two different wavelengths over a wide range of incidence angles, including grazing incidence angles. The coated reflector can be employed in a waveguide for laser radiation useful for medical or other applications, such as a combined HeNe and CO.sub.2 laser beam. Preferably, the coated reflector includes a metal substrate and a multi-layer stack thereon, the multi-layer stack consists of alternating dielectric layers of high and low…
Solid state laser with dual cooling loops
Granted: July 5, 1994
Patent Number:
5327442
An optically-pumped solid state laser system having separate subsystems for cooling its gain medium and optical pumping assembly. The invention permits the operating temperatures of the gain medium and optical pumping assembly to be independently controlled, and permits a substantial increase in cooling efficiency as a result of independent control of coolant flow rates in the two cooling subsystems. In a class of preferred embodiments, the gain medium cooling subsystem includes a first…
Laser pulse format for penetrating an absorbing fluid
Granted: June 14, 1994
Patent Number:
5321715
A pulse format for a laser system is disclosed for maximizing the energy delivered to a target immersed in an absorbing liquid. A first pulse is generated having an energy sufficient to initiate the formation of a vapor bubble in the liquid medium adjacent the end of the delivery device. A second, high energy pulse is generated after the vapor bubble initiated by the first pulse has expanded an amount sufficient to displace the liquid between the delivery device and the target. In this…
Apparatus for delivering a laser beam
Granted: May 17, 1994
Patent Number:
5312398
A beam delivery apparatus, including a set of focusing mirrors (or transmissive lenses) mounted along an endoscope channel. A laser beam can be focused into an input end of the channel with a smaller F number (wider cone angle) than is possible in a conventional endoscope. As the beam propagates down the channel, it is reflected (or transmitted) a finite number of times by the focusing elements. The focusing elements act as a periscope to focus and refocus the beam as it propagates along…
Transceiver module for a table-top teleconferencing system
Granted: May 3, 1994
Patent Number:
D346598
Fiber optic probe
Granted: April 19, 1994
Patent Number:
5304172
A fiber optic probe is disclosed for delivering laser radiation from a medical laser system to a treatment site. The probe includes a handpiece having an axial channel. The axial channel includes an intermediate mating region of reduced diameter. A tip piece having a fiber located therein is mounted on the front end of the handpiece. The input end of the fiber is mounted in a ferrule which is received in the reduced diameter mating region of the handpiece. A tail piece which includes an…
Micromanipulator apparatus for surgical laser
Granted: April 19, 1994
Patent Number:
5304174
An improved apparatus for manually manipulating a surgical laser beam is disclosed. The preferred embodiment of the invention includes a mirror nominally positioned at a 45 degree angle to the incident laser beam, a joy stick for manipulating the mirror, and a linkage interconnecting the two. The mirror is mounted to allow it to rotate about two mutually perpendicular and intersecting axes. The linkage operates to direct the reflected laser beam in two orthogonal dimensions such that a…
Contact laser delivery system
Granted: April 5, 1994
Patent Number:
5300066
A method and apparatus for minimizing damage to an optical fiber used as part of a laser radiation delivery system are disclosed. The apparatus includes the use of a spacer positioned adjacent the tip of the fiber to minimize the impact on the fiber tip of debris and vapor generated by exposure of a tissue target to high energy radiation. The end of the apparatus is configured to vent debris and vapor from the end of the tip to reduce damage. The fiber tip may also be annealed to enhance…
Dichroic optical filter
Granted: March 22, 1994
Patent Number:
5296961
A dichroic optical filter including a substrate that is substantially transparent to visible radiation, and an oxide semiconductor layer on the substrate for reflecting an infrared wavelength (such as an infrared treatment beam wavelength). An example of a suitable oxide semiconductor for reflecting a treatment beam from a CO.sub.2 layer is indium tin oxide. Preferably, the filter includes a specially designed multilayer coating on the oxide semiconductor layer to enhance the reflection…
Echo canceller processing techniques and processing
Granted: February 1, 1994
Patent Number:
5283784
Residual echo from an echo canceler circuit is reduced by a variable attenuator that operates in response to a processing circuit which determines and adjusts an attenuation factor. The attenuation factor is determined by comparing relative levels of the send input signal, the receive input signal, and the error signal remaining after removal of an expected echo signal from the send input signal. The variable attenuator provides linear power attenuation of the error signal in order to…
RF excited CO.sub.2 slab waveguide laser
Granted: February 1, 1994
Patent Number:
5283797
A CO.sub.2 slab waveguide laser (10) is disclosed including a pair of spaced apart electrodes (36,38) having opposed light reflecting surfaces. The electrodes are dimensioned in a manner to guide light in a plane perpendicular to the reflecting surfaces. Light parallel to the reflecting surfaces is not constrained other than by the resonator mirrors (30,32). The resonator structure includes a negative branch unstable resonator in the nonwaveguide dimension. A stable resonator is used in…
