Eastman-kodak Company

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

3m Innovative Properties Company

Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc.

Aparna V Bhave

Robert A Yapel

Lawrence B Wallace

Thomas M Milbourn

Gary E Labelle

Thomas J Ludemann

Kumars Sakizadeh

Darlene F Philip

Mridula Nair

Roland J Koestner

Timothy J Edman

Daniel V Norton

Jerry L Warren

Hans E Iverson

William Blake Kolb

Yeh-Hung Lai

Paul F Chouinard

Samuel Chen

Zhanjun Gao

Michael W Orem

Thomas M Smith

Andrew D Bicek

Dennis A Boismier

Karissa L Eckert

Thomas C Geisler

Travis J Schauer

Oanh V Pham

Gary E LaBelle

Shelley L Thurk

Bernard A Scheller

Glen A Jerry

Barry M Brown

Gary Thomas Ohrt

David C Auth

Evan Bennett

Neha Sharma

Kenneth W Metz

Anne E Crump

An atherectomy system includes an atherectomy burr having one or more blood flow enhancement features that permit an increased level of blood flow past the burr relative to a blood flow that would result absent the one or more flow enhancement features. A drive mechanism is adapted to rotatably actuate the atherectomy burr.

Atherectomy burrs with blood flow enhancements

A bioabsorbable stent comprises a plurality of struts interconnected by a plurality of curved intersections. Each of the plurality of curved intersections defines a crescent shaped opening therethrough. The stent has a manufactured state, a crimped state and an expanded state. The crescent shaped openings each have a width and a length such that in the crimped state the width of the crescent shaped opening is less than the width of the crescent shaped opening in the manufactured state or the expanded state.

Stent having added feature for strain relief and mitigation of crack propagation

The use of metal antimonates at high metal antimonate to binder ratios in buried backside conductive layers of thermographic and photothermographic materials allows the use of thin backside overcoat layers. The combination provides antistatic constructions having excellent antistatic properties that show less change in resistivity with changes in humidity. The thin backside overcoat layer serves to protect the buried antistatic layer.

Antistatic properties for thermally developable materials

Buried backside conductive layers with increased conductive efficiency can be provided for thermally developable materials using a specific organic solvent mixture to coat a protective overcoat directly disposed over the conductive layer. This organic solvent mixture comprises an alcohol in which one or more film-forming polymers used in the formulation are soluble at room temperature. The alcohol is used in an amount of more than 10 and up to 90 weight % of the organic solvent mixture.

Thermally developable materials with improved conductive layer

A method for cutting a laminated web including the steps of engaging a first side of the laminated web with a crack initiator having a high rake angle, the crack initiator extending from a first cutter base having a low rake angle, the laminated web including at least a support web, and an upper layer that may, at least for imaging elements, be considered a protective layer, the upper layer being thinner than the support web, the upper layer being located at the first side of the laminated web structure; simultaneously engaging a second side of the laminated web with a second cutter, the second cutter being offset from the first cutter; generating a first crack in the first side of the laminated web with the crack initiator completely through the upper layer; engaging the web with the cutter base of the first cutter; and further propagating the first crack beyond the tip of the first crack initiator using the cutter base, whereby the tip of the first crack initiator is disengaged from the laminated web.

Method of cutting a laminated web and reducing delamination

A photothermographic film and a method for making same is taught. The film includes a support, a photothermographic imaging layer coated on the support, and a complement film generally confining the photothermographic imaging layer between the support and the complement film. The complement film is applied to the photothermographic imaging layer prior to exposure of the photothermographic imaging layer. The complement film retains any volatile materials present in the photothermographic imaging layer generated when thermal energy is applied thereto to develop a latent image exposed on the photothermographic imaging layer.

Lamination of emissions prevention layer in photothermographic materials

Thermally developable materials containing fluorochemical conductive layers

Antistatic compositions include a fluorochemical that is a reaction product of R &mdash;CH CH &mdash;SO H with an amine wherein R comprises 4 or more fully fluorinated carbon atoms. These antistatic compositions can be formulated in organic solvent-based conductive coating compositions, with or without hydrophobic binders, that can be used to form conductive layers in thermally developable materials including thermographic and photothermographic materials.

Modified antistatic compositions and thermally developable materials containing same

Thermally developable materials that comprise a support have at least two backside layers. One of these layers can be a protective layer comprising a film-forming polymer. The materials also includes a non-imaging backside conductive layer comprising non-acicular metal antimonate particles in a mixture of two or more polymers that includes a first polymer serving to promote adhesion of the backside conductive layer directly to the support or other layers, and a second polymer that is different than and forms a single phase mixture with the first polymer.

Thermally developable materials containing backside conductive layers

A method and apparatus for continuously coating moving web and splices with a coating fluid. The system includes a slide coating die having a slide surface with at least one feed slot for extruding the coating fluid onto the moving web. The slide coating die defines a coating gap with the moving web. The coating gap is adjustable between a coating position and a splice coating position. A web guide is positioned to guide the moving web in a first direction past the slide coating die such that a coating bead of the coating fluid can be formed in the coating gap. A vacuum system is positioned to generate a reduced pressure condition along a lower surface of the slide coating die. The vacuum system defines a vacuum gap with the moving web. The vacuum gap is adjustable independent of the coating gap between a coating position and a splice coating position. A detector signals an increase in web thickness. A controller is functionally connected to the detector. The controller adjusts the coating gap and the vacuum gap to the splice coating position in response to an increase in web thickness in excess of a predetermined magnitude while maintaining a stable coating bead.

Web coating method and apparatus for continuous coating over splices

A method for reducing coating defects caused by strikethrough when simultaneously slide coating a first fluid layer, a second fluid layer, and a third fluid layer. The method includes preparing the first, second, and third fluids such that the first solute is incompatible with the second and third solutes and such that the first fluid minimizes strikethrough of at least one of the second and third fluids to a slide surface when the first fluid is positioned between the slide surface and the second and third fluids. The present invention is useful in preparing imaging, data storage, and other media.

Method for coating a plurality of fluid layers onto a substrate

Multilayer articles (including imaging elements) have improved adhesion between a polymeric support and film-forming polymer-containing layers disposed thereon. This improved adhesion is provided by including in the adhesion-promoting layer next to the support two or more polymers specific properties. At least one of the polymers adheres the layer to the support, and at least one other polymer is compatible or of the same class as the film-forming polymer in the upper layer. This adhesion-promoting layer can be provided as a very thin &ldquo;carrier&rdquo; layer during coating operations so that desired sensitometric effects and functional properties are obtained. Preferred imaging elements having such adhesion-promoting layers are photothermographic films.

Multi-layer article with improved adhesion and method of making

A method and apparatus for coating a moving web with a coating fluid. The coating die has at least one feed slot for supplying the coating fluid to the moving web and a front face demarked from the at least one feed slot by a die edge. A guide mechanism guides the moving web in a first direction past the coating die such that a coating bead is formed in a gap between the moving web and the die edge. The spraying system sprays a cleaning fluid on at least a portion of the front face of the slide coating die such that the coating bead forms a substantially linear static wetting line on the front face of the coating die.

Die edge cleaning system

Growing community of inventors

Woodbury, MN, United States of America

Aparna V Bhave