The Singer Company

American Cyanamid Company

The Johns Hopkins University

United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Wheaton Holding, Inc.

Bart J Zoltan

William C Albert

Beth L Laube

George K Adams, Iii

John L Evans

Louis S Hoffman

Richard A Leese

James M Howard

Charles B Sanders

Ralph J Devito

Clark F Bow

Linda A Walker

Ralph DeVito

Walter Harrington

Roseamrie T Specian

Donald R Miller

William F Boulay

Michael Tarasevich

An apparatus for filling finely powdered material into a long and narrow cavity or hole having a relatively small opening is provided. The apparatus features a discharge port for a particulate laden gas stream directed toward the opening of the hole to be filled but spaced apart from the opening of the cavity to be filled by a gap, so that in operation the powdered material continues across the gap and into the cavity due to its inertia while the gas escapes through the gap.

Filling apparatus

A holding device for medication containers of essentially any size or shape provides the patient with the last time the medicine was taken and includes a housing with a cylindrical cup shape opening with a micro switch member extending through an access opening into the cavity form one side of the opening. Individual positioning devices in the form of vertical open cylindrical tubes are sized to fit particular containers with the cylinders positioned proximate the switch member with an opening to allow the switch member to extend into the cylindrical bore opening. A bushing and interlocking tab index the position of each cylindrical tube in the correct position each time the positioning device is inserted into the base section of holding device. The sensor signal that a container is placed in the base is used to provide through numerical display the time the last medication was taken, the elapsed time since that dose and the number of times the medication was accessed in one day. A settable alarm is provided to alert the patient as to the next time to take the medicine.

Medication container holding device indicating usage time

A container for pills and medicines which is child resistant but is also readily accessible to the elderly or infirm is provided. The container features two or more easy to manipulate two position switches having sufficient width or spacing to accommodate swollen fingers.

Child resistant container

Improved, compact apparatus for use in inhaling pharmaceutical aerosols. The apparatus increases aerosol deposition to the bronchiolus while it limits deposition in the oropharynx. The volumetric flow rate is limited by the use of orifices in the far end of the rigid holding chamber. The invention is also designed to make it easy for the patient to inhale the medication at the proper point in his respiratory cycle. Besides the rigid holding chamber the apparatus of the invention utilizes a unique and compact integrated flow meter to deliver to the patient a volume of unmedicated ambient air before the inhalation of the medicine containing aerosol. When the apparatus is not in use, it folds up, so that some of the integrated flow meter apparatus, and the mouthpiece are located inside the rigid holding chamber thereby minimizing the size of the device.

Medication delivery system phase two

An apparatus for use in inhaling pharmaceutical aerosols. The apparatus includes a mouthpiece and a rigid housing for receiving an aerosolized medicine. The rigid housing has one or more orifices which are spaced from the mouth piece so that flow through the housing is possible but is limited by the orifice(s) to a desired volumetric flow rate. The patient is aided by having the initial velocity of the aerosolized medicine reduced to zero by virtue of the initial delivery of the same to the housing interior, and by having the volumetric flow rate of the inhaled medication maintained below required limits thereby providing the conditions for optimal dosing. Further, the ability of the patient to inhale to total lung capacity with the flow through chamber enhances penetration of aerosolized drug to the lung periphery, and improves the ease of use for the patient.

Medication delivery system phase one

Apparatus for use in inhaling pharmaceutical aerosols. The apparatus comprises a mouthpiece for supplying a pharmaceutical composition to the mouth of a patient, a rigid chamber for holding the aerosol prior to inhalation, the rigid chamber having orifices to limit the flow of air therethrough, and a collapsable chamber from which the patient inhales unmedicated air prior to inhaling the medicated air from the rigid chamber. The apparatus increases medication delivered to the small peripheral bronchi, while it limits deposition in the oropharynx. The patient is aided in inhaling a volume of unmedicated air, after which he automatically begins to receive the aerosolized medication with the inhaled air. The volumetric flow rate of the inhaled medication is kept below required limits for optimal dosing.

Medication delivery system

A non-contacting volume determination method for use on wounds, having a known pattern of lines optically projected onto the volume to be determined. The image of the projection viewed from an angle other than the projection axis, along with the image of a reference volume located near the volume to be determined, are used to accurately determine the unknown volume.

Method for determining wound volume

An improved integrating accelerometer having a plurality of proof masses adapted to move relative to a casing in response to accelerations of the casing, a temperature compensated damping mechanism, and fluid resistors for extending the temperature operating range and for calibrating.

Adjustable fluid resistors for use in an integrating accelerometer

A patient medication use compliance aid which enables the users to readily ascertain the time at which they took a previous dose of medication. A time keeping device is incorporated into a typical container for medicinal products without the need for complicated container construction or complex mechanical parts or expensive electronic circuitry. The time keeping device displays the time and day of the week when the container was last opened by the patient-user and continues to display the same, even after closing of the container, to serve as a reminder. The time keeping device may also be provided with settable alarms to visually or audibly alert the patient as to when the next dose is to be taken. The compliance aid device can be conveniently provided as a separate element or as part of the cap or cover of a container so that it may be adapted for use with standard containers and need not be integral with or part of a medication container as such but rather can be utilized as a reusable item with fresh containers.

Device for indicating last medication usage

A Peltier effect thermal control sample containment means for an automatic sample holding apparatus used in conjunction with a liquid chromatograph analysis. The apparatus provides for the cooling or heating of a plurality of liquid chromatography samples and the maintenance of said samples at specific temperatures for extended periods of time.

Thermal control means for liquid chromatograph samples

A self-calibrating star tracker in which a light signal source located on the detector is reflected into the optics and redirected from the optics back onto the detector. In this manner, movement of the detector or optics from a known position can be sensed and calibration of the instrument can be conducted at any time (i.e., pre-flight or during the mission). The star tracker is contemplated to be used with an inertial guidance system and comprises a detector and optics.

Internal reference for stellar tracker

A torquer system for a gyro device that has a spherically shaped rotor divided into upper and lower hemispheres. The rotor of the gyro is mounted on a gas bearing over a spherically shaped stator and supports an optical assembly positioned parallel to the spin axis of the gyro. The torquer is positioned on the base of the gyro beneath the lower hemisphere of the rotor so as to permit the maximum angular freedom of the rotor and optical assembly. The torquer comprises four pole pieces separated 90.degree. from each other. Each torquer has two pole faces and coils located between pole faces. The coils contain separate windings for bias and control of the torquer. A current flow through the windings of the torquers causes magnetic flux lines emanating from the pole faces to pass through magnetically permeable material affixed to the lower hemisphere of the gyro rotor closing the magnetic circuit. The rotor will be attracted towards the pole face and the magnitude of the force of attraction is indicative of the current passing through the torquer windings.

Wide angle torquing scheme

In an accelerometer in which a proof mass is disposed in a damping fluid and acts against said fluid through a flow path controlled by the groove length of a helix disposed on a bellows, a low resistance flow path is provided connecting the areas above and below the helix to prevent movement of the proof mass due to fluid displacement caused by rapid temperature changes.

Temperature compensation for a damped fluid proof mass accelerometer

A gyro seeker which may be employed and housed in the nose section of a cannon launched missile. The gyro seeker functions in a dual mode in that it detects either laser designated targets or targets emitting infrared radiation. Structurally, the gyro seeker comprises a spherically shaped gyro element hydrostatically supported on a gas bearing surface within a spherical cavity of a spherically shaped platform. The gyro in turn supports optical and detector/cryostat assemblies for tracking and detecting desired targets. The platform is similarly hydrostatically supported on gas bearings within the housing. The platform is restrained on the base of the missile by a trapeze mechanism which limits the platform to two-degrees-of-freedom. Means are provided for torquing both the gyro and the platform. Additional means are provided to allow the gyro seeker to withstand the high induced acceleration forces of cannon launching.

Gyro seeker

A solid state optical scanner comprising a frequency generator that vibrates a sonic transducer which in turn sets up traveling waves in an acousto-optic medium. These waves form regions of compression and rarefaction in the medium causing the medium to act as a Bragg angle grating to an incident light source. Optical lenses and a photo detector are positioned behind the medium. Consequently, the light leaving the medium is diffracted into a single order and focused onto an image plane. A photodetector is placed at the image plane and the signal obtained is processed to develop information to determine the direction from the scanner to the incident light source.

Growing community of inventors

Old Tappan, NJ, United States of America

Bart J Zoltan