Other

International Business Machines Corporation

D Kenneth Walston

Lawrence M Haas

Paul Y Hu

David R Lyman

A joint prosthesis for interconnecting the ends of adjoining bones includes a cushion of expanded PTFE having at least two facets for attachment to the bones. The cushion may or may not include stems for insertion into the bones. An optional sheath surrounds the non-facet surfaces of the cushion for preventing adherence of tissue. The motion of the prosthesis is defined or limited by the orientation of the facets and/or by the porosity of the cushion and/or by an insert within the cushion.

Joint prosthesis having PTFE cushion

Method of making joint prosthesis having PTFE cushion

A cable carrier that slides upon itself is provided with pad and padless surfaces or a stainless steel strip therealong. The cable carrier may be connected to a fast moving robotic trolley and manipulative arm assembly in a storage library containing automated magnetic tape cartridges or optical disk cartridges or magnetic disk cartridges. The pad and padless surfaces are made of dissimilar materials, such as stainless steel and plastic respectively. When the pad and padless surfaces slide across one another, there is a minimum of wear and galling of the surfaces. Several arrangements are employed to quickly modify existing carriers to obtain the benefits of this invention. One type of discrete pad can be easily mounted to the existing carrier with double-sided tape and another type of discrete pad can be easily mounted to the existing carrier with tabs. Further, both type of pads are configured with curves to make a smooth transition of pad-to-padless surface or pad-to-pad surface. Another embodiment of the invention is a pad that consists of a stainless steel strip. The stainless steel strip can be easily attached to the carrier with doublesided tape. Since the strip is stainless steel, there is very little wear or galling as compared to that arising from plastic sliding on plastic.

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

D Kenneth Walston