Maxwell Laboratories, Inc.

Sensormedics Corporation

Edmond Y Chu

Michael C Cates

Richard R Hamm

Vance I Valencia

Larry Murdock

Tim Quinn

Hung Tran

A valve for use in continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices includes a valve body that is disposed at or between the patient mask and the source of positive airway pressure. The valve body includes first and second exhaust paths for exhausting gas from the mask. A floating valve seat is disposed in the valve body and is moveable between first and second positions. A moveable spring-biased piston is releasably engaged with the floating valve seat. When the floating valve seat is in the first position, the moveable spring-biased piston is disengaged from the valve seat and gas travels out the first exhaust flowpath. When the floating valve seat is in the second position, the moveable spring-biased piston is engaged with the valve seat and gas travels out the second exhaust flowpath. The valve provides substantially constant positive airway pressure to the patient at pressures above the threshold pressure level of the valve. When the pressure drops below the threshold value, the valve opens a secondary flowpath in the valve.

Pressure regulating valve for use in continuous positive airway pressure devices

A method and system for improving the capability of a surface of an organic structure to bond with another material includes irradiating a target area of the surface of a structure with pulsed, incoherent optical energy having wavelength components which range from 160-5000 nanometers at an intensity sufficient to photodecompose any adventitious organic substances on the surface and to photodecompose a thin layer of molecular bonds forming the surface of the structure; and exposing the target area of the surface to ionized gas that chemically reacts with the target area of the surface to increase the surface free energy of the surface. A similar method and system may also be employed to improve the bondability of a metallic surface by first precleaning the metallic surface to dislodge any inorganic substances from the surface; and second irradiating a target area of the surface with pulsed, incoherent optical energy having wavelength components in the range of 160-5000 nanometers at an intensity sufficient to photodecompose any organic substances present on the surface.

Method for using pulsed optical energy to increase the bondability of a

A saturable inductor switch. The switch includes a number of spaced cores disposed adjacent one another with each core being made of ferromagnetic material. An insulative layer is disposed about each core and each core has an electrical winding about the insulative layer for that core. Each winding has a first end and a second end and is electrically connected to its respective core intermediate the ends. The windings are connected in series. All the cores have substantially the same size and shape, and all windings have substantially the same number of turns.

Saturable inductor switch and pulse compression power supply employing

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Carlsbad, CA, United States of America

Edmond Y Chu