Ausco Products, Inc.

Ethicon Endo-surgery, Inc.

Norman D Crawford

Brian P Dennis

Kenneth A Dodd

Peter J Pozivilko

Kristin L Jambor

Sean P Conlon

John V Hunt

Dale R Schulze

Randal T Byrum

Jeffrey P Wiley

Mark Tsonton

Patrick J Swindon

Howard H Baldeosingh

Lawrence E Spreckelmeier

Kevin A Harper

Nancy L Leonard

Keith R McAllister

LynRoy T Palmer-Coleman

Lauren S Perry

James W Haines

Jeromy A Hoar

Keith R Mcallister

A spring applied hydraulic released brake includes a brake housing including a pair of stator assemblies, a pair of piston-spring assemblies, each of the piston-spring assemblies including a piston assembly, a spring assembly adapted to apply spring force to the piston assembly to thereby engage the piston assembly with a first stator assembly of the pair of stator assemblies in a default position of the brake, and an end cap adjuster providing an opposing surface against which the spring assembly is biased, the end cap adjuster including a body portion having an end cap threading therearound generally corresponding with a housing threading within the brake housing.

Spring applied hydraulic released brake

A hydraulic caliper assembly includes a caliper brake housing including two opposing pairs of two piston assemblies, each of the pairs of two piston assemblies adapted to place a respective stator assembly of a pair of stator assemblies in a braking position, where the caliper brake housing is a unitary, cast component having an internal fluid porting system fluidly coupling each of the piston assemblies with a source of hydraulic fluid, and where each of the piston assemblies have a common configuration.

Hydraulic caliper assembly

A hydraulic caliper disc brake includes an opposing pair of pistons adapted to act on an opposing pair of washers adapted to act on an opposing pair of stator assemblies, each of the pistons comprising a spherical piston face, each of the washers comprising a spherical washer face abutting a respective one of the spherical piston faces, and a straight washer face opposite the spherical washer face and abutting a respective one of the stator assemblies.

Hydraulic caliper disc brake with spherical-faced washers

A brake assembly adapted to be mounted to the flange of an axle housing. The brake assembly includes a stationary plate having a plurality of threaded holes therein. The brake assembly also includes a mounting sleeve positioned adjacent to the axle housing flange opposite the stationary plate. A plurality of holes are provided through the mounting sleeve and are aligned with the threaded holes in the stationary plate. A bolt is received through each of the holes in the mounting sleeve and the aligned holes in the axle housing flange and the threaded holes in the stationary plate to secure the brake to the axle housing. The mounting sleeve may be provided in two or more separate pieces in order to facilitate installation.

Brake assembly

A gastric band has a balloon shaped and dimensioned to circumscribe the stomach at a predetermined location and a belt extending about the balloon. Further, a linking layer is positioned between the balloon and the belt, wherein the linking layer is harder than either the balloon or the belt. Additionally, the belt includes a first latching member at a first end of the gastric band and second latching member at a second end of the gastric band, the first latching member and the second latching member being shaped and dimensioned for selective engagement to secure the gastric band about a stomach of a patient, wherein the first latching member and second latching member are composed of different materials.

Gastric band composed of different hardness materials

A hydraulic caliper brake including a housing having a first half and a second half and a bridge connecting the housing halves. Each half of the housing includes a bore having a fluid chamber and a piston therein. The caliper brake also includes a fluid network having an inlet port and a bleed port in the first half of the housing, a first channel extending through the bridge and in fluid communication with the inlet port and the fluid chamber in the second half of the housing, and a second channel extending through the bridge and in fluid communication with the fluid chamber in the second half of the housing and the bleed port. A dual-flow passage is provided and is in fluid communication with the fluid chamber in the first half of the housing and the second channel. The fluid chamber in the first half is not in fluid communication with the first channel.

Caliper brake

A caliper brake system includes a housing, a bore within the housing, and a piston slidably positioned within the bore. The brake system also includes a spring assembly, a fluid chamber defined by the bore and the piston, and a hydraulic fluid supply network. The spring assembly provides a biasing force to maintain the piston in an actuated position engaging a stator which engages the rotor of a vehicle. The hydraulic fluid supply network provides pressurized fluid to the fluid chamber to selectively overcome the biasing force of the spring assembly and move the piston to an unactuated position to release the rotor. Thus, the caliper brake is spring actuated and hydraulically released.

Caliper brake system

A hydraulic caliper brake includes a housing formed by two halves. A pair of bores are provided in each housing half, and a piston is positioned in each bore. An end cap closes off each bore and is sealed by an O-ring positioned around the periphery of each end cap. A ring retains each end cap within each bore. Each housing half has a pair of holes aligned with the holes of the other half. A pair of recessed areas are located on opposing ends of the housing, one of the recessed areas being positioned adjacent to one housing half and the other being positioned adjacent to the other housing half. A pair of stator plates each have a first ear with an outer shape having a flattened area positioned within one of said recessed areas in said housing, and a second ear with a continuously curved outer shape. Each ear has a hole therethrough aligned with the holes of the housing halves, and a pin is positioned in the aligned holes. An easily bleedable fluid network supplies fluid to the pistons.

An implantable band for placement around an anatomical passageway, such as the stomach or other lumen, has the inner surfaces at each end attached to each other in the operative position. One end may include a passageway through which the other end extends. A lateral member may extend from the surface at one end and engage the other end.

Implantable band with attachment mechanism

A gastric band includes a band body having a first end and a second end. The band body includes a latching mechanism. The latching mechanism is composed of a shell member at the first end of the band body and a collar member at the second end of the band body, the shell member and collar member being shaped and dimensioned for selective locking and unlocking in a manner creating a loop of the gastric band for positioning about a stomach wall.

Latching device for gastric band

A load assist device for facilitating the loading of a suture cartridge onto a cartridge carrier of a surgical instrument is disclosed. The device has a cartridge casing and a suture cartridge loaded into an interior storage space of the cartridge casing. The suture cartridge contains a suture filament for tying a surgical knot. When a cartridge carrier of a surgical instrument is inserted into an aperture for receiving the cartridge within the cartridge casing, the carrier passes through a carrier channel inside the casing until it reaches the cartridge storage space for loading the suture cartridge onto the cartridge carrier. The loaded cartridge carrier may then be withdrawn from the cartridge storage space for withdrawal from the cartridge casing. The device helps the surgeon or the operating room assistant with loading a suture cartridge onto a surgical instrument for the eventual deployment of a knot during surgery, and avoids some of the pitfalls inherent in loading, unloading and reloading suture cartridges onto the surgical instruments during procedures where it is necessary or desirable to place several knots for fastening tissue.

Growing community of inventors

Saint Joseph, MI, United States of America

Norman D Crawford