Spectroscopy apparatuses oriented to the critical angle of the sample are described that detecting the spectral characteristics of a sample wherein the apparatus consists of an electromagnetic radiation source adapted to excite a sample with electromagnetic radiation introduced to the sample at a location at an angle of incidence at or near a critical angle of the sample; a transmitting crystal in communication with the electromagnetic radiation source and the sample, the transmitting crystal having a high refractive index adapted to reflect the electromagnetic radiation internally; a reflector adapted to introduce the electromagnetic radiation to the sample at or near an angle of incidence near the critical angle between the transmitting crystal and sample; and a detector for detecting the electromagnetic radiation from the sample. Also, provided herein are methods, systems, and kits incorporating the peri-critical reflection spectroscopy apparatus.

A transmissive diffraction grating includes a polarization conversion layer, a first diffractive layer disposed on one surface side of the polarization conversion layer, and a second diffractive layer disposed on the other surface side of the polarization conversion layer. Both the first diffractive layer and the second diffractive layer include refractive index modulation structures arranged with a period P in a first direction, and diffraction efficiency for a TE polarized light component is higher than a diffraction efficiency for a TM polarized light component.

The present disclosure relates to an improved device and methods for adapting to a laser diffraction apparatus used for measuring particle size distribution and density of the plume of a powder composition emitted from a dry powder inhaler.

A method of optically determining the presence of volcanic ash within a cloud comprises emitting a circularly polarized illuminating beam within a cloud and analyzing backscatter light to identify the presence of volcanic ash within the cloud. The method further includes determining the degree to which the cloud has altered the polarization state of the emitted beam. The index of refraction of the backscatter light and the opacity of the backscatter light are also analyzed.

An estimation device is configured to estimate a feature value of a specific component contained in a sample and includes: a spectral estimation parameter storage module; a calibration parameter storage module; a multiband image acquirer; an optical spectrum operator configured to compute an optical spectrum from a multiband image using a spectral estimation parameter; and a calibration processor configured to compute the feature value from the optical spectrum using a calibration parameter.

An apparatus for securing a diagnostic tool proximate to and in front of a display device between the corners thereof. A harness is adapted to releasably hold the diagnostic tool, a restraining bracket extends from the harness, and there is at least one elastic cord having a first end, an intermediate portion and a second end. The cord is threaded through the restraining bracket and is sized so as to impart elastic tension to the corners of the display device while concomitantly protecting the front surface from pressure due to the position of the harness and diagnostic tool.

A system for imposing and analyzing surface acoustic waves in a substrate to determine characteristics of the substrate is disclosed. Optical elements and arrangements for imposing and analyzing surface acoustic waves in a substrate are also disclosed. NSOM's, gratings, and nanolight elements may be used to impose surface acoustic waves in a substrate and may also be used to measure transient changes in the substrate due to the passage of surface acoustic waves therethrough.

A system and method for detecting analytes using a conformal filter. A conformal filter, which may comprise a tunable filter, is configured to filter interacted photons conforming to a spectral shape correlated with an analyte of interest. Conformal filter configurations may be selected by consulting a modified look-up table associated with an analyte. An iterative methodology may be used to calibrate a conformal design for an analyte of interest, refine a previous conformal filter design for an analyte of interest, and/or generate a new conformal filter design for an analyte of interest.

A system for characterizing crude oil fractions includes a maltenes sample reservoir, a first solvent reservoir, a second solvent reservoir, and a third solvent reservoir. The system further includes a valve in fluid communication with the first solvent reservoir, the second solvent reservoir, and the third solvent reservoir and a pump in fluid communication with the valve. The system further includes a packed bed in fluid communication with the maltenes sample reservoir and the pump, a flowthrough cell in fluid communication with the packed bed, a spectrometer operably associated with the flowthrough cell, and a computer operably associated with the spectrometer. A method for characterizing crude oil fractions includes providing a maltene sample, eluting saturates, aromatics, and resins of the maltene sample, determining an optical density of each, and determining a concentration of each of the saturates, aromatics, and resins based upon optical densities over time for each.

A dispersion managed interferometric fiber optic gyroscope comprising: a coupler coupled to the broadband light source via a first input fiber; an IOC comprising: a beamsplitter that directs the input signal to a first output and a second output; a combiner configured to combine a first return signal from the first output and a second return signal from the second output into a combined return signal; an integrated optical circuit input coupled to the coupler via a second input fiber; a fiber optic gyroscope sensing coil coupled to a first pigtail fiber and second pigtail fiber, the sensing coil comprising sensing fibers, wherein at least one dispersion slope of at least one of the first input fiber, second input fiber, first pigtail fiber, second pigtail fiber, and the sensing fibers is selected such that the signals at the IOC input has a second order coherence substantially equal to two.

Techniques and devices for measuring polarization crosstalk in birefringence optical media including polarization maintaining fiber.

An integrated swept wavelength tunable optical source uses a narrowband filtered broadband signal with an optical amplifier and self-tracking filter. This source comprises a micro optical bench, a source for generating broadband light, a tunable Fabry Perot filter, installed on the bench, for spectrally filtering the broadband light from the broadband source to generate a narrowband tunable signal, an amplifier, installed on the bench, for amplifying the tunable signal. The self-tracking arrangement is used where a single tunable filter both generates the narrowband signal and spectrally filters the amplified signal. In some examples, two-stage amplification is provided. The use of a single bench implementation yields a low cost high performance system. For example, polarization control between components is no longer necessary.

[Problem to be Solved] To improve the measurement accuracy of an interference measurement device which utilizes interference of light. [Means for Solution] An interference measurement device includes a light source 10 for emitting supercontinuum light (SC light), an optical fiber coupler 11 for splitting the SC light into measurement light and reference light, a dispersion compensation element 12, a drive unit 13 for moving the dispersion compensation element 12, and light-receiving means 14 for measuring an interference waveform produced as a result of interference between the measurement light and the reference light. A measurement object 15 to be measured is an Si substrate having a thickness of 800 μm. The dispersion compensation element 12 is an Si substrate having a thickness of 780 μm. Namely, the dispersion compensation element 12 is formed of the same material as that of the measurement object 15 and is 20 μm thinner than the measurement object 15. The interference caused by reflection on the back surface of the measurement object 15 and reflection on the back surface of the dispersion compensation element 12 has a narrow peak width because wavelength dispersion is cancelled almost completely. Thus, the accuracy in measuring the peak position improves. As a result, the accuracy in measuring temperature, etc., improves.

A surface wave assisted system having an aperture layer with a surface and an aperture, and a plurality of grooves around the aperture. The plurality of grooves is configured to generate an optical transfer function at the aperture by inducing a surface wave for interfering with transmission of light of a range of spatial frequency.

A method of compensating for sample misalignment in an optical measurement apparatus (40), comprises the steps of: determining an expected response from a detector (58) in said optical measurement apparatus given a particular set of parameters defining a path that light can take through the optical measurement apparatus from a source (42), via a sample (50), to the detector (58); measuring a response from the detector for the sample under test; and refining the set of parameters until the expected response and the measured response converge so as to determine the set of parameters giving rise to the measured response.

An optical system for occupancy sensing according to the invention includes a plurality of optical line sensors, each consisting of a linear array of light sensing elements; and an optical light integrating device that integrates light from rays with incidence angles subject to geometric constraints to be sensed by a light sensing element.

A system, that includes a hybrid sensor that comprises: a monochromatic portion that is arranged to obtain a monochromatic image of a first area of an object; a multiple-color portion that is arranged to obtain a multi-colored image of a second area of the object; wherein the monochromatic portion comprises monochromatic sensing elements that sense radiation of a same frequency band; wherein the multiple-color portion comprises color sensing elements of different types, wherein different types of color sensing elements are associated with different frequency bands.

Ellipsometry systems and ellipsometry data collection methods with improved stabilities are disclosed. In accordance with the present disclosure, multiple predetermined, discrete analyzer angles are utilized to collect ellipsometry data for a single measurement, and data regression is performed based on the ellipsometry data collected at these predetermined, discrete analyzer angles. Utilizing multiple discrete analyzer angles for a single measurement improves the stability of the ellipsometry system.

A projection exposure tool for microlithography for imaging mask structures of an image-providing substrate onto a substrate to be structured includes a measuring apparatus configured to determine a relative position of measurement structures disposed on a surface of one of the substrates in relation to one another in at least one lateral direction with respect to the substrate surface and to thereby simultaneously measure a number of measurement structures disposed laterally offset in relation to one another.

An optical electrical field enhancing device includes: a transparent substrate having a structure of fine protrusions and recesses on the surface thereof; and a metal structure layer of fine protrusions and recesses formed on the surface of the structure of fine protrusions and recesses. The metal structure layer of fine protrusions and recesses has a structure of fine protrusions and recesses, in which the distances among adjacent protrusions are less than the distances among corresponding adjacent protrusions of the structure of fine protrusions and recesses of the transparent substrate.

There is provided a profile measuring apparatus which measures a profile of an object including: a projection unit which projects a pattern on the object from a projection direction; a measurement unit, which is displaced at a difference position for the projection unit and takes an image of the pattern from a direction different from the projection direction to measure a position on a surface of the object based on an image data obtained with the taken image; an object-rotation unit which rotates the object in two directions; and a pattern-rotation unit which is connected to the projection unit so as to be able to rotate the pattern relative to the object-rotation unit.

A system and method of high-speed microscopy using a two-photon microscope with spectral resolution. The microscope is operable to provide two- to five-dimensional fluorescence images of samples, including two or three spatial dimensions, a spectral dimension (for fluorescence emission), and a temporal dimension (on a scale of less than approximately one second). Two-dimensional (spatial) images with a complete wavelength spectrum are generated from a single scan of a sample. The microscope may include one of a multi-beam point scanning microscope, a single beam line scanning microscope, and a multi-beam line scanning microscope. The line scans may be formed using one or more of curved mirrors and lenses. The multiple beams may be formed using one of a grating, an array of lenses, and a beam splitter.

Within machine vision, object movement is often estimated by applying image evaluation techniques to visible light images, utilizing techniques such as perspective and parallax. However, the precision of such techniques may be limited due to visual distortions in the images, such as glare and shadows. Instead, lidar data may be available (e.g., for object avoidance in automated navigation), and may serve as a high-precision data source for such determinations. Respective lidar points of a lidar point cloud may be mapped to voxels of a three-dimensional voxel space, and voxel clusters may be identified as objects. The movement of the lidar points may be classified over time, and the respective objects may be classified as moving or stationary based on the classification of the lidar points associated with the object. This classification may yield precise results, because voxels in three-dimensional voxel space present clearly differentiable statuses when evaluated over time.

A reflection type optical sensor that detect a surface condition of a moving body and that is used for an image generation apparatus which forms images on a recording media includes a light-emitting device which has a plurality of light emitter systems including at least two light-emitting members and a light-emitting optical system having a plurality of light-emitting lenses corresponding to a plurality of the light emitter systems and guiding light emitted from the light emitter systems to the moving body and a light-receiving device which has a light receiver system including at least two light-receiving members and a light-receiving optical system having light-receiving lenses corresponding to the at least two light-receiving members and guiding light reflected by the moving body to the light receiver system. The image generation apparatus has further a surface condition judging device in addition to the reflection type optical sensor.

There is disclosed a polarization-modulating element for modulating a polarization state of incident light into a predetermined polarization state, the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity and having a circumferentially varying thickness profile.

An adaptive optics scanning system using a beam projection module with four or more axes of motion that can project and control the position and angle of a beam of light to or from an adaptive optics element. The adaptive optics scanning system is compact in size, overcoming the challenges of a traditional lens and mirror based pupil relay design. The adaptive optics scanning system has little to no dispersion, chromatic aberration, and off-axis aberration for improved optical performance. The system and methods for calibrating and optimizing the system are described. A modular adaptive optics unit that scans and interfaces an adaptive optics element is described.

A ring binder mechanism includes an elongate plate having a longitudinal axis. Hinge plates are supported by the plate for pivoting relative to the elongate plate. Ring members are mounted on the hinge plates and moveable between a closed position and an open position. A control structure is supported by the elongate plate and controllably pivots the hinge plates to move the ring members between the closed and open positions. The control structure has a travel bar connected to the hinge plates for moving the hinge plates between the closed and open positions. A spring biases the travel bar toward the closed position.

A cover (10) is disclosed for holding objects such as papers and reports. The cover (10) is formed of a member (12) having a front cover (14), a spine (16) and a back cover (18), a ring binder (22) and a paper surround (24). The paper surround (24) encapsulates the ring binder (22) and secures it to the member (12). The cover can be either a top bound or side bound cover.

In order to newly provide a folder that facilitates insertion of a document fastener into a narrow slit and that is improved in durability by making use of a property of a document fastener whose folded state can be kept due to resin, the document fastener is so arranged to comprise a plate material (a) made of resin having a body part (11) extending longitudinally and a pair of folded pieces (12) extending from the body part (11), wherein a thickness of both end portions (14) of the plate material (a) is formed to be thinner than a thickness of other portions of the plate material (a), a boundary (13) between the body part (11) and the folded piece (12) is made to be foldable, and the folded state on the boundary (13) can be kept by making use of the properties of the resin itself.

A sheet holder for holding a sheet of paper and exposing an edge of the sheet, has a press for holding the paper sheet and exposing the edge, and a lever for operating the press. The lever is movable between a released position for placing of the edge of the paper sheet in the press and a holding position for operating the press. There is also an abutment for abutment by the edge of the paper sheet to position the edge relative to the press while the lever is in the released position. The abutment is associated with the lever for moving away from the edge of the paper sheet when the lever moves towards the holding position, thereby exposing the edge of the paper sheet.

A ring binder mechanism has an elongate housing, a pair of locking elements, a translation bar, a pair of elongate hinge plates having mating ring halves extending there-from, a plurality of mating ring halves, and an actuator. Movement of the actuator moves the hinge plates, translation bar, and locking elements to cause the ring halves to disengage so a user can place holed paper over the open ring halves, or closes the ring halves together to secure the paper with the closed-loop rings thus form while simultaneously locking the rings in the closed-loop configuration to prevent inadvertent opening.

Disclosed herein is an organizer comprising a unique structural configuration to house and store both non-perforated documents and perforated documents. The organizer comprises a ring binder that is associated with an expandable compartment that is arranged peripheral to the ring binder.

A binding device includes binding rod portions, coupling portions for coupling a plurality of the binding rod portions, and an axis portion serving as a center upon opening/closing of binding rods. The coupling portions have lower portions to which the axis portion is provided at a position close to base portions of the binding rods so that a leaf bound at the binding rod portions can be flipped along the binding rods and flipped through 360 degrees and leaves can make contact with each other with the axis portion sandwiched therebetween. The axis portion includes a shaft portion and receiving portions for the shaft portion. The receiving portions are provided to the coupling portions the shaft portion is disposed therein.

Placing sheets around a retainer or between a retainer and clamp and securing a clamp against the sheets and retainer for compressively fixing the pages against the retainer.

A binding device includes a plurality of binding rings, a holding member which enables the binding rings to be disposed with a spacing therebetween, an operating member having a surface to which base portions of the binding rings are secured such that the binding rings are disposed with a spacing therebetween, the operating member including a pair of operating pieces movable in the holding member in a longitudinal direction of the holding member, and an opening-closing member which causes the binding rings to be changed in an opening direction. The opening-closing member includes an elastic member. The elastic member is provided in the operating member such that a distance between the operating pieces in an opening-closing direction of the binding rings is maintained at a distance enabling the pair of the operating pieces to be moved and is arranged to move the pair of the operating pieces defining the operating member relative to each other in respective opposite directions and so as to elastically urge the pair of the operating pieces in a direction allowing the binding rings to be held in an opened state.

A ring binder mechanism for retaining loose-leaf pages securely holds closed ring members together to prevent inadvertent loss of pages retained by the mechanism. The mechanism comprises a housing supporting two hinge plates for pivoting motion to open and close paired ring members mounted on the plates. Free ends of the paired ring members have interlocking configurations that securely join together when the ring members close. The configurations prevent misalignment of the closed ring members in all directions transverse to longitudinal centerlines of the ring members. The mechanism also includes locking elements that interact with the hinge plates to block their pivoting motion when the ring members are closed. This holds the free ends of the closed paired ring members together so that the interlocking configurations of the ring members remain interengaged.

A scrapbooking page alignment device for temporarily aligning at least two adjacent scrapbook pages having retention receivers extending from their respective spine edges, the device comprising (i) a base; and (ii) two or more spaced retention posts extending from said base; where said retention posts are dimensioned to temporarily receive the retention receivers of the two adjacent scrapbook pages.

A binder clip having flexible sidewalls biased to close around a rigid retainer for securing pages wrapped around the retainer or pinched by the binder clip and retainer for manually forming a book.

A recyclable ring binder apparatus comprises a ring metal incorporating a set of binder rings that are formed of a pair of ring halves. The ring metal can be firmly fastened to a spine section of a binder hardcover by utilizing a post and a small arched snap clamp with a tap. The tap of the snap clamp can be pressed around a neck of the post utilizing a quick release clipping mechanism. The snap clamp can be accessed with an index finger and slid away from the post to remove the ring metal from the hardcover. The ring metal, the hardcover, the snap clamp and the post can be quickly separated into their perspective categories due to the clipping mechanism. Hence, it retains conformance of all components of the ring binder apparatus for recycling without increasing development and production cost.

Disclosed herein is an organizer comprising a unique structural configuration to house and store both non-perforated documents and perforated documents. The organizer comprises a ring binder that is associated with an expandable compartment that is arranged peripheral to the ring binder.

A binding device is provided which allows reduction in profile. A binding device 10 includes: a holding member 16 having a length which allows a plurality of openable-closable binding rings 12 and 14 to be disposed with a spacing therebetween; an operating member 18 secured inside the holding member 16; and an opening/closing member 40. The operating member 18 includes a pair of operating pieces 30 and 32 on which the binding rings 12 and 14 are secured. For housing the opening/closing member 40, an opening/closing member housing portion 36 is provided in a manner such as to be recessed from a reverse side, opposite to a surface on which the binding rings 12 and 14 are secured, towards the surface side. The opening/closing member 40 is secured to the opening/closing member housing portion 36 of the operating member 18 on the reverse side opposite to the surface on which the binding rings 12 and 14 are secured, and is formed to, when the binding rings 12 and 14 are opened, cause the binding rings 12 and 14 to be changed in an opening direction so that the operating pieces are moved in a longitudinal direction of the holding member 16 and are held in a direction approaching an inner surface of the holding member 16, within the holding member 16.

A biochip for the integration of all steps in a complex process from the insertion of a sample to the generation of a result, performed without operator intervention includes microfluidic and macrofluidic features that are acted on by instrument subsystems in a series of scripted processing steps. Methods for fabricating these complex biochips of high feature density by injection molding are also provided.

A ring binder has a standard ring assembly having a ring base and upstanding rings, a ring assembly support having a plurality of indents positioned along its sides, a binder connector having a plurality of upstanding tabs, and a plurality of binder covers each having a center spine with a plurality of slots configured to accept each of the plurality of binder connector tabs. The ring binder is assembled by the insertion of the binder connector tabs into slots of the binder cover and then into the indents of the ring assembly support. The ring binder can be sold assembled or as a kit, which would include a plurality of interchangeable binder covers.

A ring binder mechanism includes a housing, a ring support, and rings for holding loose-leaf pages. Each ring includes a first ring member and a second ring member that are moveable between a closed position and an opened position. An actuator is mounted on the housing for moving the ring members from the closed position to the opened position. A travel bar has at least one locking element and is moveable between a locked position wherein the ring members are locked in the closed position and an unlocked position wherein the ring members are capable of being moved to the opened position. An intermediate connector operably connects the travel bar to the actuator. A portion of the intermediate connector is captured by and moveable with a wide section of a mounting groove in the travel bar so the intermediate connector can move relative to the travel bar.

A ring mechanism for retaining loose-leaf pages includes a housing and ring members for holding loose-leaf pages that are moveable relative to the housing between an open and closed position. An actuation system moves the ring members and includes hinge plates pivotally mounted on the housing and an actuator actuating pivoting movement of the hinge plates. A travel bar of the actuation system is moveable by the actuator between a locked position blocking pivoting movement of the hinge plates and an unlocked position allowing pivoting movement of the hinge plates. The actuation system is adapted to deform while moving the travel bar from the locked position toward the unlocked position to delay the pivoting motion of the hinge plates from the movement of the actuator.

A ring mechanism has an elongate body made of a moldable polymeric material and rings for holding loose-leaf pages. Each ring includes a first ring member and a second ring member. The first ring members are movable relative to the housing and the second ring members between a closed position and an open position. At least one ring member for each ring is a separately formed ring member and comprises a ring portion and an anchor connected to the ring portion. The at least one separately formed ring member is formed separately from the body. The anchor of the separately formed ring member is secured to the body for pivoting movement relative to the body. The anchor can be received in a receptacle in the body adapted to receive the anchor.

A binding mechanism assembly for binding a sheet item, the binding mechanism assembly including a backing member having an upper surface, and a binding member directly or indirectly coupled to the backing member. The binding member includes a protrusion shaped and located to protrude through a hole of a sheet item to be bound thereto. The binding member further includes a generally flexible flange that is manually movable into engagement with the protrusion to form a generally closed loop and thereby bind the sheet item thereto. The loop is rotatable relative to the backing member from a first position in which the loop is generally located above the upper surface to a second position wherein at least part of the loop is located below the upper surface. A release mechanism is provided for opening the loop.

A ring binder has an elongate body and rings. Each ring includes ring members moveable between open and closed positions. The ring members and body can suitably formed together as one piece from a moldable polymeric material. The binder suitably includes a retaining system operable to selectively and releasably hold the ring members in the closed position. When the ring members are in their open position, loose-leaf pages can be added or removed from the rings. Loose-leaf pages can also be moved from one ring member to another when the ring members are in their open position.

A ring binder has an elongate body and rings. Each ring includes ring members moveable between open and closed positions. The body and rings are made of one or more moldable polymeric materials. The binder suitably includes a retaining system operable to hold the ring members in the closed position. The retaining system has interlocking formations adjacent ends of the ring members that are moveable between a retaining position in which the retaining system holds the first and second ring members in the closed position and a non-retaining position. The ring members and body can suitably be formed together as one piece from a moldable polymeric material.

A ring binder mechanism for holding loose-leaf pages has a housing having a cavity formed in the underside of a central portion of the housing. A pair of hinge plates are disposed between the sides for pivoting movement relative to the housing to open and close rings of the mechanism. The mechanism has an actuator moveable relative to the housing for opening and closing the rings. The actuator has a body, an opening arm extending from the body, a closing arm extending from the body, and a locking finger extending from the body. The closing arm extending into a space between the hinge plates and the central portion of the housing. The hinge plates extend between the opening and closing arms. The locking finger extends into the cavity in the central portion of the housing when the actuator is in the closed position.