Supports – Brackets – Adjustable
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-19
2001-07-03
Braun, Leslie A. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Brackets
Adjustable
C248S913000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06254046
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a support for an apparatus which is suspended and movable. The support has a holding arm and an adjusting device mounted on the holding arm. The apparatus can be mounted on the adjusting device and can be shifted relative to the holding arm.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A support of this kind and an adjusting unit are disclosed, for example, in European patent publication 0,433,426. This support carries an apparatus in the form of a surgical microscope and the adjusting unit is mounted between a holding arm of the support and the surgical microscope. The surgical microscope can be shifted relative to the holding arm with the adjusting unit. In this way, the center of gravity of the surgical microscope can be shifted relative to the support in order to balance the entire system.
A further support is disclosed in German patent publication 3,147,836. In this publication, the gearing system of the adjusting unit is shown in detail. Here, an adjusting unit includes a cross-slide guide with self-arrestment. It can be seen that the adjusting device is configured so as to be constructively complex.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a support having an adjusting unit which is simpler and more cost-effective to manufacture without suffering any diminishment of function.
The support of the invention is for an apparatus which is suspended and movable. The support includes: a holding arm; an adjusting unit on which the apparatus can be mounted and displaced relative to the holding arm; and, the adjusting unit including a slidably displaceable slide disc.
With the above measure, the known threaded rod guidance having two mutually orthogonal guide spindles can be omitted and yet provide expanded adjusting possibilities. The known threaded rod guidance requires a mutual engagement of threads of spindles and displacing elements.
The slide disc is slidably guided or slidably displaced. Because of this slide disc, the adjusting directions in which the apparatus, which is suspended on the support, can be directly displaced, are not limited to the directions which are fixedly pregiven by the guide spindles. Rather, the slide disc can basically be displaced in a plurality of adjusting directions within the slide plane.
In one embodiment, the slide disc is displaceable in a slide housing. In this way, an especially precise and tolerance-free support of the slide disc is achieved. The slide disc can be connected either to the holding arm or to the apparatus.
The slide disc can be connected to the apparatus and the slide housing, which surrounds the slide disc, can be connected to the holding arm. If this is the case, then the slide disc is moved with the apparatus for an adjustment of the apparatus whereby the mass inertia, which is to be overcome, can be relatively small.
In a further embodiment, the slide disc is guided in a slide plane by at least two slide bearings extending on both sides of the slide plane. With this measure, a tilt-free and rocking-free support of the slide disc is achieved and therefore, a precise adjustability of the apparatus, which is as free of play as possible, is achieved. Furthermore, with the adjustment or displacement of these slide bearings, the slide resistance and/or the play of the slide disc can be adjusted in the slide housing.
The degrees of adjustment of the apparatus with respect to an especially clear adjustment method of the apparatus can be limited when the apparatus is guided within the slide plane via slide guides.
Here, the slide disc can be guided in two mutually perpendicular directions via crossed slide guides and therefore the usually X/Y-adjustability of the apparatus is realized.
With respect to a precise positioning of the apparatus, it is advantageous to move the slide disc with at least two threaded spindles, which do not have to fulfill any function to guide the slide disc. The spindles are supported between the slide disc and the slide housing.
The two slide spindles can also effect an X/Y-adjustability of the apparatus when the threaded spindles are supported via roller bearings on a slide housing region parallel to the longitudinal axis of the particular other threaded spindle.
The above embodiment of the invention, is advantageous especially in combination with pressure springs which are assigned to each of the threaded spindles and are supported between the slide disc and the slide housing. This is so because the pressure springs make possible a position-stable support of the slide disc and therefore of the apparatus. This is especially so when the pressure springs are arranged in pairs symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis of a threaded spindle. In this way, the self-arrestment can be omitted, which is relatively complex to achieve and is inherent in the guide spindle guidance of the state of the art.
If one or more of the guide spindles are driven by a motor mounted in the slide disc, then the entire adjusting unit can be very compact because the slide housing must only be configured as a housing shell surrounding the slide disc. Accordingly, space is available within the slide disc. The slide disc exhibits a certain extension in the slide plane so as to be free of tilting and rocking.
In addition to the stand with an adjusting unit, the invention is directed also to an adjusting unit which, for example, can be used as an independent retrofit and has the corresponding adjusting unit features of the support of the invention.
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patent: 5842962 (1998-12-01), Yamada et al.
Braun Leslie A.
Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung
Le Tan
Ottesen Walter
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