Swivel arm, especially for a surgical microscope stand

Details Swivel arm, especially for a surgical microscope stand Swivel arm, especially for a surgical microscope stand

2000-06-08

2001-03-13

Ramirez, Ramon O. (Department: 3632)

Supports

Suspended supports

Adjustable

C248S123110, C248S292110

Reexamination Certificate

active

06199812

ABSTRACT:

S
TATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not Applicable.
REFERENCE TO A“MICROFICHE APPENDIX”
Not Applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to generally to support arms forming part of an articulated stand for supporting a load, and particularly to a swivel arm for transmitting torque between a pair of rotating shafts in a stand, for example a surgical microscope stand.
2. Description of the Related Art
More and more surgical microscopes are used in surgery. Because of their high intrinsic weight, they must be supported by stands. Several well-known manufacturers have put stands on the market, and from a mechanical and static perspective they correspond well to the load-carrying requirements of the surgical microscope. For example, the assignee of the present application markets stands with the designation OH, which were manufactured by Mitaka. An example of such a stand can be found in European Patent Publication No. 628290. A further development of this stand is described in commonly owned PCT International Publication No. WO 97/13997.
Most of the more recent stands utilize parallelogram support arms to bear the weight of the surgical microscopes over the greatest possible distances without bending or distortion, so that the freedom of movement and the operating radius of the microscopes are as large as possible. For example, the aforementioned EP-A-628290 presents such a construction. The stand of EP-A-628290 also provides a parallelogram “swivel arm” for the swiveling support of a surgical microscope directly attached thereto. The purpose of the parallelogram support arms is to conduct retention forces for the load, i.e. for the surgical microscope, to the stand so that the microscope remains stable in its position when brakes on the stand are locked. There is a need for two adjustable carriage guides for the two upper parallel supports of a conventional parallel guide bar arrangement.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is the further development of this known “swivel arm.” In particular, parallelogram support arms will be abandoned, but a distortion-free bearing arrangement of a surgical microscope will still be possible. The operating radius may not be restricted, and the construction should be stable, user-friendly, and as free from play as possible.
This object is realized by replacing the parallelogram supports with a combination of two approximately isosceles 2-segment angle levers, one being a support lever and the other being an operating lever. The two angle levers are connected to each other in a rotating manner and also have on both ends an identical linkage to transmit moments between an upper shaft and a lower shaft so that the center of gravity of the load can be kept in space, comparable to a parallelogram support.
In accordance with a further development of the invention, the new type of angle support is equipped with a parallel carriage guide, which maintains the angular orientation of the angle levers in space.
In contrast to the prior art, the new construction also obviates the need for two adjustable carriage guides for the two upper parallel supports of a conventional parallel guide bar arrangement. A single adjustable carriage guide is sufficient for the horizontal displacement of the load application point.
A construction with automatic balancing corresponding to the teaching of PCT International Publication No. WO 97/13997 obviously lies within the scope of the present invention. In this context the publication is considered to be disclosed, being incorporated reference.
The invention can preferably be used with a stand in accordance with Publication No. WO 97/13997, however it is not limited to such use.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3269684 (1966-08-01), Iggulden
patent: 4277044 (1981-07-01), Hamilton
patent: 4500251 (1985-02-01), Kiryn et al.
patent: 5014693 (1991-05-01), Wright, II et al.
patent: 5037267 (1991-08-01), Warner et al.
patent: 5377371 (1995-01-01), Foster
patent: 0 293 228 A2 (1988-11-01), None
patent: 0 628 290 A1 (1994-12-01), None
patent: WO 98/52484 (1998-11-01), None

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