Back to results
US 4,066,329 AGranted
Optical adjustment knob with spaced apart platforms
AssigneeBausch & Lomb Incorporated
InventorGerrit A. Van Exel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A center-focus binocular with a focus knob having a flattened upper surface which is easily contacted by fingertips on both hands of the user when the binocular is held in a normal viewing position. The knob motion is like that of a treadle or seesaw, and the user's finger motion is dominantly linear and opposite. The fingers of opposite hands apply opposing forces to the knob for smooth and accurate movement, and the knob is coupled to ocular lenses of the binocular through a steep cam for rapid, short-stroke focus adjustment.
Claims12
A binocular comprising:
- a. first and second telescopes, each of the telescopes including a body portion and a movable optical element, the optical elements being movable with respect to the body portions to effect an optical adjustment;
- b. connecting means secured to the body portions for connecting the telescopes together and to provide an interpupillary spacing adjustment for the telescopes, the means including a hinge pin having a longitudinal axis and a bracket hinged to rotate about the hinge pin;
- c. an assembly for moving the optical elements, the assembly including a rotatable knob and a coupling means for coupling the knob to the movable optical elements, the knob including a hub portion which is mounted between the body portions for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the hinge pin, the knob also including first and second spaced-apart finger-contacting portions spaced relative to the hub portion so that, when the binocular is held by a user with one of the user's hands gripping the first telescope and the other of the user's hands gripping the second telescope, the first finger-contacting portion is positioned relative to the first telescope so as to be easily contacted by at least one finger of the one hand and the second finger-contacting portion is positioned relative to the second telescope so as to be easily contacted by at least one finger of the other hand whereby the knob can be rotated bidirectionally in seesaw-like fashion by the fingers of the hands without any shift in grip positioning of the hands.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.