Optical unit coupling mechanism
AssigneeOlympus Optical Co., Ltd.
InventorMinoru Sukekawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical unit coupling mechanism for coupling optical units 10, 11 having a plurality of mutually parallel optical paths 10a, 10b with each other, said optical unit coupling mechanism comprising a round dovetail consisting of a male dovetail 1 and a female dovetail 4, wherein said male dovetail 1 has a minor diameter part 1b of predetermined diameter d.sub.2, part 1d of which is sized larger than the diameter d.sub.2 of the minor diameter part 1b. By virtue of this optical unit coupling mechanism, the system performance can be enhanced without causing a system enlargement and the system compatibility can be maintained.
Claims17
An optical unit coupling mechanism for coupling optical units having a plurality of mutually parallel optical paths, said optical unit coupling mechanism comprising:
- a round dovetail including a male dovetail and a female dovetail,
- wherein said male dovetail has a minor diameter, a major diameter, and a plurality of protrudent portions which are sized larger than the minor diameter,
- wherein the number of said protrudent portions is equal to the number of said mutually parallel optical paths, and
- wherein said protrudent portions are formed on said male dovetail such that each of said protrudent portions is aligned with a respective one of said mutually parallel optical paths.
A stereomicroscope having a plurality of mutually parallel optical paths, comprising:
- at least two optical units coupled to each other;
- and
- a round dovetail for coupling together said optical units, said round dovetail including a male dovetail and a female dovetail,
- wherein said male dovetail has a minor diameter, a major diameter, and at least two protrudent portions forming another diameter of said male dovetail which is larger than the minor diameter,
- wherein the number of said protrudent portions is the same as the number of said mutually parallel optical paths, and
- wherein said protrudent portions are formed on said male dovetail such that each of said protrudent portions is aligned with a respective one of said mutually parallel optical paths.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.