Automatic balancing mechanism for medical stand apparatus
AssigneeMitaka Kohki Co., Ltd.
InventorKatsushige Nakamura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The vertical movement of a retaining link mechanism and the horizontal movement of a counterweight are interlocked by a drive mechanism for balancing in weight between a medical optical device and/or its auxiliary devices and the counterweight about the center of pivot. Accordingly, the action of the drive mechanism makes a balance in the horizontal and vertical movements of the operating microscope combination, thereby automate the balancing control readily.
Claims14
A medical stand apparatus that includes an automatic balancing mechanism, the medical stand apparatus comprising:
- a mount base having a center pivot;
- a retaining link mechanism, the retaining link mechanism comprising:
- a first parallel link assembly and a second parallel link assembly cooperating with each other, and the retaining link mechanism being mounted to the center pivot of the mount base by a vertical slide mechanism for vertical movement of the retaining link mechanism;
- a jib arm extending away from the first parallel link assembly, the jib arm having a distal end that extends away from the first parallel link assembly;
- a medical optical device and/or its auxiliary devices mounted to the distal end of the jib arm;
- and
- a counterweight provided via a horizontal slide mechanism to a part of the second parallel link assembly in a horizontally moveable manner;
- wherein the vertical movement of the retaining link mechanism and the horizontal movement of the counterweight are interlockedly driven by a drive mechanism so as to maintain balance between the counterweight and the weight of the medical optical device and/or its auxiliary devices.
A medical stand apparatus that includes an automatic balancing mechanism, the medical stand apparatus comprising:
- a mount base having a center pivot;
- a retaining link mechanism, the retaining link mechanism comprising:
- a first parallel link assembly and a second parallel link assembly cooperating with each other, the retaining link mechanism being vertically slidably mounted to the center pivot of the mount base so as to allow vertical movement of the retaining link mechanism relative to the mount base;
- a jib arm connected to the first parallel link assembly, the jib arm having a distal end that extends away from the first parallel link assembly;
- a medical optical device and/or its auxiliary devices mounted to the distal end of the jib arm;
- and
- a counterweight that is slidably connected to a part of the second parallel link assembly so as to permit horizontal movement of the counterweight relative to the second parallel link assembly;
- wherein the vertical movement of the retaining link mechanism and the horizontal movement of the counterweight are interlockedly driven by a drive mechanism so as to maintain a balance between the weight of the medical optical device and/or its auxiliary devices and the weight of the counterweight about the center pivot in both the vertical and horizontal directions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.