Actuating mechanism for setting a manipulatable member in at least two degrees of freedom

Abstract

An actuating mechanism for setting a manipulatable member in at least two degrees of freedom of movement. The actuating mechanism includes at least one drive motor, whose output shaft is gear-connected to a manipulatable member-driven reduction gear, and includes two potentiometers, which measure the actual position of the manipulatable member and are mounted on a printed circuit board and include resistance paths and wipers and a drive housing. The actuating mechanisms are constructed at least in part modularly and where the function of the potentiometer can be tested before installation into the actuating mechanism. The actuating mechanism includes as few components as possible, can be mounted as easily as possible, and its potentiometer can be mounted easily without play with reference to the manipulatable member and/or the reduction gear. The printed circuit board includes a deflector, which is at least partially embedded in plastic material and electrically connects the ends of the individual resistance paths to the contact points so that the resistance paths are carried between their ends by the plastic material. The wipers are fastened on wiper carriers, which are in the form of gearwheels, frictional wheels or crank disks, are pivot-mounted on the printed circuit board and are gear-connected to the reduction gear and/or the manipulatable member. The printed circuit board is bent at an angle at at least one point so that the resistance paths of both potentiometers are configured in different planes. The circuit board with the potentiometers and the contact points form one component, with the two potentiometers of the component being easily rigidly mounted.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.