Electronic footswitch for ophthalmic surgery
US5554894A · kind A · utility
113Cited by
9References
30Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 28, 1994 |
| Grant date | Sep 10, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 28, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01H3/14
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A footswitch for ophthalmic surgery includes a rotatable foot pedal, a spring member which biases the foot pedal to resist rotation and an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the bias of the spring member to a surgeon selected value. In an illustrated embodiment, the adjustment mechanism includes a worm screw gear assembly which is used to vary the amount of torque generated by a coil spring on a shaft upon which a pedal is mounted. As a worm gear is rotated by a thumb wheel, a spur gear is rotated to wind or unwind coil spring thereby increasing or decreasing the amount of tension exerted by coil spring on a shaft.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.