U.S. patent number 3,647,287 [Application Number 05/018,161] was granted by the patent office on 1972-03-07 for an appliance for diagnosis and therapeutic eye treatment.
Invention is credited to Herbert Schwind.
United States Patent |
3,647,287 |
Schwind |
March 7, 1972 |
AN APPLIANCE FOR DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPEUTIC EYE TREATMENT
Abstract
An appliance for ophthalmologists, comprising a movable
ring-sector shaped work surface for holding ophthalmic instruments,
that subtends an angle of approximately 240.degree. and closely
surrounds the patient's chair.
Inventors: |
Schwind; Herbert (8752
Goldbach-Aschaffenburg, DT) |
Family
ID: |
5746135 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/018,161 |
Filed: |
March 10, 1970 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Sep 20, 1969 [DT] |
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P 19 47 803.6 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
351/245; 108/22;
108/139; 108/103 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61G
15/14 (20130101); A61F 9/00 (20130101); A61B
3/18 (20130101); A61F 2009/0035 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61B
3/18 (20060101); A61G 15/14 (20060101); A61G
15/00 (20060101); A61F 9/00 (20060101); A61b
003/00 (); A47b 011/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;351/38
;108/22,103,139 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
B & L Brochure, B & L Hydraulic Equipment for Modern
Refraction, 1933.
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Primary Examiner: Schonberg; David
Assistant Examiner: Sacher; Paul A.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An appliance for diagnosis and therapeutic eye treatment
requiring no change of place by the patient, comprising: a
ring-sector shaped work surface for receiving treatment instruments
firmly affixed to said work surface; a ring-sector shaped
substructure having substantially the same horizontal dimensions as
said work surface and positioned for supporting said work surface;
said substructure comprising a fixed portion and a sector portion
spaced from said fixed portion; said work surface displaceable by
means of rollers on the substructure, whereby the ring-sector
shaped work surface and the substructure subtend an angle of
approximately 240.degree. and have an opening subtending an angle
of approximately 120.degree.; a physician's chair located in the
opening of the substructure and an adjustable treatment chair
positioned inside of and closely surrounded by the ring-sector
shaped substructure and the work surface, said treatment chair
normally oriented toward the physician's chair; a forehead and chin
rest for the patient adjustably positioned on the inner and,
preferably, left end of said fixed substructure and including means
for adjustably positioning said forehead and chin rest before the
patient or away from the patient when seated in said treatment
chair; said sector portion on the other end subtending an angle of
approximately 90.degree.; means for outwardly pivoting said sector
about a vertical rotational axis located on the inner circumference
of said sector portion nearest said fixed portion, said sector
displaceable, after said work surface has been rolled back, in a
rotary motion about said vertical rotational axis by about
90.degree. into a cutout subtending an angle of 90.degree., whereby
said treatment chair after an appropriate rotation of about
60.degree. is adjustable such that the head of the patient
reclining in an essentially horizontal position is located
approximately in the center of the length and the width of the area
formerly occupied by said displaced sector of said substructure and
said sector including control means located on the end portion of
said sector positioned farthest from said fixed portion for
controlling the position of said treatment chair and the relative
position of said treatment instruments relative to said chair.
2. An appliance in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a
treatment chair which is rotatable as well as adjustable vertically
and horizontally; a vertical rotational axis of said chair located
eccentrically with respect to the center of said ring-sector shaped
substructure and work surface and at the intersection of two
straight lines, one of which passes through the center of said
substructure and the center of said opening, and the other of which
passes between the inner edges of the ends of said substructure;
said treatment chair having a back support, headrest and foot rest
adjustable to form an essentially horizontal surface after said
treatment chair has been rotated by approximately 60.degree. from
its normal position.
3. An appliance in accordance with claim 1 including knobs which
control individual operations of the appliance, said knobs located
on the ends of the substructure to be easily reached from said
physician's chair.
4. An appliance in accordance with claim 1, wherein the ends of
said substructure include means for receiving additional
instruments for diagnosis and treatment.
5. An appliance for diagnosis and therapeutic eye treatment of a
patient comprising: a ring-sector shaped work surface for receiving
treatment instruments and for enabling the treatment instruments to
be firmly affixed to said work surface; a ring-sector shaped
substructure having substantially the same horizontal dimensions as
said work surface and positioned for supporting said work surface,
said substructure comprising a fixed portion and a sector portion
movably positioned with respect to said fixed portion; means
positioned with respect to the work surface and the substructure
for enabling displacement of the work surface with respect to said
substructure, whereby the ring-sector shaped work surface and the
substructure subtend an angle of approximately 240.degree. and
having an opening subtending an angle of approximately 120.degree.;
a physician's chair located in the opening of the substructure and
a treatment chair positioned inside of and closely surrounded by
the ring-sector shaped substructure and the work surface; a
forehead and chin rest for the patient adjustably positioned
adjacent one end of said substructure and including means for
adjustably positioning said forehead and chin rest; said sector
portion of the substructure subtending an angle of approximately
90.degree. and adjacent ends of the sector portion and the fixed
portion of the substructure forming a cutout subtending an angle of
about 90.degree., means for enabling outward pivoting of said
sector about a vertical rotational axis located on the inner
circumference of said sector portion nearest said fixed portion,
said sector being displaceable, after said work surface has been
repositioned on said substructure, in a rotary motion about said
vertical rotational axis by about 90.degree. into said cutout,
whereby said treatment chair after an appropriate rotation of about
60.degree. may be adjusted such that the head of the patient
reclining in an essentially horizontal position is located
approximately in the center of the length and the width of the area
formerly occupied by said displaced sector of said substructure,
and said sector including control means located on an end portion
of said sector for controlling the position of said treatment chair
and the relative position of said treatment instruments relative to
said chair.
Description
SPECIFICATION
An important problem during diagnostic or therapeutic eye treatment
is to bring all the instruments required for the various types of
treatment to the patient as rapidly as possible, while saving
space, and keeping in mind that the patient should not move from
his place.
A turntable for four diagnostic instruments is already known, which
is designed such that the instrument used at any particular time is
moved from its compartment on the turntable to a work surface
located between the physician and the patient. With this appliance
which, by the way, is used only in conjunction with eye
examinations, the instrument which was used must be returned first,
however, to its compartment on the turntable, the table turned, and
the new instrument pulled out. These steps are cumbersome and,
furthermore, the turntable and the patient chair which comes with
it are poorly suited for therapeutic treatment. Furthermore, no
other instruments besides those mentioned earlier, which are
located on the turntable, are conveniently available to the
physician and needed for diagnosis, vision acuity testing, and
therapeutic eye treatment. To undergo such a treatment the patient
must change his place.
The present invention is related to a unit based on a principle
similar to that used in dental treatment, and more specifically, an
appliance which can serve in the diagnosis, vision acuity testing,
and therapeutic treatment without requiring the patient to change
his place. Accordingly, this invention is intended to provide an
appliance for diagnostic and therapeutic ophthalmic instruments,
requiring no change of place by the patient. It is also an object
of this invention that this appliance comprises a ring-sector
shaped work surface with said instruments firmly attached to
it.
It is a further object of this invention that said work surface is
movable on rollers, or similar devices, on top of a basically firm
substructure of approximately the same dimensions, whereby said
work surface and said substructure subtend an angle of
approximately 240.degree., and an opening in said work surface and
said substructure subtends an angle of 120.degree..
It is another object of this invention that an adjustable patient
chair is firmly located inside said work surface, surrounded
closely by said substructure and said work surface, such that the
back support, the headrest and the footrest of said patient chair
are oriented toward the physician's chair located in front of said
opening in the work surface.
It is another object of this invention that a forehead and chin
rest for the patient is located on the inner, preferably left, end
of said substructure and can be moved back and forth.
It is another object of this invention to provide that a section of
said substructure at the other end can be swung out by
approximately 90.degree. about a vertical axis after said work
surface has been rolled back approximately 90.degree., with the
appropriate clearance having been provided in the substructure at
said vertical axis; whereby the treatment chair can be moved
through appropriate rotation by approximately 60.degree., such that
the head of the almost horizontally reclining patient comes
approximately into the center of the length and the width of the
area formerly occupied by said section of said substructure before
said section was swung out.
A further advantageous version of the appliance, object of present
invention, provides for the treatment chair to be rotatable and
adjustable vertically and horizontally; the vertical axis of said
treatment chair's rotation is eccentrically placed with respect to
the center of the ring-sector shaped work surface which contains
said opening, said vertical axis preferably located at the
intersection of two straight lines of which one passes through said
center of said ring-shaped work surface and the center of said
opening, and the other forms a connecting line between the inside
edges of said work surface section; the back support, the headrest
and the footrest can be individually and jointly adjusted after the
rotation of said treatment chair by about 60.degree. and will form
together a nearly horizontal surface.
In the appliance, object of present invention, the knobs which
control the individual operational steps with respect to said work
surface, substructure, treatment chair, forehead and chin support,
the pivoted substructure section, etc., are located on the ends of
the substructure easily reached from the physician's chair.
Furthermore, in the appliance, object of present invention, the
ends of said substructure contain structures designed to receive
additional devices for diagnosis and treatment; for instance, there
are on the left side drawers for the test lenses, test spectacles,
etc.; on the right face side there is a pivoted quiverlike box; on
the right inner side of the pivoted section of the substructure are
cases or drawers and above them recesses for other therapeutic
media, including the required pharmaceuticals.
Other advantages and application possibilities of the invention
follow from the following description as well as from the attached
drawings. The drawings illustrate in:
FIG. 1 is a top view of the appliance, object of present invention,
in its normal state for ophthalmic diagnosis and vision acuity
testing.
FIG. 2 is a top view of the appliance in FIG. 1, but with the
section of the substructure swung out for ophthalmic therapeutic
treatment.
FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional view with a partial cross section in
accordance with FIG. 2.
In the following description references will be made to FIGS. 1, 2,
and 3 in each of which the reference number 1 refers to the work
surface which is shaped like a section of a ring, the length of
which subtends approximately 240.degree., and its opening subtends
approximately 120.degree..
This ring-sector shaped work surface 1 can be driven or pushed by
means of rollers 1a, FIG. 3, on a substructure 6 which is
approximately equally dimensioned and basically fixed. The width of
the work surface is such that various treatment instruments can be
firmly fixed in certain positions 2, 3, 4, and 5 on the work
surface. The inside circumference of the ring sector is capable of
comfortably containing a patient chair, such as one which is used
in dental treatment.
The center of the ring sector coincides approximately with the
center of the back support 9 of the treatment chair 8, in its
vertical position; whereby the vertical axis D of the chair 8
rotation intercepts the intersection of two straight lines, of
which one, A--A, runs through the center of the ring sector and the
center of the opening 7, and the other, B--B, represents a
connection between the inner edges 17 of the ends of the
substructure 6.
The treatment chair 8 has in addition to back support 9 the
headrest 10 and the footrest 11. The physician's chair 12 is
located in front of the footrest 11.
On the inside circumference, preferably on the left side of the
ring sector, there is affixed a forehead and chin rest 13 which can
be pushed back and forth and which in use is located at the height
of the sitting patient, on the axis A--A.
A quiverlike box pivoted in the right end of the substructure 6 is
indicated by 21.
The right-angle cutout or clearance in the substructure 6 is
intended to make it possible to swing out the right end of the
substructure about the vertical rotation axis 14 in the case when
the treatment chair 8 in accordance with FIG. 2 is turned by about
60.degree. to coincide with the axis C--C.
In that case, the work surface is pushed counterclockwise to the
point such that its right end is located immediately below the axis
A--A, see FIG. 2. Then the end 19b of the section 16 of the
substructure is swung out by about 90.degree. with respect to its
original position into the cutout V which subtends approximately
90.degree.. The length of the section so swung out subtends
approximately 90.degree..
Next, the treatment chair 8 is turned by about 60.degree. and the
footrest 11, the back support 9, and the headrest 10 are adjusted
such that these parts form with the chair seat an almost horizontal
plane. The headrest 10 is then located approximately in the center
of the length and the width of the area previously occupied by the
displaced section 16 of the substructure 6. The physician's chair
12 is located on the same axis C--C, from which chair the physician
can now treat the patient, whereby he can easily reach the drawer
or boxes 22 located in the swung out section, as well as the recess
23 and the control knobs also located there 18, FIG. 3.
At the intersection of the straight line B--B with the left or the
upper inner edge 17 there is drawn a broken vertical line, in the
position where the extreme edge of the other end 19a of the
substructure 6 is located.
In FIG. 3 the rollers 1a are visible by means of which the work
surface 1 can be displaced on the substructure 6. To facilitate the
explanation of the construction, the work surface is shown cut off
on its left near the end 19a of the substructure 6.
The treatment chair 8 is in a nearly horizontal position with its
footrest 11, the turned-down back support 9 and the headrest
10.
On the right side of the appliance is shown the area 15 with the
vertical rotational axis 14 on its inside boundary. The section 16
of the substructure displaced by approximately 90.degree. in this
position touches with its vertical surface tightly (the upper
bounding edge is shown) the corresponding extension of the
substructure which at this point extends by sector S beyond the
work surface 1.
The patient occupies the central place in the appliance, object of
present invention, and can stay in this place during all
examination and treatment steps. Therefore, at the same place are
carried out: the diagnosis, the vision acuity testing, and the
therapeutic treatment of the eyes.
A further advantage for the physician performing a treatment is
that all of these processes can be accomplished while sitting down.
Furthermore, he can easily reach the electric control knobs which
could be located in a pivoted box in the left front side of the
substructure. These knobs can be used not only to control the whole
unit, but to raise and lower the motorized chair, to control the
acuity vision projector, to darken the room, to switch the
vision-testing devices, etc. In particular, he can bring three
different instruments 2, 3, and 4 fixed to the ring-shaped work
surface in front of the patient and, in addition, the Phoropter 5
required for vision tests.
The physician performing a treatment can, while changing the
instruments, keep an eye continuously on the patient who is
particularly facilitated by the forehead and chin rest which can be
pushed back and forth and which is designed to immobilize the
patient, for example, during the use of the three above-mentioned
instruments. This results in the same optical conditions when
instruments are changed, eliminating the necessity for repeated
adjustments.
For the vision acuity tests which are not carried out by means of
the Phoropter, there is, for example, on the left end 19a of the
substructure 6 a drawer 20 which contains test lenses. This drawer
can be pushed in front of the patient to facilitate rapid insertion
of these test lenses into the test spectacles.
For examinations with the ophthalmoscope and the Skiascope there is
on the right side of the substructure a pivoted quiverlike box 21
which contains these instruments close enough to reach.
For examinations, and in particular treatments which require the
patient to lie down, the chair can be rotated by about 60.degree.
and then through motor power be brought into horizontal position.
In the previously swung-out section of the right end of the
appliance there is a provision for containing the instruments for
the measurement of the intraocular pressure; and, in particular,
for therapeutically necessary instruments and pharmaceuticals.
* * * * *