Freehand 2010 Limited

Prosurgics Limited

David Gale

Keith Marshall

Adrian Cooper

Clive Francis

A clutch mechanismfor use with a carrier of a linear drive device, where the mechanismincludes: a housing; a first gearcoupled to the housingand having gear teethconfigured to engage a threaded shaftof a linear drive device, so that rotation of the shaftcauses the housingto move along the shaftin a first mode of operation; and a first clutch arrangement associated with the first gearand configured to prevent substantial rotation of the first gearwith respect to the housingwhen a rotational force applied to the first gearis less than a threshold force and to permit rotation of the first gearwith respect to the housingwhen a rotational force applied to the first gearis greater than the threshold force. In a second mode of operation, the housingcan be manually moved along a length of the shaftby exerting a force on the housingand causing the rotational force applied to the first gearthrough the interaction of the threaded shaftand the gear teeth to exceed the first threshold.

Clutch mechanism

The present invention is a telescopic drive device of a device for holding a surgical instrument. The telescopic drive device includes a support; a first telescopic stage carried by the support; a first telescopic stage carried by the support, the first telescopic stage being able to perform a first motion with respect to the support; a second telescopic stage, which is able to perform a second motion with respect to the first telescopic stage; and a drive system, which is operable to drive the first and second motions. The first telescopic element performs the first motion and the second telescopic element simultaneously performs the second motion. The telescopic drive is operable to support a further device and to move the further device such that the movement is centered around a point or wherein each of the telescopic elements is arcuate.

Telescopic support

A clutch mechanism for use with a carrier of a linear drive device includes a housing, a first gear, and a first clutch arrangement. The first gear coupled to the housing and has gear teeth to engage a threaded shaft of a linear drive device . Rotation of the shaft causes the housing to move along the shaft in a first mode of operation. The first clutch arrangement prevents substantial rotation of the first gear. The first gear permits rotation of the first gear with respect to the housing. The housing can be manually moved along a length of the shaft, in a second mode of operation, by exerting a force on the housing. The rotational force applied to the first gear through the interaction of the threaded shaft and the gear teeth exceeds the first threshold.

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Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

David Gale