The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 18, 1987
Filed:
Mar. 05, 1986
Jack Cohen, Norwalk, CT (US);
John L Wardle, Wilton, CT (US);
Circon Corporation, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Abstract
An inspection instrument has an elongated flexible body which extends between a control assembly at a proximal end and an objective head at a distal end. Fiber optic bundles disposed within the instrument permit the illumination and the imaging of the interior regions of a structure being inspected. An articulating vertebrae assembly and a transitional coupler are disposed proximally of the objective head whereby the objective head is caused to move in an arc when tension is applied to interiorly disposed cables connecting the objective head to the control assembly. The vertebrae assembly is comprised of individual hollow vertebrae which are disposed along and axially aligned by a resilient stiffening member which is fixed at a distal end within the objective head and at a proximal end within the coupler. The member provides flexibility to the vertebrae assembly and, because it has a rectangular cross-sectional area, resists a torsion about its longitudinal axis, thus making the distal end of the instrument torque stable.