JP5701672B2 - Ophthalmic equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ophthalmologic apparatus including an observation unit for observing a subject's eye.

  In an ophthalmic examination, an ophthalmologic apparatus such as a slit lamp (slit lamp microscope) including a microscope unit as an observation unit is used to observe a subject's eye (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In order to align the observation optical axis of the observation unit with the part of the subject's eye that the examiner wants to observe, such a device moves the observation unit in the horizontal direction and moves the observation unit in the vertical direction. And a vertical movement mechanism. The vertical movement mechanism is a mechanism that moves the observation unit up and down by rotating a rotation knob (rotation operation member) attached to the upper or lower part of the joystick (operation rod). Such a vertical movement mechanism includes a unit that converts the rotation of the rotary knob into a linear movement in the vertical direction.

  The weight of the observation unit or the like is added to such a vertical movement mechanism. For this reason, when the observation unit is raised, the examiner feels a burden (load) corresponding to the weight of the observation unit or the like when the rotary knob is rotated. On the other hand, for example, a spring is arranged between a base (sliding base) that does not move up and down and a vertical movement part on which the observation unit is mounted, and the vertical movement part is urged upward to load the examiner. It is mitigating.

JP-A-5-184543

  However, since the length of the spring changes depending on the height of the vertical movement portion, the urging force of the spring changes accordingly. For this reason, there is a problem that the examiner feels that the rotational load of the rotary knob changes due to the difference in the height of the vertical movement part, and that the smooth operation is difficult. That is, when the vertical movement part is raised to the uppermost position in a state where the height of the vertical movement part is in the middle position and the weight is balanced, the urging force of the spring gradually weakens and the operating load is reduced. growing. Also, when the vertical movement portion is lowered to the lowest position, the biasing force of the spring gradually increases and the operating load increases. In particular, in a slit lamp, a surgical unit such as a laser irradiation unit may be mounted, and the weight applied to the vertical movement mechanism is further increased. Therefore, the load change due to the difference in height of the vertical movement part is felt more strongly.

  In view of the above-described problems of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ophthalmologic apparatus capable of performing a smooth operation while suppressing an increase in operation load felt by an examiner when moving up and down a vertical movement unit.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized by having the following configuration.
(1) Up and down movement unit on which an observation unit for observing the subject's eye is mounted, and up and down movement for the examiner to move the up and down movement unit up and down by manual operation of the operation member with respect to the base unit In an ophthalmologic apparatus comprising a mechanism and an urging member that urges the vertical movement unit upward in order to reduce an operation load on the examiner, the vertical movement for detecting the vertical position of the vertical movement unit with respect to the base unit A detecting means, a supporting member that supports one end of the urging member, and that is movably moved in the vertical direction, is disposed on the base portion or the vertical movement portion, and the urging member is moved along the urging direction. A drive unit having a drive source that moves in a moving manner, and a drive of the drive source based on the vertical position detected by the vertical detection unit, so that the biasing force of the biasing member is maintained within a predetermined allowable value. And a control means for moving the support member. It is characterized by that.
(2) In the ophthalmologic apparatus according to (1), the biasing member is an elastic body that is disposed between the base portion and the vertical movement portion, and biases the vertical movement portion upward, and the control means. Is characterized in that the support member is moved so as to maintain the elastic body at a predetermined allowable length.
(3) In the ophthalmologic apparatus according to (1) or (2) , the control unit moves the support member by the same amount of change as the amount of change in the height position of the vertical movement unit.

  According to the present invention, an increase in the operation load felt by the examiner can be suppressed, and the vertical movement of the observation unit or the like can be performed with a smooth operation.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of a slit lamp according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the optical system of the slit lamp.

  The slit lamp (slit lamp microscope) 100 includes a face support unit 10, a moving unit 20, an illumination unit 60, and a microscope unit (observation unit) 70.

  The moving unit 20 includes a slide base (base part) 21 slidable in the horizontal direction (left and right direction (X direction) and front and rear direction (Y direction)) on the table 1, and a test unit for moving the slide base 21. A joystick (operating rod) 22 held by a person's hand and tilted, and a base shaft (base shaft) 23 extending upward from the slide base 21 in a substantially vertical direction (Z direction). Above the joystick 22, a grip (rotating knob (rotating operation member)) 22a that is gripped and rotated by an examiner's hand is integrally formed. The moving unit 20 is a well-known sliding mechanism that moves the slide base 21 (and the base shaft 23) in the horizontal direction (left and right and front and rear directions (X and Y directions)) by tilting the joystick 22 left and right and front and rear. It has. Furthermore, the moving unit 20 includes a vertical movement mechanism that moves the base shaft 23 in the vertical direction (Z direction) by rotating the joystick 22 (grip 22a) in the horizontal direction (details will be described later).

  On the base shaft 23, an arm 60 a that supports the illumination unit 60 and an arm 70 a that supports the microscope unit 70 are supported so as to be individually rotatable in the horizontal direction around the central axis A of the base shaft 23. . Thereby, the illumination unit 60 and the microscope unit 70 can be separately rotated in the horizontal direction around the central axis A.

  The face support unit 10 supports the face (head) of the subject so that the subject eye E (see FIG. 2) is positioned above the base shaft 23. That is, the face support unit 10 is arranged on the subject side with respect to the illumination unit 60 and the microscope unit 70. The face support unit 10 includes a forehead 11 for supporting the subject's forehead and a chin rest 12 for supporting the subject's chin, and is fixed to the table 1 by two columns 13. .

  In the illumination unit 60, white light (visible light) from a light source 61 such as a halogen lamp passes through the condenser lens 62 and illuminates the variable aperture 63 and the variable slit 64. White light that has passed through the aperture 63 and the slit 64 passes through the projection lens 65, is reflected by the prism mirror 66, and is projected onto the eye E of the subject. With this configuration, the illumination optical system 60о is established (see FIG. 2).

  In the microscope unit 70, the fundus image of the eye E of the subject illuminated with white light from the illumination optical system passes through the objective lens 71, the variable magnification optical system 72, and the imaging lens 73, and is erected by the erecting prism 74. Reflected. The white light reflected by the prism 74 passes through the field stop 75, passes through the eyepiece lens 76, and enters the examiner's eye F. With such a configuration, an observation optical system 70о is established (see FIG. 2).

  Next, the vertical movement mechanism of the slit lamp 100 will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the moving unit 20. FIG. 4 is a perspective view for illustrating the relationship of the members of the vertical movement mechanism. FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the periphery of the support member. FIG. 3 is a left rear perspective view (a perspective view seen from the left direction on the examiner side), and FIG. 4 is a right rear perspective view. In FIG. 4, the slide base 21 is omitted, and the urging member 46 is omitted in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the vertical movement mechanism that converts the horizontal rotation (rotation) of the joystick 22 (grip 22a) into the linear movement of the base shaft 23 in the vertical direction (Z direction) is substantially vertical in the joystick 22 ( A shaft (support member) 31 that is inserted in the Z direction and supports the grip 22a so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction, and the shaft 31 is tiltably held and rotated in the horizontal direction as the joystick 22 rotates in the horizontal direction. In order to transmit the rotation of the rotation base 32 in the horizontal direction, the rotation base (rotation member) 32 is a gear having teeth formed on the outer periphery, and the teeth that mesh with the teeth of the rotation base 32 are formed on the outer periphery. A transmission member 33 that is a gear that rotates in the horizontal direction, a conversion unit 34 that converts the horizontal rotation of the transmission member 33 into a linear motion in the vertical direction, and a conversion unit 4 is moved up and down by the vertical movement unit 50 (supporting the illumination unit 60 and the microscope unit 70) fixed to the base shaft 23, a hollow shaft 51 provided below the vertical movement unit 50, A shaft unit 41 provided on the slide base 21 and having an outer diameter that fits inside the shaft 51.

  The conversion unit 34 has a shaft (support member) 34a extending from the slide base 21 in a substantially vertical direction (Z direction) and teeth that mesh with the teeth of the transmission member 33 formed on the outer peripheral portion. Conversion member 34b, which is a gear that rotates in the horizontal direction around a shaft (feed screw) 34a. The vertically moving portion 50 includes a conversion member (feed nut) 50a that is a female screw that is screwed with the shaft 34a that is a male screw. Thereby, when the grip 22a is rotated, the rotational force is transmitted to the conversion unit 34 via the shaft 31, the rotation base 32, and the transmission member 33, and the rotation of the shaft 34a causes the conversion member 50a to move linearly in the vertical direction. After the conversion, the vertical movement unit 50 moves up and down.

  Further, the vertical movement mechanism detects the rotational speed (rotation amount) of the shaft 34a or the grip 22a, thereby moving the vertical movement relative to the reference position of the slide base (base part) 21 (the lowest position of the vertical movement part 50). A sensor (detector) 38 for detecting the height position of the unit 50 is provided. The sensor 38 is attached to the rotary shaft, has a pinion gear that meshes with the transmission member 35, and detects the rotation speed of the grip 22a via each transmission member. The transmission member 35 transmits the rotation of the conversion member 34 b to the sensor 38. The conversion unit 34, the transmission member 35, and the sensor 38 constitute a sensor unit 36 that detects the height position of the vertical movement unit 50.

  In the present embodiment, the sensor 38 is an encoder or a potentiometer that detects the number of rotations of the grip 22a (conversion unit 34). The sensor 38 not only reads the rotation amount per rotation of the grip 22a but also reads the total rotation number (total rotation amount) of the grip 22a. The sensor 38 generates a detection signal corresponding to the rotational position of the grip 22a. Therefore, the rotational speed of the conversion unit 34 can be detected based on the detection signal of the sensor 38, and the height position of the vertical movement unit 50 with respect to the reference position of the slide base (base part) 21 can be detected. In other words, the sensor 38 serves as a sensor for detecting the amount of operation (input) of the grip 22a and a change (output) in the height position of the vertical movement unit 50 caused by the operation result (up-down position detection). means). The sensor 38 is connected to a control unit (control unit) 80.

  The vertical movement mechanism is further provided on the slide base 21 in order to hold the biasing member 46 and a biasing member 46 such as a coil spring (elastic body) that biases the vertical movement portion 50 upward from below. In order to adjust the urging force of the shaft unit (guide member) 41 and the urging member 46, a support member 42 movable in the vertical direction along the shaft unit 41, and a movement of the support member 42 in the vertical direction And a drive unit 40 provided on the slide base 21. The urging member 46 is disposed on the outer periphery of the shaft 41 a, the lower end thereof is supported by the support member 42, and the upper end thereof is in contact with the upper portion of the hollow shaft 51. The shaft unit (guide member) 41 is rotatably held by the slide base 21. The shaft (feed screw) 41 a is arranged to extend in the vertical direction and has a male screw formed on the surface thereof. And a transmission member 41b such as a gear disposed on the (lower surface). The shaft 41a and the transmission member 41b are integrally formed. The shaft unit 41 has a role of guiding the moving direction of the support member 42 as the vertical direction. The slide base 21 constitutes a part of the drive unit 40.

  The drive unit 40 includes a motor 49 that is a drive source for moving the support member 42 up and down by rotating the shaft unit 41, a transmission member 43 that is a gear that transmits rotational force to the shaft unit 41, and the support member 42. And a restricting member 45 that is a detent for stopping the rotation. The transmission member 43 is held by the slide base 21 so as to be horizontally rotatable, and is disposed so as to mesh with the transmission member 41b. The transmission member 43 meshes with a pinion gear attached to the rotating shaft of the motor 49. In this way, the shaft unit 41 is connected to the motor 49 via each transmission member.

  The support member 42 is a hollow cylindrical member, and includes a cylindrical portion (feed nut) 42a in which a female screw that is screwed into a male screw of the shaft 41a is formed, and a cylindrical portion 42a at a lower portion of the cylindrical portion 42a. A flange 42b that protrudes in the outer peripheral direction, contacts the lower end of the urging member 46, and supports the urging member 46 from below, and a groove 42c that is formed as a space for accommodating the regulating member 45 is provided. (See FIG. 5). The restricting member 45 is a columnar member having a lower end fixed to the slide base 21 and arranged extending in the vertical direction. The regulating member 45 is disposed in the vicinity of the shaft 41a so as to fit in the groove portion 42c of the support member 42 attached to the shaft 41a.

  By the drive unit 40 as described above, the motor 49 rotates the shaft 41a via the transmission member 43 and the transmission member 41b based on the command signal of the control unit 80, and moves the support member 42 up and down with respect to the slide base 21. Let As the support member 42 moves up and down, the biasing member 46 also moves up and down.

  The urging member 46 that urges the vertical movement portion 50 upward has a role of substantially canceling the load applied to the vertical movement portion 50 from above, and is applied to the grip 22a when the vertical movement portion 50 is moved upward. Reduce the load (rotation resistance). The biasing member 46 is formed with an inner diameter slightly larger than the shaft 41a and smaller than the inner diameter of the shaft 51b. The lower end of the urging member 46 abuts on the flange 42b, and the upper end of the urging member 46 abuts on the upper portion (ceiling portion) of the shaft 51. The urging force of the urging member 46 is slightly weaker than the load applied to the vertical movement unit 50 from above. Thereby, the thread of the female thread of the conversion member 50a is always placed on the thread of the male thread of the conversion member 34a, and rattling between the screws is reduced, and the vertical movement portion 50 in the vertical direction (Z direction) is reduced. Move smoothly. Here, the urging direction of the urging member 46 is the direction in which the shaft 41a and the shaft 51 extend, that is, the vertical direction.

  The slide base 21 is provided with a sensor unit 47 that detects the height position of the support member 42 by detecting the rotational speed of the shaft unit 41. Similarly to the sensor 38, the sensor unit 47 includes a sensor 48 configured by an encoder, a potentiometer, or the like, and a transmission member 44 that is a gear for transmitting the rotational force from the transmission member 43 of the drive unit 40 to the sensor 48. . The transmission member 44, which is a gear, meshes with a pinion gear attached to the rotation shaft of the sensor 48. With such a configuration, the rotational speed of the shaft unit 41 is obtained by the sensor 48, and the height position of the support member 42 is detected from the rotational speed of the shaft unit 41.

  Although not shown, the vertical movement unit 50 is provided with a regulating member that regulates the maximum upper limit (uppermost position) of the height of the vertical movement unit 50. Moreover, the minimum lower limit (lowermost position) of the height of the vertical movement part 50 is controlled by the length of the longitudinal direction (Z direction) of the shaft a41 and the shaft 51. In this embodiment, the vertical movement part 50 shall have a movement width of 30 mm. Accordingly, the vertical movement unit 50 positioned at the lowest level (lower limit) can move up and down (30 mm) up to the highest level (upper limit).

  Next, the movement of the support member 42 in the vertical direction (up and down movement) will be described. When the transmission member 43 is rotated by the motor 49, the transmission member 41b is rotated and the shaft 41a is rotated. The rotation of the shaft 41a is transmitted to the support member 42 (the cylindrical portion 42a). Since the rotation of the support member 42 is restricted by the restriction member 45, the rotation of the male screw of the shaft 41a is transmitted to the female screw of the cylindrical portion 42a, and the entire support member 42 moves in the vertical direction as the male screw rotates. It becomes. For example, when the transmission member 43 is rotated clockwise (clockwise), the support member 42 moves downward, and when the transmission member 43 is rotated counterclockwise (counterclockwise), the support member 42 is upward. Move to.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a control system of the apparatus. Connected to the control unit 80 are a sensor 38 and a sensor 48, a motor 49, a memory 81 in which an operation program is stored, and a power switch 82 for turning on / off the apparatus. The control unit 80 detects (understands) the height position of the vertical movement unit 50 based on the detection signal sent from the sensor 38, and detects the height position of the support member 42 based on the detection signal sent from the sensor 48. In the present embodiment, the height positions of the vertical movement unit 50 and the support member 42 are acquired by signals based on the resistance values of the sensors 38 and 48 that are potentiometers. The control unit 80 drives the motor 49 based on the detection signal of the sensor 38 and moves the support member 42 up and down so as to maintain the urging force of the urging member 46 within a predetermined allowable value. Preferably, the control unit 80 moves the support member 42 so as to keep the difference (distance) in the height position between the support member 42 and the vertical movement unit 50 constant, and makes the length of the biasing member 46 constant. As a result, the urging force of the urging member 46 is made constant. Specifically, the support member 42 is moved by a movement amount corresponding to the same height as the amount of change in the height position of the vertical movement unit 50 (the movement amount in the vertical direction) detected by the sensor 38. At this time, the control unit 80 acquires the height position of the support member 42 based on the detection signal of the sensor 48, and determines whether or not the support member 42 has moved by the same amount as the amount of change in the height position of the vertical movement unit 50. Check.

  Next, the movement operation of the vertical movement unit 50 in the vertical direction (Z direction) will be described. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the state of the support member 42 and the urging member 46 when the height of the vertically moving portion 50 is changed. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the vertical movement unit 50 and the support member 42 are positioned at the lowest position, and FIG. 7B shows a state in which the vertical movement unit 50 and the support member 42 are positioned at a middle level. Show.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, in a state where the vertical movement portion 50 is at the lowest limit, the urging member 46 is sandwiched between the shaft 51 and the support member 42 and compressed from the natural state. The urging member 46 at this time is in a state of a length L, and has an urging force corresponding to the length L. The urging force of the urging member 46 is set to be slightly weaker than the load applied to the vertical movement unit 50 from above or to balance the load. When the grip 22a is rotated in the horizontal direction from this state (for example, rotated clockwise), the shaft 34a is rotated via the rotation base 32, the transmission member 33, the conversion member 34b, etc., and the vertical movement unit 50 is moved. Moves straight (up). At this time, the sensor 38 detects the rotation of the conversion member 34 b through the rotation of the transmission member 35. A detection signal corresponding to the current height position of the vertical movement unit 50 is output from the sensor 38. The control unit 80 acquires the position (or movement amount) of the vertical movement unit 50 based on the detection signal of the sensor 38, and moves the support member 42 by the amount that the vertical movement unit 50 has moved (raised). Then, the motor 49 is driven. When the motor 49 is driven, the rotation of the pinion gear is transmitted to the transmission member 41b via the transmission member 43. When the transmission member 41b rotates, the shaft 41a also rotates, and the rotational force is transmitted to the support member 42 through the female screw (cylinder portion 42a) by the rotation of the male screw. Since the support member 42 is not rotated by the restriction of the restriction member 45, the support member 42 moves (rises) upward according to the rotation of the shaft 41a. The lower end of the urging member 46 is pushed up by the support member 42 (see FIG. 7B). In FIG. 7B, the length L of the urging member 46 is the same as that in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the grip 22a is rotated in the horizontal direction (for example, rotated counterclockwise) from the state shown in FIG. 7B, each member performs an operation opposite to that described above. The up-and-down moving part 50 linearly moves (lowers) downward. At this time, the control unit 80 detects the position of the vertical movement unit 50 based on the detection signal of the sensor 38 and moves the motor 49 so that the support member 42 is lowered by the amount of movement corresponding to the position of the vertical movement unit 50. Reverse rotation from the above. When the motor 49 is driven to rotate in the direction opposite to that described above, the support member 42 moves downward (lowers). Then, the control unit 80 confirms the position of the support member 42 based on the detection signal of the sensor 48.

  In this manner, the vertical movement portion 50 (and the base shaft 23) moves in the vertical direction by the rotation operation of the grip 22a. Further, the support member 42 also moves as the vertical movement unit 50 moves. By interlocking the movement of the vertical movement part 50 and the support member 42, the difference in height position between the vertical movement part 50 and the support member 42 becomes constant, and the length of the biasing member 46 also becomes constant.

  In this way, the length of the urging member 46 is constant regardless of the height position of the up-and-down moving part 50, so that the load felt by the examiner is constant in the rotation operation of the grip 22a. Thereby, the vertical movement of the microscope unit 70 and the like can be performed smoothly, and alignment is facilitated. Further, the burden (load) on the examiner is reduced in the vertical movement operation. Further, since the vertical movement unit 50 is directly moved up and down by a drive unit such as a motor, the above apparatus has the following advantages. In the fine adjustment of the height position of the microscope unit 70, the adjustment by the delicate rotation of the grip 22a is easy. When the height position of the microscope unit 70 is finely adjusted by a separately provided motor, a high-performance motor is required, which increases the size and cost of the apparatus. On the other hand, in the apparatus of the present embodiment, the rotation operation of the grip 22a is not active (no driving force is applied by the motor), and the vertical movement unit 50 moves by the cooperation of the transmission members. Subtle position adjustment of the microscope unit 70 can be performed by a delicate rotation operation. That is, it is possible to keep the load of the rotation operation constant while maintaining the conventional delicate operation feeling.

  There is a correlation between the length of the urging member 46 and the urging force of the urging member 46. Preferably, the urging force of the urging member 46 (the length of the urging member 46) is constant. The support member 42 is moved by the same amount as the moving amount of the vertical movement unit 50, but the biasing member 46 is within an allowable value set so that the load when the examiner rotates the grip 22a does not vary greatly. It only has to be energizing. For example, the support member 42 may be moved when the urging force of the urging member 46 is out of the allowable value. When the urging member 46 is an elastic body such as a spring, the support member 42 is moved so as to keep the length of the urging member 46 constant within a predetermined allowable value.

  In addition, in the above example, the control unit 80 moves the support member 42 until the vertical movement unit 50 can move to a predetermined lower position when the device OFF signal is input by the switch 82. 80 moves the support member 42 to the lowest position. For example, when the support member 42 is not lowered to the lowest position and is stopped at an intermediate position, for example, even when the grip 22a is operated, the vertical movement portion 50 is lowered only to the extent that the biasing member 46 can be deformed. In this case, even if it is attempted to store the device in a predetermined packing material for the purpose of transporting the device, there may be a problem that the device cannot be stored in the packing material. On the other hand, if the support member 42 is lowered to the lowest position, the vertical movement portion 50 can be lowered to the lowest position by the rotation operation of the grip 22a as in the conventional case, and the above-described inconvenience can be avoided.

  In the apparatus having the above configuration, an actual use operation will be briefly described. The examiner turns on the power (not shown) of the slit lamp 100 prior to the examination. Next, the examiner fixes the subject's face to the face support unit 10, operates the moving unit 20 (inclination operation of the joystick 22 and rotation operation of the grip 22 a), and the illumination unit 60 and the microscope unit 70. Rough alignment (positioning in X, Y and Z directions) is performed. Then, the light source 61 of the illumination unit 60 is turned on to project illumination light (white light) onto the subject eye E, and the subject eye E is observed through the microscope unit 70. The examiner operates the moving unit 20 (the tilting operation of the joystick 22 and the rotating operation of the grip 22a) while observing the subject's eye E, and performs fine alignment (X, Y, and X) of the illumination unit 60 and the microscope unit 70. Positioning in the Z direction). When performing alignment in the vertical direction (Z direction), the examiner rotates the grip 22a to change the position (height) of the illumination unit 60 and the microscope unit 70 in the vertical direction (Z direction). At this time, the control unit 80 controls the motor 49 based on the detection signals of the sensors 38 and 48 to reduce the load on the examiner's operation in adjusting the height of the microscope unit 70.

  In the ophthalmologic apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a laser irradiation unit that irradiates a subject's eye with laser light or an accessory unit such as a camera that photographs the subject's eye may be mounted on the vertical movement unit 50. In this case, since the load applied to the vertical movement portion 50 is increased, the urging force of the urging member 46 described above is insufficient, and the burden on the examiner when moving upward is increased. Therefore, depending on the weight added to the vertical movement portion 50, the difference in height position between the vertical movement portion 50 and the support member 42 (the allowable value of the biasing force of the biasing member 46 or the allowable length L of the biasing member 46). By changing the value), adjustment is made to increase the urging force of the urging member 46, thereby suppressing an increase in the load on the examiner. When adjustment of the urging force of the urging member 46 is necessary, the following is performed.

  In FIG. 6, the selector 83 is connected to the control unit 80. The selector 83 is a unit for inputting a selection signal for changing the length L (biasing force) of the biasing member 46 sandwiched between the support member 42 and the upper portion of the shaft 51, and has a plurality of preset lengths. A selection signal is input from among L (or a plurality of urging forces). When the selection signal of the selector 83 is input, the control unit 80 changes the height position of the support member 42 so as to change the length L of the biasing member 46 to the selected length. As a result, the urging force of the urging member 46 is changed, and the load felt by the examiner by the rotation operation of the clip 22a can be changed (reduced).

  For example, when a signal for increasing the amount of urging force is input by the selector 83, the control unit 80 detects the height position of the vertical movement unit 50 acquired by the sensor 38 and the support acquired by the sensor 48. In relation to the height position of the member 42, the height of the support member 42 is increased by a certain amount. Here, the certain amount is an offset amount for changing the urging force. For example, the selector 83 is configured to increase the urging force in two stages. When the examiner operates the selector 83, a selection signal is input to the control unit 80, and the control unit 80 applies an urging member by an offset amount (corresponding to the offset amount) with respect to a reference before mounting the attached unit. The height position of the support member 42 is changed so that the length of the support member 46 is shortened (the urging force is increased), and the length of the urging member 46 is kept integral in the subsequent vertical movement of the support member 42.

  The embodiment described above can be variously modified. For example, in the above description, the support member 42 supports the lower end of the urging member 46, and the support member 42 is also raised by the drive unit 40 provided on the slide base 21 when the vertical movement unit 50 is raised. However, it is not limited to this. The support member 42 may support the upper end of the urging member 46, the slide base 21 side may receive the lower end of the urging member 46, and the drive unit 40, the sensor unit 47, and the like may be provided on the vertical movement unit 50 side. In this case, when the vertical movement unit 50 is lifted from the reference height position, the lower end of the support member 42 is lowered so that the length (biasing force) of the biasing member 46 falls within the allowable range.

  In the above description, the sensors 38 and 48 as position detecting means are encoders or potentiometers for detecting the height position of the support member 42, but are not limited thereto. In addition to the sensor 38 and the sensor 48, a distance sensor that directly detects the heights of the vertical movement unit 50 and the support member 42 may be provided. Further, the sensor 48 is not always necessary. The control unit 80 may be configured to drive the support member 42 from the lowest position and to detect (or store) the rotation amount of the motor 49 to acquire the height position of the support member 42.

  In the above description, the sensor 38 detects the height position of the vertical movement unit 50 from the total rotation amount of the grip 22a, and the sensor 48 determines the height position of the support member 42 from the total rotation amount of the shaft unit 41a. Although it was set as the structure detected, it is not restricted to this. The sensor 38 may be configured to detect the amount of movement of the vertical movement unit 50 in the vertical direction by detecting the rotation (relative rotation amount) of the grip 22a via the transmission member. Similarly, the sensor 48 may be configured to detect the amount of movement of the support member 42 in the vertical direction by detecting the rotation (relative amount of rotation) of the shaft unit 41 via the transmission member. In this case, the control unit 80 lowers the support member 42 to the lowest position when the apparatus is activated and initialized in order to grasp the height positions of the vertical movement unit 50 and the support member 42. By detecting the relative movement amount of the support member 42 from this state by the sensor 48, the height position of the support member 42 is obtained (detected). Similarly, the vertical movement unit 50 is lowered to the lowest position (operated by the examiner), and the control unit 80 detects the relative movement amount of the vertical movement unit 50 from this state by the sensor 38, thereby moving the vertical movement unit 50 up and down. The height position of the unit 50 is acquired. Further, the control unit 80 may drive the motor 49 in proportion to the amount of movement (including directionality) of the vertical movement unit 50 detected by the sensor 38.

  In the above description, the support member 42 is configured to be engaged with the shaft unit 41 and move in the vertical direction under the rotational force of the motor 63. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The support member 42 may be configured to move in the vertical direction along the guide member.

  In the above description, the support member 42 is moved up and down by the motor. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Any drive unit capable of moving the support member 42 up and down (moving along the urging direction of the urging member 46) may be used. For example, the drive unit 40 may be a jack or the like. When a jack is used, the support member 42 may be directly moved up and down, and the support member 42 may not use screwing.

  In the present embodiment, a slit lamp is used as an example of an ophthalmologic apparatus, but the present invention can be applied to an ophthalmologic apparatus provided with an observation unit. For example, the present invention can be applied to stationary ophthalmic devices such as a non-contact tonometer and an eye refractive power measuring device.

  In this embodiment, the grip 22a is used as the rotary knob. However, the member that becomes the rotary knob may be provided in any of the devices.

  As described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various modifications are possible. The present invention includes such modifications within the scope of making the technical idea the same.

It is a schematic external view of the slit lamp which is embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the optical system of a slit lamp. It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of a movement unit. It is a perspective view for showing a relation of members of a vertical movement mechanism. It is an expansion perspective view of a support member periphery. It is a schematic block diagram of the control system of a slit lamp. It is typical sectional drawing which showed the state of the supporting member at the time of changing the height of an up-and-down moving part, and an urging | biasing member.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Face support unit 20 Moving unit 22 Joystick 22a Grip 38, 48 Sensor 41 Shaft unit 42 Support member 46 Energizing member 49 Motor 50 Vertical movement part 60 Illumination unit 70 Microscope unit 80 Control part 100 Slit lamp

Claims (3)

An up-and-down moving unit on which an observation unit for observing the subject's eye is mounted, and an up-and-down moving mechanism for the examiner to move the up-and-down moving unit up and down by manual operation of the operation member with respect to the base unit; In an ophthalmologic apparatus comprising an urging member that urges the up-and-down moving part upward in order to reduce the operation load of the examiner,
A vertical detection means for detecting the vertical position of the vertical movement part relative to the base part;
Supporting one end of the urging member, and a support member disposed on the base portion or the vertically moving portion so that the urging member can be moved in the vertical direction
Drive means having a drive source for moving the support member along the urging direction;
Control means for controlling the drive of the drive source based on the vertical position detected by the vertical detection means, and for moving the support member so as to maintain the biasing force of the biasing member within a predetermined allowable value;
An ophthalmologic apparatus comprising: The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the biasing member is an elastic body that is disposed between the base portion and the vertical movement portion, and biases the vertical movement portion upward.
The ophthalmologic apparatus characterized in that the control means moves the support member so as to maintain the elastic body at a predetermined allowable length. 3. The ophthalmic apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit moves the support member with the same amount of change as the amount of change in the height position of the vertical movement unit.