Stereomicroscope with interchangeable auxiliary oi'tical units

Claim 1

A STEREOMICROSCOPE COMPRISING A STAND, A HOLDER CARRIED BY SAID STAND, MEANS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING SAID HOLDER, BINOCULAR FIEL GLASS MEANS HAVING A PAIR OF ENCLOSURES WITH OBJECTIVES AND OFFSET OCULARS FOR THE TWO SYSTEMS OF RAYS OF SAID FIELD GLASS MEANS, SAID HOLDER HAVING MEANS FOR ROTATABLY SUPPORTING SAID ENCLOSURES OF SAID FIELD GLASS MEANS SO THAT THEY ARE ROTATABLY SECURED AROUND AXES COINCIDING WITH THE OPTICAL AXES OF THEIR SAID OBJECTIVES AND SAID OBJECTIVES ARE SECURED WITH THEIR OPTICAL AXES PARALLEL TO A CENTRAL AXIS AND SPACED APART ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID CENTRAL AXIS, SAID HOLDER HAVING AT THE LOWER END THEREOF COUPLING STRUCTURE OF PREDETERMINED CONFIGURATION COAXIAL WITH SAID CENTRAL AXIS, A FIRST SEPARABLE UNIT INCLUDING AN AUXILIARY OPTICAL DEVICE AND A HOUSING HAVING AT THE LOWER END THEREOF COUPLING STRUCTURE OF CONFIGURATION SIMILAR TO SAID COUPLING STRUCTURE AT THE LOWER END OF SAID HOLDER, SAID HOUSING HAVING AT ITS UPPER END COUPLING STRUCTURE OF A CONFIGURATION MEETING WITH SAID PREDETERMINED CONFIGURATING, AND A SECOND SEPARABLE UNIT CONTAINING A COLLIMATING LENS, SAID SECOND SEPARABLE UNIT INCLUDING A HOUSING HAVING AT ITS UPPER END COUPLING STRUCTURE OF SAID MATING CONFIGURATION SO THAT SAID HOUSINGS OF SAID SEPARABLE UNITS WILL INTERFIT WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH THE LOWER END OF SAID HOLDER WITH SAID UNITS IN PREDETERMINED RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID CENTRAL AXIS, WHEREBY SAID SEPARABLE UNITS MAY BE MUTUALLY EXCHANGED AND ATTACHED TO SAID HOLDER AND TO EACH OTHER SO AS TO BE RAISED AND LOWERED AS ONE UNIT BY SAID HOLDER WITH RESPECT TO SAID STAND, SAID AUXIALLY OPTICAL DEVICE COMPRISING PRISM TRANSVERSELY DISPOSED ON SAID CENTRAL AXIS IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE OPTICAL AXES OF SAID OBJECTIVES, SAID PRISM HAVING TWO ANGULARLY DISPOSED DOWNWARDLY FACING REFLECTIVE SURFACES, MEANS SUPPORTEDLY BY THE HOUSING OF SAID FIRST SEPARABLE UNIT FOR DIRECTING LIGHT LATERALLY AGAINST ONE OF THE FACES OF SAID PRISM WHEREBY THE LIGHT REFLECTS DOWNWARDLY THROUGH THE COLLIMATING LENS OF THE SECOND SEPARABLE UNIT ONTO AN OBJECT BEING VIEWED, A REFLECTIVE DEVICE EXTERNALLY SUPPORTED BY THE HOUSING OF SAID FIRST SEPARABLE UNIT IN POSITION TO RECEIVE RAYS OF LIGHT FROM THE OBJECT BEING VIEWED WHICH PASS THROUGH SAID COLLIMATING LENS AND ARE REFLECTED BY THE OTHER FACES OF SAID PRISM THROUGH A LATERALY APERTURE IN THE HOUSING OF THE FIRST SEPARABLE UNIT, AND A MONOCULAR MICROSCOPE TUBE SUPPORTED BY SAID HOLDER EXTERNALLY OF THE HOUSINGS IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID REFLECTIVE DEVICE FOR RECEIVING THE LAST-NAMED RAYS OF LIGHT.