Drive system for the image section of an x-ray apparatus

Claim 2

A drive system for power assisting an individual in displacing a mass which is free to move, such that the mass moves in response to manually applied forces as if it had a lower than actual mass, comprising for each direction in which such power assisting is desired: means for sensing the amount of force manually applied to said mass in such direction; integrating means responsive to said sensed amount of force for generating a voltage proportional to the time integral thereof; a variable speed electric motOr coupled to said mass to assist in moving said mass in such direction, the velocity of said mass in such direction being proportional to the speed of said motor; a motor speed control circuit responsive to said generated voltage proportional to the time integral and electrically connected to said motor to drive said motor at a speed proportional to said generated voltage, whereby said motor so assists in moving said mass in such direction that said mass moves in response to said manually applied force in such direction as if it had a lower than actual mass.

Claim 3

A drive system as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for sensing generates a voltage proportional to the amount of force manually applied to said mass in such direction, said integrating means being responsive to said voltage proportional to the amount of force for generating a voltage proportional to the time integral thereof.

Claim 4

A drive system as defined in claim 2 wherein said means for sensing comprises a piezo-electric crystal to receive force manually applied to said mass in such direction, and an integrator sensitive to charge build up on said crystal resulting from changes in force applied to said crystal, said charge sensitive integrator generating a voltage proportional to the sum of said charge build up, said generated voltage thereby also being proportional to the force manually applied to said mass in such direction.

Claim 5

A drive system as defined in claim 3 and further comprising a handgrip, said piezo-electric crystal being positioned between said handgrip and said mass to receive forces manually applied to said mass in such direction via said handgrip.

Claim 6

A drive system as defined in claim 4 wherein said piezo-electric crystal is mechanically loaded in order to be responsive to changes in both positive and negative forces manually applied to said mass in such direction via said handgrip.

Claim 7

A drive system as defined in claim 5 wherein said integrator sensitive to charge build up on said crystal is automatically reset when no force is applied to said handgrip.

Claim 8

A drive system as defined in claim 1 wherein said voltage generated by said integrating means responsive to said sensed amount of force gradually decays when no amount of force is sensed, thereby simulating friction.

Claim 9

A drive system as defined in claim 1 and further comprising means for adjusting the proportionality constant between at least one pair of quantities defined as being proportional.

Claim 10

A drive system for power assisting an individual in displacing the image section of an X-ray apparatus, such that the image section moves in response to manually applied forces as if it had a lower than actual mass, comprising for each direction in which such power assisting is desired: means for sensing force manually applied to said image section in such direction and for generating a first voltage proportional thereto; integrating means responsive to said first voltage for generating a second voltage proportional to the time integral thereof; a variable speed electric motor coupled to said image section to assist in moving said image section in such direction, the velocity of said image section in such direction being proportional to the speed of said motor; a motor speed control responsive to said second voltage and electrically connected to said motor to drive said motor at a speed proportional to said second voltage, whereby said motor so assists in moving said image section in such direction that said image moves in response to said manually applied force in such direction as if said image section had a lower than actual mass.

Claim 11

A drive system for power assisting an individual in displacing the image section of an X-ray apparatus, such that the image section moves in response to manually applied forces as if it had a lower than actual mass, comprising for each direction in which such power assisting is desired: means for sensing force manually applied to said image section in such direction and for generating a first voltage proportional thereto; integrating means responsive to said first voltage for generating a second voltage proportional to the time integral thereof; a variable speed electric motor coupled to said image section to assist in moving said image section in such direction, the velocity of said image section in such direction being proportional to the speed of said motor; a motor speed control responsive to said second voltage and electrically connected to said motor to drive said motor at a speed proportional to said second voltage, whereby said motor so assists in moving said image section in such direction that said image moves in response to said manually applied force in such direction as if said image section had a lower than actual mass.

Claim 12

A drive system as defined in claim 9 wherein said means for sensing comprises a piezo-electric crystal positioned to receive force manually applied to said image section in such direction, and an integrator sensitive to charge build up on said crystal resulting from changes in force applied to said crystal, said charge sensitive integrator generating said first voltagE proportional to the sum of said charge build up, said generated first voltage thereby also being proportional to the force manually applied to said image section in such direction.

Claim 13

A drive system as defined in claim 9 wherein power assistance is desired in more than one direction and the proportionality constants between quantities which are defined to be proportional are so selected that the same rate of acceleration of said image selection results when the same amount of force is applied to said image section in any of said desired directions, whereby the lower effective mass of said image is the same in any of said desired directions.