In the surgical field, in general, and in the field of dental surgery, in particular, practitioners use apparatuses equipped with switches or interrupters which may be actuated with the foot. Indeed, for certain interventions, it is required, or, at the very least, recommended, to use appliances such a, for example, microscopes, UV lamps, and many other appliances, that the practitioner should be able to start, adjust, and stop himself/herself. An example is the focusing and displacement of a microscope by which the practitioner observes the object on which he/she intervenes. As his/her hands are occupied with the gestures of the operation, there only remains the use of the foot for controlling the apparatus.
Thus, pedal controls with one or several pedals have been developed. These controls have been connected to the apparatus to be controlled through a cable and were further connected through another cable to a current outlet or to another type of electricity source.
However, certain operations require that the practitioner be able to move during the operation. In this case, the presence of cables may be bothersome or even dangerous when the practitioner has to move with the apparatus in his/her hand. For this reason, wireless controls were developed. They are designed in order to send radio-electric or optical signals to the apparatus to be controlled which decodes them and carries out the required tasks. An example is described in document U.S. Pat. No. 7,428,439.
But since the interventions may last for a rather long time, one must be sure that the electric power supply of these wireless controls may be ensured during this long period of time.
One means for managing this is to use electronic modules with low electrical power consumption, which consequently have small dimensions. An additional means is to use as a source of electricity means for generating electricity at the moment when the transmitter of the wireless control needs it. Such a source of electricity also has small dimensions.
The problem which is posed for designing a control device meeting the different requirements listed above, consisted of combining miniaturization of the wireless control, strictly speaking, with the robustness and large dimensions required for foot actuation and notably for blind actuation, i.e., without the practitioner needing to concentrate on specifically laying his/her foot on either one of the actuators of the wireless control, so as to not divert his/her attention from the main task, namely the surgical operation.
Indeed, when the device to be controlled only has two functions and is further not subject to constraints in dimensions and energy such as those listed above, a control device with two pedals, mounted one beside the other and spaced from each other, may be actuated without any risk of confusing the pedals, and without risking accidental actuation of one of the actuators at the moment when the other actuator is targeted.
However, when control means of small dimensions have to be actuated by means of members adapted to the dimensions and stiffness of the shoes of a practitioner, the solutions used before the invention are not satisfactory.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds