Patent 8368268 was granted and assigned to Olympus Group on February, 2013 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An optical-device switching apparatus of a microscope includes a driving motor, and a rotation unit that is rotatably attached to a body and to which optical devices are attached, and a gear apparatus that is located between the driving motor and the rotation unit and transmits power from the driving motor to the rotation unit. The gear apparatus includes a backlash reduction system that reduces backlash.