Patent ID: 8349080

Claim:
A micro-manipulator machine for harvesting crystals from a container, said machine comprising; a. a micropositioner mechanism for converting three dimensional translational motions of an input control arm movable by a hand-manipulatable position control member in a first, input coordinate space to motions of a follower mechanism coupled to said input control arm, b. a tool head support arm attached at a first, inner end thereof to an output member of said follower mechanism, c. a tool head attached to a second, outer end of said tool head support arm, said tool head having attached thereto a tool for extracting a crystal from a container, said tool being movable translationally in response to manipulation of said position control member in a second, output coordinate space in motions which are ratios of corresponding motions of said position control member in said first, input coordinate space, d. a first actuator mechanism for moving said tool arm from a first, crystal extraction location proximate a container to a second, crystal retrieval location spaced away from said crystal extracting location, and e. a control system for automatically energizing said first actuator mechanism to thereby move tool head to said crystal retrieval position when said tool head has been moved a predetermined distance away from said crystal extraction location by manipulation of said position control knob.