Patent ID: 7372625

Claim:
A device for retaining optical components, comprising: a plurality of open orifices disposed next to one another in an arrangement; a raceway corresponding to the arrangement, the raceway including a plurality of detents; and a ball bearing configured to follow the raceway and cooperating with the detents so that each of the detents is brought, in a respective following direction, into click-stop engagement with the ball bearing so as to hold the orifices in a selected position; wherein each of the detents has, in the respective following direction, a profile including a combination of an outer and an inner arc-shaped profile, and wherein: the outer arc-shaped profile has less curvature than the inner arc-shaped profile and surrounds the inner arc-shaped profile; the outer arc-shaped profile is a first circular arc of a first circle; the inner arc-shaped profile is a second circular arc of a second circle; the first circle has a larger radius than a radius of the second circle; the first and second circles have different respective center points; the first circle has a first radius larger than a radius of a ball of the ball bearing; and the second circle has a second radius smaller than the radius of the ball.