Kinematic optical device mount

a technology of optical devices and mounts, applied in the field of mounts for optical elements, can solve the problems of significant design and fabrication challenges, distortion and uncertainty of the position of objects, and the mounts are strain-free to provide diffraction-limited optical performance, and achieve the effect of facilitating the tilting of optical elements

Active Publication Date: 2013-11-07
RAYTHEON CO
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The solution provides virtually strain-free planar support and controllable tilt for optical elements, maintaining diffraction-limited performance across various environmental conditions, including temperature extremes and vibrations, by avoiding over-constraint and compensating for thermal expansion differences.

Problems solved by technology

Precision optical devices or elements, such as beam splitters or mirrors, may need substantially strain-free optical mounts to provide diffraction-limited optical performance.
Any mount or support that constrains a rigid object with more than six (6) contact points, is said to “over-constrain” the object, which likely results in distortion and uncertain position of the object.
Such a requirement for mechanical surfaces, designed to mate with optically flat surfaces, imposes significant design and fabrication challenges.
Since materials expand in all three dimensions simultaneously, designing perfectly athermal potting gaps can be challenging.
For non-circular optics, such as in rectangular shapes, this more complex geometry results in athermalized gap designs that are typically impractical to fabricate, due to the requirement for continually varying cross-sections.
This can result in degraded optical characteristics, such as degraded surface figure, with its resulting degradation on optical wavefronts interacting with strained optical surfaces.
Minimizing strain in optics can also be challenging, particularly in extreme environmental conditions, such as involving temperature extremes, vibrations, and / or shocks.

Method used

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Examples

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Embodiment Construction

[0024]An optical mount is used for mounting an optical element, such as a beam splitter or a mirror, to a housing. The optical element may have a rectangular shape, with opposed major surfaces, such as top and bottom major surfaces, and with side edges running from one major surface to the other. The optical mount includes a pair of optical element retainer clamps that secure a first side of the optical element at respective first securement points on one of the major surfaces of the optical element, and that also engage a first edge of the optical element. A whiffletree retainer clamp secures a second side of the optical element at a second securement point on the one of the major surfaces. The whiffletree retainer clamp couples a whiffletree retainer to the housing, with the whiffletree retainer engaging a second edge of the optical element that is along the second side of the device. The whiffletree retainer is positionally adjustable relative to the optical element retainer clam...

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Abstract

An optical mount is used for mounting an optical element, such as a beam splitter or a mirror, to a housing. The optical mount includes a pair of optical element retainer clamps that secure a first side of the optical element at respective first securement points on one of the major surfaces of the optical element, and also engage a first edge. A whiffletree retainer clamp secures a second side of the optical element at a second securement point on the one of its major surfaces. The whiffletree retainer clamp couples a whiffletree retainer to the housing, with the whiffletree retainer engaging a second edge along the second side of the device. The whiffletree retainer is positionally adjustable, for example able to pivot. Pivot pads may be used in at least some of the engagements to secure the optical element. The pivot pads may be segments of ball bearings.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The invention is in the field of mounts for optical elements, and methods for securing and / or adjusting optical elements.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Precision optical devices or elements, such as beam splitters or mirrors, may need substantially strain-free optical mounts to provide diffraction-limited optical performance. One typical type of mount capable of achieving these requirements is referred to as kinematic. The theory of kinematic design assumes that the bodies are perfectly rigid, and that contact only occurs at points. Every rigid body possesses six degrees of freedom. These degrees of freedom are translations along three (3) mutually orthogonal axes, and three (3) rotations around these axes. The theory of kinematic design states that a rigid body has (6−n) degrees of freedom, where (n) is the number of contact points. Any mount or support that constrains a rigid object with more than six (6...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & AuthorityApplications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): G02B7/00B23P17/04F16B2/20F16M13/00F16B2/10
CPCG02B7/182Y10T29/49826
InventorMARR, LYALE F.FIERRO, EMMANUELBRATTON, ROBERT K.KEELS, KELVIN L.
OwnerRAYTHEON CO