Displaceable Detent Blocks for Optical Shutter Rebound Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shutter installations for optical beam paths in microscopes face issues with rebounding and vibration due to abrupt deceleration at mechanical detents, leading to inaccurate positioning and increased cycle times, especially when using stepper motors or DC motors with rigid detents.
Innovation Solution
A shutter installation with displaceable detent blocks that absorb dynamic energy upon impact, allowing for controlled deceleration and reduced rebound, utilizing adjustable friction and materials like aluminum or silicone for the detent faces, and incorporating a DC motor with deceleration mechanisms to minimize vibrations and noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a mechanical detent is used to delimit the shutter path, then the shutter element can be positioned accurately at terminal positions, but the shutter element rebounds and vibrates upon impact, increasing cycle time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies beforehand cushioning by providing a detent block with a detent face that is displaced along a displacement path towards the shutter element before impact occurs. This gradual approach allows the shutter element to decelerate progressively rather than abruptly stopping, significantly reducing rebound and vibration while maintaining accurate positioning at terminal positions.
2Speed
If a DC motor is used instead of a stepper motor, then the shutter element can be accelerated more rapidly, but the abrupt deceleration at the detent causes rebound and vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The detent block is displaced along a displacement path towards the shutter element before impact, creating a cushioning effect that gradually reduces the shutter element's velocity. This allows the DC motor to achieve rapid acceleration while the detent block's movement provides progressive deceleration, minimizing rebound and vibration generated during stopping.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If the detent is made of softer material to reduce rebound, then the shutter element can decelerate more gently, but exact positioning of the shutter element is no longer possible
Solution Approach 1:
The detent block is designed to be displaceable along a displacement path rather than being fixed. This dynamic configuration allows the detent face to move towards the shutter element during deceleration, providing gradual velocity reduction. The displaceable nature maintains positioning accuracy while reducing rebound, overcoming the limitation of fixed soft detents.
Solution Approach 2:
The detent block's displacement along the displacement path creates a cushioning effect before the shutter element reaches the terminal position. This beforehand cushioning allows gentle deceleration without sacrificing positioning precision, as the detent face actively moves to meet the shutter element rather than being a static soft barrier.
4Object-generated harmful factors
If a rotary disk with large diameter is used to obscure the beam path, then the rebound problem is avoided, but the installation space in the microscope increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single large rotary disk, the patent segments the beam path control function into a shutter element that travels along a defined shutter path between two terminal positions. The detent block is similarly segmented, moving along a displacement path independent of the shutter element's main trajectory. This segmentation allows compact positioning mechanisms rather than requiring a large rotary disk, reducing installation space while eliminating rebound through the displaceable detent approach.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly reduces rebound and vibration, enabling rapid and precise shutter movements with minimized maintenance, adjustable cycle times, and reduced acoustic noise, while eliminating the need for expensive encoders and allowing for software-adjusted shutter frequencies and durations.
Implementation Method 1
a first detent block (4) having a first detent face (5.1) and a second detent face (5.2) and displaceable along a displacement path (6) between a first terminal position (E1) and a second terminal position (E2)... the first detent block (4) is displaceable, by the moving shutter element (2), from the first terminal position (E1) of the first detent block (4) by a distance along the displacement path (6)
Implementation Method 2
adjustable friction and materials like aluminum or silicone for the detent faces
Data Source
AI summary
A shutter installation for an optical beam path includes: a shutter element for shutting the optical beam path; a drive for moving the shutter element in a controlled manner along a displacement path between two terminal positions; and at least one detent block having in each case a detent face against which the shutter element in one of the terminal positions is in each case moved, or able to be moved, respectively. Each detent block is configured so as to be displaceable such that the respective detent block, by the shutter element, is able to be displaced from the terminal position of the detent block by a distance along a displacement path.