Lens Slide With Segmented Fingers for Friction Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated luminaire systems face issues with uncontrollable and repeatable friction or dampening in the movement of lenses, leading to jerky motion, hysteresis, and potential jamming, which affect image quality and focus stability.
Innovation Solution
A lens slide system with a lens carrier featuring a series of fingers and transverse holes, where the hole diameter can be adjusted to control friction, combined with a resilient material and longitudinal slots to minimize contact area and prevent sticking, allowing for precise control of friction and dampening without additional lubricants or mechanical means.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the contact area between lens carrier and slide rail is increased to improve stability, then the lens movement becomes more stable, but friction increases causing jerky motion and hysteresis
Solution Approach 1:
The lens carrier is divided into a series of fingers with individual transverse holes instead of a single continuous contact surface. This segmentation reduces the total contact area between the lens carrier and slide rail, thereby reducing friction while maintaining stability through the distributed finger structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The fingers are made from resilient material that provides localized compliance and controlled friction at each contact point. This allows the system to maintain stability through the distributed finger structure while controlling friction through the resilient material properties, resolving the contradiction between stability and friction.
2Ease of operation
If friction is reduced to eliminate jerky motion, then lens movement becomes smoother, but the lens may overshoot or wobble during movement
Solution Approach 1:
The resilient material parameters are specifically selected to provide optimal friction characteristics. The material's elasticity and damping properties are tuned to provide just enough friction to prevent overshooting and wobbling while still allowing smooth movement, resolving the contradiction between movement smoothness and positioning accuracy.
3Ease of manufacture
If a single long transverse hole is used in the lens carrier, then manufacturing is simpler, but friction becomes excessive and movement becomes stiff and jerky
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of a single long transverse hole, the lens carrier uses multiple fingers with smaller transverse holes. While this increases manufacturing complexity slightly, it dramatically reduces friction and eliminates the stiff, jerky movement. The segmentation allows the carrier to flex and adapt to rail imperfections, providing smooth movement.
4Ease of operation
If lubricants are applied to reduce friction, then lens movement becomes smoother, but dust and contaminants are attracted causing potential jamming
Solution Approach 1:
The resilient material inherently provides self-lubrication through its elastic properties, eliminating the need for external lubricants. The material's compliance allows smooth movement while its non-stick surface does not attract dust and contaminants, resolving the contradiction between movement smoothness and contaminant attraction.
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 provides smooth, repeatable, and controlled movement of lenses, reducing hysteresis and jamming, while maintaining high accuracy and minimizing contaminant buildup, thus enhancing image quality and operational reliability.
Implementation Method 1
The lens carrier is made from a resilient material and has a series of longitudinal slots formed therein. The longitudinal slots are formed through the fingers from the front surface of the lens carrier to the rear surface of the lens carrier.
Data Source
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AI summary
The described systems provides a simplified slide system for longitudinal movement of optical light modulators (102) for automated luminaires employing expansion and contractions slots (125) which allow for precise smooth movement over a range of temperatures.