Monolithic Kinematic Optic Mount for Precision Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing optical mount systems face challenges in maintaining precise alignment due to thermal stresses, residual stresses, and unpredictable slip-stick errors caused by joint interfaces, leading to inaccuracies and time-consuming alignment processes.
Innovation Solution
A monolithic, homogeneous optical mount system with three rigid segments joined by flexures operating about two orthogonal and coplanar axes, eliminating joints and using a single material with a high section modulus for the rigid elements and flexible flexures, which are machined as a single piece to minimize thermal expansion mismatches and reduce errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate components are assembled to form an optical mount, then the mount can be manufactured and adjusted independently, but thermal stresses and residual stresses at joint interfaces cause alignment inaccuracies and slip-stick errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate components into a single monolithic structure made from one piece of material. This eliminates joint interfaces where thermal and residual stresses would cause misalignment, while still allowing independent adjustment through integrated flexure mechanisms that are part of the monolithic structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a homogeneous monolithic structure made from a single material throughout the entire mount. This ensures uniform thermal expansion characteristics and eliminates stress concentration at material interfaces, thereby maintaining alignment accuracy under varying thermal conditions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional jointed mounts are used, then assembly and adjustment are flexible, but alignment precision deteriorates due to thermal expansion mismatches and stick-slip phenomena at interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple components into a monolithic structure that eliminates joint interfaces, thereby eliminating stick-slip phenomena and thermal expansion mismatches while maintaining adjustment flexibility through integrated flexure mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The homogeneous monolithic construction ensures uniform thermal and mechanical properties throughout the structure, eliminating precision errors at interfaces while preserving the ability to adjust alignment through dedicated flexure elements.
3Ease of operation
If alignment mechanisms with multiple joints are used, then components can be adjusted independently, but the alignment process becomes time-consuming due to potential misalignment at each released joint
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple adjustment joints into a single monolithic structure with integrated flexures, eliminating the need to repeatedly align multiple separate components while maintaining the ability to adjust each degree of freedom independently through the flexure mechanisms.
4Ease of manufacture
If separate components are fastened together, then the mount can be assembled from modular pieces, but thermal stresses and residual stresses from fastening cause position changes over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges modular components into a monolithic structure that eliminates fastening joints, thereby eliminating the source of thermal and residual stresses that cause position drift over time, while still allowing the structure to be manufactured in sections and assembled.
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
This solution significantly improves alignment precision and stability, reduces thermal-induced errors, and simplifies the alignment process by eliminating joint-related inaccuracies and slip-stick phenomena, ensuring accurate and stable optical alignment over time.
Implementation Method 1
three effectively rigid segments joined by flexures operating about two axes that are both orthogonal and coplanar
Implementation Method 2
From a single block of that material, the mount is completely fabricated. No joints are used between the rigid elements and the flexures, nor between the constituents along the entire path from the first rigid element throughout the mount to the last rigid element
Data Source
AI summary
A two-axis, optical mount provides two flexural elements monolithically and homogeneously formed of a single material with, and interconnecting, three rigid segments. Between each pair of rigid segments, beginning with the first and second, a set of extensions is formed to have a cross section that permits simple, easy, independent adjustment therebetween. Likewise, a flexural element exists between the second and third rigid elements. Meanwhile, the rigid elements have section moduli sufficiently great as to be orders of magnitude larger than the flexural stiffness or section modulus of the flexural elements, thus providing flexures that operate in the elastic mode and introduce no joint type accuracy errors in adjustment.