Optics Fine Adjustment Mount With Thermal-Compensating Pillars
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical components experience misalignment due to thermal expansion, leading to ineffective optical setups when heat affects multiple components asymmetrically, necessitating fine adjustments to maintain alignment.
Innovation Solution
A fine adjustor system comprising a mounting ring with radially aligned adjustor grooves and adjustment pillars, coupled with coil springs and ball bearings, allowing for thermal expansion without affecting the orientation of optical components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If optical components are mounted in a fixed rigid structure, then the structure provides stable support, but thermal expansion causes misalignment and orientation changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static rigid mounting structure into a dynamic system that can adapt to thermal expansion. The adjustor pillars with coil springs allow the mounting structure to flex and accommodate dimensional changes while maintaining optical component alignment, resolving the contradiction between structural strength and alignment precision under thermal conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the mounting system by introducing compliant elements (coil springs) and adjustable elements (threaded adjustor pillars). These parameter changes allow the system to maintain alignment precision despite thermal expansion by enabling controlled movement and adjustment of the optical component holder.
2Productivity
If multiple optical components are mounted close together, then the setup is compact and efficient, but thermal expansion affects all components asymmetrically causing misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the mounting system into independent adjustable units, where each optical component can be mounted on its own adjustor mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to be independently adjusted to compensate for asymmetric thermal expansion, maintaining alignment stability while preserving the compact efficient layout.
3Manufacturing precision
If fine adjustment mechanisms are added to compensate for thermal expansion, then alignment precision is maintained, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-adjusting mechanism where the coil springs automatically compensate for thermal expansion forces. The system serves itself by using the expansion forces to compress the springs, which in turn maintain constant contact and alignment without requiring external intervention or complex active control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The coil springs act as intermediary elements between the rigid mounting structure and the optical component holder. These intermediaries absorb and transmit forces in a controlled manner, enabling fine adjustment functionality while keeping the overall mechanism relatively simple and elegant.
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
Enables fine adjustments to optical components that remain unaffected by thermal expansion, ensuring precise alignment and orientation stability.
Implementation Method 1
a set of coil springs coupled with the mounting ring and with the adjusting body
Implementation Method 2
The contact end of each adjustment pillar can include a ball bearing to reduce friction
Data Source
AI summary
Systems that enable fine adjustment of the orientation of optics components housed in those systems. Systems include an adjusting body, a mounting ring, and a set of coil springs pulling those two together. Three adjustment pillars interact with the adjusting body such that rotation or manipulation of any of the adjustment pillars brings about reorientation of the adjusting body. Adjustment pillars contact the mounting ring in radially oriented grooves to prevent thermal expansion or contraction from negatively affecting adjusting body orientation and to facilitate smooth reorientation of the adjusting body during normal operation.