Piezo Scanner Unit Alignment Marks for Stable Scanning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing optical fiber scanners with piezoelectric actuators on quadrangular tube-shaped elastic parts face challenges in maintaining consistent performance due to potential assembly errors and variations in bending vibrations, affecting the stability of light scanning.
Innovation Solution
A scanner unit with a piezoelectric element bonded to a tubular elastic part, featuring distinct marks on the piezoelectric body and the elastic part for precise alignment, ensuring correct polarization and consistent bending vibrations, which are transferred to the optical fiber for stable light scanning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If piezoelectric elements are bonded to the elastic part without precise positioning marks, then assembly is simpler and faster, but the scanning performance becomes inconsistent across different units
Solution Approach 1:
Positioning marks are pre-formed on both the elastic part and piezoelectric element before assembly. These marks serve as alignment guides that enable precise positioning during bonding without requiring complex positioning fixtures or procedures during the assembly process itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning marks utilize color differences or contrasting visual features to enable easy identification and alignment of the piezoelectric element with the elastic part. The marks are designed to be visually distinguishable, allowing operators to quickly and accurately align components during assembly.
2Manufacturing precision
If piezoelectric elements are bonded without orientation marks, then assembly is simpler, but the polarization direction alignment becomes inconsistent, affecting scanning performance
Solution Approach 1:
Orientation marks are pre-formed on the piezoelectric element indicating the polarization direction, and corresponding marks are formed on the elastic part. These marks enable correct orientation alignment during assembly without requiring complex orientation procedures or specialized tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The orientation marks are designed with asymmetric features that provide clear directional information. This allows operators to easily distinguish between different orientations and ensure correct alignment of the piezoelectric element's polarization direction with the scanning direction during assembly.
3Reliability
If positioning marks are added to both components, then assembly precision is improved, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Positioning marks are formed on components during their respective manufacturing processes before assembly. This preliminary formation of marks integrates the marking operation into existing manufacturing workflows without requiring separate, additional manufacturing steps, thereby maintaining ease of manufacture while achieving high assembly precision.
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 ensures constant oscillation performance of the optical fiber scanner, maintaining consistent scanning performance across different units by preventing assembly errors and ensuring accurate positional alignment of the piezoelectric elements, resulting in stable and reliable light scanning.
Implementation Method 1
the piezoelectric element undergoes a stretching vibration in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber, thereby exciting a bending vibration in the elastic part and the optical fiber
Data Source
AI summary
A scanner unit includes: a tubular elastic part provided with marks outside a prescribed bonding region set on an outer surface thereof and; and a piezoelectric element that is bonded to the bonding region. The piezoelectric element includes: a piezoelectric body having two mutually opposing electrode faces; and marks that are different from each other, respectively provided on the two electrode faces. The mark provided on one electrode face has a shape that matches the mark provided outside the bonding region when the piezoelectric body is bonded to the bonding region so that the other electrode face contacts the outer surface.