Adjustable Satellite Mount With Decoupled Multi-Axis Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical components in systems experiencing variable forces, such as those on moving platforms, face alignment issues due to external forces like gravity and system movement, which existing mounting methods like optical tables cannot effectively manage in unstable environments.
Innovation Solution
A mount design featuring a base plate, top plate, and frame with adjustable positioners and locking interfaces allows for precise alignment and adjustment of components along multiple axes, decoupling movements to maintain alignment despite external forces, using complementary structures like grooves and tongues for relative movement and locking mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If components are mounted on a moving platform, then the system becomes portable and adaptable to mobile applications, but alignment precision deteriorates due to variable forces and gravity changes
Solution Approach 1:
The mount employs dynamic adjustment mechanisms including threaded positioners for fine positioning and spring-loaded elements for continuous adaptation. The structure allows real-time adjustment of component positions along multiple axes to compensate for forces encountered during movement, maintaining alignment precision despite portability requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The mount changes physical parameters such as position, orientation, and spacing of optical components dynamically. Threaded positioners enable continuous adjustment of component locations, while spring elements provide variable compensation forces. These parameter changes allow the system to adapt to varying gravitational and inertial forces during mobile operation.
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional optical tables are used for mounting, then alignment stability is maintained in stable environments, but the system becomes impractical for moving platforms
Solution Approach 1:
The mount divides the mounting system into independent adjustable segments - separate positioners for each optical component, individual adjustment mechanisms for each axis. This segmentation allows each component to be adjusted independently to compensate for movement-induced misalignment, providing both stability and environmental adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
Spring-loaded elements and threaded positioners act as intermediary mechanisms between the mounting structure and optical components. These intermediaries absorb and compensate for external forces, isolating the components from direct impact of movement while maintaining precise alignment capability.
3Manufacturing precision
If precision mounting is performed carefully, then initial alignment is achieved, but external forces cause components to shift and disturb alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The mount incorporates preliminary adjustment mechanisms - threaded positioners and spring elements - that are pre-configured to enable fine-tuning of component positions. This preliminary capability allows operators to achieve precise initial alignment and then make subsequent adjustments to maintain alignment as conditions change, rather than relying solely on rigid fixed mounting.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable mount structure provides mechanical feedback through spring-loaded elements that respond to positional changes and external forces. When components experience force-induced displacement, the spring elements detect this change and can be adjusted to restore proper alignment, creating a feedback mechanism that maintains alignment stability despite external disturbances.
Data Source
AI summary
An adjustable mount for mounting a component subjected to dynamically-varying loads decouples position adjustment of one axis from position adjustment along the other. The mount includes a frame between base and top plates. The frame has apertures for receiving positioners. The positioners abut sides that extend inward from the plates and into the frame. Actuating a positioners causes it to push its corresponding side. This causes relative motion between the frame and the positioner's corresponding plate. Movement interfaces guide these movements during adjustment and locking interfaces lock the frame and the corresponding plate into position after completion of adjustment.