V-Shaped Mirror Actuator Layout for Low-Profile Wide-Angle Scanning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rotary reciprocating actuators for optical scanning devices face challenges in achieving a low profile while maintaining high accuracy, wide angle, and high amplitude, with complex assembly processes and increased product size due to larger mirrors.
Innovation Solution
A rotary reciprocating actuator design featuring a V-shaped mirror held by a shaft with a magnet on its outer periphery, supported for back-and-forth rotation, and an electromagnetic drive part with magnetic poles, a coil member, and a magnetic member to bias the movable member, allowing for easy assembly and reduced height.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the mirror size is increased to achieve high amplitude and wide angle scanning, then the scanning amplitude and angle are improved, but the product height increases making it difficult to achieve a low profile
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a conventional horizontal mirror rotation to a vertical shaft rotation with the mirror mounted on the shaft. This dimensional change allows the scanning motion to occur in a different spatial plane, enabling wide scanning angles without increasing the vertical height of the device. The mirror is positioned to rotate about a vertical axis rather than a horizontal axis, fundamentally changing the spatial arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of mounting the mirror on a horizontal axis and rotating it in the conventional manner, the patent inverts the approach by mounting the mirror on a vertical shaft and rotating it vertically. This inversion of the rotation axis orientation allows the scanning beam to achieve wide angular coverage while the device maintains a compact vertical profile.
2Measurement precision
If four-pole magnets are used in the electromagnetic drive system, then the drive accuracy is improved, but the assembly process becomes complex and assemblability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the magnetic pole structure from the conventional four-pole configuration and replaces it with a simplified two-pole magnet arrangement. By removing unnecessary magnetic poles and simplifying the magnetic circuit, the device maintains adequate drive accuracy while significantly reducing assembly complexity. The simplified magnetic structure requires fewer precise alignments and fewer components during assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the magnetic pole configuration parameter from four poles to two poles. This parameter change reduces the complexity of the magnetic circuit while maintaining the essential functionality of the electromagnetic drive. The two-pole configuration requires simpler assembly procedures and reduces the number of magnetic components that need to be precisely positioned.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the mirror size is increased to achieve wide angle scanning, then the scanning coverage is improved, but the device complexity and product size increase
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the rotation axis from horizontal to vertical, the patent enables wide scanning coverage without requiring a larger mirror or more complex mechanical structures. The dimensional change in the rotation axis orientation allows the same mirror size to achieve broader coverage through a different scanning geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The inverted rotation axis orientation simplifies the overall device structure by eliminating the need for complex mounting mechanisms that would be required for conventional horizontal rotation. The vertical shaft configuration with mirror mounted on it provides a more straightforward mechanical arrangement that reduces device complexity.
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 enables easy assembly and operation while achieving a reduced height, wide angle, and high amplitude, improving the overall performance and usability of optical scanning devices.
Implementation Method 1
a coil member, and a magnetic member, the plurality of magnetic poles facing the magnet in a radial direction of the shaft part... the coil member being configured to form, together with the magnet, an electromagnetic drive part configured to rotate back and forth the movable member
Implementation Method 2
the magnetic member facing the magnet in the radial direction of the shaft part and being disposed between the plurality of magnetic poles in the circumferential direction to bias the movable member toward an initial position of back- and forth rotation by attracting the magnet
Data Source
AI summary
A rotary reciprocating actuator including: a movable member including a shaft part with a magnet fixed on, wherein a V-shaped mirror is held such that a ridgeline of the V-shaped mirror is along the shaft part, and the movable member is supported in a rotatable manner back and forth around an axis through the shaft part; and a unit body including a plurality of magnetic poles, a coil member, and a magnetic member, an electromagnetic drive part configured to rotate back and forth the movable member, the magnetic member facing the magnet in the radial direction of the shaft part and being disposed between the plurality of magnetic poles in the circumferential direction to bias the movable member toward an initial position of back- and forth rotation by attracting the magnet.