U.S. Patents

	5816986: Universal chuck and automated machining system - Universal chuck for holding of irregular or regular shaped parts for machine processing such as milling, shaping, grinding and the like. Movable and fixed platens have grid-like patterns including protrusions and spaces into which gripping jaw members, having a configured bottom surface, align and secure. A robotic tool provides for selection and transfer of jaw members from a jaw storage fixture and for securing of the jaw members to the movable and fixed platens.	Full Document
	5737132: Flip-type mirror mount - Optical system mounting device having a tilting optical element holder which may be positioned in or out of a laser beam path. A pivot system of pivot balls adjustably located between a mirror holding element and a base provide a pivotal axis for the mirror holding element.	Full Document
	5694257: Rotary beamsplitter prism mount - Rotary beamsplitter prism mount providing individually adjustable rotation about three axes where adjustment about one axis does not significantly affect the remaining axis with respect to beam emergence.	Full Document
	5691830: Holographic optical system including waveplate and aliasing suppression filter - A holographic optical system includes volume hologram configurations providing a waveplate for, e.g. an optical storage device, and an aliasing suppression filter. The waveplate has diffraction characteristics adapted to impart a propagation delay for selected polarization directions. By controlling the propagation delay and the angle of an incident light beam, an output beam having altered polarization characteristics can be produced. Quarter waveplates for reflective optical storage systems and half waveplates for magneto-optical storage systems are disclosed. The holographic aliasing suppression filter divides an input optical beam into spatially separated components and may be configured to be polarization insensitive or color selective.	Full Document
	5596456: Achromatic anamorphic prism pair - An achromatic anamorphic prism pair for the conversion of the elliptical output beam of a tunable diode laser to a circular beam. The achromatic design prevents a directional shift in the output beam with respect to the optical axis of the system laser wavelength is varied.	Full Document
	5543670: Magnetostrictive actuator for optical alignment screws - This invention relates to electromechanical actuators, and particularly to actuators utilizing magnetostrictive elements to rotate positioning shafts associated with optical elements.	Full Document
	5419522: Universal optical mount - An adjustable optical element mount having a pair of ball elements, respectively attached to a base and optical element, within a pair of sockets positioned at opposite ends of a spindle which supports a screw actuated cam element positioned within the spindle and between a pair of plungers which simultaneously engage and clamp the both ball elements against the sockets in response to rotation of the screw to hold the ball elements in a desired position.	Full Document
	5410206: Piezoelectric actuator for optical alignment screws - A piezoelectric actuator for rotating a shaft associated with an optical mount positioning system in which the actuator moves in first direction at a slow enough velocity to maintain engagement between the actuator and shaft to drive the shaft in the desired direction, and the actuator moves in a second direction at a sufficiently high acceleration and velocity to cause the actuator to lose engagement with the shaft and slip, thereby achieving motion of the shaft in only the desired direction.	Full Document
	5400674: Precision component positioner - A precision component mounting and positioning apparatus comprises a frame member and a stage member suspended in the frame member. The frame member is adapted to be mounted on a support surface, and the stage member is adapted to receive a precision component, typically a precision optical component such as an optical fiber or waveguide. The stage member can be positionally adjusted relative to the frame member in five degrees of freedom. Three axially oriented actuators are grounded in the frame member to provide for selectively rotating the stage member about two orthogonally disposed transverse axes relative to the frame member as well as for axially translating the stage member relative to the frame member. A pair of orthogonally opposed transverse actuators are grounded in the frame member and oriented to provide for transverse translation of the stage member relative to the frame member.	Full Document
	5394049: Piezoelectric actuator for optical alignment screws cross references to co-pending application - This invention relates to electromechanical actuators, and particularly to actuators utilizing piezoelectric elements to rotate positioning shafts associated with optical elements.	Full Document
	5319668: Tuning system for external cavity diode laser - A tunable external cavity semiconductor laser is provided with a semiconductor laser diode, a diffraction grating and a movable mirror. The diode laser is positioned to illuminate a diffraction grating and a movable mirror is positioned to reflect a selected wavelength back into the cavity. The mirror is mounted on a pivot so positioned to provide simultaneous rotation and linear translation. The pivot point is selected so as to provide an internal cavity length which is exactly an integral number of half wavelengths at three different wavelengths and an exceptionally close (within 1/1000 of one wavelength) match at all other wavelengths within the tuning range. Significantly, the pivot point calculation takes into account the effect of the dispersion of the laser and other optical elements in the system on the cavity length. These elements are usually a small part of the physical length of the cavity, but their greater dispersion makes their contribution to the number of half wavelengths in the resonant cavity very significant.	Full Document
	5303035: Precision micropositioner - A micropositioner has a platform supported on balls positioned by inclined planes machined on plungers. The plungers are adjustable in horizontal bores in a frame which has a vertical portion with adjusting screws for horizontal positioning of the platform and rotation about a vertical axis. The micropositioner provides four degrees of freedom with four adjustable screws in one embodiment, five degrees of freedom in an alternative embodiment, and six degrees of freedom in yet another embodiment.	Full Document
	5289445: Suspension system for focus actuator of an optical disk drive - An optical focus actuator for a data storage system having an adjustable optical lens includes support member having top and bottom surfaces and a central throughbore extending between the top and bottom surfaces, an elongated movable lens support bobbin disposed in the throughbore, an electromagnetic actuator disposed between the support member and the movable lens support bobbin for moving the lens for adjustment thereof, and a wire support comprising a plurality of upper wire loops extending in opposed directions and looped about an upper end of the movable support bobbin and a plurality of lower loops extending in opposed directions and looped about a lower end of the movable support bobbin, the loops being supported at both ends by said support member.	Full Document
	5282393: Precision component positioner - A precision component mounting and positioning apparatus comprises a frame member and a stage member suspended in the frame member. The frame member is adapted to be mounted on a support surface, and the stage member is adapted to receive a precision component, typically a precision optical component such as an optical fiber or waveguide. The stage member can be positionally adjusted relative to the frame member in five degrees of freedom. Three axially oriented actuators are grounded in the frame member to provide for selectively rotating the stage member about two orthogonally disposed transverse axes relative to the frame member as well as for axially translating the stage member relative to the frame member. A pair of orthogonally opposed transverse actuators are grounded in the frame member and oriented to provide for transverse translation of the stage member relative to the frame member.	Full Document
	5272550: Hologram system - A first volume hologram diffracts a portion of the beam of light as a first beam and transmits the remaining portion of the beam of light as a second beam. A second volume hologram diffracts either the first or the second beam to a desired angle and transmits the remaining beam undiffracted. Desired beam separations at desired angles may thereby be achieved for use in optical data storage systems.	Full Document
	5245478: Mount for Berek compensator - The present invention is a mount for optical instruments, and particularly, for a Berek compensator having a birefringent crystal, which can be both tiled and rotated by structure of adjustment rings which are concentric to the optical path of the device.	Full Document
	5216562: Multi-beam optical recording system and method - A laser array provides multiple closely spaced light beams. These light beams are reflected off of an optical recording medium. A faceted prism is used to separate the closely spaced beams sets for detection by an optical detector array and detector circuit. The detector circuit provides data, power, tracking and focus signals.	Full Document
	5168168: Device for centering round articles - A holder for centered round articles comprises a frame having a first arm and a second arm pivotally attached thereto. The first arm defines a single contact point at its distal end while the second arm defines a pair of diverging surfaces at its distal end. The two arms are mechanically coupled to rotate relative to each other in a fixed relationship, and the curved surfaces on the second arm are shaped in a particular manner so that circular articles held by the two arms will be centered at a fixed location relative to the frame.	Full Document
	5140470: Optical mounting apparatus - An optical mounting apparatus comprises an upper support assembly and a lower post assembly. The upper support assembly includes a stageplate mounted on a backing plate by a three point suspension mechanism. By locating an optical element mounting region at the corner of a rectangle defined by the three suspension points, a datum point within the region can be rotationally adjusted without simultaneous translational adjustment by manipulating only two of the three suspension points. The baseplate is mounted on a support rod which is slidably received in a casing. A lever arm having a surface which engages the support rod can be moved relative to the casing for selectively locking the rod in place.	Full Document
	5116004: Vertically adjustable mounting post for optical element - An adjustable height support column comprises a base plate and a support plate joined together by an axially adjustable linking mechanism. The linking mechanism includes a first threaded shaft attached to the base plate and a second threaded shaft attached to the support plate, where the two shafts are hollow and can engage each other telescopically. The linking mechanism further includes a bridging mechanism which permits the shafts to translate axially relative to each other while maintaining a fixed relative rotational orientation. A coupling member threadably engages the outside of the shaft so that rotation of the coupling member effects axial translation of the shafts relative to each other.	Full Document
	5029030: Rotary actuator system with zero skew angle variation - A transducer head is located on a head arm. The head arm has a roller surface which contacts a fixed surface at a point of contact. The roller surface is attached to the fixed surface such that the roller surface may roll along the fixed surface without slipping. The roller surface and the fixed surface are such that a line between the point of contact and a disk center is always perpendicular to a line between the disk center and the transducer head for all positions as the roller surface rolls along the fixed surface.	Full Document
	4870635: Precision measurement and positioning system for disk storage system - The invention uses a small sized, low cost, high accuracy, semiconductor laser interferometer to position the transducer in a disc storage system. Light is reflected back over the path to be measured and directly back into the semiconductor laser. This causes the power present in the laser to be varied. Unexpectedly, the output of the photosensor associated with the laser has an asymmetric, sawtooth waveform.	Full Document
	4813033: Two axis electromagnetic actuator with axis balanced suspension - A two axis electromagnetic actuator is designed for moving an optical element in an optical or magneto-optical recorder. The actuator has balanced, crossed, electro-magnetic coil structures supported by two sets of leaf springs and positioned in dual air gaps for motion in a direction which is the vector sum of the movement in two orthogonal directions. In the actuator the motive forces and the masses of the moving elements are centered on the axis of major motion. Also leaf springs, that allow the major motion, have their forces balanced about the axis of major motion.	Full Document
	4724043: Process for forming a master mold for optical storage disks - A method for forming a master mold for optical storage disks includes thermally growing an oxide or nitride layer on a semiconductor wafer. The thermally grown layer is then coated with a photoresist. The photoresist is exposed to a laser beam to form a data pattern and developed. The oxide or nitride under the developed pattern is etched and the photoresist stripped to provide a semiconductor master mold for optical disks.	Full Document
	4633456: Two axis electromagnetic actuator - A two axis electromagnetic actuator having balanced crossed coil structures supported by two sets of leaf springs and positioned in dual air gaps for motion in a direction representing the vector sum of the movement in two orthogonal directions.	Full Document
	4595261: Phase retardation element and prism for use in an optical data storage system - A phase retardation element, for use in an optical data storage system, which provides a 90° phase difference between two perpendicular polarized components of an incident wave with a single internal reflection from a surface coated with a thin film of dielectric or metal material.	Full Document
	4276574: Read/write and tunnel erase magnetic head assembly - A magnetic head assembly for reading and/or writing a track of magnetic information on a moving magnetic medium and for erasing edge portions of the track. The head assembly comprises a central data transfer magnetic core including a pair of core portions providing a data transfer gap on an active face of the head assembly with a read/write coil on one of the core portions. The head assembly comprises also an erase core which includes a pair of erase core portions extending along and in contact with one of the write core portions, another pair of erase core portions respectively in alignment with the first named erase core portions and providing therewith erase gaps on the active face of the head assembly that extend transversely of the direction of movement of the magnetic medium on the active face and a core portion on which an erase coil is disposed bridging and between the last two mentioned erase core portions. The two erase gaps are in series with each other and with the remainder of the parts of the erase core so that the erase flux flows through the erase gaps in the direction of movement of the magnetic medium on the active face and flows transversely of this direction of movement from one of the gaps to the other gap.	Full Document

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