Mirror positioning assembly with vertical force component compensation
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A mirror positioning system, comprising:
- a substrate;
a mirror;
a first lever movably interconnected with said substrate, wherein said first lever comprises a first lever end that is movable relative to said substrate, and wherein said mirror is interconnected with a portion of said first lever that is movable relative to said substrate;
an actuator assembly movably interconnected with said substrate for movement at least generally along a first path;
a coupling assembly comprising first and second coupling ends, wherein said first coupling end is interconnected with a portion of said first lever that is movable relative to said substrate, wherein said second coupling end is interconnected with said actuator assembly, and wherein said first lever end moves at least generally away from or toward said substrate depending upon a direction which said actuator assembly moves relative to said substrate along said first path; and
means for transmitting a force that is exerted on said coupling assembly by at least one of said first lever and said mirror to achieve both first and second conditions, wherein said first condition is that said force is transmitted to said actuator assembly at least generally along said first path, and wherein said second condition is that no portion of said coupling assembly is deflected into contact with any underlying structure.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A microelectromechanical system is disclosed that constrains the direction of a force acting on a first load, where the force originates from the interaction of the first load and a second load. In particular, the direction of a force acting on the first load is caused to be substantially parallel with a motion of the first load. This force direction constraint is achieved by a force isolator microstructure that contains no rubbing or contacting surfaces. Various embodiments of structures/methods to achieve this force direction constraint using a force isolator microstructure are disclosed.
11 Citations
32 Claims
-
1. A mirror positioning system, comprising:
-
a substrate;
a mirror;
a first lever movably interconnected with said substrate, wherein said first lever comprises a first lever end that is movable relative to said substrate, and wherein said mirror is interconnected with a portion of said first lever that is movable relative to said substrate;
an actuator assembly movably interconnected with said substrate for movement at least generally along a first path;
a coupling assembly comprising first and second coupling ends, wherein said first coupling end is interconnected with a portion of said first lever that is movable relative to said substrate, wherein said second coupling end is interconnected with said actuator assembly, and wherein said first lever end moves at least generally away from or toward said substrate depending upon a direction which said actuator assembly moves relative to said substrate along said first path; and
means for transmitting a force that is exerted on said coupling assembly by at least one of said first lever and said mirror to achieve both first and second conditions, wherein said first condition is that said force is transmitted to said actuator assembly at least generally along said first path, and wherein said second condition is that no portion of said coupling assembly is deflected into contact with any underlying structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
Specification