Multiprism collimator
First Claim
1. A refractive optical system for producing multiple beams of light having predetermined angular separations comprising:
- means (20, 24, 30,
38) for providing a collimated beam of monochromatic light;
a plurality of optically refractive prisms (101 . . . 1015) each providing a predetermined substantially constant angular deviation (δ
) between an incident (14) and emergent light beam (12), said prisms being arranged to receive as an incident beam said collimated beam and operable to provide a respective emergent output beam, said plurality of output beams (121 . . . 1215) produced thereby defining a pattern of beams determined by the relative angular refractive deviation between said prisms; and
means (44) for mounting said prisms so that they are oriented with respect to said incident beam to provide substantially minimum angular deviation (δ
m), thereby providing an arrangement which is relatively insensitive to translational and rotational changes.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A special purpose optical collimator system which generates multiple collimated light beams, with precisely related angular separation of the beams. The system is comprised of a stack of relatively flat plate-like refracted prisms (101, 102 . . . 1015) in the form of wedges, each having a specified angular deviation, mounted on top of one another in a fixture (44) which holds the wedges so that they are adapted to operate at minimum angular deviation and thus are relatively insensitive to rotational and angular charges. A collimated source of monochromatic light generated for example by a helium-neon laser (20) and a collimated beam expander (24, 30 and 54) provides a common incident beam (14) to the wedges whereupon a plurality of, for example, equally spaced emergent beams (121, 122 . . . 1215) are provided.
64 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A refractive optical system for producing multiple beams of light having predetermined angular separations comprising:
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means (20, 24, 30,
38) for providing a collimated beam of monochromatic light;a plurality of optically refractive prisms (101 . . . 1015) each providing a predetermined substantially constant angular deviation (δ
) between an incident (14) and emergent light beam (12), said prisms being arranged to receive as an incident beam said collimated beam and operable to provide a respective emergent output beam, said plurality of output beams (121 . . . 1215) produced thereby defining a pattern of beams determined by the relative angular refractive deviation between said prisms; andmeans (44) for mounting said prisms so that they are oriented with respect to said incident beam to provide substantially minimum angular deviation (δ
m), thereby providing an arrangement which is relatively insensitive to translational and rotational changes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification