Rotating mirror optical scanner with grooved grease bearings
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An optical scanner comprising:
- a scanner housing,a mirror assembly mounted on a rotor, said rotor and said mirror assembly being inside said scanner housing, said rotor having two opposed ends,magnetic means mounted on said rotor and stator means mounted on said scanner housing to form a motor to rotate said rotor and said mirror assembly, anda bearing at each end of said rotor, a bearing cup in said scanner housing opposing said bearing, grease between said bearing and said bearing cup, groove means on either said bearing or said opposing bearing cup or both, such that said groove means keeps said grease between said bearing and said bearing cup when said rotor is rotating from 15,000 to 35,000 RPM and said grease remains between said bearing and said bearing cup when said rotor is not rotating due to the thixotropic property of said grease.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical scanner has grease bearings between the rotor and the housing. The grease bearings are grooved which tends to pump the grease back into the bearing cups when the optical scanner is operating. The thixotropic property of the grease prevents its escape from the bearing cups when the optical scanner is not operating. The grease bearings can be frusto-conical or spherical in shape with complementary shaped bearing cups. The bearing cups, rather than the bearings, may be grooved. The bearing cups may also be stepped to provide a pumping region and a reservoir region for the grease. Pressure means within the scanner housing may force the bearing cups onto the grease bearing.
43 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An optical scanner comprising:
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a scanner housing, a mirror assembly mounted on a rotor, said rotor and said mirror assembly being inside said scanner housing, said rotor having two opposed ends, magnetic means mounted on said rotor and stator means mounted on said scanner housing to form a motor to rotate said rotor and said mirror assembly, and a bearing at each end of said rotor, a bearing cup in said scanner housing opposing said bearing, grease between said bearing and said bearing cup, groove means on either said bearing or said opposing bearing cup or both, such that said groove means keeps said grease between said bearing and said bearing cup when said rotor is rotating from 15,000 to 35,000 RPM and said grease remains between said bearing and said bearing cup when said rotor is not rotating due to the thixotropic property of said grease. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification