Miniature optical scanner for a two axis scanning system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A miniature optical scanner comprising:
- a ferromagnetic base with a first stator and a second stator formed thereon, said first and second stators being generally parallel to each other,a first electrical coil wound about said first stator in a first direction;
a second electrical coil wound about said second stator in a second direction opposite said first direction;
first and second magnets disposed on said base on opposite sides of said first and second stators and equidistant to said first and second stators;
a spring plate having first and second support portions mounted respectively on said first and second magnets and having a centrally located mirror mounting portion disposed above said starors with an axis of rotation equidistant to said stators; and
a mirror mounted on said mirror mounting portion of said spring plate, said mirror being oscillated about said axis of rotation when an alternating drive signal is coupled to said first and second electrical coils.
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Abstract
A miniature optical scanner includes an electromagnetic drive having stationary magnets and stationary drive coils to minimize the rotational inertia of the scanner and increase the scanner'"'"'s resonant frequency. The scanner is such that the resonant frequency is manually tunable as well as automatically adjustable to compensate for variables causing frequency drift. The optical scan angle is increased by employing a multiplying mirror with the optical scanner. For a two axis scanning system, the multiplying mirror may be formed of a second optical scanner to increase the optical scan angle relative to both of the axes.
181 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A miniature optical scanner comprising:
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a ferromagnetic base with a first stator and a second stator formed thereon, said first and second stators being generally parallel to each other, a first electrical coil wound about said first stator in a first direction; a second electrical coil wound about said second stator in a second direction opposite said first direction; first and second magnets disposed on said base on opposite sides of said first and second stators and equidistant to said first and second stators; a spring plate having first and second support portions mounted respectively on said first and second magnets and having a centrally located mirror mounting portion disposed above said starors with an axis of rotation equidistant to said stators; and a mirror mounted on said mirror mounting portion of said spring plate, said mirror being oscillated about said axis of rotation when an alternating drive signal is coupled to said first and second electrical coils. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A miniature optical scanner comprising:
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a ferromagnetic base with a first stator and a second stator formed thereon, said first and second stators being generally parallel to each other and centrally disposed on said base; a first electrical coil wound about said first stator; a second electrical coil wound about said second stator; first and second magnets disposed on said base on opposite sides of said first and second stators and equidistant to said first and second stators; a spring plate having first and second support portions mounted respectively on said first and second magnets and having a centrally located mirror mounting portion disposed above said stators with an axis of rotation equidistant to said stators; a mirror mounted on said mirror mounting portion of said spring plate; and means for driving said coils to generating alternating magnetic fields of opposite polarity in said first and second stators to oscillate said mirror about said axis of rotation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A miniature optical scanner comprising:
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a ferromagnetic base with a first stator and a second stator formed thereon, said first and second stators being generally parallel to each other and each including a respective stator electrical coil wound thereon to produce magnetic fields in said first and second starors of opposite polarity in response to a drive signal applied to each coil; first and second magnets disposed on said base on opposite sides of said first and second stators and equidistant to said first and second stators; a spring plate having first and second support portions mounted respectively on said first and second magnets and having a centrally located mirror mounting portion disposed above said stators with an axis of rotation equidistant to said stators; a mirror mounted on said mirror mounting portion of said spring plate, said mirror being oscillated about said axis of rotation when an alternating drive signal is coupled to said first and second electrical coils; and clamping means for attaching said spring plate and said first and second magnets to said base. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification