Method for producing a mirror from a titanium-based material, and a mirror made from such a material

• US 7,476,145 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2005
• Issued: 01/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Diehl BGT Defence GmbH & Company KG (Diehl VA Systeme Stiftung & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: Diehl BGT Defence GmbH & Company KG (Diehl VA Systeme Stiftung & Company KG)
• Inventors: Betz, Thomas, Bross, Dirk, Baumgart, Jörg, Knapp, Klaus-Dieter, Gaiser, Alfred, Dittler, Anton, Marquardt, Hans-Georg, Fisch, Peter Gerd
• Primary Examiner(s): Eley; Timothy V
• Application Number:
  US11/233,425
• Publication Number:
  US 20060063474A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,209 Days
• Field of Search: 359/839, 359/867, 359/868, 359/869, 428/687, 451/36, 451/37, 451/41, 451/57, 451/59
• US Class Current: 451/37
• CPC Class Codes: B24B 13/015 of television picture tube viewing panels, headlight reflectors or the like
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12993 Surface feature [e.g., rough, mirror]

Abstract

A method for producing a mirror (10) from a titanium-based material by using the technique of ultraprecision machining. The mirror produced using this method has both a shape accuracy and a surface roughness in the submicrometer region. The mirror (10) is made from a titanium-based material having a shape accuracy and a surface roughness in the submicrometer region, whose basic shape (11) has a has a reflecting surface (12) having a surface roughness of less than 60 nm, and in particular of less than 30 nm.

Claims

1. Mirror (10) made from solely a titanium-based material having a shape accuracy and having a surface roughness in the submicrometer region, said mirror having a basic shape (11) produced from said titanium-based material with a reflecting surface (12) unitarily produced from said titanium-based material and that has a surface roughness of less than 60 nm, and a specular reflectivity of above 97% within a spectral region of between about 3.25-7 μ

m, for focusing radiation impinging on said mirror and resultingly implementing a prescribed beam path.

2. Mirror (10) according to claim 1, wherein the material is a titanium/aluminium alloy.

3. Mirror (10) according to claim 1, wherein the reflecting surface (12) has a surface roughness of less than 30 nm.

4. Mirror (10) according to claim 1, wherein a polishing body implements a polishing for said shape accuracy and surface roughness reduction to provide the reflecting surface (12), said polishing body having a lesser hardness than that of the mirror material.

5. Mirror (10) according to claim 4, wherein the polishing body is wiped over the basic shape (11) during polishing of said surface.

6. Mirror (10) according to claim 4, wherein during polishing of the basic shape (11) the polishing body exerts substantially the same contact pressure over the surface thereof.

7. Mirror (10) according to claim 4, wherein said polishing body comprises a flexible structure which is adapted to the basic shape (11), and the polishing body selectively being arranged on a flexible membrane or said membrane being a component of said flexible polishing body.

8. Mirror (10) according to claim 4, wherein the polishing body implements the polishing in a number of stages with different polishing agents in each stage.

9. Mirror (10) according to claim 8, wherein the graininess of the different polishing agents is decreased from stage to stage.

10. Mirror (10) according to claim 1, wherein said reflecting surface (12) has selectively a spherical or aspheric basic shape (11).

11. Mirror (10) according to claim 1, wherein said mirror is arrangeable in a homing head of a guided missile.