Fiber optic rotation sensor

US4410275A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University · US

Inventors

• Herbert J. Shaw · Stanford, US
• Herve Lefevre · Paris, FR
• Ralph A. Bergh · Lititz, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 31, 1981
• Grant date: Oct 18, 1983
• Expiry date: Mar 31, 2001

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01C19/64
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Rotation sensor having a loop of fiber optic material in which counter propagating waves are generated with a phase relationship corresponding to the rate at which the loop is rotated. All fiber optic components are employed in the system for directing the light to and from the loop and establishing, maintaining and controlling proper polarization of the light. In one particularly preferred embodiment, the loop and other components are formed on a single strand of fiber optic material which extends continuously through the system.