Patent · US Expired

Detection of changes in transparency of optical elements

US4568183A · kind A · utility

12Cited by
7References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJun 28, 1983
Grant dateFeb 4, 1986
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 28, 2003

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01J5/0846
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

In a radiation pyrometer in a gas turbine engine, non-uniformly distributed changes in transparency of an optical element in the system, e.g. contamination of pyrometer objective lens L.sub.1 by combustion products from the turbine can be automatically detected. Lens L.sub.1 focusses radiation from target T onto an additional lens L.sub.2, which in turn focusses it onto the end E of the fibre-optic bundle F. Considered reciprocally, lens L.sub.2 images the end E of fibre-optic F into L.sub.1, so that although each optical fibre in end E receives radiation from all parts of target T, each fibre is imaged into a corresponding discrete area of L.sub.1. Fibre-optic bundle F comprises two (or more) sub-bundles F.sub.1 and F.sub.2 forming complementary sub-areas of end E and each sub-bundle is provided with its own photodetector P.sub.1, P.sub.2 and associated pre-amplifier A.sub.1,A.sub.2 adjusted so that their outputs A.sub.1 S.sub.1 and A.sub.2,S.sub.2 are matched at the non-contamination condition. When one part of lens L.sub.1 is contaminated during service more than the other parts, this will show as an unacceptable mis-match between the outputs A.sub.1 S.sub.1 and A.sub.2 S.sub.2.…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.