Patent · US Expired

Apparatus for adjusting light beam direction

US4850686A · kind A · utility

79Cited by
2References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 3, 1988
Grant dateJul 25, 1989
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 3, 2008

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG02B26/0891
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An apparatus for adjusting light beam direction comprises, for instance, two prisms, i.e., a first and a second prisms arranged, in order, along an incident direction of light beam; an incident face of the first prism being parallel to a plane which is assumed to rotate an imaginary vertical plane perpendicular to the incident direction around a rotational axis by a first acute angle; an outgoing face of the first prism being parallel to a plane which is assumed to rotate the vertical plane around the axis by a second acute angle larger than the first one in the same direction as the latter; an incident face of the second prism being parallel to the outgoing face of the first prism and an outgoing face of the second prism being parallel to the incident face of the first prism, at the zero-adjusting state; and at least one of these prisms being able to adjustably rotate around the rotational axis. The apparatus may be incorporated into a scanning optical apparatus and makes it possible to make the incident and outgoing light beams parallel to one another and to restrict, to a low level or even to zero, the shift therebetween.

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