Fractal tiling for multiple mirror optical devices
US4904073A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 10, 1988 |
| Grant date | Feb 27, 1990 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 10, 2008 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B27/58
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A multiple mirror reflective surface for use in a multiple mirror telescope in which the objective surface of telescope is tiled with substantially identical planar mirrors having irregular boundaries and a mirror for use therein. The mirrors are groupable into groups of seven, one of which is bounded symmetrically by the other six, each mirror having an approximately fractal peripheral boundary such that each group of seven mirrors has a boundary shape which is approximately geometrically similar to that of the mirrors forming the group. The mirrors of such an array have their centers on a hexagonal lattice of points in the objective surface. In a particular embodiment, the mirrors have shapes which approximate that of a fractal shaped mirror by being defined by a combination of hexagonal shapes. With mirrors of this shape, the multiple mirror telescope experiences less optical aberrations which would otherwise be caused by linear edges of the mirrors, without reducing light gathering power.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.