Cube corner laser beam retroreflector apparatus for a laser equipped machine tool
US6531680B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 6, 2001 |
| Grant date | Mar 11, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 24, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B5/12
- WIPO fieldMachine tools
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A cube corner laser beam retroreflector apparatus for a beam path external to a laser reduces the effect of small deviations in flatness of optical carriage mounting elements and/or linear ways that pitch, yaw and roll the carried retroreflector apparatus. Small changes in pitch, yaw and roll are converted to a small translation in position of the beam reflected from the apparatus. Since the reflected beam remains parallel to the incoming beam, the length of the beam path does not magnify such small deviations in position and system pointing stability is greatly improved. The cube corner retroreflector comprises a welded frame and three mirror holders, the welded frame consisting of plasma, laser or abrasive water jet cut tabbed and slotted flat plates welded together. Each mirror holder is adjustably attached to the welded frame and houses a removable mirror. Each mirror holder is preset to establish an orthogonal relationship between the mirrors, and adjusting devices are locked before installation of the cube corner retroreflector in a beam path.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.