Patent · US Expired

Tilt sensor using diffraction grating

US7577076B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
19References
5Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 12, 2004
Grant dateAug 18, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 17, 2026

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B7/13925
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A tilt sensor for detecting information related to a tilt of an object to a reference plane is disclosed. The tilt sensor includes a diffraction element disposed that diffracts an incident light at diffraction efficiency depending on the incident angle, and a photo detector that detects a diffraction light diffracted by said diffraction element and outputs an photoelectric signal. Since the diffraction efficiency of the diffraction element changes as the incident angle changes, the intensity of the diffraction light from the diffraction element changes. As a result, the photoelectric signal output from the photo detector contains the information related to the tilt of the object.

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