Optical guiding apparatus comprising an optical transmission path and controllers having delay times that vary in a selected sequence

Claim 2

An optical guiding apparatus comprising a conduit through which a beam of optical radiation is to be transmitted, a plurality of means disposed within said conduit for repositioning said beam within said conduit, a plurality of means for sensing position errors of said beam substantially simultaneously at a plurality of locations in such conduit, and a plurality of self-controlled means coupled to said repositioning means from respective sensing means for adjusting said repositioning means to correct said position errors, said plurality of repositioning means together with said coupling adjusting means having characteristic repositioning times varying in a selected sequence.

Claim 3

An optical guiding apparatus according to claim 1 in which the plurality of the adjusting means comprises a first plurality of stepped-control circuits, a linearly responsive adjusting means following the first plurality of stepped-control circuits and a second plurality of stepped-control circuits following said linearly responsive adjusting means.

Claim 4

An optical guiding apparatus of the type comprising a conduit through which a beam of optical radiation is to be transmitted, a plurality of means disposed within said conduit for repositioning said beam within said conduit, and a plurality of means disposed in said conduit for sensing transverse position errors of said beam substantially simultaneously at a plurality of axial positions in said conduit, said sensing means being coupled to said repositioning means, said plurality of repositioning means together with said plurality of coupled sensing means being self-controlled and characterized by respective delay times for starting repositioning, which respective delay times increase in the downstream order with respect to the direction of propagation of said beam.

Claim 5

An optical guiding apparatus of the type comprising a conduit through which a beam of optical radiation is to be transmitted, a plurality of means disposed within said conduit for repositioning said beam within said conduit, and a plurality of means disposed in said conduit for sensing transverse position errors of said beam substantially simultaneously at a plurality of axial positions in said conduit, said sensing means being coupled to said repositioning means, said plurality of repositioning means together with said plurality of coupled sensing means being self-controlled and characterized by respective delay times for starting repositioning, which respective delay times increase in the downstream order with respect to the direction of propagation of said beam.

Claim 6

An optical guiding apparatus according to claim 3 in which the plurality of means for repositioning the beam comprise a plurality of repositioning elements within the conduit, and means for providing stepped movement of said repositioning elements.

Claim 7

An optical guiding apparatus according to claim 1 in which a plurality of the adjusting means each include a delay circuit adapted to provide a major portion of the characteristic repositioning time and a logic circuit coupled to said delay circuit and adapted to continue adjustment of the coupled repositioning means only while signals are simultaneously applied to and derived from said delay circuit.