Apparatus and method for analyzing sphero-cylindrical optical systems

Claim 2

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a spherocylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the system, said apparatus comprising: source means for providing beams of incident light parallel to each other and to the optical axis across said spherocylindrical system along a first line of positions, first control means including means for detecting the location of the refracted light emergent from the optical system along predetermined second line of positions and means for relatively rotating source means and the detecting means with respect to the sphero-cylindrical system to thereby change the relative rotational position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system in response to said detected location of refracted light until the refracted light emergent therefrom is aligned in a common plane along said second line of positions with said first line of positions thereby signifying that said first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical optical system, and measurement means for measuring predetermined optical properties of the sphero-cylindrical system after thus aligning the first line of positions.

Claim 3

Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said first control means comprises a servo controlled motor for automatically effecting the relative rotation of said first line of positions with respect to said sphero-cylindrical optical system until said parallel or perpendicular alignment is achieved.

Claim 4

Apparatus as in claim 2 wherein said first control means includes a reversing switch for said servo controlled motor to effect selection between said parallel and perpendicular alignments.

Claim 5

Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said measurement means comprises: photo-detector means for detecting the extent of refracted light along said path of refracted light after said path of refracted light has been aligned with said second line of positions.

Claim 6

Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein: said source means comprises means for cyclically providing said beams of incident Light, said first control means comprises a photo-detector having at least two active sections defining said second line of positions, said source means and said photo-detector being rotationally fixed with respect to each other to permit common relative rotation between (a) said first and second lines and (b) said sphero-cylindrical optical system and where said first and second lines of positions are fixedly aligned such that the cyclically produced refracted light beams are across said second line of positions except when the first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylindrical axis of the sphero-cylindrical optical system whereat the refracted light beams are substantially along said second line of positions.

Claim 7

Apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said first control means further comprises: difference means connected to provide a difference signal representing the difference between the outputs of said at least two active photo-detector sections, and servo control means responsive to said difference signal for automatically rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system until the difference signal indicates that said refracted light beams are substantially along said second line of positions.

Claim 8

Apparatus as in claim 5 wherein: said photo-detector means comprises four quadrants of active sections with the outputs from pairs of the quadrants being combined to simulate two active semi-circle areas defining said second line of positions therebetween.

Claim 9

Apparatus as in claim 7 wherein said measurement means comprises: means for combining the outputs from other pairs of quadrants to simulate further active semi-circle areas defining a third line of positions perpendicular to said second line of positions, axial movement means for changing the axial distance between said photo-detector and said sphero-cylindrical system, and axial servo control means responsive to the difference between output signals from said further active semi-circle areas and to the phase of this difference with respect to said cyclically produced incident light beams along said first line of positions for automatically driving said axial movement means until the axial position of said photo-detector is a measurement of the lens power of the sphero-cylindrical system along said first line of positions.

Claim 10

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the system, said apparatus comprising: a source of incident light rays parallel to each other and to the optical axis and directed toward said optical system defining a first line extending across said sphero-cylindrical system, means for effecting relative rotation between said first line and said sphero-cylindrical system, means for detecting the orientation of said light rays which are refracted by emergent light from said sphero-cylindrical system with respect to a second line fixedly aligned with said first line, means for driving said effecting means in response to said detecting means to align said refracted light rays with said second line, and means for measuring predetermined optical properties of said sphero-cylindrical system when said refracted light rays are aligned with said second line.

Claim 11

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the system, said apparatus comprising: a source of incident light rays parallel to each other and to the optical axis and directed toward said optical system defining a first line extending across said sphero-cylindrical system, means for effecting relative rotation between said first line and said sphero-cylindrical system, means for detecting the orientation of said light rays which are refracted by emergent light from said sphero-cylindrical system with respect to a second line fixedly aligned with said first line, means for driving said effecting means in response to said detecting means to align said refracted light rays with said second line, and means for measuring predetermined optical properties of said sphero-cylindrical system when said refracted light rays are aligned with said second line.

Claim 12

Apparatus as in claim 9 wherein said source of light rays comprises: a movable aperture disposed between said sphero-cylindrical system and a source of parallel light rays, and means for moving said aperture such that light passing therethrough defines a plane, said first line being within said plane and perpendicular to the optical axis of said sphero-cylindrical system.

Claim 15

A method as in claim 11 wherein said measuring step comprises: reading the resulting angle of relative rotational position between said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical optical system as a measure of the position of the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical system.

Claim 16

A method as in claim 11 wherein said measuring step comprises: measuring the spherical powers of said sphero-cylindrical system at both said parallel and perpendicular relative rotational positions and obtaining the difference between these spherical powers as the cylinder power of said sphero-cylindrical optical system.

Claim 17

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the optical system, said apparatus comprising: source means for providing incident light beams parallel to each other and to the optical axis across said sphero-cylindrical system along a first line of positions, first control means for rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system until the path of the refracted light emergent therefrom is aligned with said first line of positions thereby signifying that said first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical optical system, measurement means for measuring predetermined optical properties of the sphero-cylindrical system after thus aligning the first line of positions, said source means comprising a movable light source for sequentially providing said light beams, said first control means comprising a photo-detector having at least two active sections defining a second line of positions, said movable light source and said photo-detector being mounted for common rotation with respect to said sphero-cylindrical optical system and where said first and second lines of positions are fixedly aligned such that the scan path of the refracted light beam passes across said second line of positions except when the first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylindrical axis of the sphero-cylindrical optical system whereat said scan path is substantially along said second line of positions, said first control means further comprising: difference means connected to provide a difference signal representing the difference between outputs of said at least two active photo-detector sections, and servo control means responsive to said difference signal for automatically rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system, until the difference signal indicates that said scan path of refracted light is substantially along said second line of positions, and said servo control means comprising: phase sensitive discriminator means responsive to said difference signal and to a reference signal from said source means synchronous with the light beam movement along said first line of positions for providing an output representing the magnitude of the difference signal and the phase relationship between said difference signal and said reference siGnal, switch means for reversing the polarity of the output from said phase-sensitive discriminator means, and a servo motor responsive to the output from the phase-sensitive discriminator means as selected by said switch means.

Claim 18

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the optical system, said apparatus comprising: source means for providing incident light beams parallel to each other and to the optical axis across said sphero-cylindrical system along a first line of positions, first control means for rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system until the path of the refracted light emergent therefrom is aligned with said first line of positions thereby signifying that said first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical optical system, measurement means for measuring predetermined optical properties of the sphero-cylindrical system after thus aligning the first line of positions, said source means comprising a movable light source for sequentially providing said light beams, said first control means comprising a photo-detector having at least two active sections defining a second line of positions, said movable light source and said photo-detector being mounted for common rotation with respect to said sphero-cylindrical optical system and where said first and second lines of positions are fixedly aligned such that the scan path of the refracted light beam passes across said second line of positions except when the first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylindrical axis of the sphero-cylindrical optical system whereat said scan path is substantially along said second line of positions, said first control means further comprising: difference means connected to provide a difference signal representing the difference between outputs of said at least two active photo-detector sections, and servo control means responsive to said difference signal for automatically rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system, until the difference signal indicates that said scan path of refracted light is substantially along said second line of positions, and said servo control means comprising: phase sensitive discriminator means responsive to said difference signal and to a reference signal from said source means synchronous with the light beam movement along said first line of positions for providing an output representing the magnitude of the difference signal and the phase relationship between said difference signal and said reference siGnal, switch means for reversing the polarity of the output from said phase-sensitive discriminator means, and a servo motor responsive to the output from the phase-sensitive discriminator means as selected by said switch means.

Claim 19

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the optical system, said apparatus comprising: source means for sequentially providing incident light beams parallel to each other and to the optical axis across said sphero-cylindrical system along a first line of positions, first control means for rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system until the path of the refracted light emergent therefrom is aligned with said first line of positions thereby signifying that said first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical optical system, measurement means for measuring predetermined optical properties of the sphero-cylindrical system after thus aligning the first line of positions, said measurement means comprising photo-detector means for detecting refracted light beam movement along said path of refracted light after said path of refracted light has been aligned with said second line of positions, wherein said photo-detector means is axially movable with respect to said sphero-cylindrical system such that minimum refracted light beam movement along said path of refracted light occurs when said photo-detector means is positioned in a focal plane of said sphero-cylindrical system whereat the distance between the photo-detector means and the sphero-cylindrical system is a measure of its power along the line of first positions and wherein said measurement means includes means for driving the photo-detector means along said optical axis and means for detecting the inversion phase of the refracted light beams as the detector passes through the focal points.

Claim 20

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the optical system, said apparatus comprising: source means for sequentially providing incident light beams parallel to each other and to the optical axis across said sphero-cylindrical system along a first line of positions, first control means for rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system until the path of the refracted light emergent therefrom is aligned with said first line of positions thereby signifying that said first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical optical system, measurement means for measuring predetermined optical properties of the sphero-cylindrical system after thus aligning the first line of positions, said measurement means comprising photo-detector means for detecting refracted light beam movement along said path of refracted light after said path of refracted light has been aligned with said second line of positions, wherein said photo-detector means is axially movable with respect to said sphero-cylindrical system such that minimum refracted light beam movement along said path of refracted light occurs when said photo-detector means is positioned in a focal plane of said sphero-cylindrical system whereat the distance between the photo-detector means and the sphero-cylindrical system is a measure of its power along the line of first positions and wherein said measurement means includes means for driving the photo-detector means along said optical axis and means for detecting the inversion phase of the refracted light beams as the detector passes through the focal points.

Claim 21

Apparatus as in claim 15 wherein said measurement means further comprises servo control means for automatically axially driving said photo-detector.

Claim 22

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system, said apparatus comprising: a source of light rays defining a first line extending across said sphero-cylindrical system, means for effecting relative rotation between said first line and said sphero-cylindrical system, means for detecting the orientation of the path of said light rays which are refracted by emergent light from said sphero-cylindrical system with respect to a second line fixedly aligned with said first line, means for measuring predetermined optical properties of said sphero-cylindrical system when the path of said refracted light rays are aligned with said second line, said source of light rays and said means for detecting being mounted together for common rotation with respect to said sphero-cylindrical system, and wherein said means for detecting is also axially movable with respect to said sphero-cylindrical optical system and where said means for detecting is a part of said means for measuring in that its axial position is used to derive a measure of the power of said sphero-cylindrical system while its rotational position is a measure of the cylinder axis of the sphero-cylindrical system.

Claim 23

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system, said apparatus comprising: a source of light rays defining a first line extending across said sphero-cylindrical system, means for effecting relative rotation between said first line and said sphero-cylindrical system, means for detecting the orientation of the path of said light rays which are refracted by emergent light from said sphero-cylindrical system with respect to a second line fixedly aligned with said first line, means for measuring predetermined optical properties of said sphero-cylindrical system when the path of said refracted light rays are aligned with said second line, said source of light rays and said means for detecting being mounted together for common rotation with respect to said sphero-cylindrical system, and wherein said means for detecting is also axially movable with respect to said sphero-cylindrical optical system and where said means for detecting is a part of said means for measuring in that its axial position is used to derive a measure of the power of said sphero-cylindrical system while its rotational position is a measure of the cylinder axis of the sphero-cylindrical system.

Claim 24

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the system, said apparatus comprising: source means for providing beams of incident light parallel to each other and to the optical axis across said sphero-cylindrical system along a first line of position, first control means for rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system until the path of the refracted light emergenT therefrom is aligned in a common plane with said first line of positions thereby signifying that said first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical optical system, and measurement means for measuring predetermined optical properties of the sphero-cylindrical system after thus aligning the first line of positions, wherein, said source means comprises a movable light source, for sequentially providing said incident light beams, said first control means comprises a photo-detector having at least two active sections defining a second line of positions, and said movable light source and said photo-detector are mounted for common rotation with respect to said sphero-cylindrical optical system and where said first and second lines of positions are fixedly aligned such that the scan path of the refracted light beam passes across said second line of positions except when the first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylindrical axis of the sphero-cylindrical optical system whereat said scan path is substantially along said second line of positions.

Claim 25

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the system, said apparatus comprising: source means for providing beams of incident light parallel to each other and to the optical axis across said sphero-cylindrical system along a first line of position, first control means for rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system until the path of the refracted light emergenT therefrom is aligned in a common plane with said first line of positions thereby signifying that said first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical optical system, and measurement means for measuring predetermined optical properties of the sphero-cylindrical system after thus aligning the first line of positions, wherein, said source means comprises a movable light source, for sequentially providing said incident light beams, said first control means comprises a photo-detector having at least two active sections defining a second line of positions, and said movable light source and said photo-detector are mounted for common rotation with respect to said sphero-cylindrical optical system and where said first and second lines of positions are fixedly aligned such that the scan path of the refracted light beam passes across said second line of positions except when the first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylindrical axis of the sphero-cylindrical optical system whereat said scan path is substantially along said second line of positions.

Claim 26

Apparatus as in claim 18 wherein said first control means further comprises: difference means connected to provide a difference signal representing the difference between outputs of said at least two active photo-detector sections, and servo control means responsive to said difference signal for automatically rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system, until the difference signal indicates that said scan path of refracted light is substantially along said second line of positions.

Claim 27

Apparatus as in claim 18 wherein: said photo-detector means comprises four quadrants of active sections with the outputs from pairs of the quadrants being combined to simulate two active semi-circle areas defining said second line of positions therebetween.

Claim 28

Apparatus as in claim 20 wherein said measurement means comprises: means for combining the outputs from other pairs of quadrants to simulate further active semi-circle areas defining a third line of positions perpendicular to said second line of positions, axial movement means for changing the axial distance between said photo-detector and said sphero-cylindrical system, and axial servo control means responsive to the difference between output signals from said further active semi-circle areas and to the phase of this difference with respect to light beam movements along said first line of positions for automatically driving said axial movement means until the axial position of said photo-detector is a measurement of the lens power of the sphero-cylindrical system along said first line of positions.

Claim 29

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the system, said apparatus comprising: a source of incident light rays parallel to each other and to the optical axis and directed toward said optical system defining a first line extending across said sphero-cylindrical system. means for effecting relative rotation between said first line and said sphero-cylindrical system, means for detecting the orientation of the path of said light rays which are refracted by emergent light from said sphero-cylindrical system with respect to a second line fixedly aligned with said first line, and means for measuring predetermined optical properties of said sphero-cylindrical system when the path of said refracted light rays is aligned with said second line, wherein said source of light rays and said means for detecting are mounted together for common rotation with respect to said sphero-cylindrical system.

Claim 30

Apparatus for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal planes of symmetry of the system, said apparatus comprising: a source of incident light rays parallel to each other and to the optical axis and directed toward said optical system defining a first line extending across said sphero-cylindrical system. means for effecting relative rotation between said first line and said sphero-cylindrical system, means for detecting the orientation of the path of said light rays which are refracted by emergent light from said sphero-cylindrical system with respect to a second line fixedly aligned with said first line, and means for measuring predetermined optical properties of said sphero-cylindrical system when the path of said refracted light rays is aligned with said second line, wherein said source of light rays and said means for detecting are mounted together for common rotation with respect to said sphero-cylindrical system.

Claim 31

Method for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal plAnes of symmetry of the optical system, said method comprising: cyclically providing incident light beams parallel to each other and to the optical axis across said sphero-cylindrical system along a first line of positions, rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system until the path of the refracted light emergent therefrom is aligned with said first line of positions thereby signifying that said first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical optical system, measuring predetermined optical properties of the sphero-cylindrical system after thus aligning the first line of positions by driving said photo-detector means along said optical axis and detecting the inversion of phase of the refracted light beams along said path of refracted light after said path of refracted light has been aligned with said second line of positions as the detector passes through the focal points of the system.

Claim 32

Method for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system having an optical axis defined by the intersection of two orthogonal plAnes of symmetry of the optical system, said method comprising: cyclically providing incident light beams parallel to each other and to the optical axis across said sphero-cylindrical system along a first line of positions, rotating the relative position of said first line of positions and said sphero-cylindrical system until the path of the refracted light emergent therefrom is aligned with said first line of positions thereby signifying that said first line of positions is parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder axis of said sphero-cylindrical optical system, measuring predetermined optical properties of the sphero-cylindrical system after thus aligning the first line of positions by driving said photo-detector means along said optical axis and detecting the inversion of phase of the refracted light beams along said path of refracted light after said path of refracted light has been aligned with said second line of positions as the detector passes through the focal points of the system.

Claim 33

Method for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system, said method comprising: defining a first line of parallel incident light rays extending across said sphero-cylindrical system, effecting relative rotation between said first line and said sphero-cylindrical system, detecting the orientation of the path of said light rays which are refracted by emergent light from said sphero-cylindrical system with respect to a second line fixedly aligned with said first line, measuring predetermined optical properties of said sphero-cylindrical system when the path of said refracted light rays is aligned with said second line, the alignment of said second line and refracted light rays being achieved by commonly rotating said first and second lines of positions with respect to said sphero-cylindrical system, and wherein said measuring step includes axial movement of the second line of positions to derive a measure of the power of said sphero-cylindrical system while the relative rotational position of said second line of positions is a measure of the cylinder axis of the sphero-cylindrical system.

Claim 34

Method for measuring optical properties of a sphero-cylindrical optical system, said method comprising: defining a first line of parallel incident light rays extending across said sphero-cylindrical system, effecting relative rotation between said first line and said sphero-cylindrical system, detecting the orientation of the path of said light rays which are refracted by emergent light from said sphero-cylindrical system with respect to a second line fixedly aligned with said first line, measuring predetermined optical properties of said sphero-cylindrical system when the path of said refracted light rays is aligned with said second line, the alignment of said second line and refracted light rays being achieved by commonly rotating said first and second lines of positions with respect to said sphero-cylindrical system, and wherein said measuring step includes axial movement of the second line of positions to derive a measure of the power of said sphero-cylindrical system while the relative rotational position of said second line of positions is a measure of the cylinder axis of the sphero-cylindrical system.