Electro mechanical alignment apparatus for electron image projection systems

Claim 2

An angular alignment system for electron image projection systems comprising: first means for supporting a photocathode; second means for supporting an article to receive an electron image emitted from the photocathode; and a plurality of piezoelectric means disposed between and attached to said first and second means, for inducing relative rotation between said first and second means according to the magnitude and polarity of a control voltage applied to said piezoelectric means to cause dimensional distortion thereof, and for providing the sole support for the weight of one of said first and second means with respect to the other, thereby allowing substantially friction-free and hysteresis-free relative rotation.

Claim 3

An angular alignment system for electron image projection systems comprising: first means for supporting a photocathode; second means for supporting an article to receive an electron image emitted from the photocathode; and a plurality of piezoelectric means disposed between and attached to said first and second means, for inducing relative rotation between said first and second means according to the magnitude and polarity of a control voltage applied to said piezoelectric means to cause dimensional distortion thereof, and for providing the sole support for the weight of one of said first and second means with respect to the other, thereby allowing substantially friction-free and hysteresis-free relative rotation.

Claim 4

An angular alignment system for electron image projection systems comprising: first means for supporting a photocathode; second means for supporting an article to receive an electron image emitted from the photocathode; and a plurality of piezoelectric means disposed between and attached to said first and second means, for inducing relative rotation between said first and second means according to the magnitude and polarity of a control voltage applied to said piezoelectric means to cause dimensional distortion thereof, and for providing the sole support for the weight of one of said first and second means with respect to the other, thereby allowing substantially friction-free and hysteresis-free relative rotation.

Claim 5

The system of claim 1 wherein said piezoelectric means comprises a plurality of piezoelectric elements each having first and second surfaces, each of said piezoelectric means being attached to said first means by said first surface and to said second means by said second surface, said first surfaces generally being equally spaced about the circumference of a first circle, said second surfaces generally being equally spaced about the circumference of a second circle, said first and second circle being concentric, said piezoelectric means being adapted to cause said second surfaces to move with respect to said first surface in a direction substantially tangentially to the circumference of said second circle.

Claim 6

An angular alignment system for electron image projection systems comprising: first means for supporting a photocathode; second means for supporting an article to receive an electron image in functional disposition with respect to said photocathode; and a plurality of piezoelectric means each having first and second ends attached to said first and second means respectively, said piezoelectric means being responsive to a control voltage to cause relative rotation between said first and second means by the resulting curvature along the length of said piezoelectric means; and wherein said piezoelectric means provide sole support for the weight of one of said first and second means and transfer it to the other of said first and second means, thereby allowing substantially friction-free and hysteresis-free relative rotation between said first and second means in accordance with the magnitude and polarity of the control voltage.

Claim 7

An angular alignment system for electron image projection systems comprising: first means for supporting a photocathode; second means for supporting an article to receive an electron image in functional disposition with respect to said photocathode; and a plurality of piezoelectric means each having first and second ends attached to said first and second means respectively, said piezoelectric means being responsive to a control voltage to cause relative rotation between said first and second means by the resulting curvature along the length of said piezoelectric means; and wherein said piezoelectric means provide sole support for the weight of one of said first and second means and transfer it to the other of said first and second means, thereby allowing substantially friction-free and hysteresis-free relative rotation between said first and second means in accordance with the magnitude and polarity of the control voltage.

Claim 8

The system of claim 3 wherein said plurality of piezoelectric elements comprises three elements.

Claim 9

The system of claim 4 wherein said piezoelectric elements each have electrical contacts at first and second surfaces and at least one intermediate electrical contact, said piezoelectric elements being responsive to a control voltage applied between said intermediate electrical contacts and said contacts at said first and second surfaces.

Claim 10

The system of claim 5 wherein said first and second means each further includes an indexing means to provide an initial alignment of said photocathode with respect to said first means and said article with respect to said second means.

Claim 11

An angular alignment system for electron image projection systems comprising a plurality of piezoelectric crystal assemblies, each of said crystal asSemblies having first and second ends defined by a pair of substantially rectangular crystals each with first and second parallel sides, said crystals in each of said crystal assemblies being joined on said first sides to opposite sides of a first conductive member, each crystal further having a second conductive member on said second surface and extending over the central area of said second surface, said first end of each of said crystal assemblies being mechanically coupled to a member adapted to receive an article to be exposed to an electron image, said second end of said crystal assemblies being mechanically coupled to a member adapted for receiving a photocathode, said first ends of said crystal assemblies being substantially equally spaced about the circumference of a first circle, said second ends of said crystal assemblies being substantially equally spaced about the circumference of a second circle concentric to said first circle, said crystal assemblies being adapted to cause relative rotation between said member adapted to receive a photocathode in response to control voltages applied between said first conductive member and said second conductive members of said crystal assemblies causing curvature of said crystal assemblies along the length thereof.

Claim 12

An angular alignment system for electron image projection systems comprising a plurality of piezoelectric crystal assemblies, each of said crystal asSemblies having first and second ends defined by a pair of substantially rectangular crystals each with first and second parallel sides, said crystals in each of said crystal assemblies being joined on said first sides to opposite sides of a first conductive member, each crystal further having a second conductive member on said second surface and extending over the central area of said second surface, said first end of each of said crystal assemblies being mechanically coupled to a member adapted to receive an article to be exposed to an electron image, said second end of said crystal assemblies being mechanically coupled to a member adapted for receiving a photocathode, said first ends of said crystal assemblies being substantially equally spaced about the circumference of a first circle, said second ends of said crystal assemblies being substantially equally spaced about the circumference of a second circle concentric to said first circle, said crystal assemblies being adapted to cause relative rotation between said member adapted to receive a photocathode in response to control voltages applied between said first conductive member and said second conductive members of said crystal assemblies causing curvature of said crystal assemblies along the length thereof.

Claim 13

The angular alignment system of claim 7 wherein said first conductive member is electrically coupled to said member adapted to receive an article and to said member adapted to receive a photocathode.

Claim 14

The angular system of claim 8 wherein said second conductive members are electrically coupled to a terminal so that a control voltage may be applied between said terminal and said first conductive members to cause a controlled relative rotation between said member adapted to receive an article and said member adapted to receive a photocathode.

Claim 15

An angular alignment system for electron projection systems comprising: first means for supporting a photocathode; second means for supporting an article to receive an electron image in facingly disposed functional disposition with respect to said photocathode, one of said first and second means being a light weight ring-like member having first mounting means in a first circular pattern for attachment to a symmetrical arrangement of piezoelectric means; a central mounting means coupled to the other of said first and second means, said central mounting means having a second mounting means for attachment to a symmetrical arrangement of piezoelectric means about a second circular pattern having a diameter which is a small fraction of the diameter of said first circular pattern, and a plurality of piezoelectric means each extending in a generally radial direction and coupled between said first and second mounting means to form a symmetrical arrangement of piezoelectric means providing the sole support for the weight of one of said first and second means with respect to the other and for providing relative rotation between said first and second means according to the magnitude and polarity of a control voltage applied to said piezoelectric means.

Claim 16

An angular alignment system for electron projection systems comprising: first means for supporting a photocathode; second means for supporting an article to receive an electron image in facingly disposed functional disposition with respect to said photocathode, one of said first and second means being a light weight ring-like member having first mounting means in a first circular pattern for attachment to a symmetrical arrangement of piezoelectric means; a central mounting means coupled to the other of said first and second means, said central mounting means having a second mounting means for attachment to a symmetrical arrangement of piezoelectric means about a second circular pattern having a diameter which is a small fraction of the diameter of said first circular pattern, and a plurality of piezoelectric means each extending in a generally radial direction and coupled between said first and second mounting means to form a symmetrical arrangement of piezoelectric means providing the sole support for the weight of one of said first and second means with respect to the other and for providing relative rotation between said first and second means according to the magnitude and polarity of a control voltage applied to said piezoelectric means.

Claim 17

The angular alignment system of claim 10 wherein each said piezoelectric means has a radial length between said first and second circular pattern which exceeds the thickness of said piezoelectric means, each said piezoelectric means including means for applying voltages thereto to encourage curvature of each of said piezoelectric means in planes parallel to said ring-like member.