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US4028935A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method, appliance and installation for the optical determination of small displacements of points on the surface of a solid body

Assignee: Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales
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Filing: 1974-04-01
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Granted: 1977-06-14
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Expires: 1994-04-01
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Abstract

Abstract The invention provides a method, an appliance and an installation for the termination of small displacements of points on the surface of a solid body. A catadioptric covering, such as a catadioptric paint or a piece of a sheet with catadioptric properties is applied on the point of the solid body whose displacement is to be determined, and after illuminating said covering, one determines in a viewing direction different from that of the displacement the variations in the quantity of light received by a photosensitive receiver coming from an image of the said covering in the plane of which is located a knife-edge partly covered by the said image.

Inventors

  • 👤 Michel Eric Philbert
  • 👤 Jean Marcel Surget

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-06 14:34
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01H; G01H9/00; G01D; G01D5/00; G01D5/26

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 24
Claim 1
Independent Claim 145 words
A system for the determination of the displacement along a direction of a "point" on the surface of a solid body comprising: a small element whose outer face is constituted of a catadioptric retroreflecting material, said element being applied to the "point" whose displacement is to be measured; an appliance which includes: projecting means for projecting onto said element a stationary light beam non-parallel to said direction; occultation means in the path of reflected light off of said element concealing a portion of the reflected light which arrives to one side of a given plane while passing light which arrives to the other side of the given plane; photosensitive means to the rear of said occultation means for receiving the non-occulted portion of the reflected light; and measuring means adjacent to said photosensitive means for measuring the quantity of light occulted by said occultation means.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 145 words
A system for the determination of the displacement along a direction of a "point" on the surface of a solid body comprising: a small element whose outer face is constituted of a catadioptric retroreflecting material, said element being applied to the "point" whose displacement is to be measured; an appliance which includes: projecting means for projecting onto said element a stationary light beam non-parallel to said direction; occultation means in the path of reflected light off of said element concealing a portion of the reflected light which arrives to one side of a given plane while passing light which arrives to the other side of the given plane; photosensitive means to the rear of said occultation means for receiving the non-occulted portion of the reflected light; and measuring means adjacent to said photosensitive means for measuring the quantity of light occulted by said occultation means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 40 words
An appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein said occultation means comprises a knife-edge which is positioned at said given plane and further comprising means for displacing the knife-edge in its own plane to change position of said given plane.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 28 words
An appliance as claimed in claim 2, further comprising means for displacing the knife-edge in a translatory movement and means for displacing the knife-edge in a rotary movement.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 104 words
An appliance as claimed in claim 1, wherein said measuring means comprises a first receiver cooperating with said occultation means which comprises a first knife-edge, and further including a second receiver whose axis is perpendicular to that of said first receiver and additional occultation means in the path of reflected light of said element which arrives to one side of an additional plane while passing light which arrives to the other side of said additional plane, said additional occultation means comprises a second knife-edge whose axis is perpendicular to that of said first knife edge and said given and said additional planes are perpendicular.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 89 words
A system for the determination of the displacement of a "point" on the surface of a solid body as claimed in claim 28 including the appliance therein as a first appliance, particularly for studying vibration modes, comprising additionally a second appliance of substantially identical construction, the axis of observation of said first appliance being directed along a component axis of the movement of the body and the axis of observation of said second appliance being directed along an axis perpendicular to the axis of observation of the first appliance.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 33 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein in one appliance at least one knife-edge may be brought into two positions for which the directions of its axis are perpendicular to one another.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 28 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 5, for the study of a blade of a turbo-engine, wherein the retrodiffusive bands are disposed along the generatrices of the blade.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 43 words
A system according to claim 1 wherein said projecting means comprises: a light source; a diaphragm between said light source and said element; and optical conjugation means between said diaphragm and said light source for optical co-ordination of said diaphragm and said element.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 28 words
A system according to claim 8 further including optical conjugation means between said occulation means and said element for optical co-ordination of said element and said occulation means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 25 words
A system according to claim 8 further comprising a transparent reflecting sheet interposed in the lighting flux created by said light source illuminating said element.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 14 words
A system according to claim 1 wherein said occulation means is a straight-edged blade.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 19 words
A system according to claim 1 further including a field lens between said occulation means and said photosensitive means.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 23 words
An appliance as claimed in claim 1, further comprising in front of said measuring means a grating with alternate transparent and opaque elements.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 22 words
An appliance as claimed in claim 13, where the elements of the grating are parallel bands or strips of the same width.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 27 words
An appliance as claimed in claim 14, wherein the grating is carried by a film in movement in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the bands.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 25 words
An appliance as claimed in claim 15, wherein the grating is adjustable in rotation around the axis of the optical beam which falls on it.
Claim 18
Independent Claim 136 words
A method for the determination of the displacement along a direction of a "point" on the surface of a solid body comprising the steps of: applying a small catadioptric element to the outer surface of the body for effective retroreflection therefrom; projecting a stationary incident light beam onto said element parallel to said direction; retro-reflecting said light beam, as a reflected beam off said element, along a path parallel to that of said incident light beam; occulting said reflected beam which arrives to one side of a given plane while passing light which arrives to the other side of the given plane; and determining the quantity of light of the non-occulted portion of said reflected beam by measurement while the body is vibrated and while it is not vibrated and comparing the results under these conditions.
Claim 19
Independent Claim 136 words
A method for the determination of the displacement along a direction of a "point" on the surface of a solid body comprising the steps of: applying a small catadioptric element to the outer surface of the body for effective retroreflection therefrom; projecting a stationary incident light beam onto said element parallel to said direction; retro-reflecting said light beam, as a reflected beam off said element, along a path parallel to that of said incident light beam; occulting said reflected beam which arrives to one side of a given plane while passing light which arrives to the other side of the given plane; and determining the quantity of light of the non-occulted portion of said reflected beam by measurement while the body is vibrated and while it is not vibrated and comparing the results under these conditions.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 115 words
An installation for determining small displacements of a "point" of a body parallel to a given direction, comprising: affixed on said "point" a small element, the outer face of which is constituted of a catadioptric retro-reflecting material and reflects light rays non-perpendicular to said body along the impinging direction; means for projecting onto said element a stationary light beam along a direction different from said given direction; an opaque plane screen whose edge is located in the plane of the image of said element given by the beam resulting from the reflection, the edge of which intersects said image; and a photoelectric cell located in the portion of the reflected beam non-occulted by said screen.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 115 words
An installation for determining small displacements of a "point" of a body parallel to a given direction, comprising: affixed on said "point" a small element, the outer face of which is constituted of a catadioptric retro-reflecting material and reflects light rays non-perpendicular to said body along the impinging direction; means for projecting onto said element a stationary light beam along a direction different from said given direction; an opaque plane screen whose edge is located in the plane of the image of said element given by the beam resulting from the reflection, the edge of which intersects said image; and a photoelectric cell located in the portion of the reflected beam non-occulted by said screen.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 16 words
An installation according to claim 18, wherein the opaque screen is a succession of parallel strips.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 16 words
An installation according to claim 19, comprising means for modifying the direction of the parallel strips.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 21 words
An installation according to claim 19, wherein the parallel strips are present on a film movable according to a uniform movement.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1980-06-13 1980-12-13 1981-06-14 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1984-06-13 1984-12-13 1985-06-14 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1988-06-13 1988-12-13 1989-06-14 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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