Optical fiber position sensor

Claim 1

An optical fiber position sensor comprised of a planar-faced device for transmitting an optical signal and a mating planar-faced device for receiving the optical signal, each device having an identical array of a multiplicity of fibers, the devices positioned so that the planar face of each opposes the other across a gap; each device comprised of a holder having a planar face and a plurality of metal surfaced interior channels; glass optical fibers coated with a first metal contained within said channels with their planar terminal ends spaced apart in a spacing pattern along the planar face of the holder; a cast and solidified second metal contained within the channels and completely surrounding the fibers, the second metal wetting and adhering to both the first metal and the metal surface of the holder; the terminal ends of the fibers precisely spaced apart within the spacing pattern to a tolerance of less than ±0.003 mm and relatively free from small circumferential cracks, compared to a like device made with a cast polymer instead of a cast second metal; and a movable modulator plate positioned within the gap and capable of intercepting an optical signal transmitted between the devices, the plate having perforations on a spacing pattern which correlates with the spacing pattern of the terminal ends of the fibers, the motion of the plate varying the opposing pairs of fibers in the arrays through which light can be transmitted.