US4581730A — Optical instrumentation method and device

Claim 1

Independent Claim 138 words

An optical instrumentation system in which a light wave from a light source is transmitted by way of a plurality of sensor units and detected information from each of said sensor units is collected at a receiving end of the system, comprising: means for sweeping said light source repetitively through a range of optical frequencies, each of said sensor units comprising a subcarrier generating section for causing periodic changes in the light intensity of said transmitted light wave corresponding to the changing optical wave length as said light source is swept through said range of optical frequencies, thereby to generate a subcarrier, and a sensor section for modulating said subcarrier by detected information, and said receiving end being provided with a demultiplexing section provided for demultiplexing the detected information from each sensor section by selecting the corresponding subcarrier.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 138 words

An optical instrumentation system in which a light wave from a light source is transmitted by way of a plurality of sensor units and detected information from each of said sensor units is collected at a receiving end of the system, comprising: means for sweeping said light source repetitively through a range of optical frequencies, each of said sensor units comprising a subcarrier generating section for causing periodic changes in the light intensity of said transmitted light wave corresponding to the changing optical wave length as said light source is swept through said range of optical frequencies, thereby to generate a subcarrier, and a sensor section for modulating said subcarrier by detected information, and said receiving end being provided with a demultiplexing section provided for demultiplexing the detected information from each sensor section by selecting the corresponding subcarrier.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 17 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 1 wherein said subcarrier generating section is a constant polarizing fiber.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 15 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 1 wherein said subcarrier generating section is an interferometer.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 98 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 1 wherein said sensor unit comprises a first constant polarizing fiber serving as a temperature sensor unit, a second constant polarizing fiber serving as a subcarrier generating unit and a light detecting element, said first constant polarizing fiber being connected to a transmission fiber while rotated 45 degrees with respect to the refractive index main axis of said transmission fiber, and said second constant polarizing fiber being connected to said first constant polarizing fiber while rotated 45 degrees with respect to the refractive index main axis of said first constant polarizing fiber.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 74 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 4 wherein said light detecting element comprises a third constant polarizing fiber, the end surface of said third constant polarizing fiber being cut to a Brewstar's angle and ground on which a dielectric multilayer film is formed, said third constant polarizing fiber being connected to said second constant polarizing fiber while rotated 45 degrees with respect to the refractive index main axis of said second constant polarizing fiber.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 16 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 4 wherein said transmission fiber is a constant polarizing fiber.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 52 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 1 wherein said light source is a distributed feedback type laser employing a diffractive grating which is driven by a pulse current whose repetition period is sufficiently smaller than the thermal time constant, and sweeps the oscillation wavelength by the temperature rise resulting from current injection.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 44 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of the sensor units are arranged on the optical path in series corresponding to mutually different detected information, and said subcarrier generating sections generate mutually different subcarriers corresponding to each of said sensor units.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 19 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 8 wherein a pilot signal generator is further provided on said optical path.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 23 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 9 wherein said pilot signal generator comprises a first constant polarizing fiber and a light detecting element.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 37 words

The optical instrumentation system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of the sensor units are disposed to detect a single information, and exhibit relative sensor sensitivities of 2 k where (K=0, 1, 2 . . . ).

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 130 words

An optical instrumention method wherein a light wave from a light source is transmitted by way of a plurality of sensor units and information detected by each of said sensor units is collected at a receiving end, comprising steps of; sweeping said light source repetitively through a range of optical frequencies; generating a subcarrier in each of said sensor units by causing periodic changes in the light intensity of said transmitted light wave corresponding to the changing wave length each time said light source is swept through said range of optical frequencies; modulating each said subcarrier by said detected information at the corresponding sensor unit to perform multiplex transmission of said detected information; and demultiplexing the detected information from each sensor by selecting the corresponding subcarrier at said receiving end.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 130 words

An optical instrumention method wherein a light wave from a light source is transmitted by way of a plurality of sensor units and information detected by each of said sensor units is collected at a receiving end, comprising steps of; sweeping said light source repetitively through a range of optical frequencies; generating a subcarrier in each of said sensor units by causing periodic changes in the light intensity of said transmitted light wave corresponding to the changing wave length each time said light source is swept through said range of optical frequencies; modulating each said subcarrier by said detected information at the corresponding sensor unit to perform multiplex transmission of said detected information; and demultiplexing the detected information from each sensor by selecting the corresponding subcarrier at said receiving end.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 49 words

The optical instrumentation method of claim 12 wherein said plurality of sensor units are arranged in series along the optical path corresponding to each information detecting location and said step of generating subcarriers is a step for generating subcarriers of mutually different frequencies corresponding to the respective sensor units.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 36 words

The optical instrumentation method of claim 12 wherein said plurality of sensor units are disposed to detect a single information, and exhibit relative sensor sensitivities of 2 k where (k=0, 1, 2 . . . ).

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1989-04-07	1989-10-07	1990-04-08	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1993-04-07	1993-10-07	1994-04-08	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1997-04-07	1997-10-07	1998-04-08	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Optical instrumentation method and device

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