Trihedron-shaped deformable reflectors

Claim 2

A deformable trihedral reflector suitable for the retroreflection of an electromagnetic incident beam or a system for modulating the angle of divergence of a reflected beam comprising: a tri-rectangular trihedron having first, second and third reflecting planar faces arranged so that the first and second faces are substantially orthogonal, the second and third faces are substantially orthogonal, and the first and third faces are substantially orthogonal, at least one part of the trihedron including a piezoelectric material, and means connected to activate said piezoelectric material for controlling the dihedral angles between the faces of the trihedron in the vicinity of the orthogonality and to consequently control the reflected beam divergence angle, the trihedral reflector being a hollow portion in a stack of piezoelectric plates, said plates being perpendicular to the ternary axis of symmetry of the trihedron, the means for activating the piezoelectric material being connected to the plates to change the thickness of the plates.

Claim 3

A deformable trihedral reflector suitable for the retroreflection of an electromagnetic incident beam or a system for modulating the angle of divergence of a reflected beam comprising: a tri-rectangular trihedron having first, second and third reflecting planar faces arranged so that the first and second faces are substantially orthogonal, the second and third faces are substantially orthogonal, and the first and third faces are substantially orthogonal, at least one part of the trihedron including a piezoelectric material, and means connected to activate said piezoelectric material for controlling the dihedral angles between the faces of the trihedron in the vicinity of the orthogonality and to consequently control the reflected beam divergence angle, the trihedral reflector being a hollow portion in a hard material, the piezoelectric material being formed of plates positioned above the tip of the trihedron and perpendicular to the ternary axis of symmetry of the trihedron, and the means for activating the piezoelectric material being connected to the plates to change the thickness of the plates.

Claim 4

A deformable trihedral reflector suitable for the retroreflection of an electromagnetic incident beam or a system for modulating the angle of divergence of a reflected beam comprising: a tri-rectangular trihedron having first, second and third reflecting planar faces arranged so that the first and second faces are substantially orthogonal, the second and third faces are substantially orthogonal, and the first and third faces are substantially orthogonal, at least one part of the trihedron including a piezoelectric material, and means connected to activate said piezoelectric material for controlling the dihedral angles between the faces of the trihedron in the vicinity of the orthogonality and to consequently control the reflected beam divergence angle, the trihedral reflector being a hollow portion in a hard material, the piezoelectric material being formed of plates positioned above the tip of the trihedron and perpendicular to the ternary axis of symmetry of the trihedron, and the means for activating the piezoelectric material being connected to the plates to change the thickness of the plates.

Claim 5

A deformable trihedral reflector suitable for the retroreflection of an electromagnetic incident beam or a system for modulating the angle of divergence of a reflected beam comprising: a tri-rectangular trihedron having first, second and third reflecting planar faces arranged so that the first and second faces are substantially orthogonal, the second and third faces are substantially orthogonal, and the first and third faces are substantially orthogonal, at least one part of the trihedron including a piezoelectric material, and means connected to activate said piezoelectric material for controlling the dihedral angles between the faces of the trihedron in the vicinity of the orthogonality and to consequently control the reflected beam divergence angle, the trihedron being shaped as a triangular pyramid having an axis in the general direction of the beam axis, the piezoelectric material being arranged in layers perpendicular to the pyramid axis, the piezoelectric material being connected to a signal source so that piezoelectric stresses established therein extend parallel to the pyramid axis.

Claim 6

A deformable trihedral reflector suitable for the retroreflection of an electromagnetic incident beam or a system for modulating the angle of divergence of a reflected beam comprising: a tri-rectangular trihedron having first, second and third reflecting planar faces arranged so that the first and second faces are substantially orthogonal, the second and third faces are substantially orthogonal, and the first and third faces are substantially orthogonal, at least one part of the trihedron including a piezoelectric material, and means connected to activate said piezoelectric material for controlling the dihedral angles between the faces of the trihedron in the vicinity of the orthogonality and to consequently control the reflected beam divergence angle, the trihedron being shaped as a triangular pyramid having an axis in the general direction of the beam axis, the piezoelectric material being arranged in layers perpendicular to the pyramid axis, the piezoelectric material being connected to a signal source so that piezoelectric stresses established therein extend parallel to the pyramid axis.

Claim 7

An optical communication system comprising an optical source for transmitting an optical beam along a beam axis, a retroreflector for the optical beam positioned on the beam axis for reflecting the optical beam back toward the source, the reflected beam having a divergence angle, a receiver for the reflected beam, and means for controlling the reflected beam divergence angle, the reflected beam divergence angle and the receiver position relative to the beam axis and the retroreflector being such that the reflected beam is incident on the receiver, the retroreflector including: a tri-rectangular trihedron having first, second and third reflecting planar faces arranged so that the first and second faces are substantially orthogonal, the second and third faces are substantially orthogonal, and the first and third faces are substantially orthogonal, an intelligence signal source, and means responsive to the intelligence signal source for controlling the dihedral angles between the faces of the trihedron in the vicinity of the orthogonality and to consequently control the reflected beam divergence angle, the means for controlling including a piezoelectric material connected to be responsive to the signal source, the trihedron being arranged so the planar faces thereof remain planar despite variations in the dihedral angles in response to expansion and/or contraction of the thickness of the piezoelectric material that controls the dihedral angle between the trihedron faces, the trihedron being shaped as a triangular pyramid having an axis in the general direction of the beam axis, the piezoelectric material being arranged in layers perpendicular to the pyramid axis, the piezoelectric material being connected to the signal source so that piezoelectric stresses established therein extend parallel to the pyramid axis.

Claim 8

An optical communication system comprising an optical source for transmitting an optical beam along a beam axis, a retroreflector for the optical beam positioned on the beam axis for reflecting the optical beam back toward the source, the reflected beam having a divergence angle, a receiver for the reflected beam, and means for controlling the reflected beam divergence angle, the reflected beam divergence angle and the receiver position relative to the beam axis and the retroreflector being such that the reflected beam is incident on the receiver, the retroreflector including: a tri-rectangular trihedron having first, second and third reflecting planar faces arranged so that the first and second faces are substantially orthogonal, the second and third faces are substantially orthogonal, and the first and third faces are substantially orthogonal, an intelligence signal source, and means responsive to the intelligence signal source for controlling the dihedral angles between the faces of the trihedron in the vicinity of the orthogonality and to consequently control the reflected beam divergence angle, the means for controlling including a piezoelectric material connected to be responsive to the signal source, the trihedron being arranged so the planar faces thereof remain planar despite variations in the dihedral angles in response to expansion and/or contraction of the thickness of the piezoelectric material that controls the dihedral angle between the trihedron faces, the trihedron being shaped as a triangular pyramid having an axis in the general direction of the beam axis, the piezoelectric material being arranged in layers perpendicular to the pyramid axis, the piezoelectric material being connected to the signal source so that piezoelectric stresses established therein extend parallel to the pyramid axis.

Claim 9

A retroreflector for an optical communication system including an optical source for transmitting an optical beam along a beam axis and a receiver for the beam reflected by the retroreflector in response to the beam from the optical source being incident on the retroreflector, the retroreflector comprising: a tri-rectangular trihedron having first, second and third reflecting planar faces arranged so that the first and second faces are substantially orthogonal, the second and third faces are substantially orthogonal, and the first and third faces are substantially orthogonal, an intelligence signal source, and means responsive to the intelligence signal source for controlling the dihedral angles between the faces of the trihedron in the vicinity of the orthogonality and to consequently control the reflected beam divergence angle, whereby the retroreflector controls the reflected beam divergence angle to selectively control the incidence of the reflected beam on the receiver, the trihedron being arranged so the planar faces thereof remain planar despite variations in the dihedral angles in response to expansion and/or contraction of the thickness of the piezoelectric material that controls the dihedral angle between the trihedron faces, the trihedron being shaped as a triangular pyramid having an axis in the general direction of the beam axis, the piezoelectric material being arranged in layers perpendicular to the pyramid axis, the piezoelectric material being connected to the signal source so that piezoelectric stresses established therein extend parallel to the pyramid axis.

Claim 10

A retroreflector for an optical communication system including an optical source for transmitting an optical beam along a beam axis and a receiver for the beam reflected by the retroreflector in response to the beam from the optical source being incident on the retroreflector, the retroreflector comprising: a tri-rectangular trihedron having first, second and third reflecting planar faces arranged so that the first and second faces are substantially orthogonal, the second and third faces are substantially orthogonal, and the first and third faces are substantially orthogonal, an intelligence signal source, and means responsive to the intelligence signal source for controlling the dihedral angles between the faces of the trihedron in the vicinity of the orthogonality and to consequently control the reflected beam divergence angle, whereby the retroreflector controls the reflected beam divergence angle to selectively control the incidence of the reflected beam on the receiver, the trihedron being arranged so the planar faces thereof remain planar despite variations in the dihedral angles in response to expansion and/or contraction of the thickness of the piezoelectric material that controls the dihedral angle between the trihedron faces, the trihedron being shaped as a triangular pyramid having an axis in the general direction of the beam axis, the piezoelectric material being arranged in layers perpendicular to the pyramid axis, the piezoelectric material being connected to the signal source so that piezoelectric stresses established therein extend parallel to the pyramid axis.