← Back to Patent Explorer
US5097354A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Beam scanner

Assignee: Omron Corp
•
Filing: 1990-07-27
•
Granted: 1992-03-17
•
Expires: 2010-07-27
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract The invention provides a beam scanner comprising a light-emitting element, a lens disposed forwardly of the light-emitting element in such a manner that its optical axis is parallel to the optical axis of the light-emitting element, and a rocking reflective mirror which is rotated by Coulomb force acting between static electrodes. There also is provided a beam scanner comprising a light-emitting element, a lens disposed forwardly of the light-emitting element in such a manner that its optical axis is parallel to the optical axis of the light-emitting element, and a displacement mechanism for reciprocal displacement of either the light-emitting element or the lens in a direction generally perpendicular to the optical axis thereof. The beam scanner of the invention is compact and permits reciprocal scanning.

Inventors

  • 👤 Hiroshi Goto

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-08 02:19
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06K; G06K7/00; G06K7/10; G06K7/10544; G06K7/10821; G06K7/10831; G02; G02B; G02B26/00; G02B26/08; G02B26/0816; G02B26/0875; G02B3/00; G02B3/02; G02B3/08; G02B7/00; G02B7/18; G02B7/182; G02B7/1821; G06K2207/00; G06K2207/1016

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim 135 words
A beam scanner, comprising: a light-emitting element; a lens disposed forwardly of said light emitting element; a rocking reflective mirror disposed forwardly of said lens; a displacement mechanism for said mirror comprising a dielectric electrode base, a plurality of electrode pairs with one electrode of each electrode pair being located on said dielectric electrode base and the other electrode of each electrode pair being located on the rocking reflective mirror such that each electrode of an electrode pair faces another electrode of the same electrode pair, and a plurality of torsion bars flexibly fixing said mirror in position relative to said dielectric electrode base; and means for applying a voltage to selected ones of said electrode pairs to produce static fields across said selected ones of said electrode pairs and a displacement of said mirror.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 135 words
A beam scanner, comprising: a light-emitting element; a lens disposed forwardly of said light emitting element; a rocking reflective mirror disposed forwardly of said lens; a displacement mechanism for said mirror comprising a dielectric electrode base, a plurality of electrode pairs with one electrode of each electrode pair being located on said dielectric electrode base and the other electrode of each electrode pair being located on the rocking reflective mirror such that each electrode of an electrode pair faces another electrode of the same electrode pair, and a plurality of torsion bars flexibly fixing said mirror in position relative to said dielectric electrode base; and means for applying a voltage to selected ones of said electrode pairs to produce static fields across said selected ones of said electrode pairs and a displacement of said mirror.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 26 words
The beam scanner of claim 1, further comprising an insulating stem having three pedestals respectively carrying said light-emitting element, said lens and said rocking reflective mirror.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 98 words
The beam scanner of claim 2, wherein said mirror includes a mirror body having four corners and wherein the displacement mechanism further comprises a rectangular frame shaped mirror base with said torsion bars extending inwardly from the four inner corners thereof and connected to the four corners of said mirror body, said mirror base and said dielectric electrode base being connected with each other in such a manner tat said mirror, mirror base, and dielectric electrode base are in a parallel relation when no voltage is applied by said voltage applying means to any of said electrode pairs.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 64 words
The beam scanner of claim 3, wherein the electrodes on one of said mirror body and electrode base for each electrode pair are grounded and said voltage applying means comprises a voltage controller connected to the electrodes on the other of said mirror body and electrode base of each electrode pairs through respective analog switches, and a switching controller for controlling said analog switches.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 33 words
The beam scanner of claim 4, wherein the electrodes on said mirror body are grounded and the electrodes on said electrode base are connected to said voltage controller through said respective analog switches.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 100 words
The beam scanner of claim 1, wherein said mirror includes a mirror body having four corners and wherein the displacement mechanism comprises a rectangular frame shaped mirror base with said torsion bars extending inwardly from the four inner corners thereof and connected to the four corners of said mirror body, said mirror base and said dielectric electrode base being integrally connected with each other in such a manner that said mirror, mirror base, and dielectric electrode base are in a parallel relation when no voltage is applied by said voltage applying means to any of said plurality of electrode pairs.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 63 words
The beam scanner of claim 6, wherein the electrodes on one of said mirror body and electrode base for each electrode pair are grounded and said voltage applying means comprises: a voltage controller connected to the electrodes on the other of said mirror body and electrode base of each electrode pair through respective analog switches, and switching controller for controlling said analog switches.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 33 words
The beam scanner of claim 7, wherein the electrodes on said mirror body are grounded and the electrodes on said electrode base are connected to said voltage controller through said respective analog switches.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US1438974A Cited
US4123166A Cited
US4123167A Cited
US4074312A Cited
US4712887A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1995-03-17 1995-09-16 1996-03-17 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1999-03-17 1999-09-16 2000-03-17 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2003-03-17 2003-09-16 2004-03-17 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag