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US 10,761,293 B2Granted
Systems and methods for providing mirrors with high stiffness and low inertia involving chemical etching
AssigneeNovanta Corporation
InventorDavid C. Brown
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method is disclosed of fabricating a mirror for use in limited rotation motor systems, said method comprising the steps of providing a mirror structure including at least one wall section, and exposing the at least one wall section to a fluid etching agent to thereby provide chemical milling of the mirror structure.
Claims20
A method of fabricating a mirror for use in limited rotation motor systems, comprising:
- providing a mirror structure including a beryllium mirror structure comprising a plurality of wall sections arranged in one or more shaped patterns;
- exposing the beryllium mirror structure to a bath that includes a fluid etching agent;
- mechanically agitating the bath during exposure of the beryllium mirror structure to the fluid etching agent and drawing the beryllium mirror structure from the bath including the fluid etching agent at a controlled rate such that the plurality of wall sections are chemically milled to have a triangular cross sectional thickness that tapers towards an open end of the wall sections.
A method of fabricating a mirror for use in limited rotation motor systems, comprising:
- providing a mirror unit including a backing structure that is opposite a mirror surface, wherein the backing structure comprises a plurality of wall sections arranged in one or more shaped patterns, said wall sections each having a base and an open end;
- exposing the backing structure to a bath that includes a fluid etching agent to thereby provide chemical milling of the backing structure, wherein the fluid etching agent comprises 60% concentration hydrofluoric acid (HF) one part and 69% concentration of nitric acid (HNO3) nine parts;
- wherein one or more of the plurality of wall sections of the backing structure is chemically milled to have a cross sectional thickness that tapers from the base to the open end of the one or more wall sections, a thickness of the base being reduced by close to 50% and a thickness of the open end being reduced to close to 100%.
A method of fabricating a mirror for use in limited rotation motor systems, comprising:
- providing a mirror unit including a backing structure that is opposite a mirror surface and made of beryllium;
- mechanically milling the backing structure to have a plurality of wall sections arranged in one or more shaped patterns, wherein each wall section is mechanically milled to a thickness of about 0.5 millimeters (mm);
- exposing the backing structure to a bath of a fluid etching agent having a beryllium removal rate that is equal to about 18 microns per minute;
- and
- mechanically agitating the bath during exposure of the backing structure to the fluid etching agent and drawing the backing structure from the bath of the fluid etching agent at a controlled rate such that the plurality of wall sections are chemically milled to have a triangular cross sectional shape that tapers from a base having a reduced thickness of about 0.25 mm towards an open end.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.