Articulating dome gimbal assembly
AssigneeAttalon, Inc.
InventorBlaise J. Canzian
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A dome protects an articulating gimbal that orients a line-of-sight of a laser beam. The dome is mounted on a host and encloses the articulating gimbal. The dome has first and second shells. The first shell is rotatable about a first axis relative to the host, and the second shell is disposed on the first shell and is rotatable about a second axis relative to the first shell. A first actuator is coupled to the first shell and is configured to rotate the first shell about the first axis relative to the host. A second actuator is coupled to the second shell and is configured to rotate the second shell about the second axis relative to the first shell. A controller is coupled to the first and second actuators and is configured to match the rotation of the first and second shells to the line-of-sight of the laser beam.
Claims18
A system comprising:
- a host;
- a laser source mounted on the host;
- an articulating gimbal mounted on the host, the articulating gimbal being configured to orient a line-of-sight of a laser beam provided by the laser source by positioning a beam director optical element;
- and
- a structure for protecting the articulating gimbal mounted on the host, the structure comprising:
- a dome shell mounted on the host and enclosing the articulating gimbal, the dome shell comprising first and second shells, the first shell defining a spherical segment opening and having a first edge, the second shell being a spherical segment shell mounted in the spherical segment opening of the first shell, the second shell having a window and a second edge, the window having a protective optic therein, the protective optic being supported by the dome shell;
- a first actuator coupled to the first shell and being configured to articulate the dome shell about a first axis relative to the host;
- a second actuator coupled to the spherical segment shell and being configured to articulate the spherical segment shell about a second axis relative to the first shell, wherein the second axis is a carried axis;
- and
- a controller coupled to the first and second actuators and being configured to actuate the first and second actuators to position the protective optic in the line-of-sight of the laser beam,
- wherein the dome shell is configured to be moved independently of the articulating gimbal.
A structure for protecting an articulating gimbal mounted on a host, the articulating gimbal being configured to position a beam director optical element, the structure comprising:
- a dome shell mounted on the host and enclosing the articulating gimbal, the dome shell comprising first and second shells, the first shell defining a spherical segment opening and having a first edge, the second shell being a spherical segment shell mounted in the spherical segment opening of the first shell, the second shell having a window and a second edge;
- a first actuator coupled to the first shell and being configured to articulate the dome shell about a first axis relative to the host;
- a second actuator coupled to the spherical segment shell and being configured to articulate the spherical segment shell about a second axis relative to the first shell, wherein the second axis is a carried axis;
- and
- a controller coupled to the first and second actuators and being configured to actuate the first and second actuators to position the first window in a first line-of-sight of a beam directed by the beam director optical element,
- wherein the second shell comprises a leaf set containing the window.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.