Flexible light conduit
AssigneeLaser Power Corporation
InventorGraham W. Flint
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flexible light conduit which preserves the coherence of a transmitted beam. Several conduit elements having optical elements mounted inside each one are connected together to form a chain. Each conduit element is tiltably coupled to each adjacent conduit element in the chain. The optical elements may be refractive or reflective. The conduit preserves the spatial coherence properties of the beam so the input image is reimaged at a distant place, having passed through the series of relay optical elements through the angles permitted by the coupling members.
Claims37
An elongated flexible light conduit for transmitting a beam of light from a source of the light to a working location, said conduit comprising:
- a plurality of rigid conduit elements;
- a coupling means connecting together each two adjacent said conduit elements so as to define a pivot point between each two said conduit elements and permitting alignment between each two adjacent said conduit elements to be varied, a plurality of said coupling means and conduit elements comprising a chain and forming said flexible conduit;
- a spaced pair of optical elements within each said conduit element, an optical axis being defined between said optical elements of each said pair of optical elements, said optical elements and said pivot points being so arranged and configured that when the light beam is focused at one of said pivot points at one end of a said conduit element and substantially on the optical axis defined between said pair of optical elements, that beam is transmitted between said optical elements in said pair of optical elements in a parallel manner and focused thereby at the next pivot point at the opposite end of said conduit element;
- an input optical element for focusing the input beam substantially on the axis thereof generally at the first pivot point of the first of said conduit elements in said chain;
- and
- an output optical element which provides the output beam of a desired convergence/divergence from the last of said conduit elements in said chain.
An elongated flexible light conduit for refractionaly transmitting a beam of light from a source of the light to a working location, said conduit comprising:
- a plurality of rigid conduit elements;
- a coupling means connecting together each two adjacent said conduit elements so as to define a pivot point between each two said conduit elements and permitting alignment between each two adjacent said conduit elements to be varied, a plurality of said coupling means and conduit elements comprising a chain and forming said flexible conduit;
- a spaced pair of lenses within each said conduit element, an optical axis being defined between said lenses of each said pair of lenses, said lenses and said pivot points being so arranged and configured that when the light beam is focused at one of said pivot points at one end of a said conduit element and substantially on the optical axis defined between said pair of lenses, that beam is transmitted between said lenses in said pair of lenses in a parallel manner and focused thereby at the next pivot point at the opposite end of said conduit element;
- an input optical element for focusing the input beam on the axis thereof at the first pivot point of the first of said conduit elements in said chain;
- and
- an output optical element for focusing the beam at a predetermined distance from the last of said conduit elements in said chain;
- whereby the input image is faithfully reimaged at the output of said conduit.
An elongated flexible light conduit for reflectively transmitting a beam of light from a source of the light to a working location, said conduit comprising:
- a plurality of rigid conduit elements;
- a coupling means connecting together each two adjacent said conduit elements so as to define a pivot point between each two said conduit elements and permitting alignment between each two adjacent said conduit elements to be varied, a plurality of said coupling means and conduit elements comprising a chain and forming said flexible conduit;
- a spaced pair of mirrored surfaces within each said conduit element, an optical axis being defined between said mirrored surfaces of each said pair of mirrored surfaces, said mirrored surfaces and said pivot points being so arranged and configured that when the light beam is focused at one of said pivot points at one end of a said conduit element and substantially on the optical axis defined between said pair of mirrored surfaces, that beam is transmitted between said mirrored surfaces in said pair of mirrored surfaces in a parallel manner and focused thereby at the next pivot point at the opposite end of said conduit element;
- an input optical element for focusing the input beam on the axis thereof at the first pivot point of the first of said conduit elements in said chain;
- and
- an output optical element for focusing the beam at a predetermined distance from the last of said conduit elements in said chain;
- whereby the input image is faithfully reimaged at the output of said conduit.
A method for transmitting a beam of light where the input beam axis is different from the output beam axis, the method comprising the steps of;
- providing a plurality of rigid conduit elements, each conduit element having a spaced pair of optical elements therein and defining an optical axis therebetween;
- flexibly coupling together adjacent conduit elements in a chain to form a flexible conduit, the couplings defining a pivot point at each coupling between adjacent conduit elements to permit each conduit element to be tilted with respect to each adjacent conduit element;
- applying the beam of light to the input end of the flexible conduit;
- focusing the beam of light at the pivot point of the first conduit element;
- arranging the optical element pairs and pivot points so that the light beam within each said conduit element is parallel and is focused at each pivot point between conduit elements;
- and
- focusing the output light beam from the last conduit element in the flexible conduit at a predetermined distance therefrom to thereby reimage the input light beam at the output of the flexible conduit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.