Energy collection instrument and method of use
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsDavid W. Kuhns, Thomas M. Clausen, Shawn W. Lee, Steven R. Vanhoose
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention is a pneumatically actuated energy collection device. The device includes a support which has an energy collector thereon. A shutter is slidably attached to the support and can be moved between a first “closed” position and a second “open” position. In its first position, the shutter covers the collector and in its second position, the shutter uncovers the collector. The shutter is biased into one of the positions. A chamber is disposed adjacent to the shutter so that when the chamber is pressurized, the shutter bias is overcome and the shutter is moved between the first position and the second position.
Claims23
An energy collection device comprising:
- a support having an energy collector;
- a shutter slidably attached to the support, the shutter being moveable between a first position and a second position, wherein in the first position the shutter covers the collector and in the second position the shutter does not cover the collector, wherein the shutter is biased into one of the positions;
- a chamber disposed proximate to the shutter such that introducing pressurized gas in the chamber overcomes the bias and moves the shutter into an opposing position;
- and wherein the energy collection device has at least one overall dimension of less than about ⅝ of an inch.
An energy collection device comprising:
- a mounting body having a first support and a second support;
- a longitudinal support shaft having a first end disposed in the first support and a second end disposed in the second support, the first end including a pressure bore and the second end including a collector;
- an exhaust aperture disposed in the support between the collector and the first end;
- a pneumatic fitting disposed about the first end of the longitudinal support shaft and in communication with the exhaust aperture;
- a fiber optic mount secured to the second end of the longitudinal support shaft in radiant communication with the collector;
- a shutter disposed about the longitudinal support shaft between the exhaust aperture and the fiber optic mount;
- and
- a spring disposed about the longitudinal support shaft between the shutter and the pneumatic fitting such that the spring biases the shutter toward a position covering the collector, wherein compressed gas is introduced into the pressure bore, the gas is forced out of the exhaust aperture against the shutter, overcoming the spring bias and translating the shutter along the longitudinal support shaft so as to uncover the collector.
A method for collecting radiant energy emitted from an ultraviolet lamp towards a streaming web comprising:
- disposing a collector between the streaming web and the ultraviolet lamp;
- biasing a shutter into a first position covering the collector such that no radiant energy can reach the collector;
- and
- translating the shutter into a second position using pneumatic pressure such that the shutter uncovers the collector, allowing radiant energy to reach on the collector.
An energy collection device comprising:
- a support having an energy collector;
- a shutter slidably attached to the support, the shutter being moveable between a first position and a second position, wherein in the first position the shutter covers the collector and in the second position the shutter does not cover the collector, wherein the shutter is biased into one of the positions;
- a chamber disposed proximate to the shutter such that introducing pressurized gas in the chamber overcomes the bias and moves the shutter into an opposing position, and wherein small amounts of pressurized gas are allowed to leak out of the chamber at all times;
- and
- wherein the energy collection device has at least one overall dimension of less than about ⅝ of an inch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.