Back to results
US 7,253,575 B2Granted
Industrial optical shutter
AssigneeSutter Instrument Company
InventorsJack Belgum, Ximin Wang, Dale Flaming
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeSutter Instrument Company
InventorsJack Belgum, Ximin Wang, Dale Flaming
Estimating the term…
A highly versatile optical shutter for industrial and scientific applications is disclosed. The has a aperture which defines a light path through the shutter, and a shutter vane or blade that is moved into and out of the light path using a precision, microprocessor controlled motor, such as a stepping motor. Preferably, the motor is mounted on the shutter housing using a shock absorbing material. A control unit associated with the shutter comprises the microprocessor, a motor driver, preferably one which is capable of microstepping the motor, and a non-volatile memory device, such as EEPROM, which stores a plurality of shutter control programs defining different trajectories of the shutter vane. Different programs may be used, for example, to maximize shutter speed or frequency, or to minimize vibrations.
An industrial optical shutter comprising:
An industrial optical shutter, comprising,
An industrial optical shutter, comprising,
A method of operating a microprocessor controlled, motor-driven industrial optical shutter having a shutter vane within a housing between two substantially parallel surfaces and which is movable into and out of a light path through the housing, said light path being defined by apertures in said housing surfaces, comprising, selecting one of a plurality of shutter programs stored in memory coupled to said microprocessor, wherein at least one of said shutter programs operates to position said shutter vane partially in the light path such that a portion of the light passes through the housing and the remaining portion of the light is blocked by the shutter vane.
A method of using an industrial optical shutter as a neutral density filter, said industrial optical shutter comprising a housing having two substantially parallel surfaces, each of said housing surfaces comprising an aperture, said apertures being aligned to define a light path through the housing, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.