The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 28, 1993
Filed:
Nov. 16, 1990
Raymond J Chaney, Berkley, GB;
Renishaw plc, Gloucestershire, GB;
Abstract
A laser interferometer uses an acousto-optically modulated laser (100) to produce a pair of orthogonally polarized frequency-shifted beams. The beams are passed down a monomode, polarization preserving optical fiber (110) in order to transmit the beams to a cavity (148). The beams are separated at polarizing beam splitter (128) and directed down measuring arm (130) and reference arm (132) of an interferometer. The beat frequency between the reflected beams is detected at photo-detector (146) which outputs a measuring signal (152). This beat frequency is compared to the beat frequency of the beams before entering the interferometer, which is derived by providing a semisilvered mirror (114) and interfering polaroid (116) in the path of the beams up-beam of the interferometer to produce a reference signal (126). The measuring and reference signals are compared to determine the movement of the measuring arm of the interferometer. This method of determining the reference signal makes the apparatus less susceptible to temperature changes.