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:
Aug. 03, 1999
Filed:
Aug. 11, 1998
Philip Lam, Tucson, AZ (US);
Other;
Abstract
A multiple optical head interferometer comprises one Light Source-Detection-Computing unit and multiple optical heads. The diameters of all of the optical heads are of equal size, and oriented in the same direction. Shutters or adjustable mirrors are provided such that the Light Source-Detection-Computing unit is used with only one optical head at a time. The multiple optical head interferometer of the present invention may measure many workpieces quickly in a short time, as while one workpiece is being measured, others may be setup for measurement or removed for further processing. In a first embodiment, the branching device for branching the laser beam comprises a plurality of beam splitters. Shutters are used to control which optical head is to be used with the Light Source-Detection-Computing unit at a particular time. In the second and preferred embodiment of the present invention, branching out of the optical heads is achieved by using adjustable mirrors and reflection. Branching out by means of reflection has the advantage of conserving light energy and has less unwanted optical noise. The position of the adjustable mirror is determined to control which optical head is to be used with the Light Source-Detection-Computing unit for a particular time.