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:
May. 16, 2000
Filed:
Feb. 09, 1998
Richard E Church, Jr, Rochester, NY (US);
ENI Technologies Inc., Rochester, NY (US);
Abstract
An optical position sensor for a vacuum tuning capacitor employs optic fibers that are positioned adjacent a nut associated with the guide shaft. A threaded lead screw is rotated to lift the nut and move the capacitor from a fully-withdrawn home position to a tuning position. A first fiber has its terminus aligned with the terminus of a second fiber to define a gap. A flag or shutter on the nut is positioned in the gap to block the light path between the fibers when the nut is in the home position, but is out of the gap to allow passage of light otherwise. This produces normally on signaling, giving the position sensor a fail-safe capability. The sensor can be incorporated into a cap or cover of the tuning capacitor.