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:
Sep. 12, 2000
Filed:
Jul. 01, 1998
Eric J Korevaar, San Diego, CA (US);
Astro Terra Corporation, San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
A device and method for aligning the focal point of a laser beam into coincidence with the active area of a detector includes an optical element for focusing the laser beam to the focal point at a location on the surface of the detector. Also included is a selectively activated light source and a camera which establishes a reference location for the active area within an x-y grid coordinate system whenever the surface of the detector is illuminated by the light source. Further, by using the light that is reflected from the focal point location through a beam splitter, the camera also establishes the location of the laser beam focal point in the same coordinate system. The optical element is then adjusted to move the focal point in the x and y directions, as required, to thereby bring the focal point location into coincidence with the active area. When an optical system, such as a reflector telescope, is used to establish a partially obscured in-coming beam, a lens and prism can be positioned in the obscuration to collect and focus light scattered from the focal point at the detector and direct it toward the camera for alignment purposes.