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:
Apr. 22, 2003
Filed:
Nov. 24, 1999
Fumio Akikuni, Tokyo, JP;
Keisuke Asami, Tokyo, JP;
Ando Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In an optical interferometer, incident light is divided into reflected light and transmitted light which travel along respective optical paths, which are orthogonal to each other. The reflected light is subjected to total reflection by means of a first reflector , and the transmitted light is subjected to total reflection by means of a second reflector . The light reflected by the first reflector and the light reflected by the second reflector are again merged by means of the beam splitter into a single ray, and the thus-merged ray falls on a photodetector . The optical interferometer is equipped with a third reflector which reflects the incident light at right angles so as to fall on the beam splitter , and a fourth reflector which reflects the light, having been transmitted through the beam splitter , at right angles so as to fall on the second reflector . The beam splitter and the third and fourth reflectors and are mounted on a moving member which can be moved along an optical path extending between the first reflector and the photodetector