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:
Jan. 13, 2004
Filed:
Jul. 26, 2000
Albert Goodman, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Mohsen Shahinpoor, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Wizard Technologies, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method of optical switching wherein the output ends of input optical channels are held by and movable by actuator arm of a conventional computer disk drive assembly and the input ends of output optical channels are held by and movable by the disk of the assembly. Fixed supports and stabilize the input and output optical channels prior to entry into the optical switch . A high resolution voice coil motor receives the switching signal and moves the actuator arm which in turn moves the input optical channels to align them with the selected output channels. Disk is preferably partially rotatable by a disk motor so that the output optical channels are movable and switching speed can be increased. A linear embodiment operates in an equivalent manner with a linearly movable disk and linear actuator arm. An alternative embodiment operates with two or more voice coil motor driven actuator arms, without the use of a disk.