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:
Jun. 08, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 25, 2001
Senthil Balasubramaniam, Chaska, MN (US);
Hutchinson Technology Incorporated, Hutchinson, MN (US);
Abstract
A static attitude measurement device measures the static attitude of a target, such as a head suspension assembly or component, and reduces the possibility of measurement errors due to stray spots and internal reflections. The device includes a light source for producing a light beam, a beam splitter for directing the light beam toward the target from which a reflected beam is returned, a detector for detecting the reflected beam at a predetermined polarization state and a polarization component for producing the predetermined polarization state in the reflected beam, the polarization component positioned between the beam splitter and the target. The polarization component preferably is a quarter-wave plate to produce a reflected beam that is orthogonally polarized with respect to the incident beam. In addition, the directional optics preferably include a polarizer positioned between before the beam splitter to reduce reflection off of the light source.