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:
Apr. 22, 2002
Applicant:
Inventors:
Michael Little, Oak Park, CA (US);
Thomas S. Tyrie, Oak Park, CA (US);
William P. Eaton, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Assignee:
NP Photonics, Inc., Tucson, AZ (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G02B 2/600 ; G02B 2/608 ; G02B 7/02 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G02B 2/600 ; G02B 2/608 ; G02B 7/02 ;
Abstract
The present invention provides a compliant mechanism that can be used to make a variety of devices, such as tunable optical devices, that are more reliable, more cost effective, and/or exhibit better performance than prior art devices. In one embodiment, the complaint mechanism includes an island that is suspended from a frame using a compliant member that is attached to the frame and the island. Individual actuators and/or sensor elements may be placed on the island, so that each island may be individually actuated or sensed.