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:
Mar. 28, 2002
William P Kennedy, Loveland, CO (US);
Amanda J Price, Loveland, CO (US);
Wallace J Lannen, Ft. Collins, CO (US);
John Bernard Medberry, Windsor, CO (US);
Agilent Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
An alignment system that uses a single optical sensor to enable the end of an optical fiber to be aligned with the input of an optical waveguide of an optical device. In accordance with the present invention, it has been determined that the output of a single optical sensor can be processed and converted into digital signals, which are then further processed in accordance with an alignment algorithm to generate feedback signals that enable precise alignment to be achieved. The alignment system includes the single optical sensor, a lens and processing logic. The processing logic includes an electrical processing circuit that generates an amplified, filtered signal with low noise and a wide dynamic range, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that converts the output of the processing circuitry into digital signals and a computer, which processes the digital signals in accordance with the alignment algorithm being executed by the computer to generate the feedback signals that enable the end of the optical fiber to be aligned with the input of the optical waveguide. The feedback signals are sent to a motion control system that is configured to adjust the spatial positioning of the end of the optical fiber in accordance with the feedback signals.