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:
Nov. 09, 2004
Filed:
Oct. 25, 2002
David J. Aziz, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Andrey Klishin, Foster City, CA (US);
Martin D. Andrews, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Molecular Devices Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A light source with multiple parallel beams is combined with a pair of opposing mirrors mounted on a rotating fixture and with a fixed aperture to produce a single output beam. Through the motion of the rotating fixture, the pair of mirrors shifts the location of the output of each input beam passing through the device so as to sequentially channel each beam into the optical path defined by the aperture. Thus, the input source corresponding to the output beam may be quickly switched by rotating the pair of mirrors to the position that produces the appropriate shift of the beam selected from the light source. In another embodiment of the invention, the pair of opposing mirrors is replaced by a transparent block similarly mounted on a rotating fixture.