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:
Sep. 26, 2006
Filed:
Dec. 19, 2003
Francis M. Aguirre, St. Paul, MN (US);
Jack W. Lai, Lake Elmo, MN (US);
Francis M. Aguirre, St. Paul, MN (US);
Jack W. Lai, Lake Elmo, MN (US);
3M Innonative Properties Company, St. Paul, MN (US);
Abstract
A rotary spectrometer including a plurality of input ports. Each input port may be arranged to receive an optical waveguide carrying electromagnetic radiation. The spectrometer also includes a plurality of optical bandpass filters, which are housed on a first body that rotates under the control of a motor so that each optical bandpass filter may be brought into alignment with each input port. Further, the spectrometer includes a plurality of detector circuits disposed on a second body that rotates with the first body. Each detector circuit is optoelectrically coupled to one of the plurality of optical bandpass filters, thereby resulting in each detector circuit being dedicated to responding to a range of wavelengths determined by the bandpass filter to which it is optoelectrically coupled.