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:
Oct. 13, 2015
Filed:
Mar. 22, 2013
Balluff, Inc., Florence, KY (US);
C. Wayne Clyburn, Union, KY (US);
Balluff, Inc., Florence, KY (US);
Abstract
A tracking band comprises a magnetic tape and mounting tabs that secure the magnetic tape within a band clamp. The mounting tabs protrude radially inwardly toward a center region defined by the band clamp. The magnetic tape is precision-coded with a sequence of magnetic poles. The tracking band may be disposed within an annular recess of a rotating shaft of a heliostat. The tracking band may rotate with the rotating shaft. The shaft may be coupled with a mirror such that the mirror and rotating shaft rotate concurrently. As the tracking band rotates with the rotating shaft, the tracking band may pass by an encoder head, which may read the magnetic tape and relay information regarding the angular position of the mirror from the magnetic tape to a control system. The tracking band may thus provide altitude and azimuth position information for the mirror to a control system.