Laterally unconstrained magnetic joint for tip tilt and piston-tip-tilt mounts

    公开(公告)号:US10830988B2

    公开(公告)日:2020-11-10

    申请号:US16125758

    申请日:2018-09-09

    摘要: The subject of this invention is a laterally unconstrained magnetic joint and application of said joint in tip-tilt and piston-tip-tilt optical mounts. The laterally unconstrained magnetic joint in its basic embodiment comprises two interfacing parts: one having a flat surface interfacing a convex surface of the other, wherein one or both parts are made from permanent magnets that are magnetized along the axis of the joint, and the other of the said parts is made from a ferromagnetic material thus creating magnetic force attraction between the two parts. The resulting lack of lateral mechanical constraint between the two parts of the joint is utilized in tip-tilt mounts by decoupling an adjustor and/or actuator from the payload resulting in a simple, uniform design, while magnetic force provides retention sufficient for a wide variety of applications.

    Magnetic joint and optical mount using the same

    公开(公告)号:US10685771B1

    公开(公告)日:2020-06-16

    申请号:US16296613

    申请日:2019-03-08

    摘要: A laterally unconstrained magnetic joint has a first component comprising a permanent magnet material; and a second component comprising a permanent magnet or ferromagnetic material, where the first component and the second component are magnetically attracted to each other, and where the first component and the second component interface via continuous interface surfaces of different curvature that form and maintain point contact throughout a range of angular and lateral actuation. Movement of the first component is laterally unconstrained with respect to the second component. One or more such magnetic joints can be used in a mount for a payload, such as an wide angle optical mount with three degrees of freedom. The mount may include linear actuators to position the payload.