Patent ID: 11960143
Assignee: THORLABS, INC.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A positioning system, comprising:
a first plate;
a second plate coupled to the first plate via a pivot and pivotable about at least one axis with respect to the first plate;
a pair of voice coil actuators per steerable axis configured to rotate the second plate relative to the first plate about the at least one axis; and
a processor configured to drive currents to the pair of voice coil actuators;
wherein the pair of voice coil actuators comprises a first and second magnet structures mounted on one plate at equal and opposite distance from the at least one axis, and a first and second coils mounted on the other plate and positioned such that the respective first and second magnet structures move in and out of the first and second coils when the second plate rotates about the at least one axis relative to the first plate;
wherein each of the first and second magnet structures substantially conforms to an arc having a center at the at least one axis and a radius equal to the distance of the magnet structure from the at least one axis,
wherein each of the first and second coils comprises a stack of at least two independently activated coil segments, when the platform is in a neutral position, a pole of a magnet in each of the first and second magnet structures lies between two coil segments of their respective first and second coils, and when the platform is rotated, the pole of the magnet in each of the first and second magnet structures lies within an active coil segment of their respective first and second coils.