Patent ID: 9239237
Filing Date: 2016-01-19
CPC Classification: G01B

Claim Text:
1. Apparatus for testing optical components in real-time, said apparatus having an optical axis and elements arranged thereon comprising: a plane parallel beamsplitter positioned along the optical axis and having a reflective surface and a reference surface; a manipulator for holding and positioning an optical component for testing so that a reference surface thereof can be placed in contact with said beamsplitter reference surface and moved with respect to the optical axis; a target positioned along the optical axis, said target comprising a flat opaque disk having a central transmissive pattern surrounded by a background that is at least partially reflective and faces said reflective surface of said beamsplitter; a source for illuminating said target; and a collimator for forming a collimated image of said target for presentation to said optical component such that said collimated image is partially reflected by said reflective beamsplitter surface back through said collimated lens and onto said reflective background of said target after which it is reflected for travel through said optical component as a retroreflected image of said target and partially transmitted by said beamsplitter to be formed by said optical component as a direct image of said target, said direct and retroreflected images being inverted and reverted about said optical axis with respect to one another with the separation between them being proportional to any misalignment between said optical component reference surface and the optical axis of said collimated image; and a video analyzer for viewing said direct and retroreflected images of said target so that the optical component can be aligned with the optical axis of said collimated image.