Patent ID: 8011996

Claim:
A polishing machine, comprising: a polishing head comprising a rotationally drivable drive shaft at least partially disposed within a hollow cylinder; a roller bearing element disposed between the drive shaft and the hollow cylinder, wherein the roller bearing element is configured to rotationally fix the hollow cylinder relative to the drive shaft and to allow the drive shaft to move axially with respect to the hollow cylinder; a polishing plate having an articulated connection to the rotationally drivable drive shaft, a fluid pressure chamber; and a piston disposed within the fluid pressure chamber, wherein the polishing head and the fluid pressure chamber have a common longitudinal axis, the fluid pressure chamber and piston are arranged so that applying fluid pressure to the fluid pressure chamber moves the piston along the common longitudinal axis and causes translational motion of the polishing plate along the common longitudinal axis, the polishing plate has a substantially smaller diameter than a free-form optical surface to be polished by the polishing plate, and the polishing plate is connected to rotate with the rotationally drivable drive shaft and articulated for execution of tilting motions, and wherein the polishing machine is configured to rotate the polishing plate and the free-form optical surface in the same direction of rotation and to move the polishing head in a swiveling motion in a radial direction over the free-form optical surface during polishing of the free-form optical surface, and the polishing machine is configured to cause the polishing plate to apply a constant force to the free-form optical surface during polishing of the free-form optical surface.