This paper first presents a review of the most common lens mounting techniques used to secure and center lenses in optical systems. Advantages and disadvantages of each mounting technique are discussed in terms of precision and cost. Then, the different contributors which affect the centering of a lens when using the drop-in approach, such as the threaded ring, friction, and manufacturing errors, are detailed. Finally, a patent pending lens mounting technique developed at INO that alleviates the drawbacks of the drop-in and the active alignment approaches is introduced. This innovative auto-centering method requires a very low assembly time, does not need tight manufacturing tolerances and offers a very high level of centering accuracy, usually less than 5 μm. Centering test results performed on real optical assemblies are also presented. |
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CITATIONS
Cited by 1 scholarly publication.
Optics manufacturing
Tolerancing
Manufacturing
Optical alignment
Optical mounts
Assembly tolerances
Error analysis