Six degrees of freedom optical table

Abstract

The design of a high precision optical table with six degrees of freedom. The table will be for use with surface optical table applications as well as other engineering experiments. It will provide a surface with rock solid stability and rigidity to support demanding research applications. The flatness of the table is an outstanding <±0.004 inch flatness over two square feet, and is combined with several frequency damping measures both in the work surface and the base of the optical table. Experimental apparatus' mounted on the work surface can be positioned and oriented anywhere in three-dimensional space within the limits of travel via high precision X-, Y-, and Z-axis motion stages, specifically three jacks and three slides arranged in a 3-point kinematic fashion.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An optical table with six degrees of freedom, comprising:
 (a) A breadboard work surface;   (b) Three high precision slides;   (c) Three high precision jacks;   (d) Six stepper motor/drivers;   (e) Six linear encoders;   (f) Base frame;   (g) Four feet.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said optical table has six degrees of freedom due to the stages being arranged in a 3-point kinematic fashion. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said breadboard work surface is mounted on three mounting surfaces via three spherical bearings. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein said breadboard work surface is where optical equipment is attached via a grid of M6 style holes. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein said breadboard is a research grade breadboard from Newport Corporation. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein said breadboard features a ferromagnetic stainless steel with two types of integrated high frequency damping layers as well as self-damping side panels. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein said breadboard is moved in the horizontal direction via high precision slides of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said slides (3) have rugged black anodized aluminum housing. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8  wherein each said slide is driven by a high class preloaded ball screw coupled with preloaded crossed roller linear bearings. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8  wherein each said slide features two adjustable limit switches at the end of travel. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 3  wherein said breadboard is moved in the vertical direction via high precision jacks of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said jacks have a rugged black anodized aluminum housing, 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein each said jack is driven by a high class preloaded ball screw coupled with preloaded crossed roller linear bearings. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein each said jack features two adjustable limit switches at the end of travel. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said slides and jacks are individually controlled using high performance, integrated motion controller/drivers, supplying 500 Watts of power to each individual slide and jack. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said linear encoders (6) are Numerik Jena encoders that ensures accuracy and repeatability of both jacks and slides positioning. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said base frame is comprised of welded tubular steel with a powder coated finish. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17  wherein said base frame is filled with sand. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said feet are attached to the four legs of the overall table. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19  wherein said legs have adjustment screws to align table height and transverse position as well as floor mounting holes to anchor the table to the floor and adjust and lock the parallelism of the table with respect to the floor (mounting surface).