Microsoft patents conveyor system to scan optical waveplates
Microsoft describes a machine that moves a sheet of optical filters, called waveplates, past a camera. A controller adjusts the camera's position to ensure it is looking at the correct filter for data collection.
In the filing’s own words
An optical data reader comprises a conveyor, an optical system, and a controller. The conveyor is configured to move an optical substrate in a first direction. The optical substrate includes a plurality of waveplates arranged along the first direction and along a second direction non-parallel to the first direction. The optical system is configured to observe one or more of the waveplates in its field-of-view. The optical system is mechanically coupled to at least one positioner configured to move at least a portion of the optical system in the second direction, thereby displacing the field-of-view along the second direction. The controller is coupled operatively to the conveyor and positioner and configured to vary, in the first and second directions, the relative position of the optical system versus the optical substrate, thereby controlling which of the plurality of waveplates are observed.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An optical data reader comprising: a conveyor configured to move an optical substrate in a first direction, the optical substrate including a plurality of waveplates arranged along the first direction and along a second direction non-parallel to the first direction; an optical system having a field-of-view and configured to observe one or more of the waveplates in the field-of-view, the optical system mechanically coupled to at least one positioner configured to move at least a portion of the optical system in the second direction, thereby displacing the field-of-view along the second direction; and a controller coupled operatively to the conveyor and positioner and configured to vary, in the first and second directions, a relative position of the optical system versus the optical substrate, thereby controlling which of the plurality of waveplates are observed.
Facts
- Company
- Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
- Official title
- Conveyor-positioner system for optical data reader
- Patent number
- US12763103B2
- Application number
- 18621412
- Filed
- Mar 29, 2024
- Granted
- Oct 13, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
G11B 17/225 Physics & computingG11B 15/6835 Physics & computingMore from Microsoft in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.