An optical attenuator for adjusting the amount of radiant energy passing through a variable aperture formed by a pair of apertures in opposing portions of a continuous loop metal strip encircling first and second parallel shafts with the free ends of the strip being secured to one shaft to form the loop. One of the parallel shafts is provided with cam surfaces for adjusting the spacing between the parallel shafts to thereby increase the tension on the continuous loop. Two pairs of rollers abut t...

This invention provides an improved mounting or clamping device for optical components such as lenses in which a clamping ring which clamps a component against a shoulder in a mounting body has a deformable resilient lip which bears against the component and which accommodates thermal expansion and contraction in the mounting body, avoiding strain in the optical component. The clamping ring may have a single annular deformable lip or a number of circumferentially regularly spaced apart lips.

An optical scanner wherein a bundle of scanning light rays and a bundle of received light rays are guided via at least one optical element commonly associated with both of the aforesaid bundles of light rays. The impact areas for both bundles of light rays at the optical element are spatially offset with respect to one another and are located at a common impact surface of the optical element.

An electrical signal recording and playback system is described in which an analog input signal is converted to a digital signal that pulses a light source to form a single, series-recorded track of binary coded digital information including information spots arranged in groups separated by synchronizing spots recorded on a photographic film which is played back in a similar manner. The photographic film is a compact, permanent record of long, useful lifetime which may be photographically copied...

A device that acts as a handle for a light used in surgery and also acts as a holder for a television camera such that the camera is aimed in the direction of maximum intensity of the light.

The circular dichroism exhibited by cholesteric liquid materials is employed to couple light having selected determinable wavelength and circular polarization out of an optical path. Thin films of selected cholesteric liquid crystal materials are interposed in an optical path so that the circular dichroism of the liquid crystal materials causes scattering of light energy having a particular combination of wavelength and circular polarization which is characteristic of the properties of each such...

An apparatus for optically comparing an opaque object and a transparent object which are in geometric alignment. The apparatus includes: a source of light, emitting a beam of light; a fixedly positioned beam splitter, so disposed that the beam of light impinges upon it at 45.degree.; and a magnifying lens, disposed forward of the beam splitter and adjustable for focusing and viewing whose optical axis is at 45.degree. to the beam splitter. The opaque object is positioned rearward of, and at 45.d...

A document reading head of the single reading point type comprising a support, a lamp, a photodetector and an optical system comprising a reading lens, all carried by the support, and fibre optic means carried by the support for transmitting light to be used for reading from the lamp to the optical system and for transmitting light reflected from the document from the optical system to the photodetector.

An optical level has at least two windows respectively serving as entrance aperture and exit aperture for a beam of light. The optical level can assume two positions of use and receives three media of different densities that do not blend with each other. The volume of the medium of the greatest density is equal to the volume of the medium of the smallest. According to the position of the optical level, the beam of light is reflected at least once by the bounding surface between the medium of me...

An optical correlator for filtering out image structures with specific spatial frequencies and/or for determining or measuring the relative spatial position of an object, comprising at least one photoelectric receiver connected in series with this image divider and determining and converting light fluxes leaving the image plane, characterized in that the front faces (6',7') of at least two optical fiber bundles (6,7) are provided as image dividers and that the receiver or receivers (10,11) is/ar...