Patents by Inventor Kenneth F. Walsh

Kenneth F. Walsh has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6075650
    Abstract: A lens shapes a diverging laser diode beam, and particularly circularizes and collimates, or diverges, or converges the beam. The lens may be part of an optical system, or part of a laser diode assembly. The lens is constituted of a body, the opposite ends of which are spaced from each other. The surfaces of the ends may be toric with the toric centers being coincident with the optical axis. The surfaces also have curvature profiles which circularize and collimates, or diverges, or converges collimates the beam. The curvature profile of one of the first and second surfaces has a correction profile which is a function of Zernike polynomials, thereby reducing wavefront error of the beam exiting the lens. The correction profile is also a function of the offset of the laser diode from the optical axis (misalignment), thereby increasing the misalignment tolerances for beam to lens centering. The curvature profiles of the surfaces may have correction for astigmatism in the beam shape produced by the laser diode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2000
    Assignee: Rochester Photonics Corporation
    Inventors: G. Michael Morris, Kevin J. McIntyre, Kenneth F. Walsh