Patents by Inventor Robert Allan Laff

Robert Allan Laff 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: 4079404
    Abstract: An optical assembly structure wherein miniature optical components such as lasers, modulators, lenses, thin-film and fiber-optic waveguides, and photodetectors are critically aligned and supported for coactive operation by means of two or more wafers which are formed with complementary grooves and mortises to support the loose optical components such as lenses and fiber-optic waveguides and to receive alignment rails to insure the relativity of the wafers, which also have formed integral therewith optical elements such as waveguides, modulators, and lasers, to produce an integrated optical assembly somewhat in the manner of an "optical bench," wherein the bench structure also provides an active optical element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 1976
    Date of Patent: March 14, 1978
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Liam David Comerford, John David Crow, Robert Allan Laff, Eric Gung-Hwa Lean, Michael John Brady