Small size fast steering mirror having small size and excellent vibration characteristics

1. A fast steering mirror comprising:

a mirror;

a base;

a mirror holder for holding the mirror;

an elastic member for supporting the mirror holder movably relative to the base; and

drive means for directing a reflected beam from the mirror to a desired direction by driving the mirror holder in response to a control signal to adjust the tilt angle of the mirror,

wherein:

the fast steering mirror has n plate springs as the elastic member, and m drive means as the drive means, n and m being integers of 2 or more;

the n plate springs are arranged such that their surfaces are parallel to the reflection surface of the mirror and such that the plate springs are rotationally symmetric to each other about the center of the reflection surface of the mirror, and the n plate springs each have a section extending along the circumference of the mirror holder, the section being obtained by dividing the perimeter of the mirror holder substantially into n sections;

the m drive means have cross-sections passing through the centers of the torque generated by the respective drive means which are on the same plane as the reflection surface of the mirror, and are arranged to be rotationally symmetric to each other about the center of the reflection surface of the mirror.

2. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 1 , wherein n is 4 and m is 4.

3. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the n plate springs has its ends fixed to the base and fixed to the mirror holder, the fixed ends being broadened, and the sections before these fixed ends are tapered such that the width of the leaf spring becomes gradually increased.

4. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the n plate springs has a section extending in a curved shape in the direction of the surface thereof.

5. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the m drive means is composed of a combination of a permanent magnet and a yoke attached to the base, and a coil attached to the mirror holder.

6. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the m drive means is composed of a coil attached to the base and a combination of a permanent magnet and a yoke attached to the mirror holder.

7. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 5 , wherein:

the yoke has a cross-sectional shape of letter I;

the permanent magnet has a cross-sectional shape of letter U consisting of a base portion and a pair of standing portions provided upright at the opposite ends of the base portion, and is attached to the base at a position spaced from the yoke and such that the pair of standing portions are directed toward the yoke;

the coil is attached to the mirror holder at a position between the yoke and the pair of standing portions of the permanent magnet such that the coil passes across a closed magnetic loop formed by the yoke and the base portion and the pair of standing portions of the permanent magnet; and

each of the plate springs extends through a gap between the pair of standing portions of the permanent magnet and is made of a nonmagnetic metal material.

8. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 5 , wherein:

the yoke has a cross-sectional shape of letter I;

the permanent magnet also has a cross-sectional shape of letter I and is attached to the base at a position spaced from the yoke; and

the coil is attached to the mirror holder at a position between the permanent magnet and the yoke such that the coil passes across a closed magnetic loop formed by the permanent magnet and the yoke.

9. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the permanent magnet is composed of first and second permanent magnet portions which are arranged along the letter I so as to abut to each other with their magnetic poles oppositely oriented.

10. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 5 , wherein:

the yoke has a cross-sectional shape of letter U consisting of a base portion and a pair of standing portions provided upright at the opposite ends of the base portion;

the permanent magnet is attached on the inner side surface of one of the pair of standing portions of the yoke;

the coil is attached to the mirror holder such that the coil surrounds the other one of the pair of standing portions of the yoke, and such that the coil passes across a closed magnetic loop formed by the permanent magnet and the base portion and the pair of standing portions of the yoke.

11. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 5 , wherein:

the yoke is composed of a first and second yoke portions having a cross-sectional shape of letter I and attached to the base at positions spaced from each other;

the permanent magnet is composed of first and second permanent magnet portions attached to the first yoke portion such that the magnet portions are arranged with a gap therebetween along the letter I, and such that the magnet portions abut to each other with their magnetic poles oppositely oriented;

the coil is attached to the mirror at a position between the second yoke portion and the first and second permanent magnet portions attached to the first yoke portion, such that the coil passes across a formed by the first and second permanent magnet portions and the first and second yoke portions; and

each of the plate springs extends through a gap between the first and second permanent magnet portions and is made of a nonmagnetic metal material.

12. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the plate springs are used also as wiring for supplying drive current to the coil attached to the mirror holder.

13. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 6 , wherein:

the yoke has a cross-sectional shape of letter I and is attached to the mirror holder;

the permanent magnet has a cross-sectional shape of letter I and is attached to the mirror holder via the yoke; and

the coil is attached to the base at a position between the permanent magnet and the yoke such that the coil passes across an extension line of an open magnetic circuit formed by the permanent magnet and the yoke.

14. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the permanent magnet is composed of first and second permanent magnet portions which are arranged along the letter I so as to abut to each other with their magnetic poles oppositely oriented.

15. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:

each of the m drive means is composed of a permanent magnet attached to the base and a coil attached to the mirror holder;

the permanent magnet has a cross-sectional shape of letter I; and

the coil is attached to the mirror holder so as to pass across an extension line of an open magnetic circuit formed by the permanent magnet.

16. The fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 1 , wherein:

each of the m drive means is composed of a coil attached to the base and a permanent magnet attached to the mirror holder;

the permanent magnet has a cross-sectional shape of letter I; and

the coil is attached to the base so as to pass across an extension line of an open magnetic circuit formed by the permanent magnet.

17. An optical communication antenna having the fast steering mirror as claimed in claim 1 .

18. An intersatellite optical communication system having the optical communication antenna as claimed in claim 17 .