Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Keller, F..
New rotary coupling connects large number of electrical cables to turntable without stressing cables or tangling them. Device accommodates 246 cables containing total of 758 conductors and allows turntable to rotate through arc of 320 degrees. At extremes of rotation, cables are loose enough that they are not pulled taut and overstressed. At halfway point, cables are not so loose that they become entangled.
The High Energy Astronomy Observatory - Mission B (HEAO-B), an earth orbiting X-ray telescope facility capable of locating and imaging celestial X-ray sources within one second of arc in the celestial sphere, is considered. The Focal Plane Transport Assembly (FPTA) is one of the basic structural elements of the three thousand pound HEAO-B experiment payload. The FPTA is a multifunctional assembly which supports seven imaging X-ray detectors circumferentially about a central shaft and accurately positions any particular one into the focus of a high resolution mirror assembly. A drive system, position sensor, rotary coupler, and detent alignment system, all an integral part of the rotatable portion which in turn is supported by main bearings to the stationary focal plane housing are described.