1. A spectral filtering device comprising at least:
a substrate comprising at least one dielectric material;
a first filter capable of acting as a passband filter in the visible range and comprising a plurality of first nanostructures with a uniform spacing between each other and arranged on the substrate, each of the first nanostructures comprising a portion of dielectric material arranged between two portions of metallic material such that one of the two portions of metallic material is arranged between the substrate and the portion of dielectric material;
a second filter capable of acting as a passband filter in the infrared range and comprising a plurality of second nanostructures with a uniform spacing between each other and arranged on the substrate, each of the second nanostructures comprising a portion of dielectric material of which only one face is in contact with a portion of metallic material.
2. The spectral filtering device according to claim 1, in which the portions of metallic material of the first and the second nanostructures comprise aluminium andor are between about 30 nm and 70 nm thick.
3. The spectral filtering device according to claim 1, in which the dielectric portions of the first and second nanostructures comprise SiN andor each of the dielectric portions of the first nanostructures are between about 75 nm and 100 nm thick andor each of the dielectric portions of the second nanostructures are between about 250 nm and 325 nm thick.
4. The spectral filtering device according to claim 1, in which the portions of metallic material arranged in contact with portions of dielectric material of the second nanostructures are arranged between the substrate and said portions of dielectric material.
5. The spectral filtering device according to claim 1, in which one dimension of each of the first nanostructures that is perpendicular to a principal plane of the substrate is less than the shortest wavelength of the spectral band that the first filter can allow to pass, andor one dimension of each of the second nanostructures that is perpendicular to the principal plane of the substrate is less than the shortest wavelength of the spectral band that the second filter can allow to pass.
6. The spectral filtering device according to claim 1, in which the first nanostructures andor the second nanostructures are each rectangular parallelepiped shaped.
7. The spectral filtering device according to claim 1, in which the first nanostructures andor the second nanostructures are laid out side by side on the substrate, within their corresponding filters, in the form of rows parallel to each other.
8. The spectral filtering device according to claim 7, in which the first nanostructures andor the second nanostructures are laid out side by side on the substrate, within their corresponding filters, in the form of a rectangular or staggered matrix.
9. The spectral filtering device according to claim 7, in which, when each of the first nanostructures is rectangular parallelepiped shaped, the ratio between a dimension of one side of a first nanostructure parallel to a principal plane of the substrate, and the distance between the centres of two neighbouring first nanostructures located in the same row is between about 0.4 and 0.95, andor in which, when each of the second nanostructures is rectangular parallelepiped shaped, the ratio between a dimension of one side of a second nanostructure parallel to a principal plane of the substrate, and the distance between the centres of two neighbouring second nanostructures located in the same row is between about 0.4 and 0.95.
10. The spectral filtering device according to claim 1, in which the distance between the centres of two neighbouring first nanostructures is less than the shortest wavelength of the band that the first filter can allow to pass, andor the distance between the centres of two neighbouring second nanostructures is less than the shortest wavelength of the band that the second filter can allow to pass.
11. The spectral filtering device according to claim 1, also comprising a third filter capable of acting as a passband filter in the visible range and comprising a plurality of third nanostructures at a uniform spacing from each other and located on the substrate, each of the third nanostructures comprising a portion of dielectric material arranged between two portions of metallic material such that one of the two metallic portions is arranged between the substrate and the portion of dielectric material, and in which the band of wavelengths that the third filter can allow to pass is different from the band of wavelengths that the first filter can allow to pass.
12. The spectral filtering device according to claim 11, also comprising a fourth filter capable of acting as a passband filter in the visible range and comprising a plurality of fourth nanostructures at a uniform spacing from each other and arranged on the substrate, each of the fourth nanostructures comprising a portion of dielectric material arranged between two portions of metallic material such that one of the two metallic portions is arranged between the substrate and the portion of dielectric material, and in which the band of wavelengths that the fourth filter can allow to pass is different from the band of wavelengths that the first and third filters can allow to pass.
13. The spectral filtering device according to claim 12, in which the bands of wavelengths that the first, third and fourth filters can allow to pass correspond to the colours red, green and blue.
14. The spectral filtering device according to claim 1, also comprising a layer of dielectric material covering the nanostructures arranged on the substrate.
15. An imaging device comprising at least one spectral filtering device according to claim 1, and also comprising a plurality of photodetectors each facing a filter of the spectral filtering device.
16. A method of making a spectral filtering device, comprising at least the following steps:
make a plurality of first nanostructures, at a uniform spacing from each other on a substrate comprising at least one dielectric material, each of the first nanostructures comprising a portion of dielectric material arranged between two portions of metallic material such that one of the two portions of metallic material is arranged between the substrate and the portion of dielectric material, forming a first filter capable of making a passband filter in the visible range,
make a plurality of second nanostructures at a uniform spacing from each other and located on the substrate, each of the second nanostructures comprising a portion of dielectric material of which only one face is in contact with a portion of metallic material, forming a second filter capable of making a passband filter in the infrared range.
17. The method according to claim 16, in which the first nanostructures and the second nanostructures are made using the following steps:
deposit a stack of layers on the substrate, comprising a first metallic layer, a first dielectric layer and a second metallic layer,
etch a part of the second metallic layer covering a part of the first dielectric layer that will form part of the portions of dielectric material of the second nanostructures,
deposit a second layer of dielectric material, at least on said part of the first dielectric layer,
etch the first metallic layer, the first dielectric layer and the second metallic layer such that remaining portions of these layers form the first nanostructures,
etch the first metallic layer, said part of the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer such that remaining portions of these layers form the second nanostructures.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An automatic deadbolt mechanism comprising:
a deadbolt movable between a retracted deadbolt position and an extended deadbolt position, the deadbolt biased in the extended deadbolt position;
an auxiliary latch movable between a retracted auxiliary-latch position and an extended auxiliary-latch position, the auxiliary latch biased in the extended auxiliary-latch position;
a trigger biased in a first trigger position and movable between the first trigger position and a second trigger position, the trigger operatively coupled to the deadbolt and to the auxiliary latch, the trigger configured to be in the first trigger position when the auxiliary latch is in the extended auxiliary-latch position and in the second trigger position when the auxiliary latch is in the retracted auxiliary-latch position, to cause a first movement of the deadbolt from the retracted deadbolt position to the extended deadbolt position when the trigger moves from the first trigger position to the second trigger position, and to require movement of the auxiliary latch a predetermined distance from the retracted auxiliary-latch position toward the extended auxiliary-latch position before the trigger is able to cause a second movement of the deadbolt;
a deadbolt holding lever biased in a first deadbolt holding-lever position and pivotable between the first deadbolt holding-lever position and a second deadbolt holding-lever position, the deadbolt holding lever configured to releasably retain the deadbolt in the retracted deadbolt position when the deadbolt holding lever is in the first deadbolt holding-lever position; and
a release lever biased in a first release-lever position and pivotable between the first release-lever position and a second release-lever position, the release lever configured to cause the deadbolt holding lever to pivot from the first deadbolt-holding-lever position toward the second deadbolt-holding-lever position when the release lever pivots from the first release-lever position toward the second release-lever position,
wherein the trigger is operatively coupled to the release lever and is configured to cause a first pivot of the release lever from the first release-lever position to the second release-lever position when the trigger pivots from the first trigger position to the second trigger position, and to require movement of the auxiliary latch a predetermined distance from the retracted auxiliary-latch position toward the extended auxiliary-latch position before the trigger is able to cause a second pivot of the release lever, and
wherein the release lever has a trigger-lever engaging arm and the trigger comprises:
an auxiliary-latch lever pivotable between the first trigger position and the second trigger position, the auxiliary-latch lever biased in the first trigger position;
a stop extending from the auxiliary-latch lever; and
a trigger lever pivotably connected to the auxiliary-latch lever, biased in a first trigger-lever position abutting the stop and pivotable between the first trigger-lever position and a second trigger-lever position, the trigger lever having a release-lever engaging end slideably engageable with the trigger-lever engaging arm.
2. The mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the trigger-lever engaging arm has a generally concave edge and the release-lever engaging end is beveled.
3. A method for automatically moving a deadbolt of a mortise lock assembly having an auxiliary latch operatively coupled to the deadbolt, an auxiliary-latch lever operatively coupled to the auxiliary latch and a trigger lever pivotably attached to the auxiliary-latch lever and operatively coupled to the deadbolt, the method comprising the steps of:
retracting the deadbolt from an extended deadbolt position to a retracted deadbolt position;
releasably retaining the deadbolt in the retracted deadbolt position;
preventing the deadbolt from being released from the retracted deadbolt position until the auxiliary latch has moved a predetermined distance from a retracted auxiliary-latch position toward an extended auxiliary-latch position, the preventing step further comprising:
pivoting the auxiliary-latch lever from a triggered (or second) auxiliary-latch lever position toward a triggering (or first) auxiliary-latch lever position as the auxiliary latch moves the predetermined distance;
allowing the trigger lever to pivot relative to the auxiliary-latch lever as the auxiliary-latch lever pivots from the triggered (or second) auxiliary-latch lever position toward the triggering (or first) auxiliary-latch lever position; and
resetting the trigger lever to a triggering position (or first trigger lever position) when the auxiliary latch has moved the predetermined distance, and
releasing the deadbolt from the retracted deadbolt position when the auxiliary latch moves toward the retracted auxiliary-latch position from at least the predetermined distance from the retracted auxiliary-latch position.