Custom Optical Shutters Engineered For Your Exact Needs
Capacity for Volume: Since we are vertically integrated, we have the ability to adjust production of small rotary solenoids to accommodate prototype quantities to tens of thousands of units. Brandstrom is your one stop solution!
Brandstrom offers a line of shutter blades to meet the requirements of the most common optical applications. This product selector lets you view the Brandstrom product line with the options you want.
Have questions about custom optical shutters and blades? Our team is ready to discuss.
Configure your shutter blade: Model: D1950-1
About Optical Shutters
Mechanical optical shutters have a wide range of applications and can provide fast transition times to achieve light blocking, light filtering, and light deflecting solutions. Our custom shutters are solenoid driven which provides for highly accurate and reliable aperture control.
For laser applications we carefully consider the power density and beam size to select the appropriate shutter flag coating, blade angle, or heat dissipating geometry depending on customer requirements.
Custom Shutters for Wide-Ranging Applications
Brandstrom Instruments manufactures miniature rotary solenoid shutters, for thermal imaging, laser, aerospace, and scientific applications, that are designed to meet your critical performance specifications. Our solenoids and shutters provide critical performance in some of the most demanding applications, such as:
Soldier Systems Brandstrom Instruments offers a full line of qualified highly reliable thermal imaging shutters for thermal imaging applications. The Thermal Weapon Sight (TWS) II and TWS II bridge programs have exceeded performance requirements and fielding schedules through the use of Brandstrom Instruments rotary drive shutters. They have demonstrated superior performance on the full temperature range -46° C to +70° C and live fire weapon shock profiles for the M4, M16, M240, M249, M2, M34 and Mark19 weapons systems without any reported failures.
Ground Vehicles
Brandstrom Instruments has already fielded thousands of shutters for the Check 6 320 x 240 situational awareness thermal imaging camera in use on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and the DVE on the M1, Bradley, Stryker, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) and tactical wheeled vehicles. The robustness of our thermal imaging shutter has been demonstrated in the dynamic and harsh battlefield operating environments of these vehicles.
Laser Systems
We design custom miniature rotary solenoid assemblies for laser blocking shutters, safety shutters, ND (neutral density) filter actuators, and front surface mirror positioning. Our Optical Beam Shutters use an electro-mechanical rotary solenoid actuator to provide inherent “fail-safe” operation of the solenoid shutter assembly.
Aviation/Aerospace Systems
The aviation operational environment demands the employment of multiple technologies all assimilated into cohesive mission equipment packages for both manned and unmanned systems. Brandstrom Instruments offers aviation system shutter solutions for integration into the full range of thermal imaging, multi spectral, laser transmitter, laser ranger finder and laser designator applications.
Spectroscopy & Medical
Brandstrom Instruments’ rotary drive electro-optical shutters are used wherever light paths need to be interrupted in a reliable and precise manner. We have designed shutters for many medical applications including laser eye surgery devices and medical fluid analysis machines.
Scientific
Laser systems often require blocking devices to avoid injury from accidental exposure. Our rotary solenoid shutters are frequently used in safety applications but are also used to redirect, filter or attenuate laser light. We offer reflective finishes, innovative blade shapes, hall effect sensors, ND filters and many more features not found in off-the-shelf products. Our rotary drive shutters are used in commercial, scientific, medical and defense laser applications.
Thermal Imaging, IR Shutters
We design custom NUC (non-uniformity correction) infrared shutters for uncooled and cooled IR (Infrared imaging) camera systems for FPA (focal plane array), Bolometer arrays, and IR image sensor calibration. Brandstrom NUC shutters are found in many high performance thermal imaging cameras, cooled and uncooled, providing internal focal uniformity references. We are currently designing products for next generation technologies.
Solenoid Q&A
What are the different types of optical shutters?
There are rotary drive, iris and guillotine shutters to name a few. Brandstrom Instruments is a manufacturer of rotary solenoid optical shutters.
What is the difference between mechanical and electronic shutter?
Mechanical shutters function by moving a shutter, vane or filter in front of the aperture or light source, like a laser beam. A electronic shutter relies on image information gathered from a sensor that gathers the data one line at a time.
How does a solenoid work?
A solenoid is a simple solid state motor relying on an internal coil to generate a magnetic field to change state.
What is a bistable solenoid?
A bistable solenoid refers to a 2-state solenoid that changes state from position 1 to position 2 when a 50-100ms pulse of positive power is applied. It then remains magnetically latched until a reverse (negative) 50-100ms pulse is applied to return it back from position 2 to position 1.
What is a momentary solenoid?
This is a rotary solenoid that changes state from position 1 to position 2 when power is applied and remains in the secondary position until power is removed to return back to position 1.
What is a rotary solenoid actuator?
A rotary solenoid actuator is an rotary solenoid but with an attachment other than a shutter meant to move another device in the system.
How do solenoid actuators work?
A solenoid actuator works on the same principle as all other solenoids, but with an attachment other than a shutter meant to perform work. See solenoids in action.