Products Home / Optomechanical Components / Optical Post Assemblies / Bases / Table Clamps / Universal Base PlateUniversal Base Plate
- Center-Located Slot Allows for Rotation and Translation
- Array of Tapped and Counterbored Holes Allow for a
Variety of Mounting Options - Provides Mounting Holes in Any Orientation on the
Optical Table
UBP2
UBP2 Base Plate Can be Used to Roughly Adjust the Spacing
between the Lenses in a Telescope Setup
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Centrally Located Slot Allows Mounting of Components Outside of the Standard 1" Hole Pattern
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Mechanical Drawing
Features
- 1.25" (31.8 mm) Long Counterbored Slot for 1/4" (M6) Cap Screws Allows for Rotation and Translation
- Tapped Holes:
- 1/4"-20 (M6) (Qty. 6)
- 8-32 (M4) (Qty. 16)
- 4-40 (Qty. 4)
- Counterbored Holes:
- 1/4" (M6) (Qty. 4, Two per Side)
- #8 (M4) (Qty. 4, Two per Side)
The UBP2(/M) Universal Base Plate increases the flexibility of any optical setup by providing mounting holes in virtually any orientation on an optical table or breadboard. This freedom allows users to mount various components or stages in a wide array of orientations outside of what is dictated by the standard 1" (25 mm) hole pattern. The counterbores in the plate also allow one to adapt metric components to an imperial optical table and vice versa.
The plate dimensions are 2.5" x 2.5" x 3/8" for the imperial version or 65 mm x 65 mm x 10 mm for the metric version. The 1.25" (31.8 mm) long counterbored slot for 1/4" (M6) cap screws is centrally located and allows 360° rotation of the plate as well as rough translation on the optical table. An array of 1/4"-20 (M6) and 8-32 (M4) tapped mounting holes are available for mounting components in various orientations, while four 4-40 tapped holes are spaced for compatibility with our 30 mm cage system. Two counterbored holes for both 1/4" (M6) and #8 (M4) cap screws are also located on both sides of the base plate for mounting optical post assemblies.
The counterbored holes for 1/4" (M6) cap screws are located in two corners on each side of the plate and are diagonally across from one another. The counterbored holes for #8 (M4) cap screws are located on the center line perpendicular to the counterbored slot with a spacing of 2" (50 mm) on the top of the plate and 1" (25 mm) on the bottom of the plate. Please see the mechanical drawing above for more details.
Cage System Overview
The Cage Assembly System provides a convenient way to construct large optomechanical systems with an established line of precision-machined building blocks designed for high flexibility and accurate alignment.
16 mm, 30 mm, and 60 mm Cage System Standards
Thorlabs offers three standards defined by the center-to-center spacing of the cage assembly rods (see image below). The 16 mm cage, 30 mm cage, and 60 mm cage standards are designed to accomodate Ø1/2", Ø1", and Ø2" optics, respectively. Specialized cage plates that allow smaller optics to be directly inserted into our larger cage systems are also available.
Standard Threads
The flexibility of our Cage Assembly System stems from well-defined mounting and thread standards designed to directly interface with a wide range of specialized products. The three most prevalent thread standards are our SM05 Series (0.535"-40 thread), SM1 Series (1.035"-40 thread), and SM2 Series (2.035"-40 thread), all of which were defined to house the industry's most common optic sizes. Essential building blocks, such as our popular lens tubes, directly interface to these standards.
An example of the standard cage plate measurements determining cage system compatibility.
| Standard Cage System Measurements | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cage System | 16 mm | 30 mm | 60 mm |
| Thread Series | SM05 | SM1 | SM2 |
| Rod to Rod Spacing | 16 mm (0.63") | 30 mm (1.18") | 60 mm (2.36") |
| Total Length | 25 mm (0.98") | 41 mm (1.60") | 71.1 mm (2.8") |
| Cage Components | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cage Rods | 16 mm | These rods are used to connect cage plates, optic mounts, and other components in the cage system. The SR Series Cage Rods are compatible with our 16 mm cage systems, while the 30 mm and 60 mm cage systems use ER Series Cage Rods. |
| 30 mm | ||
| 60 mm | ||
| Cage Plates | 16 mm | These serve as the basic building blocks for a cage system. They may have SM-threaded central bores, smooth bores sized for industry standard optics or to accommodate the outer profile of our SM Series Lens Tubes, or specialized bores for other components such as our FiberPorts. |
| 30 mm | ||
| 60 mm | ||
| Optic Mounts | 16 mm | Thorlabs offers fixed, kinematic, rotation, and translation mounts specifically designed for our Cage Systems. |
| 30 mm | ||
| 60 mm | ||
| Cage Cubes | 16 mm | These cubes are useful for housing larger optical components, such as prisms or mirrors, or optics that need to sit at an angle to the beam path, such as beamsplitters. Our cage cubes are available empty or with pre-mounted optics. |
| 30 mm | ||
| 60 mm | ||
| Post and Breadboard Mounts and Adapters | Mounting options for cage systems can be found on our Cage System Construction pages. Cage Systems can be mounted either parallel or perpendicular to the table surface. | |
| Size Adapters | Cage System Size Adapters can be used to integrate components from different cage system and threading standards. | |
| Specialized Components | Thorlabs also produces specialized cage components, such as Filter Wheels, a HeNe Laser Mount, and a FiberPort Cage Plate Adapter, allowing a wide range of our products to be integrated into cage-mounted optical systems. Explore our Cage Systems Visual Navigation Guide to see the full range of Thorlabs' cage components. | |
| Posted Comments: | |
cottsb
(posted 2015-03-05 18:12:15.91) This baseplate changed my life! cdaly
(posted 2015-03-10 03:18:21.0) Response from Chris at Thorlabs: Thank you for the feedback. We are glad to hear it. |
Universal Base Plate