From: "Bob May" 
To: "atmlist" 
Reply-To: "Bob May" 


All cells have a base of 3 mounting points (not real points but rather
support points) and if you want a 6 point cell, you put a bar on top of
each of the base points so that the bar can rock back and forth taking up
the shape of the mirror so that the weight on each end of the bar where
there is a support point is equal.
A 9 point support is where there is a triangle on top of the base point
with 3 support points.  If you go to the next step, each of those 6 or 9
support points can have a 2 or 3 point suupport of the mirro, giving 12, 18
or 27 points of support to the mirror.
The whole intention of this system is to support the mirror in numeraous
spots on the backside and have that support complant to the back of the
mirror so that the pressure is equal (or nearly so, depending upon the
shape of the triangle supports) so that the mirror doesn't want to stress
itself into an incorrect shape.
Bob May
http://nav.to/bobmay
bobmay{at}nethere.com
NEW! http://bobmay.astronomy.net

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