JP2931690B2 - Light switch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical switch used for a single mode optical fiber or the like for switching an optical path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows a conventional optical switch. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional optical switch 101 has a fixed switch element 102 and a movable switch element 1 each having a box shape.
03 are provided to face each other. Each of the switch elements 102 and 103 has a plurality of optical fibers 104 and 105.
Are attached, and their ends are opposed to each other.

On the opposite end faces of the switch elements 102 and 103, a positioning pin 106 is projected from the switch element 102, while a positioning slot 107 into which the positioning pin 106 is inserted is formed on the switch element 103.
Are formed.

Therefore, one fixed switch element 1
02, the other switch element 103 is moved by an electromagnetic solenoid (not shown) in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG.
Can be moved only within the range of the inserted elongated hole 107. Thereby, the switching element 10
3 moves to a position where the positioning pin 106 is in contact with the end face of the elongated hole 107 and opposes the optical fibers 104.1 respectively.
The optical path can be switched by changing the positional relationship of 05.

[0005]

Since the single mode optical fiber has a core diameter of about 10 μm, the positioning accuracy of the optical switch is required to be on the order of submicrons. Therefore, the positioning pin 106 as described above is used.
It can be said that the positioning method based on the engagement between the positioning slot 107 and the positioning slot 107 is effective.

However, such positioning pins 106
In the positioning method based on the engagement between the positioning pin 106 and the positioning slot 107, there is a problem that the stopping position of the positioning pin 106 can be set only at two positions, that is, only the steady position and the switching position. When various types of switching are required due to the development of peripheral technology, such an optical switch that can switch only at two locations cannot meet various needs, which is a major obstacle.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical switch capable of various switching modes.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an optical switch according to the present invention comprises a plurality of fixed optical fibers inserted from one end of a polygonal guide hole formed in a sleeve. While the distal end of the fiber is fixedly held at the corner of the guide hole, a plurality of switching optical fibers are inserted from the other end of the guide hole, and the distal end of the switching optical fiber becomes the distal end of the fixed optical fiber. The switch-side optical fibers are held at the corners of the guide holes so as to face the portions, and the switching-side optical fibers are movable from the respective holding positions to the corners of the adjacent guide holes.

[0009]

[Function] A polygonal guide hole is formed in the sleeve to hold the fixed-side optical fiber, while holding the switching-side optical fiber movably so that the switching-side optical fiber is adjacent to the fixed-side optical fiber. When the optical fiber is moved to the corner of the guide hole, the switching optical fiber is urged and held at the moving position, whereby the switching optical fiber is switched with respect to the fixed optical fiber.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical switch according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the optical switch, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of switching operation, and FIG. Shows a graph that represents.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the polygonal sleeve 11 of this embodiment has a guide hole 12 formed in a pentagonal shape. Then, five fixed-side optical fibers 13 are inserted from one end of the guide hole 12, and the tips of the fixed-side optical fibers 13 are fixed and held at the corners of the guide hole 12 by an adhesive. An optical thin film layer is formed on the distal end surface of the fixed-side optical fiber 13 to suppress reflection loss of transmission light due to optical reflection.

On the other hand, the guide hole 12 of the polygonal sleeve 11
From the other end, five switching-side optical fibers 15 supported by the rotary disk 14 are inserted, respectively. The tip of the switching-side optical fiber 15 is formed at an end of the guide hole 12 by an applied force f such as a spring member (not shown). Parts are biased and held. In addition, an optical thin film layer is similarly formed on the tip end surface of the switching-side optical fiber 15 in order to suppress reflection loss of transmission light due to optical reflection.

The distal end surface of the fixed-side optical fiber 13 and the distal end surface of the switching-side optical fiber 15 are opposed to each other, and a predetermined gap is formed therebetween.

The turntable 14 has a built-in rotary mechanism (not shown) for rotating the turntable 14 by a predetermined angle. In the case of this embodiment, each of the five optical fibers 1
Since the rotary mechanism 14 and the rotary mechanism 15 are used, the rotary mechanism 14 can rotate the rotary disk 14 by 72 degrees.

In order to switch the connection between the fixed side optical fiber 13 and the switching side optical fiber 15, the rotating mechanism 14 rotates the rotating disk 14 by .theta. = 72 degrees. As shown in FIG. 3, the switching-side optical fiber 15 moves from the current holding position 15a to the corner 15b of the adjacent guide hole 12, and is again urged and supported by the corner at that position. At this time, the switching-side optical fiber 15 moves by a distance a along the inner peripheral surface of the guide hole 12, and as shown in FIG.
5 is deformed within a distance d from the center O of the polygonal sleeve 11 against the urging force when it moves by the predetermined angle θ = 72 degrees.

In this manner, the connection relationship between the fixed optical fiber 13 and the switching optical fiber 15 is switched. The switching-side optical fiber 15 is biased and held at the corner of the polygonal sleeve 11, so that the switching-side optical fiber 15 can be reliably positioned even if the accuracy of the rotation angle of the turntable 14 is reduced. it can. It is not necessary to always apply an application force for urging and holding the switching-side optical fiber 15 to the corner of the polygonal sleeve 11, and it may be applied at the time of connection with the fixed-side optical fiber 13.

FIG. 5 schematically shows an optical switch according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 shows a cross section of a rotating rod. Note that members having the same functions as those in the above-described embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the polygonal sleeve 21 of this embodiment, a guide hole 22 is formed in a triangular shape. The tip is fixedly held at a corner of the guide hole 22. On the other hand, the guide hole 22 of the triangular sleeve 21
6, the distal end of a cylindrical rotary rod 23 is inserted. The outer periphery of the rotary rod 23 has three slits 24 at regular intervals in the circumferential direction, as shown in detail in FIG.
Are formed. And these three slits 24
The switching-side optical fiber 15 is inserted into each of them, and the tip of the switching-side optical fiber 15 is inserted into the guide hole 22 and is urged and held at the corner by a spring member (not shown).

The width of each slit 24 is slightly larger than the diameter of the switching-side optical fiber 15, and the depth of the slit 24 is such that the switching-side optical fiber 15 can move to some extent. Have been. The distal end face of the fixed-side optical fiber 13 and the distal end face of the switching-side optical fiber 15 face each other, and the distance between them is about 20 μm.

An annular ultrasonic motor 25 for rotating the rotating rod 23 itself by a predetermined angle is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the base end of the rotating rod 23. In the case of the present embodiment, since three optical fibers 13 and 15 are used, the rotation rod 23 can be rotated by 120 degrees.

In order to switch the connection between the fixed side optical fiber 13 and the switching side optical fiber 15, the rotary ultrasonic motor 25 rotates the rotary rod 23 by 120 degrees. The three switching-side optical fibers 15 inserted in 24 also move at the same time.
That is, the switching-side optical fiber 15 moves from the current holding position to the corner of the adjacent guide hole 22 and is again urged and supported by the moved corner. At this time, the switching side optical fiber 1
5 moves inward of the rotating rod 23 against the urging force and moves along the inner peripheral surface thereof. In this way, the connection relationship between the fixed side optical fiber 13 and the switching side optical fiber 15 is switched.

In the above-described embodiment, the polygonal sleeve is formed in a pentagonal or triangular shape. However, the optical switch of the present invention is not limited to this. Various switching modes can be configured.

In the above-described embodiment, the relative positional relationship between the fixed side optical fiber and the sleeve on which the fixed side optical fiber is fixedly held is changed by driving the switching side optical fiber. This may be performed by driving the held sleeve.

[0025]

As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments, according to the optical switch of the present invention, a polygonal guide hole is formed in the sleeve to fix and hold the fixed-side optical fiber therein. Since the switching-side optical fiber is held with its distal end facing the distal end of the fixed-side optical fiber and the switching-side optical fiber is movable from each holding position to the corner of the adjacent guide hole, the switching-side optical fiber is By simply moving the optical fiber to the corner of the adjacent guide hole, it is possible to easily switch the switching-side optical fiber with respect to the fixed-side optical fiber by being biased and held at the moving position, thereby setting a plurality of switching positions. And a plurality of switching modes in the optical fiber can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an optical switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the optical switch.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of a switching operation.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a deformation amount with respect to a moving angle of an optical fiber.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of an optical switch according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a rotating rod used in the optical switch.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional optical switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 21 Polygon sleeve 12, 22, Guide hole 13 Fixed optical fiber 15 Switching optical fiber

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Toshiaki Satake 1-6-1, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02B 26/08 G02B 6 / 36

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of fixed-side optical fibers are inserted from one end of a polygonal guide hole formed in a sleeve, and the distal end of the fixed-side optical fiber is fixedly held at a corner of the guide hole, and A plurality of switching-side optical fibers are inserted from the other end of the guide hole, and the tip of the switching-side optical fiber is held at the corner of the guide hole facing the tip of the fixed-side optical fiber, and the switching is performed. An optical switch wherein side optical fibers are movable from respective holding positions to corners of adjacent guide holes.