JP2000304960A - Optical fiber array - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an optical fiber array capable of improving reliability and yield, and reducing the cost by improving the holding strength of an optical fiber. SOLUTION: This optical fiber array is provided with a V-groove substrate 2 which has V grooves 2a side by side, a pressure plate 3 provided with a step part 3a which has a larger plane shape than the V-groove substrate 2 and supports a clad part 4b, and multiple optical fibers 4 whose exposed parts 4a are arranged on V grooves 2a and clamped by the V-groove substrate 2 and pressure plate 3. Consequently, the optical fibers 4 extending form the V-groove substrate 2 are supported by the pressure plate 3, so the V-groove substrate 2 is made small and simple to make reducible the material and the manufacture cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber array which is used for a multi-light source such as a laser beam printer or a PPC or an optical coupling portion of an optical communication device and in which a plurality of optical fibers are juxtaposed. The present invention relates to an optical fiber array in which optical fibers are arranged and fixed on V grooves having a pitch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to increase the speed of laser beam printers, PPCs, and the like, a multi-light source unit that scans by guiding light from a light source to a photoconductor using an optical fiber array in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged side by side at a minute pitch is studied. Have been. Conventional optical fiber arrays are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 9-133833 and 10-62651, and perspective and side views thereof are shown in FIGS.

In an optical fiber array 1, an exposed portion 4a from which a coating of a plurality of optical fibers 4 is removed is arranged on a V-groove 12a having a minute pitch p formed on a V-groove substrate 12. Then, the holding plate 1 is arranged so as to cover the exposed portion 4a from above.
The optical fiber 4 is sandwiched between the V-groove substrate 12 and the holding plate 13 and fixed by the adhesive 5.

A coating portion 4b having a coating of the optical fiber 4
Has a larger diameter than the exposed portion 4a. Therefore, the V groove 12a
At a pitch greater than the pitch p of
It is fixed on a step 12 b provided in the groove substrate 12. Thereby, the optical fiber 4 forms a bent portion L which is bent gradually, and performance deterioration due to bending of the exposed portion 4a is prevented.

[0005]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional optical fiber array 1, the V-groove substrate 12 is
The optical fiber 4 has an exposed portion 4a and a coating portion 4
b. For this reason, the V-groove substrate 12 has
A portion having a groove 12a and a portion not having the groove 12a and a portion having a different height are required, and there has been a problem that the manufacturing process of the V-groove substrate 12 is complicated and costs are high.

When the optical fiber array 1 is connected to an external element (not shown), the V-groove substrate 12 or the holding plate 13 is fixed by a method such as bonding. For this reason, an adjusting device for aligning the optical fiber array 1 is required separately, and there is a problem that the entire device on which the optical fiber array 1 is mounted becomes large and costs increase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber array which can secure sufficient holding strength and reliability by using a V-groove substrate having a simple structure and can reduce the cost.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 comprises a V-groove substrate having a plurality of V-grooves arranged side by side, and a presser having a larger planar shape than the V-groove substrate. And a plurality of optical fibers having an exposed portion disposed on the V-groove and sandwiched between the V-groove substrate and the pressing plate. According to this configuration, the exposed portion from which the coating of the optical fiber has been removed is arranged on the V-groove,
It is sandwiched between the V-groove substrate and the holding plate. The optical fiber extending from the end face of the V-groove substrate is supported by a holding plate having a larger planar shape than the V-groove substrate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the optical fiber array according to the first aspect, a step portion for supporting a coating portion of the optical fiber is provided on the pressing plate. According to this configuration, the exposed portion and the covering portion of the optical fiber extending from the end surface of the V-groove substrate are supported by the step portion of the holding plate having a larger planar shape than the V-groove substrate.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the optical fiber array according to the first or second aspect, the holding plate is provided with an adjusting portion for adjusting the position of the optical fiber array. It is characterized by.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are a perspective view and a side view showing an optical fiber array according to the first embodiment. Optical fiber array 1
Represents a V formed on the V-groove substrate 2 and having a pitch p of 127 μm.
An exposed portion 4a from which the coating of the plurality of optical fibers 4 has been removed is arranged on the groove 2a. And the exposed part 4 from above
A holding plate 3 larger than the V-groove substrate 2 is installed so as to cover a, and the optical fiber 4 is sandwiched between the V-groove substrate 2 and the holding plate 3 and fixed with an adhesive 5.

A coating portion 4b having a coating of the optical fiber 4.
Has a larger diameter than the exposed portion 4a. For this reason, since the bundles are bundled at a pitch larger than the pitch p of the V-grooves 2a, a bent portion L that bends gently is formed, and performance deterioration due to bending of the exposed portion 4a is prevented.

The same material as that of the V-groove substrate 2 or
A step portion 3a is formed on a holding plate 3 made of glass, a resin molded product, or the like having an expansion coefficient close to that of the V-groove substrate 2. Therefore, the step portion 3a can be easily formed, and the V-groove substrate 2 can be made small and simple in structure, thereby reducing the processing cost and the material cost. Further, the bent portion L of the optical fiber 4 having a particularly low strength is covered with the adhesive 5 by the covering portion 4b.
Since it is integrally held, the reliability and yield can be improved.

A holding plate 3 extending from the V-groove substrate 2 in the left-right direction in the figure as shown in FIG. 3 has a hole 3d and a long hole 3e as shown in FIG.
May be provided. This makes it possible to easily adjust the position of the optical fiber array 1 when attaching the optical fiber array 1 to a main body of a laser beam printer or the like.

That is, first, the optical fiber array 1 is temporarily fixed by bolts through the holes 3d and the long holes 3e. Then, while monitoring the output beam of the optical fiber 4 by a CCD, a photodiode, or the like, the beam is translated or rotated in the front, rear, left, and right directions. When the optical fiber array 1 is arranged at a predetermined installation position, the optical fiber array 1 can be accurately installed by tightening the bolt.

It is also possible to perform the temporary fixing with a bolt and the fixing with an adhesive. The hole 3d and the long hole 3e
Instead, a guide groove 3f may be provided as shown in FIG. 4, or a hole or a guide groove corresponding to a fixing means other than a bolt may be provided.

Since a part of the bent portion L of the optical fiber 4 extending from the V-groove substrate 2 can be supported by the extending portion D of the holding plate 3, the strength of the exposed portion 4a can be improved, and the reliability and the yield can be improved. Can be improved. Further, the extending portion D is changed to the bending portion L.
When the length is the same as that described above, the strength can be further improved.

Next, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are a front view and a side view of the optical fiber array 1 of the second embodiment. For convenience of explanation, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. In the present embodiment, the holding plate 3 is formed by bonding an upper plate 3g and a lower plate 3h. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the step 3a can be easily formed. Therefore, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained. The lower plate 3h is formed to be larger than the upper plate 3g in the left-right direction in FIG.
An adjusting portion such as the long hole portion 3e may be formed on the lower plate 3h.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the optical fiber extending from the V-groove substrate is supported by the holding plate, the V-groove substrate can be made small and simple, and the material and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the step portion for supporting the coated portion of the optical fiber is formed on the holding plate, it can be formed easily and the processing cost can be reduced. Furthermore,
Particularly, since the bent portion of the optical fiber having a low strength can be integrally held with the covering portion, the strength of the optical fiber can be improved, and the reliability and the yield can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the positioning of the optical fiber array can be easily performed by providing the adjusting portion on the holding plate. Further, the entire device on which the optical fiber array is mounted can be reduced in size.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an optical fiber array according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the optical fiber array according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a holding plate of the optical fiber array according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another holding plate of the optical fiber array according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing an optical fiber array according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the optical fiber array according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional optical fiber array.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a conventional optical fiber array.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 optical fiber array 2 V-groove substrate 2 a V-groove 3 holding plate 3 a stepped portion 4 optical fiber 4 a exposed portion 4 b coating portion D extension portion L bending portion

Claims (3)

[Claims] A V-groove substrate having a plurality of V-grooves arranged in parallel; a holding plate having a larger planar shape than the V-groove substrate;
An optical fiber array, wherein an exposed portion disposed on the groove includes a plurality of optical fibers sandwiched between the V-groove substrate and the holding plate. 2. The optical fiber array according to claim 1, wherein a step portion for supporting the coating portion of the optical fiber is provided on the holding plate. 3. The optical fiber array according to claim 1, wherein the holding plate is provided with an adjusting portion for adjusting the position of the optical fiber array.