JP2003241121A - Optical switch - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical switch which can be made multichannel and small-sized. <P>SOLUTION: The optical switch 10 which has a plurality of couples of incidence and projection optical systems forming optical paths by projecting a parallel beam 15 or making it incidence is constituted by arranging incidence and projection optical systems 16 to 19 and 20 to 23 around an optical switching area 14 and providing reflecting plates 30A to 30D and 31A to 31D movable at right angles of a plane containing optical axes at intersection parts 26 to 29 of respective optical paths (a) to (d) of the optical switching area 14 and the optical path is switched according as the reflecting plates 30A to 30D and 31A to 31D move out of the intersection parts 26 to 29 of the optical paths or into the intersection parts 26 to 29. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical switch for switching an optical path by reflecting a parallel beam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various optical communication devices for transmitting a large amount of information have been developed with the progress of advanced information and multimedia. For optical switches mounted on such optical communication devices, there are increasing demands for, for example, increasing the number of channels and downsizing, and many types of optical switches have been proposed so far.

As such an optical switch, a collimating optical system for forming a pair or two or more pairs of parallel beams is provided, a reflecting plate or a prism is arranged in the parallel beam region, and the reflecting plate or the prism is rotated or slid. It is known that the optical path is switched by doing so.

In such an optical switch, an actuator such as an electromagnetic solenoid, an electromagnetic rotor solenoid or a drive motor is used to rotate or slide the reflector or prism, and the reflector or prism is directly attached to the rotor or slider of the actuator. It is attached.

[0005]

However, in order to increase the number of channels of the conventional optical switch described above, it is necessary to increase the number of reflectors for reflecting parallel beams, which makes it difficult to downsize the optical switch. There's a problem. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to simultaneously solve the problem of multichannel and downsizing of the optical switch.

In view of such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical switch which can be multi-channeled and miniaturized.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems, a plurality of a pair of input / output optical systems for forming a light path by emitting or entering a parallel beam are provided, and the light paths are mutually connected. In the optical switch for switching, the plurality of input / output optical systems are arranged around a light switching region, and are movable in a direction orthogonal to a surface including the optical path at a crossing portion of each optical path of the light switching region and in a reflection direction. Is provided with a plurality of reflectors different from each other, and the optical path is switched depending on whether the reflector is moved outside the intersection of the optical paths or inside the intersection.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, there are two optical paths in which four sets of the incident / emission optical systems are arranged and are parallel to each other, and two optical paths which are orthogonal to and parallel to each other. An optical switch is characterized in that four intersections are formed so that each optical path intersects.

A third aspect of the present invention is the optical switch according to the first or second aspect, characterized in that the reflectors are arranged on both sides of the intersection.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the optical switch according to the third aspect, characterized in that the reflecting surfaces of the reflecting plates provided on both sides of the intersection are orthogonal to each other.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects, a pair of reflective substrates are provided so as to face each other so as to sandwich the optical path switching region, and each of the reflective substrates is provided. The optical switch is provided with a recess for accommodating each of the reflection plates, and a drive unit for moving the reflection plate accommodated in the recess to the intersection.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the optical switch according to the fifth aspect, characterized in that the driving means is an actuator.

According to the present invention, a plurality of input / output optical systems are arranged around the light switching area, and the reflectors are movable in the direction orthogonal to the plane including the light path at the intersection of the respective light paths in the light switching area. Is provided and the optical path is switched depending on whether the reflector is moved outside the intersection of the optical paths or inside the intersection, so that the number of channels and the size can be reduced.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below based on embodiments.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a 4 × 4 type optical switch according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 2A and 2B are exploded plan views of the 4 × 4 type optical switch according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 2A is a top view of the first stage, and FIG. It is a top view of a stage.

As shown in the figure, the optical switch 10 of the present embodiment has a reflecting portion 13 composed of first and second disk-shaped reflecting stages 11 and 12 provided facing each other at a predetermined interval. First to fourth, which are provided around the reflecting portion 13 and emit or enter the parallel beam 15 into the optical path switching region 14 between the first and second reflecting stages 11 and 12.
And the fifth to eighth entrance / exit optical systems 20 to 23 arranged to face the first to fourth entrance / exit optical systems 16 to 19, respectively. Is.

The first to eighth input / output optical systems 16 to 23 are
This is a collimating optical system that forms a parallel beam 15 having a predetermined beam diameter between them. In the present embodiment, the input optical fibers 24 are connected to the first to fourth input / output optical systems 16 to 19, respectively, and the fifth to fifth Output optical fibers 25 are connected to the eighth input / output optical systems 20 to 23, respectively.

Further, the first to eighth input / output optical systems 16 to 2
Reference numeral 3 denotes first and second optical paths a and c which are arranged around the optical path switching region 14 and are parallel to each other, and third and third optical paths a and c which are orthogonal to the first and second optical paths a and c and are parallel to each other. Fourth
The optical paths b and d can be formed. As a result, in the optical path switching area 14, the first to fourth optical paths a
First to fourth intersecting portions 26 to 29, which are portions where d to intersect in a grid pattern, are formed.

On the other hand, the first and second reflection stages 11,
Each of the first and second reflecting plates 30A is movable in each of the first to fourth intersections 26 to 29.
.About.30D and 31A to 31D are provided.

The first and second reflectors 30A to 30D, 3
1A to 31D are concave portions so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to a plane including the first to fourth optical paths a to d with respect to the first to fourth intersections 26 to 29 of the optical path switching region 14. Each of them is fixed on a drive unit 33 arranged in 32.
That is, by driving the drive unit 33, the first and second reflection plates 30A to 30D and 31A to 31D are moved to the recessed portion 3.
2 and the first to the second optical path switching regions 14
It is possible to switch between the state in which it is moved into the fourth intersections 26 to 29. In addition, as such a drive unit 33, for example, an actuator such as an electromagnetic solenoid, an electromagnetic rotor solenoid, or a drive motor can be cited.

Here, each of the reflection plates 30A to 30D, 31A.
31D have reflection surfaces on both sides, and are provided so that the parallel beam 15 emitted from each of the incident / emission optical systems 16 to 19 is reflected by any reflection surface of any reflection plate in a direction orthogonal to each other. Has been.

Further, the first reflecting plates 30A to 30D provided on the first reflecting stage 11 and the second reflecting plates 31A to 31D provided on the second reflecting stage 12 are orthogonal to each other. It is provided to do. Therefore, the parallel beam 15 emitted from any of the input / output optical systems 15 to 19 is reflected in the opposite direction by the reflection by the first reflection plates 30A to 30D and the reflection by the second reflection plates 31A to 31D. be able to.

Here, the operation of the optical switch 10 described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 and 4 are 4 × 4 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an optical path switching state of a mold type optical switch.

Here, regarding the operating states of the first reflecting plates 30A to 30D and the second reflecting portions 31A to 31D, the case where they are moved with respect to the first to fourth intersecting portions 26 to 29 is set to the ON state. The case where the concave portion 32 is made to stand by will be described as an OFF state.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the first reflector 3
0A to 30D and the second reflecting plates 31A to 31D are all O
In the FF state, the first optical path a for optically connecting the first input / output optical system 16 and the seventh input / output optical system 22, the second input / output optical system 17, and the eighth input / output optical system. 23, a third optical path c for optically connecting the third input / output optical system 18 and the fifth input / output optical system 20, and a fourth optical path c
And a fourth optical path d for optically connecting the input / output optical system 19 and the sixth input / output optical system 21 are formed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B, if all the first reflectors 30A to 30D are turned on, for example,
The parallel beam 15 emitted from the first entrance / exit optical system 16
Is reflected by the first reflection plate 30A and is incident on the eighth entrance / exit optical system 23 to form the optical path e. Also,
Similarly, the parallel beams 15 emitted from the second to fourth entrance / exit optical systems 17 to 19 are respectively reflected by the first reflector 30.
It is reflected by B to 30D and is incident on the fifth to seventh entrance / exit optical systems 20 to 22 to form optical paths f to h.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4A, when all the first reflectors 30A to 30D are turned off and all the second reflectors 31A to 31D are turned on, for example, the first reflector The parallel beam 15 emitted from the emission optical system 16 is
It is reflected by the second reflecting plate 31A, and further by the second reflecting plate 31B, so that the fifth input / output optical system 2
It is incident on 0 to form an optical path i. Similarly, the parallel beams 15 emitted from the second to fourth entrance / exit optical systems 17 to 19 are respectively reflected by the second reflectors 31B to 31D.
Is reflected by the second reflection plates 31C to 31C.
The light paths j to 1 are formed by being reflected by A and being incident on the adjacent sixth to eighth entrance / exit optical systems 21 to 23.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the first reflectors 30B and 30D and the second reflectors 31A and 31C are provided.
Is turned on, for example, the first input / output optical system 16
The parallel beam 15 emitted from the second reflection plate 31A,
The first reflection plate 30B and the second reflection plate 31C reflect the light in a stepwise manner and enter the sixth entrance / exit optical system 21 to form the optical path m. On the other hand, the parallel beam 15 emitted from the second incident / emission optical system 17 is reflected by the first reflecting plate 30B and is incident on the fifth incident / emission optical system 20 to form the optical path n. Similarly, the third input / output optical system 18
The parallel beam 15 emitted from the second reflection plate 31
C, the first reflection plate 30D, and the second reflection plate 31A are respectively reflected to enter the eighth entrance / exit optical system 23 to form the optical path o, and exit from the fourth entrance / exit optical system 19. The parallel beam 15 is reflected by the first reflecting plate 30D and is incident on the seventh entrance / exit optical system 22 to form the optical path p. In this way, by individually driving the driving unit 33 described above, the first and second reflection plates 31A, 31
The optical paths can be switched by positioning and moving C, 30B, and 30D.

As described above, the optical switch 10 of the present embodiment is configured so that the parallel beams 15 emitted from the first to fourth input / output optical systems 16 to 19 are respectively reflected by the first and second reflection plates 30A to 30A. ON or OFF for 30D and 31A to 31D
By appropriately switching to the state and reflecting the light, it is possible to form an optical path to be incident on any one of the fifth to eighth entrance / exit optical systems 20 to 23. Therefore, the optical switch can have multiple channels.

When switching the first to fourth optical paths a to d to other optical paths, the first and second reflecting plates 30A to 30D are provided in the first to fourth intersections 26 to 29. 31A to 31D
Either one of them is moved, that is, the optical path switching region 14 is moved to the first and second reflection plates 30A to 30D, 31.
The optical switches 10 can be downsized because they are used jointly by A to 31D.

(Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 1 described above,
Although the 4 × 4 type optical switch has been described, in the present embodiment,
The 2 × 6 type optical switch will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic plan views showing an example of the optical path switching state of the 2 × 6 type optical switch according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the optical switch 10A of the present embodiment.
Connects the input optical fiber 24 to the first and second input / output optical systems 51 and 52, and the third to eighth input / output optical systems 53.
1 to 58 are the same as those of the optical switch 10 according to the first embodiment described above except that the output optical fiber 25 is connected to
Also, the same parts as those in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the first reflector 3
0A to 30D and the second reflecting plates 31A to 31D are all O
In the FF state, a first optical path q that optically connects the first incident / emission optical system 51 and the sixth incident optical system 56 is formed,
A second optical path r that optically connects the second input / output optical system 52 and the fifth input / output optical system 55 is formed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the first reflector 30C and the second reflector 31D are turned on,
For example, the parallel beam 15 emitted from the first incident / emission optical system 51 is reflected by the second reflecting plate 31D and is reflected by the seventh
The light path s is formed by being incident on the input / output optical system 57.
On the other hand, the parallel beam 15 emitted from the second incident / emission optical system 52 is reflected by the first reflection plate 30C, further reflected by the second reflection plate 31D, and incident on the sixth incidence / emission optical system 56. Thus, the optical path t is formed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the first reflector 3
When 0B and 30D are turned on, the parallel beam 15 emitted from the first incident / emission optical system 51 is not reflected by the first reflection plate 30.
The light is reflected by D and enters the fourth incident / emission optical system 54 to form the optical path u.

On the other hand, the parallel beam 15 emitted from the second incident / emission optical system 52 is reflected by the first reflection plate 30B and is incident on the third incident / emission optical system 53 to form the optical path v.

Even with such a structure, the optical switch 10A of the present embodiment has the first and second input / output optical systems 51,
The parallel beam 15 emitted from the beam 52 is reflected by appropriately switching the first and second reflection plates 30A to 30D and 31A to 31D to the ON or OFF state.
~ It is possible to form an optical path to be incident on any one of the eighth entrance / exit optical systems 53 to 58. Therefore, the optical switch 10A can have multiple channels.

Further, as in the above-described first embodiment, the optical path switching region 14 is formed in the first and second reflecting plates 30A to 30A.
The optical switch 10A can be downsized because the D and 31A to 31D are used together.

(Other Embodiments) The first and second embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the basic structure of the optical switch is not limited to the above.

For example, in the first and second embodiments described above,
Although a plurality of patterns of optical path switching states of the optical switches 10 and 10A are illustrated, the patterns are not particularly limited to these, and the parallel beam 15 can be formed by appropriately combining the first and second reflecting plates 30A to 30D and 31A to 31D. The desired optical path may be switched by reflecting the light a plurality of times or a plurality of times. Of course,
The combination may be appropriately set according to the usage mode of the optical switch.

In the optical switches 10 and 10A of the first and second embodiments described above, the first and second reflectors 30A to 30D and 31A to reflect the parallel beam 15 in the right angle direction.
Although 31D is used for the description, the present invention is not limited to this, and the arrangement of the respective input / output optical systems may be changed so that the reflection angles of the first reflection plate and the second reflection plate are different. . The respective reflection angles of the first and second reflectors may be different angles.

Further, the optical switch 1 according to the first and second embodiments.
In 0 and 10A, the description has been made by connecting the input optical fiber and the output optical fiber to the predetermined input / output optical system. It may be connected to the emission optical system.

In the first embodiment described above, the 4 × 4 type optical switch 10 having four sets of input / output ports has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this and has a plurality of sets of input / output ports. It may be an optical switch.

Furthermore, in the second embodiment described above, the 2 × 6 type optical switch 10A having two input ports and six output ports has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, one An optical switch having the above input ports and two or more output ports may be used.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A plurality of input / output optical systems are arranged around the light switching area, and a reflecting plate that is movable in a direction orthogonal to the plane including the optical path is provided at the intersection of the optical paths in the light switching area. Since the optical paths are switched depending on whether the optical switch is moved outside the intersection or inside the intersection, the optical switch can be multi-channeled and miniaturized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a 4 × 4 type optical switch according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a 4 × 4 type optical switch according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view illustrating an optical path switching state of the optical switch according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view explaining another example of the optical path switching state of the optical switch according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view illustrating an optical path switching state of the optical switch according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view illustrating another example of the optical path switching state of the optical switch according to the second embodiment of the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 10A optical switch 11 First reflection stage 12 Second reflection stage 13 Reflector 14 Optical path switching area 15 parallel beams 16-23, 51-58 First through eighth input / output optical systems 24 input optical fiber 25 output optical fiber 26-29 1st-4th intersections 30A to 30D First reflector 31A to 31D Second reflector 32 recess 33 Drive

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Naoki Kawawada             1-8 Nakase, Nakase, Mihama-ku, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture             Ico Instruments Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Munekane Makoto             1-8 Nakase, Nakase, Mihama-ku, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture             Ico Instruments Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2H041 AA16 AB13 AC01 AC04

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An optical switch having a plurality of a pair of incident / emission optical systems for emitting or entering a parallel beam to form an optical path and switching the optical paths to each other, wherein the plurality of incident / emission optical systems are provided around a light switching region. And a plurality of reflectors that are movable in a direction orthogonal to a plane including the optical path and have different reflection directions from each other at the intersection of the optical paths of the optical switching region, and the reflective plate intersects the optical paths. An optical switch characterized in that an optical path is switched depending on whether the optical path is moved outside or inside the intersection. 2. The optical switch according to claim 1, wherein
Four sets of the input / output optical systems are arranged to form two optical paths which are parallel to each other and two optical paths which are orthogonal to them and are parallel to each other, and four intersections where the optical paths intersect are formed. Optical switch characterized by. 3. The optical switch according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reflectors are arranged on both sides of the intersection. 4. The optical switch according to claim 3,
An optical switch, wherein the reflecting surfaces of the reflecting plates provided on both sides of the intersecting portion are orthogonal to each other. 5. The optical switch according to claim 2, further comprising a pair of reflective substrates provided so as to face each other so as to sandwich the optical path switching region, and each of the reflective substrates is provided. Is provided with a concave portion for accommodating each of the reflection plates and a drive means for moving the reflection plate accommodated in the concave portion to the intersection. 6. The optical switch according to claim 5,
An optical switch, wherein the driving means is an actuator.