JP2594619B2 - Light switch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention moves one of a pair of optical fibers in a coupled state in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis and a third optical fiber juxtaposed with the optical fiber. The present invention relates to an optical switch that recombines with an optical fiber.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional optical switches are, for example, when the optical fibers are arranged in a line, a parallel movement type that switches by moving in a direction parallel to the arrangement surface, and a vertical movement type that switches by moving in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement surface. In addition, there is a rotary movement type that switches by rotating in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional optical switch. FIG. 1A shows a translation optical switch, FIG. 2B shows a vertical optical switch, and FIG. 1C shows a rotary optical switch. The parallel displacement type optical switch includes a pair of optical fibers 1 and 2 in a coupled state, optical fiber connecting members 3 and 4 to which the respective optical fibers 1 and 2 are connected, and an optical fiber connecting member 4. And a block body 6 for stopping the moving optical fiber connecting member 4. A new third optical fiber 7 is fixed to the optical fiber connecting member 3 in parallel with the optical fiber 1. The moving stroke in this case is the distance between the optical fiber 1 and the optical fiber 7, and the optical fiber connecting member 4 must move on the guide plate 5 by the distance at high speed and with high accuracy. Therefore, the block 6 is placed at a predetermined position in front of the moving direction, and the optical fiber connecting member 4 stops at the predetermined position by colliding with the block 6. At this stop position, the optical fiber 2 recombines with the optical fiber 7.

The vertically moving optical switch includes a pair of optical fibers 1 and 2 in a coupled state, optical fiber connecting members 3 and 4 to which the respective optical fibers 1 and 2 are connected, and an optical fiber connecting member 4. Guide plate 5 for moving in a direction orthogonal to the optical fiber (direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the optical fibers) and a block body 6 for stopping the moving optical fiber connecting member
It is provided with. In the optical fiber connecting member 3,
A new third optical fiber 7 is arranged on an arrangement plane parallel to the arrangement plane. The movement stroke in this case is
This is the distance between the arrangement planes of the optical fiber 1 and the optical fiber 7, and the optical fiber connecting member 4 must move on the guide plate 5 by the distance at high speed and with high precision. Therefore, the block body 6 is placed at a predetermined position in front of the moving direction,
The optical fiber connecting member 4 stops at a predetermined position by colliding with the block body 6. At this stop position, the optical fiber 2 recombines with the optical fiber 7.

The rotary optical switch includes a pair of optical fibers 1 and 2 in a coupled state, optical fiber connecting members 3 and 4 to which the respective optical fibers 1 and 2 are connected, and an optical fiber connecting portion 3. And a driving unit (not shown) for rotating about the center. A third optical fiber 7 is fixed to the optical fiber connecting member 3 in parallel with the optical fiber 1.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional optical switch is supplied with energy only during the switching operation and is driven by a driving member (for example, a solenoid or the like) that moves in the same direction. Therefore,
The moving direction of the driving member coincides with the moving direction of the optical switch, and is stable in the moving direction while energy is supplied, but can be easily moved in a state where energy is not supplied. . Therefore, when energy is not supplied, there is a disadvantage that a positional shift is apt to occur, and the reliability of the optical switch is poor. In this case, in order to stabilize in the moving direction, energy must be continuously supplied, which is inefficient.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the reliability of an optical switch by physically stabilizing the optical switch.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an optical switch which moves one of a pair of optical fibers in a coupled state in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis and recouples the optical fiber with a third optical fiber juxtaposed with the optical fiber. In the optical switch, one optical fiber and the third optical fiber are juxtaposed and fixed, and the third optical fiber is recombined with the other fixed optical fiber by moving in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis. A cam mechanism configured to include an element and a driven member fixed to the optical switch element, the cam mechanism moving the driven member back and forth in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis by a displacement amount equal to the moving distance of the optical switch element, and an optical switch element. Biasing means mounted at a position substantially opposite to the driven member, protruded at a position substantially opposite to the driven member, and biasing the switch element toward the driven member; It is characterized by comprising.

[Action]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the optical switch can be stabilized in the optical axis direction and the direction orthogonal thereto even when energy is not supplied by the action of the cam mechanism and the urging means. Can be fixed.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the optical switch according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description, the same elements will be denoted by the same reference symbols, without redundant description.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an optical switch according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show optical switching elements that can be used in the present invention.

First, the optical switch element will be described with reference to FIGS. This optical switch element is basically configured by laminating a first optical fiber connecting member 8 and a second optical fiber connecting member 9 so as to face each other. A tape-shaped optical fiber core 10 is connected to the first optical fiber connecting member 8,
The second optical fiber connecting member 9 has a tape-shaped optical fiber core
11 is connected. The first optical fiber connecting member 8 and the second
Clearances A are formed between the optical fiber connecting members 9, and guide pins 12 and 13 are inserted therein. A pair of block members 14 and 15 are arranged at the front and rear portions of the second optical fiber connection member 9 in the optical axis direction. The block body 14 has two V-shaped grooves 14a and 14b formed in parallel, and a tape-shaped optical fiber core 16 is fixed between the two V-shaped grooves 14a and 14b. The tape-shaped optical fiber core 16 faces the above-described tape-shaped optical fiber core 11 in the optical axis direction. The block body 15 has two V-shaped grooves 15
a, 15b are formed in parallel, and two V-shaped grooves 15a, 15b
Between them, tape-shaped optical fiber cords 10 and 11 are placed in a stacked state. The guide pins 12 and 13 described above are
a, 15a and 14b, 15b.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the optical switch element according to the present invention as viewed from the optical axis direction. The first optical fiber connecting member 8 has a plurality of first V-shaped grooves (optical fiber fixing portions) 8a for fixing the tape-shaped optical fiber core 10 at the center of the bottom surface. Line 10 is fixed. A pair of second V-shaped grooves (optical fiber positioning grooves) 8b, 8b are formed on both sides of the first V-shaped groove 8a. Further, outside the third V groove (optical fiber guide groove) 8c, 8c
Are formed. This second optical fiber connecting member 9
It has almost the same shape as the first optical fiber connecting member 8,
The first V groove 9a, the second V grooves 9b, 9b, and the third V grooves 9c, 9c are formed at corresponding positions. A tape-shaped optical fiber core 11 is connected to the second optical fiber connecting member 9, and is positioned and fixed by positioning pins 17, 18 so as to face the first optical fiber connecting member 8 described above. ing. In addition,
All these grooves have a similar shape and are formed on the same plane in the optical axis direction. The movement stroke of the optical switch is formed by the clearance A between the third grooves 8c and 9c. This clearance A, A has a guide pin 12,
13 has been inserted. The stroke length L in which the centers of the guide pins 12 and 13 move is the movement stroke of the optical switch.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an optical switch using the above optical switch element. The guide pins 12 (not shown) and 13 are fixed on the side wall, and the first optical fiber connecting member 8 is supported by an elastic support member 19 fixed on the side wall. Further, the second optical fiber connecting member 9 is
It is urged toward the elastic support member 19 by a leaf spring (urging means) 20. Therefore, the optical switch element is a guide pin
Positions are determined by 12, 13, the elastic support member 19 and the leaf spring 20. In this case, the guide pins 12 and 13 are connected to the optical fiber guide grooves 9c and 9c of the optical fiber connecting member 9, and the tape-shaped optical fiber 11
(Not shown) is connected to another tape-shaped optical fiber core (not shown) fixed to the block body 14.

When the optical switch is moved downward by a moving stroke L (see FIG. 3), the guide pins 12 and 13 come into contact with the optical fiber guide grooves 8c and 8c of the first optical fiber connecting member 8, and the tape-shaped optical fiber located above The core wire 12 (not shown) is connected to another tape-shaped optical fiber core wire (not shown) fixed to the block body 14.

On the upper part of the elastic support member 19, there is provided a rectilinear cam 21 which is a linear motion type
Is attached. The rectilinear cam 21 includes a cam 21a as a driving member that moves in the optical axis direction (longitudinal direction of the guide pin 13), and a driven member 21b that contacts the cam 21a in a higher-order pair and moves in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis. It is comprised including. The cam 21a is attached via a compression coil spring 24a to a movable member 24 fixed to a pair of solenoids 22, 23 arranged to face each other in the optical axis direction.
The compression coil spring 24a has a higher spring constant than the above-described leaf spring 20, and the cam 21a is
Energized in the direction of 1b.

On the other hand, the driven member 21b has a moving stroke L of the optical switch.
And is fixed on the elastic supporting member 19. Therefore, when the cam 21a moves in the optical axis direction (left direction), the optical switch elements (the first optical fiber connecting member 8, the second optical fiber connecting member 9, etc.) move in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis by the moving stroke (downward). Direction).

A positioning member (positioning means) 25 is provided above the moving member 24 in order to hold the cam 21a in the optical axis direction.
Is fixed to the upper wall. At the upper end of the mover 24,
A moving member 26 that comes into contact with the positioning member 25 is mounted via a compression coil spring 24b. The positioning member 25 is formed with grooves 25a and 25b that engage with the moving member 2 at the start point and the end point in the moving direction of the mover 24.

FIG. 4 is a process chart for explaining the operation of the optical switch. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the moving element 24 is located at the starting point in the moving direction. The moving member 26 is
The cam 21a is engaged with the groove 25a of the positioning member 25, and is not in contact with the driven member 21b. Accordingly, the optical switch element is positioned by the guide pins 12, 13, the elastic support member 19, and the leaf spring 20.

FIG. 5B shows a state in which the moving element 24 moves to the left and is located between the start point and the end point in the moving direction. The moving member 26 is separated from the groove 25a, and the cam 21a is in contact with the driven member 21b at the upper part of the step. Therefore, the driven member 21b has been moved by a step difference (movement stroke L of the optical switch element) in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction.

FIG. 3C shows a state where the moving element 24 is located at the end point in the moving direction. The moving member 26 is engaged with the groove 25b of the positioning member 25, and the cam 21a is
Is in contact with the upper part of the step. Therefore, the driven member 21b has been moved by a step difference (movement stroke L of the optical switch element) in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction. Unlike FIG. 2B, the cam 21a is positioned in the moving direction (optical axis direction).

The operation of returning the optical path to the original state after the optical path switching operation can be realized by going through a completely opposite process. That is, a solenoid different from the previously driven solenoid is driven to move the moving element 24 in the opposite direction. At this time,
Due to the force of the leaf spring 20, the mover 24 is again moved to its original position (moving member).
The position returns to the position where 26 is engaged with the groove 25a), and the optical path is restored to the initial state.

In the optical switch shown in FIG. 4, the elastic support member 19 (see FIG. 1) is omitted for convenience of explanation, but the operation does not change even when the elastic support member 19 is provided.

Further, the optical switch element that can be used in the above embodiment is not limited to the structure shown in FIG. 3, but may be any optical switch element that can be recombined simply by moving in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis. I just need.

Furthermore, the cam mechanism is not limited to a straight cam, but may be any mechanism that can change the moving direction. Therefore,
For example, a positive cam such as an end cam may be driven by a pulse motor or the like.

Further, the urging means is not limited to a leaf spring, but may be a compression coil spring.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part structure showing another embodiment of the optical switch according to the present invention. The difference from the optical switch shown in FIG. 1 is that the driven member 21b of the rectilinear cam 21 attached below the moving element 24 is attached to the first optical fiber connecting member 8 via an elastic body 27 such as hard rubber. And the positioning member 25 is attached to the upper wall via a leaf spring 28. According to this embodiment, rattling in the direction in which the optical switch moves (the direction orthogonal to the optical axis) can be reduced.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part structure showing another embodiment of the optical switch according to the present invention. The difference from the optical switch shown in FIG. 1 is that the compression coil spring 29 is used as the urging means, and the driven member 21b is different from the block body 14 and the first member.
The point is that it is fixed to the elastic coupling plate 30 fixed to the optical fiber connecting member 8. The compression coil spring
29 has a lower spring coefficient than at least the compression coil spring 24a that biases the cam 21a. Also,
The elastic coupling plate 30 is provided with a concave portion at the boundary between the block body 14 and the first optical fiber connecting member 8, and has a structure in which the first optical fiber connecting member 8 can easily slide without difficulty. According to this embodiment, since the block member 14 and the first optical fiber connecting member 8 can be moved while keeping the distance therebetween small, light loss can be reduced.

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the position of the optical switch can be stabilized not only in a state where energy is supplied but also in a state where energy is not supplied. Therefore, the reliability of the optical switch can be improved.

Further, unlike the related art in which the optical fiber connecting member moves on another guide plate and stops when the optical fiber connecting member collides with the block body, no guide plate or the like is required, so that the apparatus can be downsized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the structure of an optical switch according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an optical switch element that can be used in the optical switch according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of the optical switch according to the present invention when viewed from the optical axis direction. FIG. 4 is a process diagram of the optical switch according to the present invention when viewed from the optical axis direction. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part from the optical axis direction showing another embodiment of the optical switch according to the present invention. FIG. It is a perspective view showing a switch. 1, 2, 7 ... optical fiber 3, 4 ... optical fiber connecting member 5 ... guide plate 6 ... block body 8 ... first optical fiber connecting member 9 ... second optical fiber connecting member 10, 11, 16 ... tape-shaped optical fiber core wire 12, 13 ... guide pin 14, 15 ... block body 17, 18 ... positioning pin 19 ... ... elastic support member 20, 28 ... leaf spring 21 ... linear cam 22 , 23 ... solenoid 24 ... mover 25 ... positioning member 26 ... moving member 27 ... elastic body 29 ... compression coil spring 30 ... elastic coupling plate

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An optical switch element having a pair of optical fibers movably arranged in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis, and a pair of the optical fibers and a third optical fiber arranged with their end faces facing each other; A driven member fixed to the pair of optical fibers and a driving member that moves in the direction of the optical axis to move the pair of optical fibers in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis via the driven member, A direct-acting cam mechanism that switches the coupling between the pair of optical fibers and the third optical fiber by moving the driving member; and a direction in which the driven member contacts the driving member via the pair of optical fibers. And a biasing means for biasing the optical switch. 2. The optical switch according to claim 1, wherein said cam mechanism includes positioning means for holding said driving member in said optical axis direction at a starting point and an ending point of movement of said driving member. . 3. The optical switch according to claim 1, wherein the driven member is fixed to the optical switch element via an elastic member supporting the optical switch element.