JP2946071B2 - Mechanical optical switch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fiber movable mechanical optical switch used for optical communication and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a mechanical optical switch having a structure for directly switching an optical path by directly driving an optical fiber has a feature that the structure is simple, low insertion loss, miniaturization, and low driving power can be obtained. Many types of switch structures have been proposed.

A conventional mechanical optical switch will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional mechanical optical switch, in which a movable optical fiber 101 is connected to a first cylindrical tube 103.
And fixed at the end of the first cylindrical tube 103. A magnetic body 100 is fixed near the center of the movable optical fiber 101, and a solenoid coil 105 is attached to the inner periphery of the cylindrical sleeve 106 so as to surround the magnetic body 100. The permanent magnet 107 is opposed in parallel so as to sandwich the magnetic body 100 and the solenoid coil 105, and the cylindrical sleeve 10
6 outside. As shown in the sectional view of the mechanical optical switch shown in FIG.
A groove is formed and the stationary bare fiber 102 is fixed. The tip of the stationary bare fiber 102 and the movable bare fiber 10
It is assembled so as to be opposed to the front end at a predetermined interval.

In such a structure, when an electric current is applied to the solenoid coil 105, the magnetic body 100 is magnetized in the longitudinal direction, and the tip of the movable bare fiber 101 is attracted by the permanent magnet 107 magnetized in the opposite directions. And moves to the other V-groove to face the distal end of the stationary bare fiber 102. If the direction of the current flowing through the solenoid coil 105 is changed so that the magnetization direction of the magnetic body 100 is reversed, the tip of the movable bare fiber 101 moves to the other V-groove and faces the other tip of the stationary bare fiber 102. Then, the switching of the switch is completed.

[0005]

However, the mechanical optical switch has the following problems. (1) It is difficult to hold the solenoid coil 105 at an optimal relative position to the magnetic body 100. (2) It is difficult to pass through the solenoid coil 105 without soiling the tip of the movable naked coil 101. (3) The cylindrical sleeve 106 requires a slit due to its structure. However, the slit causes intrusion of dust and makes it difficult to seal a liquid such as a refractive index matching oil. (4) The tip of the movable bare fiber 101 and the stationary bare fiber 1
It is difficult to adjust and fix the gap with the tip of 02 to a predetermined gap. (5) Since the half cylinder 104 is divided into two, it is difficult to make the end faces of the two stationary bare fibers 102 the same.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems by making it easy for the solenoid coil to be wound, and to maintain a predetermined relative position between the two opposing fibers, the solenoid coil, and the magnetic material. The purpose is to obtain a structure that can be easily assembled and has good sealing properties.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a movable bare fiber is passed through a first cylindrical tube and fixed at an end of the first cylindrical tube. A magnetic material is fixed near the center of the movable bare fiber, and a solenoid coil is attached to a concave portion provided in the second cylindrical tube so as to surround the magnetic material, and a stationary bare optical fiber is formed on a flat portion of a half cylinder. On the V-groove thus set, it is fixed so as to face the tip of the movable bare fiber at a predetermined interval, and these parts are accommodated in a cylindrical sleeve.

[0008]

With such a configuration, the mechanical optical switch of the present invention can easily position each component,
The solenoid coil is not damaged, the terminal treatment of both ends of the coil is easy, and the liquid can be sealed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, in which a movable optical fiber 101 is penetrated through a first cylindrical tube 103 and is fixed in a cantilever shape at an end. A magnetic body 100 is fixed near the center of the movable bare fiber 101, and a second cylindrical tube 108 wrapped around an outer periphery of a solenoid coil 105 provided for reversing the magnetic poles at both ends thereof, and a magnetic body 100. A pair of permanent magnets 107 for providing magnetic attraction in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis are provided. The inside of the half cylinder 104 is fixed on a V-groove formed in a flat portion as shown in the sectional view of FIG. The second cylindrical tube 108 is connected to the first cylindrical tube 10
3 and a cylindrical sleeve 106 sandwiched between half cylinders 104.
(1) Setting of the optimum relative position between the solenoid coil 105 and the magnetic body 100 (2) The tip of the movable bare fiber 101 and the stationary bare fiber 1
(3) It is easy to align the tip surfaces of the two stationary bare fibers 102 identically.

The positional relationship between the above components will be described with reference to FIGS. The length of the second cylindrical tube 108 is obtained by subtracting c from the sum of the length a of the movable bare fiber 101 in FIG. 3 and the gap d between the two fibers in FIG. 4, and positioning becomes easy. Further, by setting the distance b from the tip of the movable bare fiber 101 to the end of the magnetic body 100 to a predetermined value, the length of the solenoid 100
05 can be determined.

It is to be noted that if a concave portion is provided so that a part of the outer periphery of the cylindrical tube 108 in FIG.

[0012]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects. (1) The solenoid coil can be held at an optimum relative position to the magnetic body. (2) The movable naked coil can pass through the second cylindrical tube around which the solenoid coil is wound without soiling. (3) Since the solenoid coil is housed in the recess of the second cylindrical tube, the coil is not damaged during assembly. (4) The gap between the tip of the movable bare fiber and the tip of the stationary bare fiber can be made a predetermined gap. (5) The tip surfaces of two static bare fibers can be made the same. (6) It is possible to prevent dust from entering the movable part and to seal the liquid. (7) The assembly requiring the difficult positioning described above can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a positional relationship according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a positional relationship according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional mechanical optical switch.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional mechanical optical switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 magnetic body 101 movable bare fiber 102 stationary bare fiber 103 first cylindrical tube 104 half cylinder 105 solenoid coil 106 cylindrical sleeve 107 permanent magnet 108 second cylindrical tube

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A core wire is passed through a first cylindrical tube, and
One movable bare fiber having a cantilever shape fixed at the end of the cylindrical tube and a magnetic material fixed near the center of the core wire, and a solenoid coil provided so as to surround the magnetic material; A permanent magnet disposed in parallel with and opposed to the magnetic body and the solenoid coil, and a stationary bare fiber having a predetermined distance from the tip of the movable bare fiber on a V-groove formed in a flat portion of a half cylinder. A self-holding mechanical optical switch comprising one or two stationary bare fibers fixed so as to face each other and a cylindrical sleeve for accommodating each of the above components, a second optical switch being in contact with the inner periphery of the solenoid coil.
A mechanical optical switch characterized in that the cylindrical tube is provided so as to be sandwiched between the first cylindrical tube and the half cylinder. 2. An outer periphery of the second cylindrical tube is inscribed in the cylindrical sleeve, a concave portion is provided in a part of the outer periphery, and a center of the concave portion is arranged so as to coincide with a center of the magnetic body. The mechanical optical switch according to claim 1, wherein