JP3007829B2 - Method for mounting optical fiber in fixing groove of substrate of narrow pitch optical fiber array and jig used therefor - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical fiber has been vacuum-adsorbed to a proximity fiber holder, and mounted using a microscope or a magnifying glass from above a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array. In this method, when the optical fibers are arranged side by side at a pitch of 250 μm, it is necessary to lower the optical fibers in parallel with the fixing grooves of the substrate of the optical fiber array.
In many cases, it is necessary to finely adjust the position of the optical fiber with respect to the fixing groove using tweezers or the like directly at the tip of the optical fiber, which requires skill of an operator and requires many man-hours.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber guide groove or optical fiber guide hole, not from above. By sliding the optical fiber easily from the side along the edge, the tips can be aligned at a narrow pitch, and finally can be set securely in the fixing groove of the substrate of the optical fiber array. It responds to the demand to improve the quality. In addition, the work system can be easily automated.

[0004]

In order to solve such a problem, a method of mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array according to a first aspect of the present invention is as follows. Slightly larger than the diameter of the fiber, the width of the groove at the rear end is a wide funnel-shaped plurality of optical fiber guide grooves, and a vacuum suction hole for suctioning at least one optical fiber provided for each of the optical fiber guide grooves. Using a jig in which the pitch of the front end of each optical fiber guide groove is smaller than the pitch of the rear end of each optical fiber guide groove, insert the front end of the optical fiber from the wide side of the rear end of the jig, and The tip of the optical fiber is advanced along the optical fiber guide groove while preventing the optical fiber from floating through the suction hole.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array, wherein a hole size at a front end is slightly larger than a diameter of the optical fiber and a hole size at a rear end is provided. Is provided with a large funnel-shaped optical fiber guide hole, and the tip of the optical fiber guide hole is smaller than the pitch of the rear end of the optical fiber guide hole using a jig, and the tip of the optical fiber is cured. It is characterized in that it is inserted through a funnel-shaped mouth at the rear end of the tool. It is preferable in the first and second inventions to use a jig in which the fiber insertion side of the portion where the substrate of the optical fiber array is mounted is lower than the side opposite to the fiber insertion side.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a jig for mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array has a groove width dimension at a front end slightly larger than a diameter of the optical fiber and a jig at a rear end. The groove width dimension is formed of a plurality of optical fiber guide grooves having a wide funnel shape, and a vacuum suction hole for suctioning at least one optical fiber provided for each of the optical fiber guide grooves. The pitch of the tip is substantially the same as the pitch of the fixing groove of the substrate of the optical fiber array, and the pitch of the rear end of each of the optical fiber guide grooves is larger than the pitch of the tip.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a jig for mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array, wherein a hole size at a front end is slightly larger than a diameter of the optical fiber, and a hole at a rear end is provided. An optical fiber guide hole having a large funnel shape is provided, and the pitch of the tip of each optical fiber guide hole is substantially the same as the fixing groove pitch of the substrate of the optical fiber array.
The pitch at the rear end of the hole is larger than the pitch at the front end. It is preferable in the third and fourth aspects that the optical fiber insertion side of the portion where the substrate of the optical fiber array is mounted is lower than the side opposite to the optical fiber insertion side.

According to the first and third aspects of the present invention, the front end of the optical fiber can be inserted from the rear end of the funnel shape, which is a wide entrance, by utilizing the funnel-shaped optical fiber guide groove. It is. Also, after positioning the tip of the optical fiber at the wide entrance, push the optical fiber toward the funnel-shaped tip, the tip of the optical fiber proceeds along the funnel-shaped optical fiber guide groove, and the optical fiber array substrate is fixed. It is attached to the groove. In addition, since at least one optical fiber suction groove is provided for each of the optical fiber guide grooves, the optical fiber is vacuum-sucked, and when the optical fiber is pushed in, the floating thereof is prevented, so that the optical fiber is prevented from floating. Mounting is possible. The second and fourth inventions utilize a funnel-shaped optical fiber hole, and the tip of the optical fiber can be inserted from a funnel-shaped mouth that is a wide entrance, so that initial positioning is extremely easy. Also,
After positioning the tip of the optical fiber at the wide entrance, push the optical fiber toward the funnel-shaped tip, the tip of the optical fiber proceeds along the funnel-shaped optical fiber guide hole, and the fixing groove of the optical fiber array substrate Attached to. In the first invention to the fourth invention, when the optical fiber insertion side of the portion where the substrate of the optical fiber array is placed is lower than the side opposite to the optical fiber insertion side, the optical fiber It is possible to perform the operation smoothly without the front end hitting the end face of the substrate of the optical fiber array.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the first example shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, two optical fibers (21) having a diameter of 200 μm are mounted on a substrate (18) of a two-core batch-aligned optical fiber array having a pitch of 250 μm. The width of the front end of the funnel-shaped optical fiber groove was 220 μm, the width of the rear end of the funnel-shaped optical fiber groove was 1000 μm, and the depth of the groove was 250 μm in a U-shaped cross section. 0.1mm in diameter at each of two locations on the wide parallel part of the funnel shape
Of vacuum suction holes (8, 9, 10, 11). The degree of vacuum was 100 mmHg to 400 mmHg. First, one end of the first optical fiber (21) is inserted into one of the funnel-shaped optical fiber guide grooves (38) capable of aligning the optical fibers at a narrow pitch, and one end of the second optical fiber (21) is inserted. It is inserted into the other one of the funnel-shaped optical fiber guide grooves (38). The vacuum suction holes (8,
9, 10, 11), the two optical fibers (2
1) was fixed. Conventionally, an optical fiber is vacuum-adsorbed to a proximity fiber holder, mounted using a microscope or a magnifying glass from above the fixing groove of the collectively aligned optical fiber array substrate, and the tip of the optical fiber is directly tweezers or the like. In the case of the conventional method of fine adjustment, it took 120 seconds to mount two pieces, but when the jig of the present invention was used, two pieces can be mounted in 30 seconds. In addition, the portion on which the substrate (18) of the collectively aligned optical fiber array is placed is:
When the optical fiber is slid along the optical fiber guide groove, the optical fiber has an inclination of 0.7 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane so that the tip of the optical fiber does not hit the end face of the substrate (18) of the collectively aligned optical fiber array. I let you. The procedure for mounting an optical fiber using the jig of the present invention is extremely easy to automate. In the above, the cross-sectional shape of the optical fiber guide groove has been described in a U-shape, but the present invention is not limited to the U-shape, and the cross-sectional shape of the groove may be U-shaped, V-shaped, or any other suitable shape. I do not care. Further, the present invention is not limited to the case where the depth of the groove is constant.

Next, in a second example shown in FIG. 4, an optical fiber (2 μm) having a diameter of 200 μm is mounted on a substrate (18) of a two-core batch aligned optical fiber array having a pitch of 250 μm, as in the first example.
1) is to be mounted two. The width of the tip of the funnel-shaped optical fiber guide hole is 220 μm and the height is 25 μm.
The width and the height of the rear end of the funnel-shaped optical fiber guide hole were set to 1000 μm. Although the cross-sectional shape of the optical fiber guide hole has been described as a rectangle, the present invention is not limited to a rectangular shape, and the cross-sectional shape may be any other suitable shape such as a circle, an ellipse, and a triangle.

[0011]

As is apparent from the above description, in the conventional method, it is necessary to use an approaching fiber holder and to drop an optical fiber in parallel with a fixing groove of a substrate of an optical fiber array. In such a case, it is necessary to finely adjust the position of the optical fiber with respect to the fixing groove at the tip of the optical fiber directly with tweezers or the like, which requires skill of an operator. A method and a jig for aligning optical fibers at a narrow pitch according to the present invention include:
The tip can be aligned at a narrow pitch by simply sliding from the side along the optical fiber guide groove or optical fiber guide hole, not from above, and finally set securely in the fixing groove of the substrate of the optical fiber array. You can now. Therefore, the use of the jig of the present invention eliminates the need for a skilled worker. In addition, productivity could be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a first example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a first example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an AA section of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a second example of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Funnel-shaped optical fiber guide groove jig 8 Vacuum suction hole 9 Vacuum suction hole 10 Vacuum suction hole 11 Vacuum suction hole 21 Optical fiber 18 Substrate of two-core collective alignment type optical fiber array 19 Two-core collective alignment optical fiber Array substrate fixing groove 38 Optical fiber guide groove 39 Optical fiber guide hole

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of an optical fiber array, wherein a groove width at a front end is slightly larger than a diameter of the optical fiber, and a groove width at a rear end is a wide funnel shape. A plurality of optical fiber guide grooves, and a vacuum suction hole for suctioning at least one optical fiber provided in each of the optical fiber guide grooves, wherein the pitch of the tip of each of the optical fiber guide grooves is Using a jig smaller than the pitch at the rear end of the groove, insert the front end of the optical fiber from the wide side of the rear end of the jig, and prevent the optical fiber from floating through the vacuum suction hole while preventing the optical fiber from floating. A method of mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array, wherein the tip of the optical fiber is advanced along the optical fiber guide groove. 2. A method of mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of an optical fiber array, wherein a hole size at a front end is slightly larger than a diameter of the optical fiber and a hole size at a rear end is a funnel-shaped light. A fiber guide hole is provided, and a pitch at the tip of each optical fiber guide hole is smaller than the pitch at the rear end of each optical fiber guide hole , and the tip of the optical fiber is shaped like a funnel at the rear end of the jig. A method of mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array, wherein the optical fiber is inserted from a mouth. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a jig is used in which an optical fiber insertion side of a portion for mounting the substrate of the optical fiber array is lower than an opposite side of the optical fiber insertion side. 3. A method for mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array according to claim 2. 4. A jig for mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of an optical fiber array, wherein a groove width dimension at a front end is slightly larger than a diameter of the optical fiber, and a groove width dimension at a rear end is a wide funnel shape. A plurality of optical fiber guide grooves, and at least one vacuum suction hole provided for each of the optical fiber guide grooves for sucking an optical fiber. The pitch of the rear end of each of the optical fiber guide grooves is substantially the same as the pitch of the fixing groove of the substrate, and the pitch of the rear end of each of the optical fiber guide grooves is larger than the pitch of the front end. Jig for mounting fiber. 5. A jig for mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of an optical fiber array, wherein a hole size at a front end is slightly larger than a diameter of the optical fiber and a hole size at a rear end is a funnel shape. An optical fiber guide hole is provided, and the pitch of the tip of each of the optical fiber guide holes is substantially the same as the fixing groove pitch of the substrate of the optical fiber array,
A jig for mounting an optical fiber in a fixing groove of a substrate of a narrow-pitch optical fiber array, wherein a pitch at a rear end of each of the optical fiber guide holes is larger than a pitch at a front end. 6. The optical fiber array according to claim 4, wherein an optical fiber insertion side of a portion where the substrate of the optical fiber array is mounted is lower than an opposite side of the optical fiber insertion side. A jig for mounting an optical fiber in the fixing groove of the substrate of the narrow pitch optical fiber array.