JP3010776B2 - Optical module and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical module having an optical connector, an optical operating element, and an electronic circuit component, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional optical module includes an optical connector and lead pins protruding from a resin member. Optical connectors include optical actuation elements (laser diodes,
A photodiode or the like is fixed, and the ferrule is inserted into the insertion hole of the optical connector, so that optical coupling between the optical fiber held by the ferrule and the optical operating element is realized. For this reason, the protrusion amount and position of the optical connector with respect to the resin member must be strictly defined.

In a conventional optical module, electronic circuit components constituting an electronic circuit are mounted on an island of a lead frame, and an optical connector is connected to the lead frame by connecting an optical actuating element and the electronic circuit with wires. It is temporarily held and mounted in the mold in this state. The optical connector is positioned in the mold in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis. In this state, a resin material is injected into the cavity of the mold, and the optical connector, the lead frame, the electronic circuit components, and the like are integrally held by the resin member.

[0004]

The conventional optical module is sufficiently positioned in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis in the mold, but is insufficiently positioned in the optical axis direction.
Therefore, there is a problem that the position of the optical connector is shifted or the wire connecting the optical actuating element and the electronic circuit is broken due to the pressure for injecting the resin material.

[0005] When the wire is broken, a troublesome process of removing the mold once mounted, taking out the lead frame, connecting the light actuating element and the electronic circuit with the wire again, and mounting the lead frame on the mold is repeated. I had to.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a structure of an optical module free from displacement of an optical connector and disconnection of a wire in a manufacturing process.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an optical module with high production efficiency.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an optical module according to the present invention comprises a flexible substrate, and a transparent substrate integrally formed on the flexible substrate and holding a light operating element. A resin body, an electronic circuit component which forms an electronic circuit connected to the light-operating element by wiring, and is mounted on the flexible board, and a flexible board in a state where the light-operating element and the optical connector are optically coupled to each other; It comprises a transparent resin body, a resin member integrally sealing an electronic circuit component and an optical connector.

Further, according to a method of manufacturing an optical module according to the present invention, an optical circuit is mounted on a flexible substrate, and an electronic circuit connected to the optical element by wiring is formed on the flexible substrate. Mounting an electronic circuit component, forming the light-actuating element with a transparent resin material and forming a transparent resin body on a flexible substrate, and bending the flexible substrate to form an optical axis of the light-acting element. Changing the position, fixing the optical connector on the transparent resin body in a state where the optical actuating element and the optical connector are optically coupled to each other, and attaching the flexible substrate to the mold and placing the resin material in the mold. And a step of integrally holding the flexible substrate, the transparent resin body, the electronic circuit component, and the optical connector with a resin molded member.

[0010]

According to the optical module of the present invention, the optical operating element mounted on the substrate is formed of a transparent resin body, and the optical connector is directly fixed on the transparent resin body. The holding power is higher. Further, the light actuating element is connected to an electronic circuit composed of electronic circuit components mounted on the same substrate by wiring formed on the substrate.

Further, according to the optical module manufacturing method of the present invention, since the light-actuating element and the electronic circuit are mounted on the same substrate, the light-acting element and the electronic circuit are connected by wiring on the substrate. This eliminates the need for a wire connection process, and eliminates the aforementioned wire breakage due to the injection pressure of the resin material.

[0012]

An embodiment of 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 is a perspective view showing a sub-module state before resin molding of the optical module according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a lead frame that can be used when manufacturing the optical module according to the embodiment,
FIG. 3 is a process diagram showing a process of fixing the optical connector to the flexible substrate.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lead frame 1 usable in this embodiment includes an island portion 1a, a frame portion 1b, a support portion 1c, and a lead pin 1d. The island portion 1a has a substantially rectangular area,
The substrate is placed here. The frame 1b supports the island 1a together with the support 1c. In particular, the support portion 1c has two separated ends, and by cutting the separated portion C after resin molding, the two island portions 1a can be electrically insulated. The lead pin 1d includes an inner lead and an outer lead, and an outer terminal exposed from the package portion forms an external terminal of the optical module.

In the submodule according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a flexible substrate 2 is fixed to an island 1a in a state of being bent in an L-shape. The flexible substrate 2 includes a flat portion 2a placed on the island portion 1a,
It is composed of an upright surface 2b bent at substantially 90 degrees. A plurality of electronic circuit components forming an electronic circuit such as a transmission circuit A and a reception circuit B are mounted on the plane portion 2a, and a light operating element such as a light emitting element or a light receiving element is mounted on the elevation 2b. I have. A wiring pattern is formed on the flexible substrate 2 in advance, and when mounted, the light actuating element and the electronic circuit are electrically connected. Further, the light-actuating element is formed of a transparent resin material, and a transparent resin body 3 is formed outside the elevation 2b so as to face the optical connector 4. An optical connector 4 is fixed to the upper surface of the transparent resin body 3 with an adhesive or the like. Note that the optical connector 4 has an optical axis coincident with the optical operating element disposed inside the transparent resin body 3 and is fixed in a state in which the optical connector is as close as possible to optical coupling.

Next, an example of forming the above-described submodule will be described with reference to FIG. First, the flexible substrate 2 is prepared (FIG. 2A). On both sides of the flexible substrate 2,
A wiring pattern is formed. Next, a plurality of electronic circuit components for forming an electronic circuit are mounted on the surface of the flat portion 2a of the flexible substrate 2, and the light actuating element 3a is mounted on the back surface of the upright portion 2b of the flexible substrate 2. (FIG. 2B). In this state,
The light actuating element 3a is in a state of being electrically connected to an electronic circuit via a wiring pattern. Next, the light actuating element 3
a of a transparent resin material, and the transparent resin body 3 is
(FIG. 3 (c)). Thereafter, the upright surface 2b is bent at substantially 90 degrees with respect to the flat surface 2a, and the optical axis of the light actuating element 3a is set so as to be substantially parallel to the flat surface 2a (FIG. 4D). Further, the optical axis of the optical connector 4 is made to coincide with the optical axis of the light actuating element, and the optical connector 4 is fixed on the upper surface of the transparent resin body 3 with an adhesive (FIG. 3E). Finally, the flat portion 2 of the flexible substrate 2 to which the optical connector 4 is fixed
a is the island portion 1a of the lead frame 1 (see FIG. 2)
Fixed to. In this case, the support pin 1e of the lead frame 1 is inserted into the ferrule insertion portion 4a of the optical connector 4, and the optical connector 4 is held.

The sub-module thus formed is mounted, for example, on a mold for transfer molding, and a resin material is injected into a cavity of the mold to form a lead frame 1, a flexible substrate 2, a light operating element 3, The resin member 5 integrally holding the optical connector 4 is formed (see FIG. 4). Finally, unnecessary portions (tie bars, support portions, separation portions C, etc.) of the lead frame 1 are cut, and the outer leads of the lead pins are bent, whereby an optical module having an optical transceiver is completed (see FIG. 5).

As described above, since the optical connector 4 is fixed to the transparent resin body 3 fixed on the flexible substrate 2 in the submodule used in this embodiment, the optical connector 4 is The optical connector 4 is firmly held in the optical axis direction, and the optical connector 4 is positioned with high precision with respect to the resin member 5.

The light actuating element 3a is not a wire,
Since they are electrically connected to each other by the wiring pattern formed on the flexible substrate 2, there is no problem that the wires are disconnected due to the injection pressure of the resin material during the resin molding using the mold.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the method of fixing the optical connector to the transparent resin body is not limited to the adhesive, and a hole is formed in the transparent resin body along the optical axis of the light actuating element, and the optical connector is fixed by inserting the optical connector into the hole. It may be a method.

[0020]

In the optical module according to the present invention, since the optical connector is positioned with high precision with respect to the resin member, optical coupling with an optical transmission member such as an optical fiber can be reliably realized.

Further, according to the method of manufacturing an optical module of the present invention, the electric connection between the light-actuated element and the electronic circuit is achieved by mounting the light-actuated element and the electronic circuit component on the flexible substrate on which the wiring is formed in advance. Is achieved, the wire connection step is eliminated, and the production efficiency is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sub-module used as a part of an optical module according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a lead frame that can be used when manufacturing the optical module according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a process diagram showing a process of fixing an optical connector to a flexible substrate that can be used for an optical module according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the optical module according to the embodiment before cutting unnecessary portions of the lead frame.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the optical module according to the embodiment after cutting unnecessary portions of the lead frame.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Lead frame, 2 ... Flexible board, 3 ... Transparent resin body, 4 ... Optical connector, 5 ... Resin member, A ... Transmission circuit, B
... Receiving circuit, C ... Separation unit.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An optical module having an optical connector, an optical operating element and an electronic circuit component, comprising: a flexible substrate; and a transparent resin body formed on the flexible substrate and integrally holding the optical operating element. An electronic circuit component that is connected to the optical actuating element by a wiring and is mounted on the flexible substrate; and the optical actuating element and the optical connector are optically coupled to each other. An optical module including a substrate, the transparent resin body, a resin member integrally sealing the electronic circuit component and the optical connector. 2. A method of manufacturing an optical module in which an optical connector, an optical actuating element, and an electronic circuit component are integrally held by a resin member, wherein the optical actuating element is mounted on a flexible substrate and the flexible substrate is mounted. A step of mounting an electronic circuit component constituting an electronic circuit connected by wiring to the light-actuating element, and forming the light-actuating element with a transparent resin material to form a transparent resin body on the flexible substrate Changing the optical axis position of the light-actuating element by bending the flexible substrate; and placing the optical connector on the transparent resin body in a state where the light-actuating element and the optical connector are optically coupled to each other. Fixing the flexible substrate, mounting the flexible substrate in a mold, and injecting a resin material into the mold to form the flexible substrate, the transparent resin body, the electronic circuit component, and the optical connector. The resin And a step of integrally holding the optical module with a molded member.