JP3165301B2 - Mirror 2-axis rotation mechanism - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of optical communications and the like, which realizes a mechanical optical switch function by reflecting a light beam and connecting it to a photoelectric element or optical fiber at a predetermined position. And a mirror rotation mechanism for reflecting a light beam in the direction of.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to reflect light impinging on a mirror in an arbitrary direction, the mirror must be independently rotatable in two axes (for example, X and Y axes). Therefore, in the conventional method, two motors and a mechanism for transmitting a rotational motion such as a gear for transmitting the rotation of the motor to the mirror have been used.

[0003]

For this reason, in the conventional method, the whole mechanism is complicated and it is difficult to reduce the size. Also, if the rotation center of the two axes is not on the mirror surface and the rotation angle becomes large, Since the light beam deviates from the mirror, there has been a problem that the rotation angle of the mirror is limited. The problem of limiting the mirror rotation angle can be avoided by enlarging the mirror itself or using a gonio stage, but it is unavoidable that the entire mechanism becomes larger. When implementing an optical switch by simultaneously reflecting a large number of light beams in arbitrary directions, respectively, the downsizing of the entire mechanism becomes a serious problem in downsizing the device and increasing the density of the light beams. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized mirror two-axis rotating mechanism having a simple structure.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses a piezoelectric element in place of a motor and a simple rod and spherical mirror in place of a gear as shown in FIG. . 1 is a spherical mirror, 2 is a light reflecting surface, 3 is a rod, 4 is a piezoelectric element, and 5 is a frame. Spherical mirror 1
Are held by four (one not shown) arms which are a part of the frame 5 so that they can be independently rotated around the X axis and the Y axis. The four piezoelectric elements 4 having the rods 3 adhered and held at one end are arranged in a 2 × 2 array, and the spherical mirror 1 and the piezoelectric elements 4 are integrally formed by the frame 5 so that the tip of each rod 3 comes into light contact with the spherical mirror 1. It has a combined structure.

[0005]

According to this structure, the A and C of the piezoelectric element 4 are driven to rotate the spherical mirror 1 about the X axis, and the B and D of the piezoelectric element 4 are driven in the case of reverse rotation. Element 4
A and B, and in the case of reverse rotation, C and D of the piezoelectric element 4 are driven. As a result, since the rotation about the X axis and the rotation about the Y axis can be driven independently of each other, the reflecting surface 2 can be directed in any direction. Note that the light reflecting surface 2 is formed on the meridional surface of the spherical mirror 1 and the center of rotation of the two axes exists on the light reflecting surface 2, so that the incident light beam is always light regardless of the angle of the spherical mirror 1. This corresponds to the center of the reflection surface 2. here,
Although an example using four arms and four piezoelectric elements has been described, it is apparent that in principle, if there are at least three arms and piezoelectric elements, the same two-axis rotation operation as described above can be realized. .

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. To manufacture the spherical mirror 1, two hemispheres whose mirror surfaces coincide with the meridional plane are formed using steel balls having a diameter of 6 mm, and a hole having a diameter of 4 mm is formed at the center of one hemisphere to form a light beam entrance window. Then, the other hemisphere was bonded with its meridional surfaces aligned so that the connection between them became a smooth sphere. The dimensions of the piezoelectric element 4 are 3 × 2 × 18 mm, and the displacement is 15 at 100V.
It is a commercial product having characteristics of μm. Rod 3 is 1m in diameter
m, a column having a length of 5 mm and a pedestal having a size of 2 × 2 × 1 mm, and the tip of the cylinder was cut diagonally to increase the contact area with the spherical surface. The rod 3 was made of nickel-chromium-molybdenum steel having excellent wear resistance. The frame 5 is made of phosphor bronze having a thickness of 1 mm. The arm has a spherical recess at a portion in contact with the spherical mirror 1, and the distance between the two sets of opposed arms is smaller than the diameter of the spherical mirror 1. To give the arm elasticity. This is because the spherical mirror 1 has a spherical recess and elasticity.
Spherical mirror 1
The aim is to prevent the arm from coming off the arm as it rotates. The approximate dimensions of the manufactured two-axis rotating mechanism are 7
× 8 × 25 mm in length, the spherical mirror could be set to a predetermined angle in 1 second or less. The resolution of the rotation angle is about 0.3 mrad because the outer circumference of a sphere having a radius of 3 mm can be driven by an amount of 1 μm or less.

[0007]

As described above, the two-axis rotating mechanism of the present invention is composed of three small and simple parts of a piezoelectric element having a spherical mirror and a rod, and a frame connecting these elements. The effect is that the structure is simple and the production is easy. In addition, since the outline of the frame surrounding the piezoelectric element is a rectangular parallelepiped, when the same two-axis rotating mechanisms are brought into contact with each other and deployed vertically and horizontally, a large number of two-axis rotating mechanisms can be efficiently stored in volume. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a two-axis rotating mechanism of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Spherical mirror 2 Light reflection surface 3 Rod 4 Piezoelectric element 5 Frame

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 26/08

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A spherical mirror having a flat mirror surface on a part of its surface, a piezoelectric element having a rod at one end, and a frame, wherein the spherical mirror can be rotated in two axes, and the center of rotation of the two axes is a mirror. The two parts are mechanically held by a frame so that the spherical part and the piezoelectric element rod are in contact with each other on the surface, and the displacement of the piezoelectric element is transmitted to the sphere via the rod, so that the mirror surface can be oriented in any direction. And a mirror two-axis rotating mechanism.