JP3184021B2 - 2 to 2 optical fiber switch - 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 fiber switch used for optical communication and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A two-to-two optical fiber switch is used for maintenance of an optical communication line. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, the terminal of the optical communication line generally includes a transmitter 61 and a receiver 62. The optical signal from the optical fiber 1 enters the receiver 62 via the optical fiber 4. On the other hand, an optical signal from the transmitter 61 is transmitted to the optical fiber 3 via the optical fiber 2. If the receiver 62 or the transmitter 61 fails, the two-to-two optical fiber switch 10 is switched, and the optical signal from the optical fiber 1 is transmitted directly to the optical fiber 3 bypassing this terminal. Further, the transmitter 6 is connected to the receiver 5, and a failure diagnosis is performed.

Conventionally, such a two-to-two optical fiber switch has been constructed based on the principle shown in FIG.
Three optical fibers on one side are aligned on a member having a V-shaped groove, and similar members are arranged so as to face the member as shown in FIG. When the optical fibers 5 and 6 are connected as shown in the figure, the optical fiber 1 is connected to the optical fiber 3 and the optical fiber 2 is connected to the optical fiber 4 via the optical fibers 5 and 6.

Now, when the alignment member on one side is shifted as shown in FIG. 3B, the optical fiber 1 is connected to the optical fiber 4 and the optical fiber 2 is connected to the optical fiber 3.

[0005]

However, the conventional two-to-two
In the optical fiber switch, the optical fibers 5 and 6 are required, so that a connection point 7 is generated. For this connection, fusion or a connector is used, but this processing increases the cost.

[0006] The presence of the connection point is disadvantageous in terms of performance such as insertion loss and return loss. Furthermore, the routing process of the optical fibers 5, 6 and the connection point 7 is complicated, and an extra space for accommodating them is required.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost, high-performance, and compact 2-to-2 optical fiber switch by eliminating auxiliary optical fibers 5, 6 and connection point 7.

[0008]

Means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above object are a support for fixedly supporting an optical fiber in a cantilever shape and a support at a position where each of the optical fibers does not overlap each other. The magnetic body provided, a hollow solenoid coil disposed so as to surround the magnetic body, a plurality of permanent magnets provided substantially parallel to the optical fiber at a position facing the magnetic body with the hollow solenoid coil interposed therebetween, and two optical fibers. It is characterized in that two switching means consisting of columns arranged in parallel with the permanent magnets facing in between are arranged so as to be orthogonal to each other, and the optical path of the optical fiber is switched within the square hole of the alignment member.

[0009]

According to the above construction, the present invention has two switching means which move in only one direction. However, since the two switching means are orthogonal to each other, two types of opposing optical fibers are provided. Combination is possible and switching is possible.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. Support 7
Reference numeral 1 denotes a pair of optical fibers 1 and 2, and a support 72 collectively holds a pair of optical fibers 3 and 4 in a cantilever shape. The holding interval between the pair of optical fibers 1 and 2 must be smaller than the diameter of the column 41.

As shown in FIG. 6A, a column 41 is disposed between the optical fibers 1 and 2, so that the pair of optical fibers 1 and 2 is opened at the tip. This pair of optical fibers is inserted into the square hole 31 of the alignment member 30 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the optical fibers 1 and 2 are pressed against the inner surface of the square hole, and become stable at the inner angle of the square hole.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of optical fibers 3 and 4 of the same construction are inserted from the opposite side of the square hole 31 so as to be opposed to the pair of optical fibers 1 and 2 at a predetermined interval. . Magnetic bodies 21, 22, 23, and 24 are fixed to the optical fibers 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
The magnetic bodies are arranged at shifted positions so as not to overlap each other in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber. That is, the magnetic body 21 is in the magnetic field of the permanent magnets 51 and 52,
The magnetic body 22 is in the magnetic field of another permanent magnet 53,54.

A hollow solenoid coil 81 is arranged so as to surround the magnetic body 21 of the optical fiber 1 and the magnetic body 22 of the optical fiber 2. Thereby, the magnetic body 21,
22 are magnetized in the same direction. The pair of permanent magnets are arranged such that opposite poles have opposite magnetism, and the lines of magnetic force connecting each other are parallel to the column 41. Thus, the optical fibers 1 and 2 can move along the support 41.

The adjacent permanent magnets 51, 52 and 53, 54
Are arranged in opposite polarities. With this configuration, when a current flows through the solenoid coil, the magnetic material 2
Since the optical fibers 1 and 22 are magnetized in the same direction, for example, the optical fiber 1 is attracted toward the permanent magnet 51 and the optical fiber 2 is attracted toward the permanent magnet 52. Thus, the pair of optical fibers 1 and 2 always move in the opposite directions.

The permanent magnets 51, 52, 53, 54, 55,
56, 57, 58, struts 41, 42 and alignment member 30
Is shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows an example of the structure of the alignment member 30. A V-shaped groove having a base angle of 90 degrees is provided at the center of the plane portion of the semi-cylindrical member as shown in the figure. Two such members,
Square holes 31 are formed by combining the flat portions with the outer diameter as a reference. In this way, a highly accurate square hole can be obtained.

The optical fiber operates as follows by the configuration of the permanent magnet, the solenoid coil, and the magnetic material. It is assumed that two pairs of optical fibers face each other at a predetermined interval in the square hole of the alignment member as shown in FIG. The optical signal from the optical fiber 1 enters the optical fiber 3, and the optical signal from the optical fiber 2 enters the optical fiber 4.

Now, as shown in FIG.
2 is located. At this time, the magnetic bodies 21 and 22 of the respective optical fibers are magnetized so that the left side has the N pole as shown in the figure, and are attracted to the permanent magnets 52 and 53. When an electric current is applied to the solenoid coil 81, FIG.
When a magnetic field is generated as shown in FIG.
The magnetization direction of 22 is reversed. Thus, the optical fiber is attracted by the opposite permanent magnets 51, 54,
Move to the opposite position.

Similarly, the positions of the opposing optical fibers 3 and 4 can be moved in directions opposite to each other. Moreover, the directions of movement of the optical fibers 1 and 2 and the optical fibers 3 and 4 are orthogonal to each other. That is, as shown in FIG. 4B, the optical fiber 1 (dotted line) moves to the position 1a and the optical fiber 4 (dotted line) moves to the position 4a, so that the optical signal of the optical fiber 1 enters the optical fiber 4 and the light of the optical fiber 2 The signal enters the optical fiber 3.

In this embodiment, the columns are cylindrical,
The shape is not limited to this as long as the optical fiber can easily move along the column. Further, there is no problem even if the input section and the output section of the optical signal are interchanged.

[0020]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. A 2 to 2 fiber optic switch can be configured without the need for auxiliary fiber optic connections,
There is no reduction in performance due to the connection, and no increase in the occupied volume due to the routing of the auxiliary optical fiber.

Since the optical fibers are aligned by the square holes formed by V-shaped grooves or the like, the transmission loss of the optical signal is small. Since the moving part is only the optical fiber, a switch having a small mass, a high switching speed, and low energy consumption is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of use of a 2-to-2 optical fiber switch.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional two-to-two optical fiber switch.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an operation of switching an optical fiber connection according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation principle of the optical fiber according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing an example of an optical fiber holding structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a component arrangement according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing an example of an alignment member according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Optical fiber 7 Optical fiber connection part 21, 22, 23, 24 Magnetic body 30 Alignment member 31 Square hole 41, 42 Prop 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 Permanent magnet 61 Transmitter 62 Receiver 71, 72 Support 81, 82 Hollow solenoid coil

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 26/08 G02B 6/38

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A two-to-two optical fiber switch in which two optical fiber pairs and another two optical fiber pairs are opposed to each other at a predetermined interval and an optical path is switched by an external operation. An aligning means comprising an aligning member having a penetrated square hole; a support body fixedly supporting the pair of optical fibers in a cantilever shape; and a magnetic body provided on a part of each of the optical fibers so as not to overlap with each other. A pair of a hollow solenoid coil arranged so as to surround the magnetic body, a permanent magnet provided substantially in parallel with the optical fiber at a position facing the magnetic body with the hollow solenoid coil interposed therebetween, and the two optical fibers Between the two permanent magnets, and two switching means composed of columns provided in parallel with a line connecting the pair of permanent magnets. It is 2-to-2 optical fiber switch, characterized in that are orthogonal to each other across said alignment means.