JP3455650B2 - Adjustment jig for 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 an adjusting jig capable of adjusting the position of an optical fiber alignment member provided in an optical switch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a technique in such a field,
The one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-13090 is known, and in the optical switch described in this publication, a second stage provided with a pin hole and an arc-shaped guide hole is inserted into this guide hole. The second stage is supported on the third stage via the fixing screw, and the second stage can rotate around a pin provided on the third stage. Further, the first stage (base) provided with an elongated hole on the second stage.
However, the first stage can be linearly moved with respect to the second stage by being supported via a fixing screw inserted in the elongated hole. Then, an optical fiber alignment member having a fiber alignment groove for aligning the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber is fixed on the first stage.

That is, in this optical switch, the second stage is rotated with respect to the third stage to adjust the position,
The first stage (base) is linearly moved with respect to the third stage to adjust the position.

[0004]

However, since the conventional optical switch is constructed as described above, there are the following problems.

That is, when the position of the optical fiber aligning member with respect to the third stage is adjusted, the first stage (base) and the second stage of the optical switch are directly moved by hand, so that it depends on the feeling of the operator. Therefore, it is difficult to finely adjust the position of the optical fiber alignment member fixed to the first stage. In particular, when adjusting the end face spacing between the first optical fiber (n-side optical fiber) fixed to one side of the fiber alignment groove and the second optical fiber (master-side optical fiber) arranged on the other side, work Although the person directly moved the second stage and the third stage by hand while visually observing with a microscope or the like to adjust the end face distance, the second stage and the third stage are excessively moved to move the first light. The second optical fiber may hit the end face of the fiber, the end face of the second optical fiber may be chipped, or the second optical fiber may be broken.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and particularly an object thereof is to provide an adjusting jig for an optical switch, which facilitates and simplifies the position adjustment of the optical fiber aligning member.

[0007]

An optical switch adjusting jig according to the present invention is an optical fiber aligning member having a fiber aligning groove for aligning a first optical fiber and a second optical fiber. An optical switch adjustment jig that adjusts the position of the base with respect to the stage with the base for fixing and the stage of the optical switch for mounting this base temporarily fixed to each other. A mounting base, a feed member that extends in the same direction as the position adjustment direction of the base, and has a tip that contacts the stage; and a moving portion that holds this feed member and that moves forward and backward by screw feeding of the feed member.
A base feeding member having a protrusion protruding from the moving portion in the same direction as the axial direction of the feeding member and having a tip in contact with the base is provided.

When adjusting the position of the base with respect to the stage with this optical switch adjusting jig, first, the stage with the base temporarily fixed is fixed on the mounting base. Next, the protrusion of the base feeding member holding the feeding member on the moving portion is brought into contact with the base. When the feed member is rotated here, the tip of the feed member contacts the stage, so that the advance of the feed member with respect to the stage is restricted and the base feed member advances with respect to the stage. At this time, since the protrusion of the base feeding member is in contact with the base, the base also moves in the position adjusting direction on the stage together with the base feeding member. Therefore, the base can be mechanically moved with respect to the stage by rotating the feed member, and the base can be moved by a necessary amount without excessive movement.

In this case, it is preferable that the feed member is constructed as a feed screw, and the moving portion is screwed into the feed screw. If such a configuration is adopted, the base feeding section can be reliably advanced with a simple configuration.

Further, in this case, it is preferable to provide two feed screws in the extending direction of the base. If such a configuration is adopted, the position of the base with respect to the stage can be finely adjusted by changing the feed amount of the left and right feed screws.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the direction of the fiber alignment groove is aligned with the position adjusting direction of the base. If such a configuration is adopted, for example, it is possible to finely adjust the distance between the first optical fiber arranged on one side of the fiber alignment groove and the second optical fiber arranged on the other side. Become. This prevents the end face of the movable second optical fiber from hitting the end face of the fixed first optical fiber during optical switching.

Further, it is preferable that the base feeding member and the mounting base are connected by a tension spring. If such a configuration is adopted, the feed screw always comes into contact with the stage, and the movement of the base in the position adjusting direction is ensured.

In addition, when adjusting the end face distance between the drive motor for driving the feed screw, the first optical fiber arranged on one side of the fiber alignment groove and the second optical fiber arranged on the other side of the fiber alignment groove. A gap detecting means for detecting a gap between the end face of the first optical fiber and the end face of the second optical fiber,
It is preferable to further include control means for controlling the drive motor based on the detection signal from the interval detection means. In this optical switch adjusting jig, the distance between the end surface of the first optical fiber and the end surface of the second optical fiber is detected by the distance detecting means. The control means controls the amount of rotation of the drive motor that drives the feed screw based on the detection signal sent from the interval detection means. If such a configuration is adopted, the position of the base with respect to the stage can be automatically adjusted.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of an optical switch adjusting jig according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of an optical switch to which the optical switch adjusting jig according to the present invention is applied. The optical switch 3 shown in FIG. 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped casing 7, and this casing 7 is used. A plurality of (for example, 100) tape fibers 8 are exposed. Each tape fiber 8 has four first
A four-fiber tape fiber 8 is formed by bundling the optical fibers 9 (n-side optical fibers), and a plurality of (for example, 400
Book) will be discharged. These tape fibers 8
The first optical fiber 9 is exposed from the tip of the optical fiber alignment member 10 and arranged in parallel with the optical fiber alignment member 10 on the stage 1 housed in the housing 7 so as to be able to enter and exit. The optical switch 3 includes two optical fiber aligning members 10, and each optical fiber aligning member 10 is adhered and fixed onto a base 18 temporarily fixed on the stage 1.

On the stage 1, a head base 12 that moves along the extending direction of the optical fiber aligning member 10 is provided.
And the movable arm 14 is fixed to the head base 12. Two second optical fibers 13 (master side optical fibers) are fixed to the movable arm 14, and the movable arm 14 is operated via an arm drive mechanism (not shown) included in the head base 12. Thus, the tip of the second optical fiber 13 can be brought into contact with the optical fiber alignment member 10.

Further, on the stage 1 housed in the housing 7, a screw shaft 4 for moving the head base 12, a stepping motor 5 for driving the screw shaft 4, and a stepping motor 5 are controlled. However, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical fiber alignment member 1
On the surface of 0, a predetermined number of fiber alignment grooves 15 extending in a straight line in the optical fiber coupling direction are formed. This fiber alignment groove 15 is divided into two by a separation groove 17, one side is used as a first fiber alignment groove 15a for aligning the first optical fiber 9, and the other side is a movable arm. Second introduced by 12
It is used as a second optical fiber alignment groove 15b for aligning the optical fibers 13. This first fiber alignment groove 1
A plurality of (for example, 200) first optical fibers 9 are fixed to 5a with an adhesive, and a cover plate 11 that covers the first optical fibers 9 is fixed thereon. The optical end surface of the first optical fiber 9 has the first optical fiber 9 of the separation groove 17.
It is cut and aligned so as to be flush with the side wall surface and the end surface of the cover plate 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, an adhesive groove 18a is formed in the central portion of the upper surface of the base 18, and this groove 18a is formed.
An adhesive is poured in the vicinity, and the optical fiber alignment member 10 is placed and fixed. Further, the base 18 is provided with flange portions 19 at both left and right ends in the extending direction thereof, that is, in the extending direction of the optical fiber aligning member 10. Each flange part 1
Two elongated holes 19a are formed in each of the nine,
The extending direction of the elongated hole 19a coincides with the direction of the fiber alignment groove 15 of the optical fiber alignment member 10 fixed to the base 18. The fixing screw 19b is inserted into the long hole 19a, and the fixing screw is attached to the screw hole 1b provided in the stage 1.
(See FIG. 4), and the base 18 is fixed to the stage 1 in a temporarily fixed state where it is not completely tightened. With this configuration, the base 18 can move on the stage 1 in the extending direction of the elongated hole 19a.

Next, the adjusting jig for an optical switch according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 3, the optical switch adjusting jig 20 includes a mounting base 21 for fixing the stage 1.
And the base feed member 23 and the feed screw 2 as the feed member
6 and 6. The mounting base 21 is composed of a frame 21a and a transfer plate 21b. The frames 21a are arranged so as to face each other, and
They are connected by a bridge plate 21b. The stage 1 of the optical switch 3 is mounted so that the optical fiber alignment member 10 is located between the two frames 21a, and the fixing screw 1a
Fixed through.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the mounting base 2
On one transfer plate 21b, a base feeding member 23 connected to the transfer plate 21b via a tension spring 22 is placed. The base feeding member 23 is a moving unit 24 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.
And a protrusion 25 protruding from the moving portion 24, and has an L-shaped cross section. A screw hole 24a into which the feed screw 26 is screwed is formed at the left end and the right end in the longitudinal direction of the moving portion 24, and the center position of the screw hole 24a is the feed screw screwed into the screw hole 24a. Stage 1 fixed to the tip of 26 and the mounting base 21
It is defined as a position where and can be brought into contact with each other.

The projecting portion 25 is composed of a projecting piece 25a and a projecting piece 25b projecting in the axial direction of the feed screw 26 from two positions, a left end portion and a right end portion in the longitudinal direction of the moving portion 24. When the stage 1 is fixed to the mounting base 21, the tips of the projecting pieces 25a and 25b come into contact with the base 18 temporarily fixed on the stage 1. Further, the moving part 24 is provided with a through hole 24b passing between the projecting piece 25a and the projecting piece 25b, and the base feeding member 23 is mounted on the base via the connecting screw 24c passing through the through hole 24b. It can be fixed to 18.

The feed screw 26 is a cylindrical body having a male screw groove 26a formed on the surface thereof, and a knob portion 26b is provided at one end thereof in consideration of workability.

Next, the above-mentioned optical switch adjusting jig 20.
A procedure for adjusting the end face spacing between the first optical fiber 9 and the second optical fiber 13 using will be described.

First, the stage 1 of the optical switch 3 is fixed to the frame 21a of the mounting base 21 via the fixing screw 1a, and the projection 25 of the base feeding member 23 is brought into contact with the base 18. Further, the base feeding member 23 and the base 18 are fixed via the connecting screw 24c to ensure the contact between the protrusion 25 and the base 18, and at the same time, to secure the stability of the base feeding member 23. To do.

Then, the movable arm 14 is actuated, and the second fiber alignment groove 15a of the optical fiber alignment member 10 is moved to the second fiber alignment groove 15a.
The optical fiber 13 is introduced. As shown in FIG. 4, the second
The optical fiber 13 has a second fiber alignment groove 15 formed by a fiber pressing portion 14 a provided at the tip of the movable arm 14.
It is pressed by a and is sandwiched by the fiber pressing portion 14a and the second fiber alignment groove 15a. Also,
The end face of the second optical fiber 13 has a first fiber alignment groove 15
It is not in contact with the end face of the first optical fiber 9 fixed to a, and the end face of the second optical fiber 13 is separated from the end face of the first optical fiber 9 by a distance d, as shown in FIG.

When the left and right feed screws 26 are rotated in this state, the tip of the feed screw 26 eventually comes into contact with the stage 1. As a result, instead of restricting the forward movement of the feed screw 26 with respect to the stage 1, the base feed member 23 is moved to the stage 1 via the moving portion 24 screwed with the feed screw 26.
Will be moving forward. At this time, the base feeding member 2
3 is pulled by the tension spring 22 with respect to the stage 1 fixed to the mounting base 21, so that the feed screw 2
6 always comes into contact with the stage 1, and the base feed member 23 surely advances with respect to the stage 1.

Here, the base 18 is only temporarily fixed on the stage 1 via the fixing screw 1a. Also,
The protrusion 25 of the base feeding member 23 is in contact with the base 18, and the base feeding member 23 is connected to the base 18. Therefore, if the base feeding member 23 moves, the base 18
Also moves forward on the stage 1 together with the base feed member 23. As a result, the optical fiber alignment member 10 fixed to the base 18 advances with respect to the second optical fiber 13.

Then, the feed screw 26 is further turned while confirming the distance between the end surface of the first optical fiber 9 and the end surface of the second optical fiber 13, thereby gradually reducing the distance between the end surfaces. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the first optical fiber 9
With the end face distance between the second optical fiber 13 and the second optical fiber 13 being a predetermined distance (for example, 10 μm), the fixing screw 19b inserted into the elongated hole 19a of the base 18 is completely tightened to fix the base 18 to the stage 1 Fixed against. This makes the first
The adjustment of the end face distance between the optical fiber 9 and the second optical fiber 13 is completed.

As described above, according to the optical switch adjusting jig of the present invention, the base 1 is rotated by turning the feed screw 26.
8 is mechanically finely moved with respect to the stage, so the base 1
It is possible to move 8 by the required amount without moving excessively.

Further, for example, the left and right second optical fibers 13
Even if each end surface of is not perfectly parallel to the end surface of the first optical fiber 9, the position of the base 18 with respect to the stage 1 is delicately changed by changing the feed amount of the left and right feed screws 26. Since it can be adjusted, the distance between the end faces of the first optical fiber 9 and the second optical fiber 13 can be easily adjusted. Furthermore, if such a configuration is adopted,
The second optical fiber 1 on the movable side during optical switching
The end face of No. 3 does not hit the end face of the fixed first optical fiber 9.

In the present embodiment, the feed screw 26 is used as the feed member, the feed screw 26 and the moving portion 24 are screwed together, and the base feed member 23 is screwed to the stage 1 by the feed screw 26. It has been moved, but is not limited to this. For example, a through hole (not shown) may be provided in the moving portion 24, and a micrometer as a feeding member having a feed screw may be inserted and fixed in the through hole. In this case, if the rotating part of the micrometer is rotated while the measuring surface of the micrometer is in contact with the stage 1, the moving part 24 to which the micrometer is fixed is moved.
The base feed member 23 can be moved forward with respect to the stage 1 via.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the optical switch adjusting jig according to the present invention. The optical switch adjusting jig 20A is capable of automating the adjustment of the end face spacing, and further includes a drive motor 27 connected to the feed screw 26 and a CCD as a means for detecting the end face spacing.
A camera 28 and a computer 29 that controls a drive motor based on an image signal from the CCD camera 28 are provided.

The CCD camera 28 is included in the mounting base 21 and is located above the optical fiber alignment member 10 on the stage 1 when the stage 1 is fixed to the mounting base 21. Then, the end surface of the first optical fiber 9 and the vicinity of the end surface of the second optical fiber 13 are imaged and an image signal is sent to the computer 29.

The computer 29, which receives the image signal from the CCD camera 28, calculates the end face distance between the first optical fiber 9 and the second optical fiber 13, and further advances the base 18 by this end face distance. Drive motor 2 required for
The rotation amount of 7 is calculated. Then, the drive motor 27 is rotated by the calculated rotation amount and the feed screw 26 is rotated,
The base 18 is moved with respect to the second optical fiber 13,
The distance between the end faces of the optical fiber 9 and the second optical fiber 13 is reduced.

If such a configuration is adopted, the stage 1
It is possible to automatically adjust the position of the base 18, that is, the adjustment of the distance between the end faces of the first optical fiber 9 and the second optical fiber 13.

[0038]

The adjustment jig for an optical switch according to the present invention is
Since it is configured as described above, the following effects are obtained. That is, since the base is moved with respect to the stage by the feed member and the base feed member that moves forward and backward by the screw feed of the feed member, the position of the base for fixing the optical fiber alignment member with respect to the stage can be easily and easily provided. Can be fine-tuned.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an optical switch to which an optical switch adjusting jig according to the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an optical fiber alignment member included in the optical switch shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the stage of the optical switch shown in FIG. 1 is fixed to an optical switch adjusting jig according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an adjustment jig for an optical switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an adjustment jig for an optical switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the optical switch adjusting jig according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Stage, 3 ... Optical switch, 9 ... First optical fiber,
10 ... Optical fiber alignment member, 13 ... Second optical fiber, 1
4 ... Movable arm, 15 ... Fiber alignment groove, 18 ... Base,
20, 20A ... Adjusting jig for optical switch, 21 ... Mounting base, 22 ... Tension spring, 23 ... Base feeding member, 24 ... Moving part, 25 ... Projection, 26 ... Feed screw, 27 ... Drive motor, 28 ... CCD camera, 29 ... Computer

Front page continued (72) Kenichi Tomita, 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Japan Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Naoki Nakao 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside the Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Masato Kuroiwa 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (56) Reference JP-A-7-13090 (JP, A) JP-A 2-143221 (JP, A) JP-A 61-123808 (JP, A) JP-A 5-223695 (JP, A) JP-A 9-33831 (JP, A) JP-A 6-186488 (JP , A) JP-A-9-80250 (JP, A) Registered utility model 3016493 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 26/08 G02B 6/26 H04B 10 / 02 G02B 7/00

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A base for fixing an optical fiber alignment member having a fiber alignment groove for aligning the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber, and an optical switch stage for mounting the base. An adjustment jig for an optical switch that adjusts the position of the base with respect to the stage in a state where they are temporarily fixed to each other, the mounting base fixing the stage, and extending in the same direction as the position adjustment direction of the base. Then, a feed member whose tip is in contact with the stage, a moving unit that holds the feed member, and moves forward and backward by screw feeding of the feed member, and projects from this moving unit in the same direction as the axial direction of the feed member, An adjusting jig for an optical switch, comprising: a base feeding member having a protrusion whose tip is in contact with the base. 2. The adjusting jig for an optical switch according to claim 1, wherein the feed member is a feed screw, and the moving portion is screwed with the feed screw. 3. The optical switch adjusting jig according to claim 2, wherein the feed screw is provided in two in the extending direction of the base. 4. The adjusting jig for an optical switch according to claim 2, wherein the position adjusting direction and the direction of the fiber alignment groove are made to coincide with each other. 5. The adjusting jig for an optical switch according to claim 4, further comprising a tension spring connecting the base feeding member and the mounting base. 6. An end face distance between a drive motor for driving the feed screw, a first optical fiber arranged on one side of the fiber alignment groove, and a second optical fiber arranged on the other side of the fiber alignment groove is adjusted. At this time, a gap detecting means for detecting a gap between the end face of the first optical fiber and the end face of the second optical fiber, and control for controlling the drive motor based on a detection signal from the gap detecting means. 6. The adjusting jig for an optical switch according to claim 5, further comprising means.