JP6356969B2 - Single-core bidirectional optical communication module - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a single-core bidirectional optical communication module for performing bidirectional optical communication using a single optical fiber.

  The single-core bidirectional optical communication module includes, for example, an optical transceiver circuit in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged in parallel, and an optical path changing component made of synthetic resin in which a prism is formed, and a position facing the prism of the optical path changing component There is known one in which an optical filter is directly mounted (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  According to this structure, since the insertion / extraction direction of the optical fiber is made substantially perpendicular to the optical transceiver circuit, the module itself can be reduced in size. Also, the module can be assembled to an optical connector housing in which the optical fiber insertion / extraction direction is orthogonal to the direction in which the light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged, and the optical connector housing of a general-purpose two-core optical communication connector can be effectively used. It is possible.

JP 2010-224513 A

  Here, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the optical path changing component is formed in a substantially Z-shape with both left and right sides cut out, and one side of the cutout has a prism surface with an inclination angle of 45 ° ( A prism serving as a reflecting surface) and an optical filter mounting portion having an optical filter mounting angle of 45 ° on the other side are configured.

  Since the prism surface and the notch forming direction of the optical filter mounting portion intersect with the mold opening direction of the mold for forming the optical path changing component, the slide having the slide core mold for forming the above-described notch is used for forming the optical path changing component. A mold is required, and the optical path changing component is disadvantageous in terms of cost.

  In addition, a resin material with low viscosity, such as a thermosetting resin in a slide mold, enters the movable part of the slide core mold, so that a resin material with a high viscosity is used as a molding resin material for molding optical path changing parts. A plastic resin is used.

  The optical path changing component described above is coupled with an optical transceiver circuit, and this is assembled to the optical connector housing. The terminals of the optical transceiver circuit protrude outside the housing and are soldered to a printed circuit board to constitute a single-core bidirectional optical communication connector (hereinafter referred to as an optical connector).

  If the reflow method can be used for soldering the printed circuit board, the surface mounting operation can be automated. However, since the thermoplastic resin is used for the optical path changing component as described above, the reflow method cannot be used.

  The present invention solves such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to be able to mold an optical path changing component with a mold having no slide core mold composed of a core mold and a cavity mold, which is advantageous in terms of cost. It is another object of the present invention to provide a single-core bidirectional optical communication module capable of adopting a reflow method in surface mounting on a printed board using a thermosetting resin as a molding resin material.

The single-core bidirectional optical communication module according to the present invention includes an optical transceiver circuit including an optical element including a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and is assembled to the optical transceiver circuit in an optical fiber insertion / extraction direction. And an optical unit that controls the optical path by transmitting a first optical signal and a second optical signal transmitted to and received from the optical device, and the optical unit is provided at a position facing each of the optical elements. An optical path changing component made of synthetic resin having an optical part lens and a prism that reflects the first optical signal on the prism surface and changes its optical path, and a position facing the prism surface of the optical path changing component And an optical filter that transmits the second optical signal and reflects the first optical signal whose optical path is changed by the prism surface to change the optical path again. Structure Te, the optical path changing component, insert one of the first optical path changing component obtained by forming the optical portion lens side, the terminal of the inner bottom portion to a second of said optical fiber includes an optical unit lens in the insertion direction guide And a second optical path changing component formed integrally with the prism surface and the optical filter mounting portion, the first optical path changing component and the second optical component being separately provided. of the optical path changing component is configured assembled, the second respectively the insertion direction is the mold opening direction of the mold to the optical path changing component is provided an opening which opens to the bottom portion of the opening portion The prism surface and the optical filter mounting portion are formed.

According to the one-core bidirectional optical communication module, the optical path changing component includes a first optical path changing component in which an optical lens is formed on one side surface, and a second optical path changing component in which a prism surface and an optical filter mounting portion are formed. Are provided separately , and the second optical path changing component is provided with an opening portion that opens in the insertion / extraction direction of the end of the optical fiber in the sleeve that is the mold opening direction of the molding die, and at the bottom of these opening portions A prism surface and an optical filter mounting portion are formed.

  For this reason, since neither the first optical path changing component nor the second optical path changing component has an undercut portion in the mold opening direction of the molding die, a slide core die comprising a core die and a cavity die as the molding die It is possible to adopt a mold that does not have any. And by employ | adopting such a metal mold | die, a 1st optical path changing component and a 2nd optical path changing component can be manufactured using resin materials with low viscosity like a thermosetting resin.

  Therefore, the optical path changing component can be molded with a mold having no slide core mold composed of a core mold and a cavity mold, which is advantageous in terms of cost, and a printed circuit board using a thermosetting resin as a molding resin material. A reflow method can be adopted for surface mounting.

  In the single-core bidirectional optical communication module of the present invention, it is preferable that the first optical path changing component and the second optical path changing component are formed using a thermosetting resin.

  According to this single-core bidirectional optical communication module, since the first optical path changing component and the second optical path changing component are molded using the thermosetting resin, the optical path changing component is connected to the main casing of the optical transceiver circuit. Homogeneous material can be used. As a result, even if the reflow method is used when soldering the terminals of the optical transceiver circuit to the printed circuit board, the optical characteristics are not deteriorated due to thermal deformation of the optical path changing component. Productivity can be improved.

In the single-core bidirectional optical communication module according to the present invention, the first optical path changing component is assembled to the optical transceiver circuit to constitute a first assembly, and the optical filter is assembled to the second optical path changing component. It is preferable that the second assembly is configured, and the first assembly and the second assembly are assembled by being inserted into the optical connector housing from opposite directions along the insertion / extraction direction of the optical fiber.

  According to the one-core bidirectional optical communication module, the first assembly in which the first optical path changing component is assembled to the optical transceiver circuit and the second assembly in which the optical filter is assembled to the second optical path changing component are connected to the optical connector. The optical fiber is assembled by being inserted into the housing from opposite directions along the optical fiber insertion / extraction direction. Thereby, the optical connector housing is optically coupled to the first assembly mainly composed of the optical transceiver circuit and the second assembly mainly composed of the second optical path changing component, and the assembly thereof to the optical connector housing. It becomes possible to carry out in one step on the axis as a guide member. Therefore, the number of assembly steps of the optical connector can be reduced.

  In the single-core bidirectional optical communication module according to the present invention, the optical connector housing includes a spacer that arranges the first optical path changing component and the second optical path changing component in parallel with a predetermined gap therebetween. It is preferable.

  According to this single-core bidirectional optical communication module, the optical connector housing includes the spacer for arranging the first optical path changing component and the second optical path changing component in parallel with a required gap therebetween. It is possible to avoid the occurrence of twisting between the opposing surfaces of these optical path changing components, and to keep the parallelism between the opposing surfaces and optically suppress the coupling loss.

  In the single-core bidirectional optical communication module according to the present invention, it is preferable that the terminal of the optical transceiver circuit protrudes outside the optical connector housing, and the terminal is soldered to a printed circuit board.

  According to this single-core bidirectional optical communication module, the terminals of the optical transceiver circuit protrude outside the optical connector housing, and the terminals are soldered to the printed circuit board, so that the module is configured including the optical connector housing. Even in this case, surface mounting onto a printed circuit board is easy and the degree of freedom of assembly is increased, and it is possible to prevent the adoption of the reflow method from being hindered.

  According to the present invention, the optical path changing component can be molded by a mold having no slide core mold composed of a core mold and a cavity mold, which is advantageous in terms of cost, and a thermosetting resin is used as a molding resin material. It is possible to adopt a reflow method for surface mounting on a printed circuit board.

It is sectional drawing which shows the 1 core bidirectional | two-way optical communication module which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing to which the principal part of FIG. 1 was expanded. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the single-core bidirectional optical communication module shown in FIG. 1.

  Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated based on embodiment, this invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a single-core bidirectional optical communication module according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of FIG. In FIG. 1, in addition to a single-core bidirectional optical communication module (hereinafter referred to as a module), an optical fiber is also illustrated.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the module 1 according to this embodiment includes an optical transceiver circuit 10 and an optical unit 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the optical transceiver circuit 10 is provided with a circuit board 12 made of an insulating material in a body casing 11 made of synthetic resin, and the light emitting element 13 and the light receiving element 14 are brought close to each other on the same surface of the circuit board 12. This is a surface mount.

  The main body casing 11 is formed as a square tray-shaped open cross section. Further, in the present embodiment, the main casing 11 is molded with a thermosetting resin, and reflow soldering can be employed when the light emitting element 13 and the light receiving element 14 are surface-mounted on the circuit board 12.

  The optical unit 20 includes an optical path changing component 21 made of a synthetic resin interposed between the optical fiber 2 and the optical transceiver circuit 10, and an optical filter 22 mounted directly on the optical path changing component 21. In the present embodiment, the light emitted from the light emitting element 13 is described as a first optical signal λ1, and the optical signal received by the light receiving element 14 from the optical fiber 2 side is described as a second optical signal λ2.

  The optical path changing component 21 includes a prism 23 and transmits the first optical signal λ1 emitted from the light emitting element 13 and the second optical signal λ2 from the optical fiber 2. The optical path changing component 21 reflects the first optical signal λ1 by the prism surface 24 of the prism 23 and changes the optical path.

  In such an optical path changing component 21, an optical filter mounting portion 25 is formed to be inclined at a position facing the prism surface 24. The optical filter 22 is fixedly disposed on the optical filter mounting portion 25.

  The optical filter 22 has a characteristic of reflecting the first optical signal λ1 transmitted from the light emitting element 13 and transmitting the second optical signal λ2 from the optical fiber 2 having a wavelength different from the first optical signal λ1. A known dielectric multilayer filter is used.

  The optical path changing component 21 is integrally provided with a cylindrical sleeve 26 for inserting and guiding the ferrule 3 of the end of the optical fiber 2. The sleeve 26 is provided on the opposite side of the optical elements 13 and 14 with the prism 23 interposed therebetween, and the axial direction of the cylindrical portion is perpendicular to the circuit board 12 on which the optical elements 13 and 14 are arranged in parallel. Yes.

  In the present embodiment, the prism surface 24 of the prism 23 is configured as a reflecting surface having an inclination angle of 45 °, and the optical filter mounting portion 25 has the same mounting angle of the optical filter 22 as the inclination angle of the prism surface 24 (that is, the inclination angle). 45 ° and parallel to the prism surface).

  Therefore, the first optical signal λ1 emitted from the light emitting element 13 bends its optical path by 90 ° due to reflection by the prism surface 24, and the first optical signal λ1 whose optical path has been changed is reflected by the optical filter 22 and travels the optical path. It is bent 90 ° and guided to the optical fiber 2 side. On the other hand, the second optical signal λ <b> 2 from the optical fiber 2 passes through the optical filter 22 and is guided to the light receiving element 14.

  Thereby, the module 1 can be assembled to the optical connector housing 40 in which the insertion / extraction direction of the optical fiber 2 is orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the optical elements 13 and 14.

  The optical path changing component 21 is integrally provided with optical lenses 27 and 28 at positions facing the light emitting element 13 and the light receiving element 14 of the optical transceiver circuit 10. The optical path changing component 21 is integrally provided with a second optical lens 29 at a position facing the end face of the optical fiber 2 of the sleeve 26, that is, on the inner bottom portion 26a. These optical part lenses 27 to 29 are all constituted by convex lenses.

  In this embodiment, the optical path changing component 21 includes the first optical path changing component 21A in which the above-described optical lens 27, 28 is formed on the side surface facing the optical transceiver circuit 10, the prism surface 24, and the optical filter mounting portion. 25 and a second optical path changing component 21B on which a sleeve 26 is formed.

  The first optical path changing component 21A is molded so that the protruding direction of the optical lenses 27 and 28 is the mold opening direction of a mold (not shown). The second optical path changing component 21B is molded so that the protruding direction of the sleeve 26 is the mold opening direction of the mold.

  Further, the prism surface 24 and the optical filter mounting portion 25 of the second optical path changing component 21B both have open portions 30 and 31 that open in the mold opening direction of the mold, respectively. The prism surface 24 and the optical filter mounting surface 32 are formed.

  Specifically, the opening 30 is formed as an opening that opens to the first side surface from which the sleeve 26 protrudes, and the bottom of the opening is the prism surface 24. The open portion 31 is formed as a groove that opens to the second side surface (side surface opposite to the side where the sleeve 26 protrudes) facing the first optical path changing component 21A, and the bottom portion of the open portion 31 is mounted on the optical filter. It is part 25.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the opening portion 31 is a groove that opens to the side surface facing the first optical path changing component 21 </ b> A and the side surface that is orthogonal to and adjacent to the side surface, but is not limited thereto. Instead, the opening portion 30 may be an opening.

  With the configuration as described above, both the first optical path changing component 21A and the second optical path changing component 21B can be manufactured with a molding die that does not have a slide core die composed of a core die and a cavity die. Therefore, in this embodiment, both the first optical path changing component 21A and the second optical path changing component 21B are molded using a thermosetting resin.

  Further, the first optical path changing component 21A is fixed in advance by a predetermined fitting means to the open side peripheral portion of the main body casing 11 of the optical transceiver circuit 10 to form a first assembly. In the second optical path changing component 21B, the optical filter 22 is assembled to form a second assembly. The optical filter 22 is fixed by pressing the back surface thereof with an optical filter fixing component 33.

  The optical filter fixing part 33 is a molded part formed of an appropriate synthetic resin material (preferably a thermosetting resin), and has a cross-sectional outer shape that fits snugly into the opening 31 for mounting the optical filter. .

  The optical filter fixing component 33 has a slope that presses the back surface of the optical filter 22, and passes the second optical signal λ 2 on a line connecting the optical axis of the optical fiber 2 and the light receiving portion of the light receiving element 14. A semicircular groove 34 is formed so as to penetrate.

  The fitting surface between the optical filter fixing component 33 and the opening 31 and the contact surface between the optical filter fixing component 33 and the optical filter 22 are bonded and fixed with a required adhesive.

  A first assembly including the optical transceiver circuit 10 and the first optical path changing component 21A configured as described above, and a second assembly of the second optical path changing component 21B, the optical filter 22, and the optical filter fixing component 33, Are assembled and inserted into the optical connector housing 40 made of synthetic resin from opposite directions along the insertion / extraction direction of the optical fiber 2. That is, the first assembly is inserted and assembled in the drawing direction of the optical fiber 2, and the second assembly is inserted and assembled in the inserting direction of the optical fiber 2.

  Here, in the state where the first assembly and the second assembly are assembled in the optical connector housing 40, the first optical path changing component 21A and the second optical path changing component 21B are formed in the optical connector housing 40. Spacers 41 face each other in parallel with a required gap therebetween.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, a first guide portion 42 and a second guide portion 43 are formed in the optical connector housing 40, thereby performing insertion guidance and positioning of the first assembly and the second assembly. The spacer 41 is formed in the second guide portion 43. The first assembly and the first guide portion 42, and the second assembly and the second guide portion 43 can be locked by engaging means (not shown) that engage and disengage with each other.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the module 1 shown in FIG. 1. As described above, the first assembly and the second assembly are assembled to the optical connector housing 40 from opposite directions along the insertion / extraction direction of the optical fiber 2. The first optical path changing component 21A and the second optical path changing component 21B are optically coupled. In FIG. 3, the optical connector housing 40 is not shown for convenience.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of terminals 15 are arranged in a row on the peripheral side of the main casing 11 of the optical transceiver circuit 10. The terminal 15 protrudes outward from a slit (not shown) provided in the optical connector housing 40, and the terminal 15 is soldered to the printed board 4.

  Thus, according to the module 1 according to the present embodiment, the plate-shaped first optical path changing component 21A in which the optical part lenses 27 and 28 are formed on one side of the optical path changing component 21, the prism surface 24, and the light The second optical path changing component 21B in which the filter mounting portion 25 is formed, and the prism surface 24 and the optical filter mounting portion 25 are respectively connected to the second optical path changing component 21B in the mold opening direction of the mold. Open portions 30 and 31 to be opened are provided and formed at the bottom of these open portions.

  For this reason, neither the first optical path changing component 21A nor the second optical path changing component 21B has an undercut portion in the mold opening direction of the molding die. Therefore, a slide composed of a core die and a cavity die as the molding die. A mold without a core mold can be used. And by employ | adopting such a metal mold | die, the 1st optical path changing component 21A and the 2nd optical path changing component 21B can be manufactured using resin materials with low viscosity like a thermosetting resin.

  Therefore, the optical path changing component 21 can be molded by a mold having no slide core mold composed of a core mold and a cavity mold, which is advantageous in terms of cost, and is printed using a thermosetting resin as a molding resin material. A reflow method can be employed for surface mounting on the substrate 4.

  Further, the second optical path changing component 21B has a second optical part lens 29 on the inner bottom part 26a, and a cylindrical sleeve 26 that guides the ferrule 3 at the end of the optical fiber 2 is integrally formed. For this reason, it can avoid that the number of components of the optical part 20 increases. As a result, it is possible to suppress the influence on the optical path control accuracy due to the dimensional tolerance of each component, the assembly error, and the like, and it is possible to provide the module 1 having excellent optical characteristics.

  Further, since the first optical path changing component 21A and the second optical path changing component 21B are molded using a thermosetting resin, the optical path changing component 21 is made of the same material as the main casing 11 of the optical transceiver circuit 10. Can do. As a result, even if the reflow method is used when the terminals 15 of the optical transceiver circuit 10 are soldered to the printed circuit board 4, the optical characteristics are not deteriorated due to thermal deformation of the optical path changing component 21, and the reflow method is used. Thus, the productivity of the optical connector can be improved.

  Also, a first assembly in which the first optical path changing component 21A is assembled to the optical transceiver circuit 10 and a second assembly in which the optical filter 22 is assembled to the second optical path changing component 21B are provided in the optical connector housing 40 with an optical fiber. 2 are inserted and assembled in opposite directions along the insertion / extraction direction. As a result, the optical coupling between the first assembly mainly composed of the optical transceiver circuit 10 and the second assembly mainly composed of the second optical path changing component 21B and the assembly thereof to the optical connector housing 40 can be carried out. The connector housing 40 can be used as a guide member on the axis thereof in one step. Therefore, the number of assembly steps of the optical connector can be reduced.

  Further, since the optical connector housing 40 includes the spacer 41 that arranges the first optical path changing component 21A and the second optical path changing component 21B in parallel with a predetermined gap therebetween, the optical path changing component 21A, It is possible to avoid the occurrence of twisting between the opposing surfaces of 21B and to optically suppress the coupling loss while maintaining the parallelism between the opposing surfaces.

  In addition, since the terminal 15 of the optical transceiver circuit 10 protrudes outside the optical connector housing 40 and this terminal 15 is soldered to the printed circuit board 4, the module 1 is configured including the optical connector housing 40. However, surface mounting onto the printed circuit board 4 is easy and the degree of freedom of assembly is increased, and it is possible to prevent the adoption of the reflow method from being hindered.

  As described above, the present invention has been described based on the embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the optical path changing component 21 changes the optical path by reflecting the first optical signal λ1 by 90 ° by the prism surface 24 and the optical filter 22, respectively, but the optical path changing angle is not limited to this. Can be changed arbitrarily.

  Further, the opening 30 is not limited to a circular hole, and may be an elliptical hole or a polygonal hole, or may be constituted by a groove.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... 1 core bidirectional | two-way optical communication module 2 ... Optical fiber 4 ... Printed circuit board 10 ... Optical transceiver circuit 11 ... Main body casing 12 ... Circuit board 13 ... Light emitting element (optical element)
14: Light receiving element (optical element)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Terminal 20 ... Optical part 21 ... Optical path change component 21A ... 1st optical path change component 21B ... 2nd optical path change component 22 ... Optical filter 23 ... Prism 24 ... Prism surface 25 ... Optical filter mounting part 26 ... Sleeve 26a ... Inner bottom portions 27, 28 ... optical lens 29 ... second optical lens 30, 31 ... opening 40 ... optical connector housing 41 ... spacer

Claims (5)

An optical transceiver circuit including an optical element including a light emitting element and a light receiving element;
An optical unit that is assembled to the optical transceiver circuit in the insertion / extraction direction of an optical fiber, and transmits a first optical signal and a second optical signal transmitted / received between the optical element and the optical fiber to control an optical path; With
The optical unit is
An optical path changing component made of synthetic resin, including an optical lens provided at a position facing each of the optical elements, and a prism that reflects the first optical signal on a prism surface and changes the optical path;
Arranged in an optical filter mounting portion provided at a position facing the prism surface of the optical path changing component, transmits the second optical signal and reflects the first optical signal whose optical path is changed by the prism surface. And an optical filter that changes the optical path again,
The optical path changing component includes a first optical path changing component in which the optical lens is formed on one side surface, and a second optical lens on the inner bottom portion, and a cylinder for inserting and guiding the end of the optical fiber in the insertion / extraction direction. the Jo sleeve with integrally provided with the second optical path changing component, comprises a separate and become the first optical path changing component and the second optical path forming a said prism surface said optical filter mounting portion It is constructed by assembling the changed parts ,
The second optical path changing component is provided with an opening portion that opens in the insertion / extraction direction , which is the mold opening direction of the mold, and the prism surface and the optical filter mounting portion are formed at the bottom of the opening portion. A single-core bidirectional optical communication module characterized by that. The single-core bidirectional optical communication module according to claim 1, wherein the first optical path changing component and the second optical path changing component are formed using a thermosetting resin. Assembling the first optical path changing component into the optical transceiver circuit to form a first assembly,
Assembling the optical filter to the second optical path changing component constitutes a second assembly,
The first assembly and the second assembly are assembled by being inserted into the optical connector housing from opposite directions along the optical fiber insertion / removal direction . 1. A single-core bidirectional optical communication module according to 1. The single-core both of claim 3 , wherein the optical connector housing includes a spacer that arranges the first optical path changing component and the second optical path changing component in parallel with a predetermined gap therebetween. Mukko communication module. The both cores according to claim 3 or 4 , wherein a terminal of the optical transceiver circuit is projected to the outside of the optical connector housing, and the terminal is soldered to a printed circuit board. Mukko communication module.

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