JPH02273705A - Device for aligning axial line of optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the front ends of optical fibers from inclining with a perpendicular plane and horizontal plane by forming the V-grooves of holder heads at the grooves in the direction perpendicular (horizontal) to flexible arms. CONSTITUTION:The V-grooves 13, 13' of the holder heads are formed as the grooves in the direction perpendicular to the flexible arms 14, 14'. The front ends of the optical fibers 1, 1' are directed to the direction perpendicular to the flexible arms when the front ends of the optical fibers are fitted and held into the V-grooves 13, 13'. The V-grooves move in the plane perpendicular to the moving plane of the flexible arms during the vertical movement of the holder heads and, therefore, the bottoms of the V-grooves 13, 13' are always level regardless of the change in the positions of the holder heads 12, 12'. The front ends of the optical fibers held in parallel with the bases of the V-grooves are, therefore, always held level. The central axial lines of both the optical fibers are inevitably aligned on the same straight line when the centers of the front end faces of the two optical fibers held always level align in this way.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an optical fiber axis alignment device used when fusion splicing optical fibers, and when butt splicing optical fibers by fusion splicing.

It is effective not only for centering the end faces, but also for aligning the center lines of optical fibers on the same line, and preventing connection loss in optical transmission caused by the center lines not aligning on the same line. .

[Prior Art and Problems] A conventional optical fiber core mounting device will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

The tips of the optical fibers 1 and 1' to be connected to each other are held in the V-grooves 3 and 3' of the holder heads 2 and 2', and the flexible arms 4 and 4' that support the holder heads 2 and 2' are rocked. center the tips of both optical fibers 1°1'.

The flexible arm 4.4' projects from the fixed part 5.5' and pushes the holder head 2' on the horizontal plane in the direction of the force indicated by the arrow Fh, thereby displacing it in the direction of the arrow H. The holder head 2 is pushed in the direction of the arrow Fv force on a vertical plane to be displaced in the direction of the arrow V.

By this movement of both heads, the centers of the end faces of the optical fibers 1 and 1' are brought into alignment. In the conventional type, the centers of the tips of the optical fibers are aligned, but the center axes cannot be aligned on the same straight line.In other words, the holder head 2 is moved up and down within the vertical plane, albeit slightly. The height of the tip of the optical fiber 1 is made to match the height of the tip of the optical fiber 1' by displacement.

Since the holder head 2 moves up and down supported by the flexible arm 4 while bending it, the bottom of the V-groove of the holder head is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, and this angle of inclination is changed by the up and down movement of the holder head. Change.

Therefore, ■ optical fiber 1 held parallel to the bottom of the groove
Since the tip of the optical fiber 1 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the center axis of the optical fiber 1 is centered with respect to the center axis of the other optical fiber 1' with the center axis being inclined in the vertical plane.

The same applies to the operation of displacing the holder head 2' in the direction of arrow H to align the tip of the optical fiber 1' with the tip of the optical fiber 1 in the horizontal plane.

Therefore, in the conventional optical fiber, the centers of the end faces of the optical fibers can be made to coincide with each other, but the center axes of both fibers cannot be made to coincide with the same straight line (see the enlarged view of part A).

The larger the inclination angle of the central axis of the other optical fiber with respect to the central axis of one optical fiber.

The connection loss of optical transmission increases.

An object of the present invention is to prevent the tip of an optical fiber from being inclined with respect to a vertical plane or a horizontal plane due to displacement of a holder head for centering the optical fiber.

[Means taken to solve the problem] The measures taken to solve the above problem are the following elements (a) to (
c) (see Figures 1 and 2).

(a) Arrange the two holder heads side by side,
The flexible arm is an inclined flexible arm tilted upward.

(b) The V-groove of the holder head is arranged in the direction g perpendicular (lateral direction) to the flexible arm.

(c) The two flexible arms are bent in a vertical plane to displace the holder head in the vertical plane.

[For production] The operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

V-groove of holder head 13. '13' is the flexible arm 14
．． Since the groove is perpendicular to 14', this V-groove 13
．． The tips of the optical fibers 141' are fitted and held in the holder head 13', and the tips of the optical fibers are oriented perpendicularly to the flexible arm.The tips of the optical fibers held by the holder heads are arranged side by side. Two holder heads 12.1
2', their tips abut against each other.

The holder heads 12 and 12' are pushed by forces F and F' in the vertical plane, causing a circular arc movement in the vertical plane while deflecting the flexible arms. 14°14', the arcuate motion trajectories in each vertical plane always intersect at at least one point. By moving the two holder heads up and down independently, the tips of the optical fibers 1 and 1' held in the V-grooves 13 and 13' of the holder heads 12 and 12' can be aligned without fail. reactor.

When the holder head moves up and down, the V-groove moves in a plane perpendicular to the plane of movement of the flexible arm.
Regardless of the change in the position of the holder head 12.12', ■
The bottom of the groove 13.13' is always horizontal. Therefore, the tip of the optical fiber, which is held parallel to the bottom of the V-groove, is always held horizontally. When the centers of the tip surfaces of two optical fibers, which are always held horizontally, coincide, the central axes of the two optical fibers necessarily coincide on the same straight line.

[Example] One embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

A flexible arm 14 is provided to project upwardly from a fixed part 15 made of stainless steel, and a holder head 12 is provided at the tip of the flexible arm 14. The holder head 12 has a V-groove 13 on the upper surface for holding the optical fiber.
The block 20 is fitted and fixed. This V block 20
The VR13 is.

Perpendicular direction (lateral direction) to the inclined flexible art t114
It is a V groove.

The upper end of the drive lever 11, which is pivotally supported by a fixed pin 26, and the upper end of the flexible arm 14 are connected by a pin via a strap (band plate) 16.

The slide shaft 21 , which is slidably held by a slide bearing 27 , is inserted into the hole 2 of the lower arm 22 of the drive lever 11 .
3, and a coil spring 25 is interposed between the arm 22 and a spring receiver 24 fixed to the shaft end of the slide shaft 21. This spring receiver 24 is connected to a micrometer gear 1 driven by a motor 19 via a gear 18.
It is finely controlled by 7.

The spring receiver 24 is shifted left and right by the micrometer gear 17, and the force applied to the arm 22 via the spring 25 is finely adjusted. This change in force is transmitted to the flexible arm 14 via the strap 16, changing the deflection of the flexible arm 14 and displacing the holder head 12 in the direction of arrow M--M.

Above we have described one example of the holder head, its flexible arm, and the drive mechanism, but the other holder head.

The same could be done for the flexible arm and the active mechanism, but in this example the upper arm of the drive lever 11' is arranged under and parallel to the flexible arm 14'. The lower surface is pushed directly by the upper arm. By doing this, both heel movement mechanisms can be placed on the same side, making the entire device compact. The lens 28 in Figure 0 is a laser beam lens for fusing the abutting ends of optical fibers. . In addition.

In the drawings, members with dashed symbols are:

It has the same function as the component with the same number without a dash.

[Effects] The above-mentioned problem of the present invention is novel. Therefore, the greatest unique effect of the present invention is that this problem is solved and the problems of the prior art described above are eliminated. In addition, because the holder heads are arranged horizontally and the flexible arm is an inclined arm, the overall length of this device is shortened, which has the effect of making it more compact than conventional devices. arise.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are schematic drawings for explaining the present invention in detail, and are respectively a plan view, a front view, and an exploded enlarged view, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic diagrams for explaining the present invention in detail. A front view of the embodiment, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the prior art, and FIG. 7 is a side view of the prior art (including
(Enlarged view of part A). In the figure + t, l'...optical fiber, 2.2'1
2.12'...Holder head, 3.3', 13.
13'...V groove, 4.4', 14.14'...
・Flexible arm, 5.5', 15.15'... Fixed part, 11.11'... Drive lever, 16... Strap, 17... Micrometer gear, 18...
・Gear, 19...Motor, 20...V block,
21...Slide shaft, 22...Lower arm, 23.
... hole, 24 ... spring receiver, 25 ... coil spring,
26.26'...Fixed bottle, 27...Slide bearing. 28...Lens. Patent applicant: Fujikura Electric Cable Co., Ltd.
Agent: Hiroshi Kisumi, Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A holder head with a V-groove that holds the tip of an optical fiber is provided at the tips of a pair of flexible arms facing each other, and the holder head is displaced along an arcuate trajectory while the flexible arms are bent, so that the tips of the optical fibers are mutually moved. In this device, two holder heads are arranged side by side, the flexible arm is an upwardly inclined inclined flexible arm, and the V-groove of the holder head is arranged perpendicularly (laterally) to the flexible arm. An optical fiber alignment device comprising a groove (direction) and two flexible arms deflecting in a vertical plane to displace the holder head in the vertical plane.