JPH0377901A - Fine adjustment mechanism of fusion splicing machine for optical fibers - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the position control in a very small region by constituting the above mechanism of a linear moving part, moving parts which are supported at one end, are provided on the right and left of the linear moving part and utilize the elastic deformation of a metal, and a stage provided above the linear moving part and reducing the movement in the linear moving part. CONSTITUTION:This mechanism is constituted of the linear moving part 1, the moving parts 3, 4 which are supported at one end, are provided on the right and left of the linear moving part 1 and utilize the elastic deformation of the metal and the stage 6 which is provided above the linear moving part 1 to reduce the movement in the moving part 1 and to allow the position control in the very small region. Namely, the moving part A2 is elastically deformed upward and the stage 6 tends to make arc motion around a fulcrum A3 when the force in a horizontal direction (a) is applied on the linear moving part 1. The stage 6 is regulated in the horizontal movement by a fulcrum B5 at this time and the force in the vertical direction acts on the stage 6 to move the stage 6 in the vertical direction. The ratio of the moving quantity of this time can be determined as desired by the thickness of the moving part if the deformation of the moving part is within the elastic deformation. The large ratio of the moving quantity is obtd. in this way without requiring the formation of the device to a larger size.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a fine movement mechanism used for position control in units of meters or less, such as alignment of optical fibers during fusion splicing of optical fibers.

(Prior art and the problem to be solved Fm) When fusion splicing opposing optical fibers, in order to suppress the increase in loss at the splicing part, the axes of the ends of these optical fibers are finely adjusted to ensure precise alignment. After that, it is necessary to butt the end faces and perform fusion splicing.

As a conventional mechanism for such fine adjustment, there is, for example, an alignment device for optical fiber fusion splicing disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 83-108308. As shown in Fig. 3-, the technology disclosed herein has one end connected to the drive side (+1) with respect to the fulcrum (+1).
12), and utilizes the principle of a lever with the other end as the driven side (13).

For this reason, there is a problem that the device becomes large in order to obtain a large ratio of the amount of movement, and when aligning the shafts in fusion splicing that requires linear movement, it is necessary to ) If the distance (x,) from the
There was a problem that the device became large.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a fine movement mechanism for an optical fiber fusion splicer that solves the above-mentioned problems. It is composed of a moving part that utilizes elastic deformation of metal provided on the left and right sides of the body, and a stage provided above the linear motion part, which reduces the movement of the linear motion part and enables position control in a minute area. be.

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of the fine movement mechanism of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, a linear motion section (1) and the above linear motion section (1
) is provided with a moving part A (2) that utilizes elastic deformation of metal and whose one end is supported by a fulcrum A (3), and on the left side of the linear motion part (+), one end is supported by a fulcrum B (3). A moving part B (4) that utilizes elastic deformation of metal supported by the linear moving part (1) is provided, and a stage (
8) is provided.

As described above, a horizontal force acts on the linear motion section (in the direction of the arrow (a)) of the fine movement mechanism of the present invention, in which the linear motion section (I), the moving section (204), and the stage (6) are integrated. In this case, the stage (6) performs approximately linear motion in the vertical direction.

(Operation) FIGS. 2(A) to 2(C) are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the fine movement mechanism of the present invention.

When a force in the horizontal direction (arrow a) is applied to the linear motion part N),
As shown in FIG. 2(a), the moving part A(2) is elastically deformed upward, and the stage (6) attempts to perform an arcuate motion about the fulcrum A(3). At this time, as shown in the same figure (b), the horizontal movement of the stage (6) is restricted by the fulcrum B (5), and a force in the vertical direction acts on the stage (6), and as shown in the same figure (c). The stage (6) moves in the vertical direction as shown in FIG.

The amount of movement at this time is, if the deformation of the moving part is within elastic deformation,
The ratio of the amount of movement can be arbitrarily determined depending on the thickness, and there is no need to increase the size of the device.

(Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a specific example in which the fine movement mechanism of the present invention is applied to an alignment mechanism of an optical fiber fusion splicer. In addition, the first
The same symbols as in the figure represent the same parts.

A V-clearance (8) with an optical fiber (9) positioned thereon is installed on the stage (6). By applying a horizontal force to the linear motion part (1) by the spring (7), the optical fiber (9) can be moved by a small amount in the vertical direction due to the action explained with reference to FIG.

The results are as shown in FIG. 5A, where the ratio of the horizontal displacement on the input side to the vertical displacement (A) on the output side was 1/20. Further, the ratio of the horizontal displacement on the input side to the horizontal displacement (B) on the output side is I/1000, which can be regarded as approximately rectilinear movement.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the fine movement mechanism of the present invention, if the deformation of the moving part is within the elastic deformation range, the ratio of the amount of movement can be arbitrarily determined depending on the thickness. Larger ratios can be obtained without the need for scaling. Therefore μ−
It is extremely effective when used as an alignment mechanism for optical fibers in optical fiber fusion splicers that require position control on a unit scale or less.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of the fine movement mechanism of the present invention, and FIGS. 2(A) to 2(C) are explanatory diagrams of its operation. FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a conventional optical fiber alignment mechanism. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a specific example in which the fine movement mechanism of the present invention is applied to an alignment mechanism of an optical fiber fusion splicer. FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram of input horizontal displacement, output vertical displacement, and output horizontal displacement in an embodiment of the fine movement mechanism of the present invention. 1... linear motion part, 2.4... moving part, 3.5...
・Fulcrum, 6... Stage, 7... Spring, 8... V
Clear white, 9...optical fiber. 3-

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Consisting of a linear motion section, a moving section that utilizes elastic deformation of metal, which is supported at one end and is provided on the left and right sides of the linear motion section, and a stage provided above the linear motion section, the movement of the linear motion section 1. A fine movement mechanism in an optical fiber fusion splicer, characterized by reducing the size and making position control possible in a minute area.