JPH043283Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an optical axis adjustment mechanism for making laser light output from a laser oscillation device enter an optical fiber with high precision through an optical lens.

[Conventional technology]

When inputting laser light output from a laser beam oscillation device such as a He-Ne laser oscillation device into an optical fiber, it is necessary to input the focused laser beam into the center (core) of the diameter of the optical fiber. Therefore, an optical axis adjustment mechanism having a condensing lens has been conventionally used.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional optical axis adjustment mechanism consists of a support plate 2 supporting a condensing lens 1 in the center, slide rails 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d combined with grids, and the rails. It is composed of a movable plate 4 that is slidably attached to the movable plates 3a and 3b, and a receptacle 5 provided at the center of the movable plate 4, and its function is to connect the support plate 2 to the laser oscillation device using screws (not shown) or the like. At the same time, the rails 3c and 3d are fixed to the support plate 2 with screws (not shown), and the plug 8 attached to the end of the optical fiber 7 is attached to the receptacle 5. Move the movable plate 4 along the rails 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d using the adjustment screws, etc.
By moving the laser oscillation device 6 in the direction
The optical axis is adjusted so that the laser beam 9 output from the optical fiber 7 and condensed by the condenser lens 1 enters the center of the diameter of the optical fiber 7.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, according to the optical axis adjustment mechanism described above, the laser light emitted from the laser oscillation device is connected to the optical fiber via a receptacle supported by a sliding rail made of dovetail tenons and dovetail grooves combined with the grid. Due to this structure, when force is applied to the receptacle due to the optical fiber being pulled, the problem is that the relationship between the optical fiber end face and the laser oscillation device is unstable due to the looseness of the two slide rails. There is.

Furthermore, although this slide rail is fixed with screws after adjustment to eliminate looseness, there is a problem in that the carefully adjusted position may become incorrect.

Furthermore, during assembly, a support plate is attached to the tip of the laser oscillation device, and a slide rail is also attached, so that adjustment between the end face of the optical fiber and the laser oscillation device is extremely delicate and difficult.

In addition, since the support plate supporting the condensing lens, the movable plate with the slide rail and the receptacle are integrated in three layers, the entire mechanism becomes larger and heavier. Moreover, since the movable plate of the slide rail has a dovetail and tenon structure, it takes many man-hours to manufacture and is expensive.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and the object is to realize a compact and lightweight optical axis adjustment mechanism that allows easy optical axis adjustment and less deviation.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention has a hollow base with a receptor provided in the center of one side.
A circular support plate supporting a condensing lens in the center is arranged so as to be movable in the radial direction, and a plurality of adjustment screws are screwed onto the base, so that the tip of each adjustment screw is connected to the circumferential surface of the support plate. A spring is provided to abut the support plate and constantly bias the support plate in the direction of the adjustment screw.

[Effect]

According to the above-mentioned means, after fixing the base and the laser oscillation device and attaching the plug attached to the end of the optical fiber to the receptacle provided on the base, the support plate is adjusted by turning each adjustment screw. At the same time, the optical axis can be adjusted by moving the condenser lens in the radial direction.

〔Example〕

Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the principle of the present invention.
The center of the condensing lens L is located on the optical axis X, and when the laser beam B enters the condensing lens L from the direction of the arrow, the laser beam B is condensed at the focal position F. Here, if the center part (core part) of the optical fiber Q is located at a position on the X' axis that is shifted by ΔY from the optical axis It is only necessary to shift the focal point by the amount of ΔY so that the center is on the X' axis so that it is at the position L' indicated by the broken line, and thereby move the focal point position to F'.

In other words, assuming that the laser beams are parallel, it is sufficient to arrange the optical fiber at the focal length of the condenser lens and then align the optical axis of the condenser lens with the center of the optical fiber. The movement of the condensing lens is actually performed within a range where the influence of spherical aberration etc. is small.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical axis adjustment mechanism applying the above-described principle, FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view showing its internal structure, and FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view.

In the figure, 6 is a laser oscillation device, 7 is an optical fiber, 8 is a plug provided at the end of the optical fiber 7, and 9 is a laser beam output from the laser oscillation device.

10 to 21 are parts constituting the optical axis adjustment mechanism of this embodiment.

That is, 10 is a hollow base, and a receptacle 11 corresponding to the plug 8 is provided in the center of one side, and a condenser lens 12 is supported in the center of the base 10 as shown in FIG. A circular support plate 13 is attached to the clamping plate 1 via a bearing 14.
They are held between 5a and 15b, that is, fixed in the axial direction and movable only in the radial direction. It is pressed and held through.

Reference numerals 18a and 18b are adjustment screws, and these adjustment screws 18a and 18b are screwed onto the base 10 so as to form an angle of about 90 degrees, as shown in FIG.
Each tip is in contact with the circumferential surface of the support plate 13 disposed in the base 10, and furthermore, at a position that approximately bisects the space between the adjustment screws 18a and 18b, that is, approximately 135 degrees from the adjustment screws 18a and 18b. A spring 19 is provided at the position of
9, the support plate 13 is constantly adjusted by the adjustment screws 18a, 18.
It is biased in the direction b.

20 is a mounting screw for mounting the spring 19 on the base 10, and 21a and 21b are locking screws for locking the adjustment screws 18a and 18b.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, a mounting screw (not shown) is passed through a through hole 22 provided in the base 10, and this mounting screw is fastened to a screw hole 23 provided in the laser oscillation device 6, thereby fixing the base 10 and the laser oscillation device 6. .
At this time, rough adjustment is made so that the laser beam 9 output from the laser oscillation device 6 is condensed by the condensing lens 12 and emitted from the hole of the receptacle 11.

Thereafter, the plug 8 attached to the end of the optical fiber 7 is attached to the receptacle 11, and in this state, the adjustment screws 18a and 18b are rotated to move the condenser lens 12 together with the support plate 13 as shown in the arrow shown in FIG. By moving in the x and y directions, the optical axis is adjusted so that the focused laser beam 9 enters the center (core) of the diameter of the optical fiber 7. In other words,
As explained in FIG. 3, the optical axis of the condenser lens 12 is aligned with the center of the optical fiber 7.

After adjustment, the adjusting screws 18a, 18b are locked by locking screws 21a, 21b so that they do not rotate freely.

In addition, in the embodiment described above, two adjustment screws 18 are used.
Base 1 so that a and 18b form an angle of about 90 degrees.
Although the present invention is not limited to this, for example, three or more adjustment screws may be screwed to the base 10 at an appropriate angle, and these adjustment screws may be used to tighten the support plate. 13 in the radial direction, the optical axis can be adjusted in the same way.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, the present invention has a support plate that supports a condensing lens in the center arranged in a hollow base so that it can move only in the radial direction, and a plurality of adjustment screws and springs attached to this base. The structure is such that the optical axis is adjusted by moving the condensing lens together with the support plate so that the laser light output from the laser oscillation device is focused and enters the center (core) of the diameter of the optical fiber. Therefore, there is no misalignment between the laser oscillation device and the end face of the optical fiber, and there is an effect that the positional relationship will not be misaligned even if a load is applied to the receptacle.

Further, the only part that moves during optical axis adjustment is the condenser lens, and since no load other than itself is applied to the condenser lens, errors are less likely to occur.

Furthermore, since only the condensing lens needs to be finely adjusted, the adjustment is extremely easy.

In addition, it has the advantage of being easier to manufacture, smaller, and lighter than a conventional structure using slide rails.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the optical axis adjustment mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional optical axis adjustment mechanism, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the principle of the present invention.
4 is a horizontal sectional view showing the internal structure of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view. 6... Laser oscillation device, 7... Optical fiber, 8
...Plug, 9...Laser light, 10...Base,
11... Receptacle, 12... Condensing lens, 1
3... Support plate, 18a, 18b... Adjustment screw.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A support plate supporting a condensing lens in the center is pressed and fixed in the axial direction by a spring in a hollow base with an optical fiber attached on one side and a laser oscillation device fixed on the other side, and is fixed in the radial direction via a bearing. a plurality of adjustment screws are screwed onto the base, the tips of each adjustment screw are brought into contact with the circumferential surface of the support plate, and the support plate is always biased in the direction of the adjustment screws. An optical axis adjustment mechanism featuring a spring.