JPH0611656A - Optical switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable simultaneous switching of many optical switches with one driving body. CONSTITUTION:Two or more pieces of the optical switches 11 constituted in such a manner that the optical fibers of two connectors 5, 6 mounted with the optical fibers of coated optical fibers 1 are connected to each other when the joining end faces of the connectors 5, 6 are butted against each other and positioning pins 9 are inserted into either of pin insertion hole 7, 8 of the connectors 5, 6 and that the connectors 5, 6 slide and the connection of the optical fibers of the two connectors 5, 6 is switched when the positioning pins 9 are removed and the other switching pins 9 are inserted into the other pin insertion holes are arrayed in parallel. The positioning pins 9, 10 of the respective optical switches 11 are connected by supporting means 12, 13 and these supporting means 12, 13 are operated by the one driving body 14 so that the positioning pins 9, 10 of the respective optical switches 11 can be simultaneously inserted and removed into and from the pin insertion holes 7, 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical switch used for switching the connection of an optical transmission line used for optical communication of the present invention.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An optical switch has been conventionally used for connection switching of an optical transmission line used for optical communication or the like. There are various types of optical switches in the past, but the basic principle thereof is as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. As shown in FIG. 4, one connector A is equipped with one optical fiber core wire B, and the other connector C is equipped with two optical fiber core wires D, and the optical fibers of the respective optical fiber core wires B and D are attached. J,
Connect the ends of K and M to the respective connectors A and C as shown in FIGS.
Of the connector A and C, and two pairs of pin insertion holes G and H are penetrated through the connectors A and C, respectively.

In this optical switch, as shown in FIG. 4, when the inner pin insertion holes H are opposed to each other and the positioning pins L are inserted into both the pin insertion holes H, the optical fiber of the optical fiber core wire B of the connector A is inserted. Optical fiber core wire D of J and connector C
The optical fiber K of is connected. When the positioning pin L is pulled out in this state and then the positioning pin I is fitted into the outer pin insertion hole G, the connectors A and C slide relative to each other, and the optical fiber core wire of the connector A as shown in FIG. The connection is switched to the connection between the optical fiber J of B and the optical fiber M of the optical fiber core wire D of the connector C.

[0004]

In the prior art of FIGS. 3 to 5, if a driving body such as a solenoid switch is used to slide the pair of connectors A and C, a driving body is required for each pair. As the number of connectors A and C increases, the number of drivers also increases, which complicates the structure of the optical switch and increases the size of the optical switch, resulting in high cost.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to simultaneously switch the number of connector pairs even if the number of connector pairs is increased.

[0006]

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical switch of the present invention exposes the end portion 3 of the optical fiber 2 from which the coating of the end portion of the optical fiber core wire 1 has been removed to the joint end surface 4. The two connectors 5, 6 mounted on the connector 5 and 6 are made to face each other with their joint end faces 4 butted against each other, and the positioning pin 9 is placed in any one of the two or more pin insertion holes 7, 8 formed in the respective connectors 5, 6. Is inserted, the optical fibers 2 of either of the connectors 5 and 6 are connected to each other, the positioning pin 9 is removed from the pin insertion hole, and the other switching pin 10 is inserted into the other pin insertion hole.
When the connector is inserted, both connectors 5 and 6 relatively move to the optical fiber 2.
In the optical switch 11 that is slid in the arrangement direction to switch the connection of the optical fibers 2 attached to both connectors 5 and 6, two or more optical switches 11 are arranged in parallel as shown in FIG. When the positioning pin 9 of each optical switch 11 is connected by the support tool 12 and the positioning pin 10 is connected by the support tool 13, and the support tools 12, 13 are pushed and pulled back by the driving body 14, the positioning pin 9 of each optical switch 11, 10 is capable of being inserted into and removed from the pin insertion holes 7 and 8 at the same time.

[0007]

In the optical switch according to the present invention, when the support 12 on the right side of FIG. 1 is pushed to the left side of FIG. 1 by one driving body 14, one positioning pin 10 of two or more optical switches 11 is simultaneously inserted into the pin insertion holes. 8, the positioning pin 9 connected to the support tool 12 is pushed into the pin insertion hole 7 at the same time to be inserted, and conversely, the drive tool 14 moves the support tool 12 on the right side of FIG. To the right side of the pin insertion hole 7
The positioning pin 9 that has been inserted into the pin insertion hole 7 is removed from the pin insertion hole 7, and the positioning pin 10 supported by the left support 13 is simultaneously drawn into and inserted into the pin insertion hole 8. Therefore, one driver 14 slides the connectors 5 and 6 of the two or more optical switches 11 to switch the connection of the core wire 2.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 showing an example of the optical switch of the present invention, 5 and 6 are connectors, which are fiber insertion holes 21 and 22 into which the optical fiber 1 is inserted at the center in the width direction as shown in FIG. Are formed, and two pairs (four) of pin insertion holes 7 and 8 are formed on both outer sides thereof in parallel with the arrangement direction of the optical fibers 1. The pin insertion holes 7 and 8 are formed such that when the pin insertion holes 7 of one pair are aligned in a straight line, the pin insertion holes 8 of the other pair are slightly misaligned in the arrangement direction of the optical fibers 1. .

One optical fiber core wire 1 is inserted into the fiber insertion hole 21 of one connector 5 of FIG. 1 as shown in FIG. 2, and two optical fiber cores are inserted into the fiber insertion holes 22 of the other connectors 6. The wires 1 are inserted, and the tips 3 of the optical fibers 2 of the respective optical fiber core wires 1 are exposed at the joint end faces 4 of the connectors 5 and 6.

Numerals 9 and 10 in FIG. 1 are positioning pins, which are a pair of opposing pin insertion holes 7, as clearly shown in FIG.
The length should be such that it can be inserted over 8 and the tip 1
4 and 15 are formed in a taper. Further, the positioning pins 9 and 10 are arranged so as to be displaced by the positional deviation of the pin insertion holes 7 and 8. As a result, when the positioning pins 9 and 10 are pushed in with the pin insertion holes 7 and 8 displaced as shown in FIG. 2, the tapered tip portions 14 and 15 are pushed into the other pin insertion hole which is gradually displaced. The connectors 5 and 6 slide laterally so that the axes of the pin insertion holes 7 and 8 that have been displaced until then are aligned.

Numerals 12 and 13 in FIG. 1 are the positioning pins 9 and
An elongated plate-shaped support tool for supporting the connector 10. The support tool 10 is disposed on both sides of the connectors 5, 6 in the width direction, and is provided on the right side of the support tool 12.
A pair of outer positioning pins 10 are connected to the left side support, and a pair of inner side positioning pins 9 are connected to the left side support tool 13. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1B, the bottom surfaces of both the support members 12 and 13 are connected by a connecting member 15, and are interlocked by pushing and pulling back one driving body 14.

Reference numeral 14 in FIG. 1 denotes a driving body that pushes or pulls back the support tool 12. A solenoid, an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, a motor or the like is used for the driving body 14. These are selected according to the switching speed of the connectors 5 and 6.

Reference numeral 25 in FIG. 1 denotes a spring. The spring 25 is arranged between the side surfaces of the respective connectors 5 and 6 and the holders 26 arranged on the sides thereof, and the connectors 5 and 6 are arranged.
Is always pressed inward to press the joint end faces 4 of both connectors 5 and 6 so that the end faces 3 of the optical fibers 2 exposed at the joint end faces 4 are pressed against each other.

In FIG. 1, two positioning pins 9 and 10 are arranged on the left and right sides of the connectors 5 and 6, respectively, but four positioning pins 9 and 10 are projected on either the left or right side of the connectors 5 and 6. May be. In this case, the support tools 12, 13
Are arranged in the projecting direction, and the respective support tools 12, 1
Two pairs of locating pins 9 and 10 are separately attached to 3.

[0015]

The optical switch of the present invention has the following effects. ． Since the optical fiber core wires 1 of the large number of optical switches 11 can be switched at the same time, the switching operation is easy. ． Since the optical fiber core wires 1 of a large number of optical switches 11 can be switched at the same time, there is no variation in the switching of a large number of optical switches 11, and the reliability is improved. ． Since it is not necessary to provide the driving body 14 for each optical switch 11, the structure is simplified, the size can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a schematic plan view showing an example of an optical switch of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a connector in the optical switch of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a connector in a conventional optical switch.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional plan view of an optical fiber connection state of a conventional optical switch.

5 is a vertical plan view showing a state in which the connection of the optical fibers of the optical switch of FIG. 4 is switched.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical fiber core wire 2 Optical fiber 3 Tip part 4 Joining end surface 5, 6 Connector 7, 8 Pin insertion hole 9, Positioning pin 10, Switching pin 11 Optical switch 12, 13 Support tool 14 Driver

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Makoto Sato 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Two connectors 5 and 6 mounted to expose a front end portion 3 of an optical fiber 2 from which a coating on an end portion of an optical fiber core wire 1 is removed to a joint end surface 4, and a joint end surface 4 thereof.
When the positioning pins 9 are inserted into any of the two or more pin insertion holes 7 and 8 formed in the respective connectors 5 and 6, the optical fibers 2 of either of the connectors 5 and 6 are opposed to each other. They are connected to each other, the positioning pin 9 is removed from the pin insertion hole, and the other switching pin 1 is inserted into the other pin insertion hole.
When 0 is inserted, both connectors 5 and 6 slide relatively in the arrangement direction of the optical fibers 2, and the connection of the optical fibers 2 mounted on both connectors 5 and 6 is switched. Two or more optical switches 11 are arranged in parallel, and the positioning pin 9 of each optical switch 11 is attached to the support 1
2, the positioning pin 10 is connected by the support 13, and when the support 12 and 13 are pushed and pulled back by the driving body 14, the positioning pin 9 of each optical switch 11,
An optical switch characterized in that 10 can be inserted into and removed from the pin insertion holes 7 and 8 at the same time.