JPH0717054Y2 - Light switch - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to an optical switch used for switching an optical path in optical communication.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as an optical switch of this type, there is one shown in FIG. 5, for example.

That is, a pair of cores 3a and 4a made of magnetic metal are spot-welded to both poles of a character-shaped return conductor 2 that winds the coil 1 to form a magnetic circuit, and the tips of the cores 3a and 4a are opposed to each other. . Between the pair of cores 3a, 4a, a bottom plate 5a made of non-magnetic metal
Are erected at a right angle on the lower surfaces of the cores 3a, 5a by laser welding. A movable piece 7 made of a magnetic metal and having elasticity in the lower middle portion is joined to one core 3a by spot welding and cantilevered, and the tip is positioned on the other core 4a. It is supposed to do.

On the other hand, the ends of the input optical fiber cable 8 and the two output optical fiber cables 9 and 10 are fixed holder 1 respectively.
1, it is fitted in a V groove 13 provided in the movable holder 12 and fixed by an adhesive. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the fixed holders 11 of the output optical fiber cables 9 and 10 are fixed to the core 3a side of the bottom plate 5a. The movable holder 12 of the input optical fiber cable 8 is mounted on a return spring 15 which is cantilevered with one end fixed to a protrusion 15a protruding from the bottom plate 5a. The movable holder 12 is biased upward by the return spring 15 so that its upper surface is in pressure contact with the lower surface of the core 4a, and its rear surface is slidably in contact with the bottom plate 5a.

Here, the end of the input optical fiber cable 8 and the end of the upper output optical fiber cable 9 are coaxially opposed to each other, and the step 14 provided on the movable holder 12 and the projection 6 of the movable piece 7 are provided. Are facing each other.

Then, when the stepped portion 14 of the movable holder 12 is pressed by the protrusion 6 of the movable piece 7, the spring reaction force of the return spring 15 imparts an upward return force.

5 and 6, when the coil 1 is energized to excite the return conductor 2, the movable piece 7 is attracted to the core 4a, and the protrusion 6 presses the stepped portion 14 of the movable holder 12. As shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 6, the return spring 15 bends, the movable block 12 moves downward, and the input optical fiber cable 8 that was positioned opposite the output optical fiber cable 9
Is located opposite the output optical fiber cable 10 and the optical path is switched. When the return conductor 2 is demagnetized, the movable piece 7 returns by its own elasticity and
Since the movable holder 12 is returned by the return spring 15, the input optical fiber cable 8 is positioned facing the output optical fiber cable 9 and switched to the original optical path.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, in the conventional optical switch, the core is
The 3a, 4a and the bottom plate 5a serve as positioning guides for the fixed holder 11 and the movable holder 12. If the fixed holder 11 and the movable holder 12 are not correctly positioned,
Positional misalignment and angular misalignment occur between the input optical fiber cable 8 and the output optical fiber cables 9 and 10, causing optical loss. Therefore, high accuracy is required for the positions and squareness of the cores 3a and 4a and the bottom plate 5a, and it takes time to process and the manufacturing cost increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an optical switch in which a core and a bottom plate can be easily processed with high precision and which causes little optical loss.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes that a core made of a magnetic metal connected to both poles of a return conductor constituting an electromagnet is positioned to face each other, and a non-magnetic metal is interposed between the cores. A bottom plate made up of the above, and an optical fiber cable for input and two optical fiber cables for output are provided on the bottom plate so as to face each other via a movable holder and a fixed holder, respectively, and one end is provided on one core. The movable piece, which is supported in a cantilever manner and the other end of which is in contact with the movable holder of the input optical fiber cable, is swung by opening and closing the magnetic circuit so that the input optical fiber cable faces one of the output optical fiber cables. In the optical switch in which the optical path is selectively switched, the pair of cores and the bottom plate are sandwiched by a non-magnetic metal and a magnetic metal. It is formed by bending a laminated plate and integrally forming it.

(Embodiment) Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 1a show an optical switch according to the present invention, and FIG.
The conventional optical switch shown in FIGS. 6 and 6 has a pair of cores 3,
It is substantially the same except that 4 and the bottom plate 5 are integrally formed, and corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

That is, the pair of cores 3 and 4 and the bottom plate 5 are formed by the laminated plate 16 shown in FIG. The laminated plate 16 is formed by cutting a non-magnetic metal 17 sandwiched by magnetic metals 18 and laminated, for example, a clad steel plate in the plate thickness direction. Then, the laminated plate 16 is integrally framed with a letter portion which will be the bottom plate 5 and rectangular portions which are the cores 3 and 4 at both ends of the letter portion, and after punching as shown in FIG. The portion A is bent by pressing to form the cores 3 and 4 and the bottom plate 5 as shown in FIG. At this time, the non-magnetic metal 17 is located at the center of the bottom plate 5 so that the cores 3 and 4 become the magnetic metal 18.

In this way, the core 3 and the core 4 are simultaneously formed by pressing the laminated plate 16, so that the positional relationship between them is accurately determined. Further, by improving the bending accuracy during press working, the perpendicularity between the cores 3 and 4 and the bottom plate 5 can be maintained with high accuracy.

Next, the integral parts are attached to the return conductor 2 by joining the cores 3 and 4 of the integral part shown in FIG. 4 formed as described above to both poles of the return conductor 2. Then, after joining the movable piece 7 to one core 3, the fixed holder 11 is fixed to the core 3 side of the bottom plate 5. At this time, the upper surface of the fixed holder 11 can be vertically positioned by abutting the lower surface of the core 3, and the rear surface of the fixed holder 11 can be horizontally positioned by abutting the bottom plate. it can. Next, after fixing the return spring 15 to the bottom plate 5 via the protrusion 15a, the movable holder 12 is mounted on the return spring 15. At this time, the upper surface of the movable holder 12 is pressed against the lower surface of the core 4. By bringing the back surface into contact with the bottom plate 5, it is possible to perform vertical and horizontal positioning.

Further, the cores 3 and 4 and the bottom plate 5 are integrally formed by press working as described above, and the positional relationship between them, especially the flatness of the cores 3 and 4 and the directness of the cores 3 and 4 and the bottom plate 5 are the same. Since the angle is maintained with high precision, the fixed holder
Even if the 11 and the movable holder 12 are separately fixed and fixed as described above, the output fiber cables 9 and 10 attached to the fixed holder 11 and the input fiber cable 8 attached to the movable holder 12 are highly accurate. Can be positioned opposite to.

The operation of the optical switch according to this embodiment is similar to that of the conventional optical switch. That is, the movable piece 7 is attracted to the core 4 by the excitation of the return conductor 2, and the projection 6 of the movable piece 7 is attracted.
As a result of pressing the step portion 14 of the movable holder 12, the return spring 15 bends and the movable holder 12 moves downward as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. The optical path is switched at a position facing the fiber cable 10. Further, as a result of the return conductor 2 being demagnetized, the movable piece 7 is returned by its own elasticity, and the movable holder 12 is also returned by the return spring 15, so that the input optical fiber cable 8 is positioned opposite the output optical fiber cable 9, It can be switched to the original optical path.

(Effects of the Invention) As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the pair of cores and the bottom plate of the optical switch are integrally formed by bending a non-magnetic metal laminated with a magnetic metal. Since it is formed in the above, the processing cost is reduced because the processing is easy and the processing time can be shortened. Then, the positional accuracy of the pair of cores and the squareness of the pair of cores and the bottom plate become highly accurate, the input and output fiber cables can be positioned to face each other with high accuracy, and optical loss is reduced. Have

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an optical switch according to the present invention, FIG. 1a is a perspective view of the optical switch according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a laminated plate, and FIG. 3 shows parts punched from the laminated plate. Perspective view,
4 is a perspective view showing an integrally molded component of a core and a bottom plate obtained by bending the component shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional optical switch, and FIG. 6 is a front face of the conventional optical switch. It is a figure. 2 ... Return conductor, 3, 4 ... Core, 5 ... Bottom plate, 7 ... Movable piece, 8 ... Input fiber cable, 9, 10
… Output fiber cable, 11… Fixed holder, 12… Movable holder, 16… Laminated board.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A core made of magnetic metal connected to both poles of a return conductor constituting an electromagnet is positioned to face each other, and a bottom plate made of non-magnetic metal is installed between the cores.
An input optical fiber cable and two output optical fiber cables are provided on the bottom plate so as to face each other via a movable holder and a fixed holder, respectively, and one end is cantilevered by one core and the other end is The movable piece that abuts the movable holder of the input optical fiber cable is swung by opening and closing the magnetic circuit, and the input optical fiber cable is positioned to face one of the output optical fiber cables to selectively switch the optical path. In the above optical switch, the pair of cores and the bottom plate are integrally formed by bending a laminated plate in which a non-magnetic metal is sandwiched with a magnetic metal.