JPH0996748A - Supporting device for optical parts - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize the supporting device of optical parts used for adjusting the direction of the optical parts with high resolution. SOLUTION: When an adjusting screw 32 rotates clockwise once, the screw 32 goes forward in a fixing plate 11 direction by 0.5mm equivalent to the pitch of a screw thread 321 on the outside surface. Since the rotation of a bearing screw 52 screwed to the screw 32 is restrained by a pin 54, the screw 52 goes backward with respect to the plate 11 direction by 0.45mm equivalent to the pitch of the screw thread 521 on the outside surface. Since the screws 32 and 52 are actually simultaneously operated, the screw 32 goes forward in the fixing plate 11 direction by 0.5mm-0.45mm=0.05mm per one rotation as a result.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a supporting device for an optical component used for adjusting an angle of an optical component, and more particularly to a supporting device for an optical component by a kinematic mount system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, inside an optical device such as a laser displacement meter, by using optical parts such as a polarizer and a reflecting mirror, the polarization direction of light is changed or reflected to change the direction of the optical axis. are doing. The optical components used for this purpose need to be fixed by accurately adjusting their positions and angles. As a device for adjusting the position and angle of this optical component, there is a supporting device of a kinematic mount system.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a conventional kinematic mount type supporting device. Support device 8
0 is mainly the fixing plate 8 to which the optical component 81 is fixed.
2 and a support base 83 that supports the fixed plate 82. The optical component 81 is a reflecting mirror or the like,
It is fixed to the fixing plate 82 with an adhesive or the like.

In the screw holes 831 and 832 of the support base 83,
Adjustment screws 841 and 842 are screwed together. The adjusting screw 841 contacts the flat portion 821 of the fixed plate 82 via the steel ball 871. On the other hand, the adjusting screw 842 is provided with the V-groove 8 formed in the fixing plate 82 via the steel ball 872.
Abut 22. Further, the fixed plate 82 and the support base 83
A steel ball 873 is provided between and. Steel ball 873 is
The fixing plate 82 is fitted into the mortar-shaped hole 823.

Springs 851 and 852 are inserted into the holes 833 and 834 of the support base 83, respectively.
Screws 861 and 862 are inserted through 51 and 852. The holes 833 and 834 have a smaller diameter on the side of the fixed plate 82, and the springs 851 and 852 come into contact with the narrowed portions. On the other hand, the screws 861 and 862 have holes 83
3, 834 through the screw hole 82 of the fixing plate 82
It is screwed to 4,825.

The supporting device 80 thus assembled is
By rotating the adjusting screw 841, the fixed plate 82 is pushed and pulled about a straight line passing through the centers of the steel ball 873 and the adjusting screw 842, and as a result, the fixed plate 82 is pushed.
Rotates around a steel ball 873. Similarly, adjusting screw 84
By rotating 2, the steel ball 873 and the adjusting screw 84
The fixed plate 82 is pushed and pulled around a straight line passing through each center of the No. 1 as a result, and as a result, the fixed plate 82 becomes a steel ball 873.
Around the center. In this way, two adjustment screws 84
1,842 can adjust the direction of the optical component 81,
It can be fixed in that state.

[0007]

However, in such a kinematic mount type structure, since the steel ball 873 is used as the rotating shaft, the steel ball 873 and each adjusting screw 84 are used.
The distance from 1, 842 determines the resolution of the support device 81 together with the pitch of the adjusting screws 841, 842. Therefore, if the distance between the steel ball 873 and each of the adjusting screws 841 and 842 is reduced by downsizing the supporting device 81, the resolution of the supporting device 81 becomes poor. Adjustment screw 8 to compensate for this
Even if an attempt is made to reduce the pitch of 41 and 842, there is a limit to miniaturization. Therefore, with the conventional structure, it is difficult to realize a small-sized high-resolution support device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a supporting device for an optical component, which can realize a small-sized supporting device with high resolution.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, in a supporting device for an optical component used for adjusting the orientation of an optical component, a fixing member to which the optical component is fixed, and the fixing member. A support member that supports the member, a shaft support mechanism portion that supports the fixed member with respect to the support member at a specific fulcrum, and a rotation direction of the fixed member with respect to at least one shaft that passes through the fulcrum. A differential type adjustment screw mechanism section is provided, and a supporting device for an optical component is provided.

In such an optical component supporting device, the fixing member to which the optical component is fixed is supported by the supporting member,
By adjusting the differential type adjusting screw mechanism portion, it is possible to adjust the rotation direction of the fixing member with respect to at least one shaft passing through a specific fulcrum. Here, the differential type adjusting screw is formed by concentrically screwing screws having different pitches to each other, and it is possible to perform fine feed of the pitch difference between the two. Therefore, even if the distance between the fulcrum and the differential adjustment screw is shortened, the resolution of the angle adjustment of the fixing member can be increased, and a small-sized supporting device suitable for a micro optical component can be realized.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a supporting device for an optical component of the present embodiment, as seen from the side of a fixed plate. Further, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the supporting device as viewed from the supporting base side. Further, FIG. 4 is a front view as seen from the support base side of the support device. The support device 10 of the present embodiment mainly includes a fixed plate 11 to which the optical component 13 is fixed, and a support base 12 that supports the fixed plate 11.
The optical component 13 is a reflecting mirror or the like and is fixed to the fixing plate 11 with an adhesive or the like. The fixed plate 11 is made of high-strength duralumin.

The support base 12 is fixed to the inside of the optical device by screwing the mounting piece 120 thereof. The support 12 is made of high-strength duralumin like the fixed plate 11.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, screws 21 and 22 are attached to the support base 12. Further, the support base 12 has a differential type adjusting screws 31 and 32.
Is provided. A plurality of holes 31a and 32a are formed in the adjusting screws 31 and 32, respectively, and the adjusting screws 31 and 32 can be turned by inserting a thin rod-shaped member.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a specific structure of the supporting device 10. Adjustment screws 31, 32 made of stainless steel are screwed into the two screw holes 121, 122 formed on the diagonal of the support base 12, respectively. Adjusting screw 31,
32 are screw threads 311 and 321 on the outer surface of the shaft, respectively.
However, a screw hole described below is formed inside the shaft. here,
The threads 311 and 321 are right-hand threads, for example, each having a diameter of 4 mm and a pitch of 0.5 mm.

The shafts of stainless steel receiving screws 51 and 52 are screwed into the screw holes inside the adjusting screws 31 and 32, respectively. On the outer surface of each shaft of the receiving screws 51, 52,
Threads 511, 521 are formed. Screw thread 51
Reference numerals 1 and 521 are right-handed screws each having a diameter of 2.5 mm and a pitch of 0.45 mm.
Further, the heads of the receiving screws 51, 52 have notches 51a,
52a is formed, and the pins 53 and 54 fixed to the support base 12 are fitted therein. With these pins 53 and 54,
Rotation of the receiving screws 51 and 52 is restricted, and the receiving screws 51 and 52 are movable only in the axial direction.

Screw holes 312 and 322, which communicate with the screw holes inside the shaft, are formed in the heads of the adjusting screws 31 and 32. After adjusting the orientation of the fixed plate 11, the set screws 33, 3 are inserted into the holes 312, 322 through the steels 35, 36.
4 is tightened.

Holes 123 and 124 formed in the support base 12
The springs 23 and 24 are respectively inserted into the springs, and the screws 21 and 22 are further inserted through the springs 23 and 24.
The diameters of the holes 123 and 124 on the side of the fixed plate 11 are narrowed, and the springs 23 and 24 contact the narrowed portions. On the other hand, the screws 21 and 22 are screwed into the screw holes 112 and 113 of the fixed plate 11 through the holes 123 and 124.

A hole 111 is formed in one corner of the surface of the fixed plate 11 on the support base 12 side. Further, holes 114, 11 are provided at positions facing the screw holes 123, 124.
5 are formed. Further, a screw hole 112 is formed at an intermediate position between the holes 111 and 114, and a screw hole 113 is formed at an intermediate position between the holes 112 and 115. here,
The line connecting the centers of the holes 111 and 114 is the hole 11
It is formed so as to be substantially perpendicular to the line connecting the center of 1 and the center of the hole 115.

The hole 111 is formed in a mortar shape,
The steel ball 41 is fitted. The hole 114 has a flat bottom, and the steel ball 42 abuts on the bottom. V in hole 115
A groove is formed. A steel ball 43 is fitted in this V groove. In this way, the fixed plate 11 includes the steel balls 41, 42,
It is attached to the support base 12 via 43. At this time,
The steel ball 42 is fitted to the head of the receiving screw 51. on the other hand,
A steel ball 43 is fitted on the head of the receiving screw 52.

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of the structure of the supporting device 10 after assembly as seen from the side. As shown in the figure,
The screw 22 resists the elastic force of the spring 24 and fixes the fixed plate 1
It is screwed to 1. As a result, the fixed plate 11 is
It is attracted to the support base 12 side by the screw 22.
Similarly, the fixing plate 11 is also pulled toward the support base 12 by the screw 21 shown in FIG. The fixed plate 11 receives the attraction force of these screws 21, 22 at the contact points with the three steel balls 41, 42, 43. Further, the force of pulling the fixing plate 11 is adjusted by the tightening degree of the screws 21 and 22, and is set to, for example, 0.4 kg in this embodiment. The fixed plate 1
In No. 1, lateral displacement is prevented by the V groove shape of the hole 115.

Next, the operation of adjusting the direction of the fixed plate 11 in the supporting device 10 having such a structure will be described. First, for example, when a thin rod-shaped member is inserted into the hole 31b of the adjustment screw 32 shown in FIG. 1 and rotated once clockwise, the adjustment screw 32 has the thread 321 on the outer surface thereof.
The pitch is moved by 0.5 mm toward the fixed plate 11. On the other hand, a receiving screw 52 screwed into the adjusting screw 32
Also tries to rotate in the same direction as the adjusting screw 32 due to friction with the screw hole 323 of the adjusting screw 32, but since the rotation is restricted by the pin 54, the screw on the outer surface thereof is opposite to the adjusting screw 32. 0.45 mm pitch for mountain 521
Only the fixed plate 11 moves backward with respect to the direction.

These adjusting screw 32 and receiving screw 52
Actually operate simultaneously, so that the adjustment screw 32 is 0.5 mm-0.45 mm = 0.00 per rotation.
Move forward in the direction of the fixed plate 11 by 5 mm. As a result, the fixed plate 11 rotates about a straight line connecting the center of the steel ball 41 and the center of the steel ball 42 shown in FIG. 5, and the orientation of the optical component 13 in this direction is adjusted.

Here, assuming that the distance between the center of the steel ball 41 serving as a fulcrum and the center of the steel ball 43 serving as a point of action pressed by the adjusting screw 32 is 10 mm, the portion where the steel ball 43 contacts the hole 115. Therefore, the tilt angle θ of the fixed plate 11 is simply θ = tan ⁻¹ (0.05 / 10) = 0.29 °. This is the same performance as a supporting device using a screw having a distance between the center of the steel ball 41 and the center of the steel ball 43 of 100 mm and a pitch of 0.5 mm. Therefore, it has been shown that a high resolution can be obtained while the size can be considerably reduced.

Like the adjusting screw 32, the adjusting screw 31
By rotating, the fixed plate 11 rotates about a straight line connecting the center of the steel ball 41 and the center of the steel ball 43, and the orientation of the optical component 13 in this direction is adjusted.

When the adjustment is completed in this way, the adjusting screw 3
Set screws 3 are provided in the holes 312 and 322 of 1 and 32, respectively.
3 and 34 are screwed in, and the receiving screws 51 and 52 are pushed and tightened. As a result, the set screws 33 and 34 serve as double nuts for the receiving screws 51 and 52, so that the receiving screws 51 and 52 do not easily loosen with respect to the adjusting screws 31 and 32. At this time, the set screw 3
3 and the receiving screw 51, the set screw 34 and the receiving screw 52
By inserting the steel balls 35 and 36 between and, it is possible to prevent the receiving screws 51 and 52 from being adversely affected by the tightening of the set screws 33 and 34.

In this embodiment, an example in which the support device 10 is fixed so that the surface of the fixed plate 11 is vertical has been shown, but it is naturally possible to use it when the surface of the fixed plate 11 is horizontal. is there.

Further, in the present embodiment, the pitch of the screw threads 311 and 321 of the adjusting screws 31 and 32 is set to be larger than the pitch of the screw threads 511 and 521 of the screws 51 and 52, but this may be reversed. Good. However, in this case, the fixing plate 11 with respect to the rotation direction of the adjusting screws 31 and 32.
The moving direction of is opposite to the above example.

Further, in the present embodiment, the adjusting screws 31, 32 are
The support plate 12 is screwed to the fixed plate 1
It may be screwed into 1. In this case, the heads of the receiving screws 51 and 52 are brought into contact with the support base 12 side.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, an example in which the rectangular parallelepiped optical component 13 is fixed is shown. However, the fixing plate 11
By changing the shape or the fixing method, it is possible to fix a cylindrical fiber collimator, a SELFOC lens, a disc-shaped concavo-convex lens, etc. and adjust the direction thereof.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a supporting device according to another embodiment of the present invention, as seen from the side of the fixed plate. Further, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a supporting device of another form, as viewed from the supporting base side. Like the supporting device 10, the supporting device 60 mainly includes a fixed plate 61 and a supporting base 62. The support base 62 is fixed in the optical device by screwing the attachment piece 620. On the other hand, the fixed plate 61 is attached to the support base 62 side by screws 621 and 622, and the orientation thereof is adjusted by differential type adjustment screws 623 and 624. Screw 6
21, 622, the adjusting screws 623, 624, and other adjusting mechanisms are almost the same as those of the supporting device 10 described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

The fixing plate 61 of the supporting device 60 of this embodiment
Has a hole (not shown) formed in the center thereof. The optical fiber 70 is inserted into this hole. The optical fiber 70 is fixed by a fixed block 71. At this time, the end surface 70a of the optical fiber 70 is set to be parallel to the surface of the fixed plate 61. On the other hand, the support pedestal 61 also has a hole 625 formed in the center thereof. The optical fiber 70 is inserted into the hole 625.

In this way, the supporting device 60 is connected to the optical fiber 70.
By fixing the direction of the fixing plate 61 with the adjusting screws 623 and 624 in the state in which is fixed, the direction of the end face 70a of the optical fiber 70 can also be adjusted.

[0033]

As described above, in the present invention, the rotation direction of the fixing member with respect to at least one shaft passing through the specific fulcrum is adjusted by the differential type adjusting screw mechanism portion, so that the fine feed can be performed. Will be possible. Therefore, the resolution of the angle adjustment of the fixing member can be increased, and a small-sized supporting device suitable for a micro optical component can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a support device after assembly as seen from a side surface.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a supporting device as seen from a fixed plate side.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a supporting device as viewed from a supporting base side.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the supporting device as viewed from the support base side.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a specific configuration of a supporting device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a supporting device according to another embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the side of a fixed plate.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of a support device of another embodiment, as viewed from the support base side.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a conventional kinematic mount type supporting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Support Device 11 Fixing Plate 12 Support Base 13 Optical Components 21,22 Screw 23,24 Spring 31,32 Adjusting Screw 33,34 Set Screw 41,42,43 Steel Ball 51,52 Receiving Screw

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A device for supporting an optical component used for adjusting the orientation of an optical component, comprising: a fixing member to which the optical component is fixed; a supporting member supporting the fixing member; And a differential type adjusting screw mechanism section for adjusting the rotation direction of the fixing member with respect to at least one shaft passing through the fulcrum. Supporting device for optical components. 2. The two differential type adjusting screw mechanisms are provided so as to respectively adjust the rotation directions of the fixing member with respect to two mutually orthogonal axes passing through the fulcrum. Supporting device for optical components. 3. The differential type adjusting screw mechanism portion has an adjusting screw in which a screw thread on an outer surface of a shaft is screwed into a screw hole of the supporting member, and a pitch of a screw thread on an outer surface of the adjusting screw is different. A thread having a pitch of a size is formed on the outer surface of the shaft, and the thread is screwed into a screw hole formed on the inner side of the shaft of the adjusting screw in a state in which the rotation is restricted, and the head is The support device for an optical component according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving screw that abuts against the fixing member. 4. The differential type adjusting screw mechanism portion has an adjusting screw in which a screw thread on an outer surface of a shaft is screwed into a screw hole of the fixing member and a pitch of a screw thread on an outer surface of the adjusting screw. A receiving screw in which a screw thread having a pitch of a size is formed on the outer surface of the shaft, the screw thread is screwed into a screw hole formed on the inner side of the shaft of the adjusting screw, and the head is in contact with the supporting member. The support device for an optical component according to claim 1, further comprising: 5. A head screw hole communicating with a screw hole formed inside the shaft is formed on a head side of the adjusting screw,
4. A supporting device for an optical component according to claim 3, wherein a set screw can be screwed into the head screw hole so as to come into contact with the shaft of the receiving screw. 6. The support device for an optical component according to claim 3, wherein a hole for a rod-shaped member, into which the rod-shaped member can be inserted and rotated, is formed in the head of the adjusting screw. 7. The shaft support mechanism is provided between the fixing member and the support member and fits into a hole formed at one corner of the fixing member, and a center of the shaft supporting member. 2. An attracting screw that is provided between the differential type adjusting screw mechanism and a shaft core of the differential type adjusting screw mechanism and that attracts the fixing member to the supporting member side in combination with a spring. Supporting device for optical components.