JPS5943525Y2 - Optical path movement mechanism - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to an optical path moving mechanism in an optical device.

Conventionally, as a typical example of such an optical path moving mechanism,
As shown in FIG. 1, there is a light guide 1 that uses optical fibers to move the optical path.

The optical path moving mechanism shown in FIG. 1 is convenient because it can transport light in any direction or even into a narrow space by bending the light guide 1. However, when a laser beam is used as the input light 4, the light path moving mechanism from the light guide 1 The disadvantage is that the output light 5 loses the characteristic of a laser beam that it is coherent, and the quantity of the output light 5 also becomes weak due to attenuation along the way in the light guide 1.

Also, conventionally, there is a method of transporting input light 4 to a required location using a reflecting mirror 2 and a prism 3, as shown in FIG.

In this case, when a laser beam is used as the input light 4,
The characteristics of laser light such as parallelism of light are not lost in the output light 5, but since the relationship between the input light 4 and the output light 5 is determined by the reflecting mirror 2 and the prism 3, the movement of the optical path and the destination of the light are affected. The disadvantage is that it is extremely limited.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an optical path moving mechanism that can transport light to a wide range of locations without losing the coherence of the laser beam or significantly reducing the amount of light even when a laser beam is used as input light. It's about doing.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows an optical device using an optical path moving mechanism 6 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This optical device is an optical path moving mechanism 6 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
and an optical scanning device I attached to this optical path moving mechanism 6.
and a laser oscillator 8 which is a fixed light emitting source,
Light 9 emitted from the laser oscillator 8 is guided to the optical scanning device 7 by reflecting mirrors 10 and 11 in the optical path moving mechanism 6.

The optical movement mechanism 6 has four pillars 12 forming each side of a parallelogram with vertices of 01,0°, 03,04,
13, 14, 15 and these four pillars 12, 13, 1
4 and 15 at four intersection points 01, 02, 03° 04 corresponding to the four vertices of the parallelogram, and rotary shafts 16, 17, 18, 19, and the support 13. The pillar 13 (first pillar member) is rotated so that the reflective mirror surface rotates around the first point (midpoint O8 in this example) located between both intersection points 01 and 02 of the pillar 13 (first pillar member). Intersection 01 of the first plane mirror 10 installed on the column (column member) and the column 12 (second column member) adjacent to the column 13 (first column member)
, 03, and is equal to the length from the intersection 01 of pillar 13 (first pillar member) and pillar 12 (second pillar member) to the first point (midpoint) Oo The first plane mirror 10 is attached to the support 12 so that the reflecting surface of the first plane mirror 10 always extends in the direction of the second point A1, which is away from the intersection O by the length.
(second pillar member), and extends parallel to the line connecting both intersection points 01 and 02 of the pillar 13 (first pillar member), for example in the C1 direction. The light 9 incident on the reflecting mirror surface of the first plane mirror 100 is reflected by the support 12 (second
The beam is always reflected in directions C2 and C2' parallel to the direction connecting the intersections 01 and 03 of the pillar members).

Furthermore, the optical path moving mechanism 6 is located at the intersections 02 and 04 of the pillar 14 (fourth pillar member) that opposes the pillar 12 (second pillar member).
from the intersection O by a length equal to the length from the intersection O of the columns 13 and 14 to the midpoint O8. A spring, rubber, etc. is used to connect the first plane mirror 10 to the support column 14 (fourth column member) so that the reflective surface of the first plane mirror 10 always extends in the direction of the distant point A2. Elastic material 2
1.

Furthermore, the optical path moving mechanism 6 moves to a third point (in this embodiment, the midpoint The second plane mirror 11 installed on the pillar 15 (third pillar member) so that the reflecting mirror surface rotates around the center axis 05) and the intersection point O□, 03 between the pillar 12 (second pillar member) and has a length equal to the length from the intersection 03 of the pillar 15 (third pillar member) and the pillar 12 (second pillar member) to the third point (midpoint) 05, so that the reflective mirror surface of the second plane mirror 110 always extends in the direction of the fourth point B1 away from the intersection 0,
An elastic member 22 such as a spring or rubber, which is a means for connecting the second plane mirror 11 to the support 12 (second pillar member), and a support 12 (
It is located at one point on the extension line of the intersection 04 side -\ between the pillar 15 and the pillar 14 of the line connecting both the intersections 02 and 04 of the pillar 14 (fourth pillar member) facing the pillar 14 (the fourth pillar member), and The second plane mirror 1 is always moved in the direction of a point B that is away from the intersection 04 by a length equal to the length from the intersection 04 of the support 15 and the support 14 to the midpoint O.
10 An elastic material 23 such as a spring or rubber that is a means of connecting the second plane mirror 11 to the support column 14 so that the reflecting mirror surface extends.
For example, C2 or C
In the 2' direction, the light 24 and 24 incident on the reflecting mirror surface of the second plane mirror 110 or the intersection point 0 of the pillar 15 (third pillar member)
The light is always reflected in directions C3 and 03' parallel to the line connecting lines 3 and 04.

In this way, the optical path moving mechanism 6 moves the vertical support 13 so that the horizontal support 12 and 14 and the vertical support 13 and 15 always form a parallelogram with different shapes without changing the lengths of the four sides.
Since the optical scanning device 7 is fixed to the vertical support 15 so as to receive the reflected light from the plane mirror 110, it can be moved to any desired location, and the optical scanning device 7 can be moved to any desired location by the optical path moving mechanism 6. Even when moving from place to place, laser light can always be supplied from a fixed direction without deviation of the optical axis.

In this way, the optical path moving mechanism 6 has a significant effect on expanding the action range of the optical scanning device 7.

The operation of the optical path moving mechanism 6 will be explained below.

When the light beam 9 from the laser oscillator 8 is incident on the reflecting mirror surface of the plane mirror 10 in parallel to the extending direction of the vertical support 13, for example, the third
If the vertical strut 13 and the horizontal struts 12 and 14 are at right angles as shown by the solid line in the figure, the reflecting surface of the plane mirror 100 has an angle of 45° with respect to the vertical strut 13, so the incident light 9
is bent in a direction C2 parallel to the transverse struts 12°14.

This reflected light 24 is further reflected by the vertical support 13.1 by the plane mirror 11.
5, the laser beam 9 is moved in parallel and guided to the optical scanning device 7.

Next, consider the case where the horizontal struts 12 and 14 are rotated by 2α degrees about the rotation axes 16 and 17, as shown by the imaginary lines in FIG. It can be bent in the direction C2' parallel to 14.

In other words, the optical path shifter 6 can always make the light reflected by the plane mirror 10 coincide with the moving direction of the horizontal columns 12 and 14 when the light is incident on the reflecting mirror surface of the plane mirror 100 in parallel to the extending direction of the vertical columns 13.

To prove this below, if the columns 12 and 14 are rotated by 2α degrees as shown by the imaginary lines in FIG.
A□ moves to A1', and A2 moves to A2', and accordingly, the reflecting mirror surface of the plane mirror 10 also rotates around Oo.

If the rotation angle of the reflective mirror surface of this plane mirror 10 is β, then β=
1010oA1-10100A1'.

△010oA□' is configured as O80 and 01A1', so it is an isosceles triangle.

Therefore, ZO1ooA1'=45°-α. Since the angle between the horizontal support 12 and the vertical support 13 is a right angle, zOlooAl before movement is ZO□0oA1=45°.

From the above, β2α, that is, syntax/column 1. If 2 and 14 are rotated by 2α degrees, the reflective surface of plane mirror 10 becomes 0.
It will rotate by half α degrees around °.

=Generally, when a ray of light enters a plane mirror and the reflected light is seen,
It is a well-known fact from the law of reflection that when a plane mirror is rotated by α degrees, the reflected light is rotated twice by 2α degrees.

Therefore, when the horizontal struts 12 and 14 are rotated by 2α degrees, the reflecting surface of the plane mirror 10 is rotated by α degrees, and the rotation angle is equal to the rotation angle of the syntax el 2 and 14, and the horizontal strut 1 is always rotated by α degrees.
Laser reflected light 9' can be obtained in the C2' direction parallel to 2 and 14.

Next, when the horizontal struts 12 and 14 are rotated by 2α degrees, considering the other plane mirror 11, the horizontal struts 12 and 14h are rotated by 2α degrees, B□ moves to B11, and B2 moves to 82'. Along with this, the reflecting mirror surface of the plane mirror 110 also rotates around 05.

In addition, in Fig. 3, 03', 04', and 05' are 03°04.0 after rotating the horizontal struts 12 and 14 by 2α degrees.
5 positions are shown respectively.

Since △0503B1 and △05'04'B2' are isosceles triangles, the plane mirror 110 is similar to the case of the plane mirror 10.
It can be easily understood that the rotation angle of the reflecting mirror surface is rotated by α degrees, which is half of the rotation angle of the support 120, 2α degrees.

Therefore, the reflected light 24' from the 02' direction is reflected again by the reflective surface of the plane mirror 110 and bent in the 03' direction, but since 010203'044 forms the apex of the parallelogram, C3' is It becomes parallel to C3 and the laser irradiation direction C.

Since the optical scanning device I is provided in the middle of C3 and C3', the optical scanning device 7 always receives the laser beam from a constant direction without causing deviation of the optical axis no matter how the horizontal columns 12 and 14 are moved. can be made incident.

Also, before the laser beam 9 enters the plane mirror 10, a mechanism 2 for rotating the entire optical path moving mechanism 6 around the laser beam 9 as a central axis.
If 5 is used, the possible range of optical path movement is further increased.
Therefore, the scannable range of the optical scanning device I also becomes larger.

Furthermore, questions A181 and A2B2 for horizontal columns 12 and 14
If the optical scanning device 7 is constructed so that it can be expanded and contracted by the same length at the same time, it becomes possible to move the optical scanning device 7 to any desired location over a wider range.

Moreover, it goes without saying that the elastic members 21 and 23 (or 20 and 22) may be omitted.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the plane mirrors 10 and 11 are made of elastic material 20.
21, 22, and 23 are used to communicate with the horizontal struts and 14, however, communication means other than the above-mentioned elastic members may be used.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a plane mirror mounting plate 28 is passed between the sills 26 and 27 provided at points A1 and A2 of the horizontal struts 1, 2 and 14, and the plane mirror 10 and this mounting plate 28 are connected by a shaft. The shaft may be supported by a hole provided at the midpoint of the vertical support 13 at 0°.

The center of rotation of the plane mirror 100 is 01,0 of the vertical support 13.
O□ other than the midpoint O8 between 2.

It may also be a point between 02 and 02.

In this case, it goes without saying that it is better to move the rotation center of the plane mirror 110 to a point between 03 and 04 of the vertical support 15, corresponding to the rotation center of the plane mirror 100.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that the supports 12, 13, 14, 15 are not limited to linearly extending bar-like structures.

As explained above, according to the present invention, even when a laser beam is used as input light, the optical path moving mechanism can transport the light to a wide range of locations without losing the coherence of the laser beam or significantly reducing the light intensity. is obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are schematic configuration diagrams showing a conventional optical path moving mechanism, FIG. 3 is a front view of an optical device using an optical path moving mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a plane mirror 1.
FIG. 6 is a partial front view for explaining another example of communication means to the horizontal struts 12 and 14 of 0; 6... Optical path moving mechanism characterized by the present invention, 7.
. . . Optical scanning device, 8 . . . Laser oscillator, 10 and 11 . . . Plane mirror, 12 and 14.
...Horizontal struts, 13 and 15...Miss struts,
i6. i7. i8 and 19... Rotating shaft that rotatably connects the four pillars to each other, 20, 21, 22 and 23... Elastic material, 28...: Plane mirror mounting plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] four pillar members each forming four sides of a parallelogram;
means for rotatably connecting the four pillar members to each other at each intersection corresponding to each vertex of the parallelogram; and a first pillar member that is one of the four pillar members. a first plane mirror installed on the first pillar member, and a mirror adjacent to the first pillar member so that the reflecting mirror surface rotates about a first point located between the two receiving points as a central axis; It is located at a point between both receiving points of a second pillar member, which is one of the pillar members, and is connected to the first pillar member and the second pillar member.
A second column member separated from the intersection of the first column member and the second column member by a length equal to the length from the intersection with the column member to the first point of the first column member. such that the reflective mirror surface of the first plane mirror always extends in the direction of the point,
means for connecting the first plane mirror to the second column member; and a third point located between both receiving points of the third column member facing the first column member as a central axis. , the second plane mirror installed on the third column member is located at a point between both receiving points of the second column member so that the reflecting mirror surface rotates, and the third column member and the second column member by a length equal to the length from the intersection of the third column member and the second column member to the third point of the third column member. means for connecting the second plane mirror to the second pillar member so that the reflective mirror surface of the second plane mirror always extends in the direction of a fourth point separated from the second point; Light incident on the reflecting mirror surface of the first plane mirror parallel to a line connecting both intersection points of the first column member is constantly reflected in a direction parallel to a line connecting both intersection points of the second column member, An optical path moving mechanism characterized in that the light is incident on the reflecting mirror surface of the second plane mirror and is always reflected in a direction parallel to a line connecting both intersection points of the third pillar member.