JPS6017408A - Optical rotary connector device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transmit and receive simultaneously and continuously an optical signal to and from each fiber core by fitting each fiber core in a multicore optical fiber cable, to a rotary plate which rotates on its revolving shaft together with a rotating body. CONSTITUTION:When a drum 1 rotates, a multicore optical fiber cable 5 is fed out and wound from the drum 1, and when each fiber core 5a-5d rotates together with the drum 1, a rotary plate 12 and a rotary member 15 synchronize with the drum 1 and rotate in the same direction. Accordingly, a relative position relation between each fiber core 5a-5d and each turning member 15 is not varied, and when the drum 1 is rotating, an output optical signal from the first fiber core 5a is focused by a focusing rod lens 20 of the rotary member 15 in the vicinity of the rotary plate, passes successively through a hole 15b of other turning member 15, inputted to a focusing rod lens 21a of a guide member 21 in the turning member 15 of the other end of a frame body 11, guided by an optical fiber 21c and other focusing rod lens 21b, led onto a revolving shaft of the rotary plate 12, and fetched to the outside of the drum 1 by a fiber core 6a of a fiber cable 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field of the Invention) The present invention relates to an optical rotary connector device for extracting optical signals from a multi-core optical fiber cable that is fed out or taken out from a rotating body or for inputting all original signals to the cable. Regarding.

(Technical Background of the Invention) In recent years, optical fiber cables have been used for image monitoring of equipment including rotating bodies, such as elevators, tunnel excavators, and submarine exploration vehicles.

That is, while repeating the operation of letting out and pulling out the optical fiber cable from a rotating body such as a drum, the inside of the elevator is monitored using the monitor camera connected to it, and the inside of the mechanism tunnel and the seabed are explored. There is.

(Problems in the Background Art) However, conventionally, there is only an optical rotary connector that connects one fiber core to each other, and for this reason, optical signals are transmitted from a rotating body from both ends of the rotating shaft. It was only possible to take out or feed in succession.

Therefore, the amount of information that can be sent and received is limited, and it has not always been possible to perform satisfactory image monitoring.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to provide an optical rotary system capable of simultaneously and continuously transmitting and receiving optical signals to and from each fiber core of a multi-core optical fiber cable that is paid out or taken out from a rotating body.
There is a complete supply of connector equipment.

(J#5) The present invention relates to each fiber core in a multi-core optical fiber cable for outputting optical signals from a rotating body, and a rotating plate that rotates on its rotation axis together with the rotating body. an optical signal guide provided on each of a plurality of rotating members that rotates on the rotating shaft in synchronization with the rotating plate, and transmits parallel signals outputted from each fiber core parallel to the rotating shaft; By guiding each parallel light signal onto the rotating shaft by a member, each of the parallel light signals is reflected by a reflecting member provided between the rotating members and taken out to the outside of the rotating body, or an optical signal from the outside is reflected by the reflecting member and reflected from the rotating member. The optical signal is guided onto a rotating shaft and inputted to each of the fiber cores by the optical signal guide member.

(Example of the invention) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to all the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the attachment of the optical rotary connector device 10 of the present invention to a drum 1 used as a rotating body of an undersea probe or the like. That is, the drum 1 is rotatably supported via a bearing 4, and a multi-core optical fiber cable 5 is wound around the body 2 of the drum 1. On the other hand, in the optical rotary connector device 10 of the present invention, each fiber core wire 6a of the input/output optical fiber cable 6 connected to a monitor section, a control section, etc. is attached near one collar section 6 of the drum 1. The support member 7 is fixedly disposed throughout the support member 7. and,
The first to fourth fiber cores 5a to 4 of the multi-core optical fiber cable 5 are connected to a rotating plate 12 (described later) of this connector device 1o.
5d is installed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical rotary connector device 1o of the present invention includes a frame 11 that is fixedly supported by the support member 7 (see FIG. 1). The above-mentioned rotating plate 12 is disposed on one end side of this frame 11, and this rotating plate 12 is attached to the flange 3 of the drum 1 so as to rotate about the entire rotation axis of the drum 1 (see Fig. 1). reference). Frame 1 of rotating plate 12
A plurality of connectors 1 are attached to the thick wall portion 12a that protrudes into the inside of the
6 is screwed in via the spring 14, and each connector 16
Each of the first to fourth fiber cores 5a to 5d described above is
are each optically connected. Inside the frame 11, a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) rotating members 15 are arranged in a line along the rotation axis of the rotating plate 120, and each rotating member 15 is connected to the rotating plate 12 within the frame. It is rotatably supported by a bearing 16 with its rotation axis aligned with the rotation axis. Teeth 15a are provided on the circumferential surface of each rotating member 150.
A gear 17 is meshed with the gear 8. Each gear 17 is disposed below the frame 11 parallel to the rotation axis of the rotary plate 12 and is attached to a transmission shaft 19 rotatably supported by a bearing 17a and a positioning collar 18. Since the rotating plate 12 is fixed to the side surface of the nearby rotating member 15, when the rotating plate 12 rotates together with the 10 rotations of the drum, the nearby rotating member 15 also rotates in synchronization, and its rotational force is connected to the other rotating member 15 via each gear 17t.
transmitted to. Therefore, the rotating plate 12 and all rotating members 15 rotate in the same direction in synchronization with the rotation of the drum 1.

The rotating member 15 in the vicinity of the rotating plate 12 has a hole that penetrates in the thickness direction of the rotating member 15 at a position facing each connector 13 of the rotating plate 12.
That is, the hole 15 for optical signal passage parallel to the rotation axis of the rotary plate 120.
A plurality of holes 15b are provided, and a focusing rod lens 20 is provided in each hole 15b. In addition, the rotating member 15.15 located at the center has holes 15b for passing optical signals from the first and fourth fiber cores 5a and 5d, respectively.
is provided. An optical signal guide member 21 is provided in each of the rotating members 15 other than the rotating member near the rotating plate 12. Each guide member 21/a, rotation member 15
A focusing rod lens 21 located on the surface on the rotating plate 12 side of
a, and a focusing rod lens 21 located on the rotation axis of the rotating plate 12 (the rotating member 15) on the opposite side of the rotating member 150.
b, and an optical fiber 2IC that optically connects these lenses.

The second fiber core 5b is attached to the rotary plate 12 so as to be located on its rotation axis, and the hole 1 of the nearby rotating member 15 used for transmitting and receiving optical signals of the fiber core 5b is attached to the rotating plate 12 so as to be located on the rotation axis.
The focusing rod lens 20 in 5b has the function of the optical signal guide section 21 described above.

A transparent glass plate 22 is fixedly arranged between the rotating members 15 of the frame 11. Each transparent glass plate 22 has a prism 26 as a reflective member at a position facing the focusing rod lens 21b of each guide member 21 and the guide function focusing rod lens 20 located on the rotation axis of the rotating plate 12.
are installed respectively. Further, a plurality of connectors 24 are provided above the rotating members 15 of the frame 11.

Each connector 24Fi, each fiber core 6a (see Figure 1) of the input/output optical fiber cable 6 is optically connected to the connector part 24a, and the connector part 24a is fixed to the frame 11 via a spring 24bk. screw member 24
c and the prism 26 located at the lower end of the connector portion 24a.
The optical signal reflected from or the fiber core 6
It consists of a converging rod lens 24a that outputs the optical signal from a to the entire prism 23.

Next, the entire operation of the optical rotary connector device 10 of the present invention will be explained. When the multi-core optical fiber cable 5 is paid out or taken out from the drum 1 by 10 rotations of the drum and each fiber core wire 5a to 5d rotates together with the drum 1, the rotating plate 1
2 and the rotating member 15 also rotate in the same direction and at the same speed in synchronization with the drum 1, so that each of the fiber cores 5a to 5d
The relative positional relationship between the rotating members 15 and each rotating member 15 does not change.

Therefore, while the drum 10 is rotating, the optical signal output from the first fiber core 5a is focused by the focusing rod lens 20 of the rotating member 15 near the rotating plate 12, and is sequentially focused on the other rotating members 15. The optical signal passes through the hole 15t1, is input to the convergent rod lens 21a of the guide member 21 in the rotating member 15 on the other end side of the frame 11, and is guided to the optical fiber 21C and another convergent rod lens 21b. and guided onto the rotating shaft of the rotating plate 12. As a result, this optical signal is reflected by the prism 26 and input to the connector portion 24a of the connector 24 via the focusing rod lens 24a', and It is taken out of the drum 1 by the core wire 6a.

Furthermore, while the drum 1 is rotating, the optical signal output from the second seven-eye fiber core wire 5b is focused by the focusing rod lens 20 located on the rotating shaft of the rotating member 150 near the rotating plate 12, and directly The light is reflected by the opposing prism 23 and input to the connector portion 24a of the connector 24.

As a result, this optical signal is also taken out of the drum 1 by another fiber core 6a.

Furthermore, each optical signal outputted from the third and fourth fiber cores 5c and 5d is focused by a focusing rod lens 20 and sent to the focusing rod lens 21a of the guide member 21 of the next rotating member 15. Directly or through the hole 15 of this rotating member 15
After passing through t1, the fibers are input to the focusing rod lens 21a of the guide member 21 of the next rotating member 15, and are similarly taken out of the drum 1 by other fiber cores 6a.

In this way, the first to fourth fiber core wires 58 to 5d
Each optical signal taken out from the input/output optical fiber cable 6 is sent to a monitor device and a control unit as various information signals.

In the above embodiment, the optical signal from the input/output fiber optic cable 6 is transmitted to the prism 26, and the kite member 2
1, it can be input to any of the fiber cores 5a to 5d. Therefore, bidirectional communication is also possible.

The manner in which the connector device 10 of the present invention is attached to the drum 1 is such that the frame body 11 is fixedly supported by bearing metal valves on the entire flange 6, and each rotating shaft is mounted inside the rotating plate 12 throughout the drum 1. The fibers 58 to 5d may be positioned so as to coincide with each other, and all of the fiber cores 58 to 5d may be attached to the rotary plate 12 within the drum 1.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, the rotating plate and the rotating member are synchronized with the rotating body and rotated on the rotating shaft without changing their relative positions, and the optical signal guide member and the reflecting member By guiding all the optical fibers onto the rotating shaft, the light and signals are continuously extracted from each fiber core of the multi-core optical fiber cable that is unwound or taken out from the rotating body, or continuously taken out from each of the above-mentioned fibers. It is possible to input optical signals from the outside into the 7-eye fiber core wire.Therefore, it is possible to provide an entire optical rotary connector device capable of transmitting and receiving a large amount of information in equipment having a rotating body.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an example of how an optical rotary connector device according to the present invention is attached to a drum. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an optical rotary connector device according to the present invention. 1・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
・・・Drum 5・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
......Multi-core optical fiber cables 5a to 5d
・・・・・・Fiber core wire 6・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
...Input/output optical fiber cable 6a...
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・Fiber core wire 10...
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・Optical rotary connector device 11・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・Frame 12・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・Rotating plate 15・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
Rotating member 15b...... Optical signal passage hole 17......
・・Gear 20・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
...Focusing rod lens 21...
...... Optical signal guide member 23 ...
−・・・・・・・・・・・・Prism 24・・・・・・
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・Connector 31

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical rotary connector device for outputting optical signals to multi-core optical fiber cables that are fed out and pulled out from a rotating body, the device comprising a frame body that is fixedly disposed, and each of the multi-core optical fiber cables. a rotary plate to which fiber core wires are respectively attached and rotates about the rotation axis together with the rotation body on one end side of the frame; and a rotation plate arranged in the frame in alignment along the rotation axis, and each a plurality of rotating members rotatably supported to rotate about the entire center of the rotating shaft; a gear mechanism that causes all of the plurality of rotating members to rotate in the same direction at the same speed as the rotating plate; Each of the parallel light signals provided on each of the plurality of rotating members and outputted from each of the fiber cores and passing through all of the at least one or more rotating members is guided onto the rotational axis between each of the rotating members. an optical signal guide member that outputs each optical signal guided on a rotation axis between each of the rotating members as a parallel optical signal into the frame so as to be input to each of the fiber cores; and each of the rotating members within the frame. The optical signal guide member is attached to each transparent plate fixedly arranged between the members, and reflects the optical signal guided onto the rotation axis between the rotating members by the optical signal guide member. a plurality of reflecting members that reflect optical signals input from the outside and input them to each of the original signal guide members; 1. An optical rotary connector device comprising: a plurality of connectors for taking out each original signal to the outside or for inputting all optical signals from the outside between the respective rotating members.