JPS6090309A - Optical coupler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a stable optical system by providing an optical beam collimator which has formed as one body an optical fiber and a lens, a housing for holding each optical beam collimator so as to be opposed to each other, and a heat insulating ring fixed by solder between the housing and the optical beam collimator. CONSTITUTION:An optical coupler for coupling two opposed fibers 59.60 is provided with an optical beam collimator which has formed as one body the optical fiber and lenses 51.52 at a prescribed interval, a housing 63 for holding each optical beam collimator so as to be opposed to each other, and heat insulating rings 61.64 fixed by using solder between the housing 63 and the optical beam collimator. By fixing the collimator adjusted in this way, by solders 62.65.66, an adjusting jig is not occupied for many hours, it abounds in a mass-producing property, and its manufacturing cost can be reduced. Also, by fixing the collimator by solder through heat insulating rings 61.64, a stable optical system can be formed, it is stable against attachment and detachment of a connector, temperature and humidity, vibration, impact, etc., and its reliability can be raised.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field) The present invention relates to an optical coupler that couples source fibers, and is an optical coupler that is easy to adjust and has high reliability.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in this field, an optical coupler having a function of attaching and detaching a fiber connector has been constructed as shown in FIG. Receptacle 1 with SELFOC lenses II and 12
3 and 14 are facing each other, and in one receptacle I3, the light from the fiber 15 is connected to the SELFOC and the lens 1.
The fibers I5 and I6 are optically coupled by collimating the fibers I5 and I6, receiving the collimated light by the SELFOC lens 12 of the other receptacle Z4, and condensing the light onto the end face of the fiber 16.

As a method of attaching a resegment tack for an optical coupler as shown in Fig. 1,
The method of adjusting the SELFOC Lens IZ and Z2f individually requires adjustment in 3 axes and 2 angular directions. SELFOC Lens! When the selfoc lens 21 is held by a fine movement table (manipulator), the fulcrum point 0 and J
By giving an angular displacement of 0 at a distance of R, R('1-
cns O) causes axial displacement. Here, 0 is the fulcrum of the manipulator, R is the length of the manipulator arm from the fulcrum O to the holding point of the scissor lens 21, and θ is the angular displacement.

As shown in the solid line of the loss curve for axial angular displacement in Figure 3, when adjusting the lens alone, the loss fluctuation of the optical system is extremely sensitive to axial displacement, and the loss fluctuation due to axial displacement accompanying angular adjustment is small. However, the downside is that the adjustment time will be slow. In Figure 3, L is the loss (dB), and the optical fiber is 50/
125 GI and uses Selfoc lenses.

As a solution to this problem, as shown in FIG. 4, there is a method in which collimators 45 and 46, which are integrated with SELFOC lenses 41 and 42 and fibers 43 and 44, respectively, are fully adjusted. In this method, as the loss fluctuation due to shaft displacement is extremely small as shown by the broken line in Fig. 3,
The adjustment difficulty is alleviated and the adjustment time is advantageous. However, the collimators 45 and 46 are
The disadvantage is that adjustments are required to determine the distances between I and 42 and fibers 43 and 44, resulting in three-axis, two-axis
Adjustment is made in the angular direction. Furthermore, collimators 45 and 4-
Since the connector 6 and the housing 49 are fixed with adhesives 47 and 48, the adjustment jig is monopolized until the adhesive hardens, making it difficult to mass-produce. It has the drawback of lacking reliability due to characteristic fluctuations caused by adhesive changes due to attachment/detachment, temperature/humidity, vibration, impact, etc.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

(Structure of the Invention) In an optical coupler for coupling two opposing optical fibers, the present invention includes a light beam collimator that integrates an optical fiber and a lens with a predetermined interval, and a light beam collimator that connects each of the light beam collimators to face each other. The optical coupler is characterized in that it has a casing for holding the optical beam collimator, and a heat insulating ring soldered between the casing and the optical beam collimator.

(Example) FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an example. 51°52 is Selfoc lens, 53.54 is ferrule, 55.5
6 is a receptacle, the lens stop that maintains the optimum fiber lens distance, 5s is the receptacle 55.5
It is provided integrally on the inner periphery of the cylinder formed by 6. Lens stoppers 57 and 58, in addition to those shown in FIG.
This can also be realized by fitting and fixing the inner circumferential surface of 56 in close contact with the inner circumferential surface. Optical fibers 59 and 60 are inserted into the centers of the ferrules 53 and 54, respectively, and fixed such that the tips of the optical fibers 59 and 60 are located on one end surface of the ferrules 53 and 54. SELFOC lens 51.52 and original fiber 59.60
When inserted from different opening ends of the ferrules 53 and 54, the fiber lenses are fixed without adjustment by contacting the lens stoppers 57 and 58 while maintaining an optimum distance between the fiber lenses. These include self-mechanical lens 5 (52), ferrule 53 (54), and receptacle 55 with optical fiber 59 (eo) v, 1 attached.
(56) constitutes a light beam collimator (hereinafter referred to as "collimator").

Reference numeral 61 designates a first heat insulating ring whose inner and outer surfaces are metallized on both sides, into which a receptacle 56 is inserted and solder 6 is inserted.
2 (see Figure 6).

Reference numeral 63 denotes a housing, which holds receptacles 55 and 56f forming the collimator facing each other. Reference numeral 64 denotes a second heat insulating ring whose inner and outer surfaces are metallized on both sides, and is fixed by solder 65 to the inner surface of a hole for holding a collimator provided on one side plate of the housing 63. (See Figure 6).

To attach the receptacles 55 and 56 to the housing, one receptacle 55 is fixed to the housing 63 with the angle 7θ, and the ferrule 53 is inserted into the receptacle 55.
The first heat insulating ring 61 fixed to the receptacle 56 is fitted into the second heat insulating ring 64 fixed to the side body of the entire housing 63 of the receptacle 56 into which the other ferrule 54 is inserted and integrated. Insert to fit. In this state, the receptacle 56 is held by a manibulator, and a predetermined optical signal is applied to the optical fibers 59 and 60 to perform optimum axis angle adjustment. When installing this receptacle, SELFOC lens 51.52f lens stock Psy, s
Since it is fixed without adjustment using the SELFOC lens 5, there is no need to adjust the distance between the lens fibers.
1.52 and the optical fibers 59' and 60, the loss variation caused by the axial displacement that occurs when adjusting the angle is extremely small, and the adjustment is easier than adjusting the lens alone. It will be done. With the optimum axial angular position obtained, the first and second heat insulating rings 61 and 62, which are fixed to the receptacle 56 and the housing 63, are fixed with solder 66.

Also, if the above operations are performed after installing optical components such as a half mirror, prism, and filter in the space 67,
Optical functional components (optical power graphers, optical switches, optical attenuators, optical multiplexers/demultiplexers, etc.) with removable ferrules can be easily realized.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, since the adjusted collimator is fixed with solder, the adjustment jig is not occupied for a long time, and there is an advantage that there is no overloading, and the optical coupler is low in manufacturing cost. can be provided.

Furthermore, since the collimator is fixed with solder via a heat insulating ring, an extremely stable optical system can be formed.
It has the advantage of being highly reliable, with little variation in characteristics caused by connector attachment/detachment, temperature/humidity, vibration, impact, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional optical coupler with a receptacle, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of angle adjustment when adjusting a lens alone,
Figure 3 is the theoretical value of the axial angle displacement loss curve in lens individual adjustment and lens-fiber integrated adjustment, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of an optical coupler with a receptacle based on conventional fiber-lens integrated adjustment, and Figure 5. 6 is a sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the entire embodiment of the present invention. 51.52...Self-on cleanse, 53.54...
・Ferrule, 55.56... Receptacle, 571
58... Lens stopper, 59.60... Optical fiber, 61.64... Heat insulating ring, 62.65.66...
... Solder, 63... Housing, 70... Fixing screw. Patent applicant Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. Figure 1'' Figure 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an optical coupler that couples two opposing optical fibers, a light beam collimator that integrates a source fiber and a lens with a predetermined interval, and a housing that holds the respective beam collimators facing each other. . An optical coupler comprising: a heat insulating ring soldered between the housing and the original beam collimator. (2) The optical coupler according to claim 1, wherein the light beam collimators are held facing each other by fixing one of them with screws and fixing the other by soldering via a heat insulating ring.