JPS6152622A - Energy optical switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent light from being irradiated on the peripheral part of a core of an optical fiber and exerting adverse influences on said part, by providing a converting means of an optical path so that light from one emitting system optical fiber is made incident selectively on plural incident system optical fibers. CONSTITUTION:An optical fiber 21 of a light source side becomes optical switch covering fibers 23, 25 by a reflecting mirror 27. The reflecting mirror 27 has hollows 28a, 28b on the peripheral end face part and it is fixed onto a rotary base 28. A click mechanism 30 is supported so as to be rotatable by a supporting point P shaft, and presses a tip roller 32 against a rotating body 28 by an end spring 31. Also, an electric contac 33 of the extreme end of the click mechanism 30 is opened, when the roller 32 is detached from the hollow 28a or 28b, and closed, when the roller goes in. By opening and closing of this contact 33, a transmitting light is cut off, when the rotating body 28 is being rotated. In this state, the roller 32 is engaged with one of the hollow 28a or 28b and controlled, the rotating body 28 is rotated, both of them are switched, and an optical switch is operated. Accordingly, when converting an optical path, there is no sweep of an optical switch covering light having a high energy density, and the vicinity of the end face of the optical fiber can be protected completely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an energy optical switch used as a means for changing an optical path when an optical fiber is used as a light guide in a field where optical energy is applied such as a laser scalpel device or a laser processing machine. It is related to.

Conventional configuration and its problems In order to selectively couple the emitted light from one fiber to one of the other two optical fibers in a time-sharing manner,
A configuration as shown in FIG. 1 is known as a conventional technique for simply performing an optical switch operation using changes in the reflection angle due to rotation of a reflection surface.

The transmitted light 11 of the optical fiber 1 is converted into a parallel beam a by the lens 2.
After being further reflected by the reflecting mirror 1o, it becomes a beam b. When the reflecting mirror 1o is rotated around the optical rotation of the parallel beam a, it is possible to direct the parallel beam b in any direction. Therefore, by rotating the reflecting mirror 10 and changing the direction of the parallel beam b, an optical switch operation can be obtained. When the rotation angle of the reflecting mirror is ◯, the optical fiber 4 is selected, and when the rotation angle is −θ, the optical fiber 7 is selected. When selecting the optical path, the parallel beam b reflected by the reflecting mirror 1o is focused and coupled to the optical fiber 4 or 7 via the lens 6 or 8, and the transmitted light weight or I0
2 is obtained.

Optical fibers 1, 4 and 7 are attached to fiber supports 3, 6
The optical axis is fixed by and 7.

In the figure, the broken line of parallel beam b represents parallel beam b and lens 5.
The optical axis of the optical fiber 4 and the optical axis of the optical fiber 4 are the same. The solid line indicates a state in which the optical axes of the parallel beam b, the lens 6, and the optical fiber 4 are misaligned when the reflecting mirror 1o is rotated in the direction of the arrow A and the optical fiber 7 is switched from the optical fiber 7 to the optical fiber 4. show.

Due to the misalignment of the optical axis, the beam spot focused by the lens 6 is shifted to the circumferential end 11 of the optical fiber 4 shown by diagonal lines.
and the fiber support 6 is irradiated.

A laser scalpel device using a YAG laser or a Co2 laser has a laser beam intensity of 100 to 4 OW (energy density of 2 OW).
~50KW/ad), which is extremely high and close to the limit of light resistance of core materials such as quartz fiber or KR3-s fiber. Therefore, if a beam spot with such high energy is directed towards the peripheral end 11 of the optical fiber 4 or the fiber support 6, the irradiated part will generate abnormal heat and there is a risk of thermal damage. .

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an energy optical switch that performs an optical switch operation in such a way that light is not irradiated to the peripheral portion of the core of an optical fiber and has an adverse effect during the process of converting the optical path. purpose.

Structure of the Invention In the energy optical switch according to the present invention, an optical path converting means for changing the optical path of light from an output system from a selected input optical fiber (hereinafter referred to as an optical target switch fiber) to another optical target switch fiber is provided. The optical path is changed so that the incident light does not travel around the fiber during switching.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an example in which a rotatable reflecting mirror is used as the optical path converter and a click mechanism is provided.

21 is an optical fiber on the light source side, 23 and 25 are lighted switch fibers, and 27 is a reflecting mirror. The reflecting mirror 27 has recesses 28a and 28b on its circumferential end face and is fixed on a rotary table 28 that is rotatable about the center of the circle. 3Q
is a click mechanism, which is rotatably supported on a fulcrum P axis, has a roller 32 attached to its tip, and is pressed against the rotating body 28 by a spring 31 at the end. Further, there is an electrical contact 33 at the extreme end of the click mechanism 30, and the roller 32
When the rotor 28 is separated from the recess 28a or 28b, it opens as shown in FIG. 1(b), and the recess 2Bai or 2
It closes when 8blC enters. This contact point 3
By opening and closing 3, the transmitted light is blocked while the rotating body 28 is rotating.

When the roller 32 is engaged with the recess 28b, the emitted light e from the optical fiber 21 is converted into a parallel beam f by the lens 22, reflected by the reflecting mirror 2, and then reflected by the lens 24.
The light is focused and incident on the optical fiber 23, and its optical axes are aligned via the reflecting mirror 27. Also, hollow 2
8a is provided at a position where the optical axes of the optical fibers 21 and 25 overlap as shown by the broken line.

The roller 32 is controlled to engage with either the groove 28a or 28b of the rotating body 28, causing the rotating body 28 to rotate,
By switching between the three, the optical switch operates.

FIG. 3 corresponds to each lighted switch fiber.

A case is shown in which an optical path converter having two reflective surfaces is used. 4o is an optical fiber on the light source side, and 42 and 44 are lighted switch fibers. 46 is the angle θ31 and θ3
This is an optical path converter having two reflecting surfaces 47 and 48. 41,
43.45 are lenses for the optical fibers 40 and 42.44, respectively.

Outgoing light i from the optical fiber 40 is turned into a parallel beam j by the lens 41, and is focused onto the optical fiber 42 by the lens 43 via the reflective surface 47.

Furthermore, when the optical path converter 46 is slid in the direction of the arrow to the position shown by the broken line, the parallel beam i is reflected by the reflecting surface 48 and focused by the lens 45 onto the optical fin 44.

As described above, the optical path converter 46 moves by sliding.
The reflection angle of the parallel beam j from the lens 41 is switched.

The state in which the optical path converter 46 is moving is shown in (b). 4 indicates the optical axis of the optical fiber 4o.

The parallel beam j is split at the rate at which it is incident on the reflection surfaces 47 and 48, respectively, and is sent to the fiber 42.
．． 44.

FIG. 4 shows a circular optical path converter 50 having three different reflection angles in place of the optical path converter 46 in the embodiment shown in FIG.
An example of an optical switch using

The optical path converter 5o has reflective surfaces 51, 52 and 5 on its surface.
It has 3 reflective surfaces. For example, in the case of the reflective surface 51, the angle θ
The inclinations of the optical path converter 5o with respect to the bottom surface 60', indicated by 41, are different for the reflective surfaces 51, 52, and 53, respectively. 5S is the incident light, [56a, s
sb and 55c represent the optical axis of the reflected light toward the lighted switch. The optical axis 55 changes due to reflection on the reflective surface 51.
It is combined with 5a. Similarly, reflections 52 and 53 are
The optical axes ssb and 55c are coupled to the optical path 56, respectively.

Since the optical path coupling directions of the reflecting surfaces 51, 62 and 63 are each fixed, the traveling of the lighted switch light does not occur as in the survey shown in FIG. 3 described above.

Furthermore, if the rotation direction of the reflector 5o is made reversible, the optical path coupling direction can be changed to either direction.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which a prism is used as the optical path converter.

6o is a prism, 64 is a lens on the output side, 66 and 65 are lenses on the lighted switch side, 63 is an optical axis on the output side, and 63a and ssb are optical axes on the lighted switch side. The prism 60 has different angles θ51 . It has portions 61 and 62 having θ62.

When the prism 6o is at the position indicated by the solid line, the incident surface 62 is at an angle θ62=π with respect to the optical axis 63. Therefore, the incident optical axis 63 travels straight without being refracted and combines with the optical axis 63b. When the prism 60 is at the position indicated by the broken line, the incident surface 61 is θ51<π with respect to the optical axis 63. Therefore, the incident optical axis 63 is refracted by two surfaces, the incident surface 61 and the back surface 61' of the prism 6°, and is combined with the optical axis 63a.

If θ51 and θ52 are constant with respect to the optical axis 63, the refracted light will change when the optical path is switched (when the prism 6o is in the solid line state →
In the state shown by the broken line), there is no deviation from the optical axes 63a and ssb, and no running of the lighted switch light occurs.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention is an optical switch for an optical fiber whose purpose is to transmit energy light. The area near the end face is completely protected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a conventional energy optical switch by rotating a reflecting mirror, FIG. 2 (-) is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an energy optical switch according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
) is a schematic diagram of the same essential parts, FIG. 3(a) is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an energy light switch in another embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 3(b) is a schematic diagram showing the same essential parts, FIG. 4 shows the essential parts of still another embodiment of the present invention, and (-) indicates the plane [q
(b) is a sectional view thereof, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the main part of the configuration of an energy optical switch in still another embodiment of the present invention. 21.23.25...Optical fiber, 22,24
゜26...lens, 27...reflector,
28... Turntable, 3o... Click mechanism, 33... Electrical contact, 40.42.44...
...Optical fiber, 41,43°46...Lens, 46...Optical path converter, 47.48...
...reflective surface. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person
1 Figure L6, o. Figure 2 Figure 3 (Q)

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) Constructed to selectively optically couple the end of an optical fiber for optical energy transmission with the ends of a plurality of optical fibers, and transmit light from one output optical fiber to a plurality of input optical fibers. An energy light beam comprising a means for converting an optical path so that it is selectively incident on the fiber, and the means is configured to change the optical path without the incident light traveling around the fiber during switching the optical path. switch. (2) The energy optical switch according to claim (1), further comprising means for temporarily blocking the emitted light when changing the optical path. (3) The optical path changing means includes an optical path changing body that utilizes a change in the direction of reflection due to the rotational position of a rotatable reflecting mirror, and when changing the optical path, the rotating position of the reflecting mirror is detected and the emitted light is blocked. An energy optical switch according to claim 2, characterized in that the energy optical switch controls the means. (4) The optical path converting means includes an optical path converter having a plurality of reflective surfaces that convert the optical path in a direction corresponding to each of the output optical fiber and the plurality of input optical fiber optical coupling combinations, the optical path converter The energy optical switch according to claim 1, wherein the optical path is changed by moving the optical path while maintaining the angle between each reflecting surface and the optical path of the output system. (5) The optical path conversion means includes an optical path conversion body having a plurality of prisms that convert the optical path in a direction corresponding to each of the optical coupling combinations of the output system and the plurality of input system optical fibers, and each of the optical path conversion bodies The energy optical switch according to claim 1, wherein the energy optical switch moves while maintaining the angle between the refraction direction and the optical path of the output system.