RU2663274C1 - Optical circuits elements alignment mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: instrument making; optics.SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the optical instruments making and can be used for the optical circuits elements alignment, placed in the cylindrical body during assembly. Optical circuits alignment mechanism contains the U-shaped platform with supporting, aligning and fixing elements. Fixing elements include secured to the platform by fasteners resilient clamp. Alignment elements are screwed into one of the platform side walls. Support elements are made in the form of the pressing jaws installed on the platform base along its side walls. Jaws are mounted on the platform base with a gap relative to each other and are fixed by means of screws. Jaws interact with elastic elements, which ensure their thrust clamping to the platform opposite side walls. At that, the jaws are made with chamfered faces, by which they face each other, with possibility of interaction with the aligned elements body surface along the reference lines. One of the jaws contacts the adjustment elements and is made movable, with possibility of moving and changing size of the gap between jaws and / or the angular position. Clamp is made extended along the aligning elements body shape and is equipped with arms for fastening to the platform.EFFECT: increase in the structure rigidity to ensure operation under shock and vibration loads, reduction in the structure dimensions.1 cl, 7 dwg

Description

The invention relates to optical instrumentation, and in particular to regulating devices specially designed for aligning optical circuit elements (EOS) during assembly, in particular to EOS located in a cylindrical body: laser crystals, collimators, telescopes, lasers, laser heads, and the like similar elements operated under shock and vibration loads.

The problem to which the invention is directed is to create a compact device for installing, aligning and fixing the EOS under consideration.

Known alignment mechanism of the emitter of the laser designator, operated at high shock loads (patent RU 2100744, publ. 27.12.1997), which includes at least one support and two adjustment screws installed in a cylindrical body of the designator with the possibility of interaction with the supporting surfaces of the housing of the emitter, the emitter is equipped with a shank mounted in the rear of the housing and made in the form of a truncated trihedral pyramid, the faces of which are the supporting surfaces for interaction vii with supporting and adjusting screws. A sleeve and a spring are placed in the body of the target indicator, covering the front of the emitter and interacting with the end face of the sleeve. When the adjustment screws are screwed in, the emitter and the sleeve move towards the compressed spring, while the emitter rotates in a plane passing through the axis of the corresponding adjustment screw. When unscrewing the adjustment screws, the emitter and sleeve under the action of a compressed spring move in the opposite direction, while the emitter 2 rotates in the opposite direction.

The disadvantage of this adjustment mechanism is the presence of a complex structure of the adjustment mechanism and the fixing mechanism of the emitter body. In addition, the presence of a large number of elements and movable joints in the design of these mechanisms leads to a decrease in the reliability of the retention of the aiming angle set after adjustment.

Also known are devices manufactured by the industry - alignment mechanisms aimed at solving the problem of installing, aligning and fixing the EOS. A wide range of devices for installing, aligning and fixing optical elements of various shapes, including cylindrical extended elements, is presented in the catalog of manufactured products by Standa Ltd. A common disadvantage of these devices is the relatively large size, and, as a rule, they are intended for use in laboratory conditions. The closest analogue of the claimed invention in terms of the task and the number of similar features is the adjustment mechanism of optical elements that has been put into practice - the frame for lasers / laser heads of the 6LH series from the Standa catalog of optical-mechanical products 2011/2012 (http://www.standa.lt ) The rim serves as an adjustment mechanism, in particular a cylindrical laser head, in four degrees of freedom. In FIG. Figure 1 shows a photograph of a frame with adjustment elements providing the necessary linear and angular adjustments, and with fixing elements designed to fix the laser head after adjustment. In FIG. 2 is a photograph of a laser head mounted in a frame. In FIG. 3 is a diagram of this frame.

The frame shown in FIG. 1-3, contains a platform 1 with two supporting elements fixed on it in the form of console racks 2 and 3, into which adjustment elements are screwed in pairs - screws 4, 5, 6, 7, with the possibility of interaction with four point bearing surfaces of the head and providing within certain limits, adjustment of its spatial position. The fixing of the head is carried out using an elastic clamp 8, the tension of which is performed by a screw pair 9, 10.

In the closest analogue, the tasks of installing, aligning and fixing the EOS are solved, however, the design of this frame has a number of disadvantages in terms of the operating conditions of the product in which it can be used.

Among them:

- insufficient structural rigidity due to the presence of console racks into which adjustment screws are screwed, which leads to a low natural frequency of oscillation of the frame. Low frequencies of natural vibrations give a large amplitude of displacements of structural elements under resonance conditions during vibration, which causes instability of the spatial position of the optical axis of the head;

- large dimensions, and the orientation of the adjusting screws 4, 5, 6, 7 at an angle to the platform 1 does not allow to reduce the height of the rack-console 2, 3 to an acceptable value. According to the catalog for the device of the 6LH-2 series, the height from the axis of the clamped cylindrical element to the base (see Fig. 3) is H = 65 mm. A high cantilever arrangement of the head on the platform is undesirable from the point of view of mechanical stability under shock and vibration loads;

- the location of the clamp in the middle between the point supports causes a bending moment, which will increase under the conditions of intense shock and vibration loads and lead to additional mechanical instability of the structure;

- a small area of the contact surface of the cylindrical body of the head at the support points when it is fixed can lead to local deformation of the head housing.

The technical result of the claimed invention is to increase the rigidity of the design of the adjustment mechanism to ensure operation under shock and vibration loads. An additional technical result of the claimed invention is to ensure compact design by reducing the size.

The claimed technical result is achieved by the fact that in the design of the alignment mechanism of the elements of the optical circuits placed in a cylindrical housing containing a platform with support, alignment and fixing elements, the latter of which include an elastic collar fastened to the platform with fasteners, the new is that the platform made U-shaped, and the adjustment elements are screwed into one of its side walls, the supporting elements are made in the form of installed on the base of the platform along the side tench of pressing lips interacting with elastic elements ensuring their pressing against the opposite side walls of the platform, the lips are mounted on the platform base with a gap relative to each other, while the lips are made with beveled faces that face each other with the possibility of interaction with the surface of the housing adjustable elements along the reference lines, and the sponge in contact with the adjustment elements is movable with the ability to move and change the gap between the jaws and / or angular position, wherein the collar is formed by an extended form of the housing, adjustable elements and is provided with shoulders which it is attached to the platform, in addition to the construction set further introduced pairwise fixing screws sponges platform.

Adjustment grooves can be made at the base of the platform and in the pressing lips in the area where the adjustment elements are placed.

The implementation of the U-shaped platform, in which one of the side walls of which the adjustment elements are screwed, allows you to get away from the cantilever support elements and apply the layout solution of the adjustment mechanism, which allows to reduce the amplitude of movement of structural elements under resonance during vibration, which increases the stability of the spatial position of the adjusted elements .

The implementation of the supporting elements in the form of movable jaws mounted on the base of the platform with a gap relative to each other and with the possibility of moving one of them to change the gap and / or angular position, allows both prismatic jaws and the platform to be fixed relative to the mounting surface, which provides a closed power circuit the whole structure. This allows you to increase the rigidity of the structure, to ensure reliable fixation settings and to acquire qualities such as vibration and shock resistance, compact placement in the optical scheme, simplicity and accessibility of adjustment.

The presence of elastic elements interacting with the movable jaws, ensuring that they are pressed against the opposite side walls of the platform, allows for the retention of the movable jaws with a fairly uniform and stable force.

The execution of movable jaws with chamfered faces, with which they are facing each other with the possibility of interaction with the surface of the housing of the aligned elements along the reference lines, allows to increase the contact surface area of the cylindrical housing of the aligned elements and to ensure effective positioning that does not deform it when fixing the housing of the aligned elements with point contact in the nearest equivalent.

The execution of the clamp extended in the form of the body of the adjustable elements with shoulders, with which it is attached to the side walls of the platform, allows for uniform force along the line of contact of parts when breeding (compression) of the jaws.

Performing at the base of the platform and in the pressing jaws in the zone of placement of the adjustment elements of the adjustment grooves will make it possible to move the adjusted elements to a small extent on the installation plane at the base of the platform.

In FIG. 4 and 5 presents an example of a specific implementation of the claimed alignment mechanism. In FIG. 6 is his photograph. In FIG. 7 is a sectional drawing.

An example of a specific implementation of the claimed adjustment mechanism can serve as a holder of the output collimator of a fiber laser with an external diameter of a cylindrical body ∅ = 12 mm In FIG. 4, 5, 6 positions indicate the following details:

1 - output collimator:

2 - clamping jaws made of aluminum alloy;

3 - hardened steel platform;

4 - a clamp from sheet spring steel;

5 - elastic elements (springs from steel spring wire);

6 - adjustment elements (hardened steel screws);

7, 8, 9 - studs, nuts and set screws, respectively, of steel.

10 - tuning grooves.

The holder includes a U-shaped platform. The adjustment elements are made in the form of two screws screwed perpendicular to the optical axis of the collimator into one of the side walls of the platform. The supporting elements are made in the form of clamping jaws mounted on the base of the platform along its side walls, which interact with the elastic elements, which ensure that they are pressed against the opposite side walls of the platform. The elastic elements are two cylindrical springs. The jaws are mounted on the base of the platform with a gap relative to each other, while the jaws are made with beveled faces that face each other so that they can interact with the collimator body along four reference lines in the contact zone. One of the jaws, which is in contact with the adjustment screws, is movable to move and change the gap between the jaws and / or the angular position. The clamp is made extended in the shape of the body of the adjusted elements and is equipped with shoulders, which are attached to the platform by mounting fasteners (studs, nuts). In addition, pairwise installed screws, fixing jaws and a platform after adjustment are additionally introduced.

At the base of the platform in the area where additional screws are placed, tuning grooves are made.

A holder with a mounted adjustable output collimator shown in FIG. 4-7, operates as follows.

An adjustable collimator 1, tightened by a figured collar 4, rests on the clamping jaws 2, which, in turn, are pressed by two springs 5 opposite to the side walls of the platform 3, which has the shape of an inverted letter "P" in cross section. While tightening the adjustment elements - screws 6, both springs are compressed. This leads to a decrease in the distance between the jaws 2 and, as a result, to an increase in the height of the position of the collimator 1 on the jaws 2. The opposite effect gives the opposite result.

Unscrewing one of the adjusting screws 6, while the other is stationary, leads to a violation of the parallelism of the lips 2. The edge of the collimator 1 from the side of this adjusting screw sags and under the elastic force of the clamp 4, the collimator 1 tilts relative to the mounting surface, making an angular movement.

The collimator 1 is pressed against the pressing lips 2 by the shoulders of the figured elastic clamp 4 by means of two studs 7 with nuts 8 of the type of rocker. This allows you to ensure uniform force along the line of contact of parts when breeding (compression) of jaws 2. To move the holder within small limits on the mounting plane at the base of platform 3 and jaws 2, tuning grooves are provided 10. After the final adjustment of collimator 1, additional fastening screws 9 are tightened, fixing simultaneously prismatic jaws 2 and platform 3 relative to the mounting surface, which provides a closed power circuit of the entire structure. This holder has been repeatedly experimentally tested when setting up collimators.

In FIG. Figure 7 shows a sectional drawing of the manufactured holder, from which it can be seen that the height of the optical axis of the collimator with an external diameter of ∅ = 12 mm above the mounting surface is only H = 18 mm. For comparison, according to the catalog, the nearest analogue H = 65 mm (see Fig. 3). Thus, the holder, made according to the proposed technical solution, this overall size is several times smaller than that of the closest analogue, which indicates its compactness.

The inventive design of a compact holder can be successfully used in various devices, including optical, where it is necessary to ensure the installation, alignment and fixation of long cylindrical elements, such as laser crystals, collimators, telescopes, emitting laser heads and the like, operated in shock and vibration loads.

Claims (2)

1. The alignment mechanism of the elements of the optical circuits, housed in a cylindrical shape, containing a platform with support, alignment and fixing elements, the latter of which include an elastic clamp fastened to the platform by fasteners, characterized in that the platform is made in a U-shape, and the alignment the elements are screwed into one of its side walls, the supporting elements are made in the form of clamping lips installed on the base of the platform along its side walls, which interact with the elastic elements In order to ensure that they are pressed against the opposite side walls of the platform, the jaws are mounted on the base of the platform with a gap relative to each other, while the jaws are made with beveled faces that face each other, with the possibility of interaction with the surface of the housing of the aligned elements along the reference lines, and the sponge in contact with the adjustment elements is movable, with the ability to move and change the size of the gap between the jaws and / or angular position, and the clamp is made extended of body shape, adjustable elements and is provided with shoulders which it is attached to the platform, in addition to the construction set further introduced pairwise fixing screws sponges platform. 2. The mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that at the base of the platform and in the pressing lips in the zone of placement of the alignment elements made tuning grooves.

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