WO2012110521A1 - Coupling element for the coupling of led to fibre bundle - Google Patents
Coupling element for the coupling of led to fibre bundle Download PDFInfo
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- WO2012110521A1 WO2012110521A1 PCT/EP2012/052523 EP2012052523W WO2012110521A1 WO 2012110521 A1 WO2012110521 A1 WO 2012110521A1 EP 2012052523 W EP2012052523 W EP 2012052523W WO 2012110521 A1 WO2012110521 A1 WO 2012110521A1
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- coupling
- coupling element
- led
- glass
- element according
- Prior art date
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Classifications
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- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B23/00—Telescopes, e.g. binoculars; Periscopes; Instruments for viewing the inside of hollow bodies; Viewfinders; Optical aiming or sighting devices
- G02B23/24—Instruments or systems for viewing the inside of hollow bodies, e.g. fibrescopes
- G02B23/2407—Optical details
- G02B23/2461—Illumination
- G02B23/2469—Illumination using optical fibres
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
- A61B1/00112—Connection or coupling means
- A61B1/00117—Optical cables in or with an endoscope
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
- A61B1/00112—Connection or coupling means
- A61B1/00121—Connectors, fasteners and adapters, e.g. on the endoscope handle
- A61B1/00126—Connectors, fasteners and adapters, e.g. on the endoscope handle optical, e.g. for light supply cables
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
- A61B1/06—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor with illuminating arrangements
- A61B1/0661—Endoscope light sources
- A61B1/0669—Endoscope light sources at proximal end of an endoscope
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
- A61B1/06—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor with illuminating arrangements
- A61B1/0661—Endoscope light sources
- A61B1/0684—Endoscope light sources using light emitting diodes [LED]
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
- A61B1/06—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor with illuminating arrangements
- A61B1/07—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor with illuminating arrangements using light-conductive means, e.g. optical fibres
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- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B19/00—Condensers, e.g. light collectors or similar non-imaging optics
- G02B19/0004—Condensers, e.g. light collectors or similar non-imaging optics characterised by the optical means employed
- G02B19/0028—Condensers, e.g. light collectors or similar non-imaging optics characterised by the optical means employed refractive and reflective surfaces, e.g. non-imaging catadioptric systems
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B19/00—Condensers, e.g. light collectors or similar non-imaging optics
- G02B19/0033—Condensers, e.g. light collectors or similar non-imaging optics characterised by the use
- G02B19/0047—Condensers, e.g. light collectors or similar non-imaging optics characterised by the use for use with a light source
- G02B19/0061—Condensers, e.g. light collectors or similar non-imaging optics characterised by the use for use with a light source the light source comprising a LED
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B27/00—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00
- G02B27/09—Beam shaping, e.g. changing the cross-sectional area, not otherwise provided for
- G02B27/0938—Using specific optical elements
- G02B27/0994—Fibers, light pipes
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- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/0001—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems
- G02B6/0005—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems the light guides being of the fibre type
- G02B6/0006—Coupling light into the fibre
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/02—Optical fibres with cladding with or without a coating
- G02B6/036—Optical fibres with cladding with or without a coating core or cladding comprising multiple layers
- G02B6/03616—Optical fibres characterised both by the number of different refractive index layers around the central core segment, i.e. around the innermost high index core layer, and their relative refractive index difference
- G02B6/03688—Optical fibres characterised both by the number of different refractive index layers around the central core segment, i.e. around the innermost high index core layer, and their relative refractive index difference having 5 or more layers
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
- G02B6/4201—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
- G02B6/4204—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details the coupling comprising intermediate optical elements, e.g. lenses, holograms
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/42—Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements
- G02B6/4201—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details
- G02B6/4204—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details the coupling comprising intermediate optical elements, e.g. lenses, holograms
- G02B6/4214—Packages, e.g. shape, construction, internal or external details the coupling comprising intermediate optical elements, e.g. lenses, holograms the intermediate optical element having redirecting reflective means, e.g. mirrors, prisms for deflecting the radiation from horizontal to down- or upward direction toward a device
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B3/00—Simple or compound lenses
- G02B3/0087—Simple or compound lenses with index gradient
Definitions
- Coupling element for the coupling of LED to fiber bundles
- the present invention relates to a coupling element for the coupling of LEDs of different sizes and embodiments to fiber bundles in endoscopy.
- LEDs light emitting diodes
- the main aim is to couple as much as possible of the light emitted by available LED components into fiber bundles of different diameters.
- LED components are offered both as a chip LED, as well as attached lens, or with windows and have very different dimensions.
- aspheres have to be used to realize the required angular transformation for coupling into fiber bundles. Due to the number of lenses used, a portion of the emitted light of the LED is lost by reflection and scattering on the lens surfaces, which is particularly disadvantageous.
- optical elements made of PMMA polymethyl methacrylate
- PMMA polymethyl methacrylate
- rotationally symmetric elements are provided which are intended to catch as many as possible of all the rays emitted by the LED in their solid angle and to guide them in a desired direction by means of spherical or aspherical or even partially reflecting surface parts.
- US 2006/0044820 in which some of the very special beam-guiding components are described.
- a disadvantage of these elements are their dimensions, since due to the required solid angle, these elements are several times larger in diameter than the LED itself. The disadvantage here is also the very high price for these precision turned parts in small quantities.
- an adaptation of these elements is usually only possible through recalculation and customization. This also applies to the LED to be used. For each type of LED, a specific element must be calculated and manufactured.
- shock coupling For coupling the light of the LED, it is much better possible than with lens systems to bring the fiber bundles and the LED chip areas into direct contact with one another, as has been described in detail in US Pat. No. 7,229,201 (so-called shock coupling).
- shock coupling the best Einkoppellinger have been achieved over all other known methods.
- the disadvantage of this shock coupling is that the commercial available fiber bundle diameter or the fiber bundle diameter used in the endoscopes are not adapted to all common LED chip sizes or can not be adapted.
- the illustrated fiber bundles are shown smaller than the actual LED chip, which generally leads to losses in the corners (inscribed circle).
- fiber cones In order to detect as many emitted light beams as possible in these methods of butt coupling or direct placement on LED chips or lens caps or windows, fiber cones have been used in many cases. As described, for example, in US 2009/0122573, the fiber cone is used for aperture conversion and sizing by placing it with its small diameter on the LED chip and the large diameter of the fiber cone comes into contact with the fiber bundle to be used. The Disadvantages here are also the adaptation of the diameter of the small side of the fiber cone to the LED chip, which must indeed be performed as a perimeter around the LED chip to record as many rays, then possibly bonding wires can be damaged.
- Known fiber cones and also known glass cones have different diameters of the coupling and decoupling surfaces.
- the term aspect ratio is to be understood as the quotient of the smaller (e.g., on) coupling surface to the larger (e.g., off) coupling surface.
- the use of one of the surfaces as a coupling surface is based on the respective, specific task.
- the solid angles of the LEDs generally have much larger angles than the transmittable apertures of commercially available installed glass fibers, in the majority of the coupling tasks, the smaller cone diameter is used as the coupling surface and the LED is installed too skilfully.
- the large coupled solid angle will be provided according to the aspect ratio in a small solid angle at the decoupling surface. The following statements assume this configuration.
- the embodiments of all known LED chips are square or rectangular, the embodiments of known Lichtleitschreib coupling surfaces are round, so that there is an unmatched surface coupling. If the coupling diameter is chosen to be equal to or greater than the diagonal of a square LED chip (circumference), then portions (circular sections) are present in which no light is transmitted. If the diameter of a e.g. If the light guide cable coupled to the shock coupling is chosen to be smaller or the same as the diameter of the inner circle of a square LED chip (incircle), radiation of the chip coming from the protruding edge regions is likewise lost. This is problematic when LED components are used with lenses. Here, the fiber optic interface to be patched must have a much larger diameter than the LED chip to detect all beams, again at the expense of a best fit aspect ratio.
- the commercially available fiber cones have fused fibers at both coupling points, so that a very high packing density of the individual fibers is obtained, which results in a high power transmission.
- this fiber cone should contain fibers with a high numerical aperture.
- the numerical aperture of the fibers of a fiber cone (or of a cogia cone) is calculated as:
- NA v (n k 2 -n m 2)
- n k index of refraction (refractive index) in the core
- n m refractive index (refractive index) in the casing where n k> n m
- Fiber cones with a high aperture and additionally fused coupling and decoupling surfaces are not available as standard and can only be produced with expensive technology. Likewise, other than round coupling and Auskoppel lake- geometries are not available. Fiber cones from INCOM, USA are offered with high apertures up to 0.9 with very small fiber diameters. The fiber cones also offered by this company with square or rectangular surface geometries correspond Not the required for an effective coupling between LED and fiber bundles tasks of light coupling, since here a round diameter is brought by grinding of fibers to a rectangular geometry and consequently edge fibers are excluded from the light guide. Due to the very small diameter of the fibers in these offered fiber cones occur in addition to higher losses.
- glass cone For the coupling of LED to fiber bundles are commercially available and glass cone available, which consist of a glass core and a glass jacket with refractive index ratios that allow a reflection in the interior similar to a single glass fiber.
- the dimensions of the glass cones move in the range of the diameter of the fiber bundles to be used for light transmission in the endoscopes. Even with the glass cones, there are no commercially available high apertures and no other than round shaped coupling and decoupling surfaces.
- the present invention aims to provide a coupling element for coupling LED light commercially available LED in the fiber bundles used in endoscopy of endoscopes or optical cables or in the optical components used for other lighting applications, the disadvantages of all described coupling elements described above as possible should be avoided.
- a, for example, cylindrically shaped coupling element of a core, which preferably consists of glass, and a plurality of transverse to the longitudinal direction, successive cladding layers is constructed with matched different refractive indices.
- the cladding layers likewise each preferably consist of glass and are therefore also referred to below as cladding glasses or glass sheaths and follow one another in the radial direction in such a way that they encase a further inner sheath layer or the core and extend as far as possible in the longitudinal direction of the coupling element over its entire length , which can be localized by polished sections.
- Propagation angle is understood here to mean the angle of a respective light beam with respect to the longitudinal direction of the coupling element.
- the coupling element has a numerical aperture greater than 0.8 and more preferably greater than 0.9 and is designed for coupling to fiber bundles or other optical elements with a diameter greater than 4 mm.
- Fiber bundles for endoscopy usually have diameters of more than 4 mm or 5 mm.
- the core and the cladding layers are made of glass so that the core is surrounded by a plurality of glass claddings.
- a cladding layer of glass is also referred to as a glass cladding.
- the coupling element can be produced from a multi-step index plastic preform (MSI-POF).
- a coupling element whose cladding layers each consist of homogeneous glass with a respective defined refractive index, wherein the glasses of the cladding layers are made of commercially available glasses with a corresponding refractive index.
- a high aperture can be achieved via the layering.
- a suitable combination of glasses is (from core to outer cladding layer):
- the coupling element has at least 3, preferably 5 to 10 successive cladding layers
- the cladding layers of the coupling element preferably form successive glass shells with a respective refractive index, so that the refractive indices decrease in their value from the core to the outer sheath.
- the refractive indices of the successive glass shells from the core to the outer glass sheath are preferably designed with respect to each other according to a calculated beam guidance.
- the layer thicknesses of the successive cladding layers are preferably the same. Alternatively or additionally, the layer thicknesses of the successive glass shells are designed differently according to a calculated beam guidance.
- the layer thicknesses of the cladding layers are greater than 0.1 mm and preferably between 0.5 mm and 1 mm.
- the solid angle resulting at the decoupling point can be better adapted (eg widened) compared to a pure glass cone, if a coupling element is used, which consists of several layers of glass whose refractive indices are different and whose layer thickness is different or equal and which also tapers - that can be tapered in the longitudinal direction - executed.
- This coupling element may have a round, square or rectangular geometry at the coupling surfaces and / or at the decoupling surfaces, so that an areal adaptation to any LED geometries or to any geometrically shaped fiber bundles can take place.
- the coupling element is designed as a straight cylindrical or prismatic body or designed as tapered in the longitudinal direction Taper with divergent input and output coupling surfaces sizes.
- the coupling-in surface and / or the coupling-out surface of the coupling element preferably has a rectangular, preferably square shape.
- the coupling element may have round or angular cross-sectional shapes and correspondingly, e.g. have a cylindrical or prismatic outer shape, with end faces that serve as a coupling surface or decoupling surface.
- Conically tapered coupling elements and / or in the longitudinal direction of a shape with a round cross-section on a shape with angular cross section passing Koppide are equally within the scope of this invention and allow the respective end face and thus the respective input and output surface in their shape to the LED or to adjust the coupling surface of a respective fiber bundle.
- coupling elements are preferred whose coupling surface corresponds to the surface of a respectively provided LED component. These are, for example, usually rectangular surfaces with a dimension between 1 mm 2 and 10 mm 2 .
- a respective LED component and the coupling element preferably form a structural unit which has a connection for connecting a fiber bundle on the side of the coupling-out surface of the coupling element.
- a coupling surface of the coupling element here the in operation of the LED facing (front) surface is designated, through which the light of the LED enters the coupling element. Accordingly, as a decoupling surface of the coupling element that (front) surface referred to, which faces the optical fiber bundle of the endoscope or another subsequent optical component during operation and by the light of the LED exits the coupling element and enters an entrance surface of the fiber bundle or the other optical component.
- the coupling-out surface of the coupling element preferably has a shape and also a surface measure which corresponds to the coupling-in surface of a fiber bundle.
- the diameters or corner gauges of the coupling element may be larger, e.g. 8-10mm.
- the end surface of the coupling element serving as a coupling surface and the other end face of the coupling element differing from one another both in terms of their shape and in terms of their surface dimension, but preferably in at least one of these aspects.
- the Einkoppel- fietze and the coupling surface of the coupling element are preferably designed as ground and polished end faces of the coupling element.
- a particularly effective transmission of the light in the coupling element according to the invention is achieved by the individual numerical apertures, which results from the design of the refractive indices of the individual mutually contacting neighboring layers.
- a particularly preferred coupling element has, for example, a glass core and 5 cladding layers each having different refractive indices with a refractive index difference of about 0.1 of the layers to one another and uniformly decreasing refractive index from the core to the outermost cladding. This component has a square cross section at the LED input side and a round cross section at the output side.
- the individual cladding layers are preferably thicker than 0.1 mm and preferably have a layer thickness between 0.5 mm and 1 mm.
- the number of cladding glasses (cladding layers) can be selected
- the thickness of the cladding glasses (cladding layers) can be selected. Glasses can be selected for use in terms of their indices of refraction
- the cross-sections of the coupling-in and coupling-out sides can be selected (round, square, rectangular)
- the outermost layer can be mirrored on the outside
- the transmission of the coupling element can be optimized for different wavelengths
- the glasses to be used should approximate in their coefficients of thermal expansion and viscosity to provide a compact fused coupling element.
- This coupling element can be produced by various methods. It can be produced as a single component by the glass shells are pushed over each other as prefabricated tubes and the entire component collapses in an oven. But it can also be drawn as a continuous strand in a drawing system from a preform whose glass layers by z. B. customary deposition processes have been prepared. Likewise, chill casting of the various glass shells of the coupling element in corresponding shapes is possible. The nesting of several glass plates in an overlay outer tube with subsequent pulling results in such a coupling element selectable dimensions. The preparation of the tapered shape can also be done by conventional methods. The transformation of one or both ends into a rectangular or square cross-section may, for. B. also be achieved later by pressing a corresponding shape.
- Figure 1 an arrangement of a fiber cone or a glass cone for coupling the
- Figure 13 a coupling element according to the invention in an embodiment as a coupling element or beam splitter coupling out at right angles
- Figure 14 Application of the coupling element according to the invention for a coupling of 3 LEDs on a coupling-out side
- FIG 15 Another embodiment for a coupling of 3 LED on a decoupling side with a coupling element according to the invention
- Figure 16 Application of the coupling element according to the invention for a coupling of several SMD LED on a decoupling side
- a measured radiation lobe of a power LED is used as a starting point, which covers an angle range of 40 °.
- Figure 1 shows the coupling of a fiber cone or a glass cone to a commercially available power LED.
- the LED should in this case be present without an attached lens as an embedded LED, as is shown, for example, in US Pat. in the case of the "Phlatlight-LED" supplied by the company LUMINUS (USA)
- the fiber cone (2) or the glass cone (6) sits in abutment on the window of the LED (1).
- 5) uses the smaller diameter side to convert the angle conversion from the larger beam angle of the LED to a smaller coupling angle.
- the commercial glass cone (6) consists of a glass core with a first refractive index n k and a glass cladding with a second refractive index n m . If n m ⁇ n k , then a known total reflection of the light takes place.
- the numerical aperture (NA) of the glass cone and its aspect ratio can be selected via the glasses and the sizes of the coupling and decoupling points (4, 5).
- Figure 2 shows the coupling-out diagram of a glass cone (6), which has a low aspect ratio of 0.4, ie a large difference in diameter between the coupling-in side (5) and the coupling-out side (4).
- the resulting solid angle is relatively limited to the aperture (NA) given by the glasses.
- NA aperture
- the room angle of the LED radiation is only used to 40%. As a result, the transmission efficiency is not good.
- a wide coupling angle can only be achieved with a glass cone if very high refractive glasses are used.
- Commercially available glass cones have a numerical aperture of +/- 30 0 .
- Figures 3 and 4 also show this fact: With a glass cone with a high aspect ratio, the decoupling angle is kept within the limits of the numerical aperture (NA) given by the glasses, while the middle part of the solid angle is flattened. The transmitted light output decreases with increasing aspect ratio.
- NA numerical aperture
- the Glaskegei can not transmit even more than 50% of the total power of the LED here.
- the glass cone used here has an absorbent outer layer.
- the transferable performance may be higher.
- Figure 5 shows the structure of a cylindrical coupling element according to the invention. It has a glass core with a refractive index of n k and cladding glasses concentrically around this core with the different refractive indices n 3 to n 7 .
- the glass layers have the thicknesses D1 to D5, which can be the same size or different sizes.
- the coupling element has a freely selectable length L and has a ground, polished and coated Einkoppelseite (5) with the diameter D e and a ground and polished and coated coupling-out side (4) with the diameter D a .
- Figure 6 shows a taper of a coupling element according to the invention.
- the taper with the selectable length L is identical to the inner structure of the coupling element shown in Figure 5 wherein the diameters of the coupling side (5) and the coupling-out side (4) are different and thus set an aspect ratio.
- FIG 7 a taper of a coupling element according to the invention is shown, which on the coupling side (5) has a different surface shape than on the coupling-out side (4).
- the surface shape of the coupling-in side is rectangularly adapted to an LED chip having the dimensions a ⁇ b, while the coupling-out side is round and may be adapted in diameter, for example, to commercially available fiber bundle diameters.
- Figure 8 shows in a decoupling diagram how the decoupling angle of a tapered coupling element according to the invention behaves according to FIG. 6 when the aspect ratio is 0.75.
- continuously increasing refractive indices from the cladding to the core are used, the refractive index differences of the individual layers having a size of 0.1 relative to one another. This means an aperture of the individual layers to each other of about 0.5 to 0.6. The absolute aperture of the entire component thus results in> 0.9.
- the jacket thicknesses are kept the same. It can be seen that even with a multilayer coupling element with the same Mantle thicknesses and uniformly from inside to outside changing refractive index of the glass layers, a coupling angle can be obtained, which is wider than the glass cone compared to Figure 4.
- the total transmitted light output is about twice as high as the simple glass cone according to Figure 4.
- Figure 9 shows a decoupling diagram for a second refractive index order of the single refractive indices of the individual glass layers in the direction from the core to the cladding.
- glasses which have a refractive index difference from each other of about 0.02 to 0.05.
- the beams in the coupling element change very rapidly and very often the layers, with the result that a narrower coupling-out angle and in the central region a slightly wider plateau is formed.
- Figure 10 shows a coupling-out diagram for a third refractive index sequence, which is characterized in that the refractive index differences between the layers is about 0.01 to 0.03. With the resulting very small apertures between the layers a center-emphasized smaller Auskoppelwinkel and only a smaller power transmission is achieved.
- the refractive index sequence according to FIG. 8 is interrupted with the high apertures between the layers by introducing a layer which has a refractive index which differs greatly from the surrounding layers, then a coupling-out diagram according to FIG. 11 with a very broad coupling-out angle results. In the picture, this layer lies near the outer coats. By shifting this low-refractive layer, different decoupling profiles of the spatial angle to be decoupled can be achieved.
- one of the cladding layers is changed in thickness, z. B. widened as z. As shown in Figure 12, it can also be used to create widening of the decoupling angle.
- the availability of glasses with appropriate parameters allows a wide range of manipulation of the coupling element according to the invention. It can be seen that in the coupling element according to the invention, the coupled-in beams can be more completely and better converted to the coupling-out side than is possible with a glass cone or even with a fiber cone. In addition, the transmittable light output is higher. With the choice of the layer thicknesses, the refractive indices and the aspect ratio, one is able to develop and produce an effective and inexpensive coupling element very quickly for a large number of coupling tasks.
- the coupling surface and the decoupling surface of this coupling element according to the invention are ground and polished and can be provided with a reflection-reducing coating or a wavelength-selective coating.
- a specially designed coupling element is formed when the entire component is held in a rectangular cross-section.
- This side can be provided with a mirror layer, which leads to a decoupling of the light at right angles to the coupling side. Since the beam guidance through the mirror layer is approximately perpendicular to the individual cladding glasses, not all rays are deflected into the glass layers, but leave the coupling element on the ground shell side. In the case of a coating of the angularly ground outcoupling side with a divider layer with a selectable divider ratio, a decoupling can take place in two different directions. If the splitter layer is designed as a wavelength-selective layer, light mixing elements can also be constructed with the coupling element according to the invention.
- Figure 14 shows a structure of 3 LED, which emit different spectral.
- the light of the LED1 is coupled into the planar coupling surface of the upper first coupling element (G1).
- the decoupled by 45 ° decoupling surface of the upper first coupling element (G1) is coated with a long-pass layer, which leaves the green light of the LED1 through and blue light reflected.
- the angled at 45 ° and uncoated surface of the second coupling element (G2) is cemented.
- the second coupling element (G2) conducts the light of the blue LED2 via the wavelength-selective coating on the first coupling element (G1) and the coupling-out point on the second coupling element (G2) into the third coupling element (G3).
- This third coupling element (G3) has a wavelength-selective long-pass filter, which transmits blue and green but reflects red.
- the un coated fourth coupling element (G4) cemented which conducts the light of a red emitting LED, which is reflected at the mirror layer of the third coupling element (G3).
- any combinations can be assembled into a light mixing element.
- a coupling element with two angular bevels at an angle of 45 ° is used in the central area of the structure (G2).
- the other two coupling elements are provided with a flat surface (coupling surface (5) and decoupling surface (4)) and each with a beveled surface at 45 °.
- the angled surfaces are provided with a wave-selective coating.
- the splitter mirror coating (14) on the LED 2 (13) consists of a blue-reflecting layer which allows other wavelengths (here in particular the wavelength (green) emitted by the LED1) to pass through.
- the partial mirror coating (14) on the LED3 (12) consists of a red-reflecting layer that allows all other wavelengths (in particular the wavelengths emitted by the LED1 and LED3 (green and blue)) to pass through.
- the coupling element sections used here are of the same square cross-section, which is sized in size so that both the coupling point (5) and in the corresponding planar cladding regions (16), the high-power LED can be coupled directly.
- the decoupling point (4) of the entire optical component e.g. a fiber optic bundle (3) are coupled. It is also possible, following the decoupling point (4) to arrange an arbitrarily constructed optical system of a plurality of lenses or lens groups, which assumes an additional beam shaping of the decoupled beams. Such optics are e.g. needed to focus on a micromechanical tilting mirror element (MEMS) for video beamer.
- MEMS micromechanical tilting mirror element
- this coupling element can be used in a structure such as in Figure 15, for example, to couple the radiation of a white light LED and an ultraviolet LED or even an additional infrared LED to a common decoupling point.
- the design according to Figure 15 is not limited in its construction to the use of 3 LEDs. Using the assembly principles outlined in Figures 14 and 15, either only 2 LEDs or 4 or more LEDs can be coupled together.
- Figure 16 shows that with the coupling element according to the invention a mixture of the emission of several small LEDs, e.g. SMD LED can be made, in the Biid a square coupling element (G5) with plan ground Einkoppel- and Auskopel- peltension shown.
- a total of 6 pieces SMD LED (1) are cemented.
- To the decoupling side (4) can now turn again, e.g. a fiber optic cable or a subsequent optical system are coupled.
- LEDs with the same wavelength e.g white light LED
- This coupling element according to the invention can also be advantageously integrated into light guide neck of endoscopes. Since in the endoscopes usually wide-angle optical fibers can be used, here is the possibility to couple a solid angle of about 120 °. This is not possible with the commonly used fiber cones. With the coupling element according to the invention higher light powers with higher solid angles can be coupled into endoscopes for the first time at this point. LIST OF REFERENCES
- n 7 refractive indices of the cladding glass layers
- n k refractive index of the core glass
- n m refractive index of the cladding
- a lateral dimension 1 of a rectangular coupling-in side
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- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Optics & Photonics (AREA)
- Surgery (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Biomedical Technology (AREA)
- Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
- Pathology (AREA)
- Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy & Molecular Imaging (AREA)
- Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
- Medical Informatics (AREA)
- Molecular Biology (AREA)
- Radiology & Medical Imaging (AREA)
- General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Public Health (AREA)
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- Astronomy & Astrophysics (AREA)
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- Optical Couplings Of Light Guides (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
DE112012000800T DE112012000800A5 (en) | 2011-02-14 | 2012-02-14 | Coupling element for the coupling of LED to fiber bundles |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
DE102011004083 | 2011-02-14 | ||
DE102011004083.8 | 2011-02-14 | ||
DE201110077382 DE102011077382A1 (en) | 2011-02-14 | 2011-06-10 | Coupling element for the coupling of LED to fiber bundles |
DE102011077382.7 | 2011-06-10 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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WO2012110521A1 true WO2012110521A1 (en) | 2012-08-23 |
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ID=46579719
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP2012/052523 WO2012110521A1 (en) | 2011-02-14 | 2012-02-14 | Coupling element for the coupling of led to fibre bundle |
Country Status (2)
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DE (2) | DE102011077382A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2012110521A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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DE102013226019A1 (en) * | 2013-12-16 | 2015-06-18 | Olympus Winter & Ibe Gmbh | Endoscope with adjustable viewing direction |
Citations (11)
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US3808549A (en) * | 1972-03-30 | 1974-04-30 | Corning Glass Works | Optical waveguide light source |
US4076378A (en) * | 1976-03-08 | 1978-02-28 | American Optical Corporation | Tapered fiber optic array |
US6011891A (en) * | 1996-04-26 | 2000-01-04 | Katzir; Abraham | Infrared-transmitting-fiber-optic-cable-based device for non-contact thermometry |
US20030219207A1 (en) | 2002-05-22 | 2003-11-27 | The Boeing Company | Fiber optic LED illuminator |
WO2005062099A1 (en) | 2003-12-02 | 2005-07-07 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Reflective light coupler |
US20060044820A1 (en) | 2004-08-31 | 2006-03-02 | Marvin Ruffin | Optic fiber LED light source |
US7229201B2 (en) | 2003-03-26 | 2007-06-12 | Optim Inc. | Compact, high-efficiency, high-power solid state light source using a single solid state light-emitting device |
DE102007027615A1 (en) | 2007-06-12 | 2008-12-24 | Schott Ag | Device for coupling light into a fiber optic light guide |
US20090122573A1 (en) | 2003-03-26 | 2009-05-14 | Optim, Inc. | Illumination device |
WO2010055971A1 (en) | 2008-11-17 | 2010-05-20 | 유메디칼 주식회사 | Medical light source device |
US20110007302A1 (en) * | 2009-07-12 | 2011-01-13 | Stephan Clark | Hard copy re-emission color measurement system |
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US4981333A (en) * | 1989-09-27 | 1991-01-01 | Fotec, Inc. | Universal launch cable assembly and integrated idealized light source system using same |
US5461692A (en) * | 1993-11-30 | 1995-10-24 | Amoco Corporation | Multimode optical fiber coupling apparatus and method of transmitting laser radiation using same |
DE10321137B4 (en) * | 2003-05-09 | 2010-03-11 | Molex Inc., Lisle | Method for producing an arrangement of a waveguide section and a component |
US7102177B2 (en) * | 2003-08-26 | 2006-09-05 | Avago Technologies Ecbu Ip (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. | Light-emitting diode incorporating gradient index element |
-
2011
- 2011-06-10 DE DE201110077382 patent/DE102011077382A1/en not_active Withdrawn
-
2012
- 2012-02-14 DE DE112012000800T patent/DE112012000800A5/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2012-02-14 WO PCT/EP2012/052523 patent/WO2012110521A1/en active Application Filing
Patent Citations (12)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3808549A (en) * | 1972-03-30 | 1974-04-30 | Corning Glass Works | Optical waveguide light source |
US4076378A (en) * | 1976-03-08 | 1978-02-28 | American Optical Corporation | Tapered fiber optic array |
US6011891A (en) * | 1996-04-26 | 2000-01-04 | Katzir; Abraham | Infrared-transmitting-fiber-optic-cable-based device for non-contact thermometry |
US20030219207A1 (en) | 2002-05-22 | 2003-11-27 | The Boeing Company | Fiber optic LED illuminator |
US7229201B2 (en) | 2003-03-26 | 2007-06-12 | Optim Inc. | Compact, high-efficiency, high-power solid state light source using a single solid state light-emitting device |
US20090040783A1 (en) | 2003-03-26 | 2009-02-12 | Optim, Inc. | Compact, high efficiency, high power solid state light source using a single solid state light-emitting device |
US20090122573A1 (en) | 2003-03-26 | 2009-05-14 | Optim, Inc. | Illumination device |
WO2005062099A1 (en) | 2003-12-02 | 2005-07-07 | 3M Innovative Properties Company | Reflective light coupler |
US20060044820A1 (en) | 2004-08-31 | 2006-03-02 | Marvin Ruffin | Optic fiber LED light source |
DE102007027615A1 (en) | 2007-06-12 | 2008-12-24 | Schott Ag | Device for coupling light into a fiber optic light guide |
WO2010055971A1 (en) | 2008-11-17 | 2010-05-20 | 유메디칼 주식회사 | Medical light source device |
US20110007302A1 (en) * | 2009-07-12 | 2011-01-13 | Stephan Clark | Hard copy re-emission color measurement system |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
DE102011077382A1 (en) | 2012-08-16 |
DE112012000800A5 (en) | 2013-11-14 |
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