JP2776660B2 - Optical fiber alignment device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is suitable for accurately aligning optical fibers in a plurality of optical fibers arranged in a row (hereinafter referred to as a multi-core tape fiber). The present invention relates to an optical fiber alignment device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Batch fusion splicing of a multi-core tape fiber is performed as follows.
Conventionally, an optical fiber is inserted into a multi-core fixed V-groove in which the V-groove for mounting and fixing the optical fiber is precisely machined in a straight line, and the outer diameter axes of the left and right optical fibers are almost aligned, and the pushing amount The core axis alignment of the left and right fiber cores was performed by the control.

[0003]

By the way, in order to reduce the connection loss at the time of fusion of an optical fiber, it is necessary to perform a centering operation for each core. However, the spacing between the fibers to be fused is very narrow, and it is necessary to perform fine alignment on the order of microns in a short time and accurately, but this has been difficult. Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber alignment device capable of aligning a multi-core tape optical fiber having a narrow pitch between optical fibers.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems] That is, the present invention is given
A pair provided symmetrically so as to have an angle of intersection
On the inclined surface of the optical fiber, the thickness is about the outer diameter of the optical fiber.
Step-like multiple thin plate-shaped movable pieces with smooth surfaces
By arranging them in layers, a pair of sawtooth-shaped continuous
Forming a plurality of V-grooves and an optical fiber in the plurality of V-grooves;
Are arranged one by one, the optical fiber and the corresponding
Arrange the pair of optical fibers on the other side, and
Each optical element is fixed, and these optical elements are slightly expanded and contracted, so that each optical fiber is
Fine movement in the direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the movable pieces
A pair of fiber and the corresponding optical fiber
Each is obtained by configured to centering.

[0005]

According to the optical fiber centering device of the present invention, the movable piece is microscopically pushed by the piezoelectric element, and each movable piece is minutely displaced by the pushing force, and the optical fiber mounted on the end face of each movable piece. Is forcibly corrected.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an optical fiber centering device according to the present invention.
, A movable piece 2 and a piezoelectric element 3. In the drawing, reference numeral 4 denotes an optical fiber constituting a multi-core tape fiber, and in this embodiment, a four-core tape fiber is used. The base 1 is provided symmetrically so as to have a crossing angle of 90 degrees, has a tilt angle of 45 degrees, and has a pair of inclined surfaces 1 a on which the movable piece 2 is arranged, and these inclined surfaces 1 a
And a flat portion 1b for positioning the movable piece 2 formed continuously with the lower portion of the optical fiber 4. The effect of performing an arc discharge or the like at the center portion to fuse the optical fibers 4 together, namely, thermal deformation and It is formed of a ceramic material in consideration of prevention of generation of elastic deformation and the like. And these inclined surfaces 1a
Each of the movable pieces 2 is laminated in a stepwise manner (however, only one of them is shown in FIG. 1), and each optical fiber 4 is positioned at each end face or the like of these movable pieces 2. Have been. The flat surface 1b is adapted to position the lower ends of the movable pieces 2 stacked on the inclined surfaces 1a, and the lowermost edge of each movable piece 2 is abutted and arranged as shown in FIG. It has become. In order to accurately position the optical fiber 4, the pair of inclined surfaces 1a and the flat portion 1b are subjected to high-precision surface processing, but the flat portion is not particularly required. In addition, the centering work performed prior to the fusion of the optical fiber, which is currently performed, is performed in two directions of α and β while observing the real and imaginary images of the optical fiber to be fused on a monitor. Because
The centering efficiency is highest when the directions are orthogonal by 90 degrees in the directions of α and β. Therefore, for the convenience of making both inclined surfaces perpendicular to each other as in this embodiment, the inclined surface 1a has the best inclination of 45 degrees. However, if the pitch of the optical fibers 4 becomes narrower, it is necessary to form the inclined surface at an inclination of, for example, about 60 degrees and correspond to the pitch interval.

[0007] The movable piece 2 is a thin plate-like member that generates a minute vibration due to the pressing force from the piezoelectric element 3.
It is made of a ceramic material in order to minimize the influence of thermal deformation, electric discharge, etc., and is shifted one by one by one from the number of optical fibers 4 to be aligned as shown in FIG. In other words, the configuration is such that the layers are stacked stepwise. That is, the movable piece 2 of this embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 3, it is composed of first to fifth movable pieces 21 to 25, and these first to fifth movable pieces (except for
The movable piece 25 is not shown.) As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the stacked portions 21a to 25a mounted on the inclined surface 1a of the base 1 in a stepwise manner.
And mounting portions 21b to 25b (25) which extend downward from these stacked portions 21a to 25a and are fixed to the piezoelectric element 3.
a and b are not shown). Each of the laminated portions 21a to 25a has a respective face and an end face 21c.
25c (25c is not shown) is highly accurately surface-processed so that the angle between the upper surface and each of the stacked portions 21a to 25a and the next movable portion adjacent thereto are formed. The end face of the piece forms a 90-degree V-groove as shown in FIG.

Although the movable piece of this embodiment has a simple flat plate shape as shown in FIG. 2, it is not particularly limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG.
It may be formed in a substantially U-shaped cross section 2 '. That is, by adopting such a cross-sectional shape, not only can the movable piece be finely moved independently and efficiently by reducing friction caused by contact with each other, but also at the time of automatic fusion of fibers, for example, alcohol for cleaning or the like. The function of reducing the surface tension of a liquid film (not shown), which is generated when the liquid is sprayed and hinders sliding between the movable pieces, can also be exhibited. The piezoelectric element 3 is provided on each movable piece 21.
25 are respectively anchored stacked element is used for the mounting portion 21b~25b of, each independently separately pushed in accordance with the voltage applied, in FIG. 2, stretching in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element 3 And each of the movable pieces 21 to 25 is a movable piece
Direction perpendicular to the direction (α direction and the other movable piece forming a pair)
(In the β direction) , a desired axial deviation of the optical fibers 4a to 4d can be forcibly corrected. Therefore, according to this embodiment,
By operating the piezoelectric element 3 independently provided on each movable piece 2, only the desired optical fiber 4 can be finely adjusted accurately.

When the optical fiber is centered,
Prior to this, it is desirable to perform a coarse adjustment, but a jig such as a coarse moving member 10 shown in FIG. 9 is used for this. on the other hand,
As shown in FIG. 10, it is pressed down from above by a jig such as a pressing member 14. That is, in this embodiment, the coarse moving member 10 is locked to the lower end surface of each piezoelectric element 3 attached to each movable piece 2 ″, and the spring material 11 is attached to the upper end surface. The coarse movement member 10 has a screw hole 12a formed with a female screw at the same pitch as the piezoelectric element 3 and is fixed to a base (not shown) side. And a screw 13 screwed into the screw hole 12a of the support 12.
Then, the coarse moving member 10 pushes each screw 13 from below against the elastic force of the spring material 11, and locks each optical fiber 4 on the lower surface 14 a of the pressing member 14 as shown in FIG. 10. It is configured to perform pre-adjustment with coarse accuracy. The lower surface 14a of the pressing member 14 is subjected to high-precision planar processing.

[0010]

As described above, according to the optical fiber centering apparatus of the present invention, each optical fiber of the multi-core tape fiber is provided with a movable piece laminated in a sawtooth V-groove. By independently operating the piezoelectric elements fixed there, even for optical fibers with extremely narrow fiber pitch intervals, forcible fine movements can be separately performed to perform centering. There is an effect that it is possible to fully automate multi-core batch alignment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an optical fiber centering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a stacked state of movable pieces in the optical fiber centering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an attached state of a movable piece and a piezoelectric element in the optical fiber centering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a first movable piece in the optical fiber centering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a second movable piece in the optical fiber centering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a third movable piece in the optical fiber centering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a fourth movable piece in the optical fiber centering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of the movable piece in the optical fiber centering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a jig and the like for coarse adjustment performed prior to alignment of an optical fiber.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing the action of a pressing member and a movable piece used in the coarse adjustment shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 base 1a inclined surface 2 (21, 22, 23, 24, 25) movable piece 3 piezoelectric element 4 optical fiber

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Nobuyuki Yoshizawa, Inventor 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Shinichi Aoshima 1-16-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Japan Telegraph and Telephone Co., Ltd. (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02B 6/255 G02B 6/24

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. Symmetry to have a predetermined angle of intersection
Optical fiber on a pair of inclined surfaces (1a) provided
It has a thickness about the outer diameter of (4) and has end faces (21c, 22).
c,...
The pieces (21, 22,...) Are stacked and arranged in a stepwise manner.
Forming a plurality of V-grooves continuous in a pair of sawtooth shapes
The optical fibers (4) are arranged one by one in the plurality of V-grooves.
Then, the optical fiber (4) and the corresponding
A pair of optical fibers (4) are arranged, and a piezoelectric element is provided on each of the movable pieces (21, 22,...).
By fixing the piezoelectric element (3) and causing the piezoelectric element (3) to slightly expand and contract, each of the optical fibers (4) is connected to the movable piece (21,
22,...) In the direction perpendicular to the laminating direction.
Optical fiber (4) and corresponding optical fiber
An optical fiber centering device, wherein the fiber (4) is centered one by one .