JPH06281870A - Driving relay for optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To directly detect the movement in the vicinity of an optical fiber on the movable side, to detect abnormality in the course of a transferring process, to perform noncontacting detection without a changed with the lapse of time, to detect the slight displacement of the optical fiber and to stop the laser transfer by detecting the arising of abnormality or the probable occurrence of abnormality. CONSTITUTION:A position detector 30 for performing the noncontacting detection of the changeover position of an optical fiber 4 on the movable side is arranged in the vicinity of a movable block B. The position detector 30 is composed of an optical detector fixed on the side of a chamber D and optically detecting the transmission or interruption and reflection of light and a target plate provided with a slit fixed on the side of the movable block B and transmitting or interrupting and reflecting the light from the optical detector.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber drive relay for optically switching an optical fiber for transmitting a laser beam having a high energy density, which is used in a laser processing machine for welding, cutting, drilling and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of optical fiber drive relay, if the laser transmission is carried out during the switching of the movable side optical fiber, the end face of the fiber is damaged. Since the power is extremely large, safety is extremely important, and it is necessary to prevent the laser light from leaking to the outside even when an abnormality occurs.

Therefore, in order to detect the switching position of the movable side optical fiber, the applicant of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
Operating position detection device 12, 1 having contact in electromagnet part
3 has been proposed. This optical fiber drive relay includes a pair of fixed side optical fibers 1,
2, a fixed block A for fixing both ends of the two in parallel, a movable block B for switching the movable side optical fiber 4 to the fixed side optical fibers 1, 2, an electromagnet device C for driving the movable body 5, and a fixed block. A chamber D accommodating A and the movable block B, and operating position detecting devices 12 and 13 for detecting the operating position of the electromagnet device C are provided.

First, the fixed block A is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of fixed-side optical fibers 1 and 2 are fixed to the fixed base 3. A pair of fixed side optical fibers 1 and 2
Is covered with a non-translucent resin such as nylon resin, and at both ends including the part where the coating is peeled off, a sleeve 1a made of metal having good heat dissipation and formed into a substantially cylindrical shape,
1b and 2a, 2b are respectively attached, and the end faces of the fixed-side optical fibers 1, 2 are attached to the sleeves 1a, 1b and 2 respectively.
Optically polished together with a and 2b. The pair of sleeves 1a and 2a on the one end side are screwed to the fixing base 3 so as to be parallel to each other via the pair of fixing fittings 3a and 3b.

The movable block B has movable sleeves 4a and 4b formed in a substantially cylindrical shape similar to the fixed side optical fibers 1 and 2 at one end and the other end thereof. 4 is fixedly supported by being screwed to the movable body 5 via a band 5a. This movable body 5 has a through-groove 5b, both ends of which a supporting rod 5c fixed to both side walls of a chamber D to be described later are inserted into the through-groove 5b, and an intermediate portion of the substantially rod-shaped connecting member 6 is formed. The portion 6a is fixed so that it can move integrally with the connecting member 6. The connecting member 6 is movably supported in parallel through two holes provided on both sides of the chamber D, and its both ends 6b and 6c abut the adjusting screws 7a and 8a of the stopper bases 7 and 8, respectively. The optical fiber 4 is positioned so that the side surface of one end of the optical fiber 4 and the end surface of one end of the fixed-side optical fibers 1 and 2 can face each other with a very small gap.

The electromagnet device C is composed of a rotating bistable pole 9 and is attached to a housing E described later. A driving piece 11 made of a thin leaf spring material is attached to the rotating armature 10 so as to have elasticity, and one end portion of the driving piece 11 is connected to the connecting member 6. Contact points of operating position detecting devices 12 and 13 driven by an armature 10 are provided on both sides of the polarized electromagnet 9 to detect a bistable operating state. Here, when the electromagnet device C operates, the movable body 5 of the movable block B is moved in parallel by the connecting member 6 being pressed and driven by the driving piece 11 attached to the armature 10, and fixed to the movable body 5. Movable optical fiber 4
The laser light emitted from one end of the pair of fixed side optical fibers 1 and 2 can be switched to be received by one of both ends of the pair of fixed side optical fibers 1 and 2. At this time, the operation position detection devices 12 and 13 having contacts in the electromagnet portion easily open and close the contacts by using the movement of the electromagnet 9, and the operation position of the movable side optical fiber 4 and the operation failure of the electromagnet 9. It is designed to detect

The chamber D includes a base portion 14 and a lid portion 1 made of a metal material such as an aluminum alloy.
It consists of 5 and. The base portion 14 is formed in a substantially box shape that is open in one direction, and the fixed base 3 is fitted to one end portion inside thereof and the fixed block A guides and stores a pair of fixed side optical fibers 1 and 2. A movable block B fixed to the connecting member 6 is led out and accommodated in the movable side optical fiber 4 at a substantially central portion thereof, and a lid 15 is fitted to cover the opening thereof.

Further, the housing E is composed of a case 16 made of the same material as the chamber D and formed into a substantially box shape, and the base portion 14 of the chamber D is fixed to the center of the inside of the case 16. A connector 18 is provided in the housing E. The connector 18 includes a pair of fixed side optical fibers 1,
2 and the other ends of the movable side optical fibers 4 are provided in the respective holes provided in the side walls of the case 16 located in the direction of the other ends of the movable optical fibers 4, and the other ends of the optical fibers 1, 2, 4 are connected to the respective connectors 18. It is supposed to be connected.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned operating position detecting devices 12 and 13, the movement of the movable side optical fiber 4 is not directly detected. Therefore, the electromagnet 9 moves the movable block B or the movable side. When an abnormality occurs in the process of transmitting the movement to the optical fiber 4, there is a possibility that the abnormality cannot be accurately detected. Further, since the contact is used, a contact failure may occur. . Further, it has not been possible to sufficiently cope with the case where the position of the movable side optical fiber 4 is displaced and the optical axis is displaced while the switching is repeated for a long time.
As a result, the laser beam may leak to the outside due to the axis shift between the fibers, the temperature of the sleeve of the optical fiber may rise, and the end face of the fiber may be damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to directly detect the movement of the movable side optical fiber so as to move from the electromagnet to the movable block and the movable side optical fiber. In addition to making it possible to detect abnormalities in the middle of the motion transmission process, it is also possible to perform non-contact detection that does not change over time, and even detect slight positional deviations of the optical fiber when abnormalities occur or (EN) Provided is an optical fiber drive relay capable of stopping a laser transmission by detecting that an abnormality is likely to occur.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a movable block 5 and a fixed block A in which both ends of a pair of fixed optical fibers 1 and 2 are fixed in parallel. The movable block can be switched so as to receive the light emitted from one end of the movable side optical fiber 4 fixed to the movable body 5 at one of both ends of the pair of fixed side optical fibers 1 and 2 by being driven so as to be driven. B, an electromagnet device C that drives the movable body 5, and a chamber D that houses the fixed block A and the movable block B.
A position detector 30 for detecting the switching position of the movable-side optical fiber 4 in a contactless manner is arranged in the vicinity of.

Further, the position detector 30 includes a chamber D
The optical detector 35 fixed to the side to optically detect the transmission, blocking or reflection of light, and the slit 36A fixed to the movable block B side to transmit, block or reflect the light of the optical detector 35. , 36B with a target plate 37. Further, it is preferable that the position detector 30 includes means for warning that the displacement of the movable side optical fiber 4 has occurred when the switching position of the movable side optical fiber 4 deviates from a predetermined set value. .

[0013]

According to the present invention, since the position detector 30 for detecting the switching position of the movable side optical fiber 4 in the vicinity of the movable block B is arranged in a non-contact manner, the movement near the movable side optical fiber 4 can be directly detected. With the structure, when an abnormality occurs during the process of transmitting the movement from the electromagnet 9 to the movable block B or the movable side optical fiber 4, the abnormality can be accurately detected, and unlike the case where the contact is used, the contact failure occurs. There is no possibility of occurrence of. Moreover, since the position is detected by non-contact, the detection accuracy does not change with time even if the switching is repeated for a long time. Therefore, the laser light leaks to the outside due to the axis shift between the fibers, or the sleeve of the optical fiber Laser transmission can be stopped before the temperature rises or fiber endface damage occurs.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The optical fiber drive relay used in this embodiment is
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a fixed block A for fixing both ends of a pair of fixed side optical fibers 1 and 2 in parallel and a movable side optical fiber 4 are switched to the fixed side optical fibers 1 and 2. A movable block B, an electromagnet device C that drives the movable body 5, a chamber D that houses the fixed block A and the movable block B, and a position detector 30 that detects the switching position of the movable optical fiber 4 in a non-contact manner. The configuration other than the position detector 30 is the same as the conventional one, and the corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The position detector 30 is housed in the chamber D. The position detector 30 is for detecting the position of the movable body 5 in a non-contact manner. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the light emitting element 31 and the light receiving element 32 are in the same package so as to face each other. 33 and an optical detector 35 composed of a pair of photo interrupters 35A and 35B for detecting the presence / absence of something entering and exiting the opening 34 exposed between the light projecting element 31 and the light receiving element 32, and each photo. A target plate 37 having slits 36A and 36B for transmitting and blocking light entering and exiting the openings 34 of the interrupters 35A and 35B. The photo interrupters 35A and 35B are respectively fixed inside the chamber D so as to face both sides in the moving direction of the movable side optical fiber 4, and optically detect two switching positions of the movable side optical fiber 4. And the target plate 37
Is fixed to the movable body 5 side and moves in conjunction with the movement of the movable side optical fiber 4. Here, the photo-interrupter 35A, the characteristics of 35B, the line L ₁ shown in FIG. 6 (a)
As shown in, a current flows depending on the presence or absence of light, and by adjusting the threshold level M, switching of the movable side optical fiber 4 can be detected.

Next, the operation for detecting the switching position of the movable side optical fiber 4 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the slits 36A and 36B of the target plate 37 fixed to the movable body 5 side are provided on both sides in the moving direction of the target plate 37, respectively. Fiber 4
Is in the specified position, one of the slits 36B,
The light of one photo interrupter 35B is transmitted therethrough, and the slit 36A of the other is set so as to be deviated from the positions of the light projecting element 31 and the light receiving element 32 of the other photo interrupter 35A to block the light. When the position of the movable side optical fiber 4 deviates from the specified position, one slit 36B deviates from the position of the light projecting element 31 of the one photo interrupter 35B, and the light receiving element 32 receives it accordingly. The light flow decreases, and the current flowing through the light receiving element 32 decreases as indicated by the line L ₂ in FIG. 6B. Where threshold level M
Is selected and adjusted to set the allowable deviation amount X of the movable side optical fiber 4, and when the position of the movable side optical fiber 4 becomes larger than the set allowable deviation amount X, for example, an alarm is output. , Display in monitoring.
As a result, the laser transmission can be stopped before the end face of the optical fiber is damaged, the sleeve of the optical fiber becomes hot, or the leakage of the laser beam occurs.

As described above, the photo interrupters 35A and 35B for optically detecting the switching position of the movable side optical fiber 4 near the movable block B, and the slits 36A and 35A.
Since the position detector 30 including the target plate 37 provided with 36B is arranged, the structure in which the movement in the vicinity of the movable side optical fiber 4 can be directly detected by the position detector 30 without contact, and the movable block B from the polar electromagnet 9 is formed. When an abnormality occurs during the process of transmitting the movement to the movable optical fiber 4 or the movable side optical fiber 4, the abnormality can be accurately detected in a non-contact manner, and the operation position detecting device for detecting the bistable operation of the electromagnet device C is also provided. There is also no possibility of contact failure such as in the case of detection using only the 12 and 13 contacts.

Moreover, the slit 36 is formed by the movement of the target plate 37 as the movable side optical fiber 4 moves.
The switching position of the movable-side optical fiber 4 can be detected with high sensitivity by the presence or absence of the amount of light passing through A and 36B.
In addition, since the position is detected by non-contact, the detection accuracy does not change with time even if the switching is repeated for a long time, and a more reliable and safe optical fiber drive relay can be obtained.

Further, as a means for issuing a warning that the displacement of the movable side optical fiber 4 has occurred when the switching position of the movable side optical fiber 4 deviates from a predetermined set value, the displacement amount of the movable side optical fiber 4 is detected. There is also an advantage that it can be used as a failure prediction by giving an alarm with an alarm or an indication by monitoring when the amount of deviation gradually increases.

Further, in this embodiment, the movable side optical fiber 4
In addition to the structure that directly detects the deviation amount of
Since the operating position detecting devices 12 and 13 driven by the armature 10 are arranged on both sides of the same polarized electromagnet 9 as in the conventional case to detect the bistable operating state,
By using the signals from the interrupters 35A and 35B and the signal from the contact point together, it is possible to detect the increase in the shift amount of the movable side optical fiber 4 from the two signals with higher accuracy, and to further improve the reliability. Can be increased. When the light width of the photo interrupters 35A and 35B is large and the sensitivity is low, the light projecting element 31 and the light receiving element 32 are used.
Alternatively, a fixed slit (not shown) may be provided between and to increase the light sensitivity by the fixed slit.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the position detector for detecting the switching position of the movable side optical fiber in a contactless manner is arranged in the vicinity of the movable block, the movement of the movable side optical fiber is directly detected. It is possible to detect abnormalities during the transmission process of movement from the electromagnet to the movable block or the movable side optical fiber, and it is also possible to perform non-contact detection that does not change over time, and It is possible to stop the laser transmission by detecting abnormal position shifts and detecting abnormalities or when abnormalities are likely to occur, resulting in extremely safe optical fiber drive relays for laser processing machines. Obtainable.

Further, the position detector is fixed to the chamber side to optically detect the transmission, blocking or reflection of light, and the position detector is fixed to the movable block side to transmit the light of the optical detector. Alternatively, when the target plate is provided with a slit for blocking and reflecting, the target plate moves as the movable side optical fiber moves, so that the switching position of the movable side optical fiber is sensitive depending on the amount of light passing through the slit. It can be detected well.

Further, when the position detector is provided with means for warning that the movable side optical fiber is displaced when the switching position of the movable side optical fiber deviates from a predetermined set value, When the amount of displacement of the movable side optical fiber gradually increases, it can be used as a failure prediction by issuing an alarm or displaying on a monitor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an optical fiber drive relay used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the above.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the above photo interrupter.

4A and 4B show the positional relationship of the target plate with respect to the photo interrupter, and FIG. 4A is a plan view and FIG. 4B is a front view.

FIG. 5 (a) is a plan view of the above target plate, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a front view showing a light transmission state.

FIG. 6A is a graph showing the relationship between the current flowing through the light receiving element of the photo interrupter and the displacement of the movable side optical fiber, and FIG. 6B is a graph showing the state in which the current has decreased.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional optical fiber drive relay.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 fixed side optical fiber 4 movable side optical fiber 5 movable body 30 position detector 35 optical detector 36A, 36B slit 37 target plate A fixed block B movable block C electromagnet device D chamber

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A fixed block in which both ends of a pair of fixed-side optical fibers are fixed in parallel, and one end of a movable-side optical fiber fixed to the movable body by driving the movable body to move in parallel. The movable block includes a movable block that can be switched to receive the emitted light at one of both ends of the pair of fixed-side optical fibers, an electromagnet device that drives the movable body, and a chamber that houses the fixed block and the movable block. An optical fiber drive relay, wherein a position detector for detecting the switching position of the movable side optical fiber in a non-contact manner is disposed in the vicinity of the position. 2. The position detector is fixed to the chamber side to optically detect transmission, blocking or reflection of light, and to the movable block side to transmit the light of the optical detector. Alternatively, it comprises a target plate having a slit for blocking and reflecting.
The optical fiber drive relay described. 3. The position detector comprises means for warning the occurrence of displacement of the movable side optical fiber when the switching position of the movable side optical fiber deviates from a predetermined set value. The optical fiber drive relay according to claim 1.