JPS58143303A - Optical fiber array - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make manufacturing techniques easy and to improve mechanical strength by constituting an array from optical fibers arrayed with plural pieces of cores in one row. CONSTITUTION:An array is constituted from an optical fibers 1 having plural pieces of cores 2 arrayed in one row. Then, the fibers 1 of larger diameters can be used, their handling is easy and the arraying is advantageous in manufacture. If the fibers 1 in which the cores 2 are juxtaposed with high accuracy are used, the one-dimensional arrangement of the entire core is easy and therefore no advanced manufacturing techniques are required. Since the array is constituted of the optical fibers of diameters larger by integer times or above as compared to the prior art, the mechanical strength is improved. Thus, the manufacturing techniques is made easy and the mechanical strength is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical fiber array that directly transmits one-dimensional images in parallel.

This type of optical fiber array has many uses, such as coupling a one-dimensional image sensor to a one-dimensional image sensor, and transmitting a line image of an original image onto a copy sheet receiving surface in a copying machine.

This type of conventional optical fiber array has a structure in which seven optical fibers 1 each having seven cores 2 that transmit only seven pixels are arranged in a plane, as shown in Figure 1. It had the following drawbacks.

(1) Normally, the spacing between pixels is narrow, on the order of 10 to 100 μm, and very thin fibers must be arranged with high precision, requiring extremely sophisticated manufacturing technology and being expensive.

(2) Furthermore, since the optical fibers constructed are very thin, they are prone to breakage, resulting in short lifespans and reliability problems.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and its feature lies in that an array is constructed from optical fibers having a plurality of cores arranged in a row. The present invention will be explained below using the drawings.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show examples of cross-sectional structures of optical fiber arrays according to the present invention, in which each fiber 1 has a circular cross-sectional shape in FIG. 2 and an oval shape in FIG. In both figures, 1 indicates an optical fiber, 2 a core, and 6 a cladding.

As is clear from both figures, the outer diameter of each optical fiber 1 can be increased, making it easier to handle and advantageous in manufacturing. In addition, if the cores 2 in each optical fiber 1 are arranged in parallel with high precision, it will be easy to arrange all the cores in one dimension.
Does not require advanced manufacturing technology. Additionally, since it is constructed from an optical fiber with a diameter several times larger than that of conventional optical fibers, it has improved mechanical strength, long life, and improved reliability.

〔Example〕

Inter-pixel distance/Jum: 17 span g, um + number of pixels 2000.

An optical fiber array having a length of 7 m and having a structure as shown in FIG. 2 according to the present invention was manufactured.

FIG. 4 shows the cross-sectional structure of the optical fiber used in the above embodiment. 2 is a core with a diameter of 12am, and is 2% smaller than cladding 6.
Made of glass with a high refractive index.

The outer diameter of this optical fiber 1 is φ/20 um, and there are 70 cores in that diameter. , are arranged in a straight line at intervals of um. An optical fiber array was constructed with 200 of these optical fibers each having a length of 7 m.

It is very difficult to manufacture this optical fiber array with a conventional structure consisting of core optical fibers, and even if it were possible, it is expected that the mechanical strength would be extremely weak.

Therefore, the optical fiber array of the present invention is extremely effective as an optical fiber array for directly transmitting one-dimensional images in parallel.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of a conventional optical fiber array. 2 and 3 are both explanatory diagrams of the optical fiber array of the present invention, in which each optical fiber has a circular cross section;
The figure shows an optical fiber having an oval cross-sectional shape, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the cross-sectional structure of an optical fiber used in an embodiment of the present invention. 1...Optical fiber, 2...Core, 6...Clad. 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An optical fiber array characterized by a structure in which a plurality of optical fibers each having a plurality of cores are lined up at least at both ends. 2. The cores of the optical fibers are lined up in a line at equal intervals, and the distance between the center of the core at the end and the fine surface is 5, the distance between the cores is 4, and the cores are lined up in a straight line. An optical fiber array according to claim 1. 6. The optical fiber array according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cores are aligned in a straight line over the entire length.