Protective cover and protective structure

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of optical component protection, and specifically to a protective cover and a protective structure. The protective cover covers a substrate provided with an optical component, and the protective cover includes a protective cavity for accommodating and protecting the optical component, and also includes an opening arranged at one end of the protective cavity, a fitting surface arranged at the opening and used to fit with the substrate, an optical fiber window, and a cut-off portion connecting the opening and the optical fiber window. The protective structure includes a substrate, an optical component arranged on the substrate, and a protective cover, and the protective cover is arranged on the substrate and covers the optical component. The present invention seals the optical component by designing a protective cover for covering the optical component on the substrate, provides a relatively sealed environment, improves the working environment quality of the optical component, such as dustproof, waterproof and other pollution sources, and ensures the cleanliness of the light-transmitting surface of the optical device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of optical component protection, and in particular to a protection cover and a protection structure. Background Art

[0002] The optical communication industry involves core optical devices from systems, subsystems, modules to devices, such as prisms, lenses, various lenses, PDs, LDs, and optical engines used for optical path turning. Whether the light-transmitting surfaces of these optical devices are clean is directly related to the performance of the optical devices, which in turn directly affects the performance of the systems, subsystems, modules or devices. The working environment of communication equipment is usually complex, and there may be various pollution sources such as water vapor, salt spray, and dust. If the light-transmitting surfaces on the optical devices are not well protected, the pollution sources in the environment may pollute the light-transmitting surfaces, causing performance degradation or even failure. In the optical communication industry, the reliability of the equipment must be guaranteed, so there are strict requirements for the protection of the light-transmitting surfaces of optical devices, and the equipment itself needs to pass various harsh environmental and reliability tests. This poses a challenge to the packaging and protection of optical devices.

[0003] The most traditional optical device packaging and protection solution is a fully airtight packaging design. Specifically, it is to build a single-sided open shell, place the core optical device in this shell, and then weld a thin-walled cover plate to the open surface of the shell through parallel sealing welding, and finally form an airtight space isolated from the outside world. In this way, the external pollution source is isolated from the light-transmitting surface of the core device. This solution is very mature and the sealing effect is indeed very good. But the disadvantages are also obvious, and the specific disadvantages are as follows:

[0004] 1. Traditional fully hermetic packaging, including a shell (usually with a ceramic circuit board), a cover plate and parallel sealing welding, is very expensive. 2. Such packaging requires a relatively large space and is not very flexible. When the existing communication equipment with very tight space needs to change its use environment, it is usually necessary to completely abandon the original design and redevelop it when the optical components need to be protected. 3. Due to cost pressure, the development of the optical communication industry now has a clear trend of shifting from fully hermetic packaging design to COS (Chip onboard, core components are directly made on PCBA).

[0005] Due to the various shortcomings of the traditional full-gas packaging design, a large number of optical components using COS solutions have appeared in some specific occasions, such as data centers, enterprise computer rooms and other places where the environment is relatively controllable. Although these environments are relatively controllable, optical components still need protection to reduce maintenance frequency and increase equipment life.

[0006] How to provide a low-cost, highly flexible, and easily repairable semi-sealed optical component protection solution to effectively reduce the maintenance frequency and product life of optical devices in the COS solution has been a key issue that technicians in this field have been focusing on. Summary of the invention

[0007] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a protective cover and a protective structure in view of the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, so as to solve the problems of high cost, low flexibility and complex structure of traditional optical device packaging and protection solutions, and further solve the problem that optical components based on the COS solution still need to be protected to reduce maintenance frequency and increase equipment service life.

[0008] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve its technical problem is: to provide a protective cover, which covers a substrate provided with an optical component, and the protective cover includes a protective cavity for accommodating and protecting the optical component, and also includes an opening arranged at one end of the protective cavity, a bonding surface arranged at the opening and used for bonding with the substrate, an optical fiber window and a cut-off portion connecting the opening and the optical fiber window.

[0009] Among them, a preferred solution is that the material of the protective cover is a flexible material.

[0010] Among them, a preferred solution is that the inner contour of the protection cavity matches and corresponds to the outer contour of the optical component.

[0011] Among them, a preferred solution is that the optical fiber window is arranged on the side wall of the shell and is connected with the opening through a vertically arranged cut-off port.

[0012] Among them, a preferred solution is that the optical fiber window is arranged in a flat and long shape.

[0013] Among them, a preferred solution is that: the surface of the bonding surface is provided with a space-avoiding groove.

[0014] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve its technical problem is: to provide a protection structure, which includes a substrate, an optical component arranged on the substrate and the protection cover, wherein the protection cover is arranged on the substrate and covers the optical component.

[0015] Among them, the preferred solution is: functional parts or components with an undulating arrangement are provided at the bonding position of the bonding surface of the substrate and the protective cover, and the bonding surface of the protective cover is provided with a gap avoidance groove, and the bottom surface of the gap avoidance groove is interference fit with the surface of the functional parts or components.

[0016] Among them, a preferred solution is: a glue layer is provided between the fitting surface of the protective cover and the substrate.

[0017] Among them, a preferred solution is that: the protection structure also includes an optical fiber that passes through the optical fiber window and is connected to the optical component inside the protective cover, and the optical fiber and the optical fiber window are interference fit.

[0018] The beneficial effect of the present invention is that, compared with the prior art, the present invention seals the optical components by designing a protective cover for covering the optical components on the substrate, provides a relatively sealed environment, and improves the working environment quality of the optical components, such as preventing various pollution sources such as dust and water, and ensuring the cleanliness of the light-transmitting surface of the optical device; further, the bonding surface of the protective cover is bonded to the substrate by an adhesive such as glue to achieve sealing, and can effectively slow down the entry of water vapor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, in which:

[0020] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the front side of the protective cover of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the back side of the protective cover of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the optical module of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 4 It is a structural schematic diagram of the protection structure based on the optical module of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Now, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] like Figures 1 to 4 As shown, the present invention provides a preferred embodiment of a protective cover.

[0026] A protective cover 100 is provided, wherein the protective cover 100 covers a substrate 200 provided with an optical component 210, and the protective cover 100 includes a protective cavity 110 for accommodating and protecting the optical component 210, and also includes an opening arranged at one end of the protective cavity 110, a bonding surface 120 arranged at the opening and used for bonding with the substrate 200, an optical fiber window 130, and a cut-off portion 140 connecting the opening and the optical fiber window 130.

[0027] Specifically, the size of the protective cavity 110 of the protective cover 100 matches the optical component 210. After the protective cover 100 is covered on the optical component 210, the protective cover 100 and the substrate 200 form a relatively sealed environment, which improves the working environment quality of the optical component 210, such as dustproof, waterproof and other pollution sources, and ensures the cleanliness of the light-transmitting surface of the optical device. Further, the protective cover 100 is set to cover the optical component 210, and the bonding surface 120 is bonded to the substrate 200 to achieve sealing.

[0028] The sealing method may include interference fit through a fixed structure, or fixed fit through adhesives such as glue to increase the sealing effect. The specific method may be determined according to the environment and customer requirements. Without adding glue, the cover itself can be kept on the surface of the optical component 210 and the substrate 200 by interference fit to achieve basic dustproof enhancement; adding glue can achieve a certain semi-airtight effect, which can effectively slow down the entry of water vapor.

[0029] In this embodiment, the material of the protective cover 100 is a flexible material. Flexible material is a broad concept. Compared with rigid materials, it refers to materials with a certain degree of softness and flexibility. In practical applications, the flexible materials we often use are generally polymer materials, such as resins, fibers, etc. For example, the protective cover 100 can be made of a flexible film, which is a polymer sheet with a certain thickness and a tough texture. Its water-impermeability is particularly significant. At present, the most widely used is high-density polyethylene sheet (HDPE).

[0030] At the same time, in order to ensure the normal use of the protective cover 100 in a harsh environment, its stability is also highly required. Within the operating temperature range (-40 to 85 degrees Celsius), it will not precipitate too much gas or solid to pollute the photosensitive surface protected by it.

[0031] Furthermore, the inner contour of the protection cavity 110 matches and corresponds to the outer contour of the optical component 210. Specifically, the inner contour of the protection cavity 110 can be deformed during the installation process to adapt to the outer contour of the optical component 210 to be protected, and the shape of the protection cavity 110 can be a cube, a circle, a semicircle, an ellipsoid, a cone or other irregular shapes.

[0032] In this embodiment, and with reference to Figure 1 and Figure 4 The optical fiber window 130 is disposed on the side wall of the housing and communicates with the opening through a vertically disposed cutout 140. The external optical fiber 300 is inserted into the optical fiber window 130 through the cutout 140, and extends into the protective cavity 110 to be connected to the optical component 210.

[0033] Furthermore, the optical fiber window 130 is configured to be elongated to facilitate interference fit of the external optical fiber 300 . Of course, it can also be in other shapes for the optical fiber 300 to pass through.

[0034] In this embodiment, and with reference to Figure 2 and Figure 4 The surface of the bonding surface 120 is provided with a space-avoiding groove 121 .

[0035] The bonding surface 120 may include a plurality of avoidance grooves 121, and the position of each avoidance groove 121 corresponds to a functional component or element of the substrate 200 to be bonded, so that the bonding surface 120 and the surfaces of the avoidance grooves 121 are all tightly attached to the substrate 200 to achieve a sealed setting.

[0036] In this embodiment, and with reference to Figure 3 and Figure 4 , a protection structure is provided, which includes a substrate 200, an optical component 210 arranged on the substrate 200 and the protection cover 100, wherein the protection cover 100 is arranged on the substrate 200 and covers the optical component 210.

[0037] In this embodiment, the bonding position of the bonding surface 120 of the substrate 200 and the protective cover 100 is provided with a functional component or component arranged in an undulating manner, and the bonding surface 120 of the protective cover 100 is provided with a clearance groove 121, and the bottom surface of the clearance groove 121 is interference fit with the surface of the functional component or component. Specifically, the bonding surface 120 may include a plurality of clearance grooves 121, and the position of each clearance groove 121 corresponds to the functional component or component of the bonded substrate 200.

[0038] For example, in an optical module, the substrate 200 is a PCBA board, the optical component 210 is an optical device of the optical module, such as a photoelectric conversion device, and is arranged on the PCBA board and connected to the external optical fiber 300, and the PCBA board is surrounded by electronic components of the optical device. At this time, the protective cover 100 covers the optical device of the PCBA board and fits with the PCBA board, and further cooperates with the surrounding electronic components through the air-avoiding groove 121 to achieve a tight fit.

[0039] In this embodiment, a glue layer is provided between the bonding surface 120 of the protection cover 100 and the substrate 200 .

[0040] In this embodiment, the protection structure further includes an optical fiber 300 that passes through the optical fiber window 130 and is connected to the optical component 210 inside the protective cover 100, and the optical fiber 300 is interference-fitted with the optical fiber window 130. Furthermore, glue or a soft pad can be provided between the optical fiber window 130 and the optical fiber 300 to achieve a fully sealed setting.

[0041] The above is only the best embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. All equivalent changes or modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention are covered by the present invention.

Claims

1. A protective cover, characterized in that: The protective cover covers the substrate provided with the optical component, and the protective cover includes a protective cavity for accommodating and protecting the optical component, and also includes an opening arranged at one end of the protective cavity, a bonding surface arranged at the opening and used for bonding with the substrate, an optical fiber window, and a cut-off opening connecting the opening and the optical fiber window; The material of the protective cover is a flexible material; The optical fiber window is arranged on the side wall of the housing and is connected to the opening through a vertically arranged cut-off opening; The external optical fiber is inserted into the optical fiber window through the cutting opening.

2. The protective cover according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inner contour of the protection cavity matches and corresponds to the outer contour of the optical component.

3. The protective cover according to claim 2, characterized in that: The optical fiber window is arranged in a flat and long shape.

4. The protective cover according to claim 1, characterized in that: The surface of the bonding surface is provided with a void avoidance groove.

5. A protective structure, characterized in that: The protection structure comprises a substrate, an optical component arranged on the substrate, and a protection cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the protection cover is arranged on the substrate and covers the optical component.

6. The protective structure according to claim 5, characterized in that: Functional parts or components arranged in an undulating manner are provided at the bonding position of the bonding surface of the substrate and the protective cover, and the bonding surface of the protective cover is provided with a gap avoidance groove, and the bottom surface of the gap avoidance groove is interference fit with the surface of the functional part or component.

7. The protective structure according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that: A glue layer is provided between the fitting surface of the protective cover and the substrate.

8. The protective structure according to claim 5, characterized in that: The protection structure also includes an optical fiber passing through the optical fiber window and connected to the optical component inside the protection cover, and the optical fiber is interference-fitted with the optical fiber window.

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