Light path adjusting system

The laser optical path is divided into multiple paths through the optical path adjustment system and coupled, which solves the problem of uneven temperature distribution and difficult to control the heating area in the welding of large-core optical fibers, and achieves more stable heating and more uniform temperature distribution.

CN119291940AInactive Publication Date: 2025-01-10WUHAN RAYCUS FIBER LASER TECHNOLOGY CO LTD
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202411634118.X
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Applications(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-11-15
Publication Date
2025-01-10
Estimated Expiration
Not applicable · inactive patent

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

In the process of welding of large-core optical fibers, in the prior art, the problem of uneven temperature distribution and difficult to control the heating area during the heating process is prone to occur.

Method used

The optical path adjustment system is adopted, and the laser optical path is divided into multiple paths through a laser and a spectrometer, and then coupled to make the heating area concentrated and the temperature is more stable. The adjustable reflector and focus mirror are used to ensure that the optical path reaches the optical fiber coupling point evenly.

Benefits of technology

The uniformity of temperature distribution during fiber fusion splicing and controllability of heating areas are achieved, and the stability and efficiency of processing are improved.

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Abstract

The light path adjusting system provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises a laser and a first spectroscope, the laser is used for emitting a laser light path; the first spectroscope is used for splitting the laser light path into a second upper light path and a second lower light path; the second upper light path and the second lower light path are divided into a third upper light path and a third lower light path by the second upper spectroscope and the second lower spectroscope; and the third upper light path and the third lower light path are reflected to an optical fiber coupling point to obtain a coupled light path. According to the light path adjusting system provided by the invention, after the spectroscope is used for dividing the laser light path into the multiple light paths, the multiple light paths are coupled to obtain the coupled light path, so that the heating area is concentrated, the temperature of the coupling point is more stable, and the range of the heating area is easy to control.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of optical fiber processing, and in particular to an optical path adjustment system. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of communication networks, optical fiber is increasingly used. In the application of optical fiber, it is often necessary to process the optical fiber using technologies such as fusion splicing and cutting to change the shape and optical properties of the optical fiber and to make various optical fiber devices.

[0003] In the process of welding and cutting optical fibers, it is usually necessary to melt the optical fibers under the action of heat sources such as discharge electrodes, electrode wire heating, and hydrogen-oxygen flames before subsequent processing. However, in the prior art, heat conduction occurs during heating using methods such as discharge electrodes, electrode wire heating, and hydrogen-oxygen flames, thereby forming a temperature distribution field, which easily causes problems such as uneven temperature distribution or difficulty in controlling the heating area during processing of large-core optical fibers. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to provide an optical path adjustment system, which aims to solve the problem of uneven temperature distribution and difficult control of the heating area during the fusion splicing process of large-core optical fibers.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an optical path adjustment system, comprising: a laser, a first beam splitter;

[0006] The laser is used to emit a laser light path, and the first beam splitter is used to split the laser light path into a second upper light path and a second lower light path;

[0007] The optical path adjustment system further includes a second upper beam splitter and a second lower beam splitter, wherein the second upper beam splitter and the second lower beam splitter divide the second upper optical path and the second lower optical path into a third upper optical path and a third lower optical path;

[0008] The third upper optical path and the third lower optical path are both reflected to the optical fiber coupling point to obtain a coupled optical path.

[0009] In some possible embodiments, the optical path adjustment system further includes an upper left adjustable reflector, a lower left adjustable reflector, an upper right adjustable reflector, and a lower right adjustable reflector;

[0010] The upper left adjustable reflector and the upper right adjustable reflector reflect the third upper light path to the optical fiber coupling point, and the lower left adjustable reflector and the lower right adjustable reflector reflect the third lower light path to the optical fiber coupling point.

[0011] In some possible embodiments, the optical path adjustment system further includes an upper reflector and a lower reflector, wherein the upper reflector reflects the second upper optical path to the second upper beam splitter, and the lower reflector reflects the second lower optical path to the second lower beam splitter.

[0012] In some possible embodiments, the optical path adjustment system also includes a beam expander and a beam combiner. The laser, the beam expander and the beam combiner are arranged along the same optical path. The beam expander is arranged on the light output side of the laser and is used to expand the laser light path emitted by the laser to obtain a first expanded light path. The beam combiner is arranged on the light output side of the beam expander and is used to combine the first expanded light path to obtain a first combined light path.

[0013] In some possible embodiments, the optical path adjustment system also includes a focusing mirror, the laser and the focusing mirror are arranged along the same optical path, the focusing mirror is arranged on the light output side of the beam combining mirror, the focusing mirror is used to focus the first beam combining light path to obtain a first focused light path, and send the first focused light path to the first beam splitter, and the first beam splitter splits the first focused light path.

[0014] In some possible embodiments, the optical path adjustment system further includes a red light indicator, which is arranged parallel to the beam combiner and on a side of the first beam expansion optical path, and is used to calibrate the laser optical path.

[0015] In some possible embodiments, the optical path adjustment system also includes a power meter, which is arranged parallel to the beam combiner and on the side of the first beam expansion optical path, and the power meter and the red light indicator are respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the first beam expansion optical path; the beam combiner can reflect a fixed proportion of laser light to the power meter, and the power meter is used to measure the power of the fixed proportion of laser light reflected by the beam combiner.

[0016] In some possible embodiments, the sum of the optical path lengths of the second upper optical path and the third upper optical path is equal to the sum of the lengths of the second lower optical path and the third lower optical path.

[0017] In some possible embodiments, the sum of the optical path lengths of the second upper optical path and the third upper optical path is equal to the focal length of the focusing mirror.

[0018] In some possible embodiments, the laser is a carbon dioxide laser.

[0019] The optical path adjustment system provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: a laser, a first beam splitter; the laser is used to emit the laser optical path, and the first beam splitter is used to split the laser optical path into a second upper optical path and a second lower optical path; it also includes a second upper beam splitter and a second lower beam splitter, and the second upper beam splitter and the second lower optical path are divided into a third upper optical path and a third lower optical path; the third upper optical path and the third lower optical path are both reflected to the optical fiber coupling point to obtain a coupled optical path. The optical path adjustment system provided in the present application uses a beam splitter to divide the laser optical path into multiple optical paths, and then couples the multiple optical paths to obtain a coupled optical path, so that the heating area is concentrated and the temperature of the coupling point is more stable, and the range of the heating area is easy to control. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The technical solution and other beneficial effects of the present application will be made apparent by describing in detail the specific implementation methods of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0021] Figure 1 It is an architecture diagram of an embodiment of the optical path adjustment system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and examples. It is particularly noted that the following examples are only used to illustrate the present application, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Similarly, the following examples are only some embodiments of the present application rather than all embodiments, and all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0023] In the following description of the present application, reference is made to “some embodiments”, which describe a subset of all possible embodiments, but it can be understood that “some embodiments” may be the same subset or different subsets of all possible embodiments and may be combined with each other without conflict.

[0024] In the following description of the present application, the terms "first\second\third" involved are merely used to distinguish similar objects and do not represent a specific ordering of the objects. It can be understood that "first\second\third" can be interchanged with a specific order or sequence where permitted, so that the embodiments of the present application described here can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described here.

[0025] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs. The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing the embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0026] The following is a detailed description with reference to specific embodiments. It should be noted that the serial numbers of the following embodiments are not intended to limit the preferred order of the embodiments. The present application provides a new optical path adjustment system, which is described in detail below.

[0027] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the optical path adjustment system provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the optical path adjustment system includes a laser 10 and a first beam splitter 50; wherein the laser 10 is the light source part of the optical path adjustment system, and is mainly used to emit the laser optical path; and other functional modules in the optical path adjustment system work together to convert the laser optical path into a coupling optical path that can be finally used. For the embodiment of the present application, it is necessary to use a beam splitter to divide the laser optical path into four new optical paths, and then couple the four new optical paths to obtain a coupling optical path. Specifically, the optical path adjustment system in the embodiment of the present application also includes a first beam splitter 50, a second upper beam splitter 80 and a second lower beam splitter 90; wherein the first beam splitter 50 is mainly used to split the laser optical path into a second upper optical path and a second lower optical path, and the second upper beam splitter 80 and the second lower beam splitter 90 are used to divide the second upper optical path and the second lower optical path into a third upper optical path and a third lower optical path. Specifically, the second upper beam splitter 80 splits the second upper optical path into a third upper optical path, and the third upper optical path is two optical paths, and the second lower beam splitter 90 splits the second lower optical path into a third lower optical path, and the fourth lower optical path is two optical paths. It should be noted that the beam splitter can split one light path into multiple light paths, such as splitting the laser light path into two light paths, namely the second upper light path and the second lower light path; therefore, the third upper light path actually also includes two light paths in different directions, and similarly, the third lower light path also includes two light paths in different directions. Finally, the two light paths included in the third upper light path and the two light paths included in the third lower light path are further reflected to the optical fiber coupling point to achieve coupling to obtain a coupled light path.

[0028] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, the laser optical path is first split once to obtain a second upper optical path and a second lower optical path, and then the second upper optical path and the second lower optical path are split separately, and finally four optical paths are obtained; the second splitting is to split the second upper optical path and the second lower optical path, rather than splitting the laser optical path again.

[0029] The optical path adjustment system provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: a laser, a first beam splitter; the laser is used to emit the laser optical path, and the first beam splitter is used to split the laser optical path into a second upper optical path and a second lower optical path; it also includes a second upper beam splitter and a second lower beam splitter, and the second upper beam splitter and the second lower optical path are divided into a third upper optical path and a third lower optical path; the third upper optical path and the third lower optical path are both reflected to the optical fiber coupling point to obtain a coupled optical path. The optical path adjustment system provided in the present application uses a beam splitter to divide the laser optical path into multiple optical paths, and then couples the multiple optical paths to obtain a coupled optical path, so that the heating area is concentrated and the temperature of the coupling point is more stable, and the range of the heating area is easy to control.

[0030] Please refer to Figure 1 ,exist Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the optical path adjustment system further includes a beam expander 20 and a beam combiner 30, and the laser 10, the beam expander 20 and the beam combiner 30 are arranged along the same optical path; the beam expander 20 is arranged on the light output side of the laser 10, and is mainly used to expand the laser light path emitted by the laser 10 to obtain a first beam expanded light path, and the beam combiner 30 is arranged on the light output side of the beam expander 20, and is mainly used to combine the first beam expanded light path to obtain a first beam combined light path.

[0031] exist Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the optical path adjustment system further includes a focusing mirror 40, and the focusing mirror 40 and the laser 10 are arranged along the same optical path, that is, the laser 10, the beam expander 20, the beam combiner 30 and the focusing mirror 40 are arranged along the same optical path, and the focusing mirror 40 is arranged on the light-emitting side of the beam combiner and is arranged tilted relative to the laser optical path. The focusing mirror 40 is mainly used to focus the first combined beam path emitted by the beam combiner 30 to obtain a first focused optical path, and to transmit the first focused optical path to the first beam splitter 50 through the tilted focusing mirror, so that the first beam splitter 50 subsequently splits the first focused optical path. Therefore, the first beam splitter 50 splits the laser optical path, which is actually splitting the first focused optical path, thereby obtaining a second upper optical path and a second lower optical path.

[0032] exist Figure 1In the illustrated embodiment, the optical path adjustment system further includes a red light indicator 301 and a power meter 302; wherein the red light indicator 301 is arranged parallel to the beam combiner 30 and arranged on the side of the first beam expansion optical path, and the red light indicator can emit red light to calibrate the laser optical path. Specifically, since the laser emitted by the laser is usually invisible to the human eye and difficult to calibrate by human eye observation, in order to position the laser to the optical fiber coupling point, the red light indicator 301 is used in the present application to calibrate the position of the laser optical path so that the multi-path light after the splitting can reach the optical fiber coupling point to achieve coupling. The red light in the present application is a visible light source, and the angle of the beam combiner is adjusted so that the visible light emitted by the red light indicator 301 is reflected into the laser optical path or overlaps with the laser optical path, thereby achieving the position calibration of the laser optical path. Therefore, the beam combiner needs to be arranged on the laser optical path between the laser 10 and the first beam splitter 50.

[0033] The power meter 302 is also arranged parallel to the beam combiner 30 and arranged on the side of the first beam expansion optical path, and the red light indicator 301 and the power meter 302 are respectively arranged on opposite sides of the first beam expansion optical path. The beam combiner 30 in the present application can reflect a fixed proportion of laser light to the power meter 302, and the power meter can measure the power of the part of the laser light reflected by the beam combiner 30, so as to calibrate the laser power. Specifically, since the laser light received by the power meter is separated and reflected to the power meter by the beam combiner 30 according to a fixed proportion, it is necessary to detect the power of the part of the laser light separated and reflected to the power meter 302. The total power of the laser light in the beam combiner can be determined by reverse deduction based on the proportion of this part of the laser light in the beam combiner. For example, the beam combiner separates and reflects 20% of the laser light to the power meter 302, and the power meter 302 detects that the power of this part of the laser light is a, then the total power of the laser light in the beam combiner is a / 20% (without considering the loss).

[0034] Please refer to Figure 1 ,exist Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the optical path adjustment system further includes four reflectors, namely, an upper left adjustable reflector 201, a lower left adjustable reflector 202, an upper right adjustable reflector 203, and a lower right adjustable reflector 204; these four adjustable reflectors are mainly used to reflect the two third upper optical paths and two fourth upper optical paths obtained through secondary light splitting in the aforementioned embodiment. Specifically, the upper left adjustable reflector 201 and the upper right adjustable reflector 203 are mainly used to reflect the two third upper optical paths to the optical fiber coupling point, and the lower left adjustable reflector 202 and the lower right adjustable reflector 204 are used to reflect the two third lower optical paths to the optical fiber coupling point. Figure 1In the illustrated embodiment, the upper left adjustable reflector 201 and the upper right adjustable reflector 203 are disposed close to the second upper beam splitter 80 to adjust the light path of the third upper light path, and the lower left adjustable reflector 202 and the lower right adjustable reflector 204 are disposed close to the second lower beam splitter 90 to adjust the light path of the third lower light path.

[0035] Please refer to Figure 1 ,exist Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the optical path adjustment system further includes an upper reflector 60 and a lower reflector 70; wherein the upper reflector 60 is mainly used to reflect the second upper optical path to the second upper beam splitter 80, so that the second upper beam splitter 80 performs subsequent beam splitting to obtain two third upper optical paths, and the lower reflector 70 is mainly used to reflect the second lower optical path to the second lower beam splitter 90, so that the second lower beam splitter 90 performs subsequent beam splitting to obtain two third lower optical paths. That is, in the embodiment of the present application, the optical path first reaches the upper reflector and the lower reflector, and then reaches the second upper beam splitter 80 and the second lower beam splitter 90.

[0036] In an embodiment of the present application, the original single laser optical path is split into two third upper optical paths and two third lower optical paths through an optical path adjustment system, and the light spot, diameter, and power of the four optical paths are the same; the four optical paths are finally converged into the same area for coupling, so that the temperature of the optical fiber coupling point is stable, the heating area range is controllable, and the heating temperature distribution is more uniform.

[0037] In the embodiment of the present application, the sum of the optical path lengths of the second upper optical path and the third upper optical path is equal to the sum of the lengths of the second lower optical path and the third lower optical path; that is, the optical path lengths of the ground optical path from the focusing lens to the optical fiber coupling point are equal, and the sum of the optical path lengths of the second upper optical path and the third upper optical path is equal to the focal length of the focusing lens.

[0038] The laser in the present application can be a carbon dioxide laser, and preferably a gas carbon dioxide laser, because carbon dioxide is used as a heat source, the operation is stable and has a relatively high energy conversion efficiency, and the temperature of the optical fiber can be made more stable. In the subsequent splitting process, in order to make the temperature more uniform, it is usually necessary to divide the optical path evenly so that the laser power of each optical path is equal. For example, by adjusting the first beam splitter to evenly divide the power of the laser optical path, a second upper optical path and a second lower optical path with equal laser power are obtained; and by adjusting the second upper beam splitter 80 and the second lower beam splitter 90, the laser power is evenly divided again, so that the laser power of the third upper optical path and the third lower optical path are equal. At the same time, it is also necessary to continuously adjust the direction or angle of the optical path during the splitting process. In the present application, the red light indication emitted by the red light laser can be used to continuously adjust the angles of the upper left adjustable reflector 201, the lower left adjustable reflector 202, the upper right adjustable reflector 203, and the lower right adjustable reflector 204, so that the two third upper optical paths and the two third lower optical paths are all pointing to the optical fiber fusion point, and the purpose of uniformly heating the optical fiber in four directions is achieved.

[0039] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0040] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application. The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An optical path adjustment system, characterized in that: include: Laser, first beam splitter; The laser is used to emit a laser light path, and the first beam splitter is used to split the laser light path into a second upper light path and a second lower light path; The optical path adjustment system further includes a second upper beam splitter and a second lower beam splitter, wherein the second upper beam splitter and the second lower beam splitter divide the second upper optical path and the second lower optical path into a third upper optical path and a third lower optical path; The third upper optical path and the third lower optical path are both reflected to the optical fiber coupling point to obtain a coupled optical path.

2. The optical path adjustment system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The optical path adjustment system also includes an upper left adjustable reflector, a lower left adjustable reflector, an upper right adjustable reflector, and a lower right adjustable reflector; The upper left adjustable reflector and the upper right adjustable reflector reflect the third upper light path to the optical fiber coupling point, and the lower left adjustable reflector and the lower right adjustable reflector reflect the third lower light path to the optical fiber coupling point.

3. The optical path adjustment system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The optical path adjustment system further includes an upper reflector and a lower reflector, wherein the upper reflector reflects the second upper optical path to the second upper beam splitter, and the lower reflector reflects the second lower optical path to the second lower beam splitter.

4. The optical path adjustment system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The optical path adjustment system also includes a beam expander and a beam combiner. The laser, the beam expander and the beam combiner are arranged along the same optical path. The beam expander is arranged on the light output side of the laser and is used to expand the laser light path emitted by the laser to obtain a first expanded light path. The beam combiner is arranged on the light output side of the beam expander and is used to combine the first expanded light path to obtain a first combined light path.

5. The optical path adjustment system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The optical path adjustment system also includes a focusing mirror. The laser and the focusing mirror are arranged along the same optical path. The focusing mirror is arranged on the light output side of the beam combining mirror. The focusing mirror is used to focus the first beam combining light path to obtain a first focused light path, and send the first focused light path to the first beam splitter. The first beam splitter splits the first focused light path.

6. The optical path adjustment system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The optical path adjustment system further includes a red light indicator, which is arranged parallel to the beam combiner and on the side of the first beam expansion optical path, and is used to calibrate the laser optical path.

7. The optical path adjustment system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The optical path adjustment system also includes a power meter, which is arranged parallel to the beam combiner and on the side of the first beam expansion optical path, and the power meter and the red light indicator are respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the first beam expansion optical path; the beam combiner can reflect a fixed proportion of laser light to the power meter, and the power meter is used to measure the power of the fixed proportion of laser light reflected by the beam combiner.

8. The optical path adjustment system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The sum of the optical path lengths of the second upper optical path and the third upper optical path is equal to the sum of the lengths of the second lower optical path and the third lower optical path.

9. The optical path adjustment system according to claim 8, characterized in that: The sum of the optical path lengths of the second upper optical path and the third upper optical path is equal to the focal length of the focusing mirror.

10. The optical path adjustment system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The laser is a carbon dioxide laser.

Citation Information

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