Optical fiber fixing structure, optical fiber scanning system and optical fiber scanner

Abstract

The invention discloses an optical fiber fixing structure, an optical fiber scanning system and an optical fiber scanner, and belongs to the field of optical fiber scanning. According to the optical fiber fixing structure provided by the embodiment of the invention, the controllable vibration device and the optical fiber are arranged to have the gap, so that the stress change caused by mutual friction between the optical fiber and the controllable vibration device during vibration can be effectively inhibited; when the optical fiber is fixed, the optical fiber is bent on the surface of the controllable vibration device, so that the stress generated by the optical fiber during vibration is further reduced, the interaction force between the optical fiber and the controllable vibration device is integrally reduced to the maximum extent, and the optical fiber fixing structure can be applied to the field of optical fiber scanning display. Therefore, the optical fiber scanner and the optical fiber scanning system comprising the optical fiber fixing structure have relatively important application values.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of optical fiber scanning, and in particular to an optical fiber fixing structure, an optical fiber scanning system and an optical fiber scanner. Background Art

[0002] As an important optical waveguide device, optical fiber has a wide range of applications. Among them, using optical fiber to guide the light emitted by the light source or to collect image information at the end of the optical fiber are two important ways of optical fiber application, such as medical endoscope systems and laser projection systems.

[0003] The integration of optical fiber and piezoelectric devices with vibration characteristics to achieve vibration scanning of optical fiber is an important breakthrough in optical fiber applications. Since its development, many optical fiber scanning systems based on this idea have emerged in the market. At present, optical fiber-based scanning devices are mostly made by binding controllable vibration devices with optical fibers, such as piezoelectric ceramic sheets, piezoelectric ceramic columns, and piezoelectric ceramic tubes.

[0004] However, the existing fiber scanner needs to fix the fiber on the actuator, and the actuator drives the fiber to vibrate to achieve scanning, and the fiber installation methods are generally divided into surface bonding and center fixation. It should be noted that due to the large difference between the Young's modulus of the fiber and the modulus of the actuator, when the actuator is bent and deformed, the fiber and the actuator are inconsistent in type, especially in the raster scanner, when the slow axis type is large and the bending beam is large, there will be greater stress between the fiber and the actuator; in addition, when the scanner is miniaturized, the problem will be more serious. When the actuator is deformed, the stress of the fiber will affect the vibration of the actuator, resulting in abnormal scanning trajectory, and the problem will be more serious when the fiber is fixed on the side of the actuator. Moreover, although the centering of the fiber can alleviate the stress imbalance problem caused by the inconsistent deformation of the fiber and the actuator, the production process of the assembly scanner with the fiber in the center of the actuator is very complex and difficult.

[0005] Application Contents

[0006] The purpose of the present application is to provide an optical fiber fixing structure, an optical fiber scanning system and an optical fiber scanner, which can solve the technical problems raised in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0007] In order to achieve the above application objectives, this application provides the following solutions:

[0008] An optical fiber fixing structure, characterized in that the optical fiber fixing structure comprises a controllable vibration device and an optical fiber, and the optical fiber is fixed on the controllable vibration device so that the optical fiber can swing with the vibration of the controllable vibration device;

[0009] The optical fiber and the controllable vibration device are fixed via a fixed node, and at least one section of the optical fiber that is not a fixed node does not fit the controllable vibration device.

[0010] Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the sections of the optical fiber with non-fixed nodes all maintain a gap with the controllable vibration device;

[0011] The two end nodes of the optical fiber fixed on the surface of the controllable vibration device are respectively a first fixed node and a second fixed node, and the portion of the optical fiber suspended outside the controllable vibration device is an optical fiber cantilever;

[0012] One end close to the optical fiber cantilever corresponds to the first fixed node, and the first fixed node is a rigid fixed node.

[0013] Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the fixing node for fixing the optical fiber also includes other fixing nodes, and the second fixing node and the other fixing nodes are formed by fixing the optical fiber by a flexible material.

[0014] Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the flexible material is made of glue.

[0015] Further, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the optical fiber is curved along the length direction;

[0016] The optical fiber cantilever is tapered, and the first fixed node is located at the root of the tapered optical fiber cantilever.

[0017] Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the bend of the optical fiber is a unidirectional bend.

[0018] Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the controllable vibration device includes a piezoelectric ceramic sheet.

[0019] Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the controllable vibration device corresponding to the second fixed node is provided with a tail counterweight block, the tail counterweight block is far away from the first fixed node and the second fixed node, and the tail counterweight block does not contact the optical fiber.

[0020] The present application also provides a fiber optic scanning system, which includes the above-mentioned fiber optic fixing structure.

[0021] The present application also provides an optical fiber scanner, characterized in that it includes the above-mentioned optical fiber fixing structure, the controllable vibration device is an actuator, and the optical fiber is fixed on the actuator;

[0022] The optical fiber fixing structure comprises a fixing part and a cantilever part, wherein the fixing part is a part where the optical fiber is fixed relative to the actuator, and the cantilever part is an optical fiber cantilever formed when the optical fiber exceeds the actuator.

[0023] Compared with the prior art, this application has the following beneficial effects:

[0024] The optical fiber fixing structure provided in the embodiment of the present application can effectively suppress the stress change caused by the mutual friction between the optical fiber and the controllable vibration device during vibration by setting a gap between the controllable vibration device and the optical fiber; by bending the optical fiber on the surface of the controllable vibration device when fixing the optical fiber, the stress generated by the optical fiber during vibration is further reduced, thereby minimizing the overall interaction force between the optical fiber and the controllable vibration device, thereby enabling the optical fiber fixing structure to perform scanning and imaging display well when applied to the field of optical fiber scanning and display. Therefore, the optical fiber scanner and optical fiber scanning system including the above-mentioned optical fiber fixing structure have relatively important application value. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the prior art descriptions are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative labor:

[0026] Figure 1a A schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the optical fiber fixing structure provided in Example 1 of the present application;

[0027] Figure 1b The optical fiber fixing structure provided in Example 1 of the present application is Figure 1a Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the simulation based on the simulation;

[0028] Figure 2a A schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of an optical fiber fixing structure in the prior art;

[0029] Figure 2b The optical fiber fixing structure of the prior art is Figure 2a Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the simulation based on the simulation;

[0030] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the optical fiber fixing structure provided in Example 1 of the present application;

[0031] Figure 4 A partial schematic diagram of the positional relationship between an optical fiber and a controllable vibration device of the optical fiber fixing structure provided in Example 1 of the present application;

[0032] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the optical fiber scanning principle corresponding to the optical fiber scanning system provided in Example 2 of the present application;

[0033] Figure 6 This is a schematic plan view of the fiber optic scanning principle structure corresponding to the fiber optic scanning system provided in Example 2 of the present application.

[0034] Icons: 100-optical fiber fixing structure; 110-controllable vibration device; 112-first fixed node; 113-other fixed nodes; 114-second fixed node; 116-tail counterweight; 120-optical fiber; 121-actuator; 121a-slow axis; 121b-fast axis; 1201-optical fiber cantilever; 123-mirror group; 124-scanner packaging shell; 125-actuator fixing part; 10-processor; 1101-laser group; 20-optical fiber scanning module; 30-transmission optical fiber; 140-light source modulation circuit; 150-scanning drive circuit; 160-beam combining unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present application described and shown in the drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations.

[0036] Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present application provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the present application for which protection is sought, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0037] It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters denote similar items in the following drawings, and therefore, once an item is defined in one drawing, further definition and explanation thereof is not required in subsequent drawings.

[0038] In addition, in the description of the present application, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, or the positions or positional relationships in which the product of the application is usually placed when in use. They are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific position, be constructed and operated in a specific position, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are only used to distinguish the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0039] In addition, the terms "horizontal", "vertical", "perpendicular" and the like do not mean that the components are required to be absolutely vertical, but can be slightly tilted. For example, "vertical" only means that its direction is more vertical than "horizontal", and does not mean that the structure must be completely vertical, but can be slightly tilted.

[0040] In the description of this application, it should also be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "set", "install", "connect", and "connect" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0041] Example 1

[0042] 1-4, the embodiment of the present application provides an optical fiber fixing structure 100, which is mainly used in the field of optical fiber scanning. It should be noted that the optical fiber fixing structure 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application is preferably applied to the field of optical fiber scanning, but in other embodiments of the present application, it is not limited to the field of optical fiber scanning, and can also be applied to other fields that require the use of the optical fiber fixing structure 100 for optical information transmission.

[0043] Furthermore, an optical fiber fixing structure 100 is provided in this embodiment, and the optical fiber fixing structure 100 includes a controllable vibration device 110 and an optical fiber 120, and the optical fiber 120 is fixed on the controllable vibration device 110 so that the optical fiber 120 can swing with the vibration of the controllable vibration device 110. It should be noted that the optical fiber 120 and the controllable vibration device 110 are fixed by fixing the fixed node, and at least one section of the non-fixed node section of the optical fiber 120 does not fit the controllable vibration device 110. Preferably, the sections of the non-fixed node of the optical fiber 120 all maintain a gap with the controllable vibration device 110; the optical fiber 120 is curved along the length direction. It should be emphasized that by setting a gap between the controllable vibration device 110 and the optical fiber 120, the stress change caused by the mutual friction between the optical fiber 120 and the controllable vibration device 110 during vibration can be effectively suppressed; by bending the optical fiber 120 on the surface of the controllable vibration device 110 when fixing the optical fiber, the stress generated by the optical fiber 120 during vibration is further reduced, thereby minimizing the overall interaction force between the optical fiber 120 and the controllable vibration device 110.

[0044] In addition, it should be noted that in order to prove that the optical fiber fixing structure 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application has the above-mentioned technical effect compared with the optical fiber fixing structure of the prior art, the applicant has simulated the optical fiber fixing structure 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application and the optical fiber fixing structure of the prior art respectively. Figure 1a-2b As shown, from Figure 1b and Figure 2b By comparison, it can be seen that when the controllable vibration device 110 vibrates and bends, the optical fiber fixing structure 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application has no obvious stress concentration, while the optical fixing structure in the prior art has obvious stress concentration phenomenon.

[0045] Further optionally, in some embodiments of the present application, the controllable vibration device 110 includes a piezoelectric ceramic sheet. It should be noted that the optical fiber 120 is fixed on the piezoelectric ceramic sheet, and the piezoelectric ceramic sheet can be vibrated by utilizing the inverse piezoelectric effect of the piezoelectric ceramic sheet, thereby driving the optical fiber 120 to swing. It should be emphasized that in other embodiments of the present application, it is not limited to the piezoelectric ceramic controllable vibration device 110 provided in this embodiment, and it can also be other controllable vibration devices 110 that can drive the optical fiber 120 to swing.

[0046] Further, in some embodiments of the present application, the two end nodes of the optical fiber 120 fixed on the surface of the controllable vibration device 110 are respectively the first fixed node 112 and the second fixed node 114, and the portion of the optical fiber 120 suspended outside the controllable vibration device 110 is the optical fiber cantilever 1201; the end close to the optical fiber cantilever 1201 corresponds to the first fixed node 112, and the first fixed node 112 is a rigid fixed node. It should be noted that by setting the first fixed node 112 as a rigid fixed node, it can be ensured to the maximum extent that the controllable vibration device 110 transfers energy to the optical fiber cantilever 1201, thereby achieving a good scanning effect.

[0047] Further, in some embodiments of the present application, the fixed nodes for fixing the optical fiber 120 also include other fixed nodes 113, and the second fixed node 114 and other fixed nodes 113 are formed by fixing the optical fiber 120 by a flexible material, and preferably, the flexible material is made of glue. It should be noted that by setting the second fixed node 114 and other fixed nodes 113 to be fixed with flexible materials, the interaction force between the controllable vibration device 110 and the optical fiber 120 can be further reduced when the controllable vibration device 110 vibrates, because the fixation of the flexible material is more gentle than the fixation of the rigid material, and the toughness it possesses can buffer the interaction force to a certain extent. It should be emphasized that in the embodiments of the present application, except for the first fixed node 112, the remaining fixed nodes, namely the second fixed node 114 and other fixed nodes 113, are all located near the vibration node position at the operating frequency of the actuator (a type of controllable vibration device 110).

[0048] In addition, it should be noted that in other embodiments of the present application, the flexible material is not necessarily preferably glue, and other flexible limiting nodes that can limit the optical fiber 120 can also be selected according to specific usage requirements.

[0049] To be more specific, in the embodiment of the present application, the optical fiber cantilever 1201 is tapered so that the light in the optical fiber 120 can more accurately scan a delicate and high-resolution image, and the first fixed node 112 is located at the root of the tapered optical fiber cantilever 1201 so that the optical fiber cantilever 1201 can more directly receive force transmission under the constraint force of the rigidly fixed first fixed node 112, thereby maximizing the synchronization of the scanning of the optical fiber cantilever 1201 and the position vibration of the first fixed node 112.

[0050] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present application, the bending of the optical fiber 120 is a unidirectional bending. It should be noted that by limiting the bending of the optical fiber 120 to a unidirectional bending, that is, the optical fiber segment fixed to the surface area of ​​the controllable vibration device 110 maintains a certain curvature, and the curvature is oriented in one direction, it can effectively avoid the large stress caused by the direct stretching of the optical fiber 120 when the controllable vibration device 110 vibrates and deforms, thereby further reducing the mutual influence between the optical fiber 120 and the controllable vibration device 110 during vibration. It should be emphasized that in other embodiments of the present application, the bending of the optical fiber 120 is not necessarily a unidirectional bending as defined in the embodiments of the present application, and can also be designed as a multi-directional bending according to design requirements, such as an S-shaped bending.

[0051] Further, in a preferred embodiment of the present application, the controllable vibration device 120 corresponding to the second fixed node 114 is provided with a tail counterweight 116, the tail counterweight 116 is far away from the first fixed node 112 and the second fixed node 114, and the tail counterweight 116 does not contact the optical fiber 120. It should be noted that by providing the tail counterweight 116 on the optical fiber fixing structure 100, the vibration of the optical fiber fixing structure 100 can be made more stable and balanced, and the non-contact between the tail counterweight 116 and the optical fiber 120 can also effectively reduce the interaction force between the optical fiber 120 and the controllable vibration device 120.

[0052] The embodiment of the present application also provides a fiber scanning system, which includes the above-mentioned fiber fixing structure 100. It should be noted that the fiber scanning system provided in the embodiment of the present application specifically includes a fiber scanner, which includes the above-mentioned fiber fixing structure 100, wherein the controllable vibration device 110 is an actuator, and the optical fiber 120 is fixed on the actuator; more specifically, the optical fiber fixing structure 100 includes a fixed part and a cantilever part, the fixed part is the part where the optical fiber 120 is relatively fixed to the actuator, and the cantilever part is the optical fiber cantilever 1201 formed by the optical fiber 120 exceeding the actuator.

[0053] Example 2

[0054] This embodiment provides an application of an optical fiber fixing structure 100, which is applied to the field of optical fiber scanning technology, namely, an optical fiber scanner. It should be noted that in order to facilitate a clear description of the application scenario of the optical fiber fixing structure 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application, the applicant needs to briefly describe the existing scanning display imaging system:

[0055] For current scanning display imaging, it can be realized by a digital micromirror device (DMD) or a fiber scanning display (FSD) device. Among them, the FSD solution is a new scanning display imaging method, which realizes the scanning output of the image through a fiber scanner. Therefore, in order to enable those skilled in the art to clearly understand the present application solution, the brief principle of fiber scanning imaging and the corresponding system are described below.

[0056] Please refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 , is an illustrative fiber scanning display system in this application, which mainly includes:

[0057] The processor 10, the laser group 1101, the optical fiber scanning module 20, the transmission optical fiber 30, the light source modulation circuit 140, the scanning driving circuit 150 and the beam combining unit 160.

[0058] The processor 10 may be a graphics processing unit (GPU), a central processing unit (CPU), or other chips or circuits having control functions and image processing functions, which are not specifically limited here.

[0059] When the system is working, the processor 10 can control the light source modulation circuit 140 to modulate the laser group 1101 according to the image data to be displayed. The laser group 1101 includes multiple monochromatic lasers, which emit light beams of different colors. Figure 6 As can be seen in the figure, the laser group can specifically use three color lasers, namely red (Red, R), green (Green, G), and blue (Blue, B). The light beams emitted by the lasers in the laser group 1101 are combined into a laser beam by the beam combining unit 160 and coupled into the transmission optical fiber 30.

[0060] The processor 10 can also control the scanning driving circuit 150 to drive the optical fiber scanner in the optical fiber scanning module 20 to scan, so as to scan and output the light beam transmitted in the transmission optical fiber 30 .

[0061] The light beam output by the optical fiber scanner acts on a certain pixel position on the surface of the medium, and forms a light spot at the pixel position, thus realizing the scanning of the pixel position. Driven by the optical fiber scanner, the output end of the transmission optical fiber 30 sweeps along a certain scanning trajectory, so that the light beam moves to the corresponding pixel position. In the actual scanning process, the light beam output by the transmission optical fiber 30 will form a light spot with corresponding image information (such as color, grayscale or brightness) at each pixel position. In one frame of time, the light beam traverses each pixel position at a sufficiently high speed to complete the scanning of one frame of image. Due to the characteristic of "visual residual" when the human eye observes things, the human eye cannot perceive the movement of the light beam at each pixel position, but sees a complete frame of image.

[0062] Please continue to refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 It should be noted that the specific structure of the optical fiber scanning module 20 includes: a scanning actuator 121, an optical fiber cantilever 1201, a mirror assembly 123, a scanner package 124, and an actuator fixture 125. The scanning actuator 121 is fixed in the scanner package 124 by the actuator fixture 125, and the transmission optical fiber 30 extends from the front end of the scanning actuator 121 to form an optical fiber cantilever 1201 (also called a scanning optical fiber). When working, the scanning actuator 121 is driven by a scanning drive signal, and its slow axis 121a (also called a first actuator) moves along a vertical direction (the vertical direction is parallel to Figure 5 The fast axis 121b (also called the second actuator) vibrates along the horizontal direction (the horizontal direction is parallel to the Y axis in the reference coordinate system). Figure 5 The optical fiber cantilever 1201 vibrates along the X-axis in the reference coordinate system, and driven by the scanning actuator 121, the front end of the optical fiber cantilever 1201 performs two-dimensional scanning according to a preset trajectory and emits a light beam, and the emitted light beam can be scanned and imaged through the lens group 123. Generally, the structure formed by the scanning actuator 121 and the optical fiber cantilever 1201 can be called: an optical fiber scanner.

[0063] In summary, the optical fiber fixing structure provided in the embodiment of the present application can effectively suppress the stress change caused by the mutual friction between the optical fiber and the controllable vibration device during vibration by setting the controllable vibration device and the optical fiber to have a gap; by bending the optical fiber on the surface of the controllable vibration device when fixing the optical fiber, the stress generated by the optical fiber during vibration is further reduced, thereby minimizing the overall interaction force between the optical fiber and the controllable vibration device, thereby enabling the optical fiber fixing structure to perform good scanning and imaging display when applied to the field of optical fiber scanning and display. Therefore, the optical fiber scanner and optical fiber scanning system including the above-mentioned optical fiber fixing structure have relatively important application value.

[0064] All features disclosed in this specification, or steps in all methods or processes disclosed, except mutually exclusive features and / or steps, can be combined in any manner.

[0065] Any feature disclosed in this specification (including any additional claims, abstract and drawings), unless otherwise stated, may be replaced by other equivalent or alternative features with similar purposes. That is, unless otherwise stated, each feature is only an example of a series of equivalent or similar features.

[0066] The present application is not limited to the aforementioned specific implementations, but extends to any new features or any new combination disclosed in this specification, as well as any new method or process steps or any new combination disclosed.

Claims

1. An optical fiber fixing structure, characterized in that: The optical fiber fixing structure comprises a controllable vibration device and an optical fiber, wherein the optical fiber is fixed on the controllable vibration device so that the optical fiber can swing along with the vibration of the controllable vibration device; The optical fiber and the controllable vibration device are fixed via a fixed node, and at least one section of the optical fiber that is not a fixed node does not fit the controllable vibration device.

2. An optical fiber fixing structure as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The sections of the optical fiber without fixed nodes all maintain a gap with the controllable vibration device; The two end nodes of the optical fiber fixed on the surface of the controllable vibration device are respectively a first fixed node and a second fixed node, and the portion of the optical fiber suspended outside the controllable vibration device is an optical fiber cantilever; One end close to the optical fiber cantilever corresponds to the first fixed node, and the first fixed node is a rigid fixed node.

3. An optical fiber fixing structure as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The fixing node for fixing the optical fiber also includes other fixing nodes, and the second fixing node and the other fixing nodes are formed by fixing the optical fiber through a flexible material.

4. An optical fiber fixing structure as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that: The flexible material is made of glue.

5. An optical fiber fixing structure according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that: The optical fiber is bent along the length direction; The optical fiber cantilever is tapered, and the first fixed node is located at the root of the tapered optical fiber cantilever.

6. An optical fiber fixing structure as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that: The bend of the optical fiber is a unidirectional bend.

7. An optical fiber fixing structure as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that: The controllable vibration device includes a piezoelectric ceramic piece.

8. An optical fiber fixing structure as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that: The controllable vibration device corresponding to the second fixed node is provided with a tail counterweight block, the tail counterweight block is far away from the first fixed node and the second fixed node, and the tail counterweight block does not contact the optical fiber.

9. A fiber scanning system, characterized in that: The optical fiber scanning system comprises the optical fiber fixing structure according to any one of claims 1-8.

10. An optical fiber scanner, characterized in that: It comprises the optical fiber fixing structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controllable vibration device is an actuator, and the optical fiber is fixed on the actuator; The optical fiber fixing structure comprises a fixing part and a cantilever part, wherein the fixing part is a part where the optical fiber is fixed relative to the actuator, and the cantilever part is an optical fiber cantilever formed when the optical fiber exceeds the actuator.

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