Mechanical optical switch and assembling and adjusting method thereof

Abstract

The mechanical optical switch is suitable for switching of one-input and multiple-output optical path switches, the optical path switches are in butt joint with multiple optical fibers, the mechanical optical switch comprises a shell of a hollow structure, and a primary optical path adjusting assembly, a secondary optical path adjusting assembly and an optical window are arranged in the shell. Input light is transmitted to the primary light path adjusting assembly through the light window, the primary light path adjusting assembly is used for adjusting light path parameters of the input light, and the input light is input into part of components in the secondary light path adjusting assembly and is subjected to beam shrinking and focusing treatment through the secondary light path adjusting assembly. And the light beams subjected to beam shrinking and focusing processing are transmitted to the corresponding optical fibers, so that the light transmission efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of electromechanical technology, and in particular relates to a mechanical optical switch and an installation and adjustment method thereof. Background Art

[0002] An optical switch is a device with one or more optional transmission ports, which can select a channel to output a light beam through a control component. For example, a 1×6 optical switch can control the input light beam to output from any one of the six output ports. According to different optical path switching methods, optical switches can be divided into mechanical optical switches and non-mechanical optical switches.

[0003] Mechanical optical switches achieve the purpose of switching by moving optical fibers or moving optical elements to deflect the optical path. Mechanical optical switches are divided into mobile prism optical switches, mobile optical fiber optical switches and mobile reflector optical switches according to their configuration. Among them, mobile prism optical switches and mobile reflector optical switches use multiple brakes to control the switching of optical paths, which are difficult to install and adjust, and have poor reliability and in-situ recovery. Mobile optical fiber optical switches have complex optical paths, high losses, and are prone to optical fiber fatigue fracture, and have low performance. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, the mechanical optical switch provided by the present invention realizes the transmission switching of high-power wide-spectrum lasers, reduces insertion loss, and improves installation efficiency, accuracy, and reliability.

[0005] A mechanical optical switch is provided, which is suitable for switching a single-input and multiple-output optical path switch. The optical path switch is connected to multiple optical fibers and comprises a housing with a hollow structure. A primary optical path adjustment component, a secondary optical path adjustment component and an optical window are arranged in the housing.

[0006] The input light is transmitted to the primary optical path adjustment component through the optical window. The primary optical path adjustment component is used to adjust the optical path parameters of the input light, and is input into some components of the secondary optical path adjustment component. After being shrunk and focused by the secondary optical path adjustment component, the shrunk and focused light beam is transmitted to the corresponding optical fiber.

[0007] The technical beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0008] The invention arranges a primary optical path adjustment component and a secondary optical path adjustment component in the shell to switch and adjust the switch entering through the optical window and transmit it to the corresponding optical fiber. It can transmit and switch high-power wide-spectrum lasers and is suitable for extreme environmental conditions such as high and low temperatures and vibrations on board. Compared with traditional mechanical optical switches, it eliminates the front-end optical fiber coupling and short-distance optical fiber transmission modules, and the insertion loss of the entire link can be reduced by more than 20%, which can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of assembly and adjustment, reduce the requirements for parts processing accuracy, and thus reduce the process difficulty and processing costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0010] Figure 1 The working principle diagram is as follows;

[0011] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of optical fibers distributed in a circular shape on the side of a housing;

[0012] Figure 3 is a front sectional view of the shell;

[0013] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a slewing bracket, where:

[0014] 1. Optical window; 2. Adjustable double optical wedge; 3. Secondary optical path adjustment assembly; 4. Rotation control unit; 5. Optical path coupling component; 6. Optical fiber; 7. Side positioning cover; 8. Shell; 31. First mirror; 32. Rotating bracket; 33. Counterweight; 34. Second mirror; 51. Mirror barrel; 52. Lens group; 53. Extracavity double optical wedge. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] The following describes the embodiments of the present disclosure through specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present disclosure from the contents disclosed in this specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all of the embodiments. The present disclosure can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed in various ways based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0017] It should be noted that various aspects of the embodiments within the scope of the appended claims are described below. It should be apparent that the aspects described herein can be embodied in a wide variety of forms, and any specific structure and / or function described herein is merely illustrative. Based on the present disclosure, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that an aspect described herein can be implemented independently of any other aspect, and two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, any number of aspects described herein can be used to implement the device and / or practice the method. In addition, other structures and / or functionalities other than one or more of the aspects described herein can be used to implement this device and / or practice this method.

[0018] like Figures 1 to 4 The mechanical optical switch shown is suitable for switching of an optical path switch with one input and multiple outputs. The optical path switch is connected to multiple optical fibers 6 (multiple optical fibers 6 are arranged in a circular distribution), including a housing 8 with a hollow structure. A primary optical path adjustment component 3, a secondary optical path adjustment component and an optical window 1 are arranged in the housing 8. The mounting surface of the optical window 1 is set at an inclination angle of 3° to 8° with respect to the vertical surface of the theoretical optical axis to prevent high-power laser back reflection. The optical window 1 is installed in a sealed manner and is arranged in a precision hole of the housing 8 to provide an interface and positioning reference for the input light beam, wherein,

[0019] See also Figure 1 As shown, the input light is transmitted to the primary optical path adjustment component 3 through the optical window 1. The primary optical path adjustment component 3 is used to adjust the optical path parameters of the input light, and is input to some components in the secondary optical path adjustment component, and is subjected to beam shrinking and focusing processing by the secondary optical path adjustment component, and the beam after beam shrinking and focusing processing is transmitted to the corresponding optical fiber 6. Specifically,

[0020] The primary optical path adjustment component 3 includes an adjustable double optical wedge 2, a reflector group and a swivel bracket 32. The reflector group is installed at one end of the swivel bracket 32, wherein the adjustable double optical wedge 2 is installed on the inner wall of the shell 8 and corresponds to the position of the optical window 1. The input light is transmitted to the adjustable double optical wedge 2 through the optical window 1, and the input light can be adjusted to parallel light. The parallel light passes through the reflector group to fold the optical path.

[0021] Further, the primary optical path adjustment component 3 includes a rotation control unit 4 (the rotation control unit 4, for example, a rotation motor, is controlled by an external controller to rotate), and the reflector group includes a plane mirror with an angle of 45° with the parallel light, see Figure 4As shown, the plane mirror includes a first mirror 31 and a second mirror 34, wherein the first mirror 31 is installed in the central area of ​​the rotating bracket 32, and the second mirror 34 is installed at the maximum diameter position of the rotating bracket 32. The other end of the rotating bracket 32 ​​is connected to the rotation output end of the rotation control unit 4, which can drive the rotating bracket 32 ​​to rotate axially. The rotation control unit 4 is connected to the inner wall of the shell 8 through an adapter plate. The rotation control unit 4 receives an instruction to drive the rotating bracket 32 ​​to rotate and stay at different angular positions. Each angular position corresponds to an optical fiber 6 for signal transmission, and the overall optical signal transmission to the optical fiber 6 is realized in an arbitrary selection or switching manner.

[0022] The two 45° first mirrors 31 and second mirrors 34 are parallel to each other and are arranged at corresponding positions on the rotating bracket 32 ​​to realize the folding and translation of the optical path in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the rotating bracket 32. The reflection surfaces of the first mirror 31 and the second mirror 34 are coated with a wide-spectrum reflection film to avoid the influence of wavelength and polarization state and facilitate the rotation of the rotating bracket 32. A counterweight block 33 is provided on the side corresponding to the second mirror 34 to adjust the mass distribution of the rotating bracket 32 ​​to ensure that the principal moment of inertia of the rotating bracket 32 ​​during rotation is basically consistent with the rotation axis.

[0023] Furthermore, the maximum diameter of the swivel bracket 32 ​​is larger than the maximum dimension of the swivel control unit 4 in the width direction, so as to prevent the swivel control unit 4 from blocking the light path. Figure 1 In the vertical direction.

[0024] As a specific implementation method provided in this case, the secondary optical path adjustment component includes a screw component and a plurality of optical path coupling components 5, each optical path coupling component 5 is installed on a side surface in the center line direction of the housing 8 through the screw component, and each corresponds to an optical fiber 6, wherein the optical path coupling component 5 can adjust the parallel light to be parallel for a second time and perform beam reduction and focusing processing. When the motor rotates to drive the second mirror 34 at a certain angle, when the optical signal is transmitted to the optical fiber 6, the light needs to be parallelized and the diameter needs to be reduced. Specifically,

[0025] like Figure 2 As shown, the optical path coupling member 5 includes a lens barrel 51, an extracavity double optical wedge 53 and a lens group 52. The extracavity double optical wedge 53 and the lens group 52 are sequentially arranged in the lens barrel 51 along the optical path transmission direction (installed by glue). The lens barrel 51 is arranged in a reduced structure along the optical path direction. Multiple lens barrels 51 are installed in a circular ring shape on the side positioning cover plate 7 of the housing 8, and each lens barrel 51 corresponds to one optical fiber 6, wherein,

[0026] The extracavity double wedge 53 is used to adjust the parallelism of the light reflected by the second mirror 34 to parallel light and transmit it to the lens group 52 . The lens group 52 performs beam shrinking and focusing processing on the adjusted parallel light and transmits it to the corresponding optical fiber 6 .

[0027] Next, a method for adjusting a mechanical optical switch is provided. Using the above-mentioned mechanical optical switch, the adjustment method comprises:

[0028] S1: The outer ring surface of the light window 1 is provided with an annular protrusion for docking with the output end of the external output optical device in a plug-in manner, and the mounting surface of the light window 1 is inclined at an angle of 3° to 8° with the vertical plane of the input light incident;

[0029] S2: primary optical path adjustment component 3, secondary optical path adjustment component and optical window 1

[0030] S3: connecting the optical window 1 to the external optical output device of the input light beam;

[0031] S4: Initially check the optical path adjustment assembly 3. Under the action of the rotation of the rotation control unit 4, the optical paths output by the first mirror 31 and the second mirror 34 meet the requirements of the theoretical light.

[0032] S5: The secondary optical path adjustment component is connected to the rotation control unit 4, and the optical path switching component is precisely adjusted using the adjustable double optical wedge 2 and the crosshair plate;

[0033] S6: Install the output optical fiber 6 on the optical path coupling component 5, and install the installed optical path coupling component 5 on the side positioning cover plate 7 of the housing 8 that has been positioned, and then perform precision adjustment on the coupling component.

[0034] Example

[0035] Step 1. First, install the input sealed light window 1 in the precision hole of the shell 8 with a small gap. The docking device of the input light beam uses the annular protrusion of the input sealed light window 1 as a positioning reference to achieve high-precision quick docking. Then, install the side positioning cover plate 7 on the shell 8, install a cross-grain plate in the process hole of the side positioning cover plate 7, use a helium-neon laser to irradiate the cross-grain plate, and adjust the relative position and verticality of the side positioning cover plate 7 and the optical axis according to the principle of light reflection.

[0036] Step 2. After assembling the optical path adjustment component once, install it on a dynamic balancing test machine to rotate it along the working rotation axis, adjust the position and mass of the counterweight block 33, and make the mass distribution of the optical path switching component 3 uniform, so as to achieve the purpose of reducing vibration and improving the reset accuracy after long-term use, then connect the rotation control unit 4 to the optical path switching component 3 through a shaft key, install the fixed end face of the connected rotation control unit 4 at the corresponding position of the shell 8, and limit it with a positioning pin, then install a cross-grain plate in the process hole of the optical path switching component 3, and adjust the adjustable double optical wedge 2 and the 45° reflector group in the optical path switching component 3 to ensure that the helium-neon laser used for debugging is irradiated to the cross-grain plate and then returns along the original optical path.

[0037] Step 3. First, install the lens assembly 52 of the optical path coupling component 5 in the lens barrel 51 and complete the focus adjustment, then pour GD414 silicone rubber into the glue filling hole of the lens barrel 51 for bonding, and finally assemble the output optical fiber 6 with the coupling component and install it on the side positioning cover plate 7 that has completed the positioning, and move the extra-cavity double wedge 53 to adjust the output beam quality to the best.

[0038] The above are only specific embodiments of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present disclosure should be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A mechanical optical switch, suitable for switching a single input and multiple output optical path switch, the optical path switch is connected to multiple optical fibers, characterized in that: The invention comprises a housing with a hollow structure, wherein a primary light path adjustment component, a secondary light path adjustment component and a light window are arranged in the housing, wherein: The input light is transmitted to the primary optical path adjustment component through the optical window. The primary optical path adjustment component is used to adjust the optical path parameters of the input light, and is input into some components of the secondary optical path adjustment component. After being shrunk and focused by the secondary optical path adjustment component, the shrunk and focused light beam is transmitted to the corresponding optical fiber.

2. The mechanical optical switch according to claim 1, characterized in that: The primary optical path adjustment assembly comprises an adjustable double optical wedge, a reflector group and a swivel bracket, and the reflector group is installed at one end of the swivel bracket, wherein: The adjustable double optical wedge is installed on the inner wall of the housing and corresponds to the position of the optical window. The input light is transmitted to the adjustable double optical wedge through the optical window, and the input light can be adjusted to parallel light. The parallel light passes through the reflector group to fold the light path.

3. The mechanical optical switch according to claim 2, characterized in that: The primary optical path adjustment component includes a rotation control unit, and the reflector group includes a plane mirror with a 45° angle with the parallel light, and the plane mirror includes a first mirror and a second mirror, wherein: The first mirror is installed in the central area of ​​the rotating bracket, and the second mirror is installed at the maximum diameter position of the rotating bracket. The other end of the rotating bracket is connected to the rotation output end of the rotation control unit, which can drive the rotating bracket to rotate axially. The rotation control unit is connected to the inner wall of the shell through an adapter plate.

4. The mechanical optical switch according to claim 3, characterized in that: The maximum diameter of the swivel bracket is greater than the maximum dimension of the rotation control unit in the width direction, so as to prevent the rotation control unit from blocking the light path.

5. The mechanical optical switch according to claim 4, characterized in that: The secondary optical path adjustment assembly includes a screw assembly and a plurality of optical path coupling members, each of which is mounted on a side surface in the direction of the center line of the housing through the screw assembly and corresponds to an optical fiber, wherein: The optical path coupling component can adjust the parallel light to be parallel for a second time and perform beam contraction and focusing processing.

6. The mechanical optical switch according to claim 5, characterized in that: The optical path coupling component includes a lens barrel, an extracavity double wedge and a lens group. The extracavity double wedge and the lens group are sequentially arranged in the lens barrel along the optical path transmission direction. The lens barrel is arranged in a reduced structure along the optical path direction. A plurality of the lens barrels are installed in a circular ring shape on the outer side of the housing, and each of the lens barrels corresponds to one optical fiber, wherein: The double wedge outside the cavity is used to adjust the parallelism of the light reflected by the second mirror, adjust it to parallel light and transmit it to the lens group, and the lens group shrinks and focuses the adjusted parallel light and transmits it to the corresponding optical fiber.

7. A method for assembling and adjusting a mechanical optical switch, characterized in that: Using the mechanical optical switch as claimed in claim 5 or 6, the adjustment method comprises: The outer annular surface of the light window is provided with an annular protrusion for docking with the output end of the external output light device in a plug-in manner, and the mounting surface of the light window is inclined at an angle of 3° to 8° with the vertical plane of the input light incidence; Primary optical path adjustment component, secondary optical path adjustment component and optical window docking the optical window with an external optical output device of the input light beam; Initially check the optical path adjustment assembly. Under the action of the rotation of the rotary control unit, the optical paths output by the first mirror and the second mirror meet the requirements of the theoretical light. The secondary optical path adjustment component is docked with the rotation control unit, and the optical path switching component is precisely adjusted using an adjustable double optical wedge and a cross-reticle plate; The output optical fiber is mounted on the optical path coupling component, and the mounted optical path coupling component is mounted on the side positioning cover plate of the housing that has been positioned, and then the coupling component is precision-adjusted.

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