Variable optical attenuator with inverted telescope

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of optical passive devices, and discloses a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope, which comprises two fixed discs, and a lens cone is fixedly connected between the two fixed discs; the light path assembly comprises two light path parts, the two light path parts are arranged on the sides, away from the lens cone, of the two fixing discs respectively, one light path part is provided with a plurality of eyepieces, the other light path part is provided with a plurality of objective lenses, and when the eyepieces, the lens cone and the objective lenses are located on the same axis, a telescope structure is formed; when a transmission light beam in an optical fiber line sequentially passes through the eyepiece, the lens cone and the objective lens on the telescope structure, a light path is attenuated. The variable optical attenuator realized by using the micro-lens to construct the inverted telescope has the characteristics of high-precision optical attenuation, accuracy and variability, large dynamic range and small wavelength dependent loss, is good in reliability and stability, has no particularly high requirements on technologies and processes, and is easy to implement.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of optical passive devices, in particular to a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope. Background Art

[0002] Optical fiber communication technology has been developing rapidly, fiber-to-the-home has gradually matured, and all-optical networks are also advancing, which is the development trend of the new generation of communication networks. In the entire all-optical network communication, the optical attenuator is one of the important passive devices in the communication network and one of the indispensable basic devices. At the same time, the optical attenuator has gradually been widely used in optical sensing, signal processing and other optical systems of laser transmission. It mainly plays the role of precise control of dynamic adjustment of power size, dynamic gain flatness and channel power gain balancing in dense wavelength division multiplexing communication systems. Therefore, the variable optical attenuator has broad application prospects in the fields of optical fiber communication, optical sensing and laser transmission optical systems. However, although the current variable optical attenuator has various principles and many types, including mechanical, magneto-optical, micro-electromechanical system and liquid crystal, it still has the disadvantages of complex structure, high production cost and poor optical performance.

[0003] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following solution: The present invention provides a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope, comprising:

[0006] Two fixed plates, with a lens barrel fixedly connected between the two fixed plates;

[0007] An optical path assembly, comprising two optical path components, the two optical path components are respectively arranged on one side of the two fixed plates away from the lens barrel, one of the optical path components is provided with a plurality of eyepieces, and the other optical path component is provided with a plurality of objective lenses, and when the eyepieces, the lens barrel and the objective lenses are located on the same axis, a telescope structure is formed;

[0008] When the transmission light beam in the optical fiber line passes through the eyepiece, the lens barrel and the objective lens on the telescope structure in sequence, the light path is attenuated.

[0009] According to a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope provided by the present invention, the optical path component comprises:

[0010] A turntable is coaxially rotatably connected to the fixed plate, and a plurality of placement holes are provided on the turntable at equal intervals along the circumference;

[0011] A plurality of placement tubes are respectively fixedly connected in the placement holes, and an eyepiece and an objective lens are fixedly connected in the placement tubes.

[0012] According to the variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope provided by the present invention, one of the placement tubes is a hollow shell structure.

[0013] According to a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope provided by the present invention, a support plate is fixedly connected to a side of the fixed plate away from the lens barrel, the rotating plate is located between the support plate and the fixed plate, an adapter is fixedly connected to the support plate, and the adapter and the lens barrel are located on the same axis.

[0014] According to the variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope provided by the present invention, the two adapters are respectively provided with an input optical fiber collimation connector and an output optical fiber collimation connector.

[0015] According to the variable light attenuator with an inverted telescope provided by the present invention, the focal lengths of the eyepieces and the objective lenses are different.

[0016] According to the variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope provided by the present invention, the object-side focus of the eyepiece on the coaxial line of the lens barrel coincides with the image-side focus of the objective lens.

[0017] According to a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope provided by the present invention, a plurality of positioning holes are opened on the turntable along the circumferential direction, and the plurality of positioning holes are respectively located on the same radial line as the plurality of placement tubes, and a push-on positioning bolt is provided on the fixed disk, and the push-on positioning bolt is adapted to the positioning hole.

[0018] According to the variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope provided by the present invention, a plurality of screw holes are opened on the fixing plate along the circumference, and the supporting plate is connected to the screw holes through screws.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages and technical effects:

[0020] The present invention provides a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope. When in use, different eyepieces and objective lenses are selected on two pipes to form a telescope structure with a lens barrel. When the light beam passes through the telescope mechanism, a microlens is used to construct an inverted telescope to change the diameter of the light beam transmitted in the optical fiber line for amplification, thereby reducing the light energy coupled into the optical fiber to achieve light power attenuation in the optical path. The objective lens and the eyepiece are arranged in the optical path to form a telescope for amplifying the light beam, thereby realizing a variable light attenuation optical path system that can achieve light power attenuation simply and quickly. At the same time, a plurality of eyepieces and objective lenses are arranged to achieve a larger dynamic range of light attenuation. The present invention uses a microlens to construct an inverted telescope to realize the variable optical attenuation, which has the characteristics of high-precision light attenuation, precise variability, large dynamic range, and small wavelength-related loss, good reliability and stability, and no particularly high requirements on technology and process, and is easy to implement. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative labor:

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the front structure of the turntable of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3 It is a side sectional view of the turntable of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the front structure of the fixed plate of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 5 A side sectional view of a fixing plate of the present invention;

[0027] Among them, 1. fixed plate; 2. lens barrel; 3. eyepiece; 4. objective lens; 5. turntable; 6. placement tube; 7. support plate; 8. adapter; 9. input fiber alignment connector; 10. output fiber alignment connector; 11. positioning hole; 12. press positioning bolt; 13. screw hole. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0029] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0030] Reference Figure 1-Figure 5 The present invention provides a variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope, comprising:

[0031] Two fixed plates 1, with a lens barrel 2 fixedly connected between the two fixed plates 1;

[0032] The optical path assembly comprises two optical path components, which are respectively arranged on one side of the two fixed plates 1 away from the lens barrel 2, wherein one optical path component is provided with a plurality of eyepieces 3, and the other optical path component is provided with a plurality of objective lenses 4. When the eyepieces 3, the lens barrel 2 and the objective lenses 4 are located on the same axis, a telescope structure is formed;

[0033] When the transmission light beam in the optical fiber line passes through the eyepiece 3, the lens tube 2 and the objective lens 4 on the telescope structure in sequence, the light path is attenuated.

[0034] In one embodiment of the present invention, when in use, different eyepieces 3 and objective lenses 4 are selected on two pipe members to form a telescope structure with the lens barrel 2. When the light beam passes through the telescope structure, an inverted telescope is constructed using a microlens to change the diameter of the light beam transmitted in the optical fiber line for amplification, thereby reducing the light energy coupled into the optical fiber to achieve light power attenuation in the optical path. The objective lens and the eyepiece are arranged in the optical path to form a telescope for amplifying the light beam, thereby realizing a variable light attenuation optical path system that can achieve light power attenuation simply and quickly. A plurality of eyepieces 3 and objective lenses 4 are arranged at the same time to achieve a larger dynamic range of light attenuation.

[0035] As an optional implementation, the optical path component includes:

[0036] The rotating disk 5 is coaxially rotatably connected to the fixed disk 1, and a plurality of placement holes are provided on the rotating disk 5 at equal intervals along the circumferential direction;

[0037] A plurality of placement tubes 6 are respectively fixedly connected in the placement holes, and an eyepiece 3 and an objective lens 4 are fixedly connected in the placement tubes 6 .

[0038] In one embodiment of the present invention, the turntable 5 is rotatably connected to the fixed plate 1, and the placement tube 6 is used to place the eyepiece 3 and the objective lens 4. Different eyepieces 3 and objective lenses 4 are selected to form different telescope structures to meet different attenuation requirements.

[0039] As an optional implementation, one of the placement tubes 6 is a hollow shell structure.

[0040] In one embodiment of the present invention, if a certain amount of attenuation is zero, a hollow shell structure is selected as the placement tube 6, and the cross-section of the parallel light beam output by the transmitting optical fiber will not be amplified after passing through the hollow shell structure, and the parallel light beam output by the transmitting optical fiber will be directly received, so there is basically no attenuation.

[0041] As an optional embodiment, a support plate 7 is fixedly connected to the side of the fixed plate 1 away from the lens barrel 2, the turntable 5 is located between the support plate 7 and the fixed plate 1, and an adapter 8 is fixedly connected to the support plate 7. The adapter 8 and the lens barrel 2 are located on the same axis.

[0042] In one embodiment of the present invention, an adapter 8 is disposed on the support plate 7 , and the adapter 8 at the end of the eyepiece 3 and the adapter 8 at the end of the objective lens 4 are both coaxial with the lens barrel 2 .

[0043] As an optional implementation, the two adapters 8 are respectively provided with an input optical fiber alignment connector 9 and an output optical fiber alignment connector 10 .

[0044] In one embodiment of the present invention, the optical signal transmitted by the optical fiber is collimated by the input optical fiber collimation connector 9 of the transmitting optical fiber and then incident on the eyepiece 3 of the telescope. The parallel light beam output by the objective lens 4 of the telescope is incident on the output optical fiber collimation connector 10. The end face of the optical fiber collimator is coated with a high-transmittance anti-reflection film, which is coupled to the optical fiber with a certain amount of attenuation.

[0045] As an optional implementation, the focal lengths of the eyepieces 3 and the objective lenses 4 are all different.

[0046] In one embodiment of the present invention, different attenuation requirements are met by setting eyepieces 3 and objective lenses 4 with different focal lengths.

[0047] As an optional implementation, the object-side focus of the eyepiece 3 on the same axis of the lens barrel 2 coincides with the image-side focus of the objective lens 4 .

[0048] In one embodiment of the present invention, the object focus of the eyepiece 3 on the axis of the lens barrel 2 coincides with the image focus of the objective lens 4 on the same axis, ensuring that each time the objective lens 4 and the eyepiece 3 are replaced, the objective lens 4 and the eyepiece 3 still constitute a telescopic system, and a parallel light beam is input and then output as a parallel light beam, that is, the objective lens 4 with different focal lengths is placed at different positions in the barrel 6, and the eyepieces 3 with different focal lengths are also placed at different positions in the barrel 6, and finally, after the objective lens 4 follows the rotation on the fixed plate 1, the distance between the eyepiece 3 and the objective lens 4 is equal to the sum of the focal lengths of the objective lens 4 and the eyepiece 3, ensuring that the objective lens 4 and the eyepiece 3 are in focus.

[0049] As an optional implementation, the magnification of the light beam is equal to the focal length ratio of the eyepiece 3 / objective lens 4.

[0050] In one embodiment of the present invention, the magnification is equal to the focal length of the objective lens 4 / the focal length of the eyepiece 3. The greater the magnification, the less light energy that can enter the fiber collimator of the receiving optical fiber after being magnified by the inverted telescope, and the greater the corresponding attenuation.

[0051] As an optional embodiment, a plurality of positioning holes 11 are opened on the turntable 5 along the circumference, and the plurality of positioning holes 11 are respectively located on the same radial line as the plurality of placement tubes 6 . A push-on positioning bolt 12 is provided on the fixed disk 1 , and the push-on positioning bolt 12 is adapted to the positioning hole 11 .

[0052] In one embodiment of the present invention, the positioning holes 11 correspond one-to-one to the placement tube 6. When the specified eyepiece 3 and objective lens 4 are selected, the eyepiece 3, the lens tube 2 and the objective lens 4 are coaxially arranged by pressing the positioning bolt 12 into the positioning hole 11, and the stability among the three is ensured.

[0053] As an optional implementation, a plurality of screw holes 13 are provided on the fixing plate 1 along the circumferential direction, and the supporting plate 7 is connected to the screw holes 13 by means of screws.

[0054] In one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of screw holes 13 are preferably three and are distributed in an equilateral triangle, and a stable connection between the support plate 7 and the fixing plate 1 is achieved through the screws and the screw holes 13 .

[0055] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside" and "outside" etc., indicating orientations or positional relationships, are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0056] The embodiments described above are only descriptions of the preferred modes of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Without departing from the design spirit of the present invention, various modifications and improvements made to the technical solutions of the present invention by ordinary technicians in this field should all fall within the protection scope determined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope, characterized in that: include: Two fixed plates (1), with a lens barrel (2) fixedly connected between the two fixed plates (1); An optical path component comprises two optical path components, the two optical path components are respectively arranged on one side of the two fixed plates (1) away from the lens barrel (2), one of the optical path components is provided with a plurality of eyepieces (3), and the other optical path component is provided with a plurality of objective lenses (4), and when the eyepieces (3), the lens barrel (2) and the objective lenses (4) are located on the same axis, a telescope structure is formed; When the transmission light beam in the optical fiber line passes through the eyepiece (3), the lens barrel (2) and the objective lens (4) on the telescope structure in sequence, the light path is attenuated.

2. A variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope according to claim 1, characterized in that: The optical path component comprises: A rotating disk (5) is coaxially rotatably connected to the fixed disk (1), and a plurality of placement holes are provided on the rotating disk (5) at equal intervals along the circumferential direction; A plurality of placement tubes (6) are respectively fixedly connected in the placement holes, and an eyepiece (3) and an objective lens (4) are fixedly connected in the placement tubes (6).

3. A variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope according to claim 2, characterized in that: One of the placement tubes (6) is a hollow shell structure.

4. The variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope according to claim 2, characterized in that: A support plate (7) is fixedly connected to a side of the fixed plate (1) away from the lens barrel (2); the rotating plate (5) is located between the support plate (7) and the fixed plate (1); an adapter (8) is fixedly connected to the support plate (7); and the adapter (8) and the lens barrel (2) are located on the same axis.

5. The variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope according to claim 4, characterized in that: The two adapters (8) are respectively provided with an input optical fiber alignment connector (9) and an output optical fiber alignment connector (10).

6. The variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope according to claim 1, characterized in that: The focal lengths of the eyepieces (3) and the objective lenses (4) are all different.

7. The variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope according to claim 1, characterized in that: The object-side focus of the eyepiece (3) on the same axis of the lens barrel (2) coincides with the image-side focus of the objective lens (4).

8. The variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope according to claim 2, characterized in that: The rotating disk (5) is provided with a plurality of positioning holes (11) along the circumferential direction, and the plurality of positioning holes (11) are respectively located on the same radial line as the plurality of placement tubes (6). The fixed disk (1) is provided with a pressing positioning bolt (12), and the pressing positioning bolt (12) is adapted to the positioning hole (11).

9. The variable optical attenuator with an inverted telescope according to claim 4, characterized in that: The fixing plate (1) is provided with a plurality of screw holes (13) along the circumferential direction, and the supporting plate (7) is connected to the screw holes (13) via screws.

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