JPH0681338B2 - Automatic optical path switching device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an automatic optical path switching device used for automatic switching of optical paths of optical fiber transmission lines and terminal devices.

"Prior Art" An optical path between an optical fiber transmission line and an optical signal transmission device is usually connected by a connector, and when it is necessary to switch the optical path in such a connection, it is manually performed.

FIG. 4 is a partial view of a switching terminal plate in which a large number of connector connecting portions are arranged. 1 is a switching terminal board, 2 is an optical connector adapter, 3 is an optical connector plug connected to a transmission device, 4 is an optical connector plug connected to an optical fiber transmission line, and a total of 9 optical connector adapters 2 are arranged. Has been done. The optical connector adapter 2 on the upper right of the figure is in a state where the optical connector plug 4 on the transmission device side is not connected. Optical connector plugs 3 and 4 and optical connector adapter 2
And are joined by screwing, spring holding, or the like. In order to join the optical connector plug 3 or 4 and the optical connector adapter 2, the optical connector plug 3 or 4 is pinched with a finger of a person and inserted into the guide hole of the optical connector adapter 2, and the optical connector plug 3 or the spring is used. 4 to optical connector adapter 2
The optical connector plug 2 is fixed by fixing it to the optical connector plug 2 or by tightening the screw part of the optical connector plug 2.

"Problems to be solved by the invention" However, as described above, the conventional optical connector plug 3,
When connecting 4, the optical connector plugs 3 and 4 are grasped by a person's finger and inserted into the optical connector adapter 2, and if necessary, screws are tightened. Regarding the placement of the connector adapter 2,
It was necessary to secure a space for the fingers to enter. Fourth
In the illustrated example, it is necessary to provide a space having a width of about 20 mm around the optical connector adapter 2. Therefore, the switching terminal plate 1
In addition, when trying to increase the arrangement density by arranging as many optical connector adapters 2 as possible, there is a problem that the limit of the arrangement density is determined by the space required around the optical connector adapter 2. is there.

Moreover, since the switching is done manually, it is impossible to automate the switching of the optical connector connection and remotely control the switching of the optical path. Further, since it is done manually, the switching speed requires a long time of up to several seconds.

By the way, from the viewpoint of automatic switching of the optical path, there is an optical switch that switches the optical path by an electric signal or the like as a conventional technique. This optical switch is moved by an electromagnet such as a prism that is placed in advance in the optical path between the optical fibers that are separated by a predetermined length, or one optical fiber of the opposed optical fibers is moved. There is a method of switching the optical path by moving the axis, which has relatively low loss and low crosstalk, and is most practically used. But,
On the other hand, it is necessary to match the optical axes of the optical fibers facing each other with high accuracy, and the accuracy of parts such as a prism and a rod lens and the relative position accuracy are strictly required, which is disadvantageous in that it becomes expensive. Further, since the optical fibers facing each other are not directly joined, the insertion loss of the optical switch is as large as 0.7 dB or more, and it is necessary to take measures against reflected light from the optical component or the optical switch component.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an automatic optical path switching device that automates work processes such as gripping, moving, and inserting optical connector plugs, and is capable of remote control with low loss. With the goal.

[Means for Solving Problems] An automatic optical path switching device according to the present invention is a switching device for switching optical paths by replacing optical connector plugs with a plurality of optical connector adapters arranged at predetermined positions of an optical path switching board. A gripping hand for gripping the optical connector plug, an optical connector plug to the optical connector adapter is inserted and inserted, and the gripping hand is moved in a direction other than the inserting direction, and movement in a direction other than the inserting direction of the optical connector plug. The mechanical unit is attached between the moving mechanism, which is a servo mechanism that allows the optical connector plug to move by an external force when the control is off, and the optical connector plug between the gripping hand and the moving mechanism. A pressure sensor that detects the pressure related to the insertion direction of the When inserting the optical connector plug held by the gripping hand into the optical connector adapter and inserting the optical connector adapter, when the detection sensor detects pressure, the moving mechanism section of the moving mechanism in a direction other than the inserting direction of the optical connector plug is controlled off, And a control unit for stopping the operation of the moving mechanism when the detection sensor detects a pressure larger than a predetermined value.

[Operation] The automatic optical path switching device of the present invention determines whether or not the optical connector plug is fitted to the optical connector adapter by the pressure sensor that detects the pressure applied to the optical connector gripping hand, and the pressure sensor detects the pressure. At that time, even if the center axis of the optical connector plug and the optical connector adapter are slightly misaligned, the movement mechanism part in the direction other than the insertion direction of the optical connector plug is controlled to be in the OFF state, and it is automatically handled. Then, the optical connector plug is automatically inserted into the optical connector adapter.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

21 is an optical path switching board, and a large number of optical connector adapters 22 are fixed to the optical path switching board 21 at predetermined positions.
Optical fiber cords 23 are connected to the optical connector adapters 22, respectively. Here, it is assumed that the optical path switching board 21 is installed in the XY plane. An optical connector plug 24 is inserted into the optical connector adapter 22, and an optical fiber cord 25 is connected to each of them.

The moving mechanism body 26 has first, second, and third parts on its upper part.
The moving stages 27, 28 and 29 are provided. These moving stages 27, 28, 29 form the movable part of the moving mechanism,
Each of them can move in a predetermined direction by a servomotor or the like. The first moving stage 27 can move up and down with respect to the moving mechanism body 26 (here, in the Y direction), the second moving stage 28 can move in the X direction on the first moving stage 27, The moving stage 29 can move in the Z direction on the second moving stage 28. These 1st, 2nd, 3rd
The moving stages 27, 28, and 29 move to a specified position in the control-on state and hold the position, while in the control-off state, they remain in the control-off state when no external force is applied. When an external force in a movable direction is applied, the structure is such that it can be slightly moved in the direction in which the external force is applied.

A mounting portion 31 for mounting the optical connector gripping hand 30 is provided on the upper end of the third moving stage 29.
The gripping hand 30 is configured such that the hand portion at the tip thereof is opened and closed by a spring and compressed air or the like to grip or separate the optical connector plug 24. Also, the gripping hand
Between the part 30 and its mounting part 31, Z added to the gripping hand 30.
A pressure sensor 32 for detecting the directional force is provided.

The moving mechanism body 26 is provided with a control unit by the connection control code 32.
33 is connected. The control unit 33 controls the position coordinates of each optical connector adapter 22 on the optical path switching board 21, the connection status of the optical connector plug 24 to each optical connector adapter 22, and the position of the optical path switching board 21 with respect to the moving mechanism body 26. The coordinates are stored, the pressure information from the pressure sensor 31 is analyzed and judged, the gripping operation of the gripping hand 30 is controlled, and the first and first
The control of the second and third moving stages 27, 28, 29 is performed. The control unit 33 is also provided with an operation console 34. This console 34
Is a man-machine interface between the automatic optical path switching device and the operator, through which the operator inputs a switching command and displays the switching result and the like.

Next, one optical connector adapter 22-A in FIG.
The operation will be described by taking as an example the case where the optical connector plug 24 inserted in the optical connector plug 22 is replaced with another optical connector adapter 22-B.

Here, the position of the central axis of the optical connector adapter 22-A is (XA, YA), and the position of the central axis of the optical connector adapter 22-B is (XB, YB). As for the positional relationship in the Z-axis direction, as shown in FIGS.
The middle portion of the thickness of 21 is Z = 0, the tip of the optical connector adapter 22 is Z = Za, and the gripping hand tip position when gripping the optical connector plug 24 with the gripping hand 30 is Z = Zp,
When the optical fiber cord 25 hangs down by gravity, the position where the optical fiber cord 25, etc. does not exist is Z = Zu.
And The gripping hand 30 has a structure in which the hand portion opens and closes symmetrically with the central axis thereof. Also, the gripping hand
It is assumed that 23 is normally positioned Zu or more and away from the optical path switching board 21.

In response to a switching command input from the console 34, the control unit 34
1, second, third moving stages 27, 28, 29 and gripping hand 30
To operate as follows.

First, with the gripping hand 30 open, move the stage.
27, 28, 29 are controlled to move the gripping hand 30 so that the center point of the tip of the gripping hand 30 is located above the optical connector adapter 22-A Z-axis (XA, YA, Zu). Then, the third moving stage 29 is vertically advanced toward the optical path switching board 21, stopped when the tip of the gripping hand 30 reaches the position Z = Zp, and the hand part of the gripping hand 23 is closed.
As a result, the optical connector plug 22-A is gripped.

After that, the third moving stage 29 is retracted so that the tip of the optical connector plug 24 gripped by the gripping hand 30 is (XA, YA,
Zt). Where Zt is the optical connector adapter 22
When the optical connector plug 24 is connected to the optical connector adapter 22 other than -A and 22-B, the optical connector plug gripped by the gripping hand 30 with respect to the optical fiber cord 25 of the optical connector plug 24. Set the position where the tip of 24 does not touch. When the optical connector plug 24 is not connected to the optical connector adapters 22 other than the optical connector adapters 22-A and 22-B, the tip of the optical connector plug 24 gripped by the gripping hand 30 is the optical connector plug 24. The position that does not touch the.

Then, the first and second moving stages 27 and 28 are controlled so that the tip of the optical connector plug 24 gripped by the gripping hand 30 is Z = Zt.
Keep it on the XY plane of the optical connector plug 24
The center of the tip of the optical connector adapter 22-B is moved upward (XB, YB, Zt) of the optical connector adapter 22-B. Then, the third moving stage 29 is controlled to move the gripping hand 30 vertically toward the optical path switching board 21. When the tip of the optical connector plug 24 gripped by the gripping hand 30 approaches Z = Za, the moving speed of the third moving stage 29 is slowed to move forward, and the optical connector plug 24 is moved to the optical connector adapter 22-B. Anyway let it fit.

In this connection, when the optical connector plug 24 starts to contact the optical connector adapter 22-B, the pressure sensor 32 starts to detect the pressure. As a result, the control unit 34 detects that the optical connector plug 24 has come into contact with the optical connector adapter 22-B. When detecting the contact, the control unit 34 turns off the control of the first and second moving stages 27, 28.
By turning off the control, the first and second moving stages 27, 28
Becomes a state of moving in the X direction and the Y direction when an external force is applied thereto, respectively. That is, when a force in the X direction or the Y direction is applied to the optical connector plug 24 gripped by the gripping hand 30, the optical connector plug 24 moves in the direction in which the force is applied. After this state, the third moving stage 29 is further advanced in the Z direction to insert the optical connector plug 24 into the optical connector adapter 22-B. When the tip of the optical connector plug 24 reaches the position of Z = 0, the movement of the third moving stage 19 is stopped.

By the way, in the process of engaging and inserting the optical connector plug 24 into the optical connector adapter 22-B as described above, when the pressure sensor 32 detects a pressure larger than a predetermined pressure, the optical connector plug 24 is detected. 22-B
It is assumed that they do not mate properly. Therefore, in that case, the forward movement of the third moving stage 29 is stopped. Then, after that, the moving stage 29 is slightly retracted, and the first and second moving stages 27, 28 are turned on again, and then they are slightly moved in the X and Y directions (several tens of μm).
Move about). Then, the control of the first and second moving stages 27, 28 is turned off again, and the third moving stage 2
Advance 9 By repeating this process, the optical connector plug 24 is joined to the optical connector adapter 22-B.

In this way, after the optical connector plug 24 is completely inserted into the optical connector adapter 22-B, the hand portion of the gripping hand 30 is opened, and then the hand 30 is retracted together with the first moving stage 29. Then, the gripping hand 30 moves it to a place where it is normally installed, and waits for the next switching command.
Also, the optical connector adapter 22-B is connected to the connection status memory of the optical connector adapter 24 in the control unit 34,
The optical connector adapter 22-A is rewritten so that it is not connected.

By the way, a chamfer 36 as shown in FIG. 3 (a) is usually formed on the inside of the tip portion of the optical connector plug 24 and the tip portion of the optical connector adapter 22 to facilitate the mating. These chamfers 36 are optical connector plugs due to the movement error of the first, second and second moving stages 27, 28 and 29.
It is effectively used when the central axes of 24 and the optical connector adapter 22 are deviated as shown in FIG. 3 (b).

That is, as described above, when the optical connector plug 24 comes into contact with the optical connector adapter 22-B and the pressure sensor 32 detects the pressure, the first and second moving stages 27 and 28 are turned off and the third stage is turned off. Since the moving stage 29 of No. 3 is still in the control-on state, when the third moving stage 29 is gradually advanced, the optical connector plug 24 will not move to the optical connector adapter 22-B.
Also, due to the chamfer 36 of the optical connector plug 24 itself, the optical connector plug 22-B is automatically moved to the central axis of the optical connector adapter 22-B and moved forward to be inserted into the optical connector adapter 22-B. By the way, the first and second moving stages 27,28
Optical connector plug 24 without switching the control off
When the optical connector plug 24 is advanced linearly in the direction perpendicular to 21, the optical connector plug 24 cannot hit the end portion of the optical connector adapter 22-B and be inserted.

By adopting a type that can detect a negative pressure as the pressure sensor 29, after the optical connector plug 24 is grasped by the grasping hand 30, a negative pressure is generated when the grasping hand 30 is separated from the optical path switching board 21. It is also possible to monitor the pressure. In this case, grasp the optical connector plug 24 with the gripping hand 30.
When a portion other than the above is gripped, a negative pressure larger than a predetermined negative pressure is generated, so that an abnormal operation of the gripping hand 30 can be detected. Further, the gripping hand 30 is
In the case of a structure in which the central axis changes when opened / closed, the amount of change in the central axis is stored in advance in the control unit 34 and operated so as to correct the amount of change in the movement or gripping operation. If there is no problem.

Incidentally, as a suitable field of the present invention, automatic switching of the optical path to the test equipment side when performing a characteristic test of an optical fiber line laid outdoors or a check test of a faulty optical fiber line from the telephone office There is a device. Conventionally, in the measurement of the optical line, since the connection between the optical fiber line and the test device was manually performed, it was necessary to arrange a connecting worker, but by applying the device of the present invention, the worker can be arranged. There is no need to do it. In addition, if the control unit is installed at a place away from the main body of the moving mechanism and the optical path switching board, and the connecting control code connecting them is changed to a long-distance control line, the switching work can be performed remotely from a remote operation room. There is an advantage that it can be done.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, the automatic optical path switching device of the present invention detects the pressure applied to the optical connector gripping hand by the pressure sensor, and determines the suitability of the optical connector plug to the optical connector adapter. Then, when the pressure sensor detects the pressure, the moving mechanism section in a direction other than the inserting direction of the optical connector plug is in the control-off state, so that the central axes of the optical connector plug and the optical connector adapter are slightly Even if they are deviated from each other, the optical connector plug can be inserted into the optical connector adapter with certainty by automatically responding to it. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the switching time by automatically switching the connector connection, which was conventionally performed manually, without the need for manual intervention. Also, conventionally,
Since the space required for using human fingers around the optical connector adapter is not required, the optical path switching board can be downsized. Further, since the moving mechanism section and the gripping hand are controlled by the control section and the optical path is switched by the command from the control section, it is possible to remotely control the optical path by operating the control section remotely.

Furthermore, by using a small gripping hand, the space around the optical connector adapter can be further reduced, and the optical connector accommodation density on the optical path switching board can be increased.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 are views for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire apparatus, and FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are optical connector adapters and optical connectors. FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are explanatory views of the coordinate positions of the respective parts of the plug, and FIG. 3 (a) and FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a part of a conventional switching terminal plate. 21 …… Optical path switching board, 22 …… Optical connector adapter, 23 …… Fiber cord, 24 …… Optical connector plug, 25 …… Optical fiber cord, 26 …… Movement mechanism body, 27 …… First moving stage , 28: second moving stage, 29: third moving stage, 30: gripping hand, 32: pressure sensor, 34: control unit, 35: console.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A switching device for switching an optical path by replacing an optical connector plug with a plurality of optical connector adapters arranged at predetermined positions of an optical path switching board, and a gripping hand for gripping the optical connector plug and an optical connector adapter. The optical connector plug is inserted and inserted, and the gripping hand is moved in a direction other than the inserting direction, and the moving mechanism part in a direction other than the inserting direction of the optical connector plug is controlled by an external force of the optical connector plug in a control off state. A moving mechanism that is a servo mechanism that allows movement, a pressure sensor that is attached between the gripping hand and the moving mechanism, and detects a pressure in the insertion direction of the optical connector plug between them, and the gripping hand. And the moving mechanism to control the optical connector plug held by the gripping hand. When the pressure sensor detects pressure when inserting it into the adapter, the control mechanism turns off the moving mechanism part of the moving mechanism in a direction other than the inserting direction of the optical connector plug, and the detection sensor detects a pressure larger than a predetermined value. An automatic optical path switching device, comprising: a control unit that stops the operation of the moving mechanism when the above-mentioned condition occurs.