JPS6049283B2 - Optical transmission lens terminal - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a lens terminal for optical transmission, and more particularly to a terminal in a lens system for connecting optical fibers or an optical fiber to another optical transmission system in optical fiber communication.

In optical fiber communications, which are being developed rapidly these days, it is required to connect between optical fibers or between optical fibers and other optical transmission systems, just as in other communications. . When connecting optical fibers, as is already known, optical fibers are extremely thin, with a diameter of, for example, 60 microns, and when the light propagates through the optical fibers and exits into the air, it makes a considerable angle. Because of the diffusion, it is difficult to connect optical fibers without optical loss. When connecting optical fibers, it is conceivable to use ultra-small parts or to converge the diffused light exiting the optical fiber with a lens and connect it to another optical fiber.

The method of focusing the diffused light exiting the optical fiber with a lens is a method that has been widely used because it is easier to implement than methods that use ultra-small parts, but because the diameter of the optical fiber is small, Adjustments to transmit that light without loss are difficult. For this reason, a light transmission lens terminal as shown in FIG. 1 has been conventionally used.

This involves cutting out a round bar lens 2 as shown in Figure 1 from a sphere 1 as shown in Figure 1a, providing a reference surface 3 on it, and connecting an optical fiber 4.
The method was to convert the light from the lens into parallel light rays 5 using a round bar lens 2. However, in this method, once the position of the optical fiber 4 is fixed, the direction of the parallel light beam 5 can be adjusted, and it is difficult to adjust the position of the optical fiber 4 in order to direct the parallel light beam 5 in a predetermined direction. It was hot. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a light transmission lens terminal that has a simple structure, is easy to adjust, and can be realized at low cost.

I According to the present invention, in an optical communication lens system using a spherical lens to connect between optical fibers or between an optical fiber and a light source, a spherical lens with one surface cut so that the spherical core is included on the lens side is used. An optical transmission lens terminal is proposed in which an optical block is attached to a cut surface, the optical i-block is faced to an optical fiber or a light source, and the inclination of the optical block is adjusted using an adjustment jig.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the envelope to which the spherical lens is attached can adjust the spherical lens so that the light entering and exiting the spherical lens is parallel to an arbitrary reference plane. An optical transmission lens terminal according to claim 1 is proposed. Embodiments of the optical transmission lens terminal according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a spherical lens used in a lens terminal according to the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a spherical core of a spherical lens 11, 12 is a glass plate, and 13 is an optical fiber. The position A where the glass block 12 contacts the glass block 12 is selected to be approximately the focal point of the spherical lens 11.

As shown in the figure, the spherical lens 11 is made by cutting one surface so that the spherical core 10 is included on the lens side. Figure 3 is the second
The figure shows a state in which a block consisting of a spherical lens 11 and a glass block 12 is attached to an envelope 14.
In FIG. 3, 15 is a luminous flux reference plane, and 16 is an adjustment jig. Furthermore, the spherical lens 11 and the envelope maintain high-precision contact at point B, and adjust the angle of the spherical lens 11 with respect to the luminous flux reference plane 15 using the adjustment jig 16, so that the incident light from the optical fiber 13 and the spherical shape are adjusted. It is possible to adjust the light emitted from the lens 11 so that it is parallel to the light emitted from the lens 11. 4A and 4B show an embodiment in which the lens terminal according to the present invention is combined with a light emitting or light receiving element 18, and as shown in FIGS. FIGS. 5A and 5B, which are capable of inputting or outputting a luminous flux adjusted parallel to the luminous flux reference plane 15 of the envelope 14, show the third embodiment when the lens terminal according to the present invention is combined with an optical fiber. 5 shows a modification of the figure. In FIG. 5A, the spherical lens 11 is directly adjusted by the adjustment jig 16 without using the optical fiber block 12, and in FIG. 5B, the optical By fixing the auxiliary member 21 to the fiber block 12, attaching the optical fiber 13 to this auxiliary member 21, and adjusting the auxiliary member 21 with the adjustment jig 16, the same effect as in FIG. 3 can be obtained. There is.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an adjustment jig, in which the tip of the adjustment screw 16 is tapered to enable fine adjustment. is not limited to this example.

As explained in detail above, according to the present invention, the light flux entering and exiting in parallel to the light flux reference plane of the envelope can be easily adjusted to achieve good matching with external optical circuits such as optical fibers and optical elements. An inexpensive method of adjustment is provided.

Further, even when the number of spherical lenses is reduced, manufacturing and adjustment can be easily performed, so the effects of the present invention are significant.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an example of a conventional optical transmission lens terminal, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a combination of a spherical lens and an optical block of a lens terminal according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the combination with a fiber, and FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which the lens terminal according to the present invention is combined with a light-emitting or light-receiving element. FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the case shown in FIG. Figure 6 shows one of the lens terminal adjustment jig according to the present invention.
This is an example. In the figure, 11 is a spherical lens, 12 is an optical block, 1
3 is an optical fiber, 14 is an envelope, 15 is a luminous flux reference plane, 1
6 is an adjustment jig, and 17 is a luminous flux adjusted parallel to the luminous flux reference plane.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an optical communication lens system that uses a spherical lens to connect between optical fibers or between an optical fiber and a light source,
A spherical lens with one side cut so that the spherical core is included on the lens side is used, an optical block is attached to the cut surface, the optical block is faced to an optical fiber or a light source, and the inclination of the optical block is adjusted using an adjustment jig. A lens terminal for optical transmission characterized by adjustment.