KR100432783B1 - Apparatus and method for manufacturing a optical connecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing an optical connecting element, comprising: an apparatus for manufacturing an optical connecting element having an entire mold consisting of an upper mold and a lower mold, comprising: moving means mounted on one side of an upper surface of a lower mold; A slide core portion mounted to an upper surface of the moving means and having an inclined surface for moving the slide core; A slide core mounted on the slide core portion and having a plurality of fine pins for forming an optical fiber hole; A core mold mounted on the other side of the lower mold and having a plurality of cylindrical grooves into which fine pins can be inserted and an opening into which a predetermined material is injected; Restoring means for restoring force when the slide core portion is moved; And an upper mold having an inclined surface for serving to cover the core mold and for moving the slide core. Therefore, since the micro pins are mounted on the slide core and the micro pins are inserted into the cylindrical grooves to be mounted and fixed, there is no movement of the micro pins due to the closing of the mold, thereby eliminating the change in the gap between the optical fiber holes and the change factor on the Y axis. As a result, the reproducibility of the dimensional accuracy and the stability of the performance are improved, and the effect of realizing a more precise product is possible.

Description

Apparatus and method for manufacturing a optical connecting device

The present invention relates to an optical connecting device used in an optical communication system using light, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for manufacturing an optical connecting device by performing polymer batch molding using a slide mold having a fine pin and a core mold having a cylindrical groove. It is about.

Recently, the use of optical fiber connection components is essential in high speed, large capacity, and multi-channel optical fiber systems, and planar optical waveguide devices such as multi-channel wavelength multiplexing devices have emerged as the core of the system configuration. An optical waveguide is an optical path that is a basic component connecting optical elements. An optical waveguide manufactured on various substrates using a thin film manufacturing process or a diffusion manufacturing process is called a planar optical waveguide. In the current optical communication system, multichannels are implemented in various forms such as 8 channels, 16 channels, 32 channels, and up to 128 channels, and have a low connection loss of less than 1 dB in the connection between a planar optical waveguide device and an optical fiber or a parallel optical fiber. It is necessary to fabricate parallel optical fiber connection elements with a precision of 1 micron or less.

A conventional method for manufacturing an optical connection element is a method of mechanically processing a quartz substrate or a silicon substrate to form a V-groove. In the method using a silicon substrate, a pattern is formed on the silicon substrate by using a mask, and then the V-shaped groove is etched using the orientation of the silicon substrate through an etching process. After etching, the optical fiber is mounted in a V-shaped groove, pressed with a glass cover and glued. However, such a method requires precise processing because the optical fiber should be manufactured while maintaining the depth, width, or angle of the V groove in order to mount the optical fiber with a tolerance of less than a micron, and such precision maintenance has a problem of increasing production cost. In addition, the optical connection device manufactured by machining increases cumulative error due to processing as the optical communication system is multi-channeled, and as a result, it may be a direct cause in degrading the performance of the optical communication system. Therefore, the mass production is lowered, there is a disadvantage that mass production is not easy.

Another method for manufacturing an optical connection device according to the prior art is a method of processing a mold into a V-groove to mount a fine pin and then transfer molding to a polymer. Although the polymer transfer molding method has good productivity, if the micro pins for forming the optical fiber holes are not uniformly aligned and fixed due to the bonding state of the upper and lower molds during molding, the gap between the optical fiber holes may be changed or the displacement on the Y axis may be changed. Differences occur that result in poor molding reproducibility and performance stability.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide an optical connecting device manufacturing apparatus that can manufacture a high precision optical connecting device through the polymer solar day-forming method using a slide core having a fine pin and a core mold having a cylindrical groove. have.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical connection element manufacturing method implemented in an optical connection element manufacturing apparatus.

1 is a perspective view of a core mold and a slide core of an optical connection device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

2 (a) is a plan view of the core mold of FIG.

(B) is sectional drawing seen from the AA 'of FIG.

2C is a side view of the core mold of FIG. 1 seen from the right side.

3 (a) is a plan view of the slide core of FIG.

FIG. 3B is a side view of the slide core of FIG. 1 seen from the right side. FIG.

It is a side view for demonstrating before the upper and lower metal mold | die of the optical connection element manufacturing apparatus by this invention is closed.

It is a side view for demonstrating after the upper and lower metal mold | die of the optical connection element manufacturing apparatus by this invention is closed.

6 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a molded optical connection element.

7 is a perspective view for explaining another embodiment of the molded optical connection element.

In order to achieve the above object, the optical connection element manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the optical connection element manufacturing apparatus having an entire mold consisting of an upper mold and a lower mold, the moving means mounted on one side of the lower mold upper surface; A slide core portion mounted to the upper surface of the moving means and having an inclined surface for moving the slide core; A slide core mounted on the slide core portion and having a plurality of fine pins for forming an optical fiber hole; A core mold mounted on the other side of the lower mold and having a plurality of cylindrical grooves into which fine pins can be inserted and an opening into which a predetermined material is injected; Restoring means for restoring force when the slide core portion is moved; And an upper mold having an inclined surface for serving to cover the core mold and for moving the slide core.

In order to achieve the said another subject, the optical connection element manufacturing method by this invention is a optical connection element manufacturing method using the optical connection element manufacturing apparatus which has the whole metal mold which consists of an upper mold | type and a lower mold | type, WHEREIN: A plurality of fine is provided on one side of a lower mold upper surface. Mounting a slide core having pins and mounting a core mold portion having a cylindrical groove and an opening on the other side; When the upper mold moves toward the lower mold, the slide core is moved toward the core mold along the moving means mounted on the lower mold and the fine pin is inserted into the cylindrical groove; Injecting a predetermined material through the opening of the core mold and curing the injected material; And moving the slide core to its original position by the restoring force of the restoring means mounted on the lower mold, and removing the core mold.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the following embodiments are provided to those skilled in the art to fully understand the present invention, and may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention is limited to the embodiments described below. It is not.

In order to overcome the problems of the prior art, the present invention uses a polymer batch molding method instead of using an ultra-precision machining technique when manufacturing an optical fiber connection device. That is, this invention is equipped with the core metal mold | die by which the circular groove for shaping the micro hole for optical fiber mounting, and the slide core which mounted three-stage micro pins is used, and uses this as a metal mold | die for optical fiber connection element shaping | molding.

1 is a perspective view of the core mold 108 and the slide core 104 of the optical connection element manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the core portion of the optical connecting element manufacturing apparatus includes a slide core 104 having a predetermined number of fine pins 102 used for forming an optical fiber hole, and fine pins 102 when molding an optical fiber connecting element into a polymer. Core mold 108 having a cylindrical groove 106 for fixing and holding it. The slide core 104 has one or more fine pins 102 on the front surface, the core mold 108 has one or more cylindrical grooves 106 corresponding thereto, and has an opening through which a polymer resin is injected during polymer molding. In the mold for manufacturing the optical fiber connection element, the core mold 108 is fixed, and the slide core 104 has a moving structure in which the fine pins 102 enter or exit the cylindrical groove 106 of the core mold. It works by exiting. The core mold should be made to the size of the cross section of the fiber optic connection element and should be easily removable in the entire mold. In addition, the core mold 108 first processes the core mold 108 in a "c" shape so as to reduce the processing depth in order to facilitate the processing of the fine cylindrical groove 106, and then cylindrically drilled by fine drilling at a desired position. The groove 106 is processed. It is preferable to make the tolerance of fine drilling into the precision of 0.5 micrometer or less.

The core mold 108 will be described in more detail below.

FIG. 2A is a plan view of the core mold 108 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2C shows the core mold 108 of FIG. 1. It is a side view seen from the right side.

Referring to FIG. 2 (a), it can be seen that the plane viewed from above the core mold 108 has a “c” shape so as to facilitate the machining by reducing the machining depth of the cylindrical groove as described above. .

2 (b), a plurality of cylindrical grooves 106 are processed in a line at the center of the core mold 108. It is preferable that the diameter of the cylindrical groove 106 is 127 占 퐉, and the interval 202 of the cylindrical grooves is preferably 250 占 퐉. Referring to Fig. 2 (c), which is a side view of the core mold from the right side, the cylindrical groove is located at the center of the core mold.

Hereinafter, the slide core 104 will be described in more detail.

FIG. 3A is a plan view of the slide core 104 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3B is a side view of the slide core 104 of FIG. 1 seen from the right side.

The slide core 104 is for the formation of the groove of the optical connecting element so that the fine pin 102 of the slide core is mounted in the cylindrical groove 106 of the core mold. The fine pin 102 of the slide core 104 has a three-stage structure. The first stage 302 is for forming a groove for an optical fiber in the connecting element, and the diameter is preferably 126 mu m. The second end 304 serves to maintain the spacing of the grooves for the optical fiber in the entire mold, the diameter is preferably about 250㎛. In addition, the second end 304 forms a guide groove to easily insert the optical fiber into the optical connecting element when assembling the ribbon optical fiber after molding. Finally, the third end 306 functions to prevent the fine pins 102 from escaping during the molding process. The fine pin 102 may be made of an alloy such as tungsten carbide and cobalt. The fine pin 102 preferably has a hardness of 100 Hra or less and a compressive strength of 400 to 600 kgf / mm 2.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing the optical connection element using the slide core and the core mold will be described.

4 is a side view for explaining before closing the upper and lower molds of the optical connection element manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, Figure 5 is a side view for explaining after the upper and lower molds of the optical connection element manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is closed.

Referring to FIG. 4, the entire mold 406 includes an upper mold 402 and a lower mold 404. The lower mold 404 includes a core mold 108 for manufacturing an optical fiber connecting element, a slide core portion 410 on which the slide core 104 is mounted, a restoring means 416, and a moving means 408. The upper die 402 serves to cover the formwork. The upper die 402 also pushes the slide core 104 mounted on the lower die 404 so that the fine pins 102 are mounted to the core mold 108. The upper die 402 has a block 412 inclined on one side to push the slide core 104 when the entire mold 406 is closed. That is, when the upper die 402 is lowered in the direction of the arrow, the one side 414 of the slide core 410 is pushed down to push the slide core 410 on which the slide core 104 is mounted to the left. do. The bottom side of the lower mold 404 on which the slide core portion 410 is mounted is equipped with a moving means 408 so that the slide core portion 410 rides on the moving means 408 by the force of the upper mold 402. So that the fine pins 102 are inserted at the same positions of the core mold 108. Here, the moving means may be implemented by a rail or the like.

FIG. 5 is a view after the fine pin 102 of the slide core 104 is inserted into the core mold 108. The upper mold 402 and the lower mold 404 are in contact with each other, and the restoring means 416 of the lower mold 404 is pushed. The restoring means 416 mounted on the lower mold 404 serves to push the slide core 104 to fall back without applying a separate force when the entire mold is opened after molding the connecting element, and implemented by a spring or the like. Can be. When the upper mold 402 and the lower mold 404 abut and the micro pins 102 of the slide core 104 are inserted into the core mold 108, the resin is flowed into the mold by using a polymer transporting device. You lose. The molding process requires approximately 175 ° C to allow the polymer resin to cure sufficiently in the mold. The temperature can be maintained at about 2 minutes. The polymer resin used in the molding process uses a material having a low thermal expansion coefficient, and it is preferable to use an epoxy-based low strain polymer material. After molding, the upper mold 402 and the lower mold 404 are separated, and the slide core 108 on which the microfin 102 is mounted is moved backward by the restoring means 416 of the lower mold 404 to form the fine pin 102. This is removed from the molded product in the core mold 108 and eventually the optical fiber connection element is completed.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the Example of the optical connection element manufactured by the optical connection element manufacturing apparatus and method by this invention is described with reference to attached drawing.

6 is a perspective view for explaining an embodiment of the molded optical connection device, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view for explaining another embodiment of the molded optical connection element.

6 shows the structure of an optical fiber block that can be used for planar optical device packaging. On the front side of the optical fiber block there is a hole 602 for the optical fiber that can be inserted, bonded, and fixed to the optical fiber, and the rear side there is a groove 604 for guiding the ribbon optical fiber well into the hole. This guide groove 604 is made by the fine pin 102 of the slide core 104 described above.

7 is an example of a multichannel optical connector used for connection between optical fibers. The multi-channel optical connector also has a hole 702 for the optical fiber on the front side, and a guide groove 704 made by the fine pin 102 of the slide core 104 on the front side similarly to the above-described optical fiber block.

As described above, in the optical connection device manufacturing apparatus and method according to the present invention, as in the conventional V-groove mold, the microfin is not fixed by the closing of the upper and lower molds, but the microfin is mounted on the slide core to form the cylindrical groove. Since micro pins are inserted into and fixed in the mold, there is no movement of the micro pins due to the closing of the mold, which eliminates the variation of the gap between the optical fiber holes and the variation on the Y axis, thereby improving the reproducibility of the dimensional accuracy and the stability of the performance. It is possible to implement a more precise product. In addition, mass production is possible through batch molding of a low strain polymer material, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described in detail, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation by a person of ordinary skill in the art within the scope of the technical idea of this invention is carried out. This is possible.

Claims (7)

In the optical connecting element manufacturing apparatus which has the whole metal mold which consists of an upper mold | type and a lower mold | type, A moving means mounted to one side of the lower upper surface; A slide core portion mounted to an upper surface of the moving means and having an inclined surface for moving the slide core; A slide core mounted on the slide core and having a plurality of fine pins for forming an optical fiber hole; A core mold mounted on the other side of the lower mold and having a plurality of cylindrical grooves into which the fine pins can be inserted and an opening into which a predetermined material is injected; Restoring means for restoring force when the slide core portion is moved; And And an upper mold having an inclined surface for moving the slide core and covering the core mold. The method of claim 1, wherein the fine pin A first end for forming a groove for the optical fiber; A second end connected to the first end to maintain a gap of the groove for the optical fiber and to form a guide groove to easily insert the optical fiber; And It is connected to the second end, and comprises a third end to allow the fine pin is fixed to the slide core, The diameter of the fine pin is an optical connection element manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the larger from the first end toward the third end. According to claim 1 or 2, wherein the material of the fine pin Optical connection device manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that the alloy of materials including tungsten carbide and cobalt. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the fine pin The hardness is 100Hra or less, the compressive strength is 400 to 600kgf / mm 2, the optical connecting element manufacturing apparatus. In the optical connecting element manufacturing method using the optical connecting element manufacturing apparatus which has the whole metal mold which consists of an upper mold | type and a lower mold | type, Mounting a slide core having a plurality of fine pins on one side of the lower mold upper surface, and mounting a core mold part having a cylindrical groove and an opening on the other side thereof; When the upper mold moves toward the lower mold, the slide core moves toward the core mold along the moving means mounted on the lower mold and the fine pin is inserted into the cylindrical groove; Injecting a predetermined material through the opening of the core mold and curing the injected material; And And moving the slide core to its original position by the restoring force of the restoring means mounted on the lower mold, and removing the core mold. The method of claim 5, wherein the predetermined material It is a low-deformation polymer resin hardened | cured under predetermined hardening conditions, The optical connecting element manufacturing method characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of claim 6, wherein the polymer resin It is an epoxy resin, The optical connection element manufacturing method characterized by the above-mentioned.