Alignment device, splicing device, aligning method, and splicing method for optical fibers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10025032-B2
Application number	US-201615019416-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 9, 2016
Priority date	Aug 23, 2013
Publication date	Jul 17, 2018
Grant date	Jul 17, 2018

Abstract

An optical fiber alignment device includes an image-capturing device capturing images of end surfaces of two optical fibers; an image-analyzing device obtaining position coordinates of two or more cores in the end surfaces from the image captured by the image-capturing device for each of the two optical fibers; a calculation device substituting the position coordinates of the cores obtained for each of the optical fibers in a theoretical equation that represents a total sum of axial deviation losses at the time of splicing the cores to each other, the calculation device obtaining a positional relationship between the end surfaces of the optical fibers from the theoretical equation such that the total sum of the axial deviation losses becomes a minimum; and a driving device arranging the optical fibers such that the end surfaces of the optical fibers satisfy the positional relationship obtained by the calculation device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical fiber alignment device for aligning optical fibers having two or more cores, the device comprising:
an image-capturing device capturing images of end surfaces of two optical fibers, the two optical fibers being a first optical fiber having two or more cores and a second optical fiber having two or more cores;
an image-analyzing device obtaining position coordinates of the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber in the end surfaces from the images captured by the image-capturing device for each of the two optical fibers;
a calculation device comprising non-transitory memory media processing information of the position coordinates of the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber obtained for each of the two optical fibers, the non-transitory memory media storing a theoretical equation that represents a total sum of axial deviation losses at the time of splicing the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber to each other, the calculation device substituting the position coordinates in the theoretical equation by changing a combination of the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber to be connected, the calculation device obtaining a positional relationship between the end surfaces of the two optical fibers from the theoretical equation in a combination of the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber where the total sum of the axial deviation losses becomes a minimum; and
a driving device arranging the two optical fibers such that the end surfaces of the two optical fibers satisfy the positional relationship obtained by the calculation device, the driving device aligning the two optical fibers such that the second optical fiber is moved by a rotational movement about a center of an end surface of the first optical fiber.

2. An optical fiber-splicing device comprising:
the optical fiber alignment device according to claim 1 ; and
a splicing device splicing the two optical fibers arranged by the driving device to each other.

3. An optical fiber-aligning method comprising:
preparing two optical fibers being a first optical fiber having two or more cores and a second optical fiber having two or more cores;
capturing images of end surfaces of the two optical fibers;
obtaining position coordinates of the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber in the end surfaces from the images captured for each of the two optical fibers;
substituting the position coordinates of the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber obtained for each of the two optical fibers in a theoretical equation that represents a total sum of axial deviation losses at the time of splicing the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber to each other by changing a combination of the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber to be connected;
obtaining a positional relationship between the end surfaces of the two optical fibers from the theoretical equation in a combination of the two or more cores of the first optical fiber and the two or more cores of the second optical fiber where the total sum of the axial deviation losses becomes a minimum; and
arranging the two optical fibers such that the end surfaces of the two optical fibers satisfy the obtained positional relationship by aligning the two optical fibers so as to move the second optical fiber by a rotational movement about a center of an end surface of the first optical fiber.

4. An optical fiber splicing method comprising: splicing the two optical fibers arranged by the optical fiber-aligning method according to claim 3 .

5. The optical fiber alignment device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the driving device aligns the two optical fibers such that the second optical fiber is moved by the rotational movement with a central axis of the first optical fiber as a rotation axis.

6. The optical fiber-aligning method according to claim 3 ,
wherein when arranging the two optical fibers, the two optical fibers are arranged so that the end surfaces of the two optical fibers satisfy the obtained positional relationship by aligning the two optical fibers so as to move the second optical fiber by the rotational movement with a central axis of the first optical fiber as a rotation axis.

7. The optical fiber alignment device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the theoretical equation is based on the following expression (6) showing a square of an axial deviation loss d i , in the axial deviation losses:

d
i
2

=

[

Δ
⁢

⁢
x

-

x
Ai

+

x
Bi
2

+

y
Bi
2

⁢

cos
⁡

(

Δθ
+

arc
⁢

⁢
tan
⁢

y
Bi

x
Bi

)

]

Assignees

• Fujikura Ltd

Inventors

• Hamaguchi Hiroki
• Kuwaki Nobuo

Classifications

• G02B6/2555 Primary

  Alignment or adjustment devices for aligning prior to splicing · CPC title

• G02B6/4221

  involving a visual detection of the position of the elements, e.g. by using a microscope or a camera · CPC title

• G06T7/0004

  Industrial image inspection · CPC title

• G02B6/2553

  Splicing machines, e.g. optical fibre fusion splicer · CPC title

• G02B6/02042

  Multicore optical fibres · CPC title