Optical sensor, optical sensor assembly and monitoring device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9741229-B2
Application number	US-201414890586-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2014
Priority date	May 13, 2013
Publication date	Aug 22, 2017
Grant date	Aug 22, 2017

Abstract

An optical sensor ( 100 ) comprises: a holding sleeve ( 11 ); a fixed ferrule ( 12 ) fixedly mounted in said holding sleeve ( 11 ); a movable ferrule ( 13 ) movably mounted in said holding sleeve ( 11 ), a predetermined distance existing between a first movable end of said movable ferrule ( 13 ) and a first fixed end of said fixed ferrule ( 12 ) in said holding sleeve ( 11 ); a reflection part ( 14 ) arranged at a second movable end of said movable ferrule ( 13 ) opposite to said first movable end, for reflecting light entering the movable ferrule ( 13 ); and an actuation part ( 15 ), said actuation part ( 15 ) being constructed to drive said movable ferrule ( 13 ) to move so that said first movable end moves towards said first fixed end. An optical sensor assembly and a monitoring device comprising the optical sensor ( 100 ), or another sensor ( 1012 ) can remotely detect a mechanical movement in a passive mode. A first reflector ( 14, 1016 ) is configured to provide a first reflected optical signal. The sensor ( 100, 1012 ) is connected to the first reflector and has a first position and a second position, the second position configured to attenuate the first reflected optical signal more than the first position. The sensor is configured to move between the first and second positions in response to a monitored parameter ( 1018 ).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical sensor, comprising:
a holding sleeve;
a fixed ferrule fixedly mounted in said holding sleeve;
a movable ferrule movably mounted in said holding sleeve, a predetermined distance existing between a first movable end of said movable ferrule and a first fixed end of said fixed ferrule in said holding sleeve;
a reflection part arranged at a second movable end of said movable ferrule opposite to said first movable end, for reflecting light entering the movable ferrule and providing a reflected optical signal; and
an actuation part, said actuation part being constructed to drive said movable ferrule to move so that said first movable end moves towards said first fixed end, and to adjust the predetermined distance to cause a change in attenuation of the reflected optical signal, the change in the reflected optical signal indicative of a parameter monitored by the optical sensor.

2. The optical sensor of claim 1 , further comprising a reset device, wherein said actuation part drives said movable ferrule to move against the force of said reset device.

3. The optical sensor of claim 1 , wherein the reflection part is a reflection face formed on the second movable end of said movable ferrule.

4. The optical sensor of claim 1 , wherein said reflection face provides a reflection characteristic independent of wavelength.

5. The optical sensor of claim 1 , wherein said reflection face provides a selective waveband reflection characteristic dependent on wavelength.

6. The optical sensor of claim 1 , wherein said reflection part is formed on said actuation part and is in sealed connection with said second movable end.

7. The optical sensor of claim 1 , wherein a limiting part is arranged on one of said movable ferrule and the actuation part, said limiting part being constructed to limit the distance of movement of said movable ferrule.

8. The optical sensor of claim 1 , wherein the end surfaces of said first fixed end and said first movable end are constructed to be parallel with each other and form an angle relative to an axis of the holding sleeve.

9. The optical sensor of claim 8 , wherein the end surfaces of said first fixed end and said first movable end are inclined by 5°-10° relative to the axis of the holding sleeve.

10. The optical sensor of any one of claims 2 - 9 , further comprising:
a main body frame, said holding sleeve being arranged in said main body frame; and
a guide frame mounted on said main body frame, said actuation part being movably mounted on said guide frame.

11. The optical sensor of claim 10 , wherein said actuation part is provided with a guide protrusion and said guide frame is provided with a guide groove matching with said guide protrusion.

12. The optical sensor of claim 10 , further comprising a housing, said main body frame being mounted in said housing.

13. The optical sensor of claim 12 , further comprising a positioning frame mounted between said housing and said guide frame.

14. The optical sensor of claim 12 , wherein said housing is connected to said actuation part through a flexible connection part, so that said flexible connection part moves with said actuation part.

15. A monitoring device, comprising:
at least one optical sensor assembly, each of the at least one optical sensor assembly including:
an optical sensor including:
a holding sleeve;
a fixed ferrule fixedly mounted in said holding sleeve;
a movable ferrule movably mounted in said holding sleeve, a predetermined distance existing between a first movable end of said movable ferrule and a first fixed end of said fixed ferrule in said holding sleeve;
a reflection part arranged at a second movable end of said movable ferrule opposite to said first movable end, for reflecting light entering the movable ferrule; and
an actuation part, said actuation part being constructed to drive said movable ferrule to move so that said first movable end moves towards said first fixed end; and
an optical cable transmission device, constructed to be optically coupled to a second fixed end of said fixed ferrule, for transmitting light incident to said fixed ferrule and light reflected from said reflection part,
wherein the optical sensors of said optical sensor assembly being respectively mounted to at least one monitored object; and

an optical time domain reflectometer, constructed to emit a main beam towards said optical sensors through the optical cable transmission device of the optical sensor assembly and receive a reflected beam reflected from said optical sensors, the optical path distances between said optical time domain reflectometer and the optical sensors being different from one another.

16. The monitoring device of claim 15 , further comprising:
a shunt, constructed to separate at least one detection beam out of the main beam from said optical time domain reflectometer, each detection beam being transmitted to a corresponding optical sensor assembly.

17. The monitoring device of claim 16 , further comprising a splitter constructed to split said detection beam into multiple detection sub-beams, each detection sub-beam being transmitted to a corresponding optical sensor assembly.

18. The monitoring device of claim 17 , wherein said monitored objects are divided into multiple groups, and one shunt and at least one optical sensor assembly are arranged for each group of monitored objects, and
said monitoring device further comprises an optical switch constructed to control one of said shunts to enter an operating state.

19. The monitoring device of claim 15 , wherein said monitored objects are divided into multiple groups, and at least one optical sensor assembly is arranged for each group of monitored objects, and
said monitoring device further comprises multiple splitters connected in series, each splitter splitting a detection beam from a previous stage into a main detection beam and a detection sub-beam, and each splitter being arranged in a propagation path of the detection main beam, each optical sensor receiving a corresponding detection sub-beam.

20. The monitoring device of claim 19 , wherein the light flux ratio of the main detection beam and the detection sub-beam output from each splitter is 20:80-1:99.

21. The monitoring device of claim 15 , wherein the monitored object includes a field optical cross-connecting box.

22. An enclosure system, comprising:
at least one enclosure housing;
at least one sensor system, each of the at least one enclosure housing having at least one of the at least one sensor system associated therewith, each of the at least one sensor system including:
a first reflector configured to provide a first reflected optical signal;
a sensor having a first position and a second position, the second position configured to attenuate the first reflected optical signal more than the first position, the sensor being configured to move between the first and second positions in response to a monitored parameter;
wherein a change in the attenuation of the first reflected optical signal provides an indication of the monitored parameter.

23. The enclosure system of claim 22 , further comprising:
a second reflector configured to provide second reflected optical signal;
wherein the first reflected signal is time-delayed; and
wherein a comparison of the first and second reflected optical signals provides an indication of the monitored parameter.

24. The enclosure system of clai

Assignees

• CommScope Connectivity Belgium BVBA
• Adc Telecommunications (Shanghai) Distrib Co Ltd
• Adc Czech Republic Sro

Inventors

• Vastmans Kristof
• Novak David
• Daems Daniel Francois
• Tong Zhaoyang
• Lin Lin

Classifications

• G08B21/18 Primary

  Status alarms (G08B21/02 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04B10/071

  using a reflected signal, e.g. using optical time domain reflectometers [OTDR] · CPC title

• G01D5/268 Primary

  using optical fibres (G01D5/28 - G01D5/38 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01M11/088

  of optical fibres; Mechanical features associated with the optical testing of optical fibres · CPC title

• G01M11/3154

  Details of the opto-mechanical connection, e.g. connector or repeater · CPC title