Optical switch

Details Optical switch Optical switch

1978-10-02

1980-06-17

Levy, Stewart J.

350 9616, 350 9618, 350 9619, G02B 514

Patent

active

042080940

ABSTRACT:
A rugged, compact optical switch is disclosed which comprises a quarter-period graded refractive index (GRIN) lens (1); a rotatable reflecting surface (2.1) disposed at a first surface (1.3) of the GRIN lens at an angle to the first surface; an optical source (8) mounted at the second surface (1.2) of the GRIN lens on the lens axis; and a plurality of optical receptors 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12 mounted at the same second surface of the lens, all at the same distance from the lens axis but displaced at a plurality of angular positions about the lens axis. Rotation of the reflecting surface about the lens axis couples light between the optical source selectively to optical receptors at the appropriate angular orientation. The switch is reciprocal in that the common optical source may be an optical receptor and the various optical receptors, optical sources. Typically, the optical sources and receptors are optical fibers.

REFERENCES:
patent: 3874781 (1975-04-01), Thiel
patent: 3883223 (1975-05-01), Hudson
patent: 3937557 (1976-02-01), Milton
patent: 4013342 (1977-03-01), Narodny
patent: 4111524 (1978-09-01), Tomlinson
patent: 4153330 (1979-05-01), Tomlinson
Ishikawa et al., 1977 Gen'l Nat'l Meeting of The Inst. of Japan Electronic Comm. Eng., pp. 4-220(916).
Usui et al., "Three-Way Optical Directional Coupler", IECE Meeting, Mar. 1978, paper 852, pp. 1-6.
Mito et al., "Electrically Driven Rotating Mirror Type Multichannel Optical Switch", 1978 Electronic Comm. Soc. Nat'l Conf., paper 860, Mar. 1978, pp. 1-4.
Suganuma et al., "Triangularly Arranged Multicore Optical Fiber Connector", Electronic Comm. Soc., Japan 1978, Nat'l. Conf., paper 886, pp. 1-4.

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