Optical waveguides – Accessories – External retainer/clamp
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-16
2001-09-25
Palmer, Phan T. H. (Department: 2874)
Optical waveguides
Accessories
External retainer/clamp
C065S080000, C065S083000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06295404
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to an optical fiber array formed by fixing a glass fiber section at the end of an optical fiber to a substrate.
Generally, an optical fiber array has a V-groove substrate
25
having a V-shaped groove
26
and a lid substrate
24
to be unified with the V-groove substrate
25
as shown in
FIG. 7
, and has a structure in which an uncovered glass fiber section
22
formed at the end of the optical fiber
21
is disposed on the V-shaped groove
26
of the V-groove substrate
25
, the glass fiber section
22
is pressed against the V-shaped groove
26
from the upper surface of the V-groove substrate
25
by the lid substrate
24
to fix the glass fiber section
22
.
The V-groove substrate
25
has a V-groove forming portion
29
having the V-shaped groove
26
for housing the uncovered glass fiber section
22
formed at the end of the optical fiber
21
and a lower covered section housing portion
27
for housing a covered portion
23
of the optical fiber
21
, the lower covered section housing portion
27
being formed to be deeper than the V-groove forming portion
29
. The lid substrate
24
has a glass fiber protective portion
30
covering an upper surface of the uncovered glass fiber section
22
of the optical fiber housed in the V-groove forming portion
29
and the V groove
26
, and an upper covered section housing portion
28
for housing a covered section
23
of the optical fiber therein, the upper covered section housing portion
28
being formed to be deeper than the glass fiber protective portion
30
.
For the V-groove substrate
25
and the lid substrate
24
, materials, such as glass and silicon, having high hardness and being hardly deformed are employed to ensure a positioning precision of the optical fiber
21
. The V-groove substrate
25
, the optical fiber
21
, and the lid substrate
24
are combined, and a resin (not depicted) is filled in the gaps among them and cured to unitarily fasten them with one another.
By the way, as shown in
FIG. 8
, a conventional optical fiber array has a structure in which a starting point P
2
of the upper counter-sunk proceeding from the glass fiber protective portion
30
to the upper covered section housing portion
28
is present above in an almost perpendicular direction (direction of a thickness of the substrates) of a starting point P
1
of the lower counter-sunk proceeding from the V-groove forming portion
29
to the lower covered section housing portion
27
. In an optical fiber array having such a structure, a stress due to thermal expansion or thermal shrinkage of resin or a tensile stress applied to the optical fiber from the outside is prone to concentrate in a portion between the starting point P
1
of the lower counter-sunk and the starting point P
2
of the upper counter-sunk.
Further, upon producing an optical fiber array, the core glass fiber section
22
is prone to be damaged by an edge portion of the starting point P
2
of the upper counter-sunk when the glass fiber section
22
is pressed against the V groove
26
by the lid substrate
24
. Since the damaged portion corresponds to the portion where the stress concentrates, it is apprehended that a crack is extended from the damaged portion by tensility of the fiber or a heat cycle and that the fiber is easily fractured. Further, since a fracture strength is seriously influenced by the size of the damage, products have variance in fracture strength and it is difficult to stabilize the quality of the products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of such conventional circumstances and aims to provide an optical fiber array having a structure in which an optical fiber is not easily broken since a stress is not concentrated in the damaged portion even if the optical fiber is damaged when an optical fiber array is produced.
According to the present invention, there is provided an optical fiber array comprising:
a V-groove substrate having: a V-groove forming portion having a V groove for housing an uncovered glass fiber section formed at an end portion of an optical fiber therein, and a lower covered section housing portion for housing a covered section of the optical fiber therein, the lower covered section housing portion being formed to be deeper than said V-groove forming portion,
an optical fiber disposed so that the uncovered glass fiber section is housed in the V groove and the covered section is housed in the lower covered section housing portion,
a lid substrate having: a glass fiber protective portion covering an upper surface of the uncovered glass fiber section of the optical fiber housed in the V-groove forming portion and the V groove, and an upper covered section housing portion for housing a covered section of the optical fiber therein, the upper covered section housing portion being formed to be deeper than said glass fiber protective portion, and disposed on the V-groove substrate, and
a resin filled in gaps among the V-groove substrate, the optical fiber, and the lid substrate and cured to give a unitary optical fiber array,
wherein the glass fiber protective portion has: a fiber contact portion formed at the end portion of the glass fiber protective portion so as to bring the fiber contact portion into direct contact with the glass fiber section of the optical fiber, and for the rest a fiber non-contact portion which is not brought into direct contact with the glass fiber section of the optical fiber.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5037179 (1991-08-01), Bortolin et al.
patent: 6160947 (2000-12-01), Osugi et al.
patent: 6195495 (2001-02-01), Ota et al.
Ichigi Takenori
Kitakami Eiji
Kondo Jungo
Nakasuji Yoshizumi
Burr & Brown
NGK Insulators Ltd.
Palmer Phan T. H.
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