Spring, mirror device, mirror array, and optical switch
AssigneeNippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
InventorsShingo Uchiyama, Makoto Sato, Fusao Shimokawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A total length of members (11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25) formed in an X-axis direction of a spring (1) is larger than a spring length of the spring (1) and larger than a total length of members (12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24) formed in a Y-axis direction. With this arrangement, spring constants of respective axes can be increased, and a spring constant in a direction R can be set appropriately and freely within a wider range.
Claims19
A spring characterized by comprising:
- an elongated member including a pair of ends and made of an elastic material;
- and
- a plurality of bending portions which are formed between said pair of ends and divide said elongated member into a plurality of elements, wherein a total length of elements parallel to an axis extending through said pair of ends is larger than a gap between said ends in a no-load state.
A mirror device including a substrate, a frame member disposed spaced apart from said substrate to be substantially parallel thereto, a mirror supported in an opening of said frame member to be pivotal through a spring, and an electrode formed at a position on said substrate to oppose said mirror,
- characterized in that said spring comprises an elongated member including a pair of ends and made of an elastic material, and a plurality of bending portions which are formed between said pair of ends and divide said elongated member into a plurality of elements, and a total length of elements parallel to an axis extending through said pair of ends is larger than a gap between said ends in a no-load state.
A mirror array characterized formed by two-dimensionally arranging a plurality of mirror devices each comprising a substrate, a frame member disposed spaced apart from said substrate to be substantially parallel thereto, a mirror supported in an opening of said frame member to be pivotal through a spring, and an electrode formed at a position on said substrate to oppose said mirror,
- characterized in that said spring comprises an elongated member including a pair of ends and made of an elastic material, and a plurality of bending portions which are formed between said pair of ends and divide said elongated member into a plurality of elements, and a total length of elements parallel to an axis extending through said pair of ends is larger than a gap between said ends in a no-load state.
An optical switch including
- a first mirror array which reflects light from an input port, and
- a second mirror array which reflects the light from said first mirror array and guides the light to an output port, characterized in that
- each of said first mirror array and said second mirror array comprises
- a mirror array formed by two-dimensionally arranging a plurality of mirror devices each comprising a substrate, a frame member disposed spaced apart from said substrate to be substantially parallel thereto, a mirror supported in an opening of said frame member to be pivotal through a spring, and an electrode formed at a position on said substrate to oppose said mirror, and
- said spring comprises an elongated member including a pair of ends and made of an elastic material, and a plurality of bending portions which are formed between said pair of ends and divide said elongated member into a plurality of elements, and a total length of elements parallel to an axis extending through said pair of ends is larger than a gap between said ends in a no-load state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.