Patent ID: 11947170
Assignee: FUJIKURA LTD.
Field: Optics (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 5:
6. An optical connection method comprising:
disposing an optical connection member between a first ferrule and a second ferrule, wherein the first ferrule holds end parts of multi-core fibers and the second ferrule holds end parts of single-core fibers;
aligning the first ferrule, the optical connection member, and the second ferrule by fitting a guide pin of one of the first ferrule and the second ferrule in a guide hole of the other of the first ferrule and the second ferrule through a through hole of the optical connection member; and
optically connecting respective cores of the multi-core fibers and the corresponding single-core fibers via an optical system of the optical connection member, wherein
the optical connection member comprises:
a first lens plate disposed on an end face of the first ferrule;
a second lens plate disposed on an end face of the second ferrule; and
a relay plate disposed between the first lens plate and the second lens plate,

the first lens plate comprises first lenses corresponding to the multi-core fibers,
the second lens plate comprises second lenses corresponding to the single-core fibers,
the relay plate comprises:
first optical elements corresponding to the first lenses; and
second optical elements corresponding to the second lenses,

the relay plate propagates an optical signal between the first optical elements and the second optical elements,
the first optical elements face a corresponding first lens such that collimated light propagates between the respective first lenses and the corresponding first optical elements, and
the second optical elements face a corresponding second lens such that collimated light propagates between the respective second lenses and the corresponding second optical elements.