Laser Power Transmitting Optical Fiber Damage Detecting Device

The present invention relates to a device for detecting damage in a laser power transmitting optical fiber.

The energy density of laser light is increased by focusing. High power lasers have been employed in industrial and medical applications which utilize focused laser light. To transmit high power laser light, a power transmitting optical fiber is ordinarily employed. The optical fiber is advantageous in that the transmission mechanism is simple and the optical fiber is flexible. However, it is still disadvantageous in the following points. The fiber may be damaged when it is subjected to bending, shock or high temperature. Especially when a fiber is used for medical operations, there is a high chance of damage. Thus, the reliability of such power transmission is considered to be insufficient.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a device which can dettect damage immediately when damage arises in such a laser power transmitting optical fiber.

In accordance with this and other objects of the invention, there is provided a device for detecting damage in a laser power transmitting optical fiber including a laser power transmitting optical fiber having an incident end face and an emergent end face. The emergent end face is provided with either a transmission increasing or a reflection increasing coating. A focusing optical system focuses reflected laser light emerging from the incident end face of the optical fiber, the reflected laser light being generated by light reflected from the emergent end face of the optical fiber. A detector for detecting damage is disposed in the path of the reflected laser light focused by the focusing optical system and outside the path of the laser light applied to the incident face. A mirror with a through-hole formed therein may be provided for reflecting the reflected light towards the optical detector. Alternatively, a half-silvered mirror may be used for this purpose.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a first embodiment of the invention in which a mirror with a through-hole and a focusing lens are employed in a focusing optical system;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a second embodiment of the invention in which only a lens is employed in the focusing optical system; and

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a third embodiment of the invention in which a half-silvered mirror and a lens are employed in the focusing optical system.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 designates a laser source producing a laser beam such as a composite beam having a visible guide beam conponent and an invisible component passing through an optical fiber. The laser source may, for example, be an Nd-YAG laser source, an Ar laser source or a He-Ne laser source. Reference numeral 2 designates a laser power transmitting optical fiber. A laser light 6 emitted by the laser source 1, after being focused by a focusing lens 3, is applied to the incident end face 2a of the optical fiber 2 and emerges therefrom as an output laser light 7 from the emergent end face 2b of the optical fiber 2. The light is reflected to some extent by the emergent end face. A transmission enhancing coating or a reflection increasing coating is formed on the emergent end face 2b.

The focusing lens 3 has two functions. That is, the focusing lens 3 serves both to focus the laser light 6 before it is applied to the optical fiber 2 and to focus a laser light 8 which is returned after being reflected by the emergent end face 2b of the optical fiber 2. In FIG. 1, reference character 4a designates a mirror with a through-hole which allows the laser light 6 from the laser source 1 to pass therethrough and which reflects the laser light 8 reflected by the end face 2b towards an optical detector 5. The optical detector 5 is a photoelectric conversion element such as a photodiode which detects variations in the amount of laser light reflected.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the optical detectors 5 are positioned in the path of the reflected laser light 8 but outside the path of the laser ligh beam 6 from the laser source 1.

A third embodiment of the invention is as shown in FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the mirror 4a with the through-hole in FIG. 1 is replaced by a half-silvered mirror 4b.

If the optical fiber 2 is broken, such as when a cutout section is formed, the laser light from the laser source in the optical fiber damage detecting device constructed as described above cannot reach the emergent end face 2b of the optical fiber and instead emerge from and is reflected by the cut-out section. The cut-out section is not coated. Therefore, the laser light reflected by the cut-out section is higher in intensity than laser light reflected by the emergent end face 2b which has a transmission increasing coating and lower than laser light reflected by the emergent end face 2b which has a reflection increasing coating. Damage to the optical fiber 2 can thus be detected by detecting the variations of the amount of reflected laser light.

As is clear from the above description, the device of the invention is simple in arrangement and accordingly low in manufacturing cost and yet can readily detect damage to optical fibers. The device of the invention can be applied to laser machining devices, medical laser knives, and the like to significantly improve the reliability thereof.