JPH10224302A - Optical space transmission device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the matching of optical axes between two spots of the transmission and reception sides at a high speed and with high precision by a full automatic operation by preparing both rough and fine adjustment light arriving direction detection means. SOLUTION: Rough and fine adjustment light arriving direction detection means 12 and 13 have the rough and fine adjustment sensor parts 14 and 15 to receive the arriving optical signals respectively. The part 15 doubles as a light receiving part 11. A control part 17 drives a drive motor to rotate a turning base and stores the output value which are received from the rough and fine adjustment sensors 24A and 24B of the part 14 in a storage part 18. Based on the storage contents of the part 18, a maximum light quantity detection part 19 detects the direction where the quantity of light is maximized to decide a rough light arriving direction. Then the drive motor is adjusted based on the output of the part 15 to decide the light arriving direction with high precision.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a space optical transmission apparatus for transmitting and receiving optical signals through space, and more particularly to a space optical transmission apparatus for automatically aligning an optical axis.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in order to smoothly transmit and receive information in a limited space such as in an intelligence building, an optical LAN (Local Area Net) is used.
work). In this optical LAN, information is transmitted using light such as infrared light. For example, an optical signal is transmitted between a transmitting / receiving section provided on a ceiling and a transmitting / receiving section as a node at a desk or the like. The transmission / reception unit is provided, and the transmission / reception unit provided on the ceiling is linked to another transmission / reception unit.

In order to perform communication by such optical space transmission, it is necessary to align optical axes between two points on a transmitting side and a receiving side in order to make an optical signal accurately enter an optical system. Conventionally, optical axis alignment is generally performed manually. In particular, when invisible light such as infrared light is used for transmitting and receiving optical information, optical axis alignment can be performed only within a wide range of several tens degrees or more.

[0004] Recently, as the miniaturization and weight reduction of the apparatus have been particularly promoted, the permissible range of the optical axis shift has become more severe, and it is necessary that the optical axis alignment be performed with an accuracy of 10 degrees or less. It has become. When optical axis alignment is required with an accuracy of 10 degrees or less, automatic adjustment using a light amount detector is required. FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a conventional automatic optical axis alignment. From a light signal detected by a photodetector 1 such as a PD (photodiode) or PT (phototransistor), a light quantity on a current optical axis is measured by a light quantity detector 2. The direction of the photodetector 1 is changed to a desired detection direction by the control device 3, and the current direction is detected by the position detector 50.
The control device 3 stores the light amount and the current position in the storage device 4 in association with each other, and performs measurement while sequentially scanning. Thereafter, the maximum light intensity value is detected by the maximum light intensity value detecting device 5,
Optical axis alignment was performed by returning the position to face the corresponding direction.

[0005]

However, according to the above-described conventional optical axis alignment apparatus, it is necessary to scan the entire space by a very small amount. This requires time, and the waiting time until the communication path is secured becomes long, for example, 3 minutes or more. On the other hand, to narrow the scanning range, it is possible to manually aim in a general direction and scan a limited area.However, a driving unit that can be moved manually must be used. The configuration of the unit is limited.

Further, in order to perform optical axis alignment in a short time and at high speed, it is desirable that the transmission / reception angle is wider because the space scanning interval becomes wider. However, considering the data communication efficiency, the transmission / reception angle is preferably smaller. In order to perform high-speed and high-accuracy optical axis alignment, these conflicting problems must be solved. The present invention focuses on the problems described above, and has been made to solve the problem effectively. The purpose of the present invention is to fully automate the operation between two points on the transmitting side and the receiving side without human intervention. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical space transmission device that can realize optical axis alignment at high speed and with high accuracy.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to an optical space transmission apparatus for transmitting and receiving an optical signal through space, wherein a coarse incoming optical signal for detecting a rough arrival direction of the optical signal is provided. It comprises a direction detecting means and a fine-adjustment light arrival direction detecting means for accurately detecting the arrival direction of the optical signal.

With the above arrangement, first, the direction of arrival of the optical signal is detected at high speed using the coarse-adjustment light arrival direction detecting means to perform coarse optical axis alignment. Performs accurate optical axis alignment. Thereby, high-speed and high-precision optical axis alignment is performed fully automatically.
In this case, the coarse adjustment light arrival direction detection means and the fine adjustment light arrival direction detection means have a coarse adjustment light sensor unit and a fine adjustment light sensor unit, respectively, and are provided on the turning base together with the light transmission unit and the light reception unit. And can be turned in a horizontal plane and a vertical plane.

The coarse adjustment sensor section has a coarse adjustment optical sensor that faces a space through a slit, and is capable of receiving an optical signal from a space in a fixed area extending in the vertical direction. Further, the fine adjustment optical sensor section has a split sensor arranged substantially at the focal point of the condenser lens. Then, the first control section first turns the turning base in a horizontal plane, and then turns the turning base in a vertical plane, based on the output from the coarse adjustment optical sensor section obtained at this time. The coarse, rough arrival direction of the optical signal is determined.

Next, in a state in which the turning base is oriented so that the optical axis is oriented in the rough arrival direction, the second control unit further turns the turning base slightly in the horizontal plane and the vertical plane. The direction of arrival of the optical signal is determined with high accuracy while moving. In this determination, the orientation is set such that the difference between the outputs from the diagonally arranged sensors of the divided sensors becomes zero. Further, the first and second control units can be integrated as one control unit by a microcomputer or the like. Further, the optical sensor for fine adjustment can be used also as the optical receiver.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an optical space transmission apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a relationship between an optical free space transmission apparatus of the present invention and a data creation processing apparatus, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an optical free space transmission apparatus of the present invention, FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a coarse adjustment light sensor section of the coarse adjustment light arrival direction detecting means.

As shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 6 denotes a transmission / reception unit as a light source provided on a ceiling or the like, from which an optical signal L2 is emitted, or from an optical space transmission device 7 of the present invention. The emitted optical signal L1 may be received. A data processing creation device 8 such as a personal computer is connected to the optical space transmission device 7 through wirings 9A and 9B, and necessary data transmission and reception are performed by the transmission and reception unit via the optical space transmission device 7. And between 6. The transmission / reception unit 6 is connected to another similar transmission / reception unit (not shown) to transmit data to another personal computer or the like.
Is composed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical space transmission device 7 includes an optical transmission unit 10 for transmitting an optical signal L1 toward a space, and an optical reception unit for receiving an optical signal L2 transmitted through the space. 11, a coarse adjustment light arrival direction detecting means 12 for detecting a rough arrival direction of the incoming light signal L2, and an optical signal L2.
A fine-adjustment light arrival direction detecting means 13 for accurately detecting the arrival direction of the light, a turning base 16, and a drive unit 20. The coarse-adjustment light arrival direction detection means 12 has a coarse-adjustment light sensor section 14 as an optical system that actually receives the incoming light signal L2. The fine-adjustment light arrival direction detection means 13 also receives the light signal L2. Is provided as a fine adjustment optical sensor unit 15 as an optical system that actually receives the light. Here, the fine adjustment optical sensor unit 15 and the light receiving unit 11 are also used.

The light transmitting section 10 and the coarse adjustment optical sensor section 14
And the fine-tuning optical sensor unit 15 (including the optical receiving unit 11)
As will be described later, it is provided on a swivel base 16 which can be swiveled in a horizontal plane and a vertical plane, and the transmission / reception units 10, 11 and the sensor units 14, 15 are installed on the same line. . Light arrival direction detecting means 12 for coarse adjustment
Is controlled by a first control unit 17A, and the fine-adjustment light arrival direction detection unit 13 is controlled by a second control unit 17B. These functions are configured by one control unit 17 including one microcomputer. can do.

Further, the first control unit 17A includes a storage unit 18 for storing the amount of light received from the coarse adjustment optical sensor unit 14 together with the turning position, and a maximum light reception value detection unit for obtaining the maximum light reception value from the data stored therein. 19 is connected. Then, a drive command is sent to the drive unit 20 based on the outputs of the control units 17A and 17B, and the turning base 16 turns and stops.

Next, a mechanical configuration of the optical space transmission apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in the figure, here, the rough adjustment optical sensor unit 14 has two slits 22A and 22B formed toward the opposite sides with respect to the vertical rotation center 21.
A and 22B are formed by, for example, displacing a substantially square plastic plate-like member 23 having one upper end portion cut away by the width of a slit, and joining the bottom surface and the inner central portion side. The two plate-like members 23 are used to form one slit. Therefore, four slits 22A and 22B are used to form a single slit.

The slits 22A, 22B
At the bottom or back, the inclination angle with respect to the horizontal direction is approximately 4
A pair of coarse-adjustment optical sensors 24A and 24B that are oriented in opposite directions by 180 degrees so as to be 5 degrees are provided. In this case, when the corresponding slits 22A, 22B are viewed from the sensors 24A, 24B, the spread angle in the vertical direction, or the elevation angle here, is set to be approximately 90 degrees. A space in a region extending in the vertical direction with a width of can be seen through a slit. As these optical sensors 24A and 24B, photodetectors such as phototransistors and photodiodes are used. Thereby, the elongated slits 24A, 24B
Can be detected only through the optical signal L2 introduced inside.

The plate-like member 23 forming the slits 22A and 22B is mounted and fixed on a turning base 25.
At both ends of the base 25, support shafts 26, 26 are provided. Two support columns 28, 28, which are provided by raising the support shafts 26, 26 from a horizontal turntable 27, are provided with bearings 2.
It is rotatably supported in a vertical plane via 9, 29.
A ring-shaped vertical gear 30 forming a worm wheel is fixed to one of the support shafts 26, 26. The vertical gear 30 has a vertical worm gear 31 rotatably supported on the horizontal rotary table 27 side. Are meshed. The vertical worm gear 31 has a vertical drive motor 32
Are connected directly or indirectly via a speed reducer or the like so that the vertical worm gear 31 can rotate. Therefore, by rotating the worm gear 31, the turning base 25 can be rotated or rocked in a vertical plane in a vertical plane.

On the other hand, the lower surface of the horizontal turntable 27 is fixedly attached to the upper end of the turning column 33.
Is rotatably supported by a base 34 via a bearing 35 so that the horizontal turntable 27 can be rotated in a horizontal plane. A circular gear 36 forming a worm wheel is fixed in the middle of the turning column 33, and a worm gear 37 rotatably supported on the base 34 side is meshed with the gear 36. The rotation shaft of a horizontal drive motor 38 is directly or indirectly connected to the worm gear 37 via a speed reducer or the like, so that the worm gear 37 can rotate. With the above configuration, the turning base 25 turns in a vertical plane by driving the vertical drive motor 32,
By driving the horizontal drive motor 38, the horizontal turntable 27 rotates in the horizontal plane, and as a result, the turning base 25 turns in the horizontal plane.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the fine-adjustment optical sensor section 15 includes a convex condenser lens 39, and a four-division sensor 40, which is provided substantially at the focal point and includes, for example, a photodiode or a phototransistor. It consists of. As shown in FIG. 6, the four-divided sensor 40 is configured by dividing a large sensor having a substantially square shape into a cross shape so as to be small square sensor elements A, B, C, and D. The arrangement direction of a pair of diagonal sensor elements, for example, the sensor elements A and C in this case, is set so as to match the extending direction of the support shaft 26 (see FIG. 4). Therefore, the sensor elements B arranged in a diagonal direction orthogonal to the extending direction,
The difference between the outputs of D is taken by a comparator 41, and this output is used as a vertical rotation signal S1 for rotating the support shaft 26. On the other hand, the difference between the outputs of the sensor elements A and C is calculated by the comparator 4.
2, and this output is used as a horizontal rotation signal S2 for rotating the turning column 33. The outputs of the four sensor elements A, B, C, and D are added by the adder 43 and used as a communication reception signal S3. Here, in order to obtain a communication reception signal, four sensor elements A
Although the addition output of .about.D is used, a new sensor for obtaining a communication reception signal is provided at the center of the four-split sensor 40, and only this output can be used.
When a communication reception signal is output using the five-split sensor, the signal can be output at a higher level than when the four-split sensor is used.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the present invention configured as described above will be described. An optical signal L2 is emitted from the light source (light emitting element) of the transmitting / receiving unit 6 shown in FIG. 1 in all directions of the lower hemisphere. In this state, the horizontal support motor 33 is driven from the reference position by driving the horizontal drive motor 38 as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, and while the horizontal state is maintained, the swivel base 25 makes one rotation over the horizontal plane. The output values from the coarse adjustment sensors 24A and 24B of the coarse adjustment optical sensor unit 14 at this time are stored in the storage unit 18, and from this stored content, the maximum light amount value detection unit 19 determines the direction in which the light amount becomes maximum. Determine the approximate light arrival direction. At this time, only the optical signal L2 introduced into the coarse adjustment sensors 24A and 24B through the elongated slits 22A and 22B is detected.
Since the elevation angle at which the outside can be seen from A and 24B through the slits 22A and 22B is about 90 degrees, by rotating this in the horizontal plane by 180 degrees, the output from one of the sensors 24A (or 24B) is obtained. It can be recognized that the direction in which the value peaks is a rough light arrival direction.

Next, in a state where the vertical rotation shaft 21 (see FIG. 5) is oriented in the above-mentioned rough light arrival direction, the two drive motors 32, 32 based on the output of the fine adjustment optical sensor unit 15,
By slightly adjusting 38, the light arrival direction is accurately determined.
The fine adjustment at this time is performed by the four-division sensor 40 as shown in FIG.
The output of the vertical rotation signal S1 which is the output difference between the sensor elements B and D facing one diagonal direction and the output of the horizontal rotation signal S2 which is the output difference between the sensor elements A and C facing the other diagonal direction are both output. What is necessary is just to drive each motor so that it may become zero.

Next, each of the above operations will be described in detail. FIG. 7 shows that the coarse adjustment optical sensor unit 14 is
The figure shows a horizontal rotation around the center, in the figure,
It is assumed that the transmitting / receiving unit (light source) 6 exists at a position of 50 degrees counterclockwise. FIG. 8 shows a change in the amount of light detected by each of the coarse adjustment sensors 24A and 24B when the coarse adjustment optical sensor unit 14 is horizontally rotated.
The output of 4A shows a peak in the direction (approximately 50 degrees) where the transmitting / receiving unit 6 is located, and it can be recognized that this direction is a rough light arrival direction only in the horizontal direction.

Here, the coarse adjustment sensor 24A,
Since the embodiment using two 24Bs is shown, by rotating the turning base 25 by 180 degrees, it is possible to detect the entire space. In the case where only one coarse adjustment optical sensor is used, 36
It is necessary to rotate by 0 degrees, and therefore, the number of coarse adjustment optical sensors used determines the rotation angle required to detect the entire space.

Next, after the rough light arrival direction in the horizontal direction is determined as described above, the rough light arrival direction in the vertical direction is determined. First, the rough adjustment optical sensor unit 14 is oriented in a rough light arrival direction in the horizontal direction. FIG. 9 shows the rough adjustment optical sensor unit 14 which is oriented in a rough light arrival direction in the horizontal direction. FIG. 10 is a graph showing a change in the signal level of the light amount detected by the sensor due to a change in the elevation angle of the light source 6 in FIG. As shown in the figure, in the range of 0 ° to + 90 °, the right coarse adjustment sensor 2
Light is incident only on 4B and not on the left sensor 24A. Similarly, in the range of 0 to -90 degrees, light is incident only on the coarse adjustment sensor 24A on the left, and
Does not enter. Further, when the light from the light source 6 is vertically incident on each sensor, the largest light amount is detected. Therefore, the signal level of the amount of light detected by each of the sensors 24A and 24B changes to a substantially semicircular shape as shown in FIG. 10 due to a change in the elevation angle formed with the optical axis from the light source. Here, it should be noted that the light source 6 performs the optical axis alignment in the elevation angle direction so that the sensor output is slightly generated in the center of the elevation angle of 0 degree even if the light source exists on the opposite side. It is. That is, the optical axis alignment in the elevation direction is performed such that the outputs of the two coarse adjustment optical sensors 24A and 24B match.
That is, since the light source 6 is adjusted so as to be present on the extension of the axis of the vertical rotation center 21, a certain amount of output is required even near the center of the elevation angle of 0 degrees. For this reason, the coarse adjustment optical sensors 24A and 24B are designed so that there is a signal output even near the center of the elevation angle of 0 degrees.

Further, it should be noted that when the light source 6 is located above the vertical rotation center 21, the outputs of the two sensors 24A and 24B coincide. In other words, both sensors 24
Vertical rotation center 21 when outputs of A and 24B become the same
Light source 6 is present on the extension of the axis of
The movement range of the sensors 24A and 24B in the elevation direction is limited (± 90 degrees in FIG. 10). Therefore, in order to specify a certain plane of the light source 6 by horizontal rotation, it is desirable that the axis of the vertical rotation center 21 be oriented in the 0 degree (zenith) direction. Further, in order to detect the entire space in one rotation in the horizontal direction, the reference point of rotation (0
It is desirable to start detection from the position of (degree). Therefore,
When starting the optical axis alignment, it is preferable to perform the movement to the reference position in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and start the detection of the light arrival direction from the reference position to perform the optical axis alignment from the viewpoint of time reduction. Will be.

To summarize the above operations, after the entire sensor has been moved to the reference position when the power is turned on (the sensor may be returned to the reference position when the power is turned off in the previous use). As shown in FIG. 11, the turning base 16 is rotated by 180 degrees only in the horizontal direction. At this time, the light quantity detected by the coarse adjustment optical sensors 24A and 24B and the rotation angle of the horizontal drive motor 38 are made to correspond to each other and the storage unit 18 (FIG. 1).
Reference). The rotation angle and light amount are shown in FIG.
It changes as shown in FIG. After the rotation of 180 degrees is completed, the maximum light amount is detected by the maximum light amount detection unit 19 from the rotation angle and the light amount data stored in the storage unit 18. The horizontal drive motor is rotated up to the rotation angle of the horizontal drive motor 38 at the maximum light quantity (about 110 degrees in the case of FIG. 12), and the process returns (in FIG. 12). By the above operation, the plane 44 on which the light source 6 is located is specified as shown in FIG.

The plane 4 on which the light source 6 is located due to the horizontal rotation
After 4 is specified, the light arrival direction in the elevation direction is detected.
In the state of FIG. 11, two coarse adjustment sensors 24A and 24B
Is large from the sensor 24A and small from the other sensor 24B. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, the vertical drive motor 32 is rotated in the direction of the sensor 24A having a large output. Two sensors 24A, 24
When the output from B becomes the same, the optical axis is roughly aligned as shown in FIG. In the above optical axis alignment, the accuracy of the optical axis alignment is limited to several degrees. Also,
Due to the structure of the coarse adjustment sensors 24A and 24B, if the size is reduced, it is difficult to increase the accuracy by optical axis alignment using only the coarse adjustment light arrival direction detecting means.

Next, in order to perform highly accurate optical axis alignment, the four-divided sensor 4 of the fine adjustment sensor unit as shown in FIG.
Highly accurate optical axis alignment using 0 is performed. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the beam spot 45 on the four-divided sensor 40 and the output levels of the sensor elements A, B, C, and D in association with each other. As shown in FIG. 15, when the optical axis of the light source completely coincides with the light source, the beam spot 45 becomes the center of the four-divided sensor 40. If the optical axis is shifted, the beam spot 45 is shifted from the center of the four-divided sensor 40,
There is a difference between the outputs from the respective surfaces. Therefore, by slightly moving the motors 32 and 38 (see FIG. 3) in the vertical and horizontal directions so as to eliminate the difference, more precise optical axis alignment is performed. After the optical axis alignment is completed by the coarse adjustment sensor unit,
FIG. 16 shows a state in which high-precision optical axis alignment using 0 is performed.
Shown in The beam spot 45 located around the quadrant sensor 40 fluctuates left and right, and finally the sensor 40
Will be located at the center of Such high-precision optical axis alignment makes it possible to perform optical axis alignment with high accuracy within ± 0.1 degrees.

The overall operation of the above optical axis alignment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the optical axis alignment is started, the reference position is set in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction (S1), and then the rotation of the motor is started only in the horizontal direction (S2). The light amount is detected (S3). The motor rotation angle when the light amount is detected is detected (S4), and the light amount value and the rotation angle are stored in the storage unit 18 (see FIG. 2) (S5). This process is repeated until the horizontal rotation angle reaches 180 degrees (S6). 180
After the motor stops after rotating the motor (S7), the storage unit 1
The maximum light amount value stored in the storage unit 8 is used as the maximum light amount detection unit 19.
(S8), and returns to the position of the rotation angle of the corresponding motor (S9). As described above, the light source 6 is on the plane 44 (see FIG. 11) specified by the position at this time.

Next, each of the coarse adjustment sensors 24A,
The amount of light is detected from 4B (S10), and the elevation direction to be rotated is determined based on the magnitude determination (S11). The vertical drive motor 32 is rotated by a predetermined angle in the direction determined here (S12). The motor is stopped (S13), and both sensors 24
The detected light amounts of A and 24B are fetched (S14), and it is determined whether or not both inspection levels match (S15). S12-
The operation of S15 is repeated until the light intensity levels from both sensors match. Then, if the levels from both sensors match, then fine adjustment of the maximum light amount position in the horizontal and vertical directions is performed using the output of the four-divided sensor 40, and highly accurate optical axis alignment is performed (S16). ).

Incidentally, the coarse adjustment sensor unit 1 in the above embodiment.
4 and the fine adjustment sensor unit 15 are merely examples, and are not limited to them. Also, here, the case has been described in which the optical sensor for fine adjustment and the optical receiver for receiving an optical signal are also used, but they may be provided separately.

[0034]

As described above, according to the optical space transmission apparatus of the present invention, the following excellent functions and effects can be exhibited. Since the rough light arrival direction is determined by the coarse adjustment light arrival detection means, and then the light arrival direction is accurately determined by the fine adjustment sensor divided into a plurality of fine adjustment light arrival direction detection means, high speed In addition, optical axis alignment can be automatically performed with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between an optical free space transmission apparatus and a data creation processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an optical space transmission apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an optical space transmission device.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a coarse-adjustment light sensor section of the coarse-adjustment light arrival direction detecting means.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a four-divided sensor of a fine adjustment sensor unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram when the coarse adjustment optical sensor unit is horizontally rotated around a vertical rotation center.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a change in the amount of light detected by each coarse adjustment sensor when the coarse adjustment optical sensor unit is horizontally rotated.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a rough adjustment optical sensor unit oriented in a rough light arrival direction in the horizontal direction.

10 is a graph showing a change in the signal level of the light amount detected by the sensor due to a change in the elevation angle of the light source in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an operation of optical axis alignment by a coarse adjustment sensor unit.

FIG. 12 is a graph showing a sensor output during the operation shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a graph showing a sensor output when the coarse adjustment sensor section is changed in the elevation angle direction.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state when a rough light arrival direction (optical axis) is aligned.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the beam spot on the four-divided sensor and the output level of each sensor element in association with each other.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a moving state of a beam spot when highly accurate optical axis alignment is performed using a four-division sensor.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a flow of the operation of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a main part of a conventional optical space transmission device.

[Explanation of symbols]

6: transmission / reception unit, 7: optical space transmission device, 10: optical transmission unit,
11: light receiving unit, 12: coarse adjustment light arrival direction detecting means, 1
3 ... fine adjustment light arrival direction detecting means, 14 ... coarse adjustment light sensor unit, 15 ... fine adjustment light sensor unit, 16 ... turning base, 17 ...
Control unit, 17A: first control unit, 17B: second control unit, 18: storage unit, 19: maximum received light amount value detection unit, 22
A, 22B: slit, 24A, 24B: coarse adjustment sensor, 25: revolving base, 39: condenser lens, 40: 4-split sensor.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masahiko Okabe 3-12-12 Moriyacho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside of Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (72) Kenji Narusawa 3--12 Moriyacho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Address Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. (72) Inventor Junichi Kubota 3-12 Moriyacho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An optical space transmission apparatus for transmitting and receiving an optical signal through a space, comprising: a coarse-adjustment light-arrival-direction detecting means for detecting a rough arrival direction of the optical signal; and a fine-tuning light arrival direction detecting means for accurately detecting the arrival direction of the optical signal. An optical space transmission device comprising: a light arrival direction detection unit. 2. The coarse adjustment light arrival direction detecting means has a coarse adjustment light sensor unit, and the fine adjustment light arrival direction detection means has a fine adjustment light sensor unit. 2. The optical space according to claim 1, wherein the optical sensor for fine adjustment, the optical transmitter, and the optical receiver are provided on a turning base that can be turned in a horizontal plane and a vertical plane. 3. Transmission equipment. 3. The optical space transmission apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the coarse adjustment sensor section has a slit formed so as to face a predetermined space around the coarse adjustment optical sensor. 4. The fine-tuning optical sensor unit includes a condenser lens for condensing the incoming optical signal, and a split sensor disposed substantially at a focal point of the condenser lens. The optical space transmission device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein 5. The coarse-adjustment light arrival direction detecting means, wherein the turning base is turned in a horizontal plane and then turned in a vertical plane, and the output from the coarse-adjustment light sensor unit obtained at this time is obtained. And a first controller for determining a rough arrival direction of the optical signal based on the first and second light sources. The fine-adjustment light arrival direction detection means turns the turning base slightly in a horizontal plane and a vertical plane. A second method of determining the direction of arrival of the optical signal with high accuracy based on the output from the optical sensor for fine adjustment while moving
The optical space transmission apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a control unit. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second control unit determines an arrival direction of the optical signal based on a difference between outputs from diagonally arranged sensors in the divided sensors. Optical space transmission device as described in the above. 7. The optical space transmission apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first control unit and the second control unit are shared. 8. The optical space transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fine-adjustment optical sensor section of the fine-adjustment light arrival direction detecting means is also used as the light receiving section.