Drive unit for optical switch
First Claim
1. A drive unit for controlling optical paths of an optical switch having at least one optical switch element and at least one pair of electrodes arranged near said movable optical switch element, each pair including a first electrode and a second electrode provided at a position opposite to said first electrode,said drive unit comprising at least one drive circuit for said at least one movable optical switch element, respectively, said drive circuit having a separating part for separating voltages into positive and negative voltages and a output for supplying said positive voltages to to said first electrode and negative voltages to said second eletrode to generate electrostatic forces between said movable optical swicth element and each of said first and second electrodes to control at least one of said paths.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A drive unit for controlling optical paths of an optical switch having at least one optical switch element and at least one pair of electrodes arranged near the optical switch element, each pair including a first electrode and a second electrode provided at a position opposite to the first electrode. The drive unit includes at least one drive circuit for the at least one optical switch element, respectively. The drive circuit has an output for supplying voltages to the electrodes to generate electrostatic forces between the electrodes and the optical switch element and the voltages are separated into positive voltages supplied to the first electrode and negative voltages supplied to the second electrode.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A drive unit for controlling optical paths of an optical switch having at least one optical switch element and at least one pair of electrodes arranged near said movable optical switch element, each pair including a first electrode and a second electrode provided at a position opposite to said first electrode,
said drive unit comprising at least one drive circuit for said at least one movable optical switch element, respectively, said drive circuit having a separating part for separating voltages into positive and negative voltages and a output for supplying said positive voltages to to said first electrode and negative voltages to said second eletrode to generate electrostatic forces between said movable optical swicth element and each of said first and second electrodes to control at least one of said paths.
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11. An optical switch comprising:
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at least one optical switch element; at least one pair of electrodes arranged near said movable optical switch element, each pair including a first electrode and a second electrode provided at a position opposite to said first electrode; and a drive unit including at least one drive circuit for supplying voltages to said pair of electrodes to generate electrostatic forces between the pair of electrodes and the movable optical switch element to control an optical path of the movable optical switch element, said voltages being separated into positive voltages supplied to said first electrode and negative voltages supplied to said second electrode.
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12. An optical switch comprising:
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at least one optical switch element; at least one pair of electrodes arranged near said movable optical switch element, each pair including a first electrode and a second electrode provided at a position opposite to said first electrode; and a drive unit including at least one drive circuit for supplying voltages to the pair of electrodes to generate electrostatic forces between the pair of electrodes and the movable optical switch element to control an optical path of the optical switch element, the voltages being separated into positive voltages supplied to said first electrode and negative voltages supplied to the second electrode, wherein the drive circuit controls movement of the movable optical switch element in a plurality of mutually opposite directions.
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Specification