The present invention is directed to a method for manufacturing a switch for opening and closing an optical connection between fiber optical waveguides.
A switch for fiber optical waveguides is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,587 which was based on German application 2,903,848. The switch disclosed in this patent has a rigid carrier part on which a fiber optical waveguide end is secured and has a transversely deflectable optical waveguide which is secured on a flexible switch tongue. The switch tongue and the fixed or stationary carrier part are connected by means of a common connecting piece or base body. The two end surfaces of the fiber optical waveguides which face one another exhibit a slight spacing relative to one another. This spacing is of significance to enable free play of the switch tongue. However, the spacing should be kept as low as possible in order to keep attenuation losses as small as possible.
It is a standard procedure in the manufacturing of switches to first abut the two fiber optical waveguides and then to pull them apart to a slight degree prior to securing them in their given positions. Thereby, it is difficult to precisely set the spacing which should only amount to a few micrometers. If one attempts to hold a thin foil between the end surfaces when the fiber optical waveguides are abutted, then the foil becomes pinched between the end faces and can be torn when removed so that a remanent remains between the fiber optical waveguide ends. Moreover, the foil cannot be produced with different thicknesses so that the spacing cannot be reduced as desired.