STRUCTURE FOR SPLICING OPTICAL FIBER

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structure for splicing an optical fiber, wherein the protective tube of an optical fiber is bonded by adhesion, so as to be pulled out with difficulty. SOLUTION: In the splicing structure between an optical fiber and an optical unit, the tip end of the optical fiber for guiding light from a light source is connected, through a substrate, to the optical unit that irradiates an observation object with illumination light guided by the optical fiber. The structure is characterized in that the tip end of the optical fiber is covered with a hollow protective tube in the longitudinal direction, while the protective tube reaches the inside of the optical unit via a through-hole provided in the substrate, that the tip end of the protective tube is fixedly covered with a hollow joint tube, whose tip end is fixedly fitted into the through-hole, and that the inner circumferential surface of the tip end of the protective tube is fixed while being force-fitted to the outer circumferential surface of the joint tube, wherein the outer circumferential surface of the tip end of the protective tube and the substrate are bonded by adhesion. COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT