JP2001074978A - Optical fiber connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dispense with a relay fiber, to reduce the number of connecting points and to curtail the transmission loss. SOLUTION: With regard to a female connector 1 and male connector 2 which are attachable to and detachable from each other, an interference part 3 is provided in the female connector 1, an optical fiber 3 is connected to the male connector 2, a protective body 4 for an optical fiber 3 is installed in the male connector 2, the protective body 4 is a different body from the connector 2, and the male connector 2 is provided in the axial direction of the optical fiber 3 so that the protective body can come in and out of the male connector 2. The protective body 4 is equipped with a stopper 5 which is engaged with the male connector 2 and which checks the entry of the protective body 4 into the male connector 2, and also equipped with a stopper 6 which prevents the protective body 4 from falling off the male connector 2. Further, when the male connector is inserted, the protective body 4 is pushed into the male connector 2, making the tip end face 8 of the optical fiber 3 flush with or protruding from the tip end face 9 of the protective body 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber connector for connecting an optical fiber and an optical element (light receiving element, light emitting element, etc.) disposed on a printed circuit board on which an electronic circuit is mounted. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional optical fiber connector is a female connector (receptacle connector) which can be fitted and detached from each other.
And a male connector (plug connector). When a plug connector with an optical fiber connected to a receptacle connector containing a light receiving element, the light receiving element and the optical fiber are optically connected via a relay fiber. It is connected.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, a fitting portion C is formed in the receptacle connector A to which a plug connector B is fitted, and a substantially cylindrical shape is formed in the fitting portion C. And a metal pipe E made of, for example, brass or stainless steel is arranged inside the sleeve D, and a relay fiber F is arranged inside the metal pipe E over the entire length. is there. Also, behind the sleeve D (FIG. 5)
(Left side) is formed with a housing portion H capable of housing the light receiving element G, and the housing portion H can be opened and closed by a back cap I. With the above structure, the back cap I is opened and the light receiving element G is housed in the housing part H,
When the back cap I is closed after placing the back sheet J made of an elastic material such as silicone rubber behind the back, the elasticity of the back sheet J compressed and sandwiched between the light receiving element G and the back cap I is reduced. The light receiving element G is pressed toward the sleeve D by the force, and the light receiving portion of the light receiving element G and the end face of the relay fiber F come into close contact with each other. Further, on the upper surface of the receptacle connector A, a locking projection K of the plug connector B is provided.
Are provided.

[0005] As shown in FIG.
Is a size and a shape that can be fitted into the fitting portion C of the receptacle connector A, and a ferrule N attached to the tip of the optical fiber M is arranged therein,
A spring P for pressing the ferrule N in the fitting direction of the plug connector B, and a plug back cap Q for holding the spring P at a predetermined position are attached. Further, a lock arm R provided with a locking projection K that locks with the locking portion L of the receptacle connector A is provided above the plug connector B. Note that until the end face of the optical fiber M matches the tip face of the ferrule N,
The end face of the ferrule N is located a predetermined distance (d) behind the open end of the plug connector B so that the end face of the optical fiber M does not come into contact with anything and be damaged. Designed to be. Generally, the predetermined dimension (d) is １ ／ of the opening dimension (w) of the plug connector B.
Or it is designed more.

FIG. 5B shows a conventional receptacle connector A and a plug connector B shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, when the plug connector B is fitted into the fitting portion C of the receptacle connector A, the locking projection K of the plug connector B is locked to the locking portion L of the receptacle connector A, and both connectors A , B are fixed in the fitted state. At this time, the ferrule N attached to the plug connector B is inserted into the sleeve D of the receptacle connector A, and its distal end surface comes into contact with the end surface of the metal pipe E and is pressed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. P is compressed and retracted in the same direction. As a result, the end face of the ferrule N is pressed against the metal pipe E by the restoring force of the spring P, and the end face of the optical fiber M inserted into the ferrule N and the end face of the relay fiber F are brought into close contact. As described above, the optical fiber M and the light receiving element G are optically connected via the relay fiber F, and the optical signal output from the optical fiber M can be input to the light receiving element G.

In the above description, the case where an optical signal is input from an optical fiber to the light receiving element housed in the receptacle connector has been described. However, the light receiving element is replaced with a light emitting element, and the optical signal from the light emitting element is converted into an optical fiber. Can also be output.

[0007]

In the conventional optical fiber connector, the ferrule N is disposed a predetermined distance (d) behind the open end S of the plug connector B in order to protect the end face of the optical fiber M. Designed for Further, the posture of the plug connector B fitted to the receptacle connector A becomes more stable as the contact area between the inner surface of the fitting portion C of the receptacle connector A and the outer surface of the plug connector B becomes larger. That is, since the plug connector B is more stable as the depth of the fitting portion C is larger, the distance from the light receiving element G in the receptacle connector A to the opening end T of the connector A is set to a certain value or more to secure a sufficient fitting length. There is a need to. As a result, in the conventional optical fiber connector, both connectors A,
B, a certain distance occurs between the light receiving element G attached to the receptacle connector A and the ferrule N attached to the plug connector B, and the relay fiber F Is required.

As described above, since the conventional optical fiber connector requires the relay fiber F, the optical signal output from the optical fiber M is transmitted to the connection point between the end face of the optical fiber M and the end face of the relay fiber F and the relay. The light passes through two connection points between the end face of the fiber F and the light receiving portion of the light receiving element G and is input to the light receiving element G. Although these two connection points are in close contact with each other by the elastic restoring force of the back sheet J and the spring P, transmission loss due to reflection or the like always occurs at each connection point. Therefore, in the conventional optical fiber connector having many connection points, there is a problem that the light receiving level of the light receiving element G is lowered and the C / N characteristic is deteriorated. This problem is the same when the light receiving element G is replaced with a light emitting element.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for a relay fiber, thereby reducing the number of connection points between an optical element and an optical fiber as much as possible. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber connection connector to be solved.

The first optical fiber connector of the present application is a female connector and a male connector which can be fitted and disengaged from each other, an interference portion is provided in the female connector, an optical fiber is connected to the male connector, and a male connector is provided. The connector is provided with a protector for covering and protecting the tip of the optical fiber, and the protector is separate from the connector and provided on the male connector so as to be slidable in the axial direction of the optical fiber so as to be able to enter and exit the male connector. The protection body has a stopper for locking to the male connector and preventing the protection body from entering the male connector,
There is a stopper that locks to the male connector and prevents the protective body from coming off the male connector.The stopper stops when the male connector is inserted into the female connector due to the interference of the female connector. The lock is released and the protective body can enter the male connector. When the male connector is further inserted, the protective body collides with the receptacle in the female connector and is pushed into the male connector, protecting the optical fiber end surface. It is designed to be flush with the front end surface of the body or to protrude ahead of the front end surface of the protective body.

[0011] The second optical fiber connector of the present application is the optical fiber connector according to claim 1,
When the protective body is pulled out of the female connector from the female connector and the two connectors are disengaged from each other, the blocking stopper is pulled by the interference part in the female connector and slides together with the protective body in the opposite direction to that at the time of fitting. The protection body covers and protects the distal end face of the optical fiber.

The third optical fiber connector of the present application is the optical fiber connector according to claim 2,
The stopper for preventing detachment is engaged with the male connector so that when the protective body is pulled back to a position where it covers and protects the distal end surface of the optical fiber, it does not come off any more.

[0013]

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of an optical fiber connector according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical fiber connector comprises a female connector 1 (receptacle connector 1) and a male connector 2 (plug connector 2) which can be fitted and detached from each other, and accommodates a light emitting element 10 and a light receiving element 13. When the plug connector 2 in which the two optical fibers 3 are connected to the receptacle connector 1 is inserted and fitted together, the light emitting element 10 and the light receiving element 13 are optically connected to each of the two optical fibers 3. , One optical fiber 3
Thus, an optical signal can be input to the light receiving element 10 and an optical signal from the light emitting element 13 can be input to the other optical fiber 3.

The specific structure of the plug connector 2 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to (a) and FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b).
2 (a) and 2 (b) show different cross sections of the plug connector 2 and the receptacle connector 1. FIG. The plug connector 2 is formed in a box shape by an engineering plastic such as PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) and POM (polyacetal) as shown in FIG. 1 (a), and has an internal portion as shown in FIG. 2 (a). Two cylindrical guides 16 for inserting the two optical fibers 3 and holding them at predetermined positions are formed integrally.
The distal end 19 of each guide portion 16 projects outside the fitting end surface 21 of the plug connector 2, and the optical fiber 3 is inserted into the guide portion 16 until the distal end surface 8 coincides with the distal end 19 of the guide portion 16. Is fixed at that position. For fixing the optical fiber 3, an adhesive can be used for other fixing means.

As shown in FIG. 2A, each guide portion 1
A protective body 4 slidable in the axial direction of the optical fiber 3 along the guide portion 16 is attached to the outside of 6. The protective body 4 is separate from the plug connector 2 as shown in FIG. 1, and covers the outside of the guide part 16 and has a cylindrical body 24 having an inner diameter slidable along the guide part 16 in FIG. As shown in (a), two are arranged in parallel, and these are connected by a connection plate 27. As shown in FIG. 2B, on the upper surface of the connecting plate 27, a tongue-shaped preventing stopper 5 having one free end and a stopper 6 for preventing falling off are directed in such a manner that the free ends face each other. Provided by
When the free end of the blocking stopper 5 is locked on the surface of the fitting end surface 21 of the plug connector 2 and the stopper 6 for locking is locked on the back surface of the fitting end surface 21, the protection body 4 is locked at both ends. The sliding of the optical fiber 3 in the axial direction is restricted by the pieces 5 and 6. In addition, both locking pieces 5,
When the plug 6 is engaged with the front and back surfaces of the mating end surface 21 of the plug connector 2 (the state shown in FIG.
The positions of the locking pieces 5 and 6 are designed so that the tip of the guide piece 16 projects outward from the tip 19 of the guide portion 16 (the state of FIG. 2A). Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, a slit 36 is formed in the plug connector 2 so that the interference portion 3 (FIG. 1B) provided in the receptacle connector 1 for releasing the locking of the blocking stopper 5 enters. Have been.

As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 2 (a), a lock arm 4 provided on a top surface of the plug connector 2 with a locking projection 39 for locking to a locking portion 61 of the receptacle connector 1.
1 are provided integrally. The lock arm 41 has a spring-like beam shape in which one end in the longitudinal direction is fixed to the upper surface of the plug connector 2 and the other end is free without being fixed, and a knob 43 is provided at the free end of the lock arm 41. ing.

The receptacle connector 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in PBT (polybutylene terephthalate),
An opening 50 is provided on a side surface by an engineering plastic such as POM (polyacetal).
The plug connector 2 is formed in a box shape into which the plug connector 2 can be fitted. Further, an interference portion 3 is provided inside the receptacle connector 1. When the plug connector 2 is fitted to the receptacle connector 1, the interference portion 3 interferes with the blocking stopper 5 to lock the plug. It can be released.

At the center of the upper surface of the receptacle connector 1, a swelling portion 59 is formed, which swells upward from other parts and into which the lock arm 41 of the plug connector 2 can enter. A locking portion 61 is formed for locking the locking projection 39 protruding from the lock arm 41.

As shown in FIG. 1B, an insertion groove 66 into which the shield member 63 accommodating the light receiving element 10 and the light emitting element 13 can be inserted is opened in the bottom surface of the receptacle connector 1. The light receiving element 10 and the light emitting element 13 can be housed inside by inserting the shield member 63 housing the light emitting element 13 and the light emitting element 13 through the insertion groove 66. This shield member 63 is provided for preventing noise of the light receiving element 10 and the light emitting element 13. For example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the light receiving element 10 and the light emitting element 13 are formed in an elongated box shape which can be accommodated side by side, and an opening 69 through which the light receiving element 10 and the light emitting element 13 can be taken in and out is provided on the bottom surface.
(FIG. 2a) is opened, a through hole 74 is opened at a position corresponding to the light receiving section 71 of the light receiving element 10 and the light emitting section 72 of the light emitting element 13 on the side, and the light receiving element 10 and the light emitting element 13 are mounted at the lower end. A projection 77 is provided to be inserted into an insertion hole (not shown) provided on a printed circuit board to be inserted.

The process of fitting the plug connector 2 to the receptacle connector 1 and fitting both connectors 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). 1. FIG.
The plug connector 2 shown in the figure is inserted from the opening 50 of the receptacle connector 1 shown in FIGS. When the plug connector 2 is inserted into the receptacle connector 1, as shown in FIG. 3A, the interference part 3 provided on the receptacle connector 1 becomes the free end of the blocking stopper 5 of the protection body 4 provided on the plug connector 2. Is pressed down to release the locking, and the protection body 4 is made to be able to enter the inside of the plug connector 2 (slidable in the axial direction of the optical fiber 3). 2. Plug connector 2
Is inserted into the receptacle connector 1, the locking projection 3 protruding from the lock arm 41 of the plug connector 2.
9 comes into contact with the locking portion 61 of the receptacle connector 1.
3. Still further, the plug connector 2 is replaced with the receptacle connector 1
When the lock arm 41 is inserted into the inside, the free end of the lock arm 41 is pushed down, and the locking projection 39 passes under the locking portion 61 and enters the inside of the locking portion 61. When the locking projection 39 enters the inside of the locking portion 61, the downward pressing by the locking portion 61 is released, and the free end of the lock arm 41 returns to the original state by the restoring force, and FIG. The locking projection 39 is locked on the inner surface of the locking portion 61 as shown in FIG. As a result, the receptacle connector 1 and the plug connector 2 are fixed in a fitted state. At this time, when the plug connector 2 is inserted into the receptacle connector 1 to some extent, the slidable protective body 4 comes into contact with the side surface (receiving portion 7) of the shield member 63 accommodated in the receptacle connector 1, As the plug connector 2 is inserted into the receptacle connector 1, it is gradually pushed into the plug connector 2 to expose the guide portion 16. 4. When the plug connector 2 is inserted into the receptacle connector 1 until the receptacle connector 1 and the plug connector 2 are fixed in the fitted state (when the plug connector 2 is brought into the state shown in FIG. 3B), as shown in FIG. The stopper 3 gets over the free end of the stopper 5 and enters between the stopper 5 and the stopper 6. When the interference portion 3 enters between the locking pieces 5, 6, the pressing of the interference stopper 3 against the free end of the blocking stopper 5 is released, and the free end returns to the original state by the restoring force. Engage with the interference part 3. At this time, the protector 4 is pushed into the plug connector 2 to a predetermined position, and the distal end face 8 of the optical fiber 3 inserted into the exposed guide portion 16 is
(See FIG. 4). As described above, each of the two optical fibers 3 connected to the plug connector 2 is optically connected to the light receiving element 10 or the light emitting element 13 housed in the receptacle connector 1.
5. To release the engagement between the plug connector 2 and the receptacle connector 1, the lock arm 41 of the plug connector 2 is released.
The knob 43 is pushed downward to push down the free end of the lock arm 41 to lock the locking projection 39 with the locking portion 61 (FIG. 3).
With b) released, the plug connector 2 is pulled out of the receptacle connector 1. At this time, since the blocking stopper 5 of the protection body 4 and the interference part 3 provided on the receptacle connector 1 are in the engaged state (FIG. 3B), when the plug connector 2 is pulled out, the protection body 4 Pulled out. When the protective body 4 is pulled out to a predetermined position, the stopper 6 for preventing the protective body 4 from slipping out engages with the back surface of the mating end face 21 of the plug connector 2, and the protective body 4
Is prevented from being drawn further outward (FIG. 3a).
State). When the plug connector 2 is further pulled out in this state, the engagement between the blocking stopper 5 and the interference portion 3 is released, and the plug connector 2 is completely separated from the receptacle connector 1. At this time, the cylindrical body 24 of the protection body 4 protrudes outward from the tip of the guide portion 16 and has returned to the state before fitting (the state of FIG. 2A). Note that the engagement force between the blocking stopper 5 and the interference portion 3 is determined by the stopper 6
Is designed in advance so as to be smaller than the engaging force between the plug connector 2 and the fitting end face 21. Specifically, the interference unit 3
Among them, a slight inclination is provided in a portion that comes into contact with the stopper 5 for prevention.

(Other Embodiments) The plug connector 2 and the receptacle connector 1 can be made of a conductive plastic obtained by imparting conductivity to the engineering plastic in order to cut noise. When the plug connector 2 and the receptacle connector 1 are made of the conductive plastic, the light receiving element 10, the light emitting element 1
In the case where the anti-noise performance of No. 3 is excellent and the use environment is good and no noise countermeasures are required, the shield member 63 can be omitted.

The light receiving element 10 is connected to the receptacle connector 1.
Alternatively, only the light emitting element 13 can be accommodated. Also,
The numbers of the light receiving elements 10 and the light emitting elements 13 accommodated are not limited to those described above, and may be larger or smaller.
The number of optical fibers 3 connected to the plug connector 2 is appropriately selected according to the number of optical elements housed in the receptacle connector 1.

[0023]

The first invention of the present application has the following effects. 1. In a state where the female connector and the male connector are not fitted, the distal end surface of the optical fiber connected to the male connector is protected by a protective body provided on the connector, and when the two connectors are fitted together, Since the protection body slides on the way to expose the end face of the optical fiber, the optical fiber can be arranged outside the open end of the connector, and the relay fiber is not required. Therefore, in the conventional optical fiber connector, two connection points are generated: a connection point between the end face of the optical fiber and the end face of the relay fiber, and a connection point between the end face of the relay fiber and the light receiving section of the light receiving element. According to the present invention, the number of connection points is reduced to one, and a connection with less transmission loss can be realized. 2. In addition, no special operation is required for the operation of the protective body, and the protective body automatically operates simply by mating the female connector and male connector in the same procedure as before, so operability is good. is there.

The second invention of the present application has the following effects. 1. The protective body slides in the direction opposite to the mating direction and is returned to the position before mating while pulling out the male connector from the female connector and disengaging the mating of both connectors. The fiber is protected by the protector. 2. No special operation is required to return the protector to its original position.

The third invention of the present application has the following effects. 1. When the protective body is pulled back to the position where the protective body covers and protects the front end of the optical fiber, the stopper is locked to the male connector so that it does not come off any more. There is no danger that the tip end surface will be exposed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an example of an embodiment of an optical fiber connector according to the present invention, in which (a) is an explanatory view showing an example of a plug connector, and (b) is a partially cutaway view showing an example of a receptacle connector. FIG.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views showing different cross sections of a plug connector and a receptacle connector.

3A and 3B are cross-sectional views illustrating a process of fitting the plug connector and the receptacle connector, wherein FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view during fitting, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view after fitting.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a fitted state of the plug connector and the receptacle connector.

5A is a cross-sectional view showing a plug connector and a receptacle connector in a conventional optical fiber connection connector, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view showing a fitted state of both connectors.

[Explanation of Signs] 1 Female connector 2 Male connector 3 Optical fiber 4 Protective body 5 Stopper 6 Stopper 7 Stopper 7 Receiving part 8 Tip face of optical fiber 9 Tip face of protector

Claims (3)

[Claims] A female connector (1) that can be fitted and detached from each other.
Among the male connector (2) and the female connector (1), an interference part (3) is provided, the male connector (2) is connected to an optical fiber (3), and the male connector (2) is connected to an optical fiber (3). ) Is provided so as to cover and protect the distal end of the optical fiber (4), which is separate from the male connector (2) and which can enter and exit the male connector (2). The male connector (2) is provided so as to be slidable in the axial direction of (3). The protective body (4) is engaged with the male connector (2) so that the protective body (4) enters the male connector (2). And a stopper (6) for preventing the protective body (4) from coming off the male connector (2) by being locked to the male connector (2). The stopper (5) for connecting the male connector (2) to the female connector (1) during insertion Interfering portion of data (1) (3)
As a result, the locking to the male connector (2) is released, and the protection body (4) can enter the male connector (2), and when the male connector (2) is further inserted, the protection body (4) is connected to the female connector ( The optical fiber (3) is pushed into the male connector (2) by abutting against the receiving portion (7) in (1), and the distal end surface (8) of the optical fiber (3) is flush with the distal end surface (9) of the protective body (4). An optical fiber connector characterized in that it protrudes ahead of the distal end surface (9) of the protective body (4). 2. The optical fiber connector according to claim 1, wherein the protector is adapted to pull out the male connector from the female connector to release the mating of the two connectors. Then, the blocking stopper (5) is pulled by the interference portion (3) in the female connector (1) and slides together with the protective body (4) in a direction opposite to that at the time of fitting, so that the protective body (4) is illuminated. An optical fiber connector wherein the distal end surface (8) of the fiber (3) is covered and protected. 3. The optical fiber connector according to claim 2, wherein the stopper (6) for preventing detachment is provided with a protective body (4).
The optical fiber connector is characterized in that when it is pulled back to a position where it covers and protects the distal end face (8) of the optical fiber (3), it is locked to the male connector (2) so that it does not come off any more.