JPS63102863A - Polisher for optical fiber ferrule - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make working for one optical fiber connector alone performable, by pressing a ferrule tip to an abrasive device by a deviation device in accordance with a copying surface device, with which a driven device comes into control, and polishing it. CONSTITUTION:In an initial state, a projecting part 10 is on a copying surface 9A of a taper member 9, while a tip 110 of the ferrule 1 held by a chuck 4 will not come into contact with a grindstone 13, and a shaft center of the chuck 4 and a turning shaft 81 both are tilted at a small angle. When a support member 8 is turned round to the center of the shaft 81 from this state, the projecting member 10 goes down along an inclined plane 9B, the ferrule end face 110 is ground by the grindstone 13, and the ferrule 1 is rotated more than 360 deg. clockwise or counterclockwise by a c.w. and c.c.w. driving part 11, thus is comes to a conical form. Next, when it goes down up to a flat copying surface of the taper member 9, access of the tip 110 to a polishing surface is stopped, and a desired end form is securable owing to a sparkout effect. Thus, only one time scanning is carried out, one optical fiber connector is machinable into the desired dorm in a highly accurate manner.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a polishing machine for ferrules used in optical fiber connectors. The present invention relates to a small, lightweight, and simple portable polishing machine that can be used at cable installation sites or at connection sites to station buildings and indoor equipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Generally, a ferrule used in an optical fiber connector has a configuration shown in FIG. The optical fiber 2 is accommodated in an optical fiber hole 120 provided at the center of the ferrule 1 and fixed with an adhesive.

On the other hand, splice loss in optical fibers is caused by discontinuity in the splicing core, so in order to propagate optical signals without loss,
End faces 11 of two ferrules l configured as shown in FIG.
It is necessary to join the end faces of the optical fibers so that the optical axes of the optical fibers do not shift when the zeros are butted together, and there is no gap.

For this purpose, the ferrule end face 110 is polished, but at this time, it is necessary to make the top of the optical fiber part spherical and to have no step between the ferrule end face 110 and the optical fiber end face.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a polishing apparatus conventionally used for polishing the end face of a ferrule.

This polishing device includes a polishing surface plate 13 having a concave spherical polishing surface.
A ferrule holder 4 is disposed above the ferrule holder. At least three ferrules 1 are fixed to the ferrule holder 4 using ferrule holding tightening screws so as to be perpendicular to the concave spherical surface of the surface plate 13.

After the ferrule is fixed to the ferrule holder 4, the polishing surface plate 1 is supplied with abrasive from the abrasive supply nozzle 16.
Rotate 3. At the same time, the ferrule holder 4 is caused to rotate or swing in a circular motion (precession). Due to the movement of both the polishing surface plate 13 and the ferrule holder 4, the end surface of the ferrule is polished into a spherical shape.

Ferrules are usually made of hard materials such as ceramics. Therefore, in order to process this into a certain shape with high efficiency and final finish to a mirror surface with a maximum unevenness of about 0.01 μm, rough processing, polishing, and finishing are required depending on the grade of the processed surface and the efficiency of polishing. Two to three polishing steps such as processing polishing are required. For this reason, a polishing apparatus equipped with two or three rotating surface plate parts similar to the processing head shown in FIG. 9 is used.

When using a conventional polishing device as shown in FIG. 9, it is necessary to manually attach a plurality of ferrules to the ferrule holder 4 and move them between each process sequentially, resulting in extremely poor work efficiency. It was something.

Furthermore, even when processing one ferrule, it was necessary to attach at least two dummies to equalize the pressing force against the polished surface.

Further, since the ferrule holder 4 is simply rotated or oscillated in a circular manner, the center symmetry of the polished surface of the ferrule tip is poor.

In addition, since processing sections corresponding to two to three processes are arranged in the same device, there is a problem in that there is a limit to miniaturization of the device.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As described above, in order to precisely process the end face of a ferrule, it is necessary to perform several stages of polishing. At that time, with conventional polishing equipment, polishing could not be performed unless multiple workpieces were attached, workability was poor when attaching workpieces, and the configuration of the equipment was not suitable for miniaturization and weight reduction. There was a problem.

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber ferrule polishing machine that is capable of processing only one optical fiber connector.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber ferrule polisher with excellent central symmetry of the polished surface.

A third object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber ferrule polishing machine that has high polishing efficiency, is small in size, and is lightweight.

Means for solving the problem, that is, according to the present invention, there is provided a polishing means having a polishing surface, a holding means for holding a ferrule to which an optical fiber is attached and fixed, and a tip of the ferrule is placed on the polishing surface of the polishing means. A stage member that rotatably supports the holding means, a rotational drive means that rotates the holding means, and a stage member that supports the holding means so that the holding means can rotate; a stage mounting means displaceably supported; a shifting means applying a shifting force to the stage member so as to press the tips of the ferrules against the polishing surface of the polishing means; and the stage. a driven means fixed to the member; and a tracing surface means that the driven means comes into contact with due to the shifting force of the shifting means;
displacement means for relatively displacing the stage member and the tracing surface means in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of the shifting force of the stage member by the shifting means; According to the present invention, there is provided an optical fiber ferrule polishing machine, characterized in that the tip of the ferrule is pressed against the polishing means and polished.

Function: In the optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to the present invention described above, the optical fiber ferrule rotates on its own axis as the holding means rotates on its own axis. On the other hand, since the stage member receives the shifting force from the shifting means, the tip of the rotating ferrule is moved by the polishing means according to the tracing surface means due to the cooperation between the driven means and the tracing surface means. It is pressed and polished. Thus, the ferrule tip is polished axially symmetrically about its axis of rotation.

As described above, according to the optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to the present invention, only one optical fiber connector can be processed. Furthermore, since polishing work can be performed by simply replacing one optical fiber, polishing work efficiency is high. Further, while the pressing of the tip of the ferrule to the polishing means is controlled by a simply configured tracing surface means, there is no need to make a circular swinging motion (precession motion) of the ferrule. It is possible to make the polishing machine smaller and lighter.

The tip of the ferrule is polished axially symmetrically around its axis of rotation, so by tilting the axis of rotation with respect to the polishing surface, the tip of the ferrule can be polished into a conical shape. The tip of the ferrule can be polished into a spherical surface by using a polishing means that bends the polishing surface. Therefore, by combining two optical fiber ferrule polishing machines according to the present invention and using one for rough polishing and one for finishing polishing, the ferrules can be continuously installed and removed from each polishing machine. The tip of the optical fiber ferrule can be finished to a mirror finish.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of an optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an optical fiber ferrule polishing machine embodying the present invention. The illustrated optical fiber ferrule polishing machine is a rough processing machine.

As shown in FIG. 8, the ferrule 1 into which the optical fiber 2 is inserted and fixed is inserted into the conical tip of the chuck 4. As shown in FIG. The conical tip of the chuck 4 is provided with a plurality of vertical slits and penetrates into the opening at the tip of the cylindrical housing 3. The chuck 4 itself is screwed into the housing 3. By rotating the chuck 4 with respect to the housing 3 and pushing the conical tip of the chuck 4 into the tip opening of the housing 3, the conical tip of the chuck 40 is squeezed to securely hold the ferrule.

The housing 3 is rotatably supported by a ball bearing in the center of the stage 5, and its movement in the axial direction is restricted. The stage 5 is supported by a stage mounting block 7 with two parallel leaf springs 6. Parallel leaf spring 6 exerts a downward deflection force on stage 5 in FIG.

The stage mounting block 7 is attached to a support member 8 so as to be rotationally displaceable about an axis perpendicular to the axis of the chuck 4, and the support member 8 is perpendicular to a horizontal plane containing the rotational displacement axis of the stage mounting block 7. It is rotatably attached to the rotating shaft 81. In the case of a rough machining machine, the chuck 4
The stage mounting block 7 is fixed to the support member 8 by being displaced around its rotational displacement axis so that the axis of the stage mounting block 7 and the rotation axis 81 are tilted by a slight angle. Note that in the case of a finishing machine, the axial center of the chuck 4 and the rotating shaft 81 are set parallel to each other.

Further, the stage 5 is provided with a protrusion 10,
The tip of this protrusion 10 is in contact with the tracing surface of the fixed tapered member 9 under the pressing force of the parallel plate spring 6 . Preferably, as shown in FIG. 6, a small roller IOA is provided at the tip of the protrusion 10. On the other hand, the tracing surface of the fixed taper member 9 is similarly shown in FIG.
A flat surface parallel to the polishing surface portion to which the tip of the ferrule 1 is pressed, which maintains the tip of the ferrule 1 before the polishing process away from the polishing surface of the grindstone 13 against the force of the leaf spring 6; It has one tracing surface 9A. Furthermore, by displacing the stage 5 in the direction of the thick arrow in FIG. The second tracing surface 9B inclined to the first tracing surface 9A
It is continuous.

A flat third tracing surface 9C is continuous to the second tracing surface 9B. This third tracing surface 9C is parallel to the polishing surface portion against which the tip of the ferrule 1 is pressed, and prevents the tip of the ferrule from approaching the polishing surface within a predetermined range.

Furthermore, the housing 3 is configured to be rotationally driven by a forward/reverse rotation driving section 11 provided integrally with the stage 5 via a belt 12 for driving a pulley 11A1 and a boot IJ-11B.

Then, the end surface of the ferrule 1 held by the chuck 4 in the housing 3 is pressed onto the outer circumferential surface of the grindstone 13 that rotates on its axis and is polished. The grindstone 13 is fixed to a rotating shaft 13A of a ferrule held by the chuck 4, which is perpendicular to the direction of the pressing force by the parallel leaf spring 6, and the rotating shaft 13A is rotationally driven by a drive motor 13B.

The rough polishing operation of the rough machining machine configured as described above is performed in the second
This will be explained with reference to the figures.

In the initial state, the protrusion 10 is attached to the flat first part of the tapered member 9.
Even if the tip of the ferrule 1 faces the outer circumferential surface of the grinding wheel 13, the tip surface 11 of the ferrule 1
0 does not contact the outer peripheral surface of the grindstone 13 and is not processed. At this time, since the axis of the chuck 4 and the rotating shaft 81 are slightly inclined, the ferrule 1 and the grindstone 13 are in the same positional relationship as the ferrule 1 and the grindstone 13 shown at the left end of FIG.

From this state, the first
Rotate in the direction of the thick arrow in the figure. As the rotation of the support member 8 progresses, the protrusion 10 is applied to the inclined second tracing surface 9B of the tapered member 9, and the stage 5 is lowered along the inclined surface by the pressing force of the parallel plate spring 6, and is brought into contact with the ferrule end surface 110. A cut is made by the grindstone 13 and the grinding process is started.

This state is the positional relationship between the ferrule 1 and the grindstone 13 shown in the center of FIG.

At this time, the ferrule 1 is rotated forward and backward at a rotation angle of at least 360 degrees by the forward and reverse rotation driving section 11 and the driving belt 12, so that the ground surface has a truncated conical shape. Thereafter, the taper member 9 guides the cut until the end face of the ferrule becomes conical.

After the conical shape is obtained, as the support member 8 further rotates, the protrusion 10 touches the flat third tracing surface 9C of the tapered member 9, and the tip of the ferrule is stopped from approaching the polished surface, causing a spark. Get out effect.

Thus, by rotating the support member 8 so as to scan once over the surface of the tapered member 9, a desired end face shape can be obtained during rough machining.

In the above embodiment, the taper member 9 is fixed and the stage 5
is designed to be rotated. Therefore, as can be seen from FIG. 2, the contact position of the tip of the ferrule with the polishing surface of the grindstone 13 moves on the polishing surface, and local wear of the polishing surface is prevented. However, if this problem is not taken into account, for example, if the grindstone 13 is replaced frequently,
The stage 5 may not be rotated and the tapered member 9 may be displaced instead.

In addition, in the finishing process, as shown in FIG.
a rotating plate 21 that is rotationally driven by a rotating plate 21; an abrasive-carrying sheet 22 stretched on the rotating plate 21 at right angles to the direction of the pressing force of the leaf spring 6 against the ferrule 1; and abrasive-carrying sheet 22. The polishing agent can be configured to include a polishing agent supply nozzle 23 for supplying the polishing agent. Note that the rotating shaft 20 is driven by a motor (not shown). Further, the abrasive-carrying sheet 22 is composed of a hard resin disk, a resin film stretched and held in the shape of a diaphragm, or a nonwoven fabric. As the abrasive, a processing liquid containing fine particles is used. In addition, it is possible to use a machine having exactly the same mechanical configuration as the rough processing machine described above, except that the inclined surface of the tapered member 9 is made into a flat surface.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modification of the housing 3.

A protrusion 3A that protrudes inward is provided at the tip of the housing 3, a through hole is formed in the protrusion 3A, and the ferrule 1 is inserted into the through hole. A male thread is cut around the protrusion 3A, and a housing nut 31 is screwed therein. In this way, the flange IA of the ferrule is held between the protrusion 3A and the housing nut 31, so that
A ferrule is fixed to the housing 3.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the mechanism of the forward/reverse rotation drive unit 11. The illustrated mechanism includes a fixed internal gear 111 and a planetary gear 112 that meshes with the internal gear 111 and has a pitch circle diameter of A of the internal gear 111.

The planetary gear 112 is rotatably attached to the tip of a lever 114 that is fixed to a drive motor shaft 113 that rotates in one direction and rotates. In the illustrated mechanism, a pin 115 is fixed upright on the pitch circle of the planetary gear 112, and the pin 115 is inserted into a hole in a rack 117. The rack 117 has linear guide portions 116 at both ends, and is capable of reciprocating linear motion regulated by the linear guide portions 116. A pinion gear 118 is engaged with the rack 117, and the rotation shaft of the pinion gear 118 is connected to the forward and reverse rotation drive section 11 described above.
Rotate and drive J-11A.

With this configuration, when the motor shaft 113 rotates, the pin 115 passes through the central axis of the internal gear 111 and makes a reciprocating linear movement with a stroke of the pitch circle diameter of the internal gear 111. This linear motion is converted into rotational motion by a rack 117 and a pinion gear 118, and is used as a forward/reverse rotation drive source.

Internal gear 111, planetary gear 112, drive motor shaft 11
Instead of the above-described reciprocating motion generating mechanism of the forward/reverse rotation drive unit 11 constituted by the lever 114, lever 114, and pin 115, a commonly used crank mechanism may be used. Furthermore, the forward/reverse rotation driving section 11 may be used by electrically rotating the motor in forward and reverse directions.

The reason why the housing 3 holding the ferrule is rotated forward and backward at a rotation angle of at least 360 degrees as described above is that when only the direction ① is rotated, the optical fiber is twisted in that one direction, and as a result This is because it will cause it to break. Therefore, if it is possible to rotate the entire optical fiber, the housing 3 holding the ferrule may be rotated in only one direction.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a drive mechanism for scanning the tapered member 9. The stage 5 is biased by the spring 14 to which tension has been applied in advance, and pressed against the tip of the head 15A of the micrometer type actuator 15.

Thus, the operation of stage 5 is 1. The position is restricted by the head 15A of the micrometer actuator 15. By rotating the micrometer actuator 15 forward and backward, the stage 5 is moved to the sixth position.
Move the protrusion 1 to the taper 9 surface at a constant speed from side to side in the figure.
0 can be scanned. Here, instead of the micrometer actuator 15 as the driving mechanism for scanning, the purpose can be sufficiently achieved by using a constant speed feeding mechanism using a generally used air damper.

The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine described above has a structure in which a cut is automatically made following a minute taper when the optical fiber connector end face is moved on the rough grinding wheel surface while being pressed against it. Therefore, the desired rough-machined surface and shape of the end face of the optical fiber connector can be obtained by simply scanning one stroke on the rough-machining grindstone surface. Therefore, unlike the conventional apparatus, a machine for repeatedly sliding the grinding wheel surface is not required, the mechanism can be simplified, and rough machining efficiency is also improved.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned optical fiber ferrule polishing machine is equipped with a chuck that fixes the ferrule that has the optical fiber in the center axis, making it easy to attach the optical fiber ferrule to the polishing machine, improving work efficiency. can be achieved.

Further, the ferrule is rotated, and its tip is pressed against the polishing surface of the grindstone according to the tapered member and polished. Therefore, since the ferrule tip is polished axially symmetrically about its rotation axis, a polished surface with excellent center symmetry can be obtained.

Conventional polishing equipment as shown in Figure 9 could only process at least three optical fiber ferrules, but the above-mentioned optical fiber ferrule polishing machine can polish even a single optical fiber ferrule. .

FIG. 7 shows an example of the appearance of a processing machine, in which (11) is a rough processing machine and 01 is a finishing machine.

Both can be carried and processed independently.

Furthermore, the two can be easily combined by the connecting member 16 and carried and processed as one processing machine.

In this way, by configuring the roughing machine and the finishing machine as independent processing machines, and by combining them and using them as a single device, we have realized miniaturization of the device and ease of handling. .

As described in detail, the optical fiber ferrule polishing machine of the present invention has the effect of polishing a single optical fiber connector with good reproducibility, high precision, high quality, and high work efficiency. has also been simplified. That is, in the optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to the present invention, a desired rough-machined surface can be obtained by scanning the rough-machined grindstone surface once.

Furthermore, the optical fiber connector can be fixed to the device by simply tightening screws, thereby improving the efficiency of the installation work.

Furthermore, since the ferrule is rotated and its tip pressed against the polishing surface for polishing, a polished surface with excellent center symmetry can be obtained.

Therefore, the optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to the present invention can be utilized in a wide range of fields.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a small polishing machine for optical fiber connectors according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating rough polishing cuts using a taper method. , Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of final polishing, Fig. 4 is an installation diagram of the optical fiber connector, Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the forward/reverse rotation drive mechanism, and Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the forward/reverse rotation drive mechanism. FIG. 7 is an external view of the device; FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of the ferrule portion of the optical fiber connector; FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the scanning mechanism of the tapered member; FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of main parts of a conventional polishing apparatus for polishing. (Main reference number)

Claims (18)

[Claims] (1) A polishing means having a polishing surface, a holding means for holding a ferrule to which an optical fiber is attached and fixed, and supporting the holding means so as to rotate freely on its axis so that the tip of the ferrule faces the polishing surface of the polishing means. a stage member for rotating the holding means; a stage mounting means for movably supporting the stage member so that the tip of the ferrule can press against the polishing surface of the polishing means; a deflecting means that applies a deflecting force to the stage member so as to press the tip of the ferrule against the polishing surface of the polishing means; a driven means fixed to the stage member; and a deflecting means caused by the shifting means. The profiling surface means that the driven means comes into contact with due to a displacement force, the stage member, and the profiling surface means are moved relative to each other in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of the displacement force of the stage member by the displacement means. An optical fiber ferrule polishing machine comprising: a displacement means for displacing the ferrule, and the tip of the ferrule is pressed against the polishing means and polished according to the tracing surface means. (2) The tracing surface means includes a first tracing surface that is parallel to the polishing surface of the polishing means and that holds the tip of the ferrule before polishing process away from the polishing surface of the polishing means; The tip of the ferrule is brought into contact with the polishing surface of the polishing means, and the holding means is tilted so as to gradually approach the polishing surface according to the relative displacement between the stage member and the tracing surface means. It has a second tracing surface and a third tracing surface parallel to the polishing surface so as to stop the holding means from approaching the polishing surface, and the three tracing surfaces are provided in succession. An optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to claim (1). (3) The tracing surface means is fixed, and the stage mounting means is movable substantially parallel to a portion of the polishing surface against which the tip of the ferrule is pressed. The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to item (1) or item (2). (4) The stage attachment means is attached to a support member that is rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the portion of the polishing surface against which the tip of the ferrule is pressed, and the support member is rotated about the axis. By angularly displacing the ferrule, the stage mounting means is displaced substantially parallel to the portion of the polishing surface against which the tip of the ferrule is pressed. The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to any one of items up to (3). (5) The displacement means includes a second displacement means that applies a displacement force in the direction of displacement of the stage member, and a head that contacts the stage against the force of the second displacement means. and a micrometer-type actuator, and by rotating the micrometer-type actuator, the head advances and retreats, and the stage mounting means is connected to the portion of the polishing surface against which the tip of the ferrule is pressed. Claim no.
The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to item 3) or item (4). (6) The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to claim (5), wherein the second shifting means is a coil spring that pulls the stage member in the direction of displacement of the stage member. (7) The stage mounting means is supported such that the central axis of the ferrule is adjustable in angle with respect to the normal to the portion of the polishing surface against which the tip of the ferrule is pressed. An optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to any one of claims (1) to (6). (8) The shifting means is a leaf spring that connects the stage member and the stage mounting means and exerts a spring force so as to press the stage member toward the polishing means. An optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to any one of claims (1) to (7). (9) The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to claim (8), wherein the plate springs are a pair of parallel plate springs. (10) Claim (1) characterized in that the holding means is a chuck that holds the ferrule.
The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to any one of paragraphs (9) to (9). (11) The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to claim (10), wherein the chuck is rotatably supported by the stage member via a ball bearing. (12) Any one of claims (1) to (11), characterized in that the rotational drive means is a forward/reverse drive means that alternately rotates the holding means forward and reverse. The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to item 1. (13) The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to claim (12), wherein the forward/reverse driving means is a reversible electric motor. (14) The forward/reverse rotation driving means includes a fixed internal gear, and a motor that rotates a shaft located at the central axis of the fixed internal gear.
A lever fixed to the shaft and 1/2 of the fixed internal gear
A planetary gear having a pitch circle diameter of 2 and rotatably supported by the lever and meshing with the fixed internal gear, a pin provided on the pitch circle of the planetary gear, and a straight line on the movement locus of the pin. Claim 12, characterized in that it is configured to include a rack that is displaceably supported and driven by the pin, and a pinion that meshes with the rack and rotationally drives the holding means. Optical fiber ferrule polishing machine described in ). (15) The driven means is a protrusion extending from the stage member, the tip of which comes into contact with the tracing surface means.
) The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to any one of the preceding items. (16) A small roller is rotatably provided at the tip of the protrusion of the driven means, and the small roller abuts the tracing surface means (15).
Optical fiber ferrule polishing machine as described in section. (17) The polishing means includes a rotation shaft perpendicular to the direction of displacement of the ferrule held by the holding means, a drive motor that drives the rotation shaft, and a drive motor attached to the rotation shaft and polishing the peripheral surface. Claims (1) to (16) characterized in that the invention comprises a grindstone provided with a surface.
The optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to any one of the preceding paragraphs. (18) The polishing means includes a rotating shaft parallel to the displacement direction of the ferrule held by the holding means, a drive motor that drives the rotating shaft, and a rotating plate attached to the rotating shaft. an abrasive-supporting sheet stretched on the rotary plate at right angles to the direction of displacement of the ferrule held by the holding means; and an abrasive-supplying means for supplying abrasive to the abrasive-supporting sheet. An optical fiber ferrule polishing machine according to any one of claims (1) to (16).