CN112764169A

CN112764169A - Optical fiber connector and optical fiber connecting structure

Info

Publication number: CN112764169A
Application number: CN202110214540.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张迪
Original assignee: Wuhan E Service Photoelectric Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Wuhan E Service Photoelectric Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2021-02-25
Filing date: 2021-02-25
Publication date: 2021-05-07

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of optical fiber communication, and discloses an optical fiber connector and an optical fiber connecting structure, which are created by the invention and provide a novel optical fiber connector design scheme capable of unlocking based on a rotating structure, namely, a lock clip arranged outside a connecting shell is designed into a front feeler arm which can realize locking and fastening with an adapter side locking structure by utilizing elastic deformation recovery action and realize frictionless unlocking of a latch and the adapter side locking structure by utilizing a seesaw principle, so that the locking relation of the latch on a connector end and the locking structure on an adapter end can be ensured to be fastened on one hand, and the latch and the locking structure are separated back and forth gradually in the unlocking process, so that the friction force can be reduced gradually, the mechanical abrasion of a locking part in the unlocking process can be avoided, and the service life of the connector is prolonged, the coupling precision of the connector and the adapter and the optical fiber communication transmission effect are guaranteed when the connector and the adapter are used in subsequent connection.

Description

Optical fiber connector and optical fiber connecting structure

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of optical fiber communication, relates to a connector and an adapter product which are packaged in a miniaturized mode and are used for optical fiber physical butt joint, and particularly relates to an optical fiber connector and an optical fiber connecting structure.

Background

The connection between the optical fiber and the connection between the optical fiber and the equipment are basically realized through the connector, and with the explosive increase of information internet and cloud service, the requirement of the optical fiber connection density is continuously improved, namely, more paths of optical fiber connection are realized in a unit volume.

At present, when the optical fiber connector and the adapter are unlocked in the traditional optical fiber connection structure, the connector elastic sheet can be separated from the corresponding matching structure of the adapter only after being further forcibly extruded and deformed, and then unlocking is realized. Therefore, at the moment of unlocking, the connector elastic sheet bears overlarge extrusion deformation pressure, so that the yield strength of the connector elastic sheet is required to be far greater than that required by the connector and the adapter in a working state; on the other hand, at the moment of unlocking, the connector elastic sheet and the adapter matching structure are forcibly extruded, mechanical abrasion of the connector elastic sheet and the adapter matching structure can be caused, mechanical reference positions of the connector and the adapter can be moved due to overlarge mechanical abrasion, and therefore coupling accuracy of the connector and the adapter is influenced. For example, as shown in fig. 1, when unlocking, a connector dome 100 needs to be pressed downward, which causes a snap structure 1001 on the connector dome 100 and engaged with an adapter to be further forcibly pressed, thereby greatly increasing the friction force between the snap structure 1001 and the adapter engagement structure 200, and when the connector dome 100 is continuously pressed downward, the snap structure 1001 passively overcomes the friction force with the adapter engagement structure 200 until coming out of the adapter engagement structure 200, and then pulls the LC connector backward, so as to unlock the LC connector and the LC adapter.

Therefore, there is still room for improvement in the existing optical fiber connector and optical fiber connection structure, and the structure and the usage thereof should be optimized, so as to simplify the connector and the connection structure and optimize the usage thereof. Therefore, a more reasonable technical scheme is required to be provided to solve the technical problems in the prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problem that the coupling precision of a connector and an adapter is affected due to the fact that the existing optical fiber connecting structure is prone to mechanical abrasion in the unlocking process, the invention aims to provide the novel optical fiber connector and the optical fiber connecting structure capable of being unlocked based on the rotating structure, the mechanical abrasion in the unlocking process can be avoided, and the service life of the connector and the coupling precision of the connector and the adapter in the connecting and using process can be further guaranteed.

In a first aspect, the technical scheme adopted by the invention is as follows:

an optical fiber connector comprises a connecting shell, an extension supporting body, a locking clamp, an elastic piece and a latch height control piece, wherein the connecting shell is used for being matched with a connecting cavity of an adapter end in an inserting mode;

the lock clip buckle comprises a rotating shaft, a latch and a position making part, wherein the latch, the rotating shaft and the position making part are sequentially arranged at intervals in the front-to-rear direction and are sequentially and fixedly connected, and the insertion direction of the front-to-rear direction in the insertion fit is opposite to that of the insertion fit;

the rotating shaft is installed in the shaft hole in a rotating fit mode, the latch can be rotatably movable in a first space located in front of the shaft hole and can be in locking fit with a locking structure in the adapter end connecting cavity when the latch is above a height threshold value in an extension direction and can be unlocked from the locking structure when the latch is below the height threshold value, and the detent part can be rotatably movable in a second space located behind the shaft hole;

the elastic piece is positioned in the first space or the second space and used for enabling the latch to be reset to be above the height threshold value through deformation recovery, and the extension direction is perpendicular to the front-to-rear direction;

the latch height control part is used for controlling the height of the detent part in the extending direction so as to control the height of the latch in the extending direction through a rotating action.

Based on the above invention, a novel optical fiber connector design scheme capable of unlocking based on a rotary structure is provided, namely, the locking clip arranged outside the connecting shell is designed into a structure which can realize locking and fastening with the locking structure at the side of the adapter by utilizing the elastic deformation recovery function, but also can utilize the seesaw principle to realize the front probing arm of the non-friction unlocking of the latch and the adapter side locking structure, it is possible to ensure, on the one hand, that the locking relationship of the latch on the connector end and the locking structure on the adapter end is firm and, on the other hand, that the latch and the locking structure are gradually disengaged away from each other during unlocking, resulting in a gradual reduction of the friction, therefore, mechanical abrasion to the locking part in the unlocking process can be avoided, the service life of the connector is prolonged, and the coupling precision of the connector and the adapter and the optical fiber communication transmission effect in the subsequent connection use are guaranteed; in addition, through aforementioned lock clip structural design, can also need not to require the locking structure of adapter end to have elastic characteristic, no longer need set up the elasticity buckle promptly at the adapter end, and then can expand the material selection scope of adapter end to solve the electromagnetic interference problem that the adapter end exists at present through setting to electromagnetic shield's structure.

Preferably, a lower surface of the detent portion is provided with a downwardly protruding boss, a lower surface of the latch height control member is in sliding contact with a bottom surface of the second space in the extending direction, an upper surface of the latch height control member extends in the front-to-rear direction in a curved manner, and a front upper surface height of the latch height control member in the extending direction is different from a rear upper surface height of the latch height control member, so that by moving the latch height control member in the front-to-rear direction, an abutting position of the upper surface of the latch height control member with the boss is changed, and a height of the detent portion in the extending direction is controlled.

Preferably, the front region of the lower surface of the detent portion is provided with a cavity, the front upper surface of the latch height control member is configured with a convex surface which is in smooth transition and can be placed in the cavity, the rear upper surface of the latch height control member is lower than the convex surface in the extension direction, and the rear upper surface of the latch height control member is abutted against the boss before unlocking, so that the abutting position is smoothly moved from the rear upper surface of the latch height control member to the convex surface by pulling the latch height control member in the front-to-rear direction, and the height of the detent portion in the extension direction is further controlled.

Preferably, the tail part of the latch height control element is provided with a first limiting boss and a second limiting boss, and the connecting shell is provided with a pulling-out surface which is in limiting fit with the first limiting boss during unlocking and an inserting surface which is in limiting fit with the second limiting boss during locking;

when the extension supporting bodies, the locking clips and the latch height control members are symmetrically arranged on the outer surfaces of the two opposite sides of the connecting shell, the tail parts of the two symmetrically arranged latch height control members are respectively connected through the hollow body, the two first limiting bosses in the symmetrical arrangement are aligned with each other, and the two second limiting bosses in the symmetrical arrangement are aligned with or overlapped with each other, so that the two latches in the symmetrical arrangement are synchronously rotated by pushing and pulling the hollow body and synchronously moving the two latch height control members in the symmetrical arrangement.

Preferably, the elastic element is configured as a cantilever structure and is located between the bottom surface of the first space in the extension direction and the latch, wherein one end of the cantilever structure is fixedly connected to the middle bottom surface of the latch, and the other end of the cantilever structure contacts the front bottom surface of the first space, or one end of the cantilever structure is fixedly connected to the front bottom surface of the first space, and the other end of the cantilever structure contacts the middle bottom surface of the latch;

when the latch is in locking fit with the locking structure, the elastic piece is still in a deformed state to be recovered, so that the boss compresses the upper surface of the latch height control piece.

Preferably, the outwardly extending end face of the extension support body is provided with an installation guide notch communicated with the shaft hole, so that the rotating shaft can be detachably installed in or unloaded from the shaft hole through the installation guide notch. And then can conveniently be with whole the lock clip is installed connect the outside of casing or will whole the lock clip follow connect the outside of casing and dismantle, do benefit to change damage or damage the lock clip is detained.

Preferably, the upper surface of lock clip is provided with be in be the direction key that upwards protruding structure or be the undercut structure on the direction of extension, so that connect the casing and insert when adapter end connection chamber, make the direction key can with in the adapter end connection chamber and be the undercut structure or be the direction key cooperation body one-to-one of the protruding structure of making progress on the direction of extension.

Further optimally, when the extension supporting body, the lock clamp and the latch height control piece are symmetrically arranged on the outer surfaces of the two opposite sides of the connecting shell, the outward extending end face of the extension supporting body is provided with an installation guide-in notch communicated with the shaft hole, so that when the polarity of the optical fiber inside the connecting shell needs to be changed, the rotating shaft of the lock clamp with the direction key is unloaded from the currently loaded shaft hole through the installation guide-in notch, and then the rotating shaft of the lock clamp is loaded into another shaft hole symmetrically distributed with the currently loaded shaft hole.

Preferably, the rotating shaft is arranged in the middle of the lock clip and is configured into a left-right symmetrical cylindrical shape;

the latch is arranged at the front part of the lock clip and extends towards the extension direction to form a latch surface which is vertical or approximately vertical to the front-to-back direction;

the positioning part is arranged at the rear part of the lock clip and is used for driving the latch to rotate around the central shaft of the shaft hole towards the direction close to the connecting shell under the action of the latch height control piece, so that the latch surface is far away from the locking surface on the locking structure, and the locking relation between the latch and the locking structure is released until the latch is below the height threshold.

In a second aspect, the invention adopts the technical scheme that:

an optical fiber connection structure comprises an optical fiber adapter and at least one optical fiber connector in the first aspect, wherein a plurality of adapter end connection cavities in the first aspect are formed in the plugging end face of the optical fiber adapter;

the connecting shells of the optical fiber connectors are inserted into the connecting cavities of the adapter ends in a one-to-one correspondence manner.

The invention has the beneficial effects that:

(1) the invention provides a novel optical fiber connector design scheme capable of unlocking based on a rotating structure, namely, the locking clip arranged outside the connecting shell is designed into a structure which can realize locking and fastening with the locking structure at the side of the adapter by utilizing the elastic deformation recovery function, but also can utilize the seesaw principle to realize the front probing arm of the non-friction unlocking of the latch and the adapter side locking structure, it is possible to ensure, on the one hand, that the locking relationship of the latch on the connector end and the locking structure on the adapter end is firm and, on the other hand, that the latch and the locking structure are gradually disengaged away from each other during unlocking, resulting in a gradual reduction of the friction, therefore, mechanical abrasion to the locking part in the unlocking process can be avoided, the service life of the connector is prolonged, and the coupling precision of the connector and the adapter and the optical fiber communication transmission effect in the subsequent connection use are guaranteed;

(2) through the design of the locking and clamping structure, the locking structure of the adapter end can be free from the requirement of having the elastic characteristic, namely, the elastic clamping buckle is not required to be arranged at the adapter end, so that the material selection range of the adapter end can be expanded, and the problem of electromagnetic interference existing at the current adapter end can be solved by arranging the structure of electromagnetic shielding;

(3) the connection and disconnection of the connector end and the adapter end can be realized by advancing or retreating the latch height control element along a straight line, so that the operation mode is simpler and more convenient;

(4) the symmetrical locking relation formed on the two sides can be further conveniently and synchronously unlocked, and the locking relation is enhanced, and meanwhile, the connection and disconnection can be conveniently realized;

(5) the optical fiber connector also has the advantages that the locking clip is convenient to assemble and disassemble, the unlocking by mistake can be prevented, the direction key can be flexibly changed (namely, the polarity of the connector can be conveniently changed), the size of the connecting part is favorably reduced, and the like, and the practical application and popularization are facilitated.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a force analysis diagram of a process before and after unlocking a connector and an adapter in a conventional optical fiber connection structure.

Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a first optical fiber connector provided in the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a first optical fiber connector according to the present invention in a disassembled structure.

Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a core assembly in a split structure of a first optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first optical fiber connector and an adapter provided by the present invention before plugging.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a disassembled structure of the connection housing in the first optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a connection housing in a first optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a front cross-sectional view of the connection housing of the first fiber optic connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the rear portion of the connection housing of the first optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a locking clip without a direction key in a first optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a first fiber optic connector latch according to the present invention without a directional key.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a locking clip with a direction key in a first fiber optic connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a side view of the latch height control member of the first fiber optic connector of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a top view of the latch height control member of the first fiber optic connector of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a schematic force analysis diagram of the process before and after unlocking the connector and the adapter in the optical fiber connection structure based on the first optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of a second optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a second optical fiber connector provided in the present invention.

Fig. 18 is a front perspective view of a connection housing in a second fiber optic connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 19 is a front perspective view of a connection housing in a third fiber optic connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 20 is a cross-sectional view of a latching clip of a third fiber optic connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 21 is a schematic view of a first arrangement of a ferrule assembly and a locking clip in an optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 22 is a schematic view of a second arrangement of the ferrule assembly and the locking clip of the optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 23 is a schematic view of a third arrangement of the ferrule assembly and the locking clip of the optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 24 is a schematic view of a fourth arrangement of the ferrule assembly and the locking clip of the optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 25 is a schematic view of a fifth arrangement of the ferrule assembly and the locking clip of the optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 26 is a schematic view of a sixth arrangement of the ferrule assembly and the locking clip of the optical fiber connector according to the present invention.

Fig. 27 is a schematic perspective view of an optical fiber connection structure according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

The invention is further described with reference to the following figures and specific embodiments. It should be noted that the description of the embodiments is provided to help understanding of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merely representative of exemplary embodiments of the invention. This invention may, however, be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

It should be understood that, for the term "and/or" as may appear herein, it is merely an associative relationship that describes an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, B exists alone, and A and B exist at the same time; for the term "/and" as may appear herein, which describes another associative object relationship, it means that two relationships may exist, e.g., a/and B, may mean: a exists independently, and A and B exist independently; in addition, for the character "/" that may appear herein, it generally means that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to herein as being "connected," "connected," or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. Conversely, if a unit is referred to herein as being "directly connected" or "directly coupled" to another unit, it is intended that no intervening units are present. In addition, other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a similar manner (e.g., "between … …" versus "directly between … …", "adjacent" versus "directly adjacent", etc.).

It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes" and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, quantities, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, quantities, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the figures may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

It should be understood that specific details are provided in the following description to facilitate a thorough understanding of example embodiments. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the example embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, systems may be shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure the examples in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known processes, structures and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring example embodiments.

Example one

As shown in fig. 2 to 15, the first optical fiber connector provided in this embodiment includes a connection housing 1 for being inserted into and matched with an adapter end connection cavity 2, and further includes an extension supporting body 11, a locking clip 12, an elastic member 124, and a latch height control member 13, where the extension supporting body 11 is fixed on an outer surface of the connection housing 1, and an axial hole 111 is formed at an outwardly extending end of the extension supporting body 11; the lock clip 12 includes a rotating shaft 121, a latch 122 and a positioning portion 123, wherein the latch 122, the rotating shaft 121 and the positioning portion 123 are sequentially disposed at intervals and sequentially and fixedly connected in a front-to-rear direction, and the insertion direction of the front-to-rear direction is opposite to that of the insertion fit; the rotating shaft 121 is installed in the shaft hole 111 in a rotating fit manner, the latch 122 is capable of rotating and moving in a first space 112 located in front of the shaft hole 111, and is capable of locking and moving in a locking fit with the locking structure 21 in the adapter end connection chamber 2 when the latch 122 is above a height threshold in an extension direction, and is capable of unlocking the locking structure 21 when the latch 122 is below the height threshold, and the detent 123 is capable of rotating and moving in a second space 113 located behind the shaft hole 111; the elastic element 124 is located in the first space 112, and the elastic element 124 is used for enabling the latch 122 to be reset above the height threshold value through a deformation recovery effect, wherein the extension direction is perpendicular to the front-to-rear direction; the latch height control member 13 is used for controlling the height of the detent portion 123 in the extending direction, so as to control the height of the latch 122 in the extending direction through a rotating action.

As shown in fig. 2 to 15, in the specific structure of the first optical fiber connector, the connection housing 1 is an essential component of an existing optical fiber connector, and in order to implement a normal optical fiber connection function, at least one ferrule assembly 3 and at least one elastic abutting member 4 need to be disposed inside the connection housing 1, where the at least one elastic abutting member 4 is in one-to-one correspondence with the at least one ferrule assembly 3, and the elastic abutting member 4 is used for abutting against the corresponding ferrule assembly 3; the ferrule assembly 3 at least includes a ferrule 31, a tail handle 32 and an optical fiber 33, wherein the number of the ferrule 31 is at least one and can be but is not limited to a ceramic ferrule, a plastic ferrule or an MT ferrule (i.e. a ferrule made of MT series material), etc., the tail handle 32 is used for fixing the ferrule 31 after assembly, and the optical fiber 33 is inserted into and penetrates through the inner cavities of the ferrule 31 and the tail handle 32; the tail handle 32 is provided with a polygonal body 321, a tail handle outer diameter body 322, a tail handle elastic stop surface 323, an angle adjusting groove 324 and a ferrule stop surface 325, wherein the polygonal body 321 is used for being in plugging fit with the third hole 193 which is arranged on the connection housing 1 and has a polygonal structure, the tail handle outer diameter body 322 is used for abutting against the elastic abutting member 4, the tail handle elastic stop surface 323 is used for tightly pressing one end surface of the elastic abutting member 4, the angle adjusting groove 324 is used for facilitating the adjustment of the circumferential angle of the ferrule assembly 3 in the connection housing 1 by using a tool, and the ferrule stop surface 325 is used for preventing the whole tail handle 32 from passing through the first step surface 181 of the connection housing 1. Furthermore, in the front-to-rear direction, the connection housing 1 may be specifically divided into a connection housing front 171 and a connection housing rear 172, wherein the connection housing front 171 is provided with a window 1711, and the connection housing rear 172 is provided with a snap 1721 snap-fitted with the window 1711, so as to ensure the assembly stability of the connection housing front 171 and the connection housing rear 172; the interior of the front portion 171 of the connecting housing is further provided with a first hole 191, a second hole 192, a third hole 193 and a fourth hole 194 in sequence along the front-to-rear direction, wherein the second hole 192 is circular and transits to the third hole 193 through the first step surface 181; the connection housing rear 172 is further provided with a front face 1722 and a through cavity 1723, wherein the front face 1722 is used for blocking the elastic abutting member 4, and the through cavity 1723 is used for receiving the optical fiber 33.

As shown in fig. 5, in the specific structure of the first optical fiber connector, the adapter end connection cavity 2 is an essential component of the existing optical fiber adapter, and in order to implement a normal optical fiber connection function, at least the locking structure 21 and the adapter socket for butting against the ferrule assembly 3 are arranged in the adapter end connection cavity 2, so that the connector end moves along a straight line to implement connection (i.e. moves forward along a straight line) or disconnection (i.e. moves backward along a straight line) with the adapter end.

As shown in fig. 15, the extension support 11 is used to provide a fulcrum for the rotation of the locking clip 12 (i.e., the rotation around the central axis of the shaft hole 111), and may be, but not limited to, a plate shape symmetrically disposed at left and right sides. The shaft hole 111 is preferably a circular hole to reduce friction with the rotary shaft 121 during rotation. The first space 112 is used to provide a moving space for the rotation of the latch 122, and the bottom surface of the first space in the extending direction can prevent the latch 122 from moving further to the lower position, and in addition, the first space can include a groove space formed on the outer surface of the connecting housing 1. The second space 113 is used to provide a moving space for the rotation of the detent portion 123, and the bottom position of the detent portion in the extending direction has a correlation with the highest position of the latch 122 in the extending direction (i.e. by different position structure designs, the bottom position may be a negative correlation or a positive correlation, and the position structure shown in the drawings in the specification reflects the negative correlation, i.e. the lower the bottom position is, the higher the highest position is). The lock clip 12, through the design of the rotating shaft 121, the latch 122, the positioning portion 123 and the elastic member 124, forms a front probe arm which can realize locking and fastening with the adapter side locking structure by utilizing elastic deformation recovery action and can realize frictionless unlocking of the latch and the adapter side locking structure by utilizing a seesaw principle, that is, on one hand, the latch 122 can be reset to be above the height threshold value by utilizing the deformation recovery action of the elastic member 124 to ensure that the locking relation of the latch 122 and the locking structure 21 is fastened, on the other hand, when the positioning portion 123 is lifted by utilizing the latch height control member 13 in the extension direction, the latch 122 is driven to rotate around the central axis of the shaft hole 111 towards the direction close to the connecting shell 1 (at this time, the elastic member 124 is further extruded and deformed), therefore, the latch 122 is far away from the locking structure 21, until the latch 122 is below the height threshold, the locking relationship between the latch 122 and the locking structure 21 is released, and since the latch 122 and the locking structure 21 are gradually separated away from each other in the unlocking process, the friction force is gradually reduced, mechanical abrasion to locking parts in the unlocking process can be avoided, the service life of the connector is prolonged, and the coupling precision of the connector and an adapter and the optical fiber communication transmission effect in the subsequent connection use are guaranteed.

Specifically, the rotating shaft 121 is disposed in the middle of the lock clip 12 and is configured in a left-right symmetrical cylindrical shape; the latch 122 is disposed at the front of the lock clip 12, and extends in the extending direction to form a latch face 1221 perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the front-to-back direction; the positioning portion 123 is disposed at the rear of the lock clip 12, and is used for driving the latch 122 to rotate around the central axis of the axial hole 111 toward the connecting housing 1 under the action of the latch height control member 13, so that the latch surface 1221 is away from the locking surface on the locking structure 21, and the locking relationship between the latch 122 and the locking structure 21 is released until the latch 122 is below the height threshold.

In addition, in the conventional optical fiber connection structure, for the optical fiber connectors such as SC type connector and MPO type connector, the elastic clip is required to be disposed at the adapter end, but the elastic property of the elastic clip requires that the used material is a plastic material with good reliability and elasticity, while the existing plastic material is very deficient in the isolation of electromagnetic shielding, and further, the plastic material is very deficient in good heat dissipation performance while having relatively good electromagnetic shielding performance (so if there is an adapter that allows no elastic clip structure, the adapter can avoid using the elastic material with poor electromagnetic shielding performance and heat conduction performance, and can be made of metal or metal-like material with good electromagnetic shielding performance and heat conduction performance). Therefore, through the design of the locking clamping structure of the first optical fiber connector, the locking structure 21 of the adapter end can be free from the requirement of having the elastic characteristic, namely, the elastic clamping buckle is not required to be arranged at the adapter end any more, and then the material selection range of the adapter end can be expanded, so that the problem of electromagnetic interference existing at present at the adapter end can be solved through the structure arranged as an electromagnetic shield. In addition, by reducing the left and right width of the locking clip 12 and disposing the locking clip 12 on the outer surface of the connection housing 1 up and down, it is also possible to facilitate reduction of the left and right width of the entire connector end, thereby reducing the size of the connection.

Preferably, the lower surface of the positioning portion 123 is provided with a downwardly protruding boss 1231, the lower surface of the latch height control member 13 is in sliding contact with the bottom surface of the second space 113 in the extending direction, the upper surface of the latch height control member 13 extends in a curved manner in the front-to-rear direction, and the height of the front upper surface of the latch height control member 13 in the extending direction is different from the height of the rear upper surface, so that the abutting position of the upper surface of the latch height control member 13 and the boss 1231 is changed by moving the latch height control member 13 in the front-to-rear direction, thereby controlling the height of the positioning portion 123 in the extending direction. As shown in fig. 10 to 14, the bottom surface of the boss 1231 extends smoothly in the front-to-rear direction, and both pulling the latch height control member 13 backwards in the front-to-rear direction and pushing the latch height control member 13 forwards can raise the height of the abutting position in the extending direction, so as to raise the height of the positioning portion 123 in the extending direction, and drive the latch 122 to rotate around the central axis of the shaft hole 111 in the direction approaching the connecting housing 1, thereby achieving the unlocking purpose of the present embodiment. In addition, after the pulling back or pushing forward is stopped, since the elastic member 124 has been further deformed by compression, the latch 122 can be reset above the height threshold by the deformation recovery action, and the detent portion 123 and the latch height control member 13 are also reset, at which time the abutting position is automatically lowered.

Preferably, the front area of the lower surface of the positioning portion 123 is opened with a cavity 1232, the front upper surface of the latch height control member 13 is configured with a convex surface 131 which is smoothly transited and can be placed in the cavity 1232, the rear upper surface of the latch height control member 13 is lower than the convex surface 131 in the extension direction, and the rear upper surface of the latch height control member 13 is abutted against the boss 1231 before unlocking, so that the abutting position is smoothly moved from the rear upper surface of the latch height control member 13 to the convex surface 131 by pulling the latch height control member 13 in the front-to-rear direction, and the height of the positioning portion 123 in the extension direction is controlled. As shown in fig. 10 to 14, the cavity 1232 is used for preventing the left-right deviation of the entire latch height control member 13 when the latch height control member 13 is moved linearly, so as to ensure the stability of the action of the relevant components during the unlocking process. Meanwhile, through the specific design, the latch height control piece 13 can be pulled backwards from the front to the rear to lift the height of the abutting position in the extension direction, so that the unlocking purpose of the embodiment is realized. Furthermore, the latch height control member 13 acts as an unlocking tool and may not be installed in advance on the connector end if it is not required to be frequently unlocked after locking; if the connector needs to be unlocked frequently after being locked, the connector needs to be installed at a corresponding position on the connector end in advance, so that the unlocking purpose of the embodiment is achieved.

Preferably, the elastic member 124 is configured as a cantilever structure and is located between the bottom surface of the first space 112 in the extension direction and the latch 122, wherein one end of the cantilever structure is fixedly connected to the middle bottom surface of the lock clip 12, and the other end of the cantilever structure contacts the front bottom surface of the first space 112; the resilient member 124 remains deformed to a restored condition when the latch 122 is in locking engagement with the locking structure 21 so that the boss 1231 presses against the upper surface of the latch height control member 13. As shown in fig. 10 to 12, the elastic member 124 can have a deformation recovery capability when in a compressed state by the design of the cantilever structure, so as to achieve the purpose of automatic reset in this embodiment. Meanwhile, as the elastic element 124 presses the upper surface of the latch height control element 13 when the latch 122 is in locking engagement with the locking structure 21, a certain static friction force may exist between the lower surface of the latch height control element 13 and the bottom surface of the second space 113 in the extension direction, and if the push-pull force acting on the latch height control element 13 is smaller than the static friction force, the latch height control element 13 may be kept immobile, thereby avoiding the mis-unlocking of the connector end and the adapter end. In addition, the elastic member 124 may also adopt a spring or other similar structures to achieve the automatic resetting object of the present embodiment, for example, the elastic member 124 is configured as a tension spring structure and is located between the bottom surface of the second space 113 in the extending direction and the positioning portion 123, wherein one end of the tension spring structure is fixedly connected to the bottom surface of the lock clip 12, and the other end of the tension spring structure is fixedly connected to the bottom surface of the second space 113, so that the elastic member 124 has a deformation recovery capability when in a stretched state, thereby achieving the automatic resetting object of the present embodiment.

Preferably, the tail of the latch height control member 13 is provided with a first limit boss 132 and a second limit boss 133, and the connecting shell 1 is provided with a pulling-out surface 14 for limiting and matching with the first limit boss 132 when unlocking and an inserting surface 15 for limiting and matching with the second limit boss 133 when locking. As shown in fig. 7 to 9 and 14, the first limit projection 132 is in limit fit with the extraction surface 14 to prevent the whole latch height control member 13 from being excessively extracted during unlocking, and the second limit projection 133 is in limit fit with the insertion surface 15 to prevent the whole latch height control member 13 from being excessively inserted during locking, which is detrimental to subsequent pulling and unlocking.

Preferably, an installation guide notch 114 communicating with the shaft hole 111 is formed in the outwardly extending end surface of the extension support 11, so that the rotating shaft 121 can be detachably installed in or removed from the shaft hole 111 through the installation guide notch 114. As shown in fig. 3 and 6, since the lock clip 12 is rotatably connected to the connecting housing 1 only through the fitting relationship between the rotating shaft 121 and the shaft hole 111, the specific design of the installation guide slot 114 facilitates installation of the entire lock clip 12 on the outside of the connecting housing 1 or removal of the entire lock clip 12 from the outside of the connecting housing 1, thereby facilitating replacement of the damaged or damaged lock clip 12. In addition, the rotating shaft 121 and the shaft hole 111 can be smoothly rotated by a specific size design, and the rotating shaft 121 can pass through the installation guide notch 114 and be installed in the shaft hole 111 when being subjected to a certain pressure, or pass through the installation guide notch 114 and be discharged out of the shaft hole 111 when being subjected to a certain tensile force.

Preferably, the upper surface of the lock clip 12 is provided with a direction key 125 which is upward convex structure or downward concave structure in the extending direction, so that the connecting shell 1 is inserted into the adapter end connecting cavity 2, the direction key 125 can be in the adapter end connecting cavity 2 and be in the direction key matching body one-to-one correspondence in the extending direction which is downward concave structure or upward convex structure. As shown in fig. 12, the direction key 125 is used to mark the polarity of the optical fiber inside the connection housing 1, so as to ensure the correct plugging of the connector end and the adapter end through the corresponding mating relationship between the direction key 125 and the direction key mating body.

Preferably, when the extension supporting body 11, the locking clip 12 and the latch height control member 13 are symmetrically disposed on the outer surfaces of the two opposite sides of the connecting shell 1, an installation guiding notch 114 communicating with the shaft hole 111 is opened on the outward extending end surface of the extension supporting body 11, so that when the polarity of the optical fiber inside the connecting shell 1 needs to be changed, the rotating shaft 121 of the locking clip 12 with the direction key 125 is removed from the currently installed shaft hole 111 through the installation guiding notch 114, and then the rotating shaft 121 of the locking clip 12 is installed in another shaft hole 111 symmetrically disposed with the currently installed shaft hole 111. Through the design, the external direction keys can be conveniently exchanged at any time according to the polarity of the optical fiber inside the connecting shell 1, so that the optical fiber connector is convenient to use practically and flexibly. As shown in fig. 5, since the upper locking clip 12 is provided with the direction key 125 and the lower locking clip 12 is not provided with the direction key 125, if the polarity of the optical fiber inside the connector end is changed, the upper locking clip 12 and the lower locking clip 12 can be exchanged with each other, thereby conveniently exchanging the polarity of the connector.

To sum up, adopt the first kind of fiber connector that this embodiment provided, have following technological effect:

(1) the present embodiments provide a new fiber optic connector design that enables unlocking based on a rotational structure, namely, the locking clip arranged outside the connecting shell is designed into a structure which can realize locking and fastening with the locking structure at the side of the adapter by utilizing the elastic deformation recovery function, but also can utilize the seesaw principle to realize the front probing arm of the non-friction unlocking of the latch and the adapter side locking structure, it is possible to ensure, on the one hand, that the locking relationship of the latch on the connector end and the locking structure on the adapter end is firm and, on the other hand, that the latch and the locking structure are gradually disengaged away from each other during unlocking, resulting in a gradual reduction of the friction, therefore, mechanical abrasion to the locking part in the unlocking process can be avoided, the service life of the connector is prolonged, and the coupling precision of the connector and the adapter and the optical fiber communication transmission effect in the subsequent connection use are guaranteed;

(4) the optical fiber connector also has the advantages that the locking clip is convenient to assemble and disassemble, the unlocking by mistake can be prevented, the direction key can be flexibly changed (namely, the polarity of the connector can be conveniently changed), the size of the connecting part is favorably reduced, and the like, and the practical application and popularization are facilitated.

Example two

As shown in fig. 16 to 18, in the present embodiment, on the basis of the technical solution of the first embodiment, a second optical fiber connector is provided, which is different from the technical solution of the first embodiment in that: the first limit boss 132 and the extraction surface 14 adopt another limit matching structure, and the second limit boss 133 and the insertion surface 15 adopt another limit matching structure; when the extension support 11, the locking clip 12 and the latch height control member 13 are symmetrically disposed on the outer surfaces of the opposite sides of the connection housing 1, the tail portions of the two symmetrically disposed latch height control members 13 are respectively connected by the hollow body 16, and the two symmetrically disposed first position-limiting bosses 132 are aligned with each other, and the two symmetrically disposed second position-limiting bosses 133 are aligned with or coincide with each other, so that the two symmetrically disposed latches 122 are synchronously rotated by pushing and pulling the hollow body 16 to synchronously move the two symmetrically disposed latch height control members 13. Therefore, by means of the structural design, the symmetrical locking relation formed on the two sides can be further conveniently and synchronously unlocked, and the locking relation is strengthened, and meanwhile, the connection and disconnection can be still conveniently carried out.

The technical effect of the present embodiment is based on the technical effect of the first embodiment, and further has the following technical effects: (1) the symmetrical locking relation formed on the two sides can be further conveniently and synchronously unlocked, and the locking relation is enhanced, and meanwhile, the connection and disconnection can be conveniently realized.

EXAMPLE III

As shown in fig. 19 to 20, in the present embodiment, on the basis of the second technical solution, a third optical fiber connector is provided, which is different from the second technical solution in that: one end of the cantilever structure is fixedly connected to the front bottom surface of the first space 112, and the other end of the cantilever structure is contacted to the middle bottom surface of the lock clip 12, i.e. the elastic member 124 is separated from the lock clip 12. Therefore, through the structural design, the elastic element 124 can also have the deformation recovery capability in the extrusion state, and the purpose of automatic resetting of the embodiment is achieved.

The technical effect of the present embodiment can be directly derived by referring to the technical effects of the second embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Example four

As shown in fig. 21 to 26, this embodiment provides various layout ways of the ferrule assembly and the locking clip in the optical fiber connector based on the technical solutions of the first, second or third embodiments, that is, the number and distribution of the ferrule assemblies 3 are irrelevant to the number and distribution of the lock clasps 12, for example, when the number of the ferrule assemblies 3 is two, two of the locking clips 12 may be disposed in an up-down symmetrical relationship on the outer surface of the connection housing 1 as shown in fig. 21, two of the locking clips 12 may be disposed in a left-right symmetrical relationship on the outer surface of the connection housing 1 as shown in fig. 22, a single locking clip 12 may be disposed only on the upper outer surface of the connection housing 1 as shown in fig. 23, and a single said locking clip 12 as shown in figure 24 and arranged only on the right outer surface of said connection housing 1; for another example, when the number of the ferrule assemblies 3 is single, two of the lock clasps 12 may be arranged in an up-down symmetrical relationship on the outer surface of the connection housing 1 as shown in fig. 25, a single lock clasp 12 may be arranged only on the upper outer surface of the connection housing 1 as shown in fig. 26, and so on.

The technical effects of the present embodiment can be directly derived by referring to the technical effects of the first, second, or third embodiments, and are not described herein again.

EXAMPLE five

As shown in fig. 27, this embodiment provides an optical fiber connection structure based on the technical solutions of the first, second, third, or fourth embodiments, including an optical fiber adapter 20 and at least one optical fiber connector 10 according to any one of the first to fourth embodiments, wherein a plurality of adapter end connection cavities 2 according to any one of the first to fourth embodiments are formed on the insertion end surface of the optical fiber adapter 20; the connection housings 1 of the optical fiber connectors 10 are inserted into the adapter end connection cavities 2 in a one-to-one correspondence. As shown in fig. 27, the optical fiber adapter 20 is an active module with four adapter end connection cavities 2, and can be plugged with one to four different optical fiber connectors 10. In addition, the fiber optic adapter 20 is preferably configured as an electromagnetic shielding structure based on metal or similar metal material with good electromagnetic shielding and thermal conductivity, so as to solve the electromagnetic interference problem existing at the adapter end.

The technical effects of the present embodiment can be directly derived by referring to the technical effects of the first, second, third, or fourth embodiments, and are not described herein again.

The various embodiments described above are merely illustrative, and may or may not be physically separate, as they relate to elements illustrated as separate components; if reference is made to a component displayed as a unit, it may or may not be a physical unit, and may be located in one place or distributed over a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment. One of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without inventive effort.

The above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: modifications of the technical solutions described in the embodiments or equivalent replacements of some technical features may still be made. And such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention. For example, the technical idea and technical solution of the present invention can be applied to all fiber connectors and future types of fiber connectors and related optical-electrical hybrid connectors and adapters, such as LC type, SC type, ST type, FC type, MPO type, MT type, and other types of fiber connectors and adapters.

Finally, it should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above alternative embodiments, and that various other forms of products can be obtained by anyone in light of the present invention. The above detailed description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined in the claims, and which the description is intended to be interpreted accordingly.

Claims

1. An optical fiber connector comprises a connecting shell (1) which is used for being matched with a connecting cavity (2) of an adapter end in an inserting mode, and is characterized by further comprising an extending supporting body (11), a locking clip (12), an elastic piece (124) and a latch height control piece (13), wherein the extending supporting body (11) is fixed on the outer surface of the connecting shell (1), and a shaft hole (111) is formed in the outward extending end of the extending supporting body (11);

the lock clip (12) comprises a rotating shaft (121), a latch (122) and a positioning part (123), wherein the latch (122), the rotating shaft (121) and the positioning part (123) are sequentially arranged at intervals in the front-to-rear direction and are sequentially and fixedly connected, and the insertion direction of the front-to-rear direction in the insertion fit is opposite to that of the insertion fit;

the rotating shaft (121) is mounted in a rotating fit in the shaft hole (111), the latch (122) is rotatably movable in a first space (112) located in front of the shaft hole (111) and is lockingly engageable with a locking structure (21) in the adapter end connection chamber (2) when the latch (122) is above a height threshold in the extension direction and is disengageable from the locking structure (21) when the latch (122) is below the height threshold, the detent (123) is rotatably movable in a second space (113) located behind the shaft hole (111);

the elastic piece (124) is positioned in the first space (112) or the second space (113), the elastic piece (124) is used for enabling the latch (122) to be reset above the height threshold value through deformation recovery, and the extension direction is perpendicular to the front-to-rear direction;

the latch height control piece (13) is used for controlling the height of the positioning part (123) in the extending direction so as to control the height of the latch (122) in the extending direction through a rotating action.

2. The optical fiber connector according to claim 1, wherein a lower surface of the detent portion (123) is provided with a downwardly protruding boss (1231), a lower surface of the latch height control member (13) is in sliding contact with a bottom surface of the second space (113) in the extension direction, an upper surface of the latch height control member (13) is curved in the front-to-rear direction, and a front upper surface height of the latch height control member (13) in the extension direction is made different from a rear upper surface height, so that by moving the latch height control member (13) in the front-to-rear direction, an abutting position of the upper surface of the latch height control member (13) with the boss (1231) is changed, thereby controlling a height of the detent portion (123) in the extension direction.

3. The optical fiber connector according to claim 2, wherein the front region of the lower surface of the positioning portion (123) is provided with a cavity (1232), the upper surface of the front part of the latch height control element (13) is configured with a convex surface (131) which is smoothly transited and can be placed in the cavity (1232), the upper surface of the rear part of the latch height control member (13) is lower than the convex surface (131) in the extension direction, and the upper surface of the rear part of the latch height control piece (13) is abutted against the boss (1231) before unlocking, so that the abutting position smoothly moves from the upper surface of the rear part of the latch height control member (13) to the convex surface (131) by pulling the latch height control member (13) in the front-to-rear direction, thereby controlling the height of the detent portion (123) in the extension direction.

4. The optical fiber connector according to claim 2, wherein the tail of the latch height control member (13) is provided with a first limit boss (132) and a second limit boss (133), and the connecting housing (1) is provided with a pulling-out surface (14) for limit-fitting with the first limit boss (132) when unlocked and an inserting surface (15) for limit-fitting with the second limit boss (133) when locked;

when the extension supporting body (11), the locking clip (12) and the latch height control member (13) are symmetrically arranged on the outer surfaces of two opposite sides of the connecting shell (1), the tail parts of the two symmetrically arranged latch height control members (13) are respectively connected through a hollow body (16), the two symmetrically arranged first limiting bosses (132) are aligned with each other, and the two symmetrically arranged second limiting bosses (133) are aligned with or overlapped with each other, so that the two symmetrically arranged latch height control members (13) are synchronously moved by pushing and pulling the hollow body (16), and the two symmetrically arranged latches (122) are synchronously rotated.

5. The optical fiber connector according to claim 2, wherein the elastic member (124) is configured as a cantilever structure and is located between the bottom surface of the first space (112) in the extension direction and the latch (122), wherein one end of the cantilever structure is fixedly connected to the middle bottom surface of the lock clip (12) and the other end of the cantilever structure is contacted to the front bottom surface of the first space (112), or one end of the cantilever structure is fixedly connected to the front bottom surface of the first space (112) and the other end of the cantilever structure is contacted to the middle bottom surface of the lock clip (12);

the elastic piece (124) is still in a deformed state to be recovered when the latch (122) is in locking fit with the locking structure (21), so that the boss (1231) presses the upper surface of the latch height control piece (13).

6. The optical fiber connector according to claim 1, wherein a mounting introduction notch (114) communicating with the shaft hole (111) is opened at an outwardly extending end surface of the extension support (11), so that the rotary shaft (121) is detachably loaded into or unloaded from the shaft hole (111) through the mounting introduction notch (114).

7. The optical fiber connector according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the locking clip (12) is provided with an orientation key (125) having an upwardly convex structure or a downwardly concave structure in the extension direction so as to enable the orientation key (125) to correspond one-to-one with an orientation key mating body in the adapter end connection chamber (2) and having a downwardly concave structure or an upwardly convex structure in the extension direction when the connection housing (1) is inserted into the adapter end connection chamber (2).

8. The optical fiber connector according to claim 7, wherein when the extension support body (11), the locking clip (12) and the latch height control member (13) are symmetrically arranged on the outer surfaces of the opposite sides of the connection housing (1), a mounting introduction notch (114) communicating with the axial hole (111) is opened on the outwardly extending end surface of the extension support body (11), so that when the polarity of the optical fiber inside the connection housing (1) needs to be changed, the rotating shaft (121) of the locking clip (12) with the direction key (125) is removed from the currently installed axial hole (111) through the mounting introduction notch (114), and then the rotating shaft (121) of the locking clip (12) is installed into another axial hole (111) symmetrically arranged with the currently installed axial hole (111).

9. The optical fiber connector according to claim 1, wherein the rotation shaft (121) is provided at a middle portion of the lock clip (12) and is configured in a left-right symmetrical cylindrical shape;

the latch (122) is arranged at the front part of the lock clip (12) and extends towards the extension direction to form a latch surface (1221) which is vertical or approximately vertical to the front-to-back direction;

the positioning part (123) is arranged at the rear part of the lock clip (12) and is used for driving the latch (122) to rotate around the central axis of the shaft hole (111) towards the direction close to the connecting shell (1) under the action of the latch height control part (13), so that the latch surface (1221) is far away from the locking surface on the locking structure (21), and the locking relation between the latch (122) and the locking structure (21) is released when the latch (122) is below the height threshold value.

10. An optical fiber connection structure, characterized by comprising an optical fiber adapter (20) and at least one optical fiber connector (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the insertion end face of the optical fiber adapter (20) is provided with a plurality of adapter end connection cavities (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 9;

the connecting housings (1) of the optical fiber connectors (10) are inserted into the adapter end connecting cavities (2) in a one-to-one correspondence.