JP2000028859A - Optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical connector which is excellent in assembly workability of component parts, is small in the number of parts, is simple in structure and may be inexpensively produced. SOLUTION: A pair of opposite movable detaining members 36 having hooks engageable with detecting grooves 32 of optical plugs 22 are alternately intersected and are arranged in an adapter case 34 and a compression coil spring 38 is arranged therebetween. These hooks are attracted to each other to generate a contact pressure at the joint surfaces of ferrules 26. As a result, the mounting of the optical plugs 22 to optical fibers 30 is merely necessitated and there is no need for previously mounting coil springs and receiving rings to the optical fibers as in the prior part and, therefore, the assembly workability of the optical plugs 22 is improved. The production cost of the optical connector may, therefore, be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical connector for connecting optical fibers to each other or for connecting an optical fiber to another optical device in an optical fiber communication system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An optical connector for connecting an optical fiber is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-9-159870.
FIG. 4 shows a typical example of a conventional optical connector. The optical connector includes an adapter 1 and an optical plug 2, and the optical plug 2 includes a ferrule 3 and a ferrule holder 4. The optical fiber 5 is fixed to the ferrule 3 with an adhesive.
Is polished to a convex spherical surface. A groove 7 for locking the hook 6 of the adapter 1 is provided at the center of the ferrule holder 4. The ferrule 3 is inserted into the alignment sleeve 8 of the adapter 1, and the ferrule 9 of another optical plug is inserted from the opposite side of the alignment sleeve 8. The ferrule 3 of the left optical plug and the ferrule 9 of the right optical plug are aligned by the alignment sleeve 8.

A ferrule 3 is provided on the outer periphery of the alignment sleeve 8.
Elastic hooks 6 that fit into the grooves 7 of
The ferrule 3 does not come off the alignment sleeve 8. In order to stabilize the connection of the optical connector, it is necessary to generate a contact pressure on the joint surface between the ferrules. Therefore, a spring 10 is provided outside the right optical plug,
A predetermined contact pressure is generated at the joint surface between the ferrules to perform stable connection. The spring 10 is supported by a spring receiving ring 11, and the spring receiving ring 11 is snap-fitted to a plug frame 12 fitted to the adapter body.

[0004]

A problem with the conventional optical connector shown in FIG. 4 is that not only the ferrule 9 but also the spring 10 and the spring receiving ring 11 must be fitted on the right optical fiber in advance. Therefore, the workability of assembling the optical plug is deteriorated accordingly. Further, since a spring 10 is arranged outside one optical plug to generate a contact pressure, and a spring receiving ring 11 is used to support the spring, there is a problem that the number of parts increases. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector which is easy to assemble and has excellent productivity. It is another object of the present invention to provide an optical connector which has a simple structure, has a small number of parts, and can be manufactured at low cost.

[0005]

An optical connector according to the present invention comprises:
A cylindrical adapter case, a pair of optical plugs, a pair of movable locking members axially slidably mounted in the adapter case, and a pair of optical plugs arranged in the adapter case for aligning the pair of optical plugs; It has a sleeve. Each movable locking member has a hook that protrudes axially outward from the adapter case to engage with the locking portion of the optical plug.
These movable locking members are urged in a direction in which the hooks are attracted to each other by one common coil spring disposed inside the adapter case.

In use, when the optical plug is inserted into the adapter case, the hooks of the movable locking members are locked to the locking portions of the respective optical plugs, and the hooks of the two movable locking members are mutually moved by the action of the coil spring. It is biased in the direction of being attracted. As a result, a predetermined contact pressure is generated at the joint surface of the ferrule of the optical plug.

In the optical connector according to the present invention, since the coil spring is disposed inside the adapter case, there is no need to mount the coil spring or its spring receiving ring on the optical fiber. It is only necessary to attach an optical plug to the optical fiber. Therefore, the workability of assembling the optical plug is improved. Further, since the number of components is reduced as compared with the optical connector of the related art, it can be manufactured at lower cost.

In a preferred embodiment, each movable locking member has a spring receiver at an end opposite to the hook,
The spring receiver of each movable locking member is disposed near the end of the adapter case opposite to the hook, and the coil spring is supported at one end by the spring receiver of one movable locking member and at the other end by the other. It is composed of a compression coil spring supported on a spring receiver of the movable locking member.

In a further preferred embodiment, each movable locking member comprises an elongated connecting member extending parallel to the axis of the connector for connecting the hook and the spring receiver.
The connecting members of the two movable locking members are laterally offset from each other with respect to a center plane passing through the axis of the connector, and the two movable locking members are mounted in the adapter case in a mutually offset manner. By arranging the two movable locking members in a mutually different structure, the structure of the optical connector can be made compact.

In a preferred embodiment, the sleeve is floated inside the adapter case so as to properly align the ferrule of the optical plug.

[0011]

1 to 3, an optical connector 20 comprises a pair of optical plugs 22 and an adapter 24. The two optical plugs 22 have the same structure.
Each optical plug 22 is composed of a ferrule 26 made of zirconia ceramic and a ferrule holder 28 made of stainless steel or the like. The optical fiber 30 penetrates through the ferrule 26 and the ferrule holder 28, and is fixed to them by bonding. Ferrule 26
Is polished to a convex spherical surface. The body of the ferrule holder 28 is provided with a locking groove 32 for engaging a hook described later.

The adapter 24 is a cylindrical adapter case 3
4, two opposing movable locking members 36 slidably mounted in the adapter case 34 in the axial direction, a compression coil spring 38, and an alignment sleeve 40.

The adapter case 34 is formed of a resin or the like, and can be formed, for example, by ultrasonically fusing two halves at the center. Adapter case 34
Has a generally square inner cross-sectional profile for receiving the movable locking member 36. The adapter case 34 has an arbitrary outer shape, and can be, for example, a prism or a cylinder.
Although not shown, the adapter case 34 is provided with a flange portion for fixing to a substrate or the like.

As can be clearly seen from FIG. 3, each movable locking member 36 has the same structure, and is manufactured by, for example, pressing a stainless steel plate. Referring to FIG.
Each movable locking member 36 has a pair of diametrically opposed hooks 42, a base 46 perpendicular to the axis 44 of the optical connector 20, and two elongated connecting members 48 connecting the hooks 42 and the base 46. . The base 46 also has a function as a spring receiver for the compression coil spring 38. Base 46
Has a hole 50 larger than the outer diameter of the ferrule 26 and smaller than the outer diameter of the alignment sleeve 40 so that the ferrule 26 can be inserted.

The connecting members 48 of the respective movable locking members 36
Are laterally offset with respect to a central plane 52 passing through the connector axis 44 and have a width no greater than half the width of the base 46. Therefore, the two movable locking members 36 are
When the two movable locking members 36 are aligned with each other, the two movable locking members 36 are displaced from each other and fit in the adapter case 34 compactly. A protrusion 54 is provided on the base 46 of the movable locking member 36.
A longitudinal guide groove 56 with which the projections 54 can be engaged is formed on the inner surface of the adapter case 34. The sliding of the protrusion 54 in the guide groove 56 positions the movable locking member 36 when the movable locking member 36 moves in the axial direction.

A compression coil spring 38 is placed inside the movable locking member 36 combined in the wrong state, and an alignment sleeve 40 is placed inside the compression coil spring 38. The sleeve 40 has an axial slit and is housed in a floating state inside the compression coil spring 38. The compression coil spring 38 is disposed in a compressed state between the inner surface of the base 46 of the one movable locking member 36 and the inner surface of the base 46 of the other movable locking member 36. As shown in FIG. 1, when the plug 22 is not inserted, the protrusions 54 of the base 46 of each movable locking member 36 are provided.
The two opposing movable locking members 36 are expanded by the compression coil springs 38 until the end of the guide groove 56 abuts on the end of the guide groove 56. The distance between the hooks 42 at this time is
It is longer than the distance between the locking grooves 32 when the ferrules are butted against each other.

Next, a mode of use of the optical connector 20 will be described. When the ferrule 26 of the optical plug 22 is inserted into the alignment sleeve 40 through the hole 50 of the movable locking member 36, the large-diameter ferrule holder 28 is moved to the movable locking member 36.
Push out the hook 42. When the optical plug 22 is further pushed in, the ferrule holder 28 hits the base 46 of the movable locking member 36 and stops. Similarly, when the optical plug 22 is inserted from the opposite side, the ferrule 2 of the optical plug 22 is inserted.
Reference numeral 6 denotes an end face of the ferrule 26 of the optical plug 22 inserted earlier. At this time, since the distance between the hooks 42 of the movable locking member 36 is longer than the distance between the locking grooves 32 of the optical plug 22, the hook 42 of the movable locking member 36 locks the optical plug 22 inserted later. Does not fit in groove 32.

However, when the optical plug 22 inserted later is further pushed in, the optical plug 22 inserted earlier becomes the adapter 2
It is pushed outside 4 and moves. As a result, the distance between the hooks 42 of the movable locking member 36 increases, and the optical plug 22
When the distance becomes larger than the distance between the locking grooves 32, the hooks 42 are fitted into the locking grooves 32. When the optical plug 22 is further pushed in, the base portion 46 of the movable locking member 36 hits the alignment sleeve 40 and cannot be inserted any more. When the insertion of the optical plug 22 is stopped in this state, the optical connector
The state shown in FIG. At this time, the bases 46 of the two movable locking members 36 that are in the wrong state are connected to the compression coil spring 3.
8, the movable locking member 36 is pushed outward.
Is pulled toward the adapter 24. As a result, a contact pressure is generated at the joint surface between the ferrules 26, and the optical fiber can be maintained in a stable connection state. When removing the optical plug 22 from the adapter 24, the hook 42 of the movable locking member 36 is spread by an appropriate jig (not shown), and the optical plug 22 is pulled out.

Although a specific embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications and changes can be made. For example, the movable locking member 3
It is also possible to make the connecting members 48 of No. 6 half or more from the center and rotate the movable locking members 36 so as to face each other and rotate them 90 degrees. In addition, by making the locking part of the optical plug an even polygon and making the shape of the hook parallel, the optical plug is rotated by a half fraction of the polygon and connected at a position where the characteristics are the best. Can be. Also,
By changing the shape of the hook of the optical plug and the hook of the movable locking member on the upper and lower surfaces and changing the shape of the upper and lower surfaces, the connection can be made only in one direction, and the characteristics when repeatedly connected can be stabilized.

[0020]

According to the present invention, it is sufficient to attach the optical plug to the optical fiber, and it is not necessary to attach a coil spring or a spring receiving ring to the optical fiber in advance as in the prior art. Workability is improved. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the optical connector can be reduced.
Further, since the number of components is reduced as compared with the optical connector of the related art, it can be manufactured at lower cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of an optical connector of the present invention, showing a state before connection.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the optical connector of the present invention, showing a state after connection.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a movable locking member of the optical connector shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a conventional optical connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20: Optical connector 22: Optical plug 24: Adapter 30: Optical fiber 32: Locking part 34: Adapter case 36: Movable locking member 38: Compression coil spring 40: Alignment sleeve 42: Hook 46: Movable locking member Spring receiver (base) 48: Connecting member for movable locking member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An optical connector for connecting an optical fiber, comprising: a pair of optical plugs having an engaging portion on an outer periphery for supporting the optical fiber; and a cylinder capable of at least partially receiving the pair of optical plugs. A pair of movable cases each having a shape of an adapter case, and a hook which is slidably mounted in the adapter case in the axial direction and which protrudes axially outward from the adapter case so as to engage with a locking portion of each optical plug. A locking member, one common coil spring disposed inside the adapter case and biasing the movable locking member in a direction to pull the hooks of the pair of movable locking members toward each other; and a coaxial center at the center of the adapter case. And a sleeve for aligning the pair of optical plugs. 2. Each of the movable locking members includes a spring receiver at an end opposite to the hook, and the spring receiver of each of the movable locking members is located near an end of the adapter case opposite to the hook. 2. The compression coil spring according to claim 1, wherein the coil spring is supported at one end by a spring receiver of one movable locking member and at another end by a spring receiver of the other movable locking member. Based optical connector. 3. Each of the movable locking members includes an elongated connecting member extending parallel to the axis of the connector for connecting the hook and the spring receiver, and the connecting members of the two movable locking members are connected to the axis of the connector. 3. The optical connector according to claim 2, wherein the two movable locking members are offset from each other with respect to a central plane through which the two movable locking members are inserted in the adapter case. 4. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve is arranged in a floating state inside the adapter case.