JP2000147313A - Optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical connector which is relatively small in size, is small in the number of parts and is constituted to surely hold a reinforcing member extending from an optical fiber cable. SOLUTION: This optical connector 10 includes a metallic member 50 for providing self-locking of a ferrule 25 and a spring member 80 for energizing the same cooperatively with an internal housing 30. A metallic member 30 integrally has a press bonding and supporting part 51 for press bonding of the optical fiber cable 100. The optical fiber cable 100 and a strain relief member 90 are both accepted in an aperture 56 existing in the press bonding and supporting part 51. The reinforcing member 150 extending from the optical fiber cable 100 is held between the outside surface of the strain relief member 90 and the inside surface of the press bonding and supporting part 51 at the time of press bonding.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical connector used for optically coupling an optical fiber extending from a crimped optical fiber cable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A technique for crimping and fixing an optical fiber used in an optical connector of this kind is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-11300.
No. 5, and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-88111. Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-113005 discloses a technique in which a reinforcing member is folded and disposed on the outer surface of a jacket of an optical fiber cable, and is fixed by crimping together with the optical fiber cable. Also, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 58-113005 and Japanese Utility Model Application
In both publications of JP-A-7-88111, a reinforcing member extending from the optical fiber cable is disposed outside the annular metal member.
There is disclosed a technique in which a reinforcing member is sandwiched and fixed by metal components from inside and outside when crimped.

[0003]

An optical connector usually requires a so-called strain relief structure for relieving stress applied to an optical fiber cable. According to the configuration disclosed in the above publication, a configuration for fixing the strain relief member needs to be separately provided, and the connector becomes large. Further, in particular, according to the configuration for holding the reinforcing member from inside and outside, the number of parts increases, the assembly process becomes complicated, and the manufacturing cost increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector which is relatively small in size, has a small number of parts, and can reliably hold a reinforcing member extending from an optical fiber cable.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an optical connector including a cylindrical crimping support portion to which an optical fiber cable including an optical fiber and a reinforcing member is crimped and fixed, wherein the crimping support portion includes the optical fiber cable. And an opening for receiving both members so as to overlap and crimp the strain relief member attached to the outer surface of the optical fiber cable,
The reinforcing member is folded back to the outside of the strain relief member, and is sandwiched between the strain relief member and the crimp support when the crimp support is crimped.

Preferably, the crimping support portion is formed integrally with a metal member including a contact surface that comes into contact with a spring that biases a ferrule that supports a coupling end of the optical fiber. The metal member cooperates with a housing member located on the front side to form a receiving cavity for receiving the ferrule.

[0007] Preferably, the metal member has an inner wall formed at a boundary between the opening and the housing cavity and having a fiber through hole through which the optical fiber is inserted.

Preferably, the strain relief member has a substantially cylindrical shape, and is formed of a resin material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl chloride, or fluorine resin, or a material such as silicone rubber.

Preferably, the shape and size of the opening are substantially complementary to the outer diameter of the strain relief member.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An optical connector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, an optical connector according to the present invention is shown in a perspective view in a state where assembly is completed.

The optical connector 10 is an optical fiber cable 10
The connector is attached to the end of the housing 0 and includes a substantially box-shaped outer housing 20 and an inner housing (housing member) 30 housed inside the housing 20. A ferrule 25 that holds an optical fiber extending from the optical fiber cable 100 is housed inside the inner housing 30. Further, behind the housings 20, 30, an optical fiber cable 10 is provided.
The strain relief member 90 for relaxing the stress extends along 0. Hereinafter, an assembling procedure of the optical connector 10 will be sequentially described together with a configuration of each component.

FIGS. 2 to 4 are exploded perspective views showing the procedure for assembling the optical connector of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a state of preparation for assembly, FIG. 3 is a first step of assembly, and FIG. 4 is a second step of assembly. FIG. FIG. 5 is a sectional view in the axial direction of the optical connector of FIG. 1 in an assembled state.

FIG. 2 shows the members constituting the optical connector 10. Ferrule 25 in addition to the above members
A spring member 80 for spring-biasing the metal member 50 and a metal member 50 mounted on the rear side of the inner housing 30 are shown. The metal member 50 has a relatively thin and substantially cylindrical crimping support portion 51 similar to the related art located on the rear side, and a base 52 located on the front side thereof. Further, a wall portion 53 and an engagement protrusion 54 are provided on the outer surface at vertically opposed positions. Further, at the front end of the base body 52, an end surface or a spring contact surface 55 which comes into contact with the spring member 80 is formed as described later.

The strain relief member 90 can be formed of a resin material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl chloride, or fluororesin, or a material such as silicone rubber.
What is sold as YGON is applicable. As shown in FIG. 2, the strain relief member 90 has a substantially cylindrical shape or a tube shape, and has a through hole 91 penetrating in the length direction. According to FIG. 3, in the first step of assembly,
The end of the optical fiber cable 100 is appropriately stripped, and the processed end is connected to the strain relief member 9.
0 through hole 91. At this time, the optical fiber 12
0 is placed so as to extend in the axial direction, and the reinforcing member or fiber member 150 such as Kevlar is folded back on the outer surface of the strain relief member 90.

Further, according to FIGS. 3 and 4, in the second step of assembly, the optical fiber cable 100 is received together with the strain relief member 90 in the crimping support portion 51, and is crimped and fixed at this position. The configuration of the crimp fixing is shown in more detail by partially referring to FIG. It is understood that the optical fiber cable 100 and the strain relief member 90 are both received and fixed by crimping in the opening 56 extending from the crimp support 51 to the base 52. At this time, it should be noted that the reinforcing member 150 is sandwiched and held between the strain relief member 90 and the pressure supporting portion 51. As shown in FIG. 4, the reinforcing member 150 that is folded back and fixed extends from the crimp support portion 51 of the metal member 50, but the unnecessary length of the reinforcing member 150 can be cut off at the stage shown in FIG. 4. .

The components are then assembled axially. Although not shown, the metal member 50 is first assembled to the inner housing 30. The engagement means for assembly is mainly shown in FIGS. The engagement protrusion 54 engages the opening 31 of the inner housing 30, and the wall 53 approaches the rear edge 32 of the inner housing 30. Engagement projection 54 and opening 31
Inner housing 3 for smooth engagement with
A slot 34 is formed along the 0 side to allow a slight vertical deflection of the end 33. 5, ferrule 25 and spring member 80 are housed in a cavity 39 defined between metal member 50 when the member is engaged with inner housing 30. As shown in FIG. The rear end of the cavity 39 is defined by an inner wall 58 including an insertion hole 57 into which the optical fiber 120 is inserted.
The ferrule 25 is urged forward by the spring member 80 supported by the spring contact surface 55 of the metal member 50 and placed.

Subsequently, the inner housing 30 is assembled to the outer housing 20. At this time, the engagement protrusion 38 formed on the outer surface of the inner housing 30 is engaged with the rear end edge 24 of the opening 21 of the outer housing 20 and is prevented from coming off. The protrusion 35 on the outer surface of the inner housing 30 contacts the inner surface of the outer housing 20 to maintain the posture of the inner housing 30. Thus, the optical connector 10 shown in FIG. 1 is completed.

The structural advantage of the optical connector 10 is that the strain relief member 90 is crimped and fixed to the metal member 50 together with the optical fiber cable 100, and that the reinforcing member 150 is sandwiched between the strain relief member 90 and the strain relief member 90 during crimping. To be held. This minimizes the number of assembly parts, thus reducing the number of assembly steps and the manufacturing cost. Also, the overall dimensions of the optical connector are relatively short in the length direction. In addition, the reinforcing member 150 is firmly held without being cut.

As described above, the preferred embodiment of the optical connector according to the present invention has been described. However, this is merely an example, and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art. An example of the modification is shown as a sectional view in FIG. In this example, the crimping support portion 51 is crimped at two points A and B in the length direction. According to this configuration, the optical fiber cable 10
The fixing strength of the crimping of the strain relief member 90 to 0 and the fixing strength of the reinforcing member 150 can be further enhanced.

[0021]

According to the optical connector of the present invention, the reinforcing member is folded back to the outside of the strain relief member, and is sandwiched between the strain relief member and the crimp support when the crimp support is crimped. Therefore, the number of assembly parts can be minimized, the number of assembly steps is reduced, and the manufacturing cost is reduced. Further, the reinforcing member is not firmly cut at the crimp fixing portion, and is firmly and securely held.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an optical connector according to the present invention in an assembled state.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a state in which the optical connector of FIG. 1 is prepared for assembly.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a first step of assembling the optical connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a second step of assembling the optical connector of FIG. 1;

5 is a sectional view in the axial direction of the optical connector of FIG. 1 in a state where assembly is completed.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5, showing a modification of the crimp fixing portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Optical connector 51 Crimping support part 56 Opening part 90 Strain relief member 100 Optical fiber cable 120 Optical fiber 150 Reinforcement member

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Jun Yamakawa 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masato Shiino 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masao Tachikura 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Japan Telegraph and Telephone Corporation F-term (reference) 2H036 QA02 QA22 QA31 QA56

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An optical connector including a crimp support portion to which an optical fiber cable including an optical fiber and a reinforcing member is crimped and fixed, wherein the crimp support portion is attached to the optical fiber cable and an outer surface of the optical fiber cable. An opening for receiving both members so as to overlap and press the strain relief member, wherein the reinforcing member is folded back to the outside of the strain relief member, and the crimp support portion is crimped to the strain relief member. An optical connector characterized by being sandwiched between a supporting portion and the supporting portion.