JP2000347075A - Connector adapter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector adapter in which a light emitting element emitting a laser beam is incorporated and which is provided with a means mechanically interrupting the laser beam when a plug is not inserted. SOLUTION: A connector adapter 1 is provided with a light emitting element 2 emitting a laser beam, a base part 4a having a first spring part 4c and an interrupting member 4 having a shutter part 4b. When a plug is inserted, the base part 4a is elastically deformed in the first spring part 4c in accordance with the movement by pushing of the plug, and the shutter part 4b is retreated from an optical path of the laser beam. When the plug is pulled out, the base part 4a is restored from the elastic deformation in accordance with the movement by pulling-out of the plug, and the optical path of the laser beam is interrupted by the shutter part 4b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector adapter having a built-in light emitting element for emitting laser light.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A connector adapter having a built-in light emitting element for emitting a laser beam is connected to a predetermined single-core connector or multi-core connector when the light emitting element is in an operating state. The operator may inadvertently look directly at the emitted laser light and may suffer pathological damage to his eyes.

In order to prevent such an eye trouble caused by the laser light, the operation of the light emitting element is temporarily stopped by an internal electronic circuit to stop the emission of the laser light, or the laser light is cut off mechanically. Any of these means can be considered.

[0004]

However, in order to temporarily stop the operation of the light emitting element by an internal electronic circuit to stop the emission of the laser beam, the construction of the apparatus becomes large and the increase in cost cannot be avoided. Therefore, the idea of providing a means for mechanically blocking the laser beam is effective. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a connector adapter having a built-in light emitting element for emitting laser light and having a means for mechanically blocking laser light when a plug is not inserted. With the goal.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a light emitting element for emitting laser light is provided, and the laser light emitted from the light emitting element is fitted to a plug having an optical fiber. A connector adapter for entering the optical fiber, comprising a blocking member fixed in the connector and having a base portion having a first spring portion and a shutter portion connected to the base portion, wherein the plug is inserted. At the time of wearing, the base portion is elastically deformed by the first spring portion in accordance with the pushing movement of the plug, the shutter portion retreats from the optical path of the laser light, and at the time of pulling out the plug, the pulling out movement of the plug is performed. Accordingly, the base section returns from the elastic deformation, and the shutter section blocks the optical path of the laser light.

[0006] Preferably, a second spring portion is formed at a portion where the base portion and the shutter portion are connected. Preferably, a recess or an opening is provided for accommodating a part of the blocking member when the plug is inserted.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a connector adapter (hereinafter, simply referred to as an “adapter”) 1 includes a light-emitting element 2 attached to a rear portion thereof, and a support member, for example, a plug supported by an end of a substrate 10 and having an optical fiber. For example, the laser light emitted from the light emitting element 2 by fitting with the optical connector 15 is made to enter the optical fiber.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the adapter 1 has an insertion opening 1b for inserting the optical connector 15 at the front of the housing 1a, and a light emitting element 2 at the rear of the housing 1a. Attached through. At this time, when the optical connector 15 is inserted and
The insertion port 1 is set so that the optical fiber of the optical connector 15 and an optical axis of a light emitting portion 2b of the light emitting element 2 described later coincide with each other.
b is formed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 1a is provided with positioning arms 1c for positioning the optical connector 15 to be inserted into the insertion opening 1b in the width direction on both sides, and an opening 1d on the bottom. ing. As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 1a is provided with a shutter 4 at the opening 1d. In the shutter 4, an end of a base portion 4 a described later is sandwiched between the bottom of the housing 1 a and the sleeve 3.

At this time, the length L of the opening 1d in the insertion direction of the optical connector 15 shown in FIG. 4 is the length between the center of a later-described first spring portion 4c of the shutter 4 and the end of the second spring portion 4d. L
s (see FIG. 9) (L> Ls), and the width W is slightly larger than the width of the shutter 4, as shown in FIG. Thereby, the opening 1d is connected to the first spring portion 4c by the shutter 4 to be described later.
In the case where the base portion 4a is elastically deformed, the space becomes a space where the base portion 4a is retracted.

Here, as the optical connector 15 to be inserted into the adapter 1, for example, a multi-core connector such as a so-called MPO connector or MT connector having a plurality of optical fibers,
A multiple connector in which a single-core connector having a single-core optical fiber is connected, or a so-called S having a single-core optical fiber
A single core connector such as a C connector can be used. The light emitting element 2 is an element that emits a laser beam, for example, an LD
Modules and the like are used. As shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting element 2 has pin holes 2 a of guide pins used for connection with the optical connector 15 formed on both sides along the connection direction with the optical connector 15, and between the pin holes 2 a. Is provided with a plurality of emission portions 2b for emitting laser light.

The shutter 4 is connected to the adapter 1 by the optical connector 1.
5 is a laser light shield for preventing a trouble caused when an operator looks directly at the laser light emitted from the plurality of emission portions 2b of the light emitting element 2 when inserting and removing the light emitting element 5. Shutter 4
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, is formed of a resilient material having a spring property, for example, a superelastic metal such as a nickel-titanium alloy. The shutter 4 includes a base unit 4
a and a shutter portion 4b, a first spring portion 4c is formed on the base portion 4a, and a second spring portion 4d is formed on a connection portion between the base portion 4a and the shutter portion 4b.

The shutter 4 is provided in the adapter 1,
In a state in which the optical connector 15 is not inserted into the insertion opening 1b of the adapter 1, the shutter unit 4b is arranged so that the shutter unit 4b blocks the optical path PL (see FIG. 7) of the laser light emitted from the plurality of emission units 2b. Is located above the emission section 2b of the light emitting element 2, and is within the width of the shutter section 4b.
Set so that is located. Also, the shutter 4
As shown in FIG. 4, when the optical connector 15 is attached to and detached from the insertion opening 1b, the second spring portion 4d applies an appropriate spring force to the shutter portion 4b.
Is set so that the angle θ becomes 20 to 45 degrees.

Since the adapter 1 is configured as described above, when the optical connector 15 is not inserted, the optical path of the laser light emitted from the plurality of emission sections 2b of the light emitting element 2 is blocked by the shutter section 4b. Have been. For this reason,
The adapter 1 can be used safely even when an operator looks at the inside from the insertion opening 1b side without directly observing the laser beam emitted from the emission section 2b and causing no obstacle.

In the adapter 1, the optical connector 15 is inserted into the insertion port 1b as described below, and the plurality of emission portions 2b of the light emitting element 2 are optically connected to the corresponding optical fiber of the optical connector 15. Connected. First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the optical connector 15 is arranged to face the insertion opening 1b of the adapter 1.

Next, the optical connector 15 is inserted into the insertion port 1b and pushed into the inside. Then, when the optical connector 15 is pushed in, the optical connector 15 is opened.
When the optical connector 15 is moved to the position d, the lower front part of the optical connector 15 contacts the shutter 4b near the second spring 4d as shown in FIG. 7B. At this time, the adapter 1 is in a state where the optical path PL of the laser light emitted from the emission part 2b is blocked, as shown in the figure.

Next, when the optical connector 15 is further pushed into the insertion opening 1b from the position shown in FIG. 7B, the optical connector 15 comes into contact with the shutter portion 4b as shown in FIG. 4b is pushed down around the second spring portion 4d. And finally, the shutter unit 4b
It retreats from the optical path PL of the laser beam emitted from the emission section 2b. Thereby, in the adapter 1, the interruption of the optical path PL of the laser light emitted from the emission unit 2b by the shutter 4 is released.

When the optical connector 15 is further pushed into the insertion opening 1b from the position shown in FIG. 7C, the shutter 4 is pressed by the pressing force applied from the optical connector 15 as shown in FIG. As described above, the base portion 4a is elastically bent into the opening 1d at the edge of the opening 1d, that is, at the portion of the first spring portion 4c. When the pushing of the optical connector 15 into the insertion port 1b of the adapter 1 is completed in this way, in the adapter 1, as shown in FIG. 7 (e), the base portion 4a is connected to the first spring portion 4c. The light emitting element 2 is further bent into the opening 1d, and the plurality of emission portions 2b of the light emitting element 2 are optically connected to the corresponding optical fibers of the optical connector 15. That is,
The optical axis of each emission section 2b matches the corresponding optical fiber of the optical connector 15.

At this time, the shutter 4 is configured such that the shutter portion 4b is firstly the second spring portion 4d, and then the base portion 4a is elastically moved into the opening 1d at the portion of the first spring portion 4c through two stages, respectively. Bend. For this reason, since excessive bending stress does not act on the first spring portion 4c and the second spring portion 4d, the shutter 4 does not cause metal fatigue on the spring portions 4c and 4d, so that a so-called sagging phenomenon does not occur. As described above, in the present embodiment, by forming a plurality of spring portions on the shutter 4, the stress acting on each of the spring portions can be reduced.

However, when the optical connector 15 is pushed into the insertion opening 1b, if the base portion 4a finally falls into the opening 1d and bends, the optical connector 15
The pressing force acting from is reduced. Therefore, in the shutter 4 of the present embodiment, the first spring portion 4c is indispensable, but the second spring portion 4c is required.
The spring portion 4d is not always necessary. FIG. 7 (e)
It is preferable that the base portion 4a of the shutter 4 be inserted into the opening 1d together with the first spring portion 4c, as shown in FIG. 7, since the operator can visually confirm the normal pushing of the optical connector 15 into the adapter 1.

Furthermore, if the adapter 1 can secure a space where the base portion 4a finally falls down and bends when the optical connector 15 is inserted into the insertion opening 1b,
Instead of the opening 1d, a recess 1e may be used as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the optical connector 15 is pulled out from the adapter 1, the first spring portion 4c and the second spring portion 4d return from the elastically deformed state, and the shutter portion 4b is emitted from the plurality of emission portions 2b of the light emitting element 2 accordingly. Optical path P of laser light
Return to the position where L is cut off.

That is, from the state shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), the optical connector 15 is pulled out to the right from the insertion opening 1b. Then, as the optical connector 15 is pulled out to the right, the shutter 4 is moved to the shutter section 4b.
Are elastically rotated clockwise about the second spring portion 4d and open with respect to the base 4a. At this time, the shutter 4 does not significantly change its elastically bent state into the opening 1d in the portion of the first spring portion 4c of the base portion 4a.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the optical connector 15 moves to the middle of the opening 1d, the shutter portion 4b of the adapter 1 opens to an initial position with respect to the base 4a. At this time, in the shutter 4, the tip of the shutter portion 4 b is located near the lower front part of the optical connector 15. Next, as shown in FIG. 8C, when the optical connector 15 is further moved rightward, the adapter 1 releases the pressing force from the optical connector 15 so that the base portion 4a of the shutter 4 is released.
Are elastically rotated counterclockwise about the first spring portion 4c. As a result, the shutter portion 4b of the shutter 4 is rotated to a position close to a state in which the front end blocks the optical path PL of the laser light emitted from the emission portion 2b of the light emitting element 2.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8 (d), when the tip of the optical connector 15 moves to near the right side of the opening 1d, the base portion 4a of the shutter 4 moves around the first spring portion 4c. The base portion 4a is further elastically rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and the base portion 4a becomes horizontal. As a result, in the adapter 1, the front lower part of the optical connector 15 is
d, and contacts the shutter portion 4b near the light emitting element 2
The optical path PL of the laser beam emitted from the emission section 2b is blocked by the shutter section 4b.

As shown in FIG. 8 (e), when the optical connector 15 is pulled out from the insertion port 1b, the plurality of light emitting portions 2b of the light emitting element 2 and the light of the corresponding optical connector 15 are changed. The optical connection with the fiber is completely released. The adapter 1 is detached from the optical connector 15 in this manner. At this time, the shutter 4 is elastically bent at two positions, each of the shutter portion 4b being the second spring portion 4d and the base portion 4a being the first spring portion 4c. For this reason, in the shutter 4, since excessive bending stress does not act on the first spring portion 4c and the second spring portion 4d, occurrence of metal fatigue on the spring portions 4c and 4d is suppressed. Therefore, adapter 1
Even if the optical connector 15 is repeatedly attached to and detached from the insertion port 1b,
The spring property of the shutter 4 is maintained for a long time, and the laser light emitted from the emission section 2b of the light emitting element 2 does not leak.

Here, it goes without saying that the shutter 4 is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example,
As in the shutter 5 shown in FIG.
The shutter portion 5b connected to the second spring has a curved surface that is convex downward, or the connecting portion between the base portion 6a and the shutter portion 6b is formed into a cylindrical shape as in the shutter 6 shown in FIG. The unit 6d may be used.

As in the case of the shutter 7 shown in FIG. 10C, a projection 7e may be provided inside the tip of the shutter 7b connected to the base 7a. In this manner, the shutter 7 is moved to the shutter section 7 as shown in FIG.
Since the projection 7e prevents the shutter 7b from being completely closed when the shutter b is closed, it is possible to suppress the setting of the shutter 7b due to metal fatigue.

Further, as in a shutter 8 shown in FIG.
The first portion between the base portions 8a and 8b made of synthetic resin or metal
The connection between the shutter portion 8d and the base portion 8b may be performed by a leaf spring 8e formed into a wedge shape and serving as a second spring portion, while being connected by the leaf spring 8c serving as a spring portion. On the other hand, like the shutter 9 shown in FIG.
While being connected by two wire springs 9c serving as spring portions,
The shutter portion 9d and the base portion 9b may be connected by two wedge-shaped wire springs 9e serving as second spring portions.

At this time, the shutters 8 and 9 can use a synthetic resin or a metal as a material used for the shutter portion and the base portion, respectively. Further, as a material of the leaf spring or the wire spring, a superelastic metal such as a nickel titanium alloy can be used. Although the connector adapter of the above embodiment has been described with respect to an optical connector having an optical fiber as a plug to be connected, an optical fiber and an electric wire are used as transmission means, and an optical connector and an electrical connector are included in one connector. It is needless to say that the present invention can also be applied to a connector in which is mixed.

[0030]

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, a light emitting element for emitting laser light is built in, and a means for mechanically blocking laser light when a plug is not inserted is provided. A secure connector adapter can be provided. According to the third and fourth aspects, the blocking member is more easily elastically deformed at the first spring portion of the base portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which an adapter of the present invention is used by being attached to a support member.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the adapter of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the adapter of FIG. 2 taken along the line III-III.

4 is a cross-sectional view of the adapter of FIG. 2 taken along the line IV-IV.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the adapter of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a process diagram of inserting an optical connector into the adapter of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a process diagram when the optical connector inserted into the adapter of FIG. 2 is pulled out.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a shutter used in the adapter of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a modification of the shutter used in the adapter of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing another modified example of the shutter used in the adapter of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing still another modified example of the shutter used in the adapter of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a modification of the adapter of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 adapter 2 light emitting element 3 sleeve 4 shutter (blocking member) 4a base 4b shutter (blocking) 4c first spring 4d second spring 5, 6, 7 shutter 8, 9 shutter 10 board 15 optical connector

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masayuki Iwase 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hajime Mori 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo F-term in Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (reference) 2H036 QA47 QA59 2H037 BA02 DA33 DA39 5F073 AB21 AB28 EA12 FA06 FA23

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A connector adapter comprising a light emitting element for emitting laser light, wherein the connector adapter is fitted with a plug having an optical fiber and causes laser light emitted from the light emitting element to enter the optical fiber. And a blocking member having a fixed base portion having a first spring portion and a shutter portion connected to the base portion, wherein at the time of insertion of the plug, the base portion is moved in accordance with a pushing movement of the plug. Are elastically deformed by the first spring portion, the shutter portion retreats from the optical path of the laser light, and when the plug is pulled out, the base portion returns from the elastic deformation in accordance with the pulling-out movement of the plug, A connector adapter, wherein a shutter section blocks an optical path of the laser beam. 2. A second spring portion is formed at a portion where the base portion and the shutter portion are connected.
Connector adapter. 3. The connector adapter according to claim 1, wherein a recess is provided for accommodating a part of the blocking member when the plug is inserted. 4. The connector adapter according to claim 1, wherein an opening is provided for accommodating a part of the blocking member when the plug is inserted.