JP2001242340A - Attachment for optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber attachment easily connectable to an optical fiber with a stable force. SOLUTION: The attachment main body 15 consists of a cylindrical sleeve 16 and an annular flange 17. When an optical fiber 14 is fitted into the sleeve 16, a lug 23 is pressurized by the optical fiber 14 to bulge out a spring piece 22 outward of the sleeve 16. In this state, a ring 25 is force-fitted on the outer circumference of the sleeve 16 and pushed in until coming into contact with the flange 17, the spring piece 22 is pressurized inward of the sleeve 16 by a ring 25, the lug 23 is engaged with the optical fiber 14. This structure dispenses with the tightening operation of a screw and allows the attachment 13 to be easily connected to the optical fiber 14. In addition, since it eliminates variance in the engaging condition of the optical fiber 14, the fixation of the optical fiber 14 is stabilized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber attachment for connecting an optical fiber to electronic equipment such as a photoelectric sensor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a free cut type optical fiber in which the length is adjusted based on cutting one end. Since the cut end of this free cut fiber is rich in flexibility, if the cut end is directly inserted into an amplifier or the like of a photoelectric switch, the cut end does not exactly abut the photoelectric element in the amplifier, The loss on optical coupling increases. In particular, when the free cut fiber has a small diameter, the flexibility of the cut end greatly increases, and it becomes difficult to insert the cut end into an amplifier. For this reason, an attachment is connected to the cut end of the free-cut fiber, and the free-cut fiber is optically coupled to the photoelectric element based on inserting the attachment into an amplifier.

FIG. 5 (a) shows the conventional structure of the above-mentioned attachment in an exploded state. Here, a cylindrical knob 2 is fitted to the cut end of the free cut fiber 1, and the knob 2 has a pair of chucks 3 and a male screw section 4.
Is provided. The male screw part 4 is screwed to a female screw part in a base 5, and the pair of chucks 3 are deformed so as to approach a counterpart based on being pressed by the inner peripheral surface of the base 5, and a free cut fiber Hold 1 The base 5 is provided with a sleeve 6, and the free cut fiber 1 is connected to the amplifier based on fitting the sleeve 6 into the insertion port of the amplifier. In addition, FIG.
Shows the knob 2 and the base 5 in an assembled state.

[0004]

In the case of the above configuration, when connecting the attachment to the free-cut fiber 1, it is necessary to perform a troublesome work of fastening the knob 2 to the base 5. In addition, since the fastening torque of the knob 2 varies, the fixing force of the free cut fiber 1 becomes unstable.
Further, since it is necessary to set the length L1 of the knob 2 and the length L2 of the base 5 to a value large enough to be turned with a finger, the knob 2 and the base 5 protrude greatly from the surface of the amplifier. The space occupied by the amplifier increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an optical fiber which can be easily connected to an optical fiber with a stable force and has a small business trip amount when attached to an amplifier. To provide an attachment.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an attachment for an optical fiber, comprising: a tubular portion into which an optical fiber is inserted; a spring portion provided on the tubular portion and elastically deformable with respect to the tubular portion; A claw portion that is provided on a spring portion and elastically deforms the spring portion outwardly of the cylindrical portion based on being pressed by the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber; and a claw portion that is inserted into the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion. A ring that engages the claw portion with the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber based on pressing inward of the cylindrical portion; and the spring portion that is provided on the cylindrical portion and that is configured to contact the ring. It has a feature in that it has a positioning portion for positioning on top.

[0007] According to the above means, the attachment can be connected to the optical fiber in the following procedure. For this reason, connection work of the attachment is simplified because the work of fastening the screw is not required. In addition, since a portion to be held by a finger and turned when the screw is fastened becomes unnecessary, the amount of travel of the attachment to the amplifier is reduced. Further, since the claw portion is engaged with the optical fiber simply by pushing the ring until it comes into contact with the positioning portion, there is no variation in the engagement state of the optical fiber, and the fixing force of the optical fiber is stabilized. An optical fiber is fitted into the tube. Then, the claw portion is pressed by the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber, and the spring portion is elastically deformed outward from the cylindrical portion. A ring is inserted into the outer peripheral surface of the tube, and pushed along the tube until it contacts the positioning portion. Then, the spring portion is pressed inward of the cylindrical portion by the ring, and the claw portion meshes with the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber.

[0008]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
A description will be given based on FIG. First, in FIG.
The amplifier 11 of the photoelectric switch is provided with two insertion ports 12 having a cylindrical shape. A light emitting element (not shown) corresponding to a photoelectric element is disposed in the upper insertion port 12, and a light receiving element (not shown) corresponding to the photoelectric element is provided in the lower insertion port 12. An optical fiber 14 for projecting light is connected to the upper light-receiving port 12 via an attachment 13, and the lower light-receiving port 12 is connected via the attachment 13. The optical fiber 14 for light reception is connected. Hereinafter, the attachment 13 will be described in detail.

<Regarding Attachment 13> The attachment main body 15 is formed by injection molding a synthetic resin, and as shown in FIG.
It has a cylindrical sleeve 16 corresponding to a cylindrical portion and an annular flange portion 17 corresponding to a positioning portion. The right end of the sleeve 16 is formed with a tapered portion 18 whose diameter is reduced from left to right. The sleeve 16 is fitted into the insertion port 12 of the amplifier 11 using the tapered portion 18 as a guide. You. Reference numeral 19 denotes a through hole of the sleeve 16.

A tapered portion 20 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the flange portion 17 at the left end. The tapered portion 20 has an inclined surface shape whose diameter is reduced from left to right.
One end of the above-mentioned optical fiber 14 is inserted into the sleeve 16 by guiding the tapered portion 20 from the flange portion 17 side. The optical fiber 14 is of a free-cut type whose length is adjusted based on cutting one end, and a fiber head (not shown) is fixed to the other end of the optical fiber 14. .

At the left end of the sleeve 16, as shown in FIG.
°). Each of these slits 21 has a long hole shape extending along the axial direction of the sleeve 16, and three spring pieces 22 are formed in the sleeve 16 between the three slits 21 in the circumferential direction. ing. Each of the spring pieces 22 corresponds to a spring portion, and has a beam shape in which the right end is connected to the sleeve 16 and the left end is connected to the flange 17.

At the left end of each spring piece 22, a claw 23 is formed integrally on the inner surface. Each of the claws 23 has a triangular shape whose height increases from left to right, and when the optical fiber 14 is fitted in the sleeve 16, as shown in FIG. As shown, each claw 2
3 is pressed outward by the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 14, and each spring piece 22 is elastically deformed so as to expand outward.

The height of each of the claws 23 is the same as the diameter of the fiber insertion portion 24 (the portion surrounded by the three claws 23 in FIG. 2) of the optical fiber 14 inserted into the sleeve 16. Is set to be smaller than the thinnest one. Therefore, even when the optical fiber 14 is inserted into the sleeve 16, each claw portion 23 is pressed outward, and each spring piece 22 expands outward.

The outer peripheral surface of the sleeve 16 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, an annular metal ring 25 is press-fitted. The inner diameter of this ring 25 is
The spring 25 is elastically deformed inward when the ring 25 is pressed by the inner peripheral surface of the ring 25, and each claw 23 is pressed.
Is retained in a retaining state in which it penetrates the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 14.

Next, a procedure for connecting the attachment 13 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1A, the optical fiber 14 is inserted into the sleeve 16 from the side of the flange portion 17 until the right end surface of the optical fiber 14 is flush with the right end surface of the tapered portion 18. Continue with 14. At this time, each claw 2
3 is pressed by the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 14, and each spring piece 22 expands outward.

After the optical fiber 14 is fitted into the sleeve 16, a ring 25 is pressed into the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve 16 from the side opposite to the flange portion 17, and as shown in FIG. The ring 25 is pushed to the left until the contacts the right end face of the flange 17. At this time, each spring piece 22 is elastically deformed inward based on being pressed by the inner peripheral surface of the ring 25, and each claw 23 bites into the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 14.

According to the first embodiment, the claw portion 23 is formed by pressing the ring 25 into the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve 16.
Was engaged with the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 14. For this reason, the work of fastening the screw is not required, and anyone can connect the attachment 13 to the optical fiber 14 in a short time without using a tool, so that the workability of connecting the attachment 13 to the optical fiber 14 is improved. In addition, since a portion to be held by a finger and turned when the screw is fastened becomes unnecessary, the amount of travel L (see FIG. 1B) of the attachment 13 with respect to the amplifier 11 is reduced. For this reason, the space occupied by the amplifier 11 is reduced, so that the space can be saved.

The ring 25 is positioned on the spring piece 22 based on the contact of the ring 25 with the flange 17. For this reason, the claw 23 is engaged with the optical fiber 14 only by pushing the ring 25 until it comes into contact with the flange portion 17.
The meshing state of the optical fibers 14 does not vary, and the fixing force of the optical fibers 14 is stabilized.

The claw portion 23 is formed in a triangular shape whose height increases from the flange portion 17 side to the opposite side. For this reason, when the optical fiber 14 is inserted into the sleeve 16, the optical fiber 14 is less likely to be caught on the claw portion 23,
The work of inserting the optical fiber 14 is simplified. Moreover, with the optical fiber 14 inserted into the sleeve 16,
Is securely engaged with the optical fiber 14, so that the fixing force of the optical fiber 14 is also stabilized.

In the first embodiment, the rings 25 are individually press-fitted into the light-emitting attachment body 15 and the light-receiving attachment body 15, but the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 4 showing the second embodiment, two through holes 27 are formed in a metal ring 26.
May be formed, and the sleeves 16 of both the attachment bodies 15 may be press-fitted into the two through holes 27 of the ring 26. In the case of this configuration, both sleeves 16 are connected to both insertion ports 12 of the amplifier 11.
Since the optical fiber 14 for light projection and the optical fiber 14 for light reception can be connected to the amplifier 11 at one time based on simultaneous fitting into the inside, workability of the optical fiber 14 is improved.

Further, in the second embodiment, the attachment main body 15 for projecting light and the attachment main body 15 for receiving light are separated. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Adhesion may be performed.
In the case of this configuration, the sleeves 16 of the two attachment bodies 15 can be simultaneously press-fitted into the two through holes 27 of the ring 26, so that the ring 26 of the attachment body 15
The connection workability with respect to is improved.

In the first and second embodiments, the rings 25 and 26 are made of metal.
The present invention is not limited to this. For example, a synthetic resin may be used as a material. In this case, as the material of the synthetic resin, it is preferable to select a material that is hard enough to allow the claws 23 to be engaged with the optical fiber 14. In the first and second embodiments, both ends of the spring piece 22 are connected to the sleeve 16 and the flange 17 of the attachment body 15.
However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be connected to one of the sleeve 16 and the flange 17.

In the first and second embodiments, the rings 25 and 26 are fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve 16 by press fitting. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A locking mechanism may be provided to hold 26 in contact with flange 17. In this case, if the locking mechanism is provided with an unlocking portion and the locking of the rings 25 and 26 is released based on the operation of the unlocking portion, the sleeve 16 of the rings 25 and 26 can be released.
The attachment / detachment work with respect to is simplified. Further, in the first and second embodiments, the annular flange 17 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve 16, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of positioning projections are provided and the ring 25 is provided. And 26 may be positioned on spring piece 22 based on contacting the plurality of positioning protrusions.

[0024]

According to the optical fiber attachment of the present invention, the claw portion is engaged with the optical fiber based on the insertion of the ring into the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion. For this reason, the work of fastening the screw is not required, and the work of connecting the attachment to the optical fiber is simplified. Moreover,
Since it is not necessary to rotate it with your finger when fastening the screw,
The amount of travel to the amplifier for the attachment is reduced.
Further, since the ring is positioned on the spring portion based on the contact with the positioning portion, the meshing state of the optical fibers does not vary, and the fixing force of the optical fiber is stabilized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a first embodiment of the present invention (a is a sectional view showing an attachment body and a ring in an exploded state, and b is a sectional view showing an attachment body and a ring in an assembled state).

FIG. 2 is a view showing an attachment body (a is a view as viewed from an arrow Xa, b is a view as viewed from an arrow Xb, c is a view as viewed from an arrow Xc, d is a cross-sectional view along Xd line, and e is a cross-sectional view along Xe line)

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an amplifier, an attachment, and an optical fiber.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a second embodiment of the present invention (a is a view showing the attachment body and the ring in an exploded state, and b is a view showing the ring from the direction of arrow Xb).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional example (a is a perspective view showing the knob and the base in an exploded state, and b is a perspective view showing the knob and the base in an assembled state).

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 13 denotes an attachment, 14 denotes an optical fiber, 16 denotes a sleeve (tube portion), 17 denotes a flange portion (positioning portion), 22 denotes a spring piece (spring portion), 23 denotes a claw portion, 25 denotes a ring, and 26 denotes a ring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A cylindrical portion into which an optical fiber is inserted; a spring portion provided on the cylindrical portion and elastically deformable with respect to the cylindrical portion; and a spring portion provided on the spring portion, and an outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber. A claw portion for elastically deforming the spring portion outwardly of the cylindrical portion based on being pressed; and a claw portion inserted into an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion to press the spring portion inward of the cylindrical portion. A ring that meshes the claw portion with the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber based on the optical fiber; and a positioning portion that is provided on the cylindrical portion and that positions the ring on the spring portion based on the contact of the ring. An attachment for an optical fiber, comprising: