JP2002243981A - Protective cap for optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a protective cap for optical connector whose attachment and detachment are easy and cost can be reduced. SOLUTION: A protective cap 31 for optical connector protects a housing part 16 in an adapter 13 or a receptacle which has a plurality of housing parts 16 for a plug 33. The protective cap 31 is provided with a plurality of fitting parts 34 which can be fitted in each housing part 16, a clamping part 35 exposed outside the housing parts 16, and connecting parts 33 to connect the clamping part 35. The fitting or pulling out operation of each fitting part 34 to each housing part 16 can be simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a protective cap for protecting an accommodating portion of a plug in an optical connector used for relaying an optical cable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an optical connector has a plug attached to an end of an optical cable, and an adapter or a receptacle to which the plug can be attached or detached. In order to protect the inside of the adapter and the like from dust and the like, a protective cap is attached to the adapter or the receptacle.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a conventional protective cap 1. The protective cap 1 has an elongated rectangular column shape, and a cylindrical deep groove 2 is formed along the axial direction on the tip end side. . In addition, concave portions 4 are respectively formed on the left and right side surfaces 3 on the distal end side of the protective cap 1, whereby the upper wall portion 5 and the lower wall portion 6 are formed so as to protrude horizontally outward and extend along the distal end surface. The flange portion 7 is formed so as to protrude. The protruding length of the flange portion 7 is shorter than the protruding length of the upper and lower wall portions 5 and 6, and the tip portions of the upper and lower wall portions 5 and 6 are chamfered. Notch portions 8 are formed at positions of the upper and lower wall portions 5 and 6 facing each other, and a tapered surface 9 is formed on the tip side of each of the notch portions 8 toward the outside in the tip direction.

At the center of the left and right side surfaces 3 of the protective cap 1, a flange 10 is projected along the lower wall 6, and the proximal end of the protective cap 1 is wider than the flange 10. Is formed. Further, a through hole 27 penetrating through the left and right side surfaces is formed in the base end side of the protective cap 1. , 12 are formed.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the adapter 13.
The adapter 13 includes a pair of housings 14, 14 'connected to each other on the distal end side, and a sleeve 15 provided in the housings 14, 14'. Since each of the housings 14 and 14 'has the same configuration, the housing 14 will be described below for simplicity.
As shown in FIG. 9, a plug housing portion 16 is formed in eight rows and one vertical column, and the protective cap 1 can be fitted into and removed from the housing portion 16.

Each of the storage sections 16 is divided by a partition wall 17 into two, and a sleeve wall 18 is formed in a portion where the partition wall 17 is not provided. Concave portions 20 are respectively formed on the lower surface side of the partition wall 17 and the inner surface side of the upper wall 19 of the housing 14, and the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls 21 of the housing 14 at the lower end side of the storage portions 14 are respectively provided with groove portions. 22 are formed. Engaging pieces 23 are formed at positions on the inner surfaces of the left and right side walls 21 of each of the storage portions 16 facing each other. The engaging pieces 23 extend in a cantilever manner from the base end side to the tip end side. I have. A protrusion 24 protruding inward and a guide 25 extending vertically along the inner surface of the side wall 21 of the storage portion 16 are formed at the tip of the engagement piece 23. The end has a tapered shape. Further, a cylindrical sleeve holding portion 2 is provided at the tip end side of the storage portion 16.
6 is formed, and when the respective housings 14, 14 'are connected, the sleeve holding portion 26 is provided with the housing 14'.
The sleeve 15 is movably held together with the side sleeve holding portion 26 '.

In the above configuration, the adapter 13
On the other hand, when the protective cap 1 is fitted, the proximal end of the protective cap 1 is gripped, and the distal end of the protective cap 1 is fitted into the concave portion 20 in the posture in which the raised portion 11 fits into the concave portion 20. insert. The flange 10 is fitted into the groove 22, the flange 7 abuts on the projection 24, and the guide 2 protrudes from both sides of the engagement piece 23.
5 comes into contact with the tips of the upper and lower wall portions 5 and 6, and the engaging piece 23 is pressed outward and elastically deformed. When the protective cap 1 is further pushed in, the projection 24 rides over the flange portion 7 and the guide portion 25 slides along the tapered surface 9 of the upper and lower wall portions 5 and 6, and then slides the notch. Part 8
Fit into. At this time, the engagement piece 23 is fitted into the recess 4 and returns to the state before the elastic deformation, and the protection cap 1
Is fixed to the storage section 16 of the adapter 13.

In order to remove the protective cap 1 from the adapter 13, the proximal end of the protective cap 1 is gripped and pulled. The guide portion 25 slides along the tapered surface 9 so that the engagement of the engagement piece 23 into the recess 4 is released.
3, the protective cap 1 is pulled out of the adapter 13 by the reverse action.

[0009]

In the above-mentioned conventional protective cap for an optical connector, in the case of an adapter or the like having a plurality of storage portions 16 for plugs, one protection cap 1 is attached to each storage portion 16. It has to be removed or removed, and the attaching and detaching work is troublesome. In particular, when an attempt is made to attach or remove the protective cap 1 near the center of an adapter or the like in which a plurality of vertically arranged plug housings 16 are arranged in a plurality of rows in the horizontal direction, a finger is placed between the protective caps 1. Since there is no gap enough to enter, a special jig must be
It was necessary to carry out the attaching / detaching work by hanging on the 7. Therefore, the work of attaching and detaching the protective cap 1 is very troublesome. Further, since the attaching and detaching work of the protective cap 1 is difficult, the cost for the attaching and detaching work also increases, and there is a problem that it is difficult to reduce the cost.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a protective cap for an optical connector in which the protective cap can be easily attached and detached and the cost can be reduced.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a protective cap for an optical connector for protecting an accommodating portion in an adapter or a receptacle having a plurality of accommodating portions for plugs, which can be fitted to each of the accommodating portions. A plurality of fitting portions, a grip portion exposed outside the storage portion, and a connecting portion connecting the grip portions.

[0012] Preferably, the number of the fitting portions is provided corresponding to the number of the storage portions, and the fitting or withdrawing operation of each of the fitting portions with respect to each of the storage portions is performed once by the holding portion. It is completed by operation.

[0013] Further, the fitting portion is provided with an engaging portion engageable with the storage portion, and is fixed to the adapter or the receptacle by the engaging portion. The part is provided only in a part of the fitting part.

With such a configuration, the work of fitting or removing the fitting portions with respect to the storage portions becomes easy, the time required for the work can be reduced, and the working cost can be reduced.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. For the sake of simplicity, the same configuration as that described in the related art will be described.
In the drawings, the same reference numerals are given, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the protective cap 31 according to the embodiment of the present invention has a configuration in which a plurality of protective cap portions 32 are connected in a vertical line by a connecting portion 33. The protective cap 32 is preferably
The number (eight in this case) corresponding to the number of storage sections 16 of the adapter 13 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is provided. The protective cap portion 32 has the same configuration as that of the conventional protective cap 1 except that the through hole 27 is not formed at the base end side (see FIG. 5). A fitting portion 34 that can be fitted to the storage portion 16 is formed, and a base end portion thereof forms a grip portion 35 exposed outside the storage portion 16. Also, each of the connecting portions 33 is a raised portion 1 formed on the base end side of each of the protective cap portions 31.
2 is formed so as to connect the lower surface on the base end side of each protective cap 1.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, an operation when the protective cap 31 is fitted to and removed from the storage section 16 of the adapter 13 will be described.

The protective cap 31 is connected to the adapter 13
When fitting to the
, And the fitting portions 34 of the protective cap portions 32 are inserted into the corresponding storage portions 16 respectively. In this case, the eight protection cap portions 32 are connected to the connection portions 33.
Thus, the eight protective cap portions 32 can be fitted into the corresponding eight storage portions 16 by a single fitting operation.
The operation of each of the protective cap portions 32 during this period is the same as that of the conventional one, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. However, as shown in the right part of FIG. The respective protective cap portions 32 are fixed to the respective housing portions 16 (see FIG. 3,
As an example, the plug 36 is fitted in the left storage section 16 ').

On the other hand, the grip 35 of the protective cap 32
When the user grips and pulls, each of the protective cap portions 32 is simultaneously actuated in a reverse manner to the case where the protective cap 31 is fitted to the adapter 13.
Escaped from

As described above, the protective cap portions 32 are connected and integrated by the connecting portion 33, and the work of fitting and removing the protective cap 31 to and from the adapter 13 is completed in one operation. Therefore, the work of inserting and removing the protective cap 31 is extremely simplified.

In the above embodiment, the recesses 4, the upper and lower walls 5, 6 and the flange 7 are formed on the side surface 3 on the distal end side of each of the protective cap portions 32, respectively. , Upper and lower walls 5, 6 and flange 7
May be provided only in some of the fitting portions 34, for example, only the outer fitting portion 34 (see FIG. 4) or only the middle fitting portion 34, and not provided in the other fitting portions 34 '. . In this case, the protection cap 31 can be manufactured more easily, the cost can be further reduced, and only a part of the fitting portion 34 is engaged with the housing portion 16. Therefore, a large force is not required for the work of fitting and removing the protective cap 31, and the fitting work can be further simplified. In addition, these effects are obtained by the protection cap 31.
It is needless to say that is more remarkable when a plurality of fitting portions 34 are provided.

Also, it is sufficient that a plurality of the protective caps 1 are provided, and it is not always necessary to provide a number corresponding to the number of the housings 16. Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment with respect to the adapter 13 having the storage section 16 having eight vertical columns, but includes the storage section 16 having a plurality of rows, one row, a plurality of rows, or a plurality of rows. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to an adapter which is not used. In addition,
When the present invention is applied to an adapter having a plurality of rows of storage sections 16, there is no need to use a special jig as in the related art at the time of attaching and detaching work.
Is extremely simplified.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the protective cap 31 is mounted on the adapter 13, but may be a receptacle instead of the adapter 13.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the operation of fitting or removing each fitting portion with respect to each storage portion is simplified,
The time required for the work can be reduced, and the work cost can be reduced. In addition, since it is not necessary to separately manufacture the protective caps for each of the storage sections, and the protection caps for the plurality of storage sections can be manufactured by molding at one time, various manufacturing costs can be reduced. Excellent effects can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a state in which a protective cap is attached to an adapter in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing another example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a half sectional view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing an adapter.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing the adapter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Concave part 13 Adapter 16 Storage part 31 Protective cap 33 Connecting part 34 Fitting part 35 Holding part 36 Plug

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An adapter or a receptacle having a plurality of accommodating portions for plugs, the optical connector protecting cap for protecting the accommodating portion, wherein a plurality of fitting portions capable of being fitted to the respective accommodating portions; A protective cap for an optical connector, comprising: a grip exposed outside the storage part; and a connecting part connecting the grip. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the number of the fitting portions corresponds to the number of the storage portions, and the fitting or removing operation of the fitting portions with respect to the storage portions is completed by one operation. The protective cap for an optical connector according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The fitting part according to claim 1, wherein an engaging part engageable with the storage part is provided on the fitting part, and the engaging part is fixed to the adapter or the receptacle. The protective cap for an optical connector described in the above. 4. The protective cap for an optical connector according to claim 3, wherein the engaging portion is provided only in a part of the fitting portion.