JP2004093992A - Optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide optical connectors which can eliminate the problem such as an increase in loss caused by the foreign matter on joining end surfaces, and can surely secure a good connection state. <P>SOLUTION: The optical connectors 22 and 23 have the joining end surfaces 21 for butt connection, wherein the end surfaces 21 have optical fiber bores opened and formed between a pair of guide pin holes where guide pins 32 for positioning are inserted and engaged. The surfaces 21 have joining regions formed with the optical fiber bores, a pair of grooves 25 formed to fall in toward rear ends 30a of the optical connectors 22 and 23 on both opposite sides of the joining regions, and fences 26 formed in the positions away from the joining regions across the grooves 25 with respect to the joining regions and projected on both side of the joining regions, so that the optical connectors 22 and 23 having the guide pin holes on both sides of the joining regions opened in the grooves 25 are formed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical connector, and more particularly to an optical connector which is positioned and butt-connected by a positioning method using a guide pin, such as an MT type optical connector (MT: Mechanically Ternable) defined in JIS C5981 or the like. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional MT optical connector.
As is well known, the MT type optical connector defined by JIS C5981 or the like is precisely positioned by a pin-joining type positioning mechanism and butt-connected. As shown in FIG. 5, the MT optical connector has a pair of guide pin holes into which guide pins for positioning are inserted and fitted, and an optical fiber hole (fine) opened between the guide pin holes at the joint end face. Holes). For example, a guide pin 4 protruding from the joint end face 1 of one optical connector 2 is inserted and fitted into a guide pin hole 5 of the other optical connector 3, and the joint end faces 1, 1 of each optical connector 2, 3 are fitted. By abutting each other, the optical fibers (bare optical fibers) 6a precisely positioned on the joint end surfaces 1 of the optical connectors 2 and 3 are abutted and connected by the optical fiber holes. As a result, the optical fibers 6 and 7 (the optical fiber ribbon in FIG. 5) that can be connected by the optical connectors 2 and 3 can be connected to each other.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, as shown in FIG. 6, in the butt connection of the optical connectors 2 and 3 of such an MT type optical connector, if foreign matter such as dust or dust adheres to these joint end surfaces 1, the optical fiber 6, In general, wiping using a cotton swab impregnated with alcohol, a tape-type cleaner, or the like is performed to prevent the connection loss from increasing.
[0004]
However, the foreign matter 20 adhered to the periphery of the guide pin 4 protruding from the optical connector 2 is obstructed by the guide pin 4, and it is difficult to completely clean and remove the foreign matter 20, and there is a problem that the workability is poor. In addition, there is another problem that foreign matter remaining around the guide pin 4 is caught between the joint end surfaces 1 and 1 of the optical connectors 2 and 3, which causes an increase in loss.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector that can solve a problem such as an increase in loss due to foreign matter on a joint end face and can reliably ensure a good connection state.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has a joining end surface for butt connection, and a pair of guide pin holes into which a positioning pin for positioning with an optical connector on the other end of butt connection is inserted and fitted, and In an optical connector in which an optical fiber hole formed between the holes is opened, a bonding region in which the optical fiber hole is formed on the bonding end face, and a bonding region on both sides opposite to the bonding region. The optical connector has a pair of grooves which are formed so as to fall toward the rear end of the optical connector, and projecting walls which are formed at positions separated from the joining region via the grooves and project from both sides of the joining region. In addition, an optical connector is provided in which the guide pin holes on both sides of the joining region are opened in the groove.
The present invention provides an optical connector in which an abutting surface which abuts on a joining end surface of an optical connector on a mating side of the mating connection is formed flush with the joining region on the projecting wall.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are schematic configuration diagrams showing an embodiment of the optical connector of the present invention.
The optical connector of this embodiment is an MT optical connector defined in JIS C5981 or the like, and the joining method is the same as the above-described conventional MT optical connector.
[0008]
In the optical connector of the present embodiment, the joining end face 21 of the optical connector 22 (23) has the joining area 24 where the optical fiber hole 21a is opened, and the joining end face 21 from the groove 24 on both sides of the joining area 24. It has a pair of grooves 25, 25 formed to drop toward the opposite rear end side (that is, the side of the flange portion 30), and protruding walls 26, 26 protruding on both sides of the joining region 24, In the optical connector of this embodiment in which the guide pin holes 27 on both sides of the joint area 24 are opened in the grooves 25, 25, the joint area 24 is positioned “front” and opposite to the joint end face 21. The following is described as the “rear”. Further, regarding the joint end face 21 of each optical connector 22 (23), the direction along the straight line L (and its extension) connecting the guide pin holes 27, 27 opened on both sides facing each other is referred to as "left and right", and the straight line L The direction perpendicular to is described as up and down (FIG. 1, up and down).
[0009]
The grooves 25 are formed so as to penetrate the entire joint end face 21 of the optical connector 22 (23) in the vertical direction. Each of the grooves 25, 25 has a groove width W substantially equal to or larger than the diameter of the guide pin holes 27, 27. It is open to.
[0010]
The protruding wall 26 is formed such that an end surface 26a (contact surface) of the protruding tip is substantially flush with the joining region 24. The end surfaces 26a of the both protruding walls 26 and the joint region 24 are formed so as to be flush with each other by polishing the joint end surface 21. When the optical connectors 22 and 23 are butt-connected, the pair of protruding walls 26 of one optical connector 22 are butted against the pair of protruding walls 26 of the optical connector 23 on the other side, so that the protruding walls 26 The butt prevents wobble, rattling, inclination, etc. between the optical connectors 22 and 23, and in terms of the positioning stability between the butt-connected optical connectors 22 and 23 and the joining stability between the joining regions 24. preferable. In other words, simply removing the edges on both sides by polishing the joining end surface of the optical connector to form a joining area does not easily prevent wobbling at the time of butt-connecting the optical connectors, and stabilizes the joining state and positioning stability. However, in the optical connectors 22 and 23 according to the present invention, the protruding walls formed on both sides of the joining region can reliably and easily secure the stability of the joining state and the positioning stability.
However, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the protruding wall 26 is a protruding ridge extending over the entire vertical direction of the joint end face 21. In this case, the end surface 26a (abutting surface) of the protruding tip of each protrusion, which is the protruding wall 26, is formed so as to be substantially flush with the joint region 24. Is done. FIG. 2 exemplifies an optical connector 22 (23) having a joint region 24 forming a flat surface extending in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of two guide pin holes 27 formed in parallel. In addition, the front end surface 26 a of the projecting wall 26 of the optical connector 22 (23) is located on the same plane as the flat surface of the joint region 24 and extends in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the joint end surface 21.
[0011]
In this embodiment, the projecting wall 26 has a shape that forms an outer surface 26b that is continuous with the outer surface 22a (23a) of the optical connector 22 (23). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and, for example, a shape in which the outer surface 26b is located at a position that is lowered from the outer surface 22a (23a) of the optical connector 22 (23) can also be adopted.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of guide pins 32, 32 protruding from the joint end face 21 of the optical connector 23 are inserted into and fixed to the guide pin holes 27 of one optical connector (here, the optical connector 23). Is inserted and fitted into the guide pin holes 27, 27 opened in the joint end face 21 of the other optical connector (here, the optical connector 22), and the pair of optical connectors 22, 23 are butt-connected to each other. Even when foreign matter 40 such as dust or dust remains around the base of the guide pin 32 protruding from the joint end face 21 when cleaning the end face 21, the foreign matter 40 adversely affects the joining between the optical connectors 22 and 23 by the groove 25. Can be avoided, and the joining regions 24 of the optical connectors 22 and 23 can be butt-joined and connected without any gap (the connected one is a connected body). As a result, the optical fibers 35 and 36, which can be butt-connected by the optical connectors 22 and 23, can be reliably connected to each other with low connection loss. Further, a part of the guide pin 32 is exposed between the pair of connected optical connectors 22 and 23 (here, the entire circumference of the guide pin located between the optical connectors is exposed), so that the connection before the connection is made. In addition to cleaning, dust and dust around the guide pins 32 can be easily removed by cleaning even after connection. As described above, since the periphery of the guide pin 32 can be cleaned even after connection, dust or dust that has already adhered or accumulated around the guide pin 32 during operations such as disconnection may be entangled with the guide pin 32, The problem of getting into the guide pin holes 27, 27 can be reduced.
[0013]
Further, in the optical connector of this embodiment, projecting walls 26, 26 are formed on the outer sides of the grooves 25, 25 in the long side direction of the joint end face 21 of the optical connector 22 (23). , 23 are butt-connected in the joining area 24, the end faces 26a of the opposing projecting walls 26 are also butt-joined and come into contact with each other, so that the optical fiber 35 has a uniform contact pressure (butting force) in the joining area 24. , 36 can be butt-connected. Therefore, for the purpose of terminating the multi-core optical fibers 35 and 36 (for example, multi-core optical fiber ribbon), a multi-core optical connector having a plurality of optical fiber holes 21a opened in the joint region 24. Also in the butt connection between the 22 (23), the optical fibers inserted and fixed in the respective optical fiber holes 21a of the optical connector 22 (23) can be butt connected with substantially equal butting forces.
Furthermore, if the optical connector has the groove 25 and the protruding wall 26, the protruding walls 26 serve as a support when polishing the joint region 24 by PC (Physical Contact), so that extra force is applied. Is added to prevent the non-uniform surface from being caused by the polished surface of the bonding region 24 being inclined (prevention of so-called polishing dripping).
[0014]
In FIGS. 1 and 2, the butt connection of the optical connectors 22, 23 in which the joining area 24, the pair of grooves 25, 25, and the pair of projecting walls 26, 26 are formed on the joining end face 21. Although illustrated, the connection target of the optical connector according to the present invention may be an MT-type optical connector having a smooth joint end face without the groove 25 or the protruding wall 26. Even in a butt connection to an optical connector having no groove 25 or the protruding wall 26 (an optical connector having a smooth joint end face), the groove 25 can avoid the adverse effect caused by the foreign matter remaining around the guide pin 32 and can also join. Since the projecting walls 26 on both sides of the region 24 abut against the joint end surface of the mating optical connector, the entire joint region 24 can be butt-connected to the joint end surface of the mating optical connector with uniform pressing force.
[0015]
In the above embodiment, the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the extending direction of the groove 25 (here, the vertical direction of the joint end face 21) is rectangular, but the optical connector of the present invention is not limited to this. , V-shape or U-shape as shown in FIGS. The present invention can also be applied to an optical connector in which the joining end surface is formed by polishing (so-called oblique polishing, which is tilted with respect to the center axis of the guide pin hole). In this case, the joining region and the end surfaces of the protruding walls on both sides thereof are obliquely polished at a desired angle and are formed to be flush with each other.
Further, the shape of the protruding wall 26 is not limited to the shape shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but may be any shape such as the shape shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
Further, the structure of the optical connector of the present invention is not limited to the MT type optical connector, but can be applied to all pin-coupled / positioning type optical connectors.
[0016]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the optical connector of the present invention, even if foreign matter such as dust or dirt remains around the base of the guide pin protruding from the joint end surface, the joint region is moved to the mating side by the groove in the joint end surface. Can be butt-connected to the optical connector without any gap, and the protruding walls on both sides of the joining area are also butted against the mating optical connector. Can be butt-connected. Furthermore, the protruding wall serves as a support when polishing the bonding area, and can prevent the polishing surface of the bonding area from being inclined due to an extra force being applied, thereby preventing the polishing area from becoming non-uniform. It also contributes to improving workability.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram (perspective view) showing an embodiment of an optical connector of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the optical connector of the present invention, FIG. 2 (a) is a plan view, and FIG. 2 (b) is a side view.
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram (perspective view) showing another embodiment of the optical connector of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the optical connector of the present invention, wherein FIG. 4 (a) is a plan view and FIG. 4 (b) is a side view.
FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a conventional MT optical connector.
FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional MT optical connector.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference numeral 21: joining end face, 22, 23: optical connector, 24: joining area, 25: groove, 26: projecting wall, 27: guide pin hole, 30: flange , 30a: rear end, 32: guide pin, 35, 36: optical fiber, 40: foreign matter

Claims (2)

It has a joint end face for butt connection, and a pair of guide pin holes into which a guide pin for positioning with a mating optical connector for butt connection is inserted and fitted, and between the guide pin hole. In an optical connector in which the formed optical fiber hole is opened,
A joining region in which the optical fiber hole is formed on the joining end surface, and a pair of grooves which are formed on both opposite sides of the joining region from the joining region toward the rear end of the optical connector. Having a projection wall formed at a position separated from the joining region via a groove and projecting on both sides of the joining region, wherein the guide pin holes on both sides of the joining region are opened in the groove. An optical connector, comprising: 2. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein an abutting surface that abuts on a joint end surface of the optical connector on the other end of the butt connection is formed flush with the joint area on the projecting wall. 3. .

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