JP2004138832A - Optical fiber splicing tool and method of connection of optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber splicing tool and a method of connection of the optical fiber, in which an increase in loss due to bending of the optical fiber and breakage of tip parts are prevented, and connection failure is not caused by releasing deflection generated at the tip parts in butt splicing of the optical fiber. <P>SOLUTION: By using an optical fiber splicing part 10 provided with clamping parts 32, 33, 34 for clamping and holding optical fibers 30, 31, the tips of the optical fibers 30, 31 are clamped in a butt-connected state by one clamping part 33, and coated parts of the optical fibers 30, 31 are clamped by the other clamping part 32. One opening/closing member 2 insertably and detachably provided on the one clamping part 33 and capable of opening and closing the one clamping part 33; and the other opening/closing member 3 insertably and detachably provided on the other clamping parts 32, 34 and capable of opening and closing the other clamping parts 32, 34 are provided to operate both opening/closing parts independently. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical fiber connection tool and an optical fiber connection method, and more particularly to an optical fiber connection tool and an optical fiber connection method effective for butt-connecting optical fibers by an optical fiber connector.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an optical fiber connector used for butt-connecting optical fibers, a configuration in which an optical fiber is sandwiched between a base and a holding lid and clamped by the force of a spring has been proposed.
[0003]
As such an optical fiber connector 70, for example, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a connection element 81 having a split structure in which a base element 82 and a lid element 83 are combined, and a connection element 81 And a clamp spring 87 that urges the base-side element 82 and the lid-side element 83 in a direction in which the base-side element 82 and the lid-side element 83 are joined. The second lid-side element 85 and the third lid-side element 86 are divided into three parts, and a centering groove (not shown) is provided on the joint surface between the base-side element 82 and the lid-side element 83.
[0004]
Then, in order to butt-connect the optical fibers 90 and 91 using the optical fiber connector 70 as described above, for example, a base 73 a, an extension 73 b extending vertically from the center of the base 73 a, and a base 73 b An opening / closing member 73 composed of extending portions 73c, 73c vertically extending from both ends of 73a is used. The opening / closing member 73 is placed between the first lid side element 84 and the base side element 82, and the second lid side element. 85 and the base-side element 82 and between the third lid-side element 86 and the base-side element 82 at the same time to open the base-side element 82 and the lid-side element 83 to release the clamped state by both clamps. Then, in this state, the tip of one optical fiber 90 is inserted between the second lid-side element 85 and the base-side element 82 via the space between the first lid-side element 84 and the base-side element 82, and Of optical fiber 91 Is inserted between the second lid-side element 85 and the base-side element 82 via the space between the third lid-side element 86 and the base-side element 82, and both optical fibers 90 and 91 are connected to the second lid-side element 85. The tip of one optical fiber 90 and the tip of the other optical fiber 91 are butt-connected by pressing in the center direction between the base-side element 82.
[0005]
Then, in this state, the opening / closing member 73 of the optical fiber connector 70 is moved between the first lid-side element 84 and the base-side element 82, between the second lid-side element 85 and the base-side element 82, and between the third lid-side element 82 and the third lid. The second lid-side element 85 and the base-side element 82 clamp the tip of both optical fibers 90 and 91 in a state where they are butt-connected to each other. The covering portions of both optical fibers 90 and 91 are clamped by 84 and the base-side element 82 and by the third lid-side element 86 and the base-side element 82.
[0006]
In this manner, the optical fibers can be held in a state where they are connected to each other.
Note that a dedicated tool (optical fiber connection tool) can be used for inserting and removing the opening / closing member from the element of the optical fiber connector 70. Prior art information that discloses such tools and related technologies includes, for example, the following Patent Documents 1 to 6.
[0007]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-197159
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-9-197160
[Patent Document 3]
JP-A-9-197161
[Patent Document 4]
JP-A-10-10351
[Patent Document 5]
JP-A-10-104456
[Patent Document 6]
JP 2001-215353 A
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the optical fiber connector 70 as described above, the optical fibers 90 and 91 are inserted from both ends of the optical fiber connector 70, respectively, and the butting force of the optical fibers 90 and 91 is too strong. When the distal ends of the two optical fibers 90 and 91 are bent, the optical fiber connector 70 has no space for releasing the bending and a mechanism for releasing the bending. The fibers 90 and 91 are clamped, the loss may be increased due to the bending of the optical fiber, and the stress may be concentrated on the bent end portions of the two optical fibers and may be damaged, which may cause a connection failure.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and when the optical fibers are butt-connected to each other, the butting force of the two optical fibers is too strong and the distal ends of the two optical fibers are bent. Even if this occurs, the bending can be easily released, thereby preventing loss of connection due to bending of the optical fiber and damage to the ends of the two optical fibers, thereby preventing connection failure. It is an object to provide a method for connecting a tool and an optical fiber.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention uses an optical fiber connector having a clamp unit for clamping and holding an optical fiber, and clamps the two optical fibers in a state where the tip ends of the two optical fibers are butt-connected by one clamp unit of the optical fiber connector, and An optical fiber connection tool used when clamping the covering portions of the two optical fibers by another clamp portion of a fiber connector, wherein the one clamp is provided so as to be insertable into and removable from the one clamp portion. One opening and closing member capable of opening and closing the other part, and the other opening and closing member provided so as to be insertable into and removable from the other clamp part and capable of opening and closing the other clamp part. When the member is pulled out from the clamp portion, the other opening / closing member can be extracted from the other clamp after the one opening / closing member is extracted from the one clamp portion. To provide an optical fiber connection tool you are.
[0011]
In this optical fiber connection tool, the optical fiber connection tool is the above-mentioned optical fiber connection tool, wherein the optical fiber connector has a connection element having a split structure formed by combining a base-side element and a lid-side element; A clamp spring that is fitted to the outside and holds the base element and the lid element of the connection element in a joined state, wherein the lid element is a first lid element and a second lid element is disposed opposite to both sides thereof. The first lid-side element, the third lid-side element, and the first lid-side element, a part of the base-side element facing the first lid-side element, and a part of a clamp spring fitted on the outside thereof correspond to the one clamp part. A second clamp part corresponding to the other clamp part by a second lid-side element, a part of the base-side element facing the second lid-side element, and a part of a clamp spring fitted on the outside thereof. Is composed of The lid-side element, the part of the base-side element opposed to the lid-side element, and the part of the clamp spring fitted on the outside thereof constitute a third clamp part corresponding to the other clamp part, and the one opening / closing member is a third clamp part. The other opening / closing member can be inserted and removed between the second lid-side element and the base-side element of the two-clamp part, and can be inserted between the first lid-side element and the base-side element of the first clamp part and the third clamp. A configuration that can be inserted and removed between the third lid-side element and the base-side element of the unit can also be adopted.
[0012]
The present invention uses an optical fiber connector having a clamp unit for clamping and holding an optical fiber, and clamps the two optical fibers in a state where the tip ends of the two optical fibers are butt-connected by one clamp unit of the optical fiber connector, and An optical fiber connection method for clamping the coating portions of the two optical fibers by another clamp portion of a fiber connector, wherein one of the opening and closing members is provided so as to be insertable into and removable from the one clamp portion. The other opening and closing member provided so as to be insertable into and removable from the clamp portion is inserted into one clamp portion and the other clamp portion, respectively, to open one clamp portion and the other clamp portion, and in this state, One end of the optical fiber is inserted from one end of the optical fiber connector, and the other end of the optical fiber is inserted from the other end of the optical fiber connector. In this state, the ends of the two optical fibers are butt-connected, and in this state, the one opening / closing member is pulled out from the one clamp portion, and the ends of the two optical fibers are butt-connected by the one clamp portion. An optical fiber connection method is provided in which after the clamping, the other opening / closing member is pulled out from the other clamp portion, and the coating portions of the two optical fibers are clamped by the other clamp portion.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described.
FIGS. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of an optical fiber connecting tool according to the present invention. The optical fiber connecting tool 1 is an optical fiber connecting tool 1 configured as a mechanical splice for multicore or single core. The fiber connector 10 is applied, and includes a base 4 for fixing the optical fiber connector 10 and two opening / closing members 2 and 3 provided on the base 4.
[0014]
The optical fiber connector 10 includes a connection element 21 formed of a plastic material or the like, and a clamp spring 27 formed of metal or the like fitted on the outside of the connection element 21.
[0015]
The connection element 21 has a split structure in which a prismatic base-side element 22 and a prismatic lid-side element 23 are combined, and the lid-side element 23 is axially connected to the first lid-side element 25. Are divided into three, a second lid-side element 24 and a third lid-side element 26, which are disposed on both sides thereof. On the surface of the base-side element 22 facing the lid-side element 23, an alignment groove 22a having a triangular or semi-circular cross section is provided over the entire length, and the one alignment optical fiber 30 and the other light The centering with the fiber 31 can be performed.
[0016]
A clamp spring 27 having a U-shaped cross section is fitted on the outside of the base-side element 22 and the lid-side element 23 of the connection element 21, and the base-side element 22 and the lid-side element 23 are separated by the urging force of the clamp spring 27. It is configured to be held in a joined state. In this case, a joint between the base-side element 22 and the lid-side element 23 is located at the opening of the clamp spring 27. At two positions in the longitudinal direction of the clamp spring 27, cutouts 27a are provided which cut from the opening end surface to a predetermined position. The cutouts 27a allow the second lid-side element 24 to be a base on the left side of the clamp spring 27. The first lid-side element 25 is urged toward the base-side element 22 at the central portion, and the third lid-side element 26 is biased toward the base-side element 22 at the right side. It is to be energized.
[0017]
A first clamp portion 33 is configured by the first lid-side element 25, a portion of the base-side element 22 corresponding to the first lid-side element 25, and a central portion of the clamp spring 27 fitted on the outside thereof, and the second lid-side element 24 The corresponding portion of the base-side element 22 and the left side portion of the clamp spring 27 fitted on the outside thereof constitute a second clamp portion 32, and the third lid-side element 26 and the corresponding base-side element 22 And the right side portion of the clamp spring 27 fitted on the outside thereof constitutes a third clamp portion 34. In addition, the first clamp part 33 performs a function corresponding to one clamp part, and the second clamp part 32 and the third clamp part 34 perform a function corresponding to another clamp part.
[0018]
The optical fiber connection tool 1 includes a base 4 for fixing the optical fiber connector 10, and a first opening / closing member 2 provided on the base 4 and capable of moving forward and backward in the direction of the optical fiber connector 10 fixed to the base 4. And the second opening / closing member 3, and both opening / closing members 2 and 3 can be operated independently. The second opening / closing member 3 has a U-shape including a base 3a and extending portions 3b, 3b vertically extending from both ends of the base 3a. The first opening / closing member 2 has a function corresponding to one opening / closing member, and the second opening / closing member 3 has a function corresponding to the other opening / closing member.
[0019]
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the distal ends of the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are each formed in a wedge shape, and the distal ends of the first opening / closing member 2 are the first lid side element 25 and the base side. The tip of the second opening / closing member 3 is inserted between the second lid-side element 24 and the base-side element 22 and between the third lid-side element 26 and the base-side element 22. It can be inserted and removed between.
[0020]
The first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are attached to a drive mechanism (not shown), and independently move toward and away from the optical fiber connector 10 on the base 4 by the operation of the drive mechanism. I have. In this case, the drive mechanism may be manually operated, or may be automatically operated using power.
[0021]
Here, FIGS. 9 and 10 show an example of a specific configuration of the optical fiber connection tool 1, but the configuration and the like will be described later.
[0022]
In order to butt-connect two optical fibers 30 and 31 with the optical fiber connector 10 using the optical fiber connecting tool 1 according to this embodiment configured as described above, the optical fiber connector 10 is connected to the base 4. The first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are advanced in the direction of the optical fiber connector 10 by operating the driving mechanism, and the distal end of the first opening / closing member 2 is pressed against the urging force of the clamp spring 27. The first lid-side element 25 is opened by inserting the first lid-side element 25 between the first lid-side element 25 and the base-side element 22 of the connection terminal 21, and the distal end of the second opening / closing member 3 is pressed against the urging force of the clamp spring 27. Then, it is inserted between the second lid-side element 24 and the base-side element 22 and between the third lid-side element 26 and the base-side element 22 to open the second lid-side element 24 and the third lid-side element 26.
[0023]
Then, as shown in FIG. 5, one optical fiber 30 is inserted from one end side of the optical fiber connector 10 along the alignment groove 22 a, and the distal end of the optical fiber 30 is inserted through the second lid-side element 24. The optical fiber 31 is located at substantially the center between the lid-side element 25 and the base-side element 22, and the other optical fiber 31 is inserted from the other end of the optical fiber connector 10 along the alignment groove 22a. Is positioned approximately at the center between the first lid-side element 25 and the base-side element 22 via the third lid-side element 26, and the two optical fibers 30, 31 are connected to the first lid-side element 25 and the base-side element 22. The optical fiber 30 is pressed by a predetermined force in the center direction between the optical fiber 30 and the distal end of one optical fiber 30 and the distal end of the other optical fiber 31 are butt-connected.
[0024]
Then, the first opening / closing member 2 is pulled out from between the first lid-side element 25 and the base-side element 22 by operating the driving mechanism, and the first lid-side element 25 is closed by the urging force of the clamp spring 27, and the first lid is closed. The tip (bare optical fiber) of one optical fiber 30 and the tip (bare optical fiber) of the other optical fiber 31 are clamped between the side element 25 and the base side element 22, and the two optical fibers 30 and 31 are clamped. The ends are held in a butt-connected state.
[0025]
Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the bending of the two optical fibers 30 and 31 is released in the direction of the respective ends, and the drive mechanism is operated to move the second opening / closing member 3 to the second lid side element 24 and the base side element 22. , And between the third lid-side element 26 and the base-side element 22, and the second lid-side element 24 and the third lid-side element 26 are closed by the urging force of the clamp spring 27. Further, the covering portions of the optical fibers 30 and 31 are clamped between the third lid-side element 26 and the base-side element 22.
[0026]
In this way, the optical fiber connection tool 1 can hold the one optical fiber 30 and the other optical fiber 31 in a state where the ends are butt-connected.
[0027]
In the optical fiber connection tool 1 according to this embodiment configured as described above, the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are operated independently, and the first opening / closing member 2 is pulled out to remove the first lid. After the side element 25 is closed, the second opening / closing member 3 is pulled out to close the second lid side element 24 and the third lid side element 26, so that the tip of one optical fiber 30 and the other optical fiber 31 When the first lid-side element 25 is closed, the second lid-side element 24 and the second lid-side element 24 are closed when the first lid-side element 25 is closed. Since the three-lid-side element 26 is still in the open state, its bending can be released in the direction of the ends of the two optical fibers 30 and 31, and after the bending is completely removed, the second lid-side element 24 and the third lid The side element 26 will be closed.
[0028]
Therefore, the optical fibers 30, 31 are clamped in a state where the distal ends of the optical fibers 30, 31 are still bent, and the loss due to the bending of the optical fibers 30, 31 is increased, and the distal ends of the optical fibers 30, 31 are increased. It is possible to prevent stress from being concentrated on the portion and breakage, to eliminate connection failure, and to greatly improve reliability.
[0029]
Further, since the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 can be designed separately, cost reduction can be achieved. That is, the size of the opening of the first lid-side element 25 of the first clamp part 33 and the size of the opening of the third lid-side element 26 of the second clamp part 32 and the third lid-side element 26 of the third clamp part 34. Therefore, if the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are designed separately, the manufacturing becomes easy and the cost can be reduced.
[0030]
In this embodiment, the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 independently advance and retreat in the direction of the optical fiber connector 10, but the present invention is not limited to this. is not. In the optical fiber connection tool of the present invention, the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are provided integrally, and the second opening / closing members 3 provided on both sides of the first opening / closing member 2 are connected to the first opening / closing member. When the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are operated in a direction away from the optical fiber connector 10, the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are moved deeper into the optical fiber connector 10 than the member 2. Starts retreating at the same time, but due to the difference in length between the two, the first opening / closing member 2 is first pulled out of the first clamp portion 33 and the first clamp portion 33 is closed, and after a time lag, the second The opening / closing member 3 is pulled out from the second clamp part 32 and the third clamp part 34, and the second clamp part 32 and the third clamp part 34 are closed. Thus, as in the case where the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are independently advanced and retracted in the direction of the optical fiber connector 10, the optical fiber is not bent unnecessarily. Fiber butt connection can be realized.
[0031]
FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the optical fiber connection tool according to the present invention. The optical fiber connection tool 40 has a first opening / closing member 42 and a support member 43 integrally connected to an operation lever 41, a second opening / closing member 44 attached to the support member 43, and a pin 45 provided on the support member 43. Is located in a long hole 46 provided in the second opening / closing member 44, and the other configuration is the same as that shown in the first embodiment.
[0032]
In this embodiment, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment are obtained, and when the ends of two optical fibers are butted, the butting force is too strong. Even if the distal ends of both optical fibers are bent, the second lid-side element and the third lid-side element are still open when the first lid-side element is closed. The second lid-side element and the third lid-side element are closed after the bending is completely removed.
[0033]
Therefore, the two optical fibers are clamped in a state where the butted connection portion of the two optical fibers remains bent, and the loss is increased due to the bending of the optical fibers and the stress is concentrated on the distal ends of the two optical fibers and the ends are damaged. And the connection failure can be eliminated, and the reliability can be greatly improved.
[0034]
In this embodiment, when the operation lever 41 is operated in the direction of the optical fiber connector 10, the first opening / closing member 42 and the second opening / closing member 44 are simultaneously advanced in the direction of the optical fiber connector 10. When the operation lever 41 is operated in a direction away from the optical fiber connector 10, the first opening / closing member 42 retreats integrally with the operation lever 41 in a direction away from the optical fiber connector 10, and thereafter, a time difference is generated. When the pin 45 of the support member 43 comes into contact with the elongated hole 46 of the second opening / closing member 44, the second opening / closing member 44 retreats in a direction away from the optical fiber connector 10. Therefore, the mechanism for operating the first opening / closing member 42 and the second opening / closing member 44 can be simplified.
[0035]
In the first and second embodiments, the lid element 23 of the connection element 21 constituting the optical fiber connector 10 is replaced by the first lid element 25, the second lid element 24, and the third lid element. Although the three-part structure including the side element 26 is adopted, the present invention is not limited to this. In the optical fiber connection tool of the present invention, the lid-side element of the connection element may be of an integrated type (united). When the lid-side element is an integral type, it is preferable that the lid-side element is formed of a material that can be slightly elastically deformed, for example, a plastic material. In this manner, if the lid-side element is formed of an elastically deformable material, only the desired portion of the lid-side element can be partially opened by the first opening / closing member or the second opening / closing member as described above, By pulling out the first and second opening / closing members, a configuration capable of clamping the optical fiber can be realized.
[0036]
Next, the optical fiber connection tool 1 of the specific example shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 will be described.
9 is a plan view showing an example of the optical fiber connection tool 1, FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 9, and in FIGS. 9 and 10, 51 is a support, 54 is a pressing mechanism, 55 is a holder base, and 57 is an optical fiber holder.
The support base 51 is for supporting the optical fiber connector 10 at a predetermined position in the optical fiber connection tool 1, and is provided at the center of the base 4, and accommodates the optical fiber connector 10 in a removable manner. The groove 62 is formed.
[0037]
The pressing mechanism 54 is provided adjacent to the support table 51, and includes a moving table 63a to which the first opening / closing member 2 is attached, a moving table 63b to which the second opening / closing member 3 is attached, and a moving table 63a. , 63b with a lever 65, which allows the lever 65 to move forward and backward with respect to the support table 51. When the lever 65 is pushed into the pressure table 64, the moving table is moved by a mechanism in the pressure table 64. 63a and 63b are moved to the support base 51, and the first opening / closing member 2 and the second opening / closing member 3 are pushed into the element of the optical fiber connector 10 in the groove 62. As a result, the element can be opened. When the pulling operation is performed, the moving table 63a is first pulled back from the vicinity of the support table 51 to the pressing table 64 side by the mechanism in the pressing table 64 to pull out the first opening / closing member 2 from the element, and then the moving table 63b is pulled back. On the line, so that pulling the second opening and closing member 2 from the device. Further, in the optical fiber connection tool 1, the optical fiber holder 57 mounted on the holder table 55 on both sides of the support table 51 is simply slid toward the support table 51 on the holder table 55. The tips of the optical fibers 30 and 31 held by 57 and protruding from the optical fiber holder 57 can be easily inserted between the elements of the optical fiber connector 10 previously opened by the pressing mechanism 54.
The present invention is not limited to being applied only to an optical fiber connector having three clamp portions, but can be widely applied to any optical fiber connector having a plurality of clamp portions.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when optical fibers are butt-connected, even if the butting force is too strong and the distal ends of both optical fibers are bent, the first lid side of the optical fiber connector is provided. When the element is closed, the second lid-side element and the third lid-side element are still in an open state, so that the bending can be released in the direction toward the ends of the two optical fibers. The two lid side elements and the third lid side element will be closed. Therefore, the two optical fibers are clamped in a state where the distal ends of the two optical fibers are still bent, and the loss is increased due to the bending of the two optical fibers and the stress is concentrated on the distal ends of the two optical fibers and the two optical fibers are damaged. And the connection failure can be eliminated, and the reliability can be greatly improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a first embodiment of an optical fiber connection tool according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing a first embodiment of the optical fiber connection tool according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic right side view showing the first embodiment of the optical fiber connection tool according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which an opening / closing member is inserted into a clamp portion of the optical fiber connection tool according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and the clamp portion is opened.
FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a method of butting and connecting optical fibers using the optical fiber connection tool according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing a method for butt-connecting optical fibers using the optical fiber connection tool according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing an opening / closing member of an optical fiber connection tool according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a schematic right side view showing an opening / closing member according to a second embodiment of the optical fiber connection tool according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an example of an optical fiber connection tool.
FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a conventional optical fiber connection tool.
FIG. 12 is a schematic front view showing an example of a conventional optical fiber connection tool.
[Explanation of symbols]
1, 40 optical fiber connection tool, 2, 42 first open / close member, 3, 44 second open / close member, 4 base, 10 optical fiber connector, 21 ... Connection element, 22 ... Base side element, 22a ... Alignment groove, 23 ... Lid side element, 27 ... Clamp spring, 27a ... Notch, 30, 31, ... Optical fiber, 32 ... second clamp part, 33 ... first clamp part, 34 ... third clamp part, 41 ... operation lever, 43 ... support member, 51 ... support base 54, pressing mechanism, 55, holder table, 57, optical fiber holder, 61, support table, 62, groove, 63a, 63b, moving table, 64, pressing Stand, 65 ... lever

Claims (3)

An optical fiber connector (10) including a clamp portion (32, 33, 34) for clamping and holding an optical fiber (30, 31) is used, and the two optical fibers are clamped by one clamp portion (33) of the optical fiber connector. An optical fiber connection tool used when the tip portions of the optical fiber connectors are clamped in a butt-connected state, and the cladding portions of the two optical fibers are clamped by other clamp portions (32, 34) of the optical fiber connector device,
One opening / closing member (2) provided so as to be insertable into and removable from the one clamp part and capable of opening and closing the one clamp part, and the other one provided so as to be insertable into and removable from the other clamp part. And the other opening / closing member (3) capable of opening and closing the clamp portion of the first opening / closing member. When the one opening / closing member is pulled out from the clamp portion, the other opening / closing member is pulled out of the other clamp by one opening / closing member. An optical fiber connection tool characterized in that it can be realized after a member is extracted from one clamp portion. The optical fiber connection tool according to claim 1,
The optical fiber connector includes a connection element (21) having a split structure formed by combining a base-side element (22) and a lid-side element (23); A clamp spring (27) for holding the base side element and the lid side element of the element in a joined state,
The lid-side element is composed of a first lid-side element (25), and a second lid-side element (24) and a third lid-side element (26) disposed opposite to each other,
A first clamp portion (33) corresponding to the one clamp portion is constituted by the first lid-side element, a portion of the base-side element facing the first lid-side element, and a portion of a clamp spring fitted on the outside thereof.
A second clamp part (32) corresponding to the other clamp part is constituted by the second lid-side element, the part of the base-side element facing the second lid-side element, and the part of the clamp spring fitted on the outside thereof,
A third clamp portion (34) corresponding to the other clamp portion is constituted by the third lid-side element, the portion of the base-side element opposed thereto, and the portion of the clamp spring fitted on the outside thereof,
The one opening / closing member is insertable / removable between a second lid-side element and a base-side element of a second clamp unit, and the other opening / closing member is a first lid-side element and a base-side element of a first clamp unit. An optical fiber connection tool, which can be inserted into and removed from a third lid side element and a base side element of the third clamp part. An optical fiber connector (10) including a clamp portion (32, 33, 34) for clamping and holding an optical fiber (30, 31) is used, and the two optical fibers are clamped by one clamp portion (33) of the optical fiber connector. A method for connecting optical fibers, wherein the tip portions of the optical fibers are clamped in a butt-connected state, and the cladding portions of both optical fibers are clamped by other clamp portions (32, 34) of the optical fiber connector.
One opening / closing member (2) provided detachably with respect to the one clamp part and the other opening / closing member (3) provided with insertion / removal with respect to the other clamp part are connected to one each. One of the optical fibers is inserted from one end of the optical fiber connector by inserting one of the optical fibers from one end of the optical fiber connector in this state by inserting one of the optical fibers and the other of the optical fibers into the clamp part and the other clamp part. The other end of the optical fiber is inserted from the other end of the fiber connector, the ends of the two optical fibers are butt-connected, and in this state, the one opening / closing member is pulled out from the one clamp portion, After clamping the two optical fibers in a state where the distal ends of the two optical fibers are butt-connected by one clamp part, pull out the other opening / closing member from the other clamp part, and use the other clamp part. Method of connecting optical fibers, characterized in that for clamping the covered portion of the serial both optical fibers.

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