JP2004226564A - Optical connector and housing with data recording part - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for making it easy and speedy to collate an optical connector to be attached and detached. <P>SOLUTION: Used is a housing 20 with a data recording part which has an optical connector storage hole 21a where an optical connector plug is inserted and stored, an insert part 22 which can be inserted into the optical connector housing, and a data recording part 25 where information such as line information regarding the optical connector plug and/or optical connector housing is recorded, and is configured to optically connect the optical connector plug to the optical connector housing by storing the optical connector plug in the optical connector storage hole 21a and inserting the insert part 22 into the optical connector housing. Such a housing 20 with a data recording part is mounted on the optical connector plug to arrange the data recording part 25 at a very short distance to the optical connector. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a technique for managing an optical connector to be optically connected by inserting an optical connector plug into an optical connector housing.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional optical connector. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 101 denotes an optical connector plug, and reference numeral 10 denotes an optical connector housing (here, an adapter is shown). The illustrated optical connector plug 101 and optical connector housing 10 are SC type optical connectors (SC: Single) defined in JIS C 5973 and the like.
fiber coupling).
[0003]
The optical connector plug 1 accommodates a ferrule 103 for fixing and holding a bare optical fiber (not shown) protruded from the distal end of an optical fiber 104 in a housing 102, and the light exposed on the rear end side of the housing 102. The fiber 104 is protected by an elastomer (rubber or the like) boot 105 attached to the rear end of the housing 102.
The optical connector housing 10 has an optical connector accommodating hole 11 for detachably accommodating the front end of the optical connector plug 1, and connects the optical fiber 104 by inserting the optical connector plug 1 into the optical connector accommodating hole 11. I can do it.
[0004]
For example, when optical fibers are switchably connected using a large number of optical connectors in an optical termination frame, an optical termination box, or the like, an identification code is attached by printing or the like as a method of identifying and managing each optical fiber 104. When the data tag 106 is attached to the optical fiber 104 and the wiring of the optical fiber 104 is switched, there is a method in which the identification code of the data tag 106 is read by a reading device such as a code reader to identify the optical fiber 104.
As tags used for such identification, for example, there are tags described in Patent Documents 1 to 5.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-63-102119 [Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Publication No. 64-005723 [Patent Document 3]
JP 05-101718 A [Patent Document 4]
JP-A-10-308115 [Patent Document 5]
JP 2001-154581 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to such a wiring management method using the data tag 106, the distance between the data tag 106 attached to the optical fiber 104 and the optical connector plug 101 is considerably large, so that the reading of the data tag 106 causes the wiring switching. Even if the optical fiber 104 to be operated can be identified, the optical connector plug 101 to which the optical fiber 104 is connected cannot be easily found and collated. Can't do it. It takes time to find the target optical connector plug 101 by following the wiring path of the optical fiber 104 from the data tag 106 to the optical connector plug 101. Also, in an optical termination frame or the like, a large number of optical connector housings 10 are arranged on a panel or the like, and optical fibers 104 are drawn out from the rear end of the optical connector plug 101 inserted and connected to each optical connector housing 10. This is a general situation, and if the correspondence between the optical fiber 104 and the optical connector plug 101 is mistaken, the optical connector plug 101 irrelevant to the optical fiber 104 whose wiring is to be switched may be operated and accidentally disconnected. There was a need for improvement.
[0007]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of easily and quickly checking an optical connector to be detached.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has an optical connector plug and a housing mounted outside the optical connector plug, and the housing has a data recording unit in which information such as line information is recorded. The optical connector plug provided with the housing is disposed so as to protrude to the side, and when the optical connector plug is inserted and connected to the optical connector housing, the data recording unit is arranged at a readable position. To provide an optical connector.
[0009]
According to the present invention, an optical connector housing hole for inserting and housing an optical connector plug, an insertion portion insertable into the optical connector housing, and information such as line information related to the optical connector plug and / or the optical connector housing are recorded. The optical connector plug is housed in the optical connector housing hole, and the insertion portion is inserted into the optical connector housing, so that the optical connector plug can be optically connected to the optical connector housing. A housing with a data recording section is provided.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
Here, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the optical connector plug is a plug of a so-called SC2 type optical connector (SC: Single fiber Coupling), and an SC type optical connector plug (SC: SC: stipulated in JIS C5973). The configuration is such that a knob is removed from Single fiber Coupling. That is, the ferrule 3 for fixing and holding the bare optical fiber 4a protruded from the tip of the optical fiber 4 is housed in the plug frame 2, and is placed on the rear end side of the plug frame 2 (left side in FIG. 2A). The exposed optical fiber 4 is protected by an elastomer (rubber or the like) boot 5 attached to the rear end of the plug frame 2.
[0011]
The optical fiber 4 is not particularly limited, but is a coated optical fiber such as an optical fiber core, an optical fiber, and an optical fiber cord.
In FIG. 2, the tip of the bare optical fiber 4 a is drawn so as to protrude from the ferrule 3. However, the amount of protrusion is exaggerated in order to show the tip of the bare optical fiber 4 a, and is not necessarily illustrated. is not.
The optical connector housing is an adapter of an SC type optical connector as shown in FIG. 7, or a receptacle.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 1, a housing 20 with a data recording unit according to the present embodiment (which may be simply referred to as “housing” in the following description) includes a sleeve-shaped housing main body 21 and a housing protruding from the housing main body 21. And a data recording unit holding unit 24 formed. The housing 20 can be integrally formed of, for example, plastic.
[0013]
The housing body 21 has an optical connector housing hole 21a for housing the optical connector plug 1 inside. The optical connector plug 1 is detachably accommodated in the optical connector accommodation hole 21a by using a tool or the like.
The front end (right side in FIG. 1A) of the housing body 21 is an insertion portion 22 that is inserted into and housed in the optical connector housing hole 11 of the optical connector housing 10. The end (the left side in FIG. 1A) is a knob 23 for picking with the finger or the like when removing the optical connector plug 1.
[0014]
On one side surface of the insertion portion 22, a protruding portion 22c that can be fitted with the cutout portion 13 provided on the side surface of the optical connector housing 10 is formed. As shown in FIG. 4, when the housing 20 is inserted into the optical connector housing hole 11 of the optical connector housing 10, the projection 22 c is inserted along the cutout 13 as shown in FIG. Are inserted straight into the connector housing hole 11 to be housed.
[0015]
The data recording section holding section 24 has a data recording section 25 in which data for identifying an optical connector or an optical fiber is recorded, and inserts the optical connector plug 1 into the optical connector accommodating hole 21 a of the housing 20. When accommodated, the data recording unit 25 is formed so as to protrude upward on the outer periphery of the housing 20.
Although the mounting direction of the data recording unit 25 for reading information from the data recording unit 25 is not particularly limited, here, the rear side of the optical connector plug 1 with respect to the data recording unit 25 (the left side in FIG. The information in the data recording unit 25 can be read by bringing an appropriate code reader closer to the above.
[0016]
The data recording unit 25 is not particularly limited, but is preferably formed by a recording method capable of recording data of a sufficient amount of information in a small space of the data recording unit holding unit 24 with high density and recording. . For example, a printing unit in which an identification code represented by a two-dimensional code such as a QR code (QR: Quick Response) specified in JIS X 0510 or ISO / IEC 18004 is formed by a method such as printing, or a known RF- An example is an IC chip of an ID system (RF: Radio-frequency, ID: Identification).
In particular, a two-dimensional code such as a QR code can be easily attached to the data recording unit holding unit 24 by printing or attaching a seal. In addition, since electromagnetic waves are not required for reading, it can be applied to an optical connector installed in an environment where the influence of electromagnetic waves is a problem, such as an electronic device, without any problem.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 3, such a housing 20 accommodates the plug frame 2 on the front end side of the optical connector plug 1 in the optical connector accommodating hole 21a by inserting the optical connector plug 1 from the rear end side of the housing 20. Can be held. As a structure for holding the housing 20 in the optical connector accommodating hole 21a of the optical connector plug 1, a well-known configuration utilizing engagement or fitting by unevenness or the like can be appropriately adopted.
[0018]
The housing 20 that houses and holds the optical connector plug 1 itself functions as an optical connector C for the optical connector housing 10 as shown in FIG. That is, by inserting the insertion portion 22 of the housing 20 into the optical connector housing hole 11 of the optical connector housing 10 and housing the same, the end face of the optical fiber 4 a housed and held in the optical connector plug 1 is moved inside the optical connector housing 10. Thus, it is arranged at an appropriate position where it can be optically connected to another optical fiber (not shown).
[0019]
Here, the optical connector C inserted into the optical connector housing 10 is locked by a well-known locking mechanism, and is firmly held so as not to be pulled out even when a light force such as touching the optical fiber 4 is applied. Is preferred. Further, it is preferable that the optical connector C can be easily removed by pulling it out of the optical connector housing 10 in a predetermined direction.
[0020]
An example of such a lock mechanism (slide lock mechanism) will be described with reference to FIGS. On the inner wall surface of the optical connector housing hole 11 of the optical connector housing 10, a pair of elastic locking pieces 12 each having one end fixed and the other end formed with a locking claw 12a are provided. A pair of recesses 2a with which the locking claws 12a are engaged are formed on the side surface of the plug frame 2 of the optical connector plug 1.
The optical connector accommodating hole 21a of the housing 20 is slidably mounted on the plug frame 2 of the optical connector plug 1 over a predetermined range in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 5) of the housing 20. ing. FIG. 5A shows a state in which the housing 20 has slid most forward (to the right in FIG. 5) relative to the plug frame 2, and FIG. 5 shows a state of sliding relatively rearmost (to the left in FIG. 5).
Openings 22a are provided on both side surfaces of the housing 20, and trapezoidal protrusions 22b are provided on opposite edges of the openings 22a (see FIGS. 1B and 5).
[0021]
When the optical connector C is inserted into the optical connector housing 10 by gripping the knob 23 of the housing 20 with a finger or the like, the housing 20 slides forward relative to the plug frame 2 as shown in FIG. The locking claw 12a of the elastic locking piece 12 rides over the trapezoidal projection 22b and engages with the recess 2a of the plug frame 2 through the opening 22a. As a result, the plug frame 2 is sandwiched by the elastic locking pieces 12, and the optical connector plug 1 is securely held in the optical connector housing 10.
On the other hand, when the housing 20 is driven in the pull-out direction from the optical connector housing 10, the housing 20 slides rearward relative to the plug frame 2 as shown in FIG. Since the locking claw 12a of the stop piece 12 is pushed outward, the engagement of the locking claw 12a with the recess 2a is released. As a result, the optical connector plug 1 is pulled out of the optical connector housing 10.
[0022]
As described above, according to the housing with a data recording section 20 of the present embodiment, the data recording section 25 in which wiring information and the like are recorded can be directly attached to the optical connector plug 1 as shown in FIG. The data recording unit 25 is disposed outside the side surface of the housing 20 so as to face the rear end side in the connection direction of the housing 20.
As a result, since the data recording unit 25 is arranged facing the front side of the operator who operates the optical connector plug 1, it is possible to easily read the record of the data recording unit 25 by a predetermined reader (such as a code reader). Can be. Further, information on the optical fiber can be obtained, and whether or not the optical fiber should be switched can be easily and reliably identified. Since the data recording unit 25 is located very close to the optical connector plug 1 and the optical connector housing 10, the optical fiber 4 can be compared with the optical connector plug 1 as compared with the conventional data tag 106 attached to the optical fiber 104. Is extremely easy, and inconveniences such as erroneous disconnection by operating an erroneous optical connector plug 1 are effectively reduced.
[0023]
Due to the above-described slide lock mechanism, the housing 20 is locked and held in the optical connector accommodating hole 11 simply by pinching the knob 23 with a finger or the like and pushing it toward the optical connector housing 10. In addition, the user can easily pull out the optical connector housing 20 together with the optical connector plug 1 simply by gripping the knob 23 with fingers or the like and pulling it backward. Therefore, the data recording unit 25 can be attached close to the optical connector plug 1 without impairing the workability of the operation of attaching and detaching the optical connector.
[0024]
In the present invention, the operation is performed using a tool capable of attaching and detaching the housing 20 and reading the data recording unit 25. 6A and 6B are a plan view and a front view schematically showing an example of a state in which the housing 20 is operated using such a tool.
The tool 30 includes an openable and closable arm 32 having a pair of grippers 32 a formed at the distal end thereof for gripping the knob 23 of the housing 20, and a reading unit 33 for reading the data recording unit 25. It is connected.
The reading unit 33 is connected to a discriminating device 40 such as a computer, so that the information read by the reading unit 33 can be transmitted to the discriminating device 40. The determination device 40 has a database in which a list of the optical fibers 4 to be operated in the wiring work is stored. Correspondingly, the identification number of the optical fiber 4 terminated by the optical connector C is recorded in the data recording section 25 of the optical connector C. The determination device 40 determines whether or not the operation of the optical connector C is appropriate based on the information transmitted from the reading unit 33, and displays the determination result on a display device 41 such as a display or an indicator lamp.
[0025]
When the operation of the optical connector is performed using such a tool 30, first, the information of the data recording unit 25 is read by the reading unit 33, and the appropriateness of the operation of the optical connector is determined by the determination device 40, and the determination result is displayed. It is displayed on the device 41. The operator can accurately operate the optical connector according to the display on the display device 41, and it is possible to reliably prevent an accident of unplugging the wrong optical connector.
[0026]
As described above, the present invention has been described based on the preferred embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to only the embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, the type of optical connector is not limited to the SC type optical connector, and the present invention can be appropriately applied to other types of optical connectors.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where one optical connector plug is accommodated is illustrated as the housing with the data recording unit, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a housing that collectively accommodates a plurality of optical connector plugs may be used.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the optical connector of the present invention has an optical connector plug and a housing mounted outside the optical connector plug, and the housing has a data recording device on which information such as line information is recorded. Since the portion is arranged to protrude to the side, and the optical connector plug with the housing is inserted and connected to the optical connector housing, the data recording unit is arranged at a readable position, The data recording unit can be arranged beside the existing optical connector plug. As a result, after reading the information in the data recording section with the reader, the collation of the optical connector to be detached can be performed extremely easily and quickly.
[0028]
The housing with a data recording portion of the present invention includes an optical connector housing hole for inserting and housing an optical connector plug, an insertion portion that can be inserted into the optical connector housing, and a line information for the optical connector plug and / or the optical connector housing. A data recording section on which information is recorded, an optical connector plug is housed in the optical connector housing hole, and the insertion section is inserted into the optical connector housing so that the optical connector plug can be optically connected to the optical connector housing. With this configuration, the data recording unit can be arranged at a position very close to the optical connector. As a result, after reading the information in the data recording section with the reader, the collation of the optical connector to be detached can be performed extremely easily and quickly. In addition, since the present invention can be applied to existing optical connector plugs and optical connector housings, there is no need to replace equipment, and wiring identification and management using the present invention can be performed at low cost.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external view showing an example of a housing with a data recording unit according to the present invention, in which (a) is a front view, (b) a plan view, and (c) a side view.
2A is a plan view and FIG. 2B is a front view showing an example of an optical connector plug that can be inserted into the housing with a data recording unit.
FIG. 3 is a front view showing an example of a state where an optical connector plug is inserted into a housing with a data recording unit.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a state in which an optical connector plug with a housing with a data recording unit mounted thereon is optically connected by being inserted into the optical connector housing.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an example of a mechanism for engaging and disengaging an optical connector plug and an optical connector housing.
6A is a plan view illustrating an example of a state in which an optical connector plug inserted and connected to an optical connector housing is removed, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional optical connector plug and an optical connector housing.
[Explanation of symbols]
C: optical connector, 1: optical connector plug, 10: optical connector housing, 20: housing with data recording section, 21a: optical connector housing hole, 22: insertion section, 25: data recording section.

Claims (2)

An optical connector plug (1); and a housing (20) mounted outside the optical connector plug.
A data recording unit (25) on which information such as line information is recorded is disposed on the housing so as to protrude laterally.
The optical connector (C), wherein, when the optical connector plug with the housing is inserted and connected to the optical connector housing, the data recording section is arranged at a position where the data recording section can be read. An optical connector housing hole (23) for inserting and housing the optical connector plug (1), an insertion portion (22) insertable into the optical connector housing (10), and line information relating to the optical connector plug and / or the optical connector housing; And a data recording unit (25) in which information such as
An optical connector plug is housed in the optical connector housing hole, and the insertion portion is inserted into the optical connector housing, so that the optical connector plug can be optically connected to the optical connector housing,
A housing (20) with a data recording part, wherein the data recording part is arranged at a position where the data recording part can be read in a connected state of an optical connector.

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