JP2005241702A - Method for repairing optical connector end face, method for finishing optical connector end face, and optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for repairing optical connector end face smoothing the optical fiber end face by electric charge. <P>SOLUTION: For the optical connector 10 in which an optical fiber 20 is fixedly bonded to a ceramic ferrule 11, the method for repairing the optical fiber end face, for smoothing the end face by positioning discharge electrodes 41, 42 on the optical fiber end face of the optical connector tip 10a, and melting the end face of the optical fiber by discharge of the discharge electrodes 41, 42, is provided, wherein the optical fiber end face can be smoothed simply and speedily almost without a waste part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connector, in particular, an optical connector end surface repairing method, an optical connector end surface finishing method, and an optical connector that smoothen an optical fiber end surface that is already bonded and incorporated in the optical connector by electric discharge.

  In an optical connector in which an optical fiber is bonded and fixed through a fiber hole of a ceramic ferrule, when the connection is switched, the abutting force between the end faces of the optical connectors is large, dust or the like enters, Alternatively, the optical connector end face, particularly the end face of the optical fiber located at the center, may be damaged due to attachment or the like. If the end face of the optical fiber is damaged, optical characteristics such as connection loss and return loss are deteriorated, and the initial optical transmission characteristics cannot be expected.

For this reason, conventionally, when the end face of the optical connector is damaged or dust adheres, the end face is cleaned with a cotton swab, a cleaning member, or an organic solvent. However, when the degree of damage or the like is large, it is necessary to grind the tip with an optical connector grinder again to repair the end face. However, since the optical connector polishing machine is relatively large and bulky and requires ancillary equipment, it is difficult to bring it into the field for FTTH applications. Therefore, if the end face of the optical connector is not restored by the above-mentioned cleaning work, it is necessary to cut the damaged optical connector for each optical fiber that has already been connected and connect a new optical connector with a pigtail to that location. Met.
Further, the following manufacturing method patent (Patent Document 1) has been issued as a method for manufacturing an optical connector. In this patent, as a method of smoothing the end face of the optical fiber housed in the optical connector, the optical fiber inserted into the optical connector ferrule is inserted and positioned so that its tip protrudes somewhat from the optical connector ferrule. In the state, a pair of discharge electrodes are brought close to the tip of the optical fiber, and the tip of the optical fiber is melted and smoothed by the discharge power. Thereafter, the entire optical fiber is retracted so that the end face of the optical connector and the end face of the optical fiber are matched, and then the optical fiber and the optical connector ferrule are connected with an adhesive.
JP-A-9-178975

  However, an optical fiber with an optical connector is not only expensive, but also has a problem that it is expensive to discard. In addition, there are many cases where the connection length of the optical fiber is scarce at the connection site, and when fusion splicing is necessary, there is often no surplus length for attaching a new optical fiber to the splicer. is there. In addition, since it is impossible to once remove the bonded optical fiber from the optical connector ferrule, the optical fiber end face in the optical fiber manufacturing method described in Patent Document 1 is used to repair the damaged optical fiber end face. A smoothing method cannot be adopted.

  The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems. Basically, in order to smooth the end face of the optical fiber, attention is paid to the discharge by the discharge electrode, and the end face of the optical fiber is formed by the discharge. The present invention provides a method for repairing an end surface of an optical connector that is melted and smoothed, a method for finishing the end surface of the optical connector, and an optical connector.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the optical connector in which the optical fiber is bonded and fixed to the ceramic ferrule, a discharge electrode is positioned on the end face of the optical fiber at the tip of the optical connector. In the method of repairing an end face of an optical connector, the end face is melted to smooth the end face of the optical fiber.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the optical connector end face repairing method according to the first aspect, wherein the ferrule is a zirconia ferrule.

  In the optical connector in which the optical fiber is bonded and fixed to the ceramic ferrule, the discharge electrode is positioned on the end face of the optical fiber after mechanical polishing of the end face of the optical connector or before mechanical polishing. In the method of finishing an optical connector end face, the end face of the optical fiber is melted by discharging the discharge electrode to smooth the end face of the optical fiber.

  The present invention according to claim 4 is an optical connector in which an optical fiber is bonded and fixed to a ceramic ferrule, and an optical fiber end surface at the tip of the optical connector is melted and smoothed by electric discharge. Located in the optical connector.

  According to the method for repairing an end face of an optical connector according to the present invention, the end face of an optical fiber is melted and smoothed by discharge (hereinafter sometimes referred to as discharge polishing). It is only necessary to position and discharge near the end face of the optical fiber, and repair can be performed very simply and quickly. If a portable discharger is prepared, it can be handled on site. Of course, there are almost no unnecessary discarded portions, and the disposal cost is almost zero. This method is particularly effective when the degree of damage is minor. In addition, this method can be applied not only when using an optical connector at the site of FTTH, but also for repairing scratches that occur after the final polishing step of the optical connector production line, for example. In this case, since it is not necessary to return to the re-polishing step, the number of steps can be reduced, that is, the cost can be reduced.

  Further, according to the optical connector end surface finishing method of the present invention, for example, in the optical connector production line, before and after the mechanical polishing of the optical connector end surface, the discharge electrode is positioned near the optical fiber end surface in the same manner as described above and discharged. As a result, the roughness of the end face of the optical fiber can be removed. Therefore, by combining mechanical polishing and electric discharge polishing, it is possible to reduce the polishing efficiency, that is, the manufacturing cost.

  According to the present invention, as described above, the end face of the optical fiber can be smoothed easily and quickly only by positioning and discharging the discharge electrode, so that it is possible to cope with various types of optical connectors.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining a method for repairing an end face of an optical connector according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram for its steps and effects.

  In FIG. 1, 10 is, for example, an SC type optical connector (optical connector ferrule), 11 is a ceramic ferrule, 20 is a quartz optical fiber inserted into a fiber hole (through hole) 12 of the ferrule 11, and 30 is a fiber. The hole adhesives 41 and 42 are a pair of discharge electrodes. The ceramic ferrule used here is preferably made of zirconia, and the single optical fiber 20 is handled by an SC type single ferrule. When there are a plurality of optical fibers 20, a multi-core ferrule having a plurality of fiber holes 12 is of course supported.

  The optical connector 10 may be scratched on the end surface 10a side when the end surface is abutted with a counterpart optical connector (not shown) or in the optical connector production line. Of course, since the glass end face of the optical fiber 20 is also exposed at the optical connector end face 10a, the end face of the optical fiber may be scratched.

  Thus, when repairing the damaged optical connector end face 10a, particularly the end face of the optical fiber, the discharge region between the pair of discharge electrodes 41 and 42 is positioned on the end face of the optical fiber and discharged. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the end face (surface) of the optical fiber, more specifically, the edge portion of the flaw is melted (melted) and smoothed by the discharge heat, and the light irregular reflection due to the flaw edge is reduced. In other words, the repair work can be completed easily and quickly simply by discharging.

  At this time, in order to alleviate the influence of high-temperature discharge heat, it is desirable to make the tips of the discharge electrodes 41 and 42 extremely thin so that the discharge is focused on the optical fiber core portion of the end face of the optical fiber as much as possible. Thereby, the burnout deterioration of the resin adhesive 30 around the optical fiber can be minimized. Reduction in optical transmission characteristics can be suppressed. In order to prevent the influence of the discharge heat on the adhesive, it is possible to use a heat-resistant jig or cover that covers the entire end face of the optical connector and exposes only the end face of the optical fiber. Alternatively, the influence of heat can be reduced by adjusting the positional relationship between the discharge electrode and the end face of the optical fiber without using the above member.

  FIGS. 3A to 3B are schematic explanatory views for explaining one form of the optical connector end face finishing method according to the present invention. In the present invention, the finishing of the end face of the optical connector is a general term for a combination of mechanical polishing and discharge polishing in order to improve polishing efficiency in the optical connector production line. In this finishing method, as shown in FIG. 3A, the end face 10a of the optical connector 10, that is, the end face of the ceramic ferrule 11 is once mechanically polished by a polishing means 50 having, for example, a rotary polishing disc 51 or the like. To do. Thereby, although it changes also with the particle diameter of an abrasive | polishing agent, the optical connector end surface 10a becomes a fixed level roughness also including an optical fiber end surface. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3B, the discharge electrodes 41 and 42 are positioned on the end face of the optical fiber and subjected to discharge polishing, as in the above method. Thereby, since the end face of the optical fiber is smoothed, the product standard can be satisfied without further precise polishing when the required specification of the optical characteristics of the optical connector is low. The steps of mechanical polishing and discharge polishing can be reversed. Further, the number of times of polishing can be appropriately selected.

  Once the optical connector end face 10a is mechanically polished and smoothed by electric discharge polishing, it can be said that it is an effective method because, in the case of a large flaw, even if it is simply melted and repaired by electric discharge, the flaw mark may not be completely removed. .

  In the above description, the method of repairing the end face of the optical connector and the finishing method of the end face of the optical connector have been described as a case where the end face of the optical fiber is melted and smoothed by electric discharge. Characteristics), if a loss occurs in the optical connector, it takes a certain amount of skill and time to find the cause. In such a case, it is assumed that there is dust adhesion or damage on the end face of the optical fiber, and other factors are checked. Without smoothing, it is efficient to adopt smoothing by discharge melting. Although the present invention describes the standardized SC type or MU type, if the optical connector is regarded as a large concept as an optical connection part, the present invention is an optical connection part such as a fiber array. It can also be used for end face repair. A fiber array is a ceramic or glass component that holds at least one end of an optical fiber and the end face of the optical fiber is exposed at the connection end face. For example, it is used to connect a waveguide component such as AWG and an optical fiber. In general, in a multi-fiber array, a plurality of optical fibers are arranged on a table made of ceramic or glass, and the end faces of the optical fibers are arranged side by side at a constant pitch. Even in such a component, when the end face of the optical fiber is damaged for some reason, the present invention can be applied as a simple repair method.

It is the schematic explanatory drawing which showed an example of the end surface repair method of the optical connector which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic explanatory drawing for the process and effect in the end surface repair method of the optical connector of FIG. (A)-(B) It is the schematic explanatory drawing which showed an example of the finishing method of the optical connector end surface which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Optical connector, 10a ... Optical connector end surface, 11 ... Ceramic ferrule, 20 ... Optical fiber, 30 ... Adhesive, 41, 42 ... Discharge electrode, 50 ... Polishing means, 51 ... rotary polishing machine,

Claims (4)

In an optical connector in which an optical fiber is bonded and fixed to a ceramic ferrule, a discharge electrode is positioned on the end face of the optical fiber at the tip of the optical connector, and the end face of the optical fiber is melted by discharge of the discharge electrode. A method of repairing an end face of an optical connector, comprising smoothing the end face. 2. The method of repairing an end face of an optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the ferrule is a zirconia ferrule. In an optical connector in which an optical fiber is bonded and fixed to a ceramic ferrule, after mechanical polishing of the end face of the optical connector or before mechanical polishing, a discharge electrode is positioned on the end face of the optical fiber, and by discharging the discharge electrode, A method of finishing an optical connector end face, comprising melting an end face of an optical fiber and smoothing the end face of the optical fiber. An optical connector in which an optical fiber is bonded and fixed to a ceramic ferrule, and an optical fiber end surface at the tip of the optical connector is melted and smoothed by electric discharge.

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