JP2009145381A - Optical fiber connection method and tool - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and tool capable of highly accurately matching the inclination directions of connecting end faces when butt-connecting optical fibers with obliquely-formed end faces. <P>SOLUTION: The optical fibers F and G with the obliquely-formed end faces F3 and G1 are butt-connected using an optical fiber connection tool 1 which has a holder support 30 supporting an optical fiber connector 10 for holding the optical fiber G, and an optical fiber holder 20 for holding the optical fiber F. The tip end face 3 of the optical fiber F is obliquely worked with the optical fiber holder 20 mounted on a holder mount base of a tip oblique working machine, then the optical fiber holder 20 is shifted to the holder support 30 as it is, and moved towards the optical fiber connector 10 so as to butt-connect the tip end face F3 of the optical fiber F to the connection end face G1 of the optical fiber G with the inclination direction accorded. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and a tool for performing an optical fiber connection operation in an optical fiber connector such as an optical connector or a mechanical splice.

For example, in an optical fiber connector such as an on-site assembly type optical connector or a mechanical splice, the end of the optical fiber to be terminated is butt-connected to the optical fiber in the optical fiber connector.
In this connection work, an optical fiber connection tool including a support base that supports the optical fiber connector in a fixed position and an optical fiber holder that holds the optical fiber to be butt-connected is used, and the optical fiber holder is mounted on the support base. Butt connection can be performed by moving the optical fiber connector toward the optical fiber connector and inserting the tip of the optical fiber into the optical fiber connector (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
On the other hand, as a technique for reducing the connection loss of the optical fiber, there is a technique of forming the connection end face of the optical fiber obliquely. If the connection end face is formed obliquely, the reflected return light at this end face can be reduced, so that the connection loss can be reduced (for example, see Patent Document 3).
JP 2005-134583 A Japanese Patent No. 3434668 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-100117

However, when the connection end face is formed obliquely, it is necessary to precisely match the inclination direction of the optical fiber in order to reduce the connection loss. However, there is a problem that the adjustment operation of the inclination direction is difficult.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when connecting optical fibers having connection end surfaces formed obliquely to each other in an optical fiber connector, the inclination directions of the connection end surfaces are aligned with each other with high accuracy. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber connecting method and a tool capable of performing the above-mentioned.

An optical fiber connection method according to a first aspect of the present invention is a method in which a pair of optical fibers are sandwiched between a pair of elements in an optical fiber connector and connected to each other, and one of the optical fibers is held. An optical fiber connecting tool comprising a holder support for supporting an optical fiber connector and an optical fiber holder for holding the other of the optical fibers, wherein the one optical fiber is perpendicular to the optical fiber axis direction. A connection end surface formed to be inclined with respect to a flat surface, and the holder support has a guide portion for guiding the optical fiber holder in a direction approaching the optical fiber connector, and the optical fiber holder Is mounted on the holder mounting table of the tip inclination processing machine, and the tip surface of the other optical fiber is processed while being inclined with respect to a surface perpendicular to the optical fiber axial direction. The optical fiber holder is transferred to the holder support base and moved toward the optical fiber connector along the guide portion, whereby the tip end surface of the other optical fiber is inclined. It is characterized in that it is butt-connected to the connection end face of the optical fiber so that the inclination directions coincide.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical fiber connecting method according to the first aspect, wherein the optical fiber connector is an optical connector.
An optical fiber connection method according to a third aspect of the present invention is the optical fiber connection method according to the first aspect, wherein the optical fiber connector is a mechanical splice.

  An optical fiber connection tool according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is an optical fiber connection tool used for an operation of sandwiching a pair of optical fibers between a pair of elements in an optical fiber connector and connecting them to each other. A holder support that supports an optical fiber connector that holds one of the optical fibers; and an optical fiber holder that holds the other of the optical fibers, wherein the one optical fiber is perpendicular to the optical fiber axial direction. A connection end surface formed to be inclined with respect to a flat surface, and the holder support has a guide portion for guiding the optical fiber holder in a direction approaching the optical fiber connector, and the optical fiber holder With the tip mounted on the holder mounting table of the tip tilt processing machine, the tip surface of the other optical fiber is tilted with respect to a plane perpendicular to the optical fiber axis direction. And by moving the tip end surface of the other optical fiber along the guide portion toward the optical fiber connector on the holder support base, the tip end surface of the other optical fiber is inclined. Butt connection is possible with the connection end face so that the inclination directions coincide.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the optical fiber holder used for tip processing in the tip inclination processing machine can be transferred to an optical fiber connection tool as it is, and an optical fiber connection operation can be performed.
For this reason, since the posture of the other optical fiber at the time of connection work can be made to coincide with the posture at the time of tip processing, the inclination direction of the end face of this optical fiber is set to the end face of one optical fiber in the optical fiber connecting tool. It is possible to accurately match the tilt direction. Therefore, reflection at the connection end face can be suppressed and a connection with less loss can be realized.
Further, in connection work, adjustment work in the tilt direction of the end face of the other optical fiber is not necessary, and therefore operation is easy.
Therefore, it is easy to assemble the optical fiber connector at the tip of the other optical fiber at the work site.

  Moreover, since the reflected return light at the end face can be suppressed by forming the end face of the optical fiber to be inclined, noise at the time of connection can be reduced, and it can be suitably applied to a video line.

  1 and 2 are schematic configuration diagrams showing an optical fiber connection tool 1 which is an example of the optical fiber connection tool of the present invention. 3 and 4 are perspective views showing the optical fiber connection tool 1. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the optical fiber connector 10 used in an example of the optical fiber connection method of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the clamp portion. FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing the clamp portion, wherein FIG. 7A is an exploded side view thereof, and FIG. 7B is a horizontal sectional view thereof.

As shown in FIG. 1, the optical fiber connection tool 1 is for connecting an insertion optical fiber F (the other optical fiber) to the internal optical fiber G (one optical fiber) in the optical fiber connector 10. The optical fiber holder 20 that holds the insertion optical fiber F and the holder support base 30 that guides the optical fiber holder 20 to approach the optical fiber connector 10 are provided.
In the following description, the tip direction and the front are directions of the joining end face of the ferrule 2 of the optical fiber connection tool 1, and the rear is a direction opposite to the tip direction. 5-7, the insertion direction of the insertion optical fiber F inserted in the optical fiber connector 10 is shown by the code | symbol T, and the axis line is shown by the code | symbol H. In FIG.

First, the configuration of the optical fiber connector 10 will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the optical fiber connector 10 is an optical connector including a clamp portion 3 that holds and holds an internal optical fiber G and an insertion optical fiber F that are fixed to the ferrule 2 internally. is there.
The optical fiber connector 10 includes a ferrule 2 attached to the clamp portion 3 in a housing including a sleeve-like plug frame 4 and a cap-like stop ring 5 fitted and attached to the rear end of the plug frame 4. The spring 6 is housed.
The ferrule 2 is inserted into the frame body 4a of the plug frame 4 from the opening at the rear end thereof. The ferrule 2 is biased forward by the spring 4.

The plug frame 4 includes a sleeve-like frame main body 4a and an elastic piece 4b raised obliquely from the side surface of the front end portion of the frame main body 4a to the rear end side.
The stop ring 5 is raised obliquely from the sleeve-shaped stop ring body 5a and the plug frame 4 (frame body 4a) fitted to the stop ring body 5a from the side of the stop ring body 5a. And an elastic piece 5b.
At the rear end of the stop ring 5, a cylindrical fitting portion 5A that forms an optical fiber insertion hole 5d is provided so that its hole axis is coaxial with the insertion axis of the insertion optical fiber F.
The stop ring body 5a of the stop ring 5 is fitted into the rear end of the frame body 4a of the plug frame 4, and the locking claws 4c projecting on both sides of the rear end of the frame body 4a are connected to the stop ring body 5a. The stop ring 5 is locked to the rear end of the plug frame 4 and assembled integrally.

As shown in FIG. 7, the ferrule 2 is comprised from hard materials, such as ceramics, such as a zirconia, and glass. The ferrule 2 is provided with fine holes 2a along the axial direction thereof. The fine hole 2a is formed so as to be arranged coaxially with the axis H of the insertion optical fiber F described above.
The front end surface of the ferrule 2 is a joining end surface 2A that joins the ferrule of another optical fiber connector, and is exposed to the front end side of the optical fiber connector 10.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the clamp portion 3, the half elements 3 </ b> A and 3 </ b> B are clamped by a spring 3 </ b> C having a C-shaped cross section.
The element 3A is divided into front and rear in the axial direction of the insertion optical fiber F, and the part on the ferrule 2 side is referred to as element 3A1, and the rear end side is referred to as element 3A2. A large-diameter inner groove 3a extending along the axis of the insertion optical fiber F in the insertion direction is formed on the mating surface of one element 3A (3A2). The mating surface of the other element 3B is provided with a large-diameter inner groove 3a and a small-diameter inner groove 3b that extend along the axis of the insertion optical fiber F in the insertion direction.

  An internal optical fiber G is inserted between the elements 3A and 3B. The internal optical fiber G is inserted into the fine hole 2a of the ferrule 2, and the tip is exposed to the joining end surface 2A. The rear end of the internal optical fiber G reaches the inner grooves 3b of the elements 3A and 3B. The internal optical fiber G is, for example, a bare optical fiber.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rear end face G1 (connection end face) of the internal optical fiber G is formed to be inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the internal optical fiber G. The inclination angle θ1 is preferably 7 to 9 degrees, and most preferably about 8 degrees.

The insertion optical fiber F is, for example, an optical fiber core wire (indicated by reference numeral F2 in FIGS. 6 and 7) in which a resin coating is provided on the outer periphery of a bare optical fiber (reference numeral F1). The distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber F has the bare optical fiber F1 exposed by removing the resin coating for connection work.
The distal end face F3 of the bare optical fiber F1 at the distal end of the insertion optical fiber F is formed to be inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the insertion optical fiber F.
The inclination direction of the front end face F3 is set in accordance with the inclination direction of the rear end face G1, so that the rear end face G1 of the internal optical fiber G can be butt-connected.
The inclination angle θ2 of the front end face F3 is preferably substantially equal to the inclination angle θ1 of the rear end face G1, specifically 7 to 9 degrees is preferable, and about 8 degrees is most preferable.
A symbol P in FIG. 7B indicates a butt connection point between the insertion optical fiber F and the internal optical fiber G.
A connecting portion between the insertion optical fiber F and the internal optical fiber G can be filled with a refractive index matching agent such as silicone grease.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the optical fiber holder 20 that holds the insertion optical fiber F includes a base 21 and a clamp member 25 provided on the base 21.
The base 21 has a pair of front and rear optical fiber placement portions 22 and 23 and a pair of side wall portions 24 and 24 that connect the optical fiber placement portions 22 and 23.
V-grooves 22b and 23b on which the insertion optical fiber F is placed are formed on the upper surfaces 22a and 23a of the optical fiber placement portions 22 and 23, respectively.
The clamp member 25 is provided with a pair of elastic pieces (not shown) that sandwich and hold the insertion optical fiber F, whereby the insertion optical fiber F can be held.

The holder support 30 is connected to the base 31, the connector support part 32 that is provided on the distal end side of the base 31 and fixedly connects the optical fiber connector 10, and connects the optical fiber holder 20 to the optical fiber connector 10. And a rail portion 33 (guide portion) provided so as to be slidable so as to be guided to a predetermined position.
The connector support part 32 is formed with a circular hole 32a into which the stop ring 5 (fitting part 5A) of the optical fiber connector 10 is fitted.
The rail portion 33 is formed to slide the optical fiber holder 20 from the rear end side toward the front end side.

In order to form the front end face F3 of the insertion optical fiber F, for example, the following method is possible.
As shown in FIG. 8A, the insertion optical fiber F is held by the optical fiber holder 20.
As shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C, the tip of the insertion optical fiber F held by the optical fiber holder 20 is processed by the tip tilting machine 40 to form a tilted tip surface F3. To do.
The tip inclination processing machine 40 includes a holder mounting table 41 on which the optical fiber holder 20 can be mounted, and a processing means 42 (cutter) that processes the tip of the inserted optical fiber F held by the optical fiber holder 20 on the holder mounting table 41. , Polishing plate, etc.).
In the tip inclined processing machine 40, the optical fiber holder 20 is mounted on the holder mounting table 41 with the lower surface 20 a facing the upper surface 41 a of the holder mounting table 41.

The inclination direction of the front end face F3 is the inclination direction of the rear end face G1 of the internal optical fiber G of the optical fiber connector 10 supported by the connector support part 32 when the optical fiber holder 20 is placed on the holder support base 30. (See FIG. 1).
When forming the distal end face F3, the portion including the distal end of the insertion optical fiber F can be fixed to the optical fiber holder 20 by a fixing member 27 such as an adhesive or a clamp member. The fixing member 27 is removed after the front end face F3 is formed.

Next, a method for connecting an optical fiber in the optical fiber connector 10 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical fiber holder 20 holding the insertion optical fiber F is left on the holder support base 30 of the optical fiber connection tool 1 as it is (while holding the insertion optical fiber F). Transfer.
At this time, the lower surface 20 a is in a state facing the upper surface 30 a of the holder support base 30. That is, the optical fiber holder 20 is mounted on the holder support base 30 in the same posture as that during tip processing in the tip tilt processing machine 40.

More specifically, the optical fiber holder 20 is placed on the rail portion 33 and is slid along the rail portion 33 toward the optical fiber connector 10 supported by the connector support portion 32.
At this time, the insertion member 9 (see FIG. 9A) is interrupted between the pair of elements 3A and 3B, and the space between the elements 3A and 3B is expanded.
The bare optical fiber F1 of the insertion optical fiber F held by the optical fiber holder 20 enters the small-diameter inner groove 3a in the elements 3A and 3B of the clamp part 3 of the optical fiber connector 10 supported by the connector support part 32. (See FIGS. 6 and 7). The bare optical fiber F1 is inserted into the small-diameter inner groove 3b, and the optical fiber core wire F2 is inserted into the large-diameter inner groove 3a.

As described above, the front end face F3 of the insertion optical fiber F held by the optical fiber holder 20 is along the inclination direction of the rear end face G1 of the internal optical fiber G of the optical fiber connector 10 supported by the connector support part 32. Thus, the bare optical fiber F1 of the insertion optical fiber F can be butt-connected to the internal optical fiber G in the small-diameter inner groove 3b (see FIG. 2).
As shown in FIG. 9, the insertion member 9 inserted between the elements 3A and 3B is inserted into the element 3A while keeping the butted state of the bare optical fiber F1 at the tip of the insertion optical fiber F and the internal optical fiber G. When pulled out from between 3B, the elements 3A and 3B are closed by the elasticity of the C-type spring 3C, the internal optical fiber G and the insertion optical fiber F are clamped and the connected state is maintained.

According to the above connection method, the optical fiber holder 20 used for the tip processing in the tip inclined processing machine 40 can be transferred to the optical fiber connection tool 1 as it is, and the optical fiber connection work can be performed.
For this reason, since the attitude | position of the insertion optical fiber F at the time of a connection work can be made to correspond with the attitude | position at the time of a tip process, the inclination direction of the front end surface F3 of the insertion optical fiber F is made into the internal optical fiber in the optical fiber connection tool 1. It is possible to accurately match the inclination direction of the rear end face G1 of G. Therefore, reflection at the connection end faces of the optical fibers F and G can be suppressed, and a connection with less loss can be realized.
Moreover, since the adjustment work of the inclination direction of the front end surface F3 of the insertion optical fiber F is unnecessary in the connection work, the operation is easy.
Therefore, the work of assembling the optical fiber connector 10 at the tip of the insertion optical fiber F at the work site becomes easy.

  Further, by forming the end surfaces of the optical fibers F and G to be inclined, reflected return light at the end surfaces can be suppressed, so that noise during connection can be reduced. Therefore, the present invention can also be applied to video lines.

  Examples of the optical fiber connector 10 include an LC type optical connector (trademark of Lucent), an SC type optical connector (JIS C5973), an SC2 type optical connector, an MU type optical connector (JIS C5983), and the like.

Next, an optical fiber connection method using another example of the optical fiber connector will be described.
As shown in FIG. 10, the optical fiber connector 50 is a mechanical splice provided with a connecting element 51 and a clamp spring 57 provided outside the connecting element 51.
The connection element 51 has a split structure in which a base side element 52 and a lid side element 53 are combined. The lid side element 53 includes a first lid side element 54 and a second lid side element 55 in the axial direction. , And the third lid side element 56.
In the base side element 52, alignment grooves 52a, 52b, and 52c are formed at positions corresponding to the first to third lid side elements 54 to 56, respectively, and thereby the optical fiber 60 and the insertion optical fiber F are aligned. It can be carried out.

As shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C, the tip of the insertion optical fiber F held by the optical fiber holder 20 is processed by the tip tilting machine 40 to form a tilted tip surface F3. To do.
The inclination direction of the front end face F3 is the inclination direction of the end face of the optical fiber 60 held by the optical fiber connector 50 supported by the connector support part 32 when the optical fiber holder 20 is placed on the holder support base 30. (See FIG. 1).

Next, the optical fiber holder 20 is moved onto the holder support base 30 of the optical fiber connection tool 1. At this time, the optical fiber holder 20 is set to have the same posture as that at the tip processing (see FIGS. 1 and 2).
The optical fiber connector 50 is supported by the connector support part 32. In the optical fiber connector 50, an optical fiber 60 (one optical fiber) is inserted in advance from one side of the connection mechanism 50, and the tip 60a is disposed in the alignment groove 52b.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the optical fiber holder 20 is slid along the rail portion 33 toward the optical fiber connector 50 in a state where the gaps between the elements 52 and 53 are widened by the insertion member 9, The fiber F is inserted from the other end side of the connection element 51 along the aligning groove 52a.
Since the distal end face F3 of the insertion optical fiber F is formed along the inclination direction of the end face of the optical fiber 60, the insertion optical fiber F is butt-connected to the optical fiber 60 (see FIG. 2).
When the insertion member 9 is pulled out between the elements 52 and 53, the optical fiber 60 and the insertion optical fiber F are clamped and fixed by the elasticity of the clamp spring 57, and the connected state is maintained.

It is a schematic structure figure showing an example of an optical fiber connection tool concerning the present invention. It is a schematic structure figure showing an example of an optical fiber connection tool concerning the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the optical fiber connection tool shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the optical fiber connection tool shown in FIG. It is a principal part disassembled perspective view of the optical fiber connector which can be used for the optical fiber connection method of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the clamp part of the optical fiber connector shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the clamp part of the optical fiber connector shown in FIG. 5, Comprising: (a) is the decomposition | disassembly side view, (b) is the horizontal direction sectional drawing. It is process drawing which shows the method of processing the front end surface of the optical fiber surface hold | maintained at the optical fiber holder of the optical fiber connection tool shown in FIG. 1 with a front-end | tip inclination processing machine. It is explanatory drawing which shows the opening / closing operation | movement of the element in the optical fiber connector shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the optical fiber connector which can be used for the optical fiber connection method of this invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is a front view.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical fiber connection tool, 3 ... Clamp part, 3A, 3B ... Element, 10 ... Optical fiber connector, 20 ... Optical fiber holder, 30 ... Holder support stand, 33 ... Rail part (guide part), 40 ... Tilted tip end machine, 41 ... Holder mounting table, 42 ... Processing means, 60 ... Optical fiber (one optical fiber) F ... Insertion optical fiber (the other optical fiber), F1 ... bare optical fiber, F2 ... optical fiber core wire, F3 ... tip surface, G ... internal optical fiber (one optical fiber), G1,. ..Rear end face (connection end face)

Claims (4)

A method in which a pair of optical fibers (F, G) are sandwiched between a pair of elements (3A, 3B) in an optical fiber connector (10) and butt-connected to each other,
A holder support (30) for supporting the optical fiber connector holding one (G) of the optical fibers, and an optical fiber holder (20) for holding the other (F) of the optical fibers. Using the optical fiber connection tool (1)
The one optical fiber (G) has a connection end face (G1) formed to be inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the optical fiber axis direction;
The holder support has a guide portion (33) for guiding the optical fiber holder in a direction approaching the optical fiber connector;
In a state where the optical fiber holder is mounted on the holder mounting table (41) of the tip tilt processing machine (40), the tip surface (F3) of the other optical fiber (F) is a surface perpendicular to the optical fiber axis direction. Incline to
Next, the optical fiber holder is transferred to the holder support as it is, and is moved toward the optical fiber connector along the guide portion, so that the tip of the other optical fiber (F) that is inclined is processed. A method of connecting an optical fiber, characterized in that the face (F3) is butt-connected to the connection end face (G1) of the one optical fiber (G) so that the inclination directions coincide.   The optical fiber connection method according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber connector is an optical connector.   The optical fiber connection method according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber connector is a mechanical splice. An optical fiber connection tool used for an operation of sandwiching a pair of optical fibers (F, G) between a pair of elements (3A, 3B) in an optical fiber connector (10) and connecting them to each other.
A holder support (30) for supporting the optical fiber connector holding one (G) of the optical fibers, and an optical fiber holder (20) for holding the other (F) of the optical fibers. ,
The one optical fiber (G) has a connection end face (G1) formed to be inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the optical fiber axis direction;
The holder support has a guide portion (33) for guiding the optical fiber holder in a direction approaching the optical fiber connector;
The optical fiber holder is placed on the holder mounting table (41) of the tip tilt processing machine (40), and the tip surface (F3) of the other optical fiber (F) is perpendicular to the optical fiber axis direction. Can be machined at an angle to the surface,
Further, the tip end surface (F3) of the other optical fiber (F) which is inclined is moved on the holder support base along the guide portion toward the optical fiber connector. An optical fiber connection tool (1) capable of being butt-connected to the connection end face (G1) of the fiber (G) so that the inclination directions coincide.

Images