JP2010224490A - Optical fiber identification tool - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber identification tool which improves workability in an optical connection unit. <P>SOLUTION: The optical fiber identification tool 1 includes: a head part 2 which is freely detachably attached to an optical fiber connected to an optical connector housing of the optical connection unit by a connector to hold the optical fiber; and an operation rod 3 connected to the head part 2. The head part 2 can be moved along a lengthwise direction of the optical fiber by operation of the operation rod 3 while holding the optical fiber. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an identification device that can be used for identifying an optical fiber in an optical connection unit such as an optical wiring board or an optical connection box.

The optical connection unit is used by connecting a large number of optical fibers such as optical fiber cords (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
When the number of optical fibers is large, they are gathered and arranged in a bundle, and one end side is connected to the optical connection unit when removing or maintaining some optical fibers to change the wiring. It becomes difficult to specify the other end side of the optical fiber.
For this reason, pulling one end side of the optical fiber in the length direction to move the optical fiber and confirming the optical fiber on the other end side is performed.

JP 2004-246147 A

In recent years, an optical connection unit capable of connecting a larger number of optical fibers (such as optical fiber cords) has been used.
When the number of optical fibers increases (for example, several tens to several hundreds), it becomes more difficult to specify the other end side of the target optical fiber. In order to specify the other end side of the optical fiber, even if the optical fiber is moved in the length direction, the optical fiber becomes difficult to move due to friction between the optical fibers that are assembled and wired.
For this reason, it becomes difficult to specify the other end side of the target optical fiber, and the workability may be lowered in the optical fiber removal work or the maintenance work.
This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, and aims at provision of the optical fiber identification instrument which can make workability | operativity favorable in an optical connection unit.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a head portion that removably mounts and holds one of a plurality of optical fibers that are connected to an optical connector housing of an optical connection unit and are collectively arranged, and the head And an operating rod connected to the unit, and the head unit is an optical fiber identification device that moves in the length direction of the optical fiber while holding the optical fiber by the operation of the operating rod.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the head portion includes a main body portion having an accommodation groove capable of accommodating the optical fiber, and rotating around the main body portion around the circumference. An optical fiber identification comprising: a cover portion capable of opening and closing the receiving groove; and rotating the cover portion to partially close the receiving groove to prevent the optical fiber from dropping from the receiving groove so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction It is an instrument.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the tip portion of the head portion is formed so as to gradually become a small diameter toward the tip, and the operating rod is formed on the head portion. It is an optical fiber identification instrument of description described connected to the rear end.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the operating rod is an optical fiber identifying instrument that is elastically bent and deformed.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, a slit is formed in a side portion of the cover portion, and the slit is formed in a rear end from an inlet portion formed at a front end of the cover portion. The optical fiber identification instrument is formed in communication with the outlet portion, and the slit is aligned with the accommodation groove by the rotation of the cover portion to introduce the optical fiber into the accommodation groove.

The optical fiber identification instrument of the present invention includes a head unit that holds an optical fiber and an operation rod that operates the head unit, and the head unit is movable in the length direction of the optical fiber. The other end side of the optical fiber can be reliably specified by moving the head unit from the one end side of the optical fiber to the other end side with respect to the specific optical fiber among the optical fibers thus formed.
For this reason, even when the number of optical fibers connected to the optical connection unit is large, the target optical fiber can be easily specified. Therefore, workability is improved in optical fiber removal work and maintenance work.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the optical fiber identification instrument of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an optical fiber identification instrument. It is a cross-sectional view of an optical fiber identification instrument. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an optical fiber identification instrument. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an optical fiber identification instrument. It is a cross-sectional view of an optical fiber identification instrument. It is a schematic diagram which shows the optical connection unit which can use the optical fiber identification instrument of this invention. It is process drawing which shows an example of the usage method of the optical fiber identification instrument of this invention. It is process drawing which shows the usage method of the optical fiber identification instrument following a previous figure. It is process drawing which shows the usage method of the optical fiber identification instrument following a previous figure. It is process drawing which shows the usage method of the optical fiber identification instrument following a previous figure.

1-3 is a figure which shows the optical fiber identification instrument 1 which is one Embodiment of the optical fiber identification instrument of this invention. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the optical fiber identification instrument 1, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the optical fiber identification instrument 1, and FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the optical fiber identification instrument 1.
As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the optical fiber identification instrument 1 is connected to a head portion 2 that is detachably attached to the optical fiber 23 and holds the optical fiber 23, and a rear end portion 2 a of the head portion 2. An operation rod 3 is provided.

The head part 2 includes a main body part 5 having an accommodation groove 4 and a cover part 6 attached to the main body part 5.
The main body 5 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a locking groove 7 is formed along the circumferential direction at a position of a predetermined length from the tip 5a. A portion of the main body portion 5 on the tip side from the locking groove 7 is a mounting portion 8 to which the cover portion 6 is mounted.
The housing groove 4 is formed in the mounting portion 8 along the length direction of the main body portion 5 from the tip 5a to a predetermined length, and has a length and a width capable of housing the optical fiber 23. The housing groove 4 is formed so as to gradually become deeper toward the tip 5a.

The cover portion 6 has a cap shape with a circular cross section, and includes a base portion 11 having a substantially constant outer diameter and a tip portion 12 that gradually becomes narrower in the tip direction.
A slit 13 is formed in the side portion of the cover portion 6 along the axial direction, and the optical fiber 23 can be taken in and out through the slit 13. The slit 13 is formed so that the inlet 6a at the front end of the cover 6 and the outlet 6b at the rear end communicate with each other.
A locking projection 14 that protrudes inward is formed at the rear end of the cover portion 6, and when the locking projection 14 is inserted into the locking groove 7, the cover portion 6 is removed from the main body portion 5. It does not fall out.

The cover part 6 can open and close the accommodation groove 4 by rotating around the body part 5.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the optical fiber 23 can be introduced from the slit 13 into the receiving groove 4 by aligning the circumferential position of the slit 13 of the cover 6 with the position of the receiving groove 4.
As shown in FIG. 4, the cover 6 is rotated around the optical fiber 23 in the state where the optical fiber 23 is received in the receiving groove 4 of the main body 5, and further rotated as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

5 and 6 show a state in which the cover 6 is rotated 180 degrees from the state shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and the slit 13 is directed in the opposite direction (downward in FIGS. 5 and 6) with respect to the receiving groove 4. Show. In this state, the receiving groove 4 is covered with the cover portion 6 so that the optical fiber 23 can be prevented from dropping from the receiving groove 4.
The locking protrusion 14 is formed not on the entire circumference of the cover part 6 but on a part of the cover part 6 in the circumferential direction. Therefore, in the state where the optical fiber 23 is held (the state shown in FIGS. 5 and 6; hereinafter referred to as the held state), the locking protrusion 14 does not interfere with the optical fiber 23 and adversely affects the optical characteristics of the optical fiber 23. Never reach.

In the state shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the head unit 2 can move in the length direction of the optical fiber 23 while preventing the optical fiber 23 from falling off the housing groove 4.
For this reason, the head portion 2 can be moved in the length direction of the optical fiber 23 by operating the operation rod 3.
The operation rod 3 is preferably elastically bendable.

Next, an example of a method for using the optical fiber identification instrument 1 will be described.
The optical fiber that is the subject of the present invention is, for example, the optical fiber 23 connected to the optical connector adapter 22 (optical connector housing) of the optical connection unit 21 shown in FIG. 7 by the optical connector 24 (optical connector plug). The optical fiber 23 is, for example, an optical fiber cord or an optical fiber core wire. A plurality of optical fibers 23 are collectively arranged.
The optical connection unit 21 shown in FIG. 7 has a structure in which a horizontal tray 26 extends on the front side of the termination portion 25 where the optical connector adapter 22 is formed. The termination portion 25 is provided with a plurality of adapter arrangement portions 27 including a plurality of optical connector adapters 22 arranged perpendicularly to the tray 26 at predetermined intervals in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface.

As shown in FIG. 8, among the optical fibers 23 that are collectively arranged in a bundle, one end side of one optical fiber 23 (indicated by reference numeral 23A) intended for optical fiber removal work, maintenance work, etc. The portion close to the optical connector 24 (see FIG. 7) is accommodated in the accommodating groove 4 of the head portion 2, and the cover portion 6 is rotated in the axial direction as shown in FIG. Installing.
Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the head portion 2 is moved in the length direction of the optical fiber 23 </ b> A along the bundle of the optical fibers 23 by the forward operation of the operation rod 3 (see FIGS. 10 and 11). 11 in the right direction). Thereby, the other end side of the optical fiber 23A can be specified.

When the head portion 2 is moved along the optical fiber 23A, the head portion 2 may pass between a large number of bundled optical fibers 23, but the tip portion 12 of the cover portion 6 of the head portion 2 has a tapered shape. Therefore, the head part 2 moves easily.
Further, if the operation rod 3 is elastically bendable, it is easy to move the head portion 2 along the wiring direction even when the optical fiber 23 is bent and wired.

If a large number of optical fibers 23 are arranged together, it becomes difficult to identify the optical fibers 23A. Even if an attempt is made to specify the other end side by slightly moving the optical fiber 23A by pulling the one end side of the optical fiber 23A in the length direction, the optical fiber 23A is lightened by friction of the optical fibers 23 wired in a bundle. Since the fiber 23A is difficult to move, it may be difficult to specify the other end side.
On the other hand, if the optical fiber identification instrument 1 having the above-described configuration is used, the other end side can be reliably specified by moving the head portion 2 from the one end side to the other end side of the optical fiber 23A.
For this reason, even when the number of optical fibers 23 is large (for example, several tens to several hundreds), the optical fibers 23A can be easily specified. Therefore, workability is improved in optical fiber removal work and maintenance work.

  In the present invention, the “optical connector housing” refers to an optical connection device in which optical connector plugs are relayed to each other and both optical connector plugs are positioned and connected therein. In addition to the optical connector adapter exemplified here, an optical connector It refers to various female optical connectors to which optical connectors (optical connector adapters) such as receptacles are inserted and connected.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical fiber identification instrument, 2 ... Head part, 3 ... Operation rod, 4 ... Housing groove, 5 ... Main-body part, 6 ... Cover part, 12 ... Tip part , 21 ... optical connection unit, 22 ... optical connector housing, 23 ... optical fiber.

Claims (5)

A head portion (2) for detachably mounting and holding one of a plurality of optical fibers (23) connected to and connected to an optical connector housing (22) of the optical connection unit (21); An operating rod (3) connected to the head,
The optical fiber identification instrument, wherein the head portion moves in the length direction of the optical fiber while holding the optical fiber by the operation of the operation rod. The head portion includes a body portion (5) having a housing groove (4) capable of housing the optical fiber, and a cover portion (6) capable of opening and closing the housing groove by rotating around the body portion. )
The optical fiber identification device according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber can be prevented from dropping out of the receiving groove so as to be movable in a length direction by rotating the cover portion to cover the receiving groove. The tip portion of the head portion is formed so as to gradually become a small diameter toward the tip,
The optical fiber identification instrument according to claim 1, wherein the operation rod is connected to a rear end portion of the head portion.   The optical fiber identification instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the operation rod is elastically bent and deformed. A slit (13) is formed in a side portion of the cover portion, and the slit communicates from an inlet portion (6a) formed at the front end of the cover portion to an outlet portion (6b) formed at the rear end. Formed,
The optical fiber identification device according to claim 2, wherein the slit is aligned with the receiving groove and the optical fiber is introduced into the receiving groove by the rotation of the cover portion.

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