JP2011013344A - Assembling tool of optical connector and method of assembling optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an assembling tool of an optical connector in which the amount of opening of a leaf spring is managed to be constant and an optical fiber is appropriately held in the optical connector which holds the optical fiber with the leaf spring, and to provide a method of assembling the optical connector.SOLUTION: The assembling tool 50 of the optical connector is configured for mounting the optical fiber 11 on the optical connector 30 which holds the optical fiber 11 by elastic force of an optical fiber holding device 10. The assembling tool 50 of optical connector includes: a fixing member 51 which fixes the housing 31 of the optical connector 30, having an optical fiber holding device 10; displacing members 52 which hold or release the optical fiber 11 by elastically displacing the optical fiber holding device 10; and an actuating member 53 which is connected to the fixing member 51 relatively movably and actuates the displacing members 52 in the elastic displacement direction by the relative movement in a direction different from the elastic displacement direction of the optical fiber holding device 10.

Description

  The present invention relates to an assembling tool and assembling method for an optical connector when an optical fiber such as an optical fiber cord and an optical fiber cable is attached to the optical connector.

At construction sites where optical fibers are connected to equipment, a ferrule gripped by crimping an optical fiber core wire is fixed to a connector housing. A dedicated tool is used for crimping the optical fiber core wire to the ferrule.
Further, an optical fiber holding device for holding and fixing an optical fiber with an apparatus such as an optical connector is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The optical fiber holding device described in Patent Document 1 is a device in which an optical fiber core wire is sandwiched and fixed by a leaf spring, and is inexpensive and can be downsized while ensuring a sufficient holding force.

JP 2008-225387 A

  The optical fiber holding device described in Patent Document 1 needs to hold the leaf spring in an open state when the optical fiber core wire is inserted. If the opening amount of the leaf spring is excessive, the leaf spring is plastically deformed and the gripping force of the optical fiber core wire is insufficient. Further, if the amount of opening the leaf spring is too small, it is difficult to insert the optical fiber core wire, which may damage the optical fiber core wire.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector assembling tool and an assembling method capable of appropriately holding an optical fiber by maintaining a constant opening amount of the leaf spring in an optical connector that holds an optical fiber by a leaf spring. Is to provide.

An assembly tool for an optical connector according to the present invention that can solve the above-mentioned problems is an assembly tool for attaching the optical fiber to an optical connector that holds the optical fiber by the elastic force of a leaf spring,
A fixing member for fixing a housing of the optical connector provided with the leaf spring;
A displacement member capable of elastically displacing the leaf spring to hold or release the optical fiber;
An actuating member that is connected to the fixed member so as to be relatively movable, and that operates the displacement member in the elastic displacement direction by a relative movement in a direction different from the elastic displacement direction of the leaf spring. Features.

In the optical connector assembly tool of the present invention, the operating member has an inclined surface inclined with respect to the direction of relative movement,
The displacement member is preferably actuated by the inclined surface.

In the optical connector assembly tool of the present invention, the operating member has a flat surface along the direction of the relative movement,
It is preferable that the displacement member is disposed on the flat surface in a state where the displacement member is operated in the elastic displacement direction.

The optical connector assembly method of the present invention is an assembly method for attaching the optical fiber to an optical connector that holds the optical fiber by the elastic force of a leaf spring,
Fixing the housing of the optical connector including the leaf spring to a fixing member;
By displacing the actuating member connected to the fixing member so as to be relatively movable in a direction different from the elastic displacement direction of the leaf spring, the displacement member is actuated to elastically displace the leaf spring,
Insert the optical fiber through the leaf spring,
Relative movement of the actuating member in a direction opposite to the relative movement direction returns the displacement member to return elastic displacement of the leaf spring, and holds the optical fiber on the leaf spring.

  According to the present invention, the displacement member is operated in the elastic displacement direction by relatively moving the fixing member and the operation member in a direction different from the elastic displacement direction of the leaf spring. If the direction of relative movement of the fixed member and the operating member is the same as the operating direction of the displacement member, the operation of the displacement member for elastically displacing the leaf spring is once exceeded the required amount and then returned to the required amount. However, in the present invention, the direction of relative movement between the fixed member and the operating member is different from the operating direction of the displacement member. Therefore, if the amount by which the displacement member is actuated by the relative movement of the fixed member and the actuating member is set, the displacement member can be accurately actuated to the required amount by the relative movement. That is, the opening amount of the leaf spring can be managed to be constant, and the optical fiber can be held with an appropriate elastic force.

It is a perspective view which shows the example of the connector to which the optical fiber was attached by the assembly tool and assembly method of the optical connector of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the optical fiber holding | maintenance apparatus provided in the optical connector of FIG. (A) is a plan view of the optical fiber holding device, (B) is a front view thereof, and (C) is a bottom view thereof. It is a perspective view which shows the housing of the optical connector of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the assembly tool of the optical connector of this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the assembly tool of the optical connector of this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the process of the assembly method of the optical connector of this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state of the optical fiber holding | maintenance apparatus in the assembly method of the optical connector of this embodiment.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of an optical connector assembling tool and an assembling method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the optical connector 30 has a housing 31 having an overall rectangular box shape, and is inserted into one end surface 31 b of the housing 31 into the other side (receptacle) when the optical connector 30 is connected. An insertion portion 32 having a smaller cross section is provided. A pair of plug portions 33 protrude from the distal end surface 32 a of the insertion portion 32. Further, the rear portion of the upper surface 31 a of the housing 31 is one step lower, and an optical fiber holding surface 34 for holding the optical fiber 11 is formed.

The optical fiber holding device 10 having a leaf spring structure is mounted at the tip of the optical fiber holding surface 34.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the optical fiber holding device 10 includes a plate-like base 21 and elastic portions 22 provided integrally on the left and right sides of the base 21. The base 21 is provided with a step portion 23, in which the base 21 and the elastic portion 22 are in contact with each other at a corner 23 a at the upper end of the step portion 23, and a common tangent L (see FIG. 3C). ) Is formed. An optical fiber holding space 24 for holding the optical fiber 11 is provided between the base 21 and the elastic portion 22 on the left and right sides along the step portion 23 and the tangent L (corner 23a). Both elastic portions 22 are urged in a direction approaching the base 21, that is, a direction in which the optical fiber holding space 24 is narrowed (a direction indicated by an arrow in FIG. 3A).

  Further, the boundary lines 28 between the left and right elastic portions 22 and the base 21 are respectively provided at positions opposite to the step portions 23 with respect to the left and right optical fiber holding spaces 24. With such an arrangement, when the optical fiber 11 is inserted and fixed in the optical fiber holding space 24, even if the optical fiber 11 is likely to shift to the boundary line 28 side away from the position of the step portion 23, the elastic portion 22 A force pressing the optical fiber 11 toward the step portion 23 acts, and the optical fiber 11 can be fixed along the step portion 23.

  The tangent L between the base 21 and the elastic part 22 is formed in parallel with the boundary line 28 between the base 21 and the elastic part 22, so that each optical fiber holding space 24 is at an interval between the pair of optical fibers 11. It is formed along the tangent line L and the boundary line 28. The tangent line L and the boundary line 28 are formed in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the base 21, and the optical fiber 11 disposed in the optical fiber holding space 24 includes the base 21 and the elastic portion 22 (that is, the optical fiber holding device 10). Is held at right angles to. Thus, since the optical fiber 11 is held in a direction perpendicular to the optical fiber holding device 10, the size of the optical fiber 11 of the optical fiber holding device 10 in the length direction can be reduced. If the outermost layer of the held optical fiber 11 is plastic, the plastic is slightly deformed at the contact ends of the optical fiber 11, the base 21 and the elastic part 22, thereby causing the optical fiber to the base 21 and the elastic part 22. Since 11 is locked, the holding force can be increased.

  As the optical fiber 11, an optical fiber having a form called an optical fiber or an optical fiber core can be used. For example, a glass fiber having an outer diameter of 125 μm coated with an ultraviolet curable resin with an outer diameter of 250 μm is preferable. It can be used. An optical fiber in which a plastic coating is applied to the outside of at least a plastic fiber whose clad is made of plastic can also be used.

  The base 21 and the left and right elastic portions 22 are formed by bending a single elastic body 20. As a result, the optical fiber holding space 24 composed of the base 21 and the elastic portion 22 is formed by the same member, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the structure can be simplified, and the manufacture is also easy. Yes, cost reduction can be achieved.

  The step portion 23 can be formed by bending the substrate 21 diagonally downward and then horizontally bending. By providing the step portion 23, in a state where the optical fiber 11 is not in the optical fiber holding space 24, the elastic portion 22 is pressed against the corner 23 a at the upper end of the step portion 23 while being urged toward the base 21. The position is fixed. The height of the stepped portion 23 is desirably smaller than the outer diameter of the optical fiber 11 to be held. Thus, in a state where the optical fiber 11 is held in the optical fiber holding space 24, the elastic portion 22 is separated from the upper corner 23 a of the step portion 23, and the optical fiber 11 is moved by the elastic portion 22 to the horizontal plane of the base 21 and the step portion 23. The contact area that directly contacts the optical fiber 11 can be increased, and the holding force increases. Moreover, since the outer periphery of the optical fiber 11 is held at three or more contact points, the position is stabilized.

  Further, when the base 21 and the elastic portion 22 are in contact with each other in the step portion 23, it is easy to increase the urging force of the elastic portion 22 toward the base 21, and the base 21 and the elastic portion are manufactured at the time of manufacturing the optical fiber holding device 10. Since it is not necessary to adjust the width of the gap between the optical fiber holding device 22 and the optical fiber holding device 10 manufactured, it is easy to determine whether the product is good or defective.

  The base 21 is provided with insertion holes 25 and 25 at positions facing the left and right elastic portions 22, respectively. And the pin-shaped displacement members 52 and 52 (refer FIG. 5) are each penetrated the penetration hole 25 from the downward direction of the base | substrate 21, By this, the edge part of the elastic part 22 is opposite to the urging | biasing direction (namely, the base | substrate 21). It can be pushed up by being elastically displaced in the direction of separation. Thereby, the optical fiber holding space 24 can be expanded.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, in the optical connector 30, an optical fiber insertion hole for inserting the optical fiber 11 into the distal end surface 34 a of the optical fiber holding surface 34 corresponding to the step portion 23 of the optical fiber holding device 10. 36 (see FIG. 4) is provided. A plug portion 33 is provided in front of the optical fiber insertion hole 36 so that the optical fiber 11 inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 36 can be accommodated in the plug portion 33. Further, an insertion hole 35 having substantially the same opening area is provided through the housing 31 corresponding to the position of the insertion hole 25 of the optical fiber holding device 10. Therefore, the displacement member 52 can be inserted into the insertion hole 35 from the lower surface 31c side of the housing 31 so as to penetrate the insertion hole 25 of the optical fiber holding device 10 and push up the elastic portion 22 of the optical fiber holding device 10. It has become.

An assembly tool for attaching the optical fiber 11 to the optical connector 30 having such a configuration is shown in FIGS.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the assembly tool 50, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the assembly tool 50 is assembled and the optical connector 30 is set. As shown in FIG. 5, the assembly tool 50 includes a plate-shaped fixing member 51, two pin-shaped displacement members 52, and an operation member 53 that is connected to the fixing member 51 so as to be relatively movable. ing. The fixing member 51 of this embodiment is connected to the operating member 53 so as to be slidable in the direction of arrow A in the figure.

A locking portion 54 for locking the optical connector 30 is provided on the upper surface of the fixing member 51, and the optical connector 30 is slid between the locking portions 54 from the arrow A side to the arrow B side in the drawing, thereby The optical connector 30 can be fixed by bringing the one end surface 31 b of 31 into contact with the locking portion 54.
The fixing member 51 is provided with a displacement member accommodation hole 55 into which the displacement member 52 is inserted at a position corresponding to each insertion hole 35 of the optical connector 30 in a state where the optical connector 30 is set. The diameter of the displacement member accommodation hole 55 is formed to be slightly larger than the diameter of the displacement member 52, and the displacement member 52 can be displaced in the thickness direction of the fixed member 51 while being inserted through the displacement member accommodation hole 55. That is, the direction in which the displacement member 52 is displaced is a direction different from the relative movement direction of the fixed member 51 and the actuating member 53 (the orthogonal direction in the present embodiment).

  A concave portion having a flat bottom surface 56 and an inclined surface 57 is formed on the upper surface of the operating member 53. The bottom surface 56 is a surface parallel to the direction in which the fixing member 51 and the operating member 53 move relative to each other. The inclined surface 57 is a surface inclined along the relative movement direction from the bottom surface 56, and the length in the relative movement direction is slightly shorter than the length in which the fixed member 51 and the actuating member 53 move relative to each other. Further, a flat surface 58 is provided along the direction of relative movement (that is, parallel to the bottom surface 56) at a position passing through the inclined surface 57 from the bottom surface 56. In the initial state (the state shown in FIG. 6) before the fixing member 51 and the actuating member 53 move relative to each other, the displacement member 52 inserted into the displacement member accommodation hole 55 of the fixing member 51 contacts the bottom surface 56.

Next, a method for attaching the optical fiber 11 to the optical connector 30 using the assembly tool 50 will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 6, the housing 31 of the optical connector 30 is fixed to the locking portion 54 of the fixing member 51. In this state, the displacement member 52 is disposed on the bottom surface 56 of the operating member 53 as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 8A, in the optical fiber holding device 10 in a state where the optical fiber 11 is not held, the elastic portion 22 is urged in the direction of arrow A in FIG. It abuts on the corner 23 a of the stepped portion 23. Further, since the height of the step portion 23 is smaller than the outer diameter of the optical fiber 11, the optical fiber 11 cannot pass through the optical fiber holding space 24 in this state.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the operation member 53 and the fixing member 51 of the assembly tool 50 are relatively slid. Then, the displacement member 52 arranged on the bottom surface 56 rides on the inclined surface 57 and is displaced upward while being inserted into the displacement member accommodation hole 55. That is, the displacement member 52 is actuated by the inclined surface 57.

  When the slide movement is further continued, the displacement member 52 rides on the flat surface 58 of the operation member 53 and is displaced upward while being inserted into the displacement member accommodation hole 55. 8B, the displacement member 52 is inserted from below into the insertion hole 25 of the base 21, and the displacement member 52 pushes up the left and right elastic portions 22 in the direction of arrow B against the urging force. Thereby, the optical fiber holding space 24 is expanded. In this state, as shown in FIG. 8C, the optical fiber 11 is wired along the step portion 23 in the optical fiber holding space 24. Further, the distal end portion of the optical fiber 11 is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 36 (see FIG. 4) of the housing 31. At this time, since the displacement member 52 is disposed on the flat surface 58 in a state where the elastic portion 22 is pushed up, even if the relative position between the operation member 53 and the fixing member 51 is slightly deviated, the displacement member 52 is flat. The state where the elastic part 22 is pushed up is maintained.

  Then, the actuating member 53 and the fixing member 51 are slid in the opposite direction to the previous step, and the state shown in FIG. 7C is returned to the state shown in FIG. Thereby, the displacement member 52 is pulled out downward, and the elastic portion 22 is displaced in the urging direction as shown in FIG. 8D, and the optical fiber is interposed between the elastic portion 22, the step portion 23, and the base 21. Press 11 and hold. The step portion 23 can position the optical fiber 11 to prevent the optical fiber 11 from escaping when the optical fiber 11 is pressed by the urging force of the elastic portion 22, and the holding position of the optical fiber 11 is fixed. Will be. In addition, since the height of the step portion 23 is lower than the outer diameter of the optical fiber, the step portion 23 is reliably held by the elastic portion 22 that is biased.

Thus, by relatively slidingly moving the operation member 53 and the fixing member 51 of the assembly tool 50, the force in the relative movement direction is transmitted to the displacement member 52 by the inclined surface 57, and the displacement member 52 is relatively moved. Displace in the direction perpendicular to the direction. Since the height of the inclined surface 57 can be accurately set as the displacement amount of the displacement member 52, the elastic portion 22 of the optical fiber holding device 10 can be accurately lifted to the required elastic displacement amount. That is, by using an assembly tool 50 with a simple configuration, the amount of opening of the optical fiber holding device 10 that is a leaf spring can be managed to be constant, and there is a problem that the optical fiber holding device 10 is too open and plastically deformed. The optical fiber 11 can be held with an appropriate elastic force while preventing the optical fiber holding device 10 from opening so small that it is difficult to insert the optical fiber 11.
Even when the optical fiber 11 is removed from the optical connector 30, the optical fiber holding device 10 may be opened by using the assembly tool 50 to release the optical fiber 11.

An embodiment using the assembly tool 50 will be described.
An optical fiber having an outer diameter of 350 μm coated with plastic was prepared outside a plastic fiber having an outer diameter of 230 μm whose clad is made of plastic, and connected to the optical connector 30 using the assembly tool 50. The height at which the elastic portion 22 of the optical fiber holding device 10 was lifted by the displacement member 52 (the maximum height of the optical fiber holding space 24) was 0.7 mm. Three samples were prepared in which two (No. 1, No. 2) optical fibers were connected to each optical connector 30. For each sample, each optical fiber extending behind the optical connector 30 is wound around and fixed to a mandrel at a position 200 mm away from the optical connector 30, and the optical connector 30 is pulled forward in the connection direction, thereby pulling out the optical fiber. Was measured. The pulling speed was 25 mm / min. The results are shown in the following table.

  In any of the optical fibers, the pulling force was 4N or more, and it was confirmed that the pulling force was held stronger than the tension applied to the optical fiber during normal operation.

  10: optical fiber holding device (plate spring), 11: optical fiber, 20: elastic body, 21: base, 22: elastic part, 24: optical fiber holding space, 25: insertion hole, 30: optical connector, 36: light Fiber insertion hole, 50: assembly tool, 51: fixing member, 52: displacement member, 53: actuating member, 56: bottom surface, 57: inclined surface, 58: flat surface

Claims (4)

An assembly tool for attaching the optical fiber to an optical connector that holds the optical fiber by the elastic force of a leaf spring,
A fixing member for fixing a housing of the optical connector provided with the leaf spring;
A displacement member capable of elastically displacing the leaf spring to hold or release the optical fiber;
An actuating member that is connected to the fixed member so as to be relatively movable, and that operates the displacement member in the elastic displacement direction by a relative movement in a direction different from the elastic displacement direction of the leaf spring. An assembly tool for optical connectors. An assembly tool for an optical connector according to claim 1,
The actuating member has an inclined surface inclined with respect to the direction of relative movement;
The assembly tool for an optical connector, wherein the displacement member is actuated by the inclined surface. An assembly tool for an optical connector according to claim 2,
The actuating member has a flat surface along the direction of the relative movement;
An assembly tool for an optical connector, wherein the displacement member is disposed on the flat surface in a state where the displacement member is operated in the elastic displacement direction. An assembly method for attaching the optical fiber to an optical connector that holds the optical fiber by the elastic force of a leaf spring,
Fixing the housing of the optical connector including the leaf spring to a fixing member;
By displacing the actuating member connected to the fixing member so as to be relatively movable in a direction different from the elastic displacement direction of the leaf spring, the displacement member is actuated to elastically displace the leaf spring,
Insert the optical fiber through the leaf spring,
Relative movement of the actuating member in a direction opposite to the direction of the relative movement returns the displacement member to return the elastic displacement of the leaf spring, and the optical fiber is held by the leaf spring. Connector assembly method.

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