JP2011095412A - Method of assembling optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of assembling an optical connector, capable of facilitating efficient assembling of the optical connector. <P>SOLUTION: The method of assembling the optical connector uses a case 20 when an optical cord 2 is inserted in each component P. The case 20 holds each component P at a prescribed position so that center axes of each component P are aligned, and has penetration parts 27, 28 in sidewalls 25a, 25b opposed in a longitudinal direction. After each component P is arranged on the case 20 in a prescribed direction, the optical cord 2 is inserted from the side of the penetration part 28 to the side of the penetration part 27. Thereby, the optical cord 2 is passed through a plurality of the components arranged in the prescribed direction at once, thereby the optical connector 1 is easily and efficiently assembled. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connector assembling method.

  As a conventional method of assembling an optical connector, for example, one described in Patent Document 1 is known. In the optical connector assembling method described in Patent Document 1, when assembling an optical connector including a housing, a ferrule provided in the housing, and a fixing member attached to the housing, first, a protective tube is attached to the optical fiber cable. The boot, the fixing member and the retaining ring are passed in advance. Then, the optical fiber is exposed from the end of the optical fiber cable and the strength member is pulled out, and the strength member is divided into two and bundled, and the distal end portion is disposed in the groove portion of the fixing portion of the housing. The tensile strength body is fixed between the fixing member and the housing by screwing to the fixing member.

JP 2009-109978 A

  By the way, when assembling an optical connector by the above method, the optical fiber cable is inevitably bent when the optical fiber cable is passed through each component. In particular, when the diameter of the optical fiber cable is small or when the optical fiber cable is bent, the optical fiber cable is easily bent. For this reason, there is a problem that it is difficult to pass the optical fiber cable through each component, which is troublesome and poor in workability.

  When passing the optical fiber cable through the component, if the orientation of the component is wrong or the component is forgotten, it is necessary to remove the component from the optical fiber cable and pass the optical fiber cable through the component again. Furthermore, when a predetermined part is not inserted into the optical fiber cable in a predetermined direction, the housing cannot be assembled in a subsequent process, and the operation is interrupted and is not efficient. Therefore, in assembling the optical connector, it is necessary to accurately insert each component in the process of passing the optical fiber cable through each component.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector assembling method capable of easily and efficiently assembling an optical connector.

  In order to solve the above problems, an optical connector assembling method according to the present invention is an optical connector assembling method in which a plurality of components are passed through an optical cord, and the components are arranged so that the central axes of the components are aligned. A step of preparing a box-like case having a pair of through-holes formed coaxially with the central axis while being held at a predetermined position, and in the case so that each component is in a predetermined position and in a predetermined direction And a step of inserting an optical cord so as to pass through each component from one through portion side to the other through portion side in the case.

  In this optical connector assembling method, a case is used when the optical cord is inserted into each component. This case holds each component at a predetermined position so that the central axes of the components are aligned. And after arrange | positioning each component to a case so that it may become a predetermined direction, an optical cord is inserted from the penetration part side formed coaxially with the central axis of each component in the wall part of a case. Accordingly, since the optical cord can be passed through a plurality of components at once, the optical cord can be easily inserted as compared with the case where the components are passed through the optical cord one by one. Furthermore, by inserting the optical cord after placing each part in the case, it is possible to prevent the parts from being forgotten, and because the parts are arranged in a predetermined orientation, the parts are passed in the wrong direction. It can also be prevented. For this reason, for example, in the assembly process of the housing, work interruption can be prevented. Therefore, the optical connector can be assembled easily and efficiently.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the case has a main body that holds each component and a lid that covers the main body. In this case, since it is possible to prevent the parts arranged in the main body from falling outside the main body by the lid, it is possible to prevent the parts from being lost.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the case is formed of a member having at least a lid part having permeability. As a result, each component held in the case can be seen even when the lid is closed, so that when the optical cord is inserted, it is possible to confirm the component removal or the insertion position of the optical cord.

  According to the present invention, an optical connector can be assembled easily and efficiently.

It is a perspective view which shows the optical connector assembled by the assembly method of the optical connector which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the optical connector shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the open state of a case. It is a figure for demonstrating the assembly procedure of the optical connector shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the assembly procedure of the optical connector shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the assembly procedure of the optical connector shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the assembly procedure of the optical connector shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the assembly procedure of the optical connector shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the assembly procedure of the optical connector shown in FIG.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an optical connector assembling method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an optical connector assembled by an optical connector assembling method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the optical connector shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical connector 1 assembled by the optical connector assembling method of the present embodiment is an LC connector in which an optical cord 2 is assembled. The optical cord 2 includes an optical fiber core wire 3, an outer sheath 4 covering the optical fiber core wire 3, and an ultrafine-diameter tensile fiber (Kevlar) interposed between the optical fiber core wire 3 and the outer sheath 4. 5 (see FIG. 9 for both). The tensile strength fibers 5 are built in the optical cord 2 in a bundled state (see FIG. 9).

  The optical connector 1 includes a ferrule member 6, a plug housing 7 that accommodates the ferrule member 6, a rear housing 8 that is coupled to the rear end portion of the plug housing 7, and a spring 9 that biases the ferrule member 6 forward. And a jacket holding member 10 and a fixing member 11 mounted on the rear housing 8, a boot 12 attached to the fixing member 11, and a reinforcing tube 13 attached to the boot 12.

  The ferrule member 6 has a ferrule body 14 that holds a short built-in fiber 6a. The built-in fiber 6a extends rearward from the ferrule member 6 by a predetermined length. The tip end of the optical fiber core 3 exposed by removing the outer sheath 4 from the tip end portion of the optical cord 2 is fused and connected to the tip end of the built-in fiber 6a. A connection portion between the built-in fiber 6 a and the optical fiber core wire 3 is protected by a fusion protection sleeve 15.

  When the optical connector 1 is not used (when the optical connector 1 is not connected to the counterpart optical connector), a dust cap 16 for protecting the ferrule body 14 from dust or dust is placed on the ferrule body 14. The dust cap 16 has a substantially cylindrical shape.

  Then, the assembly method of the optical connector which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated, referring FIGS. When assembling the optical connector 1 having the above-described configuration, first, the spring 9, the rear housing 8, the outer cover holding member 10, the fixing member 11, the boot 12, and the reinforcing tube 13 (hereinafter collectively referred to as each component P). ) Is inserted through the optical cord 2 in advance. When inserting the optical cord 2 into each of such components P, a case 20 (see FIG. 3) is used. The case 20 will be described in detail below.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an open state of the case. As shown in the figure, the case 20 is formed, for example, by injection molding of a permeable thermoplastic, and holds the parts P described above. The case 20 has a main body portion 21 and a lid portion 22. The main body portion 21 and the lid portion 22 are connected via a connecting member (hinge) 23, and the connecting member 23 is folded to constitute a case 20 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape (FIG. 6). reference). And the main-body part 21 and the cover part 22 have a shape which becomes line symmetrical about the connection member 23. Therefore, the main body 21 will be specifically described as an example.

  The main body portion 21 has a substantially rectangular box shape, and includes a bottom portion 24 and side wall portions 25a to 25d. In the main body portion 21, a plurality of (here, nine) holding portions 26 for positioning each component P while being held are formed. The holding portion 26 has a plate shape and is erected on the bottom portion 24 with a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 21. The holding part 26 has a concave part 26a having a shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of each part P, and the position and orientation of each part P are uniquely determined by the concave part 26a. In addition, each recess 26 a is formed so that the center axis of each component P is aligned along the longitudinal direction of the case 20 when each component P is arranged in each holding portion 26.

  For example, the holding portion 26 </ b> A is formed with a semicircular concave portion 26 b corresponding to the outer shape of the reinforcing tube 13, and the concave portion 26 b is formed with a smaller diameter than the distal end portion 13 a of the reinforcing tube 13. Thereby, the reinforcement tube 13 is arrange | positioned at 26 A of holding | maintenance parts, and the movement to the back side (illustration right side) is controlled (refer FIG. 5). Further, the central axis of the reinforcing tube 13 is coaxial with an axis passing through the centers of through-holes 27 and 28 described later by being disposed in the recess 26b.

  Through portions 27 and 28 are provided in side wall portions (wall portions) 25 a and 25 c that face each other in the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 21. The through portions 27 and 28 are formed so that the centers thereof are coaxial with the central axis of each component P. Moreover, the penetration parts 27 and 28 are formed in semicircle shape so that it may become circular shape in the state which the main-body part 21 and the cover part 22 closed. Specifically, the penetrating portion 27 corresponds to the outer shape (cross-sectional circular shape) of the optical cord 2 and has a diameter larger than the radius of the optical cord 2, and the penetrating portion 28 has an outer shape of the boot 12 ( The diameter is slightly larger than the radius of the boot 12 (see FIG. 6).

  In addition, a fixing portion 29 a is provided on the side wall portion 25 d of the main body portion 21. The fixing portion 29a engages with the fixing portion 29b of the lid portion 22 and maintains the closed state of the case 20 in a state where the main body portion 21 and the lid portion 22 are overlapped. Thereby, since the cover part 22 is prevented from opening carelessly, the loss of each component P etc. can be prevented.

  The lid portion 22 has the same configuration as the main body portion 21. That is, the lid part 22 is constituted by a bottom part 30 and side wall parts 31 a to 31 d, and a plurality of holding parts 32 are provided in the lid part 22. Further, the fixing portion 29 b is provided on the side wall portion 31 b of the lid portion 22. A case 20 having the above configuration is prepared.

  Next, each component P is arranged in the case 20 described above. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the spring 9, the rear housing 8, the outer cover holding member 10, the fixing member 11, the reinforcing tube 13, and the boot 12 are arranged in this order from the front side (left side in the drawing) of the case 20. 26. At this time, the reinforcing tube 13 is attached to the boot 12 in advance. As described above, by arranging the components P in the holding portion 26, the central axes of the components P are aligned along the longitudinal direction of the case 20.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, after each component P is arranged on the main body 21 so that each component P is in a predetermined direction at a predetermined position in the holding portion 26, as shown in FIG. 22 is closed. Accordingly, each component P is sandwiched between the holding portion 26 of the main body portion 21 and the holding portion 32 of the lid portion 22 and is held and fixed in the case 20.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the optical cord 2 is inserted into the reinforcing tube 13 from the side where the boot 12 is disposed (the through portion 24 side), and the optical cord 2 is pushed toward the through portion 23 side. At this time, since the central axes of the components P are aligned in the case 20, the optical cord 2 passes through the components P smoothly.

  Next, in a state where the optical cord 2 is inserted into each component P and each component P is held in the case 20, the jacket 4 at the tip portion of the optical cord 2 is removed, and the optical fiber core wire 3 and the tensile fiber 5. Is exposed, and excess tensile strength fiber 5 is cut. Subsequently, the tip portion of the outer jacket 4 is torn into a bifurcated state, and the bifurcated outer jacket 4 and the tensile strength fiber 5 are folded back.

  Subsequently, the optical fiber core wire 3 and the built-in fiber 6a are fusion-connected. The fusion splicing between the optical fiber core wire 3 and the built-in fiber 6a is well known, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  First, the optical fiber core wire 3 is passed through the fusion protection sleeve 15. Then, the core wire covering of the tip portion of the optical fiber core wire 3 is removed, and the bare fiber (not shown) is exposed and cleaned. Subsequently, the distal end portion of the optical cord 2 is set in a fusion fiber holder (not shown), and the distal end portion of the bare fiber is cut. Thereafter, the fusion fiber holder is set in a fusion machine (not shown).

  Also, a stringed dust cap 16A (see FIG. 8) is prepared. The dust cap 16A with a string has a string portion 16a attached to the tip of the dust cap 16. And the dust cap 16A with a string is put on the ferrule body 14 of the ferrule member 6 holding the built-in fiber 6a. Then, the ferrule member 6 to which the stringed dust cap 16A is attached is set in a ferrule holder (not shown). Then, the ferrule holder is set in a fusion machine (not shown).

  Thereafter, the tip of the built-in fiber 12 and the tip of the bare fiber 3 a of the optical fiber core 3 are fusion-bonded by a fusion machine. Then, the fusion protection sleeve 15 is moved to a predetermined position, and the fusion protection sleeve 15 is heated and contracted in that state. Thereby, the fusion protection sleeve 15 is not displaced from the position of the fusion splicing portion. Then, the jacket 4 and the tensile fiber 5 in the folded state are returned to the original state. Further, the case 20 is opened and each component P is taken out from the case 20.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8A, a plug housing 7 is prepared. Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, the plug housing 7 is connected to the rear housing 8 through the plug housing 7 through the stringed dust cap 16. Then, as shown in FIG. 8 (c), with the bifurcated outer cover 4 placed on the small tubular part 8 a of the rear housing 8, the outer cover holding member 10 is fitted into the small tubular part 8 a.

  Subsequently, with the tensile fiber 5 placed on the large tubular portion 8b of the rear housing 8, the fixing member 11 is mounted on the large tubular portion 8b as shown in FIG. 9A. As a result, the outer jacket 4 and the tensile strength fiber 5 are fixed to the rear housing 8.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), the boot 12 with the reinforcing tube 13 is attached to the jacket fixing portion (not shown) of the fixing member 11. Then, as shown in FIG. 9C, the string portion 16a of the string-attached dust cap 16A is cut with a finger. Thus, the optical connector 1 as shown in FIG. 1 is completed.

  As described above, in the method of assembling the optical connector 1 according to this embodiment, when the optical cable 2 is passed through the spring 9, the rear housing 8, the outer cover holding member 10, the fixing member 11, the boot 12, and the reinforcing tube 13, 20 is used. The case 20 holds each component P in a predetermined position and orientation by the holding unit 26 so that the central axes of the components P are aligned. And after arrange | positioning each component P in the case 20, the optical cord 2 is inserted so that it may pass through each component P from the penetration part 28 side formed in the side wall part 25a of the case 20 toward the penetration part 27 side.

  As a result, since the optical cord 2 can be passed through a plurality of parts at once, the optical cord 2 can be easily inserted as compared with the case where the parts are passed through the optical cord 2 one by one, thereby improving workability. Can be planned. Further, by inserting the optical cord 2 after placing each component P in the case 20, it is possible to prevent the component from being forgotten, and because the component is held in a predetermined direction, It can also be prevented from passing in the direction. Therefore, for example, it is possible to prevent the operation from being interrupted in the assembly process of the housing. Therefore, the optical connector 1 can be assembled easily and efficiently.

  Here, in the conventional method of assembling an optical connector, since there are a plurality of parts that pass through the optical cord, the parts move and are scattered on the optical cord, and the process after passing the parts through the optical cord However, there is a problem that it takes time to handle parts. On the other hand, in the assembling method of the present embodiment, since each component P is held in the case 20, the components are scattered when, for example, the optical fiber core wire 3 and the built-in fiber 6a are fusion-bonded. do not do. Therefore, the handleability of each component P can be improved.

  Further, since the case 20 is formed of a transparent member (for example, translucent member), when the optical cord 2 is inserted, it is possible to confirm whether or not the components are in the case 20 without leakage. it can. In addition, it is possible to confirm from which position the optical cord 2 has passed through.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, although the LC connector is exemplified as the optical connector 1 in the above embodiment, the optical connector assembling method according to the present invention can also be applied to the assembling of the SC connector and the like.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the main-body part 21 and the cover part 22 are integrally formed via the connection member 23, the case 20 of the structure which the main-body part 21 and the cover part 22 isolate | separate may be sufficient.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although case 20 is made into the substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, the shape of case 20 is not limited to this, For example, cylindrical shape etc. may be sufficient.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the main-body part 21 and the cover part 22 are formed with the member which has permeability in the case 20, only the cover part 22 may be formed with the member which has permeability. Even in this case, since the operator can visually check each component P in the case 20 with the lid portion 22 closed, it is necessary to check whether the component is forgotten when the optical cord 2 is inserted. Can do.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical connector, 2 ... Optical cord, 8 ... Rear housing, 9 ... Spring, 10 ... Covering member, 11 ... Fixing member, 12 ... Boot, 13 ... Reinforcement member, 20 ... Case, 21 ... Main-body part, 22 ... lid part, 25a, 25c ... side wall part (both ends), 27, 28 ... penetrating part, P ... each part.

Claims (3)

An optical connector assembly method comprising a plurality of parts in an optical cord,
A case having a pair of penetrating parts formed in a wall portion coaxial with the central axis is prepared while forming a box shape and holding the respective parts in a predetermined position so that the central axes of the respective parts are aligned. And a process of
Arranging the parts in the case so as to be in the predetermined position and in a predetermined direction;
Inserting the optical cord so as to pass through each of the components from one penetrating part side to the other penetrating part side in the case;
An assembly method for an optical connector comprising:   The method of assembling an optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the case includes a main body that holds the components and a lid that covers the main body.   3. The method of assembling an optical connector according to claim 2, wherein the case is formed of a member having at least the lid portion having transparency.

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