JP2012048037A - Optical connector cleaning tool - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical connector cleaning tool capable of suppressing uneven distribution of a cleaning body in the axial direction of a winding reel.SOLUTION: An optical connector cleaning tool is provided with a tool body and an extended section which is extended from the tool body. The tool body has: a feeding mechanism for supplying and taking up a cleaning body; a rotation mechanism; and a containing body for containing the feeding mechanism and the rotation mechanism. The extended section has an extended tube body and a head member. The feeding mechanism has a cleaning body supply reel, a cleaning body winding reel, and an inclined cylindrical body on which the cleaning body is wound at a position before the winding reel. The containing body is provided with a drive body which moves forward to feed the cleaning body by rotationally driving the winding reel in the winding direction. The rotation mechanism is provided with a rotary shaft for rotating the head member by the relative movement of the containing body. A cleaning body insertion hole is formed in the rotary shaft. The inclined cylindrical body rotates around an axis parallel to the axis of the winding reel in an inclined state relative to the rotation axis of the winding reel to move a cleaning body winding position in the axial direction of the winding reel.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connector cleaning tool for cleaning a joining end face of an optical connector with a cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material that is continuous in one direction, such as a tape-shaped cloth or string.

As is well known, if dirt or foreign matter adheres to the joint end face when the optical connector is butt-connected, the joint end face may cause damage at the time of attachment / detachment or increase in transmission loss. Need to be cleaned.
In order to clean the joining end face of the optical connector, an optical connector cleaning tool is conventionally used in which a flexible cleaning body such as a tape-like cloth or string is brought into contact with the joining end face to wipe off dirt and the like.
As this type of optical connector cleaning tool, at the tip portion (head portion), an optical connector is exposed while a part of the cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material continuous in one direction is exposed, and the exposed cleaning body is moved. There is known a method of contacting (pressing) a joint end surface of the material (for example, see Patent Document 1).
In the optical connector cleaning tool adopting such a system, a supply reel for feeding out a cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material such as a tape-like cloth or a string in one direction toward the tip of the tool, The feeding mechanism includes a take-up reel that takes up and winds up the cleaning body from the tool tip.

International Publication No. 2008/108278

  However, in the conventional optical connector cleaning tool as described above, the cleaning body may be unwound toward a part of the winding reel in the axial direction, and in that case, the cleaning body winding thickness ( (Height) becomes extremely large in only a part of the take-up reel in the axial direction, resulting in a space factor problem, making it difficult to further reduce the size of the tool, and taking up unevenly. In the part where the cleaning body is stacked so as to have a cross-sectional mountain shape, collapse (winding collapse) occurs during winding, and as a result, the cleaning body cannot be smoothly wound, and the cleaning body can be smoothly fed to the tool tip. In some cases, it was not possible to do so.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and prevents the occurrence of a situation in which the cleaning body is unwound in a part in the axial direction of the take-up reel, thereby improving the space factor. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical connector cleaning tool that enables further miniaturization and avoids the occurrence of collapse during winding, so that the cleaning body can be always drawn out smoothly. To do.

  As a result of intensive experiments and studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have found that the central axis is at a position before the cleaning body such as a tape-like cloth or string is wound on the take-up reel. An inclined cylindrical body that is inclined with respect to the rotation axis of the take-up reel is arranged, and the cleaning body immediately before winding is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the inclined cylindrical body, and the inclined cylindrical body is attached to the take-up reel. The position of the cleaning body at the time of winding on the take-up reel is determined by rotating (tilting and rotating) around the axis parallel to the rotation axis in a swinging and swinging manner while maintaining the inclined state. As a result, it has been found that the above-mentioned problems can be solved by moving (traversing) in the axial direction, and the present invention has been made.

Therefore, the optical connector cleaning tool of the present invention is
In the optical connector cleaning tool for wiping and cleaning the joint end face by pressing a part of the cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material continuous in one direction against the joint end face of the optical connector,
A tool body, and an extending portion extending from the tool body,
The tool body has a feeding mechanism for supplying and taking out the cleaning body, a rotating mechanism, and a housing body for housing them.
The extension portion includes an extension cylinder extending from the container, and a head member that presses the cleaning body against the joining end surface at a tip of the extension cylinder,
The feed mechanism reaches the take-up reel, a supply reel that supplies the cleaning body to the head member, a take-up reel that winds the cleaning body through the head member, and the cleaning body that passes through the head member. Having an inclined cylinder wound around a part of the outer peripheral surface at the front position,
The container is relatively movable forward and backward in the extending direction with respect to the extending portion and the feeding mechanism, and the cleaning body is driven by rotating the take-up reel in the winding direction by forward movement. Equipped with a drive that moves
The rotation mechanism includes a rotation shaft that rotates the head member around an axis by relative movement of the container,
The rotating shaft is formed with an insertion hole for guiding the cleaning body from the supply reel to the head member, and leading the cleaning body through the head member to the take-up reel through the inclined cylindrical body,
The inclined cylindrical body is arranged such that a central axis thereof is inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the take-up reel, and is rotated when the take-up reel is wound around an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the take-up reel. It is comprised so that it may rotate in conjunction with.

Here, it is desirable that the inclined columnar body is configured such that the rotation direction thereof is a forward direction with respect to the traveling direction of the cleaning body on the outer peripheral surface of the inclined columnar body.
In addition, as a specific configuration for rotating the inclined cylindrical body in the forward direction in this way, the inclined cylindrical body is configured to rotate in the same direction as the rotation direction at the time of winding the take-up reel, and the inclination thereof. The positional relationship between the cylindrical body and the take-up reel is such that the cleaning body does not cross a straight line connecting the rotation axis of the inclined cylinder and the rotation axis of the take-up reel while reaching the take-up reel through the inclined cylinder. Can be determined.

  In this case, the feeding mechanism is further provided with an intermediate rotation transmission body (122). The intermediate rotation transmission body rotates when the take-up reel is wound, and the inclined cylinder rotates the take-up reel. It can comprise so that it may transmit to an inclination cylinder so that it may rotate in the same direction as a direction.

  On the other hand, conversely to the above-described configuration, the inclined cylindrical body is configured to rotate in a direction opposite to the rotation direction during winding of the take-up reel, and the position of the inclined cylindrical body and the take-up reel is determined. The relationship may be determined such that the cleaning body crosses a straight line connecting the rotation axis of the inclined cylinder and the rotation axis of the take-up reel while reaching the take-up reel through the inclined cylinder. Even so, the rotation direction of the inclined columnar body can be the forward direction with respect to the traveling direction of the cleaning body on the outer peripheral surface of the inclined columnar body.

  In this case, the feed mechanism is configured to transmit the rotation at the time of winding of the take-up reel to the tilted cylindrical body so that the tilted cylindrical body rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the take-up reel. be able to.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the rotation angle of the inclined cylindrical body at the time of winding the cleaning body is determined to be smaller than the rotation angle of the take-up reel.

  In addition, the said cleaning body may be made in the shape of a tape, and may be made in the shape of a string with a substantially circular cross section.

  According to the present invention, at a position before the cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material such as a tape or string is wound around the take-up reel, the cleaning body has a central axis with respect to the rotation axis of the take-up reel. Is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the tilted cylindrical body, and the tilted cylindrical body is rotated about the axis parallel to the rotation axis of the take-up reel (rotated in a swiveling manner while maintaining the tilted state). As a result, the position of the cleaning body when wound on the take-up reel can be moved (traversed) in the axial direction of the take-up reel, so that the cleaning body is biased to a part in the axial direction of the take-up reel. As a result, it is possible to prevent a problem in space factor due to the uneven distribution of the cleaning body in the axial direction of the take-up reel, and to further increase the optical connector cleaning tool. Miniaturization At the same time, it prevents the occurrence of the collapse of the cleaning body due to the uneven distribution of the cleaning body in the part of the take-up reel in the axial direction, so that the cleaning body cannot be smoothly wound (and thus fed out) due to the collapse. The occurrence of the situation can be effectively prevented.

It is a perspective view of one embodiment of the optical connector cleaning tool of the present invention. It is a front view of an optical connector cleaning tool. It is a front sectional view of an optical connector cleaning tool. It is a top view which shows a drive body. It is a perspective view which shows an extension cylinder. It is a perspective view which shows a head member. It is the perspective view which looked at the rotating shaft from one side. It is a side view of the partial cross-section state which shows a rotating shaft and the head member attached to the front-end | tip. It is a top view which shows a feed mechanism. It is a bottom view which shows a feed mechanism. It is a front view which shows a feed mechanism It is a front view of the inclination cylinder used for a feed mechanism. It is a perspective view which shows the condition of the winding reel of a feed mechanism at the time of winding of a cleaning body, and an inclination cylinder. It is process drawing which shows the usage method of an optical connector cleaning tool. It is process drawing following a previous figure. It is process drawing following a previous figure. It is process drawing which shows operation | movement of a feed mechanism, (a) is sectional drawing which shows a normal state, (b) is sectional drawing which shows the state which the container moved forward. It is process drawing which shows operation | movement of a rotating shaft. It is process drawing following a previous figure. It is process drawing which shows the usage method of an optical connector cleaning tool. It is process drawing which shows the winding state of a cleaning body in steps. It is a rough plan view showing two examples of the positional relationship between the inclined cylindrical body and the winding reel with respect to the cleaning body when the cleaning body is wound around the winding reel.

Hereinafter, an optical connector cleaning tool (hereinafter also simply referred to as “cleaning tool”) 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the cleaning tool 1 includes a tool body 10 and an extending portion 20 that extends from the tool body 10. In the following description, the front end direction of the extending portion 20 (extended cylinder 21) shown in FIG. 1 may be referred to as the front in the extending direction, and the opposite direction may be referred to as the rear.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the tool main body 10 rotates the head member 23 and the feed mechanism 3 that supplies and takes up (winds) the cleaning body 2 made of a continuous material that is continuous in one flexible direction. A rotating mechanism 5 to be housed, a housing 11 for housing them, and a biasing means 40 in the housing 11 for biasing the housing 11. Here, the container 11 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case portion 12 and a drive body 13 positioned in the case portion 12 and positioned with respect to the case portion 12.

  The case portion 12 includes substrate portions 12a and 12a facing each other with an accommodation space 12e (see FIGS. 3 and 7), side plate portions 12b and 12b formed on the side edges of the substrate portions 12a and 12a, and the substrate portion 12a. And a front plate portion 12c provided at the front edge. The front plate portion 12c is formed with an insertion port 12d (see FIG. 1) through which the extended cylindrical body 21 is inserted.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the driving body 13 includes a substrate 53 (see FIGS. 18 and 19), and an insertion convex portion 54 formed so as to protrude from the front end portion of the substrate 53 in the thickness direction of the substrate 53. , A protruding portion 55 formed to protrude from both side edge portions of the substrate 53 to the inner surface side, a pressing portion 57 formed at the front end portion of the substrate 53, and a rear end extending from the rear end portion of the substrate 53 to the inner surface side. Plate 58.

A sawtooth (rack-shaped) gear receiving portion 56 (drive portion) is formed on one of the protruding portions 55 at both side edges of the substrate 53. The gear receiving portion 56 is a drive portion that drives the take-up reel 31 to rotate in the take-up direction by the forward movement of the drive body 13 with respect to the feed mechanism 3, and is a plurality of protrusions that are formed to protrude toward the other protrusion portion 55. The receiving-tooth part 56a. The receiving-tooth part 56a is arranged in the front-back direction.
In this embodiment, the sawtooth gear receiving portion 56 is adopted, but the configuration for driving the take-up reel 31 is not limited to this, and a force in the rotational direction can be applied to the take-up reel 31. As long as it is possible, other configurations may be employed, such as one that abuts the outer peripheral edge of the take-up reel 31 and applies a rotational force to the take-up reel 31 by friction.

  The insertion convex portion 54 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is formed so as to protrude from the inner surface of the substrate 53 in the thickness direction of the substrate 53, and its protruding height and outer diameter can be fitted in the cam groove 85 of the rotating cylinder portion 82. (See FIGS. 18 and 19).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the pressing portion 57 includes a pressing plate 57 a that presses the urging means 40 and a cylindrical holding cylinder portion 57 b formed on the periphery thereof. Here, the pressing plate 57 a is formed so as to protrude from the inner surface of the substrate 53 in the thickness direction of the substrate 53 and to be orthogonal to the front-rear direction. The holding cylinder portion 57b regulates the displacement of the urging means 40 and is formed so as to accommodate the rear end portion of the urging means 40.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a locking projection 53 a that locks in the locking hole 12 f of the substrate portion 12 a is formed on the outer surface of the substrate 53 of the driving body 13. Here, the driving body 13 is positioned with respect to the case portion 12 by the locking protrusion 53 a being locked in the locking hole 12 f and moves together with the case portion 12.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the rotation mechanism 5 includes a rotation shaft 52 that can rotate about an axis. The rotating shaft 52 includes a rotating cylinder part 82 and a guide cylinder part 81 extending forward from the front end of the rotating cylinder part 82. Here, an insertion hole 83 through which the cleaning body 2 is inserted is formed in the rotary cylinder portion 82 so as to open at the rear end of the rotary cylinder portion 82. The insertion hole 83 is formed along the axial direction of the rotating cylinder portion 82. In the illustrated example, the insertion hole 83 has a substantially rectangular cross section.

An insertion hole 87 is formed in the guide cylinder portion 81 over the entire length. The insertion hole 87 guides the cleaning body 2 from the supply reel 30 to the head member 23 and guides the cleaning body 2 returned from the head member 23 to the take-up reel 31 via an inclined cylindrical body 120 described later. This is in communication with the insertion hole 83 of the rotating cylinder portion 82.
The guide cylinder portion 81 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and the insertion portion 91 of the head member 23 is inserted into the insertion hole 87 at the front end portion (see FIG. 8). The inner surface of the front end portion of the guide tube portion 81 is a rotation stop portion 84 formed flat.

  The rotary cylinder portion 82 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a cam groove 85 into which the insertion convex portion 54 of the drive body 13 is inserted is formed on the outer surface thereof. The cam groove 85 is formed at least partially inclined with respect to the axial direction of the rotary cylinder portion 82. Therefore, as will be described later, if the insertion convex portion 54 inserted in the cam groove 85 moves in the front-rear direction, the rotary cylinder portion 82 moves along the cam groove 85, whereby the rotary shaft 52 rotates around the axis. Will do. In the illustrated example, the cam groove 85 is formed in a spiral shape.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the head member 23 includes an insertion portion 91 that can be inserted into the insertion hole 87 of the guide cylinder portion 81, a flange portion 92 formed at the front end of the insertion portion 91, and the flange portion 92. A tip extending portion 28 extending forward from the front surface. The distal end surface of the distal end extending portion 28 serves as a pressing surface 24 that presses the cleaning body 2 against the joining end surface 61a (see FIG. 20).

In the flange portion 92, passage ports 92A and 92B through which the cleaning body 2 passes are formed.
A guide slit 26 that guides the cleaning body 2 is formed in the distal extension 28 from the proximal end toward the distal end. Further, a guide opening 25 is formed in the distal extension 28 from the front end of the guide slit 26 to the outer surface of the distal extension 28.
Here, the guide opening 25 guides the cleaning body 2 from the feeding mechanism 3 (supply reel 30) to the pressing surface 24 (or the cleaning mechanism 2 that has passed through the pressing surface 24 is fed to the feeding mechanism 3 (inclined cylindrical body 120 and For guiding to the take-up reel 31). Thus, by forming the guide opening 25 in the distal end extension 28, it is possible to prevent the cleaning body 2 from coming off the pressing surface 24.

  The insertion portion 91 is formed in a plate shape, and the flat portion 93 </ b> A on one side and the flat portion 93 </ b> B on the other side are disposed along the rotation stop portion 84. In contrast, it is restricted from rotating. The insertion portion 91 is formed with an elastic piece 93b having an engaging claw 93a. The engaging claw 93a can restrict the forward movement of the head member 23 by engaging with the front edge of an engaging opening 81a (engaging recess) (see FIG. 7) formed in the guide cylinder 81. it can.

  Reference numeral 94 in FIG. 8 indicates an urging means (for example, a spring member such as a coil spring) provided between the front end of the guide cylinder portion 81 and the flange portion 92. This urging means 94 is for urging the head member 23 forward when the head member 23 is pressed against the joining end surface 61a.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the cleaning member 2 drawn from the supply reel 30 is wound around the head member 23.
Here, the cleaning body 2 is not particularly limited as long as it is a continuous material that is soft enough to be continuously fed out and continuous in one direction, and a known appropriate cleaning cloth (nonwoven fabric or woven fabric) is taped. And a string processed into a string shape having a substantially circular cross section can be employed. Specifically, for example, a tape or string made of ultrafine fibers such as polyester and nylon can be used. In addition, when using the tape-shaped cleaning body 2, about 1.0-2.5 mm is suitable for the width | variety, and about 0.1-0.2 mm is suitable for thickness. If such a tape-shaped cleaning body 2 is used, the contact area with respect to the object to be cleaned increases, so that the cleaning ability can be enhanced.

The cleaning body 2 reaches the head member 23 from the supply reel 30 through the insertion hole 83 and the insertion hole 87 of the rotary shaft 52. In this head member 23, the cleaning body 2 reaches the pressing surface 24 of the tip extension portion 28 via the flat portion 93 </ b> A of the insertion portion 91 and the passage opening 92 </ b> A of the flange portion 92, and the guide opening portion 25, the guide slit 26, Winding is performed so as to pass through the passage opening 92B and the flat portion 93B, pass through the insertion hole 87 and the insertion hole 83, and further reach the take-up reel 31 through the inclined cylindrical body 120.
Conversely, the cleaning body 2 reaches the head member 23 from the supply reel 30 through the insertion hole 83 and the insertion hole 87, and reaches the pressing surface 24 through the flat portion 93 </ b> B, the passage port 92 </ b> B, the guide slit 26, and the guide port portion 25. It can also be wound so as to pass through the passage opening 92A, the flat portion 93A, the insertion hole 87 and the insertion hole 83, and further reach the take-up reel 31 through the inclined cylindrical body 120.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the feed mechanism 3 includes a supply reel 30 (supply means) around which the cleaning body 2 is wound, and a take-up reel 31 (take-up means) that winds and collects the used cleaning body 2. The inclined cylindrical body 120 wound around the used reel 2 at a position before being wound around the take-up reel 31, and the inclined cylinder 120 is rotated in the same direction as the rotation direction of the take-up reel 31. An intermediate gear 122 as an intermediate rotation transmission body for transmitting to the inclined cylindrical body 120 so as to rotate, a support frame 35 that rotatably supports these, and a first end mounted on one end side of the take-up reel 31. Gear 38, a second gear 130 fixed to the other end of the take-up reel 31, and a pressing portion 34.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 9, the support frame 35 includes a substrate 41, a supply reel support shaft 32 that rotatably supports the supply reel 30, and a take-up reel support shaft that rotatably supports the take-up reel 31. 33, an inclined columnar support shaft 124 that rotatably supports the inclined columnar body 120, an intermediate gear support shaft 126 that rotatably supports an intermediate gear 122 as an intermediate rotation transmission body, and both side edges of the substrate 41. The formed side plates 44A and 44B, the partition plate 43 provided between the side plates 44A and 44B, and the front end plate 46 formed at the front end portion of the substrate 41 are provided. Here, the partition plate 43 is for partitioning the space between the side plates 44 </ b> A and 44 </ b> B into the cylindrical body base accommodating portion 36 and the biasing means accommodating portion 37.

The cylinder base housing part 36 is made so as to house the cylinder base 15 of the extension part 20. In the vicinity of the rear end of one side plate 44A, a restricting plate 42A for restricting rearward movement of the cylinder base 15 is formed, and for restricting rearward movement of the cylinder base 15 at the rear end of the partition plate 43. A plate 42B is formed. Further, the front end plate 46 is formed with a recess 46a through which the extended cylinder 21 is inserted.
With such a configuration, the cylinder base accommodating portion 36 restricts the backward movement of the cylinder base 15 by the restriction plates 42A and 42B and restricts the forward movement by the front end plate 46.

  The urging means accommodating portion 37 is a space between the other side plate 44 </ b> B and the partition plate 43 and accommodates the urging means 40. On the other hand, on the rear surface of the front end plate 46, a holding projection 39 that is inserted into the front end portion of the urging means 40 in the urging means accommodating portion 37 and positions the urging means 40 is formed to protrude rearward (FIG. 3). reference).

Here, the positions of the support shafts 32, 124, and 33 are the installation positions (front-rear direction positions) of the supply reel 30, the inclined columnar body 120, and the take-up reel 31, and the cylinder base housing portion 36 and the biasing device housing portion It is determined to be closer to the rear than 37.
In the illustrated example, the positions of the supply reel support shaft 32 and the take-up reel support shaft 33 are determined so that the positional relationship between the center axis 30a of the supply reel 30 and the center axis 31a of the take-up reel 31 is in the front-rear direction. ing. Further, the position of the inclined cylindrical body support shaft 124 is a position slightly deviated with respect to the straight line connecting the center axes 30a and 31a of the supply reel 30 and the take-up reel 31, and when the cleaning body 2 is wound, The cleaning body 2 to be wound around the take-up reel 31 has a straight line L connecting the rotation axis OR of the inclined cylinder 120 and the central axis 31a of the take-up reel 31 between the inclined cylinder 120 and the take-up reel 31. It is determined not to cross (see FIG. 22 (a)). The position of the intermediate gear support shaft 126 is determined so as to be close to both the take-up reel support shaft 33 and the inclined cylindrical body support shaft 124.

  The board 41 is formed with extension plates 45A and 45B extending perpendicularly to the radial direction of the reels 30 and 31, and the ends of the extension plates 45A and 45B project toward the reels 30 and 31, respectively. Locking claws 45Aa and 45Ba are formed. Each of the extending plates 45A and 45B can be elastically bent and deformed, and each of the locking claws 45Aa and 45Aa can move in a direction approaching and separating from the reels 30 and 31. The pressing portion 34 is for preventing the reels 30 and 31, the inclined cylindrical body 120, and the first gear 38 from falling off.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the supply reel 30 includes a body portion 47A around which the cleaning body 2 to be fed is wound, a first flange plate 48A provided at one end of the body portion 47A, and the other end of the body portion 47A. And a second flange plate 49A. Similarly, the take-up reel 31 has a body 47B around which the cleaning body 2 is wound, a first flange plate 48B provided at one end of the body 47B, and a second flange plate provided at the other end of the body 47B. 49B. A plurality of locking recesses (not shown) arranged in the circumferential direction are formed on the outer surfaces of the first flange plates 48A and 48B, and the locking claws 45Aa and 45Ba of the extension plates 45A and 45B are formed. Is engaged with the locking recess to prevent the reels 30 and 31 from rotating in the reverse direction. A plurality of locking projections (not shown) arranged in the circumferential direction are formed on the outer surfaces of the second flange plates 49A and 49B. The reels 30 and 31 are mounted on the support frame 35 by inserting support shafts 32 and 33 (see FIG. 9) through the body portions 47A and 47B.

Further, the first gear 38 is disposed on the outer surface side of the second flange plate 49B of the take-up reel 31, and the second gear is disposed on the outer surface side of the first flange plate 48B of the take-up reel 31. 130 is fixed (see FIG. 11).
As shown in FIG. 3, the first gear 38 includes a disk-shaped substrate 89 and a gear portion 88 formed on one surface of the substrate 89. On the other surface of the substrate 89, a locking projection (not shown) that is locked to a locking projection (not shown) of the take-up reel 31 is formed. The gear portion 88 has a tooth portion 88 a that meshes with the receiving tooth portion 56 a of the gear receiving portion 56 of the drive body 13. Here, the first gear 38 is disposed so as to overlap the second flange plate 49B of the take-up reel 31, and the locking projection (not shown) of the substrate 89 is locked to the locking projection (not shown) of the second flange plate 49B. The take-up reel 31 also rotates as the first gear 38 rotates. On the other hand, when the first gear 38 rotates in the direction opposite to the winding direction, the locking projection 87a is not locked to the locking projection (not shown).

As shown in FIGS. 11, 12, and 13, the inclined cylindrical body 120 is provided with disc-shaped flange portions 120 </ b> B and 120 </ b> C at both ends of a cylindrical body portion 120 </ b> A around which the cleaning body 2 is to be wound. Is. Here, in the inclined cylindrical body 120, a straight line connecting the centers of the flange portions 120B and 120C at both ends is the rotation center axis OR, and the cylindrical body 120A has a central axis (axis with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the body 120A). The OT is made to be inclined by a predetermined angle θ with respect to the rotation center axis OR. The inclined rotating cylinder 120 is arranged such that its rotation center axis OR is parallel to the center axis (rotation axis) 31 a of the take-up reel 31. Therefore, the trunk portion 120 </ b> A of the inclined cylindrical body 120 is inclined at the center axis OT with respect to the rotation axis 31 a of the take-up reel 31. Therefore, when the inclined cylindrical body 120 rotates, one end side and the other end side thereof perform an inclined rotation (oscillating motion) in a manner of turning with reference to an axis OR parallel to the rotation axis 31 a of the take-up reel 31. It will be.
In the above description, the inclined cylindrical body 120 and the body 120A thereof are referred to as “columns” or “columnar shapes”. However, the cylinders herein are not limited to solid cylinders, but are hollow cylinders (hollow cylinders). A cylindrical body).

  Further, a driven gear 128 is concentrically provided on the flange portion 120B on one end side of the inclined cylindrical body 120, and the driven gear 128 meshes with the intermediate gear 122 as the intermediate rotation transmission body. The intermediate gear 122 is also meshed with the second gear 130 on the outer surface side of the first flange plate 48 of the take-up reel 31, and the rotation of the take-up reel 31 during winding is inclined to the same direction as the rotation direction. In order to rotate the body 120, it plays a role of transmitting to the inclined cylindrical body 120.

Here, as described above, the cleaning body 2 to be wound on the take-up reel 31 is between the inclined cylindrical body 120 and the take-up reel 31, and the rotation axis OR of the inclined cylindrical body 120 and the center of the take-up reel 31. It is determined not to cross the straight line L connecting the axis 31a, and by rotating the inclined column 120 in the same direction as the rotation direction of the take-up reel 31, the rotation direction of the inclined column 120 is It can be made to rotate so that it may become a forward direction with respect to the running direction of the cleaning body 2 on an inclined cylinder body outer peripheral surface.
Here, the second gear 130, the intermediate gear 122, and the driven gear 128 have the gear ratio among them set appropriately, so that the rotation angle of the inclined cylindrical body 120 is changed to the rotation angle of the take-up reel 31. It also plays the role of setting appropriately. That is, it is desirable that the rotation angle of the inclined cylindrical body 120 is smaller than the rotation angle of the take-up reel 31, specifically, not more than ½ of the rotation angle of the take-up reel 31. The rotation angle of the take-up reel 31 is set to 1/4.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the urging means 40 urges the container 11 that has been relatively moved forward to urge the support frame 35 backward and includes a spring member such as a coil spring. Are preferably used. In that case, a reaction force can be applied to the front end plate 46 to urge the pressing portion 57 of the driving body 13 backward.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the extension portion 20 includes a cylinder base portion 15, an extension cylinder body 21 provided on the distal end side of the cylinder base portion 15, and a head member inserted through the extension cylinder body 21. 23. The cylinder base 15 includes a holding frame portion 97 that can accommodate the rotating cylinder portion 82 of the rotating shaft 52, and a cylindrical connecting tube portion 96 that extends forward from the front end of the holding frame portion 97. Here, the holding frame portion 97 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a rectangular cross section, and the side plate 99a, which is one of the four side plates 99 constituting the holding frame portion 97, has an insertion protrusion of the driving body 13 along the front-rear direction. A slit 100 into which the portion 54 is inserted is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the extending cylinder 21 includes a cylindrical large-diameter portion 21b and a small-diameter portion 21c extending forward from the front end thereof. An insertion port portion 21d through which the tip extension portion 28 of the head member 23 can be inserted and retracted is formed at the tip of the small diameter portion 21c. On the other hand, a fitting claw 96 a that fits into the locking opening 21 a formed in the large-diameter portion 21 b of the extending cylinder 21 is formed on the outer surface of the connecting cylinder portion 96.

  Next, an example of a method for using the cleaning tool 1 and an operation of each unit during use will be described.

  In the normal state (when not in use) shown in FIG. 17A, the container 11 is positioned relatively rearward with respect to the extending portion 20 and the feed mechanism 3.

  As shown in FIGS. 14, 15, and 20, if the container 11 is grasped with fingers or the like and the extension cylinder 21 of the extension portion 20 is inserted from the connector insertion port 71 of the optical adapter 70, the extension The cylindrical body 21 enters the connector receiving hole 72 while being positioned by the inner wall 70a of the optical adapter 70. Then, as shown in FIG. 20, the cleaning body 2 on the pressing surface 24 comes into contact with an appropriate position (here, the optical fiber hole 61 b and its periphery) of the joining end surface 61 a of the optical plug 60.

  As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 (b), if a further forward force is applied to the housing 11, the distal end of the extended cylindrical body 21 reacts from the wall portion 70b of the optical adapter 70 or the like (see FIG. 20). Accordingly, the forward movement is restricted and the container 11 moves forward relative to the extending portion 20. At this time, the cylinder base 15 of the extension part 20 is accommodated in the cylinder base accommodation part 36 in a state where the rearward movement is restricted by the restriction plates 42A and 42B shown in FIG. The direction position does not change greatly. For this reason, the urging means 40 is compressed by the driving body 13 and is in a state of urging the driving body 13 backward by the reaction force from the support frame 35.

  As shown in FIGS. 17B, 18, and 19, when the driving body 13 of the container 11 moves forward relative to the rotating cylinder portion 82, the insertion convex portion 54 is also a cam of the rotating cylinder portion 82. It moves forward while being inserted into the groove 85. For this reason, the rotating shaft 52 rotates around the axis. As shown in FIG. 20, the rotation of the rotary shaft 52 causes the head member 23 to rotate about the axis, so that the cleaning body 2 rotates about the axis of the head member 23 while being in contact with the joining end surface 61a. Then, the joining end surface 61a is wiped and cleaned.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 17B, if the driving body 13 moves relative to the feed mechanism 3, a rotational force is applied to the first gear 38 by the gear receiving portion 56. Since the take-up reel 31 also rotates with the rotation of the first gear 38, the cleaning body 2 is taken up by the body 47 of the take-up reel 31 through the inclined cylindrical body 120.
Along with this, the cleaning body 2 is pulled out from the supply reel 30 and is fed and moved through the pressing surface 24 of the head member 23. By such a feed movement of the cleaning body 2, dirt such as dust, dust and oil adhering to the joining end surface 61 a is surely wiped off.

  After the cleaning is completed as described above, the container 11 may be moved backward when the extension portion 20 is pulled out from the optical adapter 70. At this time, the front-rear direction positions of the extending cylinder 21 and the feeding mechanism 3 with respect to the container 11 are returned to the normal state (the state shown in FIG. 17A) by the elastic force of the biasing means 40.

Here, the situation when the cleaning body 2 is wound around the winding reel 31 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 13, 21 </ b> A to 21 </ b> D, and 22 </ b> A. To do.
As shown in FIGS. 13, 21 </ b> A to 21 </ b> D, the return cleaning body 2 is a tilted cylindrical body 120 at a position before reaching the take-up reel 31 from the insertion hole 83 of the rotating cylinder portion 82. Is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the body portion 120A. The rotation of the take-up reel 31 is transmitted to the inclined cylindrical body 120 via the second gear 130 on the one end side of the take-up reel 31, the intermediate gear 122, and the driven gear 128 on the one end side of the inclined cylindrical body 120. Is done. At this time, since the intermediate gear 122 is interposed between the second gear 130 and the driven gear 128, the inclined cylindrical body 120 is rotated along with the take-up reel 31 as the take-up reel 31 rotates. Will rotate in the same direction as the direction of rotation. However, the cylindrical body 120A of the inclined cylinder 120 is inclined by an angle θ with respect to the axis of the take-up reel 31, so that the body 120A has one end side and the other end side in the axial direction. As it swings and swings about the rotation axis OR, it rotates in an inclined manner.

  FIG. 21A to FIG. 21D show the winding state when the inclined columnar body 120 is inclined and rotated with the rotation of the take-up reel 31 as described above. Here, it is assumed that the inclined cylindrical body 120 rotates 1/4 while the take-up reel 31 rotates once (the rotation angle of the inclined cylindrical body 120 is set to 1/4 of the rotation angle of the take-up reel 31). FIG. 21 (A) to FIG. 21 (D) show the situation for each rotation angle 90 ° of the inclined cylindrical body 120 during one rotation (360 ° rotation) of the take-up reel 31. 21 (A) to 21 (D) are schematic views seen from the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis OR, 31a of the inclined cylindrical body 120 and the take-up reel 31, of which FIG. FIG. 21C shows a situation in which the inclined cylindrical body 120 is inclined toward the front side of the drawing, and FIG. 21C shows a situation in which the inclined cylindrical body 120 is inclined rearward in the drawing. 21 (A) to 21 (D) merely schematically show the winding state for the sake of explanation, and the positional relationship and the angular relationship between the inclined cylindrical body 120 and the winding reel 31 are shown. Note that this is not an exact indication.

  When the cleaning body 2 is wound, the cleaning body 2 wound around the outer peripheral surface of the inclined cylindrical body 120 has a tensile tension (tension) from the side of the take-up reel 31 due to the rotation of the take-up reel 31. Since the cleaning body 2 is added, the cleaning body 2 tries to travel at the shortest distance on the outer peripheral surface of the body 120 </ b> A of the inclined cylindrical body 120. On the other hand, since the entire cylindrical outer peripheral surface of the inclined cylinder 120 is inclined with respect to the rotation axis OR (parallel to the rotation axis 31a of the take-up reel 31), the surface around which the cleaning body 2 is wound is an inclined cylinder. With the rotation of 120, the inclination angle relative to the rotation axis OR (parallel to the rotation axis 31a of the take-up reel 31) changes, and the inclination direction is also reversed. That is, in the illustrated example, every time the inclined cylindrical body 120 rotates 180 °, the inclination direction of the surface of the cleaning body winding position is reversed. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 21A to 21D, the cleaning body 2 wound around the outer peripheral surface of the body portion of the inclined columnar body 120 has an outer periphery of the inclined body portion 120 </ b> A in the inclined columnar body 120. It moves on the surface in the direction along the rotation axis OR. In other words, in the illustrated example, the cleaning body 2 moves alternately to one side and the other side in the axial direction every time the inclined cylindrical body 120 rotates 180 °. As a result, even when the cleaning body 2 is separated from the outer peripheral surface of the body portion of the inclined cylindrical body 120 and is wound on the take-up reel 31, the take-up position is alternated in the direction along the axis 31a of the take-up reel 31. Will move.

  In this way, by rotating the tilted cylindrical body 120 in conjunction with the rotation of the take-up reel 31 (oscillating and rotating while being tilted), the winding position of the cleaning body 2 on the take-up reel 31 is set to the axis line. It is possible to effectively prevent the cleaning body 2 from being unwound and partially wound around a part of the winding reel 31 in the axial direction.

Here, the rotation angle ratio (rotational speed ratio) between the take-up reel 31 and the inclined cylindrical body 120 is basically not particularly limited. However, while the take-up reel 31 is rotated once (that is, the cleaning body 2 is taken up). If the rotation angle of the inclined cylindrical body 120 is extremely large (while the reel 31 is wound by one turn), the winding position of the cleaning body 2 will fluctuate drastically while the cleaning body 2 is wound by one turn, As a result, the cleaning body 2 may not be wound up in an aligned manner, causing turbulence, or the winding position may not move smoothly, and the function of dispersing the winding position may not be performed sufficiently. .
According to the experiments by the present inventors, the rotation angle (number of rotations) of the inclined cylindrical body 120 is desirably 1/2 or less with respect to the rotation angle (number of rotations) of the take-up reel 31, and more preferably As shown in the form, it is desirable to set it to about 1/4.

  In addition, the inclination angle θ of the body portion of the inclined cylindrical body 120 with respect to the rotation center axis is basically not particularly limited, but the larger the inclination angle θ, the greater the distance to move the winding position, and the winding position The dispersion effect of increases. However, as the inclination angle θ of the inclined cylinder body 120 increases, the space occupied by the inclined cylinder body 120 also increases, which may not meet the original purpose of downsizing the cleaning tool. Is preferably in the range of about 3 ° to 60 °.

  Further, here, the cleaning body 2 is cleaned from the length (angle range) around which the outer circumferential surface of the body 120A of the inclined cylindrical body 120 is wound, that is, the position P1 where the cleaning body 2 first contacts the outer peripheral surface of the inclined cylindrical body 120. The angle range P (see FIG. 22 (a)) to the position P2 where the body 2 is separated from the outer peripheral surface of the inclined cylindrical body is not particularly limited, but if the angular range P is too small, The moving distance of the cleaning body 2 in the winding reel 31 is reduced, and the movement of the winding position on the take-up reel 31 is reduced. On the other hand, if the angular range P is too large, the cleaning body 2 and the inclined cylindrical body outer peripheral surface Due to the frictional resistance therebetween, the cleaning body 2 becomes difficult to move on the outer peripheral surface of the inclined cylindrical body, and as a result, it may be difficult to move the cleaning body 2 sufficiently. Therefore, it is desirable that the above-mentioned angle range P is appropriately set depending on the balance between the two, and according to experiments by the present inventors, it has been found that a range of 5 ° to 180 ° is desirable.

  Further, in the above-described example, as schematically shown in FIG. 22A, the inclined cylindrical body 120 is configured to rotate in the same direction as the rotation direction of the take-up reel 31, and the cleaning body 2 At the time of winding, the cleaning body 2 to be wound on the take-up reel 31 is between the inclined cylindrical body 120 and the take-up reel 31, and the rotational axis OR of the inclined cylindrical body 120 and the central axis 31a of the take-up reel 31. Is determined so as not to cross the straight line L connecting the two and the traveling direction (orientation) of the cleaning body 2 on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the inclined column 120 at the time of winding is inclined cylinder. Since it becomes a forward direction with respect to the rotation direction of 120, the frictional resistance between the cleaning body 2 and the trunk | drum outer peripheral surface of the inclination cylindrical body 120 decreases, and it can wind up smoothly.

However, a specific configuration for making the traveling direction (direction) of the cleaning body 2 on the outer peripheral surface of the body portion of the inclined cylindrical body 120 at the time of winding forward with respect to the rotation direction of the inclined cylindrical body 120 is shown in FIG. The configuration is not limited to (a). For example, contrary to the configuration shown in FIG. 22A, as shown in FIG. 22B, the inclined cylinder 120 is configured to rotate in the opposite direction to the rotation direction of the take-up reel 31. When the cleaning body 1 is wound, the cleaning body 1 to be wound on the take-up reel 31 is between the inclined cylinder body 120 and the take-up reel 31 and the rotation axis of the inclined cylinder body 120 and the take-up reel 31. Alternatively, it may be determined so as to cross a straight line L connecting the central axis 31a. Also in this case, the traveling direction (direction) of the cleaning body 2 on the outer peripheral surface of the body portion of the inclined columnar body 120 during winding is the forward direction with respect to the rotation direction of the inclined columnar body 120. The frictional resistance between the cylindrical body 120 and the outer peripheral surface of the body portion is reduced, and the winding can be performed smoothly.
Here, in the case of FIG. 22B, the second gear 130 at one end of the take-up reel 31 can be directly meshed with the driven gear 128 at one end of the inclined cylindrical body 120, and therefore the former case. The intermediate gear 122 as the intermediate rotation transmission body can be omitted. However, in this case as well, it is needless to say that the rotation angle ratio of the inclined cylindrical body 120 with respect to the take-up reel 31 needs to be appropriately set by appropriately setting the gear ratio between the second gear 130 and the driven gear 128.

  In the above description, it is desirable that the traveling direction (direction) of the cleaning body 2 on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the inclined cylinder 120 is the forward direction with respect to the rotation direction of the inclined cylinder 120. When the frictional resistance between the body outer peripheral surface of the body 120 and the cleaning body 2 is expected to be small, the traveling direction (orientation) of the cleaning body 2 on the body outer peripheral surface of the inclined columnar body 120 is changed to the inclined columnar body. A direction opposite to the rotation direction of 120 is allowed.

The tape-shaped cleaning body 2 is less likely to move in the axial direction when wound on the take-up reel 31 than the string-like cleaning body having a substantially circular cross section, which is easy to roll. When the winding is biased in the axial direction, the deviation is difficult to be corrected. Therefore, in the conventional cleaning tool, the space in the tool 1 is wasted due to the uneven distribution of the cleaning body 2 in the winding reel 31 axial direction. This is a problem in reducing the size of the tool 1.
On the other hand, according to the above structure, since the winding position of the cleaning body 2 around the body portion 47 can be changed, particularly when a tape-shaped cleaning body is used, the above problem can be effectively solved. Can do.

  On the other hand, when the string-like cleaning body 2 is wound extremely biased and the winding thickness is locally increased, the string-like cleaning body 2 is liable to collapse and may not be smoothly wound due to the collapse. However, according to the above structure, since such a problem can be solved, it is also effective when a string-like cleaning body is used.

  The cleaning tool of the present invention can be applied to various types of optical fiber connectors. For example, an LC type optical connector (trademark of Lucent), an SC type optical connector established by JIS C 5973 (SC: Single fiber). It can be applied to a single optical fiber connector such as a coupling optical fiber connector (MU), a MU type optical connector established in JIS C 5983 (MU: Miniature-unit coupling optical fiber connector), or an SC2 type optical connector. Here, the SC2 type optical connector is obtained by omitting a knob attached to the outside of the housing from the SC type optical connector.

  In the illustrated example, the optical adapter 70 and the optical plug 60 are targeted. However, the object of the cleaning tool of the present invention is not limited thereto, and an optical connector receptacle (specifically, a receptacle housing) is used as a connector positioning housing. It is also possible to adopt a configuration that functions as: In this case, the ferrule incorporated in the sleeve-like receptacle housing functions as the optical connector according to the present invention. That is, the joining end face of the ferrule can be cleaned by inserting the insertion portion of the cleaning tool into the connector housing hole that is the inner space of the receptacle housing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical connector cleaning tool, 2 ... Cleaning body, 3 ... Feed mechanism, 5 ... Rotation mechanism, 10 ... Tool main body, 11 ... Housing, 13 ... Drive body , 20 ... extension part, 21 ... extension cylinder, 23 ... head member, 30 ... supply reel, 31 ... take-up reel, 35 ... support frame, 40 ...・ Biasing means, 52... Rotating shaft, 56... Gear receiving part (driving part), 61... Ferrule, 61 a. Cylindrical part, 85 ... cam groove, 87 ... insertion hole, 120 ... inclined cylinder, 122 ... intermediate rotation transmission body (intermediate gear)

Claims (9)

In the optical connector cleaning tool for wiping and cleaning the joint end face by pressing a part of the cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material continuous in one direction against the joint end face of the optical connector,
A tool body, and an extending portion extending from the tool body,
The tool body has a feeding mechanism for supplying and taking out the cleaning body, a rotating mechanism, and a housing body for housing them.
The extension portion includes an extension cylinder extending from the container, and a head member that presses the cleaning body against the joining end surface at a tip of the extension cylinder,
The feed mechanism reaches the take-up reel, a supply reel that supplies the cleaning body to the head member, a take-up reel that winds the cleaning body through the head member, and the cleaning body that passes through the head member. Having an inclined cylinder wound around a part of the outer peripheral surface at the front position,
The container is relatively movable forward and backward in the extending direction with respect to the extending portion and the feeding mechanism, and the cleaning body is driven by rotating the take-up reel in the winding direction by forward movement. Equipped with a drive that moves
The rotation mechanism includes a rotation shaft that rotates the head member around an axis by relative movement of the container,
The rotating shaft is formed with an insertion hole for guiding the cleaning body from the supply reel to the head member, and leading the cleaning body through the head member to the take-up reel through the inclined cylindrical body,
The inclined cylindrical body is arranged such that a central axis thereof is inclined with respect to a rotation axis of the take-up reel, and is rotated when the take-up reel is wound around an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the take-up reel. An optical connector cleaning tool, wherein the optical connector cleaning tool is configured to rotate in conjunction with the motor.   2. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the inclined column body is positioned such that a rotation direction thereof is a forward direction with respect to a traveling direction of the cleaning body on the outer peripheral surface of the inclined column body. Cleaning tool.   The inclined cylinder is configured to rotate in the same direction as the winding direction of the take-up reel, and the positional relationship between the inclined cylinder and the take-up reel is such that the cleaning body is inclined. 3. The light according to claim 2, wherein the light is determined so as not to cross a straight line connecting the rotation axis of the inclined cylinder and the rotation axis of the take-up reel between the cylinder and the take-up reel. Connector cleaning tool.   The feed mechanism further includes an intermediate rotation transmission body (122), which rotates the winding reel when it winds, and the inclined cylindrical body rotates in the same direction as the winding reel rotation direction. The optical connector cleaning tool according to claim 3, wherein the optical connector cleaning tool is configured to transmit to the inclined cylindrical body so as to rotate.   The inclined cylindrical body is configured to rotate in a direction opposite to the rotation direction during winding of the take-up reel, and the positional relationship between the inclined cylindrical body and the take-up reel is determined by the cleaning body, 3. The light according to claim 2, wherein the light is defined so as to cross a straight line connecting the rotation axis of the inclined cylinder and the rotation axis of the take-up reel through the inclined cylinder to the take-up reel. Connector cleaning tool.   The feed mechanism is configured to transmit the rotation at the time of winding of the take-up reel to the inclined cylinder so that the inclined cylinder rotates in the same direction as the rotation direction of the take-up reel. The optical connector cleaning tool according to claim 5.   The rotation angle of the inclined cylindrical body at the time of winding the cleaning body is configured to be smaller than the rotation angle of the take-up reel. The optical connector cleaning tool according to Item.   The optical connector cleaning tool according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning body is formed in a tape shape.   The optical connector cleaning tool according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning body is formed in a string shape having a substantially circular cross section.

Images