JP2012088164A - Optical fiber holder for inspecting end face of optical fiber, and optical fiber end face inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily observe and inspect an end face of an optical fiber without fail.SOLUTION: An optical fiber end face inspection device includes a body having a magnifying lens for observing an end face 10a of an optical fiber 10; and an optical fiber holder 2 attachable/detachable to/from the body for holding the optical fiber 10, and having a mirror 24 for observing the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10. The mirror 24 is inclined to a plane (A) (direction) perpendicular to an extension direction of the optical fiber 10 by a prescribed angle (θ2) when viewed from above (direction where the magnifying lens is arranged) of a mirror plane 24a.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber gripper and an optical fiber end surface inspection apparatus for inspecting an optical fiber end surface used when inspecting an end surface of an optical fiber.

When connecting optical fibers, connectors are attached to the tip portions of both optical fibers cut into a mirror shape, and the connectors are connected. At this time, the mirror-like end faces of the connected optical fibers are in physical contact with each other.
When the connector is attached, if the end face of the optical fiber is not mirror-like due to defective cutting of the optical fiber or the outer peripheral part is damaged, such as chipping, the optical fibers are not connected to each other. Quality, i.e., connection loss increases or optical signals cannot pass. For this reason, when attaching the connector, an optical fiber end face inspection device is used to observe the state of the end face of the optical fiber, and if there is a problem, a process of cutting again is performed.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an optical fiber end surface inspection device that includes a CCD camera, a monitor that displays an image captured by the CCD camera, and the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3797419

However, since the conventional optical fiber end face inspection apparatus is a large-scale device including a CCD camera and a monitor, it is used in a factory where a large number of connectors are attached to the optical fiber. It is difficult to carry and use such an optical fiber end surface inspection device. In particular, when an optical fiber is connected outdoors or at a high place, it is difficult to carry and use a conventional optical fiber end surface inspection device.
For this reason, when connecting an optical fiber on site, observation of the state of the end face of the optical fiber may be omitted.

  In addition, the conventional optical fiber end face inspection equipment observes the end face of the optical fiber from the front or from the side, so if there is a damage such as a chipping at a blind spot in the observable range, confirm this damage. There are things that cannot be done. Moreover, in the observation from the front, irregularities and the like may be overlooked due to strong reflection from the mirror-like end face.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and an optical fiber for optical fiber end face inspection that can easily and reliably observe and inspect the end face of an optical fiber even when connecting the optical fiber in the field. An object of the present invention is to provide a gripping tool and an optical fiber end surface inspection device.

  In order to achieve the above object, an optical fiber gripper for optical fiber end face inspection according to the present invention includes a magnifying lens for gripping an optical fiber and observing the end face of the optical fiber. An optical fiber gripper for inspecting an end face of an optical fiber that can be attached to and detached from a part, comprising a mirror for observing the end face of the optical fiber from the magnifying lens, the mirror surface of which is provided with the magnifying lens. When viewed from the direction in which the optical fiber extends, the optical fiber is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber.

  An optical fiber end surface inspection apparatus according to the present invention includes a main body unit including a magnifying lens for observing the end surface of the optical fiber, and is detachable from the main body unit and holds the optical fiber. An optical fiber end face inspection device provided with a mirror for observing the end face from the magnifying lens, the mirror being viewed from the direction in which the magnifying lens is disposed. The optical fiber is inclined with respect to a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber.

  An optical fiber end surface inspection device according to the present invention includes a main body unit having a magnifying lens for observing the end surface of the optical fiber, and is detachable from the main body unit, and holds the optical fiber and observes the end surface of the optical fiber from the magnifying lens Compared with a conventional optical fiber end surface inspection apparatus including a CCD camera and a monitor for displaying an image photographed by the CCD camera, by including an optical fiber gripper provided with a mirror for A simple structure can be obtained. For this reason, even when connecting an optical fiber in the field, the optical fiber end face inspection device can be carried and used, and the end face of the optical fiber can be easily observed and inspected.

The mirror of the optical fiber gripper is inclined with respect to the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber as seen from the direction in which the magnifying lens is arranged, so that the user can use the magnifying lens. Thus, the image of the end of the optical fiber reflected on the mirror from the oblique direction can be observed. For this reason, it is possible to reliably observe the end face of the optical fiber including the outer peripheral portion of the end face as compared to when observing the end face of the optical fiber from the front or from the side.
In addition, since the end face of the optical fiber reflected on the mirror can be observed from an oblique direction even when the optical fiber gripper is in a horizontal state, there is no need to install the optical fiber gripper obliquely, and the optical fiber end face inspection device Can be made a simple and compact structure.

In the optical fiber gripper for optical fiber end face inspection according to the present invention, the predetermined angle is preferably 15 ° to 25 °.
Thus, the mirror surface of the mirror has a predetermined angle between 15 ° and 25 ° in the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber as viewed from the direction in which the magnifying lens is disposed, so that the end surface of the optical fiber Can be observed reliably.

In the optical fiber gripping tool for optical fiber end face inspection according to the present invention, a part of the illumination light irradiated from the main body is reflected, and the reflected light component is applied to the end of the optical fiber. It is preferable to have a surface.
Thus, by providing a light reflecting surface that reflects a part of the illumination light emitted from the main body and irradiates the end of the optical fiber having the end surface to be observed with the reflected light component, Compared with the case where light is irradiated from the front onto the end face of the fiber, the end face of the optical fiber can be observed in more detail without becoming too bright.
In addition, since the light reflecting surface is provided on the optical fiber gripper in this way, the illumination unit provided on the main body unit can omit a mechanism for adjusting the position and angle of illumination, and the main body unit. Contributes to simplification and compactness.

In the optical fiber gripping tool for optical fiber end face inspection according to the present invention, it is preferable that the light reflecting surface diffuses irradiated illumination light.
In this way, the light reflecting surface diffuses the irradiated illumination light, so that the component from the desired direction is added to the irradiation light that irradiates the end of the optical fiber, and the end of the optical fiber is observed. The end face of the optical fiber can be observed more reliably.

  According to the present invention, since the end face of the optical fiber can be easily and reliably observed even when the optical fiber is connected in the field, it can be excluded that the end face of the optical fiber is connected in a defective state. In the subsequent connection between the optical fibers, the quality of the connection portion is stabilized, and the failure of the connection portion can be prevented in advance.

(A) is a figure which shows an example of the optical fiber end surface test | inspection apparatus by embodiment of this invention, (b) AA sectional view taken on the line, (b) BB sectional drawing (biasing member) of (a) Is omitted). (A) is a figure explaining a holder, and is a figure which shows a mode that the cover part of the holder was opened, (b) is a figure which shows a mode that the cover part of the holder was closed. It is a perspective view of an optical fiber holding tool. (A) is a top view of the optical fiber gripping tool (the biasing member is omitted), (b) is a side view of the optical fiber gripping tool (the biasing member is omitted), and (c) is a view in the direction of arrow C in (a). FIG. (A) is the figure which observed the end surface of the optical fiber from right side (90 degrees), (b) is the figure which observed the end surface of the optical fiber from diagonally 20 degrees. It is a figure explaining the relationship between the observation angle of the end surface of an optical fiber, and appearance.

Hereinafter, an optical fiber end surface inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.
As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the optical fiber end surface inspection device 1 according to the present embodiment is a device for inspecting the state of the end surface 10 a of the optical fiber 10, and the distal end portion (end portion) of the optical fiber 10. An optical fiber gripping tool 2 that grips the vicinity of 10b, and a magnifying lens (magnifying lens) 4 (see FIG. 1 (a)) for observing the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 is provided. Main body 3.

When the optical fiber 10 is gripped by the optical fiber gripper 2, the tip portion 10b is attached to the holder 11 with a predetermined length protruding.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the holder 11 is formed in a holder body 12 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and having a groove 12 a (see FIG. 2A) into which the optical fiber 10 enters, and the holder body 12. And a plate-like lid portion 13 that can be installed so as to cover the groove portion 12a.
The optical fiber 10 is cut in a state where the optical fiber 10 is held by the holder 11, and the protruding length of the distal end portion 10 b from the folder 11 is always constant. In addition, the optical fiber connector is formed in the holder 11 after forming the optical fiber connector after confirming that there is no abnormality by observing the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 with the optical fiber end surface inspection device 1 of the present invention. Done in Therefore, you may attach the optical fiber 10 in the state in which some components which comprise a connector were attached to the holder 11. FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the optical fiber gripper 2 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape with a material such as aluminum, for example. The optical fiber gripping tool 2 is formed with a concave holder mounting portion 21 into which the holder 11 can be fitted, and the holder 11 is biased to prevent the mounted holder 11 from being detached from the holder mounting portion 21. A biasing member 22 (see FIGS. 1A and 3) is provided.
Here, the side where the recessed holder mounting portion 21 is opened will be referred to as the upper side, the extending direction of the optical fiber 10 to which the holder 11 is attached will be referred to as the front-rear direction, and the distal end portion 10b side will be described as the front side. The optical fiber 10 is assumed to extend horizontally in a straight line.

The optical fiber gripping tool 2 is formed with an optical fiber cavity 23 in which the tip portion 10b of the optical fiber 10 protruding from the holder 11 when the holder 11 is mounted on the holder mounting portion 21 is disposed. The distal end portion 10b of the optical fiber 10 disposed in the optical fiber cavity 23 is configured not to contact the optical fiber gripper 2.
A mirror 24 is attached to the optical fiber gripper 2 at a predetermined distance from the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 on the front side of the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 disposed in the optical fiber cavity 23.

The mirror 24 reflects the end face 10 a of the optical fiber 10 when the optical fiber gripping tool 2 is attached to the main body 3. The end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 reflected on the mirror 24 can be observed through the magnifying lens 4 (see FIG. 1A) of the main body 3.
The mirror 24 is provided on the central axis of the optical fiber 10, and is provided on the lower side in the vertical direction (on the central axis 4 a) of the magnifying lens 4 of the main body 3.
For this reason, as shown to Fig.4 (a)-(c), the mirror surface 24a of the mirror 24 inclines with respect to a horizontal surface. The inclination angle with respect to the horizontal plane is a first inclination angle θ1 (see FIG. 4C), and θ1 = 45 ° in the present embodiment.
Further, the mirror surface 24 a of the mirror 24 is inclined with respect to the surface A perpendicular to the extending direction of the optical fiber 10 as viewed from above (from the direction in which the magnifying lens 4 is disposed). The inclination angle with respect to the plane A orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber 10 is a second inclination angle θ2 (see FIG. 4A), and in this embodiment, θ2 = 20 °.

  In the present embodiment, the optical fiber gripping tool 2 is formed with an inclined surface B that is inclined 20 ° with respect to the surface A perpendicular to the extending direction of the optical fiber 10 as viewed from above. An inclined surface C that is continuous with the inclined surface B and inclined by 45 ° with respect to the inclined surface B is formed at the upper end portion Ba. And the mirror 24 is attached to the center part of this inclined surface C so that the inclined surface C may be followed. The entire inclined surface C may be a mirror surface.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the main body 3 includes an outer shell portion 31 formed in a substantially cylindrical shape with the axial direction of the magnifying lens 4 being the vertical direction, and the magnifying lens 4 is provided on an upper portion 31 a of the outer shell portion 31. It has been. On the side surface 31 b of the outer shell portion 31, a hole portion 32 is formed for communicating the inside 31 c of the outer shell portion 31 with the outside. The optical fiber gripping tool 2 can be inserted into the inside 31 c of the outer shell portion 31 from the hole portion 32.

In the optical fiber gripping tool 2 inserted from the hole 32 into the inside 31 c of the outer shell portion 31, the mirror 24 is positioned on the central axis 4 a of the magnifying lens 4. The focal point of the magnifying lens 4 is adjusted to the position of the mirror 24, and the user (not shown) can view the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 reflected on the mirror 24 from the outside of the outer shell portion 31 via the magnifying lens 4. It is possible to observe an enlarged image of the tip portion 10b having
At this time, since the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 is projected on the mirror 24 from an oblique direction, the user can observe the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 from the oblique direction. For this reason, compared with the case where the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 is observed from the front or from the side, the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 can be observed and inspected from a wide range.

Here, FIG. 5A shows a state in which the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 is observed from the side, and FIG. 5B shows the end face 10a of the same optical fiber 10 in the optical fiber end face inspection apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. This shows how it was observed. This optical fiber 10 has a chipped end face 10a.
However, in FIG. 5A, the chipped portion is a blind spot of the surface being observed and is not confirmed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, since the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 is observed from an oblique direction, the chipped portion can be clearly observed and confirmed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the observation angle of the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 (second inclination angle θ2 shown in FIG. 4A) is a plane A (FIG. 4 (FIG. 4A) orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber 10. It can be seen that it is easy to clearly observe the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 when the angle is 15 ° to 25 ° when viewed from the upper side (from the direction in which the magnifying lens 4 is disposed) with respect to (a). .

Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, an illumination 33 such as an LED illuminates the optical fiber gripping tool 2 inserted into the interior 31 c of the outer shell portion 31 from the side, for example. It is arranged to do.
The illumination 33 is disposed on the side of the optical fiber gripper 2 and is illuminated from the horizontal direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber 10. A switch (not shown) for the illumination 33 is provided outside the outer shell portion 31.

At this time, the optical fiber gripping tool 2 is provided with a light reflecting surface 25 that is illuminated from the illumination 33 and reflects a part of the illumination light toward the distal end portion 10 b of the optical fiber 10.
As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, the light reflecting surface 25 is located behind the end surface 10 a of the optical fiber 10, and from above with respect to the surface A orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber 10. Inclined to see. The inclination angle of the light reflecting surface 25 with respect to the plane A orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber 10 is a third inclination angle θ3 (see FIG. 4A), and in this embodiment, θ3 = 35 °.
For this reason, the light reflected by the light reflecting surface 25 can generate a component of illumination light that illuminates the distal end portion 10b of the optical fiber 10 from obliquely behind. By adding such a component, the contrast at the time of observing the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 becomes appropriate, and it is possible to observe without missing unevenness, distortion, and chipping that should not be observed.

The light reflecting surface 25 is formed with a predetermined roughness and can diffuse the reflected light. Thereby, the contrast when the user observes the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 becomes more appropriate.
Here, when the light reflecting surface 25 is formed of an aluminum material, the light reflecting surface 25 is formed with a predetermined roughness by adjusting the surface of the aluminum material. The light reflecting surface 25 may be formed of a material other than an aluminum material as long as the illumination light can be reflected.

Next, an inspection method for the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 will be described.
Here, since the inspection of the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 is performed when a connector (not shown) is attached, it will be described together with a method for attaching the connector.
First, the cable sheath covering the optical fiber 10 is removed, and the holder 11 is attached in the vicinity of the distal end portion 10b of the optical fiber 10 as shown in FIG. At this time, the tip portion 10 b of the optical fiber 10 is protruded from the holder 11 by a predetermined length. And the coating | cover of the optical fiber 10 which protrudes from the holder 11 is removed, and a fiber core wire is exposed.
Subsequently, the tip end side of the fiber core wire is cut, and the length of the optical fiber 10 protruding from the holder 11 is set to a predetermined length.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3, the holder 11 is mounted on the holder mounting portion 21 of the optical fiber gripping tool 2, and the position of the holder 11 is fixed by the biasing member 22.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the optical fiber gripping tool 2 is inserted into the main body 3 through the hole 32, and the optical fiber 10 is illuminated with the illumination 33.
In this state, the inside 31c of the main body 3 is looked into from the magnifying lens 4, and the state of the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 reflected on the mirror 24 is visually observed, so that the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 is not damaged. Observe.
If the end face 10 a of the optical fiber 10 is not damaged or the like, the optical fiber gripping tool 2 is taken out from the main body 3 and the holder 11 is taken out from the optical fiber gripping tool 2.

Subsequently, the optical fiber 10 is removed from the holder 11, and the process proceeds to a step of forming a connector.
When the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 is observed, if the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 is damaged, the folder 11 is taken out, the optical fiber 10 is shifted forward, and the tip 10b is recut. The state of the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 is observed again.

Next, effects of the above-described optical fiber end surface inspection apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.
According to the optical fiber end surface inspection apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the structure can be simplified as compared with a conventional large-scale optical fiber end surface inspection apparatus including a CCD camera, a monitor, and the like. Even when 10 is connected, it can be carried and used.
Further, the optical fiber gripping tool 2 has the mirror 24 tilted by 20 ° with respect to the surface A orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber 10 when viewed from the upper side. Since it can observe, the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 can be observed and confirmed including an outer peripheral part.

Further, the optical fiber gripping tool 2 is provided with 25 that reflects the illumination light behind the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10, thereby generating an illumination light component that illuminates the distal end portion 10b of the optical fiber 10 from obliquely behind. The end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 can be observed with good brightness and good contrast.
Further, the light reflecting surface 25 is suitable for observing the tip portion 10a of the optical fiber 10 by diffusing light and adding a component from a desired direction to the irradiation light that irradiates the tip portion 10b of the optical fiber 10. Brightness can be achieved, and the end face 10a of the optical fiber 10 can be observed more reliably.

And since the end surface 10a of the optical fiber 10 can be observed easily and reliably, the quality of the connection part between the optical fibers 10 can be improved, and the connection failure of the optical fiber 10 can be prevented. .
This reduces the need to reattach or reconnect the connector of the connection portion of the optical fiber 10 and reduces repairs due to poor connection of the optical fiber 10. Therefore, labor required for connecting and repairing the optical fiber 10 is reduced. Can be reduced.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of the optical fiber end surface inspection apparatus 1 by this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the meaning, it can change suitably.
For example, in the above embodiment, the mirror surface 24a of the mirror 24 is inclined by 20 ° with respect to the surface A perpendicular to the extending direction of the optical fiber 10 as viewed from above, but the inclination angle of the mirror surface 24a of the mirror 24 is May be set as appropriate.
In the above embodiment, the light reflecting surface 25 is provided and the reflected light component of the illumination light is added. However, when natural light can be used, it can be replaced with an illumination light source.
Moreover, in said embodiment, although the opening side of the recessed holder mounting part 21 is made into the upper side, the installation direction of the optical fiber end surface inspection apparatus 1 may be set arbitrarily.
In the above-described embodiment, the observation is made by visual observation. However, a camera can be installed in the eyepiece and the observation can be performed by a monitor connected to the camera. A method of confirming by attaching a camera to the eyepiece and photographing the end face can also be adopted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical fiber end surface inspection apparatus 2 Fiber gripping tool 3 Main-body part 4 Magnifying lens 10 Optical fiber 10a End surface 10b Tip part (end part)
24 mirror 24a mirror surface 25 light reflecting surface 33 illumination A surface perpendicular to the extending direction of the optical fiber

Claims (5)

An optical fiber gripping tool for inspecting an optical fiber end face that is detachable from a main body of an optical fiber inspection apparatus that holds an optical fiber and includes a magnifying lens for observing the end face of the optical fiber,
A mirror for observing the end face of the optical fiber from the magnifying lens;
The mirror has a mirror surface inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber when viewed from the direction in which the magnifying lens is disposed. Optical fiber gripper.   The optical fiber gripping tool for optical fiber end face inspection according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined angle is 15 ° to 25 °.   The light reflection surface which reflects a part of illumination light irradiated from the said main-body part and irradiates the reflected light component to the edge part of the said optical fiber is provided. Optical fiber gripper for optical fiber end face inspection.   The optical fiber gripping tool for optical fiber end face inspection according to claim 3, wherein the light reflecting surface diffuses irradiated illumination light. A main body having a magnifying lens for observing the end face of the optical fiber;
An optical fiber end face inspection apparatus comprising: an optical fiber gripper that is detachably attached to the main body part, grips the optical fiber, and is provided with a mirror for observing the end face of the optical fiber from the magnifying lens. And
The optical fiber end face inspection apparatus, wherein the mirror surface is inclined with respect to a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the optical fiber as viewed from the direction in which the magnifying lens is arranged.

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