JP2013015786A - Optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily remove a coating of an insertion optical fiber by a coating removal portion.SOLUTION: An optical connector 100 includes: a first base member 51 and a first cover member 58 which clip a tip end portion of an insertion optical fiber 1 between guiding portions 26 and 50a, and move the tip end portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 forward while regulating deflection; a coating removal portion 31 for removing a coating 2 of the tip end portion of the insertion optical fiber 1; and a clamp portion 20 capable of gripping and fixing an abutting portion P of a bare optical fiber 3 from which the coating 2 is removed and a built-in optical fiber 12 of a ferrule 10. An opening guide 50 is moved so as to form a space on the guiding portion 26 of the first base member 51, and the insertion optical fiber 1 is deflection-deformed by first deflection width 4a in the space. The abutting portion of the optical fibers 3 and 12 is gripped and fixed by the clamp portion 20. An optical fiber retaining portion 59 is moved so as to further form a space on the first base member 51, and the insertion optical fiber 1 is deflection-deformed by second deflection width 7a larger than the first deflection width 4a.

Description

  The present invention relates to an on-site assembly type optical connector that is assembled to an optical fiber by connecting an optical fiber to a rear end of a built-in optical fiber built in a ferrule.

  In the operation of butt-connecting optical fiber core wires, it is widely performed to remove the coating at the tip of the core wire to expose the bare optical fibers and to butt-connect the bare optical fibers. Also, in recent years, for example, as shown in Non-Patent Document 1, a technique in which an optical connector is provided with a coating removal function of an optical fiber core by mounting an extremely small coating removal portion inside the optical connector with a tapered cylindrical shape. Is under consideration.

  As an optical connector, there is a case where a short optical fiber (hereinafter simply referred to as “built-in optical fiber”) inserted and fixed in advance to a ferrule is inserted from the outside (hereinafter simply referred to as “inserted optical fiber”). In order to maintain the butt-connected state, a clamp portion is also known that is provided at the rear of the ferrule so that the butt end portions of both optical fibers are sandwiched and fixed between half-split members (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

JP 2005-208220 A

Ryo Koyama, Kazuhide Nakajima, Masaaki Takaya, Toshio Kurashima, “Study on Butt Connection of Coated Optical Fiber Core”, 2009 IEICE Communication Society, B-13-8

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, and makes it a subject to provide the optical connector which can implement | achieve the coating removal of the insertion optical fiber by a coating removal part easily.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following configuration.
The present invention provides a first base member that restricts deflection by sandwiching an insertion optical fiber between guide members provided on respective opposing surfaces of a base member and an open guide so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. A first lid member, and a distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber that is disposed in front of the first base member and the first lid member and is advanced by being sandwiched between the first base member and the first lid member A coating removal unit that removes the coating, and a clamp unit capable of gripping and fixing a butted portion of the bare optical fiber whose coating is removed by the coating removal unit and the built-in optical fiber built in the ferrule, In a state where the bare optical fiber and the built-in optical fiber are in contact with each other, the open guide that is a part of the first lid member is moved so as to form a space on the guide portion of the base member. The insertion optical fiber is deformed with a first deflection width in the space, and the insertion optical fiber is bent with the first deflection width. With the butted portion gripped and fixed, the optical fiber pressing portion, which is the other part of the first lid member, is moved so as to further form a space on the guide portion of the base member, and the insertion light An optical connector is provided that can bend and deform a fiber with a second deflection width larger than the first deflection width.
In the present invention, the insertion optical fiber is advanced by advancing the optical fiber gripping part attached by gripping the insertion optical fiber, and the release guide is moved to the base member based on the advancement of the optical fiber gripping part. It is preferable to move so as to form a space on the guide part.
In the present invention, the optical fiber pressing portion is provided from the other optical fiber pressing portion through a distance of the first deflection width, and is opposed to the guide portion of the first base member, and the opening guide is The other optical fiber holding part and the optical fiber holding part are opposed to the first base member, and the inserted optical fiber is pressed by the other optical fiber holding part and the optical fiber holding part. The insertion guide optical fiber can be bent and deformed with the first bending width by moving the open guide so as to form a space on the guide portion of the base member.
In the present invention, the first protrusion that secures a gap for inserting the bare optical fiber inserted between the second base member and the second lid member that are held and fixed in an overlapped state, and the first An assembly member having a second protrusion including the optical fiber holding portion that is attached to the base member and holds the insertion optical fiber between the guide portion of the first base member and the insertion optical fiber A portion where the bare optical fiber and the built-in optical fiber are abutted by removing the first protrusion from between the second base member and the second lid member in a state of being bent with the first bending width. The optical fiber pressing portion is formed on the guide portion of the base member by removing the second protrusion including the optical fiber pressing portion from the first base member. It can be moved to.
In the present invention, the assembly member includes a third protrusion including the other optical fiber pressing portion that is attached to the first base member and presses the insertion optical fiber between the assembly portion and the guide portion of the first base member. And further removing the first protrusion from between the second base member and the second lid member in a state where the insertion optical fiber is bent with the first deflection width, The butted portion of the bare optical fiber and the built-in optical fiber is pressed and held and fixed, and the second protrusion including the optical fiber pressing portion and the third protrusion including the other optical fiber pressing portion are included in the first base. By removing from the member, the other optical fiber pressing portion and the optical fiber pressing portion can be moved so as to form a space on the guide portion of the base member.
In the present invention, as the assembly member, the first protrusion is protruded from a base that extends from the base member protruding from the second protrusion, and is extended from the base member and disposed on both sides of the protrusion support. An assembly member capable of displacing the protrusion support portion in a direction away from the clamp portion by bringing the pair of elastic operation pieces close to each other can be used.

According to the present invention, a coated optical fiber that does not lead out a bare optical fiber is inserted between the base member and the open guide from the rear side, and is advanced toward the coating removing portion, so that an insertion optical fiber is obtained. The lead-out of the bare optical fiber at the front end of the coated optical fiber used and the butt connection of the bare optical fiber to the rear end of the built-in optical fiber can be easily realized.
Therefore, in the work of assembling the optical connector at the distal end of the inserted optical fiber, there is no need to remove the coating from the distal end of the coated optical fiber to be inserted into the optical connector and lead out the bare optical fiber in advance. Yes.

It is a perspective view which shows an example of the optical connector of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view of the optical connector of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the principal part of the connector main body of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the connector main body of the optical connector of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the connector main body of the optical connector of FIG. 1, and is shown from the direction different from FIG. It is (a) perspective view, (b) top view, and (c) sectional view showing an example of a covering removal member. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the assembly member used for the assembly of an optical connector. It is sectional drawing which shows the optical connector of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the optical connector of FIG. (A), (b) is a perspective view which shows the movable guide with a restraint part of the optical connector of FIG. (A), (b) is a perspective view which shows the rear housing and securing cover of the optical connector of FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the pressing member receiving part of the rear housing rear end part of the optical connector of FIG. 1, and the movable guide of a movable guide rear end part with a restraint part, Comprising: It is sectional drawing seen from the connector rear side. It is a side view which shows the movable guide with a restraint part of the optical connector of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in the assembly of the optical connector of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in the assembly of the optical connector of FIG. (A) is sectional drawing which follows the AA line of FIG. 15, (b) is sectional drawing which follows the BB line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the CC line | wire of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in the assembly of the optical connector of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in the assembly of the optical connector of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the DD line | wire of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in the assembly of the optical connector of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the EE line | wire of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state after the assembly of the optical connector of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state after the assembly of the optical connector of FIG. It is a figure which shows the communicating hole and window which open to the surrounding surface of the housing of the optical connector of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the optical fiber holding | grip part (fixing member for a press, outer jacket holding member) which can be used for the assembly of the optical connector of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the optical fiber holding part of FIG. 26, Comprising: It is a perspective view which shows the state which open | released the press cover with respect to the holding base. (A)-(e) is sectional drawing explaining the outline | summary of the optical connector of this invention.

The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings.
First, an outline of one embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 28A to 28E, and then a more detailed embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
28A to 28E, the left side will be described as the front and the right side will be described as the rear.

  The optical connector 100 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 28A to 28E has a ferrule 10 with an optical fiber 12 inserted and fixed. Hereinafter, the optical fiber 12 inserted and fixed to the ferrule 10 is also referred to as a built-in optical fiber. The built-in optical fiber 12 is inserted and fixed in a fine hole 10 a that penetrates the ferrule 10 in the front-rear direction.

The optical connector 100 has a coating 2 of a coated optical fiber 1 such as a single-core optical fiber or an optical fiber on the rear side opposite to the joining end surface 11 for butt-joining at the tip (front end) of the ferrule 10. It has the coating removal member 30 which removes. The coating removal member 30 has a coating removal blade 31 (hereinafter also referred to as a coating removal unit) that removes the coating 2 of the coated optical fiber 1. The covering removal member 30 is fixed to a rear extension piece 27 that extends rearward from the rear end portion of the ferrule 10 and is provided so as to be spaced apart from the rear end of the ferrule 10.
Further, this optical connector 100 has a butt connection portion in which the bare optical fiber 3 from which the coating 2 has been removed by the coating removing member 30 is butted against the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12 on the rear side of the ferrule 10 (FIG. 28C). , (D), symbol P. The abutting portion (hereinafter also referred to simply as a connecting portion) has a clamp portion 20 for holding and fixing.

The rear extension piece 27 is formed in an elongated plate shape having the longitudinal direction of the connector longitudinal direction. The rear extension piece 27 extends rearward from a flange portion 10b that is integrated with the rear end portion of the ferrule 10 and is circumferentially provided (projected) on the outer periphery of the rear end portion of the ferrule 10. In addition, the ferrule 10 and the flange part 10b are fixed by adhesion | attachment with an adhesive agent, for example. However, the fixing method of the ferrule 10 and the flange part 10b is not limited to this.
The rear extension piece 27 includes an optical fiber housing groove 26 (hereinafter also simply referred to as a housing groove) that guides the advance of the coated optical fiber 1 fed into the coating removal member 30 from the rear side of the connector, and the coating removal member. 30 has a groove-forming surface in which a centering groove 25 extending toward the rear end of the fine hole 10a of the ferrule 10 at the front thereof is formed. The alignment groove 25 and the accommodation groove 26 are formed so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the connector on the groove forming surface. The covering removal member 30 is provided between the receiving groove 26 and the alignment groove 25 so as to protrude from the groove forming surface.

The built-in optical fiber 12 has a rear protrusion 12 a that protrudes rearward from the rear end of the ferrule 10. The rear protrusion 12a is disposed in the alignment groove 25. The built-in optical fiber 12 is a short optical fiber (here, a bare optical fiber) whose rear end (rear end of the rear protrusion 12a) is located in front of the coating removing member 30, that is, between the ferrule 10 and the coating removing member 30. ).
The bare optical fiber 3 from which the coating has been removed by the coating removal blade 31 protrudes forward from the coating removal member 30 and is inserted into the alignment groove 25. The alignment groove 25 precisely positions and aligns the rear protruding portion 12a of the built-in optical fiber 12 and the bare optical fiber 3 so that they can be connected to each other. The alignment groove 25 is, for example, a V-groove, but is not limited to this, and a U-groove, a semicircular groove, or the like can also be used.

The clamp portion 20 includes lid members 22 and 23 arranged to face grooves 25 and 26 formed in the rear extension piece 27 so as to extend in the front-rear direction of the connector, and the lid members 22 and 23 extend rearward. And a clamp spring 24 that urges the protruding piece 27 in the closing direction.
Although there is no limitation in particular as the clamp spring 24, For example, a sleeve-like thing as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is employable. The sleeve-shaped clamp spring 24 has, for example, a cross-sectional shape (cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the central axis) that is C-shaped (see FIGS. 2 and 4). Character-shaped ones can also be used. The clamp portion 20 according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which a rear extension piece 27 and two lid members 22 and 23 arranged in the front-rear direction of the connector are accommodated inside one clamp spring 24.

The clamp portion 20 includes a lid member 22 (second lid member; hereinafter also referred to as a front lid member) disposed on the rear side between the ferrule 10 and the sheath removing member 30 so as to face the alignment groove 25. Between the extending piece 27, a first clamp part for holding and fixing the connecting part P between the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 is provided. In addition, the clamp portion 20 is provided between a lid member 23 (hereinafter also referred to as a rear lid member) disposed on the rear side of the sheath removing member 30 so as to face the housing groove 26 and a rear extension piece 27. Has a second clamp portion for gripping and fixing the coated optical fiber 1 (the portion where the coating 2 is not removed, the coating portion).
Insertion pieces (not shown) for securing gaps 22a and 23a for inserting the coated optical fiber 1 and the bare optical fiber 3 can be removed between the rear extension piece 27 and the cover members 22 and 23. Is inserted.
In addition, as an optical connector, the structure which each assembled the 1st clamp part (clamp part) and the 2nd clamp part using the clamp springs which were separate from each other is also employable.

  The rear side extension piece 27 has a guide base portion 51 (first base member) extending rearward from a portion of the clamp portion 20 that faces the rear lid member 23. In addition, the portion 21 on the front side from the guide base portion 51 of the rear extension piece 27 is hereinafter also referred to as a clamp base portion. The clamp base portion 21 holds and fixes the connecting portion P between the bare optical fiber 3 from which the coating 2 has been removed by the coating removing member 30 and the built-in optical fiber 12 between the front lid member 22 of the clamp portion 20. 2 Functions as a base member.

The housing groove 26 is formed in a portion (hereinafter also referred to as a rear piece) that extends rearward from the coating removal member 30 of the rear extension piece 27. The housing groove 26 is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, the single-core coated optical fiber 1 is coaxial with the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 of the coating removal portion 31 of the coating removal member 30 described later. In view of the positioning, for example, a U groove, a semicircular groove, a V groove, or the like can be employed.
Further, the coated optical fiber 1 that is inserted into the housing groove 26 so as to be fed into the coating removing portion 31 from the rear side of the connector is also referred to as an insertion optical fiber hereinafter.

  The optical connector 100 has a movable guide 62 in which a through hole 63 into which the insertion optical fiber 1 can be inserted is formed on the rear side of the rear extension piece 27. The movable guide 62 is provided so as to be able to advance toward the ferrule 10 from an initial position separated rearward from the rear extension piece 27 with the rear extension piece 27 as a guide member, for example. The guide member that guides the forward movement of the movable guide 62 from the initial position is not limited to the rear extension piece 27. For example, a guide member provided in a housing (not shown) may be used. good.

The optical connector 100 includes the guide base portion 51 and a first lid member 58 that is disposed on the guide base portion 51 so as to face the receiving groove 26.
The guide base portion 51 and the first lid member 58 that are overlapped with each other guide the distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 that is inserted into the housing groove 26 from the rear side of the guide base portion 51 and advanced toward the coating removal portion 31. A guide structure (rear guide portion 110) is configured. The first lid member 58 presses the insertion optical fiber 1 into the housing groove 26 and regulates the deformation of the insertion optical fiber 1.

In this optical connector, the first lid member 58 is an opening that regulates the upward deformation of the inserted optical fiber 1 behind the clamp unit 20 while the coating 2 of the inserted optical fiber 1 is removed by the coating removing unit 30. The guide 50 is configured to have an optical fiber holding portion 59 that is spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance G so that the coated insertion optical fiber 1 can be flexibly deformed.
The first lid member 58 is disposed in a closed position that presses the inserted optical fiber 1 into the receiving groove 26 and restricts the deformation of the inserted optical fiber 1 while the sheath is removed by pressing the sheath removing portion 31 of the inserted optical fiber 1. The As described later, the open guide 50 is subjected to abutment against the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12 at the distal end of the bare optical fiber 3 that has been uncoated by pressing against the coating removal unit 31 and is pierced to the distal end of the inserted optical fiber 1. , A position that allows bending deformation of the insertion optical fiber 1 from the closed position, that is, a position that forms a space that can be curved and deformed (flexible deformation) so as to float from the housing groove 26 (hereinafter, referred to as the guide base portion 51). (Also referred to as an open position) (refer to FIG. 28D).

However, the open guide 50 in the closed position does not press the insertion optical fiber 1 strongly against the fiber housing groove 26 and fix it to the guide base portion 51, but instead of the insertion optical fiber 1 in the longitudinal direction of the connector with respect to the guide base portion 51. The smooth relative movement is made possible.
The open guide 50 functions to position the insertion optical fiber 1 on the central axis of the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 that penetrates the coating removal portion 31 by pressing the insertion optical fiber 1 into the fiber housing groove 26. .

The insertion optical fiber 1 is inserted from the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 into the fiber housing region FS secured between the open guide 50 and the inner surface of the housing groove 26 in the interval direction between the open guide 50 and the housing groove 26. Is done.
As shown in FIG. 28A, an extending recess 50 a extending along the housing groove 26 is formed in a portion of the opening guide 50 in the illustrated example that faces the housing groove 26. The fiber accommodation region FS of the optical connector 100 of the present embodiment is configured by the accommodation groove 26 of the rear extension piece 27 and the extension recess 50a (the guide portion of the release guide) of the release guide 50. The guide base portion 51 and the open guide 50 hold down the inserted optical fiber 1 inserted into the fiber housing region FS so that the guide base portion 51 and the open guide 50 can be smoothly moved relative to the front and rear direction of the connector. The advance of the fiber 1 is guided while restricting the deflection of the fiber 1.

Next, the coating removal member 30 in the illustrated example will be described.
The sheath removal blade 31 of the sheath removal member 30 illustrated in FIGS. 28A to 28E is formed in a cylindrical shape through which the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 passes, and the rear end opening of the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 is formed. It is the annular blade part 31a by which the edge was made into the blade edge | tip. The annular blade part 31a (cover removal part 31) illustrated in FIGS. 28A to 28E is formed in a tapered cylindrical shape that tapers from the front end side toward the rear side.
As shown in FIG. 28 (c), this optical connector 100 pushes the distal end of the insertion optical fiber 1 inserted into the receiving groove 26 from the rear side against the rear end of the annular blade 31 a and advances it toward the ferrule 10. Thus, the coating 2 of the insertion optical fiber 1 can be removed by the annular blade portion 31a. In the coating removing member 30, as the coating removal progresses as the insertion optical fiber 1 advances, the bare optical fiber 3 led out to the tip of the insertion optical fiber 1 by coating removal is inserted into the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33. It has a configuration. The annular blade portion 31 a separates the coating 2 around the bare optical fiber 3 of the insertion optical fiber 1 from the bare optical fiber 3 to the outer periphery of the annular blade portion 31 a.

  Moreover, the coating removal member 30 of the example of illustration has the window hole 32 which penetrates this coating removal member 30 in the direction orthogonal to the front-back direction in the front-back direction center part. The annular blade portion 31 a is a tapered cylindrical projection that protrudes into the window hole 32 from a wall portion on the front side from the window hole 32 of the sheath removing member 30. Also, the coating removal member 30 in the illustrated example has a coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 (see FIG. 28A) that passes through the rear wall portion from the window hole 32 and opens at the rear end of the coating removal member 30. )have. The coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 is formed coaxially with the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33. The front end of the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 opens at a position slightly shifted to the rear side from the rear end of the annular blade portion 31a. The separation distance between the front end of the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 and the coating removal blade 31 in the front-rear direction of the connector is to maintain the straightness of the insertion optical fiber 1 that is pressed against the rear end (blade edge) of the annular blade portion 31a during coating removal. In this respect, it is preferable to make it as small as possible. Further, the rear end of the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 is positioned with respect to the accommodation groove 26 of the rear extension piece 27 so that the insertion optical fiber 1 can be inserted from the accommodation groove 26.

The coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 has a cross section (cross section perpendicular to the central axis of the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34) substantially equal to the cross section of the insertion optical fiber 1 (cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the insertion optical fiber 1). Match. The coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 positions the insertion optical fiber 1 coaxially with the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33, and seats the insertion optical fiber 1 pressed toward the rear end of the annular blade 31a for coating removal. This prevents bending and prevents the occurrence of uneven removal, and contributes effectively to the realization of smooth coating removal.
Further, in this optical connector 100, since the open guide 50 regulates the bending deformation during the removal of the coating of the insertion optical fiber 1, the coating removal work by pressing the insertion optical fiber 1 against the rear end of the coating removal portion 31 can be performed stably.

  As shown in FIG. 28 (d), the optical connector 100 advances the movable guide 62 from the initial position to an advance limit position (for example, a position that contacts the rear end of the rear extension piece 27), thereby opening the guide. 50 retracts (moves) from the closed position where the insertion optical fiber 1 is pressed into the receiving groove 26 to restrict deflection deformation to a position where a space allowing the deformation of the insertion optical fiber 1 is formed in the optical connector. The optical connector 100 moves the movable guide 62 from the initial position to the advance limit position, so that the open guide 50 is retracted from the closed position to the open position with respect to the guide base 51 by the pressing force acting from the movable guide 62 ( A lid member moving mechanism to be moved).

As the lid member moving mechanism, for example, as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, and 18, the slide guide 51 a (see FIG. 4) of the guide base portion 51 on which the release guide 50 slides moves diagonally forward of the release guide 50. The structure which protruded the rail part 52 which guides the movement to can be mentioned. In the lid member moving mechanism illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, and 18, the open guide 50 pressed from the rear side by the movable guide 62 is guided by the rail portion 52, and the slide surface 51a is moved from the closed position. And slides in the width direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the receiving groove 26. As a result, the opening guide 50 is opened from the closed position facing the receiving groove 26 to a position where the opening of the receiving groove 26 formed to be recessed from the slide surface 51a is opened to allow the bending deformation of the inserted optical fiber 1. evacuate.
The slide surface 51 a of the guide base portion 51 is a part of the groove forming surface of the rear extension piece 27.

  The lid member moving mechanism has a configuration in which the open guide 50 is retracted (moved) from the closed position to a position permitting the bending deformation of the inserted optical fiber 1 by a pressing force acting from the movable guide 62 advanced from the initial position. There is no limitation to the configuration in which the open guide 50 is slid in the width direction of the slide surface 51 a by the rail portion 52. As the lid member moving mechanism, for example, a configuration in which the opening guide 50 is rotated from the closed position around an axis line along the connector front-rear direction and retracted to a position where the bending deformation of the inserted optical fiber 1 is allowed can be employed. is there.

  28 (a) to 28 (e) use an insertion optical fiber 1 to which a pressing fixing member 120 for pressing and moving the movable guide 62 from the rear side is fixed as will be described later, and the distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 is used. The case of assembling the optical connector 100 (an assembly method of the optical connector) is illustrated. More specifically, in this embodiment, the insertion optical fiber 1 and a flexible linear strength member (not shown) are collectively covered with a synthetic resin jacket 6 so as to be parallel to each other. The case where the optical connector 100 is assembled at the end of the optical fiber cable 5 is shown.

Here, as the pressing fixing member 120, a jacket-type member that holds the optical fiber cable 5 from both sides and is fixed to the optical fiber cable 5 is used. The pressing fixing member 120 functions as a jacket holding portion that holds the jacket 6 of the optical fiber cable 5. Further, the pressing fixing member 120 is an optical fiber that is attached to the insertion optical fiber 1 by holding the outer sheath 6 of the optical fiber cable 5 to hold the insertion optical fiber 1 therein. Functions as a gripping part.
At the end of the optical fiber cable 5, an insertion optical fiber 1 that is exposed by removing the jacket 6 at the tip of the optical fiber cable 5 is projected. The insertion optical fiber 1 protrudes from the pressing fixing member 120 fixed to the end of the optical fiber cable 5. The pressing fixing member 120 is in a state where it is fixed to the inserting optical fiber 1 by gripping the vicinity of the tip portion (hereinafter referred to as a protruding portion) protruding from the pressing fixing member 120 of the inserting optical fiber.

In order to assemble the optical connector 100 at the end of the optical fiber cable 5, the protruding portion that protrudes from the pressing fixing member 120 of the insertion optical fiber 1 is inserted into the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 from the rear side of the optical connector 100. Is inserted into the fiber accommodating region FS of the rear guide part 110 and pushed toward the ferrule 10.
The insertion optical fiber 1 is inserted into and pushed into the fiber housing region FS by a gap between the pressing fixing member 120 and the movable guide 62 from a position separated rearward from the optical connector 100 (the movable guide 62 at the rear end). By moving forward so as to shorten the (distance), and further moving the pressing fixing member 120 so as to shorten a gap (in other words, a deflection width described later) with the guide base portion 51 while pressing the movable guide 62. realizable.
At this time, the insertion optical fiber 1 does not lead the bare optical fiber 3 by removing the coating at the tip of the protruding portion, and remains in the state of the coated optical fiber in which the entire length of the protruding portion is covered by the coating 2. Insert through the through-hole 63.

FIG. 28B shows a state in which the distal end of the insertion optical fiber 1 is brought into contact with the rear end of the annular blade 31a.
As shown in FIG. 28 (b), the movable guide 62 of the optical connector 100 has the insertion optical fiber 1 being removed from the rear end of the accommodation groove 26 (more specifically, the rear end of the fiber accommodation region FS). It is possible to advance from an initial position separated by a distance L1 that does not buckle. The rear ends of the accommodation groove 26 and the fiber accommodation region FS open to the front end (back end) of the tapered recess 111 that is recessed from the rear surface of the rear guide portion 110 in a tapered shape.

  As shown in FIG. 28 (b), the fixing position of the pressing fixing member 120 with respect to the insertion optical fiber 1 is the through hole of the movable guide 62 when the distal end of the insertion optical fiber 1 comes into contact with the rear end of the annular blade portion 31a. 63 A position separated from the rear end to the rear side by a distance L2 at which the inserted optical fiber 1 does not buckle during coating removal. The rear end of the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 opens to the front end (back end) of a tapered recess 64 that is recessed from the rear surface of the movable guide 62 in a tapered shape.

  The through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 positions the insertion optical fiber 1 coaxially with the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 of the coating removal blade 31 of the coating removal member 30, so that the rear guide unit 110 can be positioned from the rear side of the movable guide 62. It functions as a guide part (insertion guide part) that smoothly inserts the insertion optical fiber 1 into the accommodation groove 26 (more specifically, the fiber accommodation region FS).

As shown in FIGS. 28B and 28C, the protruding portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 is inserted into the fiber housing region FS of the optical connector 100, and the pressing fixing member 120 is advanced toward the ferrule 10 of the optical connector 100. Then, with the advance of the insertion optical fiber 1 in contact with the rear end of the annular blade portion 31a of the coating removal portion 31, the coating 2 at the distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 is removed by the annular blade portion 31a. As a result, the bare optical fiber 3 from which the coating 2 is removed at the distal end portion of the inserted optical fiber 1 is led out.
The bare optical fiber 3 that is led out to the distal end portion of the inserted optical fiber 1 and inserted into the bare optical fiber insertion hole 34 of the sheath removing member 30 is projected forward from the sheath removing member 30 as the sheath removal proceeds, and the clamp base portion 21 is inserted into the alignment groove 25 formed in the portion located on the front side of the coating removal member 30.

As shown in FIGS. 28C and 28D, the fixing member 120 for pressing is brought into contact with the movable guide 62 by advancing, and the movable guide 62 is moved to its advance limit position (pressing the movable guide 62 from the rear side). In the example shown in the figure, the head is moved forward (position of contact with the rear end of the guide base 51) (see FIG. 28D) (the deflection width between the movable guide and the clamp portion (described later) is shortened).
The protruding length of the protruding portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 from the pressing fixing member 120 is larger than the separation distance from the pressing fixing member 120 to the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12 when the movable guide 62 reaches the advance limit position. Set a little longer. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 28 (c), before the movable guide 62 that moves forward while being pressed from the rear side by the pressing fixing member 120 reaches the advance limit position, the covering 2 is removed by the covering removing unit 31. Butt connection of the optical fiber 3 to the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12 is achieved. When the bare optical fiber 3 at the tip of the inserted optical fiber 1 hits the built-in optical fiber 12, the built-in optical fiber 12 restricts the advance of the bare optical fiber 3, and the coating removal of the inserted optical fiber 1 by the coating removing unit 31 is stopped (completed). )

As shown in FIG. 28 (d), this optical connector has a movable guide pressed by the pressing fixing member 120 after achieving the abutment of the bare optical fiber 3 at the tip of the insertion optical fiber 1 against the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12. Due to the further advancement of 62, the opening guide 50 opens with respect to the guide base portion 51 to allow the insertion optical fiber 1 to bend and deform. The opening guide 50 which is a part of the guide structure of the first lid member 58 is separated from the guide base portion 51, and the restriction of the insertion optical fiber 1 by the opening guide 50 is partially released. At this time, pressing of the inserted optical fiber 1 by the optical fiber pressing portion 59 which is the other part of the guide structure of the first lid member 58 of the inserted optical fiber 1 received in the receiving groove 58 is continued. As a result, a space allowing the bending deformation of the insertion optical fiber 1 is formed at a position where the open guide 50 is separated from the guide base portion 51, and the insertion optical fiber 1 can be bent with the first bending width 4a.
The opening guide 50 is opened (moved to the opening position) with respect to the guide base portion 51 after the abutment of the bare optical fiber 3 at the front end of the insertion optical fiber 1 against the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12, and the movable guide 62 moves forward. This is realized before reaching or when the forward limit position is reached. When the open guide 50 moved from the closed position reaches the open position, the insertion optical fiber 1 is bent and deformed 4 so as to float from the receiving groove 26.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 28 (d), the insertion optical fiber 1 is inserted between the front lid member 22, the rear lid member 23, and the clamp base portion 27c in a state where the insertion optical fiber 1 is bent with the first deflection width 4a. The inserted insertion piece (not shown) is removed from the clamp portion 20 of the optical connector 100. As a result, the butt portion between the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 is held and fixed by the clamp portion 20 disposed between the ferrule 10 and the sheath removing portion 30, and the butt connection is maintained. Further, the covering portion of the inserted optical fiber 1 is held and fixed by the second clamp portion of the clamp portion 20.

After the insertion optical fiber 1 is held and fixed by the second clamp part, it is not necessary to maintain the deflection deformation of the first deflection width 4a of the insertion optical fiber 1.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 28 (e), the optical fiber pressing portion 59 is separated from the guide base portion 51. As a result, the liftable range of the insertion optical fiber 1 in the space secured on the receiving groove 26 by the movement of the open guide 50 from the closed position to the open position increases, and the second deflection width 7a larger than the first deflection width 4a. The insertion optical fiber 1 can be bent. As a result, the bending loss of the insertion optical fiber 1 can be reduced.
Thereby, the assembly of the optical connector 100 to the end of the optical fiber cable 5 (the distal end portion of the inserted optical fiber 1) is completed.

Further, after the insertion piece inserted between the front lid member 22 and the rear lid member 23 and the clamp base portion 27c is removed from the clamp portion 20, the holding member 120 is used to fix the pressing fixing member 120. A retaining operation for restricting the backward movement of the ferrule 10 and the rear extension piece 27 may be performed.
For example, the pressing fixing member 120 regulates the backward movement by the holding work while maintaining the position when the movable guide 62 reaches the forward limit position. However, the holding position of the pressing fixing member 120 with respect to the ferrule 10 and the rear extension piece 27 is not limited to this, and, for example, the movable guide 62 is moved forward to reduce or eliminate the bending deformation 4 of the insertion optical fiber 1. It may be retained at a position slightly shifted rearward from the position at which the position is reached.

  According to this optical connector 100, while the coating 2 is removed by the coating removal unit 31, the bending deformation of the inserted optical fiber 1 is performed by the open guide 50 disposed at the closed position with respect to the housing groove 26 of the rear extension piece 27. 4 can be regulated. For this reason, the optical connector 100 can reliably transmit a strong pressing force necessary for removing the coating 2 to the coating removal unit 31 by suppressing the bending of the insertion optical fiber 1 during the coating removal.

As shown in FIG. 1 of Non-Patent Document 1 (relation between the deflection width and the maximum insertion force), the pressing force of the insertion optical fiber 1 necessary for removing the coating 2 is, for example, 5 to 5 It is set to about 6N (500 to 600 g).
Further, due to the presence of the open guide 50, the deflection width of the insertion optical fiber 1 becomes 2.5 mm or less or 2.1 mm or less, and a pressing force necessary for removing the coating 2 can be generated.
The range from the clamp part 20 of the optical connector 100 to the rear end of the guide base part 51 is the accommodation groove 26 by a member (such as the open guide 50 in the closed position) that presses the insertion optical fiber 1 into the accommodation groove 26 of the guide base part 51. In this configuration, there is no gap (gap size in the front-rear direction of the connector) large enough to cause buckling in the inserted optical fiber 1 inserted into the connector. The optical connector 100 includes a movable guide 62 at an initial position and a guide base portion 51 and an open guide 50 (specifically, the rear end of the fiber accommodation region FS) that are separated from the movable guide 62 via a gap. The separation distance (deflection width) is set so as not to cause buckling of the insertion optical fiber 1. Therefore, the optical connector 100 does not buckle the inserted optical fiber 1 between the clamp portion 20 and the movable guide 62 at the initial position until the coating removal of the inserted optical fiber 1 is completed.

Even after the leading end of the bare optical fiber 3 exposed by removing the coating 2 by the coating removing unit 31 is abutted against the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12, the bending deformation of the inserted optical fiber 1 is performed by the open guide 50 disposed at the closed position. 4 is kept strong between the end surfaces of the bare optical fiber 3 from which the coating 2 of the insertion optical fiber 1 is removed and the built-in optical fiber 12, corresponding to the pressing force necessary for removing the coating 2. The load will continue to be applied.
If there is an abutting failure such as “axial misalignment” between the optical fibers 3 and 12, the bare light is applied so that the optical axes of the optical fibers 3 and 12 coincide with each other by the urging force of the clamp spring 24. It is desirable to displace the fiber 3.

  Therefore, after the covering 2 is removed, the opening guide 50 is retracted from the closed position with respect to the housing groove 26. As a result, the bending deformation 4 (deflection part) is spontaneously formed by the elasticity of the insertion optical fiber 1 itself, so that the load between the end surfaces of the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 is subjected to the coating removal part 31. Taking into account the reaction force from the surface, it can be relaxed to an appropriate level to the extent that the butt is maintained. This makes it possible to close the front lid member 22 of the clamp portion 20 with an appropriate load between the end faces, and to improve the butt connection state between the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 after being sandwiched by the clamp portion 20. can do. As a result, it becomes easy to assemble an optical connector with good optical characteristics.

The load acting between the end faces of the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 after being deformed by the first deflection width 4 a is caused by the reaction force from the coating removal portion 31 to the coating or the biasing force of the clamp spring 24. Although it can change suitably depending on strength etc., it can be in the range of 0.3N-1N (30g-100g), for example. This load is preferably a load that maintains a butt between the end faces of the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12.
The first deflection width 4a is determined by the distance G between the optical fiber holding portion 59 of the first lid member 58 and another optical fiber holding portion 59 provided away from the optical fiber holding portion 59 in the front-rear direction of the connector. Can be controlled.
The optical fiber pressing part 59 and the other optical fiber pressing part 59 may be provided on the same member, or may be provided on separate members.
The deflection width refers to the length of the portion of the insertion optical fiber that is likely to bend by applying a pressing force. In the illustrated example of FIG. 28 and the like, the first deflection width 4a is the same as the gap G, and the second deflection width 7a is equal to the rear cover member 23 of the clamp portion 20 and the movable guide 62 (specifically, the front end of the through hole 63). Is the same as the separation distance.

The distance G between the optical fiber holding portions 59 depends on the material and outer diameter of the coated insertion optical fiber 1, but in the case of a quartz optical fiber having a general resin coating diameter of 0.25 mm, About 10 mm is mentioned. The degree of distance G at which the deflection deformation of the first deflection width 4a occurs with respect to the pressing force applied to the end face of the insertion optical fiber 1 depends on the material, outer diameter, etc. of the insertion optical fiber 1. It can also be estimated according to parameters such as rate. Also, a suitable distance G can be determined experimentally.
Since the distance H between the optical fiber holding portion 59 and the clamp portion 20 (specifically, the rear lid member 23) is smaller than the distance G between the optical fiber holding portion 59 and the other optical fiber holding portion 59, the distance H, etc. In this range, no buckling or deflection of the optical fiber occurs.
FIG. 28 shows an example in which a plurality of optical fiber holding portions 59 and 54 arranged with a distance G are provided to face the guide base portion 51. In this example, the optical fiber holding portions 59 and 54 are opposed to the accommodation groove 26 (guide portion) of the guide base portion 51. The present invention is not limited to the example in which the distance G is ensured on the guide base portion 51.

  As described above, the movable guide 62 of the optical connector 100 of this embodiment has the insertion optical fiber 1 being removed from the rear end of the accommodation groove 26 (more specifically, the rear end of the fiber accommodation region FS). It is possible to advance from an initial position separated by a distance L1 that does not buckle. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 28 (b), when the distal end of the insertion optical fiber 1 inserted into the receiving groove 26 comes into contact with the coating removal blade 31, the movable guide 62 is separated from the rear side thereof. Inserted with a distance longer than 120 (however, the distance from the rear end of the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 to the pressing fixing member 120 is the distance L2 at which the insertion optical fiber 1 does not buckle during removal of the coating). The length of the coating removal at the tip of the optical fiber 1 (the lead length of the bare optical fiber 3) can be secured.

The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the examples illustrated in FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical connector 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the optical connector 100 of the present embodiment.
The optical connector 100 will be described with the left side as the front and the right side as the rear in FIGS. 8, 9, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 23, and 24.
As shown in FIG. 1, this optical connector 100 has a schematic configuration in which a connector main body 101 assembled by providing a coating removing member 30 (described later) and the like on the rear side of a ferrule 10 is housed in a sleeve-shaped housing 100H. .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the housing 100H includes a front housing 14 in which the ferrule 10 is accommodated, a coupling 13 assembled to the outer periphery of the front housing 14, and a rear side assembled to the front housing 14 from the rear. The housing 15 is constituted.
In the present embodiment, as an example, the basic structure of the ferrule 10, the coupling 13, and the front housing 14 is in accordance with an SC type optical connector (SC: Single fiber Coupling, as defined in JIS C 5973). The front housing 14 is an SC type optical connector plug frame.
However, the housing is not limited to the above-described configuration. As the housing, for example, a structure in which the coupling 13 is omitted from the above-described housing can be adopted.

Next, the connector main body 101 will be described.
The ferrule 10 of the connector main body 101 of this embodiment is a single-core ferrule formed in a capillary shape from a hard material such as ceramics such as zirconia or glass. Examples of the ferrule 10 include those used for SC type optical connectors and those used for MU type optical connectors (F14 type optical connectors established in JIS C 5983; MU: Miniature-Unit coupling optical fiber connector). Can be adopted.
Further, as the ferrule 10, a part or the whole of which is molded with a synthetic resin can be adopted.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a built-in optical fiber 12 is inserted and fixed to the ferrule 10.
The built-in optical fiber 12 is inserted into a microscopic hole penetrating the capillary-like ferrule 10 in the axial direction thereof, and is fixed to the ferrule 10 by adhesive fixing with an adhesive or the like.
The built-in optical fiber 12 is provided so that the end surface (front end) of the built-in optical fiber 12 is aligned with the joining end surface 11 for butt joining of the front end (front end) of the ferrule 10. The built-in optical fiber 12 has a rear protrusion 12 a that protrudes rearward from the ferrule 10. The rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12 (rear end of the rear protruding portion 12a) is located between the ferrule 10 and the coating removing member 30 disposed on the rear side.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 8, and 9, the connector main body 101 includes a sheath removing member 30 having a sheath removing portion 31 that removes the sheath 2 of the inserted optical fiber 1 on the rear side of the ferrule 10. And a clamp portion 20 for holding and fixing the butt connection portion in which the bare optical fiber 3 from which the coating 2 has been removed by the coating removal portion 31 is butt-connected to the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, the connector main body 101 has a rear side extension that extends rearward from the rear end portion opposite to the joining end surface 11 for butt joining at the front end (front end) of the ferrule 10. It has a piece 27. The rear extension piece 27 is formed in an elongated shape having a longitudinal direction in the front-rear direction along the central axis (and its extension) of the ferrule 10. The coating removal member 30 is provided on the rear extension piece 27.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the clamp portion 20 is opposed to the rear extension piece 27 and grooves 25 and 26 formed in the rear extension piece 27 extending in the front-rear direction of the connector. The lid members 22 and 23 are disposed, and a clamp spring 24 that biases the lid members 22 and 23 toward the rear extension piece 27 in a closing direction.
Although there is no limitation in particular as the clamp spring 24, For example, a sleeve-like thing as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is employable. The sleeve-shaped clamp spring 24 has, for example, a cross-sectional shape (cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the central axis) that is C-shaped (see FIGS. 2 and 4). Character-shaped ones can also be used. The clamp portion 20 according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which a rear extension piece 27 and two lid members 22 and 23 arranged in the front-rear direction of the connector are accommodated inside one clamp spring 24.

The clamp portion 20 is barely provided between a lid member 22 (second lid member; hereinafter also referred to as a front lid member) disposed between the ferrule 10 and the sheath removing member 30 and the rear extension piece 27. A first clamp portion that holds and fixes the connection portion P between the optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 is provided. In addition, the clamp unit 20 includes an optical fiber 1 (the coating 2 is provided between the cover member 23 disposed on the rear side of the coating removal member 30 (hereinafter also referred to as a rear cover member) and the rear extension piece 27. A portion that has not been removed and has a second clamp portion that holds and fixes the covering portion).
Insertion piece for securing gaps 22a and 23a (see FIG. 28A) for inserting the insertion optical fiber 1 and the bare optical fiber 3 between the rear extension piece 27 and the cover members 22 and 23. 41 is inserted so that it can be removed. The insertion piece 41 is a plate-like protrusion (first protrusion) provided on the assembly member 40.
In addition, as the connector main body 101, the structure which each assembled the 1st clamp part (clamp part) and the 2nd clamp part using the clamp springs which were separate from each other is also employable.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the rear extension piece 27 has a guide base portion 51 extending rearward from a portion facing the rear lid member 23. Hereinafter, the portion 21 on the front side from the guide base portion 51 of the rear extension piece 27 is also referred to as a clamp base portion. The clamp base portion 21 is connected to the front lid member 22 of the clamp portion 20 with a connection portion P between the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 that is led to the distal end portion of the inserted optical fiber 1 by the coating removing member 30. It functions as a second base member for holding and fixing. The second clamp portion grips and fixes the inserted optical fiber 1 between the rear lid member 23 and the clamp base 21.

  A fiber accommodation groove 26 into which the insertion optical fiber 1 is inserted from the rear side is formed in a portion (rear side piece portion) extending rearward from the sheath removing member 30 of the rearward extension piece 27, in the front-rear direction of the connector. It is formed to extend. The housing groove 26 is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, the insertion optical fiber 1 that is a single-core coated optical fiber is inserted into the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 of the coating removal portion 31 of the coating removal member 30. For example, a U-groove, a semicircular groove, and a V-groove can be employed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the connector main body 101 includes a first lid member that regulates deformation of the inserted optical fiber 1 inserted into the receiving groove 26 behind the lid members 22 and 23 of the clamp portion 20. 58.
As described above, the first lid member 58 is inserted behind the clamp portion 20 so that the insertion optical fiber 1 does not bend and deform while the coating removal portion 30 removes the coating 2 of the insertion optical fiber 1. An open guide 50 that regulates the upward deformation of the first optical fiber 1, and when the open guide 50 is retracted from the closed position to the open position, the bending deformation 4 having the first deflection width 4 a of the inserted optical fiber 1 is possible. It has an optical fiber holding part 59 which is the other part of the guide structure of the first lid member 58 that is spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction via a predetermined distance G (see FIG. 19; hereinafter also referred to as a gap). It is configured.

As shown in FIG. 16 (b), the open guide 50 is an elongated member, and extends along the longitudinal direction of the receiving groove 26 so as to face the receiving groove 26 formed in the guide base portion 51. It is located. The opening guide 50 presses the insertion optical fiber 1 that is inserted into the accommodation groove 26 from the rear side and advances toward the ferrule 10 into the accommodation groove 26, and restricts the deformation of the insertion optical fiber 1.
The release guide 50 is disposed at the closed position shown in FIG. 16B while the sheath 2 is removed by the sheath removing portion 31 of the sheath removing member 30 to restrict the deformation of the inserted optical fiber 1.

  The elongated guide base portion 51 and the open guide 50 whose longitudinal direction is the longitudinal direction of the connector guides the advance of the insertion optical fiber 1 from the movable guide 62 of the movable guide 60 with a restraining portion described later toward the ferrule 10. The rear guide part 110 (guide structure) is configured. The connector main body 101 has the rear guide portion 110 including the guide base portion 51 and the release guide 50 on the rear side of the clamp portion 20.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the connector main body 101 has a movable guide 60 with a restraining portion on the rear side of the rear guide portion 110. The movable guide 60 with the restraining portion is integrally formed with a movable guide 62 in which a through hole 63 into which the insertion optical fiber 1 can be inserted is formed at the rear end of the restraining sleeve portion 61 that houses the guide base portion 51 and the opening guide 50. It has become a structure.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion is provided inside the rear housing 15 so as to be slidable back and forth. Further, the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion is disposed at an initial position (the position shown in FIGS. 8 and 9) where the movable guide 62 is spaced apart from the rear guide portion 110 to the rear side. It is possible to move forward from the position toward the ferrule 10.
The movable guide 62 is arranged in advance so that the insertion optical fiber 1 has a predetermined deflection width in the gap between the guide base portion 51 when the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion is in the initial position. It is pushed by the fixing member 120 and moves forward so that the deflection width is shortened.

As shown in FIGS. 8, 9, 10 (a) and 10 (b), the movable guide 62 of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion has a guide body 65 in the form of a rectangular block having an outer appearance formed with the through hole 63. . The guide body 65 has a generally rectangular outer peripheral shape in a cross section perpendicular to the axis of the through hole 63.
A tapered recess 64 is formed in the guide main body 65 of the movable guide 62 in order to facilitate the insertion of the insertion optical fiber 1 from the rear side into the through hole 63. The through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 extends from the rear end that opens to the front end (back end) of the tapered recess 64 to the front side, and opens to the front surface of the guide main body 65. The restraining sleeve portion 61 projects forward from the front surface of the guide body 65.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 and the like, the optical connector 100 exemplified here is a synthetic resin outer cover in which the insertion optical fiber 1 and a flexible linear strength member are parallel to each other. 6 is assembled to the end of the optical fiber cable 5 that is collectively covered by 6. Examples of the tensile body include those made of tensile fibers such as aramid fibers, steel wires, and the like. Examples of the optical fiber cable 5 include an indoor cable and a drop cable. The insertion optical fiber 1 is used for insertion into the connector main body 101 at a portion led out to the end of the optical fiber cable 5.

  The insertion optical fiber 1 is a coated optical fiber in which the outer peripheral surface (side surface) of the bare optical fiber 3 is covered with a coating 2, and examples thereof include an optical fiber core wire and an optical fiber strand. The bare optical fiber 3 is, for example, a quartz optical fiber. The coating 2 is a resin coating in which, for example, an ultraviolet curable resin or a polyamide resin is coated in one layer or a plurality of layers in a substantially concentric shape.

The movable guide 62 can be connected to the pressing fixing member 120 fixed to the end of the optical fiber cable 50.
As shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, the pressing fixing member 120 is an outer cover holding member that holds the end of the optical fiber cable 50 and is fixedly attached to the optical fiber cable 50. The pressing fixing member 120 includes a grip base 123 having a U-shaped cross section formed with a cable fitting groove 122 into which the optical fiber cable 50 is fitted, and side walls on both sides in the groove width direction of the cable fitting groove 122 of the grip base 123. A holding lid 127 pivotally attached to one of the portions 125.

The pressing fixing member 120 includes an outer sheath 6 of the optical fiber cable 50 in which a plurality of gripping protrusions 125 a that protrude from a pair of side walls 125 of the gripping base 123 are fitted in the cable fitting groove 122. The optical fiber cable 50 can be gripped and fixed between the pair of side wall portions 125. The grip base 123 is a member having a U-shaped cross section in which the cable fitting groove 122 is secured between a pair of side wall portions 125 protruding from one side of the bottom wall portion 126. The groove width direction of the cable fitting groove 122 refers to the interval direction of the side wall portions 125 on both sides via the cable fitting groove 122. Note that the holding protrusions 125a of the pressing fixing member 120 in the illustrated example are formed in a triangular cross-section extending in the depth direction of the cable fitting groove 122 (upper and lower in FIG. 27).
Then, the pressing fixing member 120 fixes the holding base 123 by fitting the holding base 123 to the end of the optical fiber cable 5 in an open state in which the holding cover 127 is separated from the other side wall 125. The pair of side walls 125 of the pair 123 are rotated to a closed position for closing the opening of the cable fitting groove 122 between the ends opposite to the bottom wall 126 of the pair of side walls 125, and the holding lid 127 is engaged with the other side wall 125. It is stopped and attached to the end of the optical fiber cable 5.

  The pressing fixing member 120 has a pair of elastic members extending in parallel with each other along the virtual extension of the cable fitting groove 122 from one end in the extending direction along the longitudinal direction of the cable fitting groove 122 of the grip base 123. It has a stop piece 124. The pair of elastic locking pieces 124 project from the side wall portions 125 on both sides of the cable fitting groove 122 of the grip base 123 in the groove width direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 11 (a) and 11 (b), the movable guide 62 at the rear end of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion of the connector main body 101 has a U-shaped cross section (connector) at the rear end of the rear housing 15. It is housed inside a pressing member receiving portion 16 having a U-shaped cross section perpendicular to the front-rear direction so as to be movable back and forth.
As shown in FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 12, the pressing member receiving portion 16 is formed in a U-shaped cross section in which a pair of side plate portions 16b are erected on one side of the bottom plate portion 16a. A locking piece guide groove 16c into which the pair of elastic locking pieces 124 of the pressing fixing member 120 is inserted extends in the front-rear direction on the mutually opposing surfaces of the pair of side plate portions 16b of the pressing member receiving portion 16. Has been.
As shown in FIGS. 9, 11 (a), 11 (b), and 12, the fixing member 120 for pressing includes a pair of elastic locking pieces 124 from the rear side of the guide body 65 of the movable guide 62. It can be inserted into the locking piece guide groove 16 c and passed between the side plate portions 16 b on both sides of the pressing member receiving portion 16 and the movable guide 62, and the tip of each elastic locking piece 124 can be sent to the front side of the movable guide 62. . Then, as shown in FIG. 15, the pressing fixing member 120 includes a locking claw 128 that protrudes on the side facing the opposing elastic locking piece 124 at the tip of the pair of elastic locking pieces 124. The movable guide 62 is connected to the movable guide 62 by engaging with the front surface of the guide body 65.

  As shown in FIGS. 9, 10A, 10B, and 12, in this embodiment, the pair of side plate portions 16b of the pressing member receiving portion 16 of the guide body 65 of the movable guide 62 is provided. A locking piece guide groove 66 is also formed on the side surface facing the. The locking piece guide groove 66 of the guide body 65 is formed at a position facing the locking piece guide groove 16 c of the side plate portion 16 b of the pressing member receiving portion 16. In the pressing fixing member 120, the elastic locking piece 124 is inserted into the locking piece guide grooves 16 c and 66 formed in the guide main body 65 of the movable guide 62 and the side plate portion 16 b of the pressing member receiving portion 16 to guide the main body 65. Can be engaged.

The connector main body 101 includes a forward restricting means 67 (see FIG. 9) for switching between forward restriction and restriction release from the initial position of the movable guide 60 with the restricting portion, and from the initial position of the movable guide 60 with the restricting portion to the rear side. And a guide retraction restricting means for restricting movement.
The forward restricting means is in a state where the forward restriction is canceled from the state where the forward movement from the initial position of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion is restricted by being pressed from the rear side by the pressing fixing member 120.

As shown in FIG. 9, the movable guide 60 with a restraining portion of the connector main body 101 in the illustrated example has a forward restricting protrusion 67 protruding from the guide main body 65 of the movable guide 62 as the forward restricting means. Yes. The forward restricting protrusion 67 protrudes obliquely forward from one of the opposite sides of the guide main body 65 facing the pair of side plate portions 16b of the pressing member receiving portion 16. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 12, the front end (front end) of the forward restricting protrusion 67 is formed at the groove bottom of one of the locking piece guide grooves 16 c of the pair of side plate portions 16 b of the pressing member receiving portion 16. It is inserted into the protruding piece tip insertion groove 16d, and is abutted against the front end 16e (see FIGS. 9 and 11A) of the protruding piece tip insertion groove 16d from the rear side. The forward restricting protrusion 67 protrudes from the side of the guide main body 65 facing the pair of side plate portions 16b of the pressing member receiving portion 16 and facing the protrusion tip insertion groove 16d. . In the illustrated movable guide 62, the forward restricting protrusion 67 protrudes from the groove bottom of the locking piece guide groove 66 facing the protrusion tip insertion groove 16d.
The forward restricting protrusion 67 is inclined with respect to the axis of the through hole 63 so as to move away from the guide body 65 and approach the groove bottom of the protrusion tip insertion groove 16d as it goes to the front side.

The projecting piece tip insertion groove 16d has a narrower groove width than the locking piece guide groove 16c and extends in the connector front-rear direction. Further, the protruding piece tip insertion groove 16 d is formed only in the pressing member receiving portion 16 constituting the rear end portion of the rear housing 15.
In the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion, the initial position is the position where the forward movement restricting protrusion 67 is abutted against the front end 16e of the protruding piece distal end insertion groove 16d and the forward movement is restricted.

As shown in FIGS. 9, 10 (a), and 10 (b), the movable guide 60 with the restraint portion is a latch that protrudes from the peripheral surface of the rear extension piece 27 opposite to the open guide 50 in the closed position. The protrusion 27a (see FIGS. 5 and 9) enters the locking window hole 61b formed in the front end portion of the restraining sleeve portion 61, and movement from the initial position to the rear side is restricted.
As shown in FIG. 9, in the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion at the initial position, the portion of the restraining sleeve portion 61 located on the front side of the locking window hole 61b is formed perpendicular to the front-rear direction of the connector at the front end of the locking projection 27a. The movement from the initial position to the rear side is restricted by contacting the front end surface.
The locking protrusion 27a functions as a guide retraction restricting means for restricting the movement of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion from the initial position to the rear side.

As shown in FIG. 15, the forward restricting protrusion 67 of the movable guide 62 is inserted into the locking piece guide grooves 16 c and 66 when the pressing fixing member 120 is connected to the guide main body 65 of the movable guide 62. It is pressed by the tip of the elastic locking piece 124 that has been advanced. The forward restricting protruding piece 67 pressed from the rear side by the elastic locking piece 124 is moved forward from the protruding end leading insertion groove 16d to the inside of the pressing member receiving part 16 by the advance of the elastic locking piece 124. It is moved and the butting against the front end 16e of the projecting piece tip insertion groove 16d is released.
The movable guide 62 is an integrally molded product made of plastic. When the forward restricting protrusion 67 is pressed from the rear side by the distal end of the elastic locking piece 124 of the pressing fixing member 120, the forward restricting protrusion 67 is elastically deformed at the boundary between the forward restricting protrusion 67 and the guide main body 65. Using the boundary portion as a hinge portion, the direction of the through hole 63 with respect to the axis changes so that the tip of the boundary portion approaches the side surface 68 of the guide body 65. It should be noted that the forward restricting protrusion 67 and the guide body 65 of the movable guide 62 in the illustrated example have a thin part 69 formed thinner than the plate thickness of the plate-like advance restricting protrusion 67 as a hinge part (boundary). And is connected via the thin-walled portion 69.

The distal end portion including the locking claw 128 of the elastic locking piece 124 of the pressing fixing member 120 is formed in a size that can be accommodated in almost the entire groove width of the locking piece guide grooves 16c and 66, and It does not enter the insertion groove 16d. The elastic locking piece 124 pushes forward the position shifted from the tip of the forward restricting projection 67 to the base side of the forward restricting projection 67 located in the vicinity of the guide main body 65 by its tip, and the forward restricting projection The tip of the piece 67 moves from the protruding piece tip insertion groove 16d toward the inside of the pressing member receiving portion 16 to release the abutting of the tip of the forward restricting protruding piece 67 against the front end 16e of the protruding piece tip insertion groove 16d. Further, the elastic locking piece 124 releases the abutting of the tip of the forward restricting protruding piece 67 against the front end 16e of the protruding piece tip insertion groove 16d, and the locking claw 128 at the tip is engaged with the guide body 65.
The movable guide 60 with the restraint portion can be advanced from the initial position by releasing the abutting of the tip of the forward restricting protruding piece 67 against the front end 16e of the protruding piece tip insertion groove 16d.
In addition, as an optical connector, the structure which abbreviate | omitted the latching piece guide groove 66 of the guide main body 65 of the movable guide 62 is also employable.

As shown in FIG. 9, the locking protrusion 27a that functions as a guide retraction restricting means is formed in a taper shape in which the projecting dimension from the peripheral surface of the rear extension piece 27 increases from the rear side of the connector to the front side. ing.
A long hole 61c extending in the front-rear direction is formed on the rear side of the locking window hole 61b of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion.
As shown in FIG. 15, the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion is pressed forward from the initial position in a state where the abutting of the tip of the forward restricting protrusion 67 against the front end 16 e of the protruding piece tip insertion groove 16 d is released. And the inter-hole wall portion 61d, which is a portion between the locking window hole 61b and the long hole 61c in the restraining sleeve portion 61, gets over the locking projection 27a by a slight elastic deformation of the restraining sleeve portion 61, As shown in FIG. 19, the locking protrusion 27a can be stored in the long hole 61c.
When the locking projection 27a enters the elongated hole 61c, the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion moves relative to the rear side with respect to the rear extension piece 27 from the position where the inter-hole wall portion 61d contacts the locking projection 27a. Is regulated. Further, in this optical connector 100, when the movable guide 62 reaches the advance limit position, the locking projection 27a enters the elongated hole 61c, and the connector extends in the longitudinal direction of the connector with respect to the rear extension piece 27 of the movable guide 60 with the restraint portion. Displacement is regulated.

As will be described in detail later, the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion restrains the open guide 50 in the closed position that restricts the deformation deformation of the insertion optical fiber 1 with respect to the housing groove 26. Further, the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion advances from the initial position by pushing the pressing fixing member 120, and drives the release guide 50 forward to move out of the fiber accommodation groove 26 (retract from the closed position). It has a function. The restraining sleeve portion 61 of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion presses the release guide 50 so as not to be separated from the guide base portion 51 during the removal of the coating of the inserted optical fiber 1 by the sheath removing portion 31 of the sheath removing member 30 and opens the guide. Before the guide 50 is separated from the guide base portion 51, the guide 50 functions as a pressing portion that releases the pressing based on the advancement of the pressing fixing member 120.
The movable guide 60 with the restraint portion can be advanced from the initial position while maintaining the state in which the guide base portion 51 and the release guide 50 are housed inside the restraint sleeve portion 61. When the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion advances from the initial position, the restraining sleeve portion 61 slides relative to the rear extension piece 27.

Here, the lid member moving mechanism of the optical connector of this embodiment will be specifically described.
As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 8, and 9, on the slide surface 51 a of the guide base portion 51 on which the release guide 50 slides, a rail portion 52 that guides the forward movement of the release guide 50 obliquely. Projected. The rail portion 52 is a ridge that is inclined with respect to the housing groove 26 and protrudes on the slide surface 51a so as to be separated from the housing groove 26 from the end on the housing groove 26 side toward the front side. .
Further, in the illustrated optical connector, a plurality of the rail portions 52 are provided on the slide surface 51a at intervals in the front-rear direction. The plurality of rail portions 52 are all aligned in the same inclination direction and inclination angle with respect to the accommodation groove 26.
As shown in FIG. 4, the slide surface 51a of the rear extension piece 27 of the optical connector of the illustrated example is a groove forming surface on which the alignment groove 25 and the accommodation groove 26 of the rear extension piece 27 are formed. 51 b is formed on only one side of the housing groove 26 in the groove width direction through the housing groove 26. On the side opposite to the slide surface 51 a via the housing groove 26, a ridge portion 54 and a notch portion 55 (described later) projecting to the side of the fiber housing groove 26 are formed.

When the movable guide 62 is in the initial position, the opening guide 50 is in the closed position with respect to the receiving groove 26. As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 9, the open guide 50 has a rail portion 52 of the guide base portion 51 in a rail storage groove 50 c formed on a facing surface 50 b facing the slide surface 51 a of the guide base portion 51. 16b, the opposed surface 50b is placed on the slide surface 51a so as to be placed at the closed position as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 8, the rail receiving groove 50 c is inclined with respect to the receiving groove 26 at the same angle as the inclination angle of the rail portion 52 of the guide base portion 51 with respect to the receiving groove 26. Has been.

When the release guide 50 is pressed in the forward direction against the rear extension piece 27, the inner surface of the rear side of the rail storage groove 50 c slides on the rail portion 52 stored in the rail storage groove 26. However, it moves obliquely forward from the closed position.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 20, a gap 53 (space) that forms the deflection deformation 4 is formed between the protrusion 54 and the opening guide 50. As shown in FIG. 16B, when the movable guide 62 is in the initial position, the release guide 50 is closed with respect to the protruding portion 54. In the present embodiment, the position where the opening guide 50 abuts on the protrusion 54 is the closing position of the opening guide 50.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the movable guide 62 is in the initial position, the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion is a restraining projection 50 d (FIG. 4, FIG. 4) that projects from the open guide 50 on the inner surface of the restraining sleeve portion 61. 8) is abutted to restrain the release guide 50 in the closed position. Thus, the restraining sleeve portion 61 does not move the release guide 50 so as to form a space in which the insertion optical fiber can bend and deform on the accommodation groove 26 (that is, the release guide from the closed position to the open position). (Do not cause 50 movements).
As shown in FIG. 4 and the like, the restricting protrusion 50d is provided so as to protrude from the end of the open guide 50 opposite to the end facing the protrusion 54.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the rear end portion 50 e of the release guide 50 protrudes rearward from the rear end of the guide base portion 51.
When the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion is advanced from the initial position, the movable guide 60 with respect to the rear extension piece 27 and the opening guide 50 is maintained while keeping the opening guide 50 in the closed position with respect to the guide base portion 51. After the sliding movement, the restraining protrusion 50d of the opening guide 50 is stored in the opening 61e formed in the restraining sleeve 61 (see FIG. 18). Thereby, the restriction | limiting to the closed position with respect to the guide base part 51 of the open guide 50 is cancelled | released. Further, when the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion reaches the position in which the restraining protrusion 50d of the opening guide 50 is stored in the opening 61e for opening or after reaching the position, the movable guide 62 is located behind the opening guide 50. The forward pushing of the end is started and the forward limit position is reached.

As the movable guide 62 advances after the restraint is released to the closed position, the opening guide 50 is guided forward by the rail portion 52 and slides forward on the guide base portion 51 while sliding on the slide surface 51a of the guide base portion 51. Move to slide.
In this optical connector, when the movable guide 62 comes into contact with the rear end of the rear extension piece 27, the opening guide 50 is disposed at a position where the insertion optical fiber 1 is allowed to bend and deform. As a result, as shown in FIG. 20, a gap 53 that forms the deflection deformation 4 is formed between the protrusion 54 and the open guide 50.

With this configuration of the optical connector, the restriction of the open guide 50 to the closed position by the movable guide 60 with the restraint portion can be released only by the forward movement of the movable guide 60 with the restraint portion. According to this configuration, since the structure for realizing the switching between the restrained state and the restraint released state is simple and can be easily downsized, it is advantageous for downsizing the optical connector.
The rail portion 52 functions as a separation structure that separates the release guide from the base member when the release guide advances based on the advance of the optical fiber gripping portion.
As the separation structure, the arrangement of the rail part and the rail storage groove is reversed, that is, the rail part protruding from the open guide is stored in the rail storage groove formed in the guide base part, and the optical fiber gripping part It is good also as a structure which guides the movement of the said open guide diagonally forward, when the said open guide advances based on advance of this.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 13, a window 61 a into which the optical fiber pressing piece 42 of the assembly member 40 is inserted is formed in the restraining sleeve portion 61 of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion. The window 61 a is an opening that penetrates the thickness of the restraining sleeve portion 61 and opens to the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the restraining sleeve portion 61.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, a plurality of optical fiber pressing pieces 42 and 42 are interposed between the guide base portion 51 of the connector main body 101 and the open guide 50. Each optical fiber pressing piece 42 can press the insertion optical fiber 1 into the receiving groove 26 by the optical fiber pressing portion 59 at the tip.
The plurality of optical fiber holding pieces 42 and 42 are kept in contact with each other between the end surfaces of the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 when the open guide 50 is moved (retracted) from the closed position to the open position. The insertion optical fiber 1 is arranged with a predetermined gap G (see FIG. 19) in the front-rear direction so that the deformation of the insertion optical fiber 1 is possible while leaving a load to the extent possible.

As shown in FIG. 3, the clamp part 20 is accommodated in the cylindrical part 15a which comprises a front side part from the press member receiving part 16 of the rear side housing 15. As shown in FIG. The cylindrical portion 15a is formed with a window 15b into which an insertion piece 41 of an assembly member 40 (described later in detail) is inserted, and a window 15c into which an optical fiber pressing piece 42 is inserted. These windows 15b and 15c are formed through the thickness of the cylindrical portion 15a.
As shown in FIGS. 17, 22, and 25, the housing 100H penetrates the thickness of the sleeve-like coupling 13 and the thickness of the sleeve-like front housing 14 so as to pass through the inside of the front housing 14. A communication hole 15d is formed which communicates with the window 15b of the tubular portion 15a inserted and fitted therein and into which the insertion piece 41 is inserted.
In addition, the window 15c into which the optical fiber pressing piece 42 is inserted in the cylindrical portion 15a of the rear housing 15 is located on the rear side of the coupling 13 and the front housing 14. It opens to the surrounding surface of the cylindrical part 15a, without being covered.

  As shown in FIG. 4, on the mating surface on which the front lid member 22 of the clamp base portion 21 is overlapped, as a centering mechanism, the alignment groove for positioning and aligning the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 is provided. 25 is formed. The alignment groove 25 extends in the longitudinal direction of the clamp base portion 21 along the axis of the minute hole of the ferrule 10 (virtual extension of the axis toward the rear side of the ferrule). The cross-sectional shape of the aligning groove 25 is, for example, a V groove, but may be a U groove, a round groove (a groove having a semicircular cross section), or the like. The alignment groove 25 is provided for each pair of the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 to be connected (for the number of cores: one here).

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the optical connector 100 includes a spring 18 that elastically biases the ferrule 10 toward the front side of the connector and applies a butting force at the time of butt connection with another optical connector.
The spring 18 is specifically a coil spring, and is externally inserted into the connector main body 101 at the rear side of the flange portion 10b projecting from the outer periphery of the rear end portion of the ferrule 10, and the flange portion 10b and the rear housing. 15 is inserted between the front end.
The ferrule 10 is elastically biased to the front side of the connector by the spring 18, and the flange portion 10b is formed on a stopper wall portion 14a that protrudes inside the front end portion of the housing 100H (specifically, inside the front housing 14). It arrange | positions in the front side movement limit position contact | abutted from the rear side. The connector main body 101 can be pushed toward the rear side of the connector with respect to the housing 100H while pushing and shrinking the spring 18 when a pressing force (pushing force) from the front to the rear is applied to the ferrule 10.

The housing groove 26 is provided on the extension of the alignment groove 25. The fiber accommodation groove 26 is formed in a portion where the rear cover member 23 of the clamp base portion 21 is overlapped, and further extends rearward from the portion. The fiber accommodation groove 26 is configured to accommodate the distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 and to firmly clamp the insertion optical fiber 1 when the rear lid member 23 is clamped by the clamp spring 24.
When the insertion optical fiber 1 is inserted into the clamp portion 20 along the fiber accommodation groove 26, it is guided to the coating removing member 30 through the fiber accommodation groove 26. As shown in FIG. 28B, the coating 2 is removed by the coating removal portion 31 of the coating removal member 30, and the bare optical fiber 3 can be abutted with the built-in optical fiber 12.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the coating removing member 30 has a bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 on the front side and a coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 on the rear side. The bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 and the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 are both circular holes formed along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber. Between the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 and the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34, a window hole 32 penetrating in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber is formed. The coating removal portion 31 is formed on the side surface on the side where the window hole 32 is connected to the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33. The coating removal blade 31 of the coating removal member 30 in the illustrated example includes an annular blade portion 31 a formed in a tapered shape around the optical fiber insertion hole 33, and a horizontal blade formed perpendicular to the forming direction of the window hole 32. Part 31b.

As shown in FIGS. 28A and 28B, when the insertion optical fiber 1 is advanced from the accommodation groove 26 toward the coating removal member 30, the tip of the insertion optical fiber 1 enters the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34. Inserted. The coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 is linear, and the inserted optical fiber 1 can be positioned straight toward the coating removal blade 31. When the distal end of the insertion optical fiber 1 passes through the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34, the distal end crosses the window hole 32 and the distal end abuts on the coating removal blade 31. Then, the tip of the insertion optical fiber 1 is pressed toward the coating removal blade 31 so that the coating 2 is removed, and the bare optical fiber 3 is inserted into the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33. At this time, the horizontal blade portion 31 b divides the coating 2 into two, and the annular blade portion 31 a is inserted between the bare optical fiber 3 and the coating 2, whereby the coating 2 is easily peeled from the bare optical fiber 3. can do.
The division of the coating 2 into two by the horizontal blade portion 31b facilitates the movement of the coating 2 peeled from the bare optical fiber 3 from the rear end of the outer peripheral surface of the annular blade portion 31a toward the front end. As a result, it is possible to suppress the pressing force of the insertion optical fiber 1 against the coating removal blade 31 required for the coating removal of the insertion optical fiber 1 (coated optical fiber), and the bare optical fiber 3 by the annular blade portion 31a. The coating 2 can be peeled off easily.

A tapered hole 34a whose diameter decreases from the outside to the inside is provided at the inlet (fiber inlet) at the rear end of the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34. By guiding the tip of the coated optical fiber 1 into the tapered hole 34a, the insertion into the coated optical fiber insertion hole 34 becomes more reliable.
In addition, a tapered hole 33a whose diameter increases from the inside to the outside is provided at the outlet of the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33. The bare optical fiber 3 can be easily guided from the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 to the alignment groove 25 by having a slight margin in the direction in which the bare optical fiber 3 exits from the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33.

As shown in FIG. 7, the assembly member 40 includes wedge-shaped insertion pieces 41 and 41 that secure gaps 22 a and 23 a between the clamp base portion 21 and the lid members 22 and 23. In the assembly member 40, the plurality of optical fiber pressing pieces 42, 42 described above are protrusions (second protrusions, third protrusions) formed in parallel with the insertion pieces 41, 41. Can do. As a result, the optical fiber pressing pieces 42, 42 that are not required after the optical connector is assembled can be integrated with the assembly member 40, the number of wastes can be reduced, and workability is improved.
Needless to say, the optical fiber pressing pieces 42, 42 can be configured separately from the assembly member 40.

As shown in FIG. 14, gaps 22 a, 23 a (between the clamp base portion 21 and the lid members 22, 23 are provided on one side edge portion of the mating surface where the clamp base portion 21 and the lid members 22, 23 are overlapped. Insertion pieces 41 and 41 for securing (see FIG. 28A) are inserted. FIG. 17 shows a state in which the gap 22 a between the clamp base portion 21 and the front lid member 22 is secured by the insertion piece 41. When the insertion pieces 41 and 41 are removed, the space between the clamp base portion 21 and the lid members 22 and 23 can be closed, and a closed state can be obtained by the clamping force of the clamp spring 24.
In addition, the optical connector 100 is in a state where the assembly member 40 is attached to the connector main body 101 (state of the optical connector with the assembly member) by inserting the insertion piece 41 of the assembly member 40 into the clamp portion 20 in advance. It is possible to sell, carry, etc. In this case, it is possible to omit the trouble of preparing a wedge suitable for the optical connector or interrupting the insertion piece 41 into the clamp portion 20 during work in the wiring site.

As shown in FIG. 26, the optical connector 100 according to the present embodiment is assembled with an optical fiber cable 5 in which a coated optical fiber serving as the insertion optical fiber 1 is exposed at the tip side. A member to which a pressing fixing member 120 (gripping member) is attached is prepared.
Then, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the pressing fixing member 120 attached to the insertion optical fiber 1 is rearward toward the pressing member receiving portion 16 at the rear end of the rear housing 15 of the housing 100 </ b> H of the optical connector 100. Move forward from. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1, the protruding portion of the inserted optical fiber 1 that protrudes to the front side (the side from which the elastic locking piece 124 protrudes) of the pressing fixing member 120 is received from the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62. Insert into the groove 26. As the pressing fixing member 120 continues to advance, the distal end of the insertion optical fiber 1 reaches the coating removing member 30 to remove the coating 2 (starts removal), and the bare optical fiber 3 is abutted against the built-in optical fiber 12. Can be.
The pressing fixing member 120 can be connected to the movable guide 62 at the rear end of the connector main body 101 at the rear end of the connector main body 101 by being pushed forward into the pressing member receiving portion 16 at the rear end of the rear housing 15.

The insertion optical fiber 1 is inserted from the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 into the fiber housing region FS secured between the open guide 50 and the inner surface of the housing groove 26 in the interval direction between the open guide 50 and the housing groove 26. Is done.
The open guide 50 does not press the insertion optical fiber 1 strongly against the fiber housing groove 26 and fix it to the guide base portion 51, but can smoothly move the insertion optical fiber 1 relative to the guide base portion 51 in the longitudinal direction of the connector. The bending deformation of the pressing-in optical fiber 1 is restricted.
The open guide 50 functions to position the insertion optical fiber 1 on the central axis of the bare optical fiber insertion hole 33 of the coating removal portion 31 by pressing the insertion optical fiber 1 into the fiber housing groove 26.

  As shown in FIGS. 16B and 20, an extension recess 50 a extending along the accommodation groove 26 is formed in a portion of the open guide 50 in the closed position facing the accommodation groove 26. Yes. The fiber housing region FS of the connector main body 101 according to the present embodiment is configured by the housing groove 26 of the rear extending piece 27 and the extending recess 50a of the open guide 50.

As shown in FIG. 1, the optical connector 100 can be detachably attached with a guide rail 130 for guiding a pressing fixing member 120 to be pushed into the pressing member receiving portion 16 at the rear end of the rear housing 15.
The guide rail 130 is attached to the rear end portion (specifically, the pressing member receiving portion 16) of the housing 100H of the optical connector 100 by attaching the attachment portion 132 at one end in the longitudinal direction of the elongated rail portion 131 to the rail portion 131. Is attached to the rear side of the bottom plate portion 16a of the pressing member receiving portion 16 so as to extend the bottom plate portion 16a. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mounting portion 132 of the guide rail 130 in the illustrated example is brought into contact with a contact plate 133 that is in contact with the bottom plate portion 16 a of the pressing member receiving portion 16 of the optical connector 100 from below. Rail engagement projecting from the projecting claws 135 at the projecting ends of the pair of projecting elastic engagement claws 134 on the outer surface side opposite to the inner surfaces facing each other of the pair of side plate portions 16b in the pressing member receiving portion 16 By engaging the upper end of the wall 16f (see FIGS. 2, 11 (a) and 11 (b)), the abutting plate 133 is pressed against the bottom plate portion 16a of the pressing member receiving portion 16, and the pressing member receiving portion 16 is pressed. It can be attached securely.
The mounting portion 132 may be any configuration as long as the guide rail 130 can be detachably attached to the rear end portion of the housing 100H of the optical connector 100, and is not limited to the structure of the illustrated example.

When the guide rail 130 is attached to the optical connector 100, the pressing member guide surface 136 on the rail portion 131 on which the pressing fixing member 120 is placed has the bottom plate portion 16 a of the pressing member receiving portion 16 of the optical connector 100. It arrange | positions in the position which continues on the back side of an upper surface (surface of the baseplate part 16a upper side in FIGS. 1-3). When the guide rail 130 is attached to the optical connector 100, the pressing fixing member 120 slides from a position separated on the pressing member guide surface 136 of the rail portion 131 to the rear side of the pressing member receiving portion 16 of the optical connector 100. By making it advance, it can be moved from the pressing member guide surface 132 onto the upper surface of the bottom plate portion 16a and pushed into the pressing member receiving portion 16 inside.
At this time, in the pressing fixing member 120, the protruding portion that protrudes straight forward from the pressing fixing member 120 due to the rigidity of the insertion optical fiber 1 itself is at the central axis of the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 of the optical connector 100. The rail portion 131 of the guide rail 130 can be advanced while remaining on the rearward extension of the through-hole 63 in the direction along the direction. As a result, it is possible to smoothly perform the operation of inserting the protruding portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 from the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 into the receiving groove 26 by the advancement of the pressing fixing member 120. This effectively contributes to preventing buckling of the part.

Note that the guide rail 130 attached to the bottom plate portion 16a of the pressing member receiving portion 16 elastically deforms the elastic engaging claw 134 of the attaching portion 132 to thereby deform the rail engaging wall 16f of the pressing member receiving portion 16 of the protruding claw 135. By releasing the engagement with the upper end, the optical connector 100 can be detached. The guide rail 130 attached to the pressing member receiving portion 16 is removed from the optical connector 100 after the pressing fixing member 120 enters the pressing member receiving portion 16 of the optical connector 100 and guiding of the pressing fixing member 120 becomes unnecessary. .
Further, the pressing of the pressing fixing member 120 into the pressing member receiving portion 16 of the optical connector 100 is not necessarily performed using the guide rail 130, and may be performed without using the guide rail 130.

  As described with reference to FIG. 28B and the like, the movable guide 62 of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion of the optical connector 100 is from the rear end of the accommodation groove 26 (more specifically, the rear end of the fiber accommodation region FS). The insertion optical fiber 1 can be moved forward from the initial position separated by a distance L1 that does not buckle during coating removal. The protruding length of the protruding portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 is such that when the distal end of the inserted optical fiber 1 comes into contact with the rear end of the coating removal portion 31, the pressing fixing member 120 is moved backward from the rear end of the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62. The length of the insertion optical fiber 1 is set to a length that can be separated by a distance L2 that does not buckle during removal of the coating.

  In this embodiment, the movable guide 62 reaches the advance limit position by the advancement of the pressing fixing member 120. The length of the protrusion of the insertion optical fiber 1 (protrusion length) is the distance from the pressing fixing member 120 to the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12 when the movable guide 62 is moved to the forward limit position (specifically, the optical fiber support). Distance from the portion 129 to the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12). Thereby, after the bare optical fiber 3 from which the coating 2 has been removed by the coating removing member 30 hits the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12, the opening of the receiving groove 26 by the movement of the opening guide 50 is completed, and the insertion optical fiber 1 Deflection is allowed. In addition, the length of the protruding portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 is determined when the movable guide 62 reaches the advance limit position by advancing the pressing fixing member 120 in consideration of the material, outer diameter, and the like of the insertion optical fiber 1. The length is set such that a bending deformation having a magnitude capable of ensuring an intended butting force (butting force) between the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 in a butted state.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 26 and the like, in this embodiment, the protruding portion of the insertion optical fiber 1 protrudes from the tapered front fiber support portion 129 which is provided on the front side of the pressing fixing member 120. Point to the part to be. The distance L1 between the rear end of the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 and the pressing fixing member 120 when the front end of the insertion optical fiber 1 comes into contact with the coating removal blade 31 is the rear end of the through hole 63 of the movable guide 62 and the front side. The distance between the front end of the fiber support portion 129 is indicated.
The front fiber support portion 129 has a tapered outer peripheral surface that can come into surface contact with the inner surface of the tapered concave portion 64 on the rear side of the movable guide 62. When the pressing fixing member 120 is connected to the movable guide 62, the outer peripheral surface of the front fiber support portion 129 housed in the tapered recess 64 of the movable guide 62 comes into surface contact with the tapered recess 64.

  As shown in FIG. 27, the front-side fiber support portion 129 has a halved structure including a pair of support portion halves 129a and 129b. The front-side fiber support portion 129 closes the support portion half body 129b protruding from the front end of the holding lid 127 to the support portion half body 129a protruding from the front end of the holding base 123, thereby supporting the support portion half of the holding base 123. The insertion optical fiber 1 disposed in the fiber groove 129c formed to extend in the front-rear direction in the body 129a is pressed into the fiber groove 129c by the support half 129b of the pressing lid 127.

  FIG. 15 is the same time point corresponding to FIG. 28C, that is, the time point when the tip of the bare optical fiber 3 whose coating has been removed has hit the rear end of the built-in optical fiber 12, and in the closed position on the fiber accommodation groove 26. The open guide 50 exists and the open guide 50 shows the state which controls the bending deformation of the insertion optical fiber 1. During the coating removal of the insertion optical fiber 1 by the coating removal blade 31, the optical fiber holding piece 42 and the opening guide 50 are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the insertion optical fiber 1 as shown in FIGS. 16 (a) and 16 (b). Are alternately present, and both cover the insertion optical fiber 1, whereby the deformation of the insertion optical fiber 1 can be restricted.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, in the open guide 50, a portion (guide side fiber pressing portion 50 f) that covers the insertion optical fiber 1 is formed in a portion facing the protruding portion 54 (hereinafter referred to as a pressing side portion). ing. The optical fiber pressing portion 59 at the tip of the optical fiber pressing piece 42 is accommodated in a pressing portion receiving recess 50g formed in a notch shape in the pressing side portion extending in the connector front-rear direction of the opening guide 50.
The protrusion 54 protruding from the groove forming surface 51b of the rear extension piece 27 and extending along the receiving groove 26 has a notch through which the optical fiber pressing pieces 42 can be inserted at two locations in the front-rear direction. A portion 55 is formed. The pressing portion receiving recesses 50g of the opening guide 50 are formed at two locations that are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction of the pressing side portion, corresponding to the two notches 55 of the protruding portion 54. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 14, the optical fiber pressing piece 42 passes through the window 15 c of the rear housing 15, the window 61 a of the restraining sleeve portion 61 of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion, and the cutout portion 55. Is provided. Two windows 15 c of the rear housing 15 and two windows 61 a of the restraining sleeve portion 61 of the movable guide 60 with the restraining portion are formed at positions corresponding to the two cutout portions 55 of the protrusion 54.
The optical connector of the illustrated example is provided with two optical fiber pressing pieces 42 corresponding to the two pressing portion receiving recesses 50 g and the two notches 55 of the opening guide 50. When the opening guide 50 is in the closed position, the optical connector 100 includes, as shown in FIGS. 8, 9, 14, and 15, an optical fiber pressing portion 59 housed in each pressing portion housing recess 50g, The guide side fiber pressing portions 50f, which are portions where the pressing portion receiving recesses 50g on the pressing side portion of the open guide 50 are not formed, are alternately arranged in the front-rear direction (longitudinal direction of the receiving groove 26). .

  There is a large space inside the housing of the optical connector, for example, between the clamp portion 20 and the movable guide 62. However, since the open guide 50 exists in the closed position with respect to the fiber accommodation groove 26, the open guide 50 A gap 56 between the front end and the clamp portion 20 and a gap 57 between the rear end of the housing groove 26 and the movable guide 62 are limited to a distance (for example, 2.1 mm or less) in which the optical fiber 1 is not buckled.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show a state corresponding to FIG. 28D, that is, a state where the deflection restriction of the insertion optical fiber 1 by the open guide 50 is released after the removal of the coating 2 is completed.
As shown in FIG. 20, in this embodiment, the open guide 50 moves to the side of the fiber accommodation groove 26, so that it is above the fiber accommodation groove 26 (with respect to the groove forming surface 51 b of the rear extension piece 27). A gap 53 in which the insertion optical fiber 1 forms the bending deformation 4 is ensured (in a direction perpendicular to the receiving groove 26).
As shown in FIG. 4, the guide base portion 51 with respect to the open guide 50 has a protrusion 54 protruding to the side of the fiber housing groove 26 in a range where the optical fiber pressing piece 42 is not provided in the longitudinal direction of the insertion optical fiber 1. The gap 53 that forms the deflection deformation 4 is formed between the protrusion 54 and the open guide 50.
The protrusion support portion 43 extends from one end in the longitudinal direction of the elongated plate-like base member 45 along a virtual extension in the longitudinal direction of the base member 45. The insertion piece 41 and the optical fiber pressing piece 42 protrude in the same direction from a plurality of portions in the longitudinal direction of the elongated member body formed by the protrusion support portion 43 and the base member 45.

The load acting between the end surfaces of the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 after the bending deformation 4 depends on the reaction force from the coating removal portion to the coating, the strength of the biasing force of the clamp spring 24, and the like. And it can change suitably, but can be in the range of 0.3N-1N (30g-100g), for example.
The interval G (first deflection width) between the plurality of optical fiber holding pieces 42, 42 depends on the material, outer diameter, etc. of the inserted optical fiber 1, but a quartz-based light having a general resin coating diameter of 0.25 mm. In the case of a fiber, about 5-10 mm is mentioned. The distance G at which the deflection deformation 4 occurs with respect to the pressing force applied to the end face of the inserted optical fiber 1 depends on parameters such as elastic modulus determined depending on the material, outer diameter, etc. of the inserted optical fiber 1. It can be estimated accordingly. Also, a suitable interval G can be determined experimentally.

The distance H between the optical fiber holding piece 42 and the rear cover member 23 of the clamp portion 20 is smaller than the gap G between the optical fiber holding pieces 42, 42. Therefore, there is no buckling or deflection of the optical fiber. Does not occur.
It is preferable that the guide base portion 51 having the receiving groove 26 be integrated with the clamp base portion 21 of the clamp portion 20 because the receiving groove 26 can be formed without interruption.

FIG. 21 shows a state in which the inserted optical fiber 1 and the built-in optical fiber 12 are sandwiched by the clamp base portion 21 and the lid members 22 and 23 and the butt connection is maintained. As shown in FIG. 7, the assembly member 40 extends from the base member 45 and a main unit portion 40 </ b> A in which optical fiber pressing pieces 42, 42 project from an assembly member base member 45 (hereinafter simply referred to as a base member 45). And a movable unit 40 </ b> B in which an insertion piece 41 protrudes from the protrusion support 43. As described above, the optical fiber pressing portion 59 is provided at the protruding end of each optical fiber pressing piece 42.
The main unit portion 40 </ b> A has a pair of elastic operation pieces 44, 44 that extend from the base member 45 and are disposed on both sides of the protrusion support portion 43. Then, as shown in FIG. 22, the assembly member 40 is a thin-walled portion formed at the end on the base member 45 side of the protrusion support portion 43 by operating the elastic operation pieces 44 and 44 in a direction in which they approach each other. 46 can be elastically deformed to displace the movable unit portion 40B in the direction away from the clamp portion 20. Accordingly, the insertion piece 41 can be extracted by operating the elastic operation piece 44 integrally provided in the assembly member 40 without preparing another tool.

In other words, on both sides of the projection support portion 43 facing the elastic operation piece 44, the elastic operation piece 44 extends from the projection side where the insertion piece 41 of the projection support portion 43 projects to the opposite back side. An inclined surface 43a projecting to the side is formed. Therefore, the movable unit 40B can be displaced in a direction away from the clamp part 20 by pressing the projection support part 43 from both sides by the pair of elastic operation pieces 44, 44 brought close to each other.
Further, in the elastic operation piece 44 of the assembly member 40 in the illustrated example, a portion facing the inclined surface 43a of the protrusion support portion 43 is an inclined surface 44a extending in parallel to the inclined surface 43a. When pressing 43, the movable unit part 40B can be reliably displaced in the direction away from the clamp part 20 by the contact of the inclined surfaces 43a and 44a.

  The assembly member 40 in the illustrated example is an integrally molded product made of plastic. The protrusion support portion 43 of the assembly member 40 in the illustrated example is formed in a plate shape perpendicular to the flat plate-like base member 45. The thin portion 46 indicates a portion where the protrusion support portion 43 is locally thinned by a groove 47 formed at an end portion on the base member 45 side.

Further, the assembly member 40 has a thin wall formed at the end on the base member 45 side of the projection support portion 43 when the projection support portion 43 is pressed from both sides by a pair of elastic operation pieces 44, 44 brought close to each other. The protrusion 46 becomes a hinge part and the protrusion support part 43 tilts with respect to the base member 45, and the movable unit part 40 </ b> B can be displaced in a direction away from the clamp part 20.
As a result, the assembly member 40 is configured such that after the front lid member 22 that sandwiches the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 between the clamp base portion 21 is closed, the coated optical fiber 1 is clamped to the clamp base after a slight time difference. The rear lid member 23 sandwiched between the portion 21 can be closed. Thereby, the butt connection of the bare optical fiber 3 and the built-in optical fiber 12 can be improved.
The operation of the elastic operation piece 44 is a simple operation such as “pinch” with one hand, and is excellent in workability.

FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 show a state corresponding to FIG. 28E, that is, a state where the optical fiber pressing pieces 42 and 42 are removed from the accommodation groove 26 after the insertion optical fiber 1 is fixed. As a result, a large bending curve 7 having a bending radius R of about 10 mm is formed in the insertion optical fiber 1 accommodated in the fiber accommodation groove 26, so that the loss due to the deflection of the insertion optical fiber 1 is reduced. can do. The deflection deformation 7 at this time is a deflection width of a separation distance between the movable guide 62 and the clamp portion 20 (specifically, the rear cover member 23 of the second clamp portion holding and fixing the insertion optical fiber 1) in the optical connector. This is a bending (bending) deformation (second deflection width 7a). When the optical fiber holding pieces 42, 42 are removed from the top of the housing groove 26, the insertion optical fiber 1 has a bending width that is much larger than the gap G (first bending width 4a) of the optical fiber holding pieces 42, 42. Bending deformation can be moderated.
The optical connector 100 of the present embodiment can be assembled by the above procedure.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the illustrated optical connector 100 includes a retaining cover 17 pivotally attached to the rear housing 15 as a retaining means for the pressing fixing member 120. As shown in FIGS. 1, 11 (a), 11 (b), the retaining cover 17 is positioned above the pressing fixing member 120 housed in the pressing member receiving portion 16 at the rear end portion of the rear housing 15 (FIG. 1). 3 and FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, a cover body 17H having a configuration in which elongated rotary arms 17e are provided in parallel to each other on both sides of a cover plate 17d to be covered from above. The retaining cover 17 has a pair of rotating arms 17e protruding from the front end of the cover plate 17d to the rear housing 15 by a rotating shaft 17a (see FIG. 3). The housing 100 </ b> H is pivotally attached to the housing 100 </ b> H so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis in the interval direction of the pair of side plate portions 16 b of the receiving portion 16.

  The retaining cover 17 can cover the cover plate 17d on the pressing fixing member 120 accommodated in the pressing member receiving portion 16 by rotating around the rotating shaft 17a (FIGS. 23 and 23). 24). The position with respect to the pressing member receiving portion 16 at this time is also referred to as a covering position. In addition, when the retaining cover 17 is disposed at the covering position with respect to the pressing member receiving portion 16, the cover plate 17 d is oriented along the bottom plate portion 16 a of the pressing member receiving portion 16. In addition, the retaining cover 17 is a pair of pivots that project in a rib shape on the side of the cover plate 17d facing the bottom plate portion 16a of the pressing member receiving portion 16 (hereinafter also referred to as the back side) when the cover plate 17d is disposed at the covering position. The protruding end portions (upper end portions) of the pair of side plate portions 16b protruding from the bottom plate portion 16a of the pressing member receiving portion 16 are accommodated between the arms 17e.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and the like, a latch body 17H of the retaining cover 17 is provided with a latch 17f that keeps the retaining cover 17 in the covered position by engaging with the pressing member receiving portion 16. . As shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, the pressing member receiving portion 16 of the optical connector 100 in the illustrated example is provided on the left and right side surfaces of the pressing member receiving portion 16 below the rear end portions of the pair of side plate portions 16b. It has an engagement recess 16g that is recessed from. The retaining cover 17 is configured such that the protrusion 17g of the front end of the latch 17f projecting from the both sides of the cover main body 17H to the back side from the left and right sides coincident with the left and right direction of the pressing member receiving part 16 is provided on the pressing member receiving part 16. By opening the engaging recess 16g from both the left and right sides and engaging with the pressing member receiving portion 16, the opening to the pressing member receiving portion 16 is restricted, and the state of being placed at the covering position can be kept stable.

As shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, when the retaining cover 17 is disposed at the cover position, the retraction restricting piece protrudes from the end opposite to the rotating shaft 17a of the cover body 17H to the back surface side. 17 b can be arranged on the rear side of the pressing fixing member 120.
The retreat restricting piece 17b avoids the optical fiber cable 5 extending rearward from the pressing fixing member 120, and the rear side of the left and right wall portions of the pressing fixing member 120 that coincides with the horizontal direction of the pressing member receiving portion 16. Placed in. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when the flange portion 10b at the rear end portion of the ferrule 10 of the connector body 101 is in contact with the stopper wall portion 14a inside the front end portion of the housing 100H from the rear side as shown in FIG. When the connector main body 101 is at the front movement limit position with respect to the housing 100H), the connector main body 101 is disposed at a position separated rearward from the pressing fixing member 120.
When the connector main body 101 is at the front side movement limit position with respect to the housing 100H, the rearward separation distance of the retraction restricting piece 17b from the pressing fixing member 120 is, for example, from the front side movement limit position of the connector main body 101 to the housing 100H to the rear side. Is set equal to or shorter than the movable distance (the amount that can be pushed into the rear side of the housing 100H). Thereby, the position where the pressing fixing member 120 abuts against the retreat restricting piece 17b is set as the rear side movement limit position with respect to the housing 100H.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 24, the retaining cover 17 has an elastic locking piece 124 of the pressing fixing member 120 engaged with the guide main body 65 of the movable guide 62 when disposed at the cover position, The elastic locking piece 124 is inserted into the gap between the side wall portion 16b of the pressing member receiving portion 16 opposite to the guide main body 65 via the elastic locking piece 124, and the elastic locking piece 124 is disengaged from the guide main body 65. It has the engagement lock piece 17c which prevents this. The engagement lock piece 17c protrudes from the left and right sides of the cover main body 17H to the back surface side, and is inserted into the gap to elastically deform the elastic locking piece 124 in a direction away from the guide main body 65. And the engagement state of the elastic locking piece 124 with the guide body 65 is kept stable.

  The retaining cover 17 can be disposed at the cover position any time after the movable guide 62 has reached the advance limit position by the advancement of the pressing fixing member 120.

Although the present invention has been described based on the best mode, the present invention is not limited to the above-described best mode, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, the specific configuration of the optical connector is not limited as long as it conforms to the technical idea of the present invention. The specific procedure for assembling the optical connector can also be modified according to the specific configuration of the optical connector.

The structure of the clamp part is not particularly limited as long as it is a structure that aligns the optical fiber and clamps and holds the butt connection between the end faces. For example, the number of lids facing the substrate of the element may be one or more.
The present invention can also be applied to an optical connector in which a plurality of built-in optical fibers are inserted and fixed to a ferrule. In this case, if the alignment mechanism such as the positioning groove provided in the clamp part is provided at least for the number of the built-in optical fibers, each of the optical fibers terminated by the optical connector is connected to the built-in optical fiber by the aligning mechanism. It can be optically connected to the fiber.
The pressing fixing member to be fixed to the insertion optical fiber is not limited to a jacket holding member that holds the optical fiber cable terminal and is attached to the optical fiber cable terminal. As the pressing fixing member, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a coated optical fiber used as an insertion optical fiber can be directly gripped and attached to the coated optical fiber.
An optical connector that does not have a housing for storing a ferrule can also be used. For example, the connector body 101 itself of the optical connector 100 of the above-described embodiment can be used as an optical connector.

Moreover, although the optical connector of the structure which comprises a movable guide was illustrated in the above-mentioned embodiment, what does not comprise the movable guide is employable as an optical connector which concerns on this invention.
That is, as the optical connector, the open guide is slid relative to, for example, the base member (the guide base portion in the above embodiment) in a state in which the bare optical fiber whose coating is removed by the coating removing unit and the built-in optical fiber are abutted with each other. Any structure that can be moved so as to form a space on the guide portion of the base member by separation from the base member or the like may be used.
With such a configuration, the optical connector allows the insertion optical fiber to be flexibly deformed after smoothly removing the coating in a state where the open guide is disposed at the closed position before being separated from the base member. The butt connection between the bare optical fiber at the tip of the fiber and the built-in optical fiber can be made better.

The advancement of the open guide may be directly performed by the optical fiber gripping part (in the above embodiment, the pressing fixing member) without using the movable guide. As a structure for separating the release guide from the base member based on the advancement of the optical fiber gripping portion, the release guide is pushed obliquely forward, for example, by pressing the release guide with a movable guide that is pushed forward by the optical fiber gripping portion. The present invention is not limited to a configuration in which the base member is separated (separated) by movement or the like. As this structure, for example, a configuration in which the open guide can be separated (separated) from the base member by directly pressing the open guide with the optical fiber gripping portion may be employed.
In addition, the insertion optical fiber does not necessarily need to have an optical fiber gripping portion fixed thereto, and an insertion optical fiber without an optical fiber gripping portion attached may be used.
As the optical fiber gripping part, a structure that can be detachably fixed to the optical fiber can be adopted. In this regard, as an optical connector assembled at the distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber, a configuration in which the optical fiber gripping portion is not provided in addition to the configuration in which the optical fiber gripping portion is provided may be employed. In other words, the optical fiber gripping portion may or may not be included in the constituent requirements of the optical connector assembled at the distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber.

In the above-described embodiment, the movable guide is pushed from the rear side by the optical fiber gripping portion to shorten the gap between the base member (the guide base portion 51 in the above-described embodiment) and the open guide (the deflection width of the inserted optical fiber). However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can adopt a configuration in which a space (deflection forming space) is formed on the guide portion of the base member by moving the base member and / or the open guide based on the advance of the optical fiber gripping portion. Here, the movable guide is pushed by the optical fiber gripping portion from an initial position set at a position where it abuts on the rear end of the base member and / or the rear end of the open guide, thereby shortening the gap between the base member and / or the open guide. Can be advanced.
In the assembly work of the optical connector 100 to the distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber 1, the open guide moved from the closed position allowing the deflection deformation of the insertion optical fiber is arranged at the open position. The start of the opening guide based on the advancement of the optical fiber gripping portion may be performed after the abutment (butting) of the bare optical fiber 3 with the coating removed against the rear end of the built-in optical fiber. It may be before the abutment of the fiber.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Coated optical fiber (insertion optical fiber), 2 ... Coated, 3 ... Bare optical fiber, 4 ... Deflection, 4a ... 1st deflection width, 7 ... Deflection deformation, 7a ... 2nd deflection width, 10 ... Ferrule, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Built-in optical fiber, 20 ... Clamp part, 21 ... 2nd base member (clamp base part), 22 ... 2nd cover member (front cover member), 25 ... Alignment groove (V groove), 26 ... Guide part ( Optical fiber housing groove), 30 ... Coating removal member, 31 ... Coating removal part (coating removal blade), 40 ... Assembly member, 41 ... First projection part (insertion piece), 42 ... Second projection part, Third projection Part (optical fiber pressing piece), 43 ... projection support part, 44 ... elastic operation piece, 45 ... assembly member base member, 50 ... opening guide, 50a ... guide part (extended recess), 51 ... first base member ( Guide base part), 52 ... separation structure (rail part 52), 58 ... first lid 59, optical fiber pressing part, 60 ... pressing part, movable guide (movable guide with restraint part), 61 ... pressing part (restraining sleeve), 62 ... movable guide, 63 ... (movable guide) guide structure (through hole) ), 100... Optical connector, 101... Optical connector (connector body), 110... Guide structure (rear guide part), 120 ... Optical fiber gripping part (fixing member for pressing), P.

Claims (6)

A first base member and a first lid member that are sandwiched between guide portions provided on the opposing surfaces of the base member and the open guide in a state where the insertion optical fibers are overlapped with each other so as to be movable in the front-rear direction and restrict the deflection. When,
A coating that is disposed in front of the first base member and the first lid member and removes the coating from the distal end portion of the insertion optical fiber that is sandwiched between the first base member and the first lid member and advances. A removal section;
A clamp portion capable of gripping and fixing a butted portion of the bare optical fiber whose coating is removed by the coating removing portion and the built-in optical fiber built in the ferrule;
In a state where the bare optical fiber and the built-in optical fiber are abutted with each other, an open guide that is a part of the first lid member is moved so as to form a space on the guide portion of the base member, and the insertion light Deflecting the fiber with the first deflection width in the space;
In the state where the insertion optical fiber is bent with the first deflection width, the clamp portion grips and fixes the butted portion of the bare optical fiber and the built-in optical fiber,
While holding and fixing, the optical fiber pressing portion which is the other portion of the first lid member is moved so as to further form a space on the guide portion of the base member, and the insertion optical fiber is moved to the first deflection width. An optical connector that can be flexibly deformed with a larger second deflection width.   The insertion optical fiber is advanced by advancing the optical fiber gripping part attached by gripping the insertion optical fiber, and the release guide is moved on the guide part of the base member based on the advancement of the optical fiber gripping part. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the optical connector is moved so as to form a space. The optical fiber holding part is provided through a distance of the first deflection width from another optical fiber holding part, and is opposed to the guide part of the first base member;
The open guide is opposed to the first base member between the other optical fiber pressing portion and the optical fiber pressing portion;
In a state where the insertion optical fiber is pressed by the other optical fiber pressing portion and the optical fiber pressing portion, the open guide is moved so as to form a space on the guide portion of the base member, and the insertion optical fiber is moved. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the optical connector can be bent and deformed with the first bending width. A first protrusion that is interposed between a second base member and a second lid member that are gripped and fixed in an overlapped state and secures a gap for inserting the bare optical fiber; and And an assembly member having a second protrusion including the optical fiber pressing portion that presses the insertion optical fiber between the first base member and the guide portion of the first base member,
In the state where the insertion optical fiber is bent with the first deflection width, the first protrusion is removed from between the second base member and the second lid member, so that the bare optical fiber and the built-in optical fiber are removed. Hold the optical fiber butt and hold it,
The optical fiber pressing portion can be moved so as to form a space on the guide portion of the base member by removing the second protrusion including the optical fiber pressing portion from the first base member. Item 4. The optical connector according to Item 3. The assembly member further includes a third protrusion including the other optical fiber pressing portion that is attached to the first base member and presses the insertion optical fiber between the first base member and the guide portion of the first base member. And
In the state where the insertion optical fiber is bent with the first deflection width, the first protrusion is removed from between the second base member and the second lid member, so that the bare optical fiber and the built-in optical fiber are removed. Hold the optical fiber butt and hold it,
By removing the second protrusion including the optical fiber pressing portion and the third protrusion including the other optical fiber pressing portion from the first base member, the other optical fiber pressing portion and the optical fiber pressing portion are removed. The optical connector according to claim 4, wherein the portion can be moved so as to form a space on the guide portion of the base member. The assembly member projects from the assembly member base member by projecting the first projection to a projection support portion extending from the assembly member base member projecting from the second projection, and is provided on both sides of the projection support portion. 6. The optical connector according to claim 4, wherein the protrusion supporting portion can be displaced in a direction away from the clamp portion by bringing the pair of arranged elastic operation pieces closer to each other.

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