JP2013044759A - Optical connection component - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical connection component which eliminates the risk of buckling a coated optical fiber when removing the coating and has high reliability and assembly easiness.SOLUTION: An optical connection component 1 is provided which connects a coated optical fiber 11 and an optical component 12 with each other, and comprises a coating removing unit 64 which is capable of removing a coating 14 of the coated optical fiber 11, a front hole 61 which is provided forward rather than the coating removing unit 64, a rear hole 63 which is provided backward rather than the coating removing unit 64, a crimping unit 71 which crimps the coated optical fiber, and a protecting unit 72 which extends forward from the crimping unit 71 or backward from the rear hole 63 and covers an outer periphery of the coated optical fiber 11. The optical connection component is characterized in that the protecting unit 72 includes an opening part 72a which opens a part of the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber 11 and is constituted so as to be closed, and at the back of the rear hole 63 or in front of the crimping unit 71, a protecting unit accommodation recess 66 is formed which accommodates the protecting unit 72 therein in the state where the opening part 72a is closed.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connection component for connecting optical fibers, and particularly to an optical connection component having a coating removal function.

  An optical connection component that can position and connect a coated optical fiber with high accuracy by a simple connection operation is known (see Patent Document 1). This optical connecting component 500 shown in FIG. 11 is attached to a coated optical fiber 511 having a coating on the outer periphery of a glass fiber. The optical connection component 500 includes a short optical fiber 512 at the end, a ferrule 520 having a glass fiber insertion hole 521 that communicates with the short optical fiber 512, and a short optical fiber 512 inserted into the glass fiber insertion hole 521. And a coating removal unit 564 that removes the coating from the end of the coated optical fiber 511 by the insertion force of the coated optical fiber 511.

  A bending space 562 that can be accommodated in a state where the optical fiber 505 is bent is formed between the fixing portion 550 and the coating removal portion 564 of the optical connecting component 500. That is, the coated optical fiber 511 is accommodated while being bent in the bending space 562, and the coated optical fiber 511 is fixed in the fixing portion 550, whereby the glass fiber inserted into the glass fiber insertion hole 521 of the ferrule 520. An elastic biasing force toward the connection surface of the short optical fiber 512 built in the ferrule 520 is applied to the distal end surface of 505. Therefore, the connection state between the short optical fiber 512 and the optical fiber 505 is stably maintained.

  In the optical connection component 500 configured as described above, when the coated optical fiber 511 provided with a coating on the outer periphery of the glass fiber is inserted into the optical connection component 500, the coating removal unit 564 removes the coated optical fiber 511 from the end of the coated optical fiber 511. The glass fiber whose coating is removed and exposed at the end is inserted into the glass fiber insertion hole 521, and the coated optical fiber 511 is fixed by the fixing unit 550. Accordingly, it is not necessary to perform the coating removal work before inserting the optical connection component 500, and the coated optical fiber 511 is positioned with high accuracy on the basis of the outer periphery of the core fiber from which the coating is removed from the coated optical fiber 511. Then, it can be connected to the short optical fiber 512.

JP 2008-292709 A

  In the optical connecting component 500 described in Patent Document 1, the coated optical fiber 511 is inserted into the optical connecting component 500 in a state where the coated grip portion 570 attached to the coated optical fiber 511 is gripped. At this time, the coated optical fiber 511 is inserted in a no-load state until the tip of the coated optical fiber 511 comes into contact with the coating removal unit 564, but when the tip of the coated optical fiber 511 comes into contact with the coating removal unit 564, the coated light A buckling load is applied to the fiber 511, and the coated optical fiber 511 may be buckled between the rear of the fixed portion 550 and the covering grip portion 570 as shown in FIG.

  Specifically, when fixing the coated optical fiber 511 to the optical connection component 500, the coating gripping portion 570 of the coated optical fiber 511 is gripped and the tip of the coated optical fiber 511 is moved from the rear side of the optical connection component 500. Insert to butt position 568. At this time, the tip of the coated optical fiber 511 comes into contact with the coating removing unit 564 to remove the coating, and only the core fiber is inserted up to the butting position 568.

  Since the coating removal unit 564 is provided on the rear side of the butting position 568, the coating gripping unit 570 located near the rear of the fixing unit 550 when the two optical fibers 511 and 512 are butted as shown in FIG. At the start of the coating removal, as shown in FIG. 12, it is further away from the rear end of the fixing portion 550.

  That is, when removing the coating, there is no member blocking the deformation of the coated optical fiber 511 in the side (the radial direction of the coated optical fiber 511) between the fixed portion 550 and the coated gripping portion 570. The attached optical fiber 511 can be freely deformed laterally. Therefore, if buckling occurs in the coated optical fiber 511 in this region, a compressive stress cannot be applied to the distal end surface of the coated optical fiber 511, and thus the coating may not be removed.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical connection component that can reliably remove the coating.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following.
(1) An optical connection component for connecting a coated optical fiber and an optical component to each other,
A coating removing unit capable of removing the coating from the front end of the coated optical fiber by contacting the front end of the coated optical fiber;
A front hole portion provided in front of the coating removing portion, and the coated optical fiber being associated with the optical member;
A rear hole provided behind the covering removal portion;
A gripping part for gripping the coated optical fiber;
A protective part that extends forward from the gripping part or rearward from the rear hole part and covers an outer periphery of the coated optical fiber, and
The protective part is provided with an open part that opens a part of the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the coated optical fiber,
The open portion is configured to be able to be closed after covering the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber,
An optical connection component, wherein a protective part storage recess for storing the protective part in a state where the open part is closed is formed behind the rear hole part or in front of the grip part.
(2) The protection part is provided to extend forward of the grip part, and the protection part constitutes a covering grip part attached to the coated optical fiber together with the grip part,
The gripping portion has a gripping portion fiber insertion groove that opens in a part of the outer periphery of the gripping portion,
The outer diameter of the protective part is smaller than the outer diameter of the grip part,
The protective part storage recess is smaller in diameter than the grip part,
The optical connection component according to (1), wherein the opening portion can be opened and closed by a groove closing member attached to the outer periphery of the protection portion.
(3) The grip portion includes a lid portion capable of closing the grip portion fiber insertion groove,
The groove closing member is attached to the protection portion so as to be rotatable in the circumferential direction,
The groove closing member includes a rotation guide protrusion protruding in a radial direction,
When the grip portion fiber insertion groove is closed by the lid portion, the lid portion rotates to turn the groove closing member when the lid portion comes into contact with the rotation guide projection, thereby closing the grip portion fiber insertion groove. The optical connecting component according to (2), which is characterized.
(4) The optical connection component according to (2) or (3), wherein an inner diameter of the protection part storage recess is not more than four times an inner diameter of the rear hole part.
(5) The main body is formed with a gripping portion fixing concave portion for fixing the gripping portion on the rear side of the protective portion storing concave portion, wherein any one of (2) to (4) is characterized. Optical connection parts as described in 1.
(6) The optical connection component according to any one of (2) to (5), wherein the rotation guide protrusion is provided in the vicinity of the opening in the groove closing member.
(7) The protection part is provided to extend in front of the grip part,
The outer diameter of the protective part is smaller than the outer diameter of the grip part,
The protective part storage recess is substantially the same size as the outer diameter of the protective part,
The protective part can be deformed in the circumferential direction to close the opening part,
The optical connection component according to (1), wherein the opening portion is attached to the main body in a state in which the opening portion is deformed in a circumferential direction to close the opening portion.
(8) The protective part storage recess provided at the rear of the rear hole part is provided with a tapered part whose diameter increases toward the rear,
The optical connection component according to (7), wherein the coated optical fiber is inserted into the rear hole portion, and the protection portion is deformed in the circumferential direction by the taper portion to close the open portion. .
(9) The optical connection component according to (7) or (8), wherein an inner diameter of the protective part storage recess is not more than four times an inner diameter of the rear hole part.
(10) Any one of (7) to (9), wherein the main body is formed with a gripping portion fixing recess for fixing the gripping portion on the rear side of the protection portion storing recess. Optical connection parts as described in 1.

  According to the optical connecting component according to the present invention, the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber that protrudes from the main body at the time of coating removal is covered with the protective portion in front of the gripping portion or behind the rear hole portion. The deformation of the optical fiber to the side is suppressed, and there is no possibility that the coated optical fiber is bent when the coating is removed. Therefore, the coating can be reliably removed at the time of coating removal.

It is sectional drawing which shows the optical connector which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the coating | coated holding part of the optical connector shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing of the optical fiber with a coating | cover of the optical connector shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating a coating removal state in a coating removal unit of the optical connector illustrated in FIG. 1. It is sectional drawing which shows the state before insertion of the optical fiber with a cover of the optical connector shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view of a covering grip portion shown in FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing which shows the state at the time of the coating removal of the optical connector shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state at the time of provisional pre-deflection of the optical connector shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the coating | coated holding part of the optical connector which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the insertion process of the optical fiber with a cover of the optical connector which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the conventional optical connector. It is sectional drawing which shows the buckling state of the optical fiber with a coating of the conventional optical connector.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, an optical connecting component according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of an embodiment of an optical connector which is an optical connection component. The optical connector 1 is a component that optically connects the coated optical fiber 11 and a short optical fiber 12 as an optical component to face each other.

  The optical connector 1 includes a connector main body (main body) 60, a ferrule 20 provided in front of the connector main body 60, and a covering grip portion (gripping portion) 70 fixed to the rear end of the connector main body 60. Here, the front and rear refer to the front and rear in the connection direction of the optical connector 1, for example, the front is the left side in FIG. 1 where the short optical fiber 12 is located, and the rear is the coated optical fiber 11. Means the right side in FIG.

  The short optical fiber 12 is inserted into the ferrule 20 and the connector main body 60, and a covering grip 70 is attached to the coated optical fiber 11 and inserted from the rear of the connector main body 60. The coated optical fiber 11 and the short optical fiber 12 are abutted at a butting position set in the connector main body 60 and both are optically connected.

  The ferrule 20 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a chamfered peripheral edge on the tip surface, and a fixed hole portion 21 is formed coaxially therein. The ferrule 20 may be a general zirconia ferrule used for optical communication. Since the ferrule 20 is made of zirconia, it is excellent in weather resistance and mechanical strength.

  The short optical fiber 12 has its end face polished and fixed to a fixing hole 21 formed in the ferrule 20 with an adhesive (not shown). The short optical fiber 12 fixed to the fixed hole portion 21 is led out from the rear portion of the ferrule 20 by a predetermined length, and is inserted into a butt hole portion 32 described later formed on the front side of the connector main body 60.

  The covering grip part (grip part) 70 is a member attached so as to cover the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber 11. The covering gripping portion 70 is fixed at the rear end of the connector main body 60 while being attached to the coated optical fiber 11, and fixes the coated optical fiber 11 to the optical connector 1. The covering gripping portion 70 includes a gripping portion 71 that is set to have a large diameter so that an operator can easily handle it, and a protection portion 72 that has a smaller diameter than the gripping portion 71 and covers the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber 11. It is an integrally molded product with a stepped cylindrical shape. The covering grip 70 is attached to the coated optical fiber 11 such that the tip of the coated optical fiber 11 extends from the protection unit 72.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a sheath receiving recess 71 a having an open upper surface capable of housing the sheath 18 provided on the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber 11 is provided at the rear portion of the gripping portion 71 of the sheath gripping portion 70. In addition, a partition wall 71b is provided between the outer casing housing recess 71a and the protection part 72. In addition, the partition wall 71b of the gripping portion 71 is provided with a gripping portion fiber insertion groove 71c that opens to the upper surface. Further, a protective portion fiber insertion groove (open portion) 72a is also provided on the upper surface of the protective portion 72 so as to be continuous with the gripping portion fiber insertion groove 71c. The widths of the gripping part fiber insertion groove 71c and the protection part fiber insertion groove 72a are set to be larger than the coating diameter of the coated optical fiber 11 and smaller than the jacket 18, and the coated light from which the jacket 18 is removed. Only the fiber 11 can be inserted.

  Further, the covering gripping portion 70 includes a lid portion 73 capable of closing the opening of the gripping portion fiber insertion groove 71c and the opening of the outer casing accommodating recess 71a. Further, a groove closing member 74 having an opening 74 a in a part in the radial direction is attached to the outer periphery of the protection portion 72 so as to be rotatable with respect to the protection portion 72. The groove closing member 74 includes a rotation guide protrusion 75 protruding in the radial direction. As shown in the figure, the rotation guide projection 75 has a tip projecting from the upper surface of the gripping portion 71 in a state where the lid portion 73 is opened so that the rotation guide projection 75 can come into contact with the inner surface when the lid portion 73 is closed. The protruding length is set. That is, the protective part fiber insertion groove 72 a can be closed by the lid part 73 after the protective part 72 covers the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber 11.

  The connector main body (main body) 60 includes a main body portion 30 extending along an insertion direction in which the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted, a flexure space forming portion 40 disposed to face the center in the longitudinal direction of the main body portion 30, and a main body. And a fixing portion 50 disposed to face the rear portion in the longitudinal direction of the portion 30.

  A ferrule holding recess 31 for holding the ferrule 20 is formed on the front end surface of the main body 30. By fixing the ferrule 20 containing the short optical fiber 12 in the ferrule holding recess 31, a commercially available general-purpose zirconia ferrule generally used in optical communication is connected to the connection portion of the optical connector 1 with the mating connector. Can be diverted.

  Further, in the front region of the main body portion 30, a butt hole portion 32 that constitutes the front hole portion 61 together with the fixing hole portion 21 of the ferrule 20 is provided. A butting position where the short optical fiber 12 and the coated optical fiber 11 are butted is set in the butting hole 32, and the rear end portion of the short optical fiber 12 led out from the ferrule 20 by a predetermined length reaches the butting position. It has been extended.

  The main body portion 30 has a flat portion whose upper half is cut out in a flat shape, and the coated optical fiber 11 is guided to the butted hole portion 32 along the insertion direction of the coated optical fiber 11 in this flat portion. A V-groove 33 is formed. The coated optical fiber 11 inserted from the rear hole 63 is guided by the V groove 33 and introduced into the front hole 32.

  The bending space forming portion 40 is formed with a concave portion 41 that defines a bending space 62 together with the main body portion 30 and a rear hole 63 that is continuous from the rear end of the bending space forming portion 40. The coated optical fiber 11 inserted from the rear of the optical connector 1 communicates with the short optical fiber 12 at the butting position through the rear hole 63, the bending space 62, and the butting hole 32. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted in a bent state in the bending space 62, so that an elastic restoring force acts on the coated optical fiber 11 and its tip is a short optical fiber. It is pressed to the 12 side. Therefore, the connection state of the short optical fiber 12 and the core fiber 13 is stably maintained. In addition, it is preferable that the refractive index matching grease 68 is applied to the abutting position.

  Further, in this embodiment, the covering removal portion 64 is formed in the main body portion 30 and the bending space forming portion 40 that form the front hole portion 61 between the butting position and the bending space 62. The coating removing unit 64 removes the coating 14 from the tip of the coated optical fiber 11 by an insertion force applied when the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted into the optical connector 1. Further, a removal covering housing space 67 that can store the removed covering 14 is formed around the covering removing portion 64.

  A fixing portion 50 provided at the rear end of the connector main body 60 is a portion for fixing the coated optical fiber 11 to the optical connector 1. Specifically, the gripping portion 71 of the covering gripping portion 70 is fastened to the rear ends of the fixing portion 50 and the main body portion 30 by the fixing portion clamp 90 attached so as to sandwich the rear ends of the fixing portion 50 and the main body portion 30. The coated optical fiber 11 is fixed to the optical connector 1.

  In the connector main body 60, stepped recesses are formed in the inner walls facing each other at the rear ends of the fixing portion 50 and the main body portion 30, and as shown in FIG. 5, the outer diameter D 1 of the grip portion 71 of the covering grip portion 70. A holding portion fixing recess 65 (holding portion storing recess) 65 having substantially the same inner diameter D2 as that of the holding portion 71 and a protecting portion having an inner diameter D3 smaller than the outer diameter D1 of the holding portion 71 and capable of storing the protecting portion 72. A storage recess 66 is provided. The coated optical fiber 11 is fixed to the connector body 60 by being pressed by the fixing portion clamp 90 and the holding portion fixing recess 65 pressing the holding portion 71. Further, the protection portion storage recess 66 stores the protection portion 72 in a state where the protection portion fiber insertion groove 72 a is closed by the lid portion 73.

Prior to the description of the coating removing unit 64, an example of the coated optical fiber 11 will be described. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a coated optical fiber.
The coated optical fiber 11 has, for example, a core fiber 13 having an outer diameter d3 = 125 μm at the center, and a coating 14 having an outer diameter d1 = 250 μm is provided so as to cover the outer periphery thereof. The core fiber 13 is a glass fiber having a core and one or more layers of cladding, and a glass fiber having any refractive index distribution, such as a single mode fiber or a multimode fiber, is applicable.

  The coating 14 includes a primary 15 made of a jelly body or the like that is a first coating layer having an outer diameter d2 that is provided in the innermost layer and is in contact with the core fiber 13, and a secondary (outer coating) that covers the outside of the primary 15. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the structure may be one layer or two or more layers. A colored layer 17 may be provided on the outermost layer of the secondary 16. The resin constituting the coating 14 is an ultraviolet curable resin such as urethane acrylate, and physical properties such as elastic modulus are appropriately set by additives. For example, the primary 15 in contact with the core fiber 13 has a lower elastic modulus (that is, softer) than the secondary 16.

  The degree of adhesion of the primary 15 is set smaller for the core fiber 13 than the secondary 16 (core fiber <secondary). That is, the coating 14 is easily peeled from the core fiber 13. Further, the Young's modulus of each member constituting the coated optical fiber 11 is set so that the core fiber 13 of the load support body is the largest, and then the secondary 16 and the primary 15 are reduced in this order (primary <secondary < Core fiber). Therefore, the coated optical fiber 11 is peeled and broken through the primary 15 by pressurizing the cut end face.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the coating removal situation in the coating removal unit 64.
The coating removing unit 64 works to peel and remove the coating 14 from the tip of the core fiber 13 by pressing the cut end surface (tip surface) of the coated optical fiber 11. The inner diameter d of the butt hole 32 is set to be larger than the diameter d3 of the core fiber 13 and smaller than the outer diameter d1 of the coating 14. Moreover, the coating removal part 64 is formed in the cone shape which protruded the outer periphery of the butt | matching hole part 32 back. Accordingly, when the cut end surface of the coated optical fiber 11 is pressed against the coating removing portion 64, the periphery of the butt hole portion 32 of the coating removing portion 64 contacts the cut end surface of the coating 14 and does not contact the core fiber 13. It will be.

  With such a configuration, when the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted into the connector main body 60, compressive stress in the insertion direction can be applied to the distal end of the coated optical fiber 11, and simultaneously with the insertion of the coated optical fiber 11. The coating 14 can be removed. The front end of the core fiber 13 from which the coating 14 has been removed enters the butt hole 32 and contacts the rear end of the short optical fiber 12 as shown in FIG. That is, the short optical fiber 12 and the core fiber 13 from which the coating has been removed are optically connected within the butt hole 32. Since the optical connector 1 can remove the coating 14 simultaneously with the insertion of the coated optical fiber 11 in this way, the work at the site is simplified. Further, by forming the coating removal portion 64 in a cone shape, the coating removal is facilitated and the peeled coating 14 is easily moved outward.

  In addition, although the example which provided the coating | coated removal part 64 in the connector main body 60 was shown in the above-mentioned description, of course, you may provide in the rear end of the ferrule 20. FIG.

  Next, a procedure for attaching the coated optical fiber 11 to the optical connector 1 will be described. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the optical connector 1 before insertion of the coated optical fiber 11, FIG. 6 is a front view of the coated grip 70, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the optical connector 1 when the coated optical fiber 11 is removed. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the optical connector 1 in a state in which preliminary bending is applied to the coated optical fiber 11.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5, the ferrule 20 in which the short optical fiber 12 is inserted is fixed to the ferrule holding recess 31 of the main body 30. The short optical fiber 12 is led out from the ferrule 20 by a predetermined length, and the extra length portion is inserted into the butted hole portion 32 of the main body portion 30. A refractive index matching grease 68 is applied to the insertion tip (rear end) of the short optical fiber 12.

  Moreover, the cover part clamp 80 is attached so that the bending space formation part 40 and the main-body part 30 may be pinched | interposed, and both may be pressed and fixed. Moreover, the fixing | fixed part clamp 90 is attached so that the fixing | fixed part 50 and the main-body part 30 may be pinched | interposed, and both may be pressed and fixed. The fixing portion clamp 90 is in a half-clamped state so that the coated optical fiber 11 and the covering gripping portion 70 can be inserted between the main body portion 30 and the fixing portion 50 in a later step. Further, at this time, a bending restricting member 85 having a bifurcated tip which narrows the bending space 62 is inserted between the main body portion 30 and the concave portion 41 of the bending space forming portion 40.

  Further, the covering gripping portion 70 is attached to the coated optical fiber 11. First, the operator removes the outer cover 18 having a predetermined length from the distal end using an appropriate outer cover removing means in consideration of the length of the connector main body 60, the covering removal length, and the bending length.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the lid 73 is opened and the protective fiber insertion groove 72a and the opening 74a of the groove closing member 74 are aligned with each other from above the covering grip 70. The coated optical fiber 11 is inserted into the coated grip 70. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the coated optical fiber 11 is placed so that the outer sheath 18 portion of the coated optical fiber 11 is housed in the outer housing accommodating recess 71 a and the portion from which the outer sheath 18 is removed extends from the protection portion 72. Is inserted into the covering gripping portion 70.

  As described above, since the outer casing housing recess 71a, the gripping part fiber insertion groove 71c, and the protection part fiber insertion groove 72a all open upward, the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted from above the coating gripping part 70. Just do it. Therefore, the covering grip 70 can be easily attached to the coated optical fiber 11.

  Next, when the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted to a predetermined position of the coated gripping portion 70, the coated optical fiber 11 is removed from the coated gripping portion 70 by covering the gripped portion 71 with the lid portion 73 as shown in FIG. It is prevented from coming out (see FIG. 2). In this embodiment, the lid 73 is fixed to the grip 71 by engaging the engagement recess 73 a provided in the lid 73 with the engagement convex 71 d provided on the outer periphery of the grip 71. To do.

  When the lid 73 rotates, the lid 73 abuts against the rotation guide protrusion 75, whereby the groove closing member 74 is rotated on the outer periphery of the protective portion 72, and the opening 74a is displaced from the protective portion fiber insertion groove 72a. Thus, the groove closing member 74 closes the protection portion fiber insertion groove 72a. As described above, since the covering gripping portion 70 has the above-described configuration, the attachment work of the coated optical fiber 11 to the covering gripping portion 70 can be completed with an extremely simple operation of closing the lid portion 73.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted from behind the optical connector 1 by gripping the gripped portion 71 of the coated optical fiber 11 to which the coated gripping portion 70 is attached. The coated optical fiber 11 inserted from the rear of the optical connector 1 passes through the rear hole 63 and the bending space 62 and reaches the coating removal unit 64. At this time, the front end surface of the coated optical fiber 11 is further pressed against the coating removing unit 64, and the coating 14 of the coated optical fiber 11 is removed as described with reference to FIG.

  When the coating is removed as shown in FIG. 7, a compressive stress (buckling load) acts on the coated optical fiber 11 in the insertion direction, and the coated optical fiber 11 is laterally interposed between the rear hole 63 and the grip 71. It may be deformed. However, even if the coated optical fiber 11 near the rear of the rear hole 63 is deformed to the side, it comes into contact with the inner wall of the protective portion storage recess 66 formed with a smaller diameter than the grip portion 71, Large deformation is prevented. Also, the coated optical fiber 11 near the front of the gripping portion 71 prevents the coated optical fiber 11 from being deformed laterally because the protective portion 72 of the coated gripping portion 70 covers the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber 11. Has been. In addition, there is a space between the protection portion fiber insertion groove 72a and the groove closing member 74. However, since this space is also sufficiently small, even if the coated optical fiber 11 is bent in this space, the amount of bending is small. Is small, and excessive deformation to the side of the coated optical fiber 11 is prevented.

  That is, in the optical connector 1 according to the present embodiment, even when the coated optical fiber 11 is about to be deformed laterally when the coated optical fiber 11 is removed, the protective portion storage recess 66 or the protective portion serving as an obstacle is formed on the side. 72 is provided to prevent large lateral deformation. Accordingly, since the coated optical fiber 11 is not excessively deformed laterally when the coating is removed, it is possible to prevent the compressive stress acting in the insertion direction of the coated optical fiber 11 from excessively escaping to the side. . That is, since the compressive stress in the insertion direction can be reliably applied to the tip of the coated optical fiber 11, the coating 14 can be reliably removed simultaneously with the insertion of the coated optical fiber 11. Therefore, since there is no possibility that the coated optical fiber 11 is buckled and disconnected, the optical connector 1 with high reliability can be provided.

  In addition, the covering gripping portion 70 extends from the front end surface of the protecting portion storage recess 66 to the protecting portion 72 so that the covering optical fiber 11 is fixed between the main body portion 30 and the fixing portion 50 when the covering optical fiber 11 is attached to the optical connector 1. The length (uninserted length) L with respect to the front end is attached at a position where the distance L1 between the butting position and the coating removing portion 64 and the bending length α are combined (L = L1 + α). At this time, the length L2 in the insertion direction of the protection portion storage recess 66 is bent so that the inner wall of the protection portion storage recess 66 restricts the lateral deformation of the coated optical fiber 11 that has been deformed to the side when the coating is removed. It is preferable to set it equal to α (L2 = α).

  Further, in order to prevent the coated optical fiber 11 from being deformed excessively to the side, the inner diameter D3 of the protective portion storing recess 66 is the inner diameter D4 of the rear hole 63 (the outer diameter of the coating 14 of the coated optical fiber 11). It is preferable to set it to 4 times or less. In this embodiment, the protective portion storage recess 66 is formed by the inner wall of the fixing portion 50 and the recess provided at the rear end of the main body portion 30, but the V groove 33 provided at the rear end of the main body portion 30 and the fixing portion 50 are not provided. In the case where the protective part storing concave part 66 is formed by the concave part provided on the inner wall, the diameter of the virtual inscribed circle inscribed in the concave part on the V groove 33 and the fixed part 50 side may be set to four times or less than the inner diameter of the rear hole part 63. preferable. In this way, a compressive stress in the insertion direction sufficient to remove the coating 14 at the same time as insertion can be reliably applied to the tip of the coated optical fiber 11.

  Further, by continuing the insertion of the coated optical fiber 11, only the core fiber 13 is inserted into the butted hole 32 in the coated optical fiber 11 from which the coating 14 has been removed, as shown in FIG. 12 and the peeled coating 14 are accommodated in the removal coating accommodating space 67. After the tip of the core fiber 13 comes into contact with the rear end of the short optical fiber 12, the coated optical fiber 11 is further inserted to form the preliminary deflection 11 </ b> A in the bending space 62. After the preliminary deflection 11A is formed to a predetermined length, the main body portion 30 and the fixing portion 50 are completely clamped by the fixing portion clamp 90, and the coated optical fiber 11 is fixed to the optical connector 1.

  In the present embodiment, the example in which the preliminary deflection 11A is formed after the coating 14 is removed has been described. However, the coating 14 may be removed while the preliminary deflection 11A is formed.

  Thereafter, the bending regulating member 85 is pulled out to enlarge the bending space 62, and the bending state of the coated optical fiber 11 is relaxed, so that the optical connector 1 of the coated optical fiber 11 and the short optical fiber 12 as shown in FIG. Installation to is completed. Thus, since the coated optical fiber 11 is appropriately bent in the mounted state on the optical connector 1, the coated optical fiber 11 is always pressed to the short optical fiber 12 side, and the coated optical fiber 11 and the short light are used. Since there is little signal loss between the fibers 12 and the bending state is relaxed, there is no optical signal transmission loss due to the bending state of the coated optical fiber 11. Therefore, the optical connector 1 excellent in light transmission efficiency can be provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the groove closing member 74 includes the rotation guide protrusion 75, and the lid 73 contacts the rotation guide protrusion 75 to rotate the groove closing member 74 to close the protection portion fiber insertion groove 72 a. However, the present invention is not limited to this form. For example, before inserting the coated optical fiber 11 into the connector main body 60, if the operator rotates the groove closing member 74 by hand to close the protection portion fiber insertion groove 72 a, the rotation guide protrusion 75 is moved to the groove closing member 74. Obviously, it does not have to be provided.

Second Embodiment
In the first embodiment described above, with respect to the covering gripping portion 70 attached to the coated optical fiber 11, an example is given in which the groove closing member 74 attached rotatably to the protection portion 72 closes the protection portion fiber insertion groove 72a. However, the present invention is not limited to this example.

  FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the covering grip 170 of the optical connector 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Since the optical connector 100 according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the rear part of the connector main body and the covering grip part, only different parts will be described, and the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals. Detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the covering and gripping portion 170 according to the second embodiment includes a gripping portion 171 that is set to have a large diameter so that an operator can easily handle it, and a coated optical fiber that has a smaller diameter than the gripping portion 171. 11 and a protective portion 172 that covers the outer periphery of 11. The coated grip 170 is attached to the coated optical fiber 11 such that the tip of the coated optical fiber 11 extends from the protective unit 172.

  In addition, the rear portion of the gripping portion 171 is provided with an outer casing accommodating recess 171a having an open upper surface capable of accommodating the outer sheath 18 of the coated optical fiber 11, and between the outer casing accommodating recess 171a and the protective portion 172. Is provided with a partition wall 171b. In addition, the grip portion 171 is provided with a grip portion fiber insertion groove 171 c for inserting the coated optical fiber 11 into a predetermined position so as to open on the upper surface of the partition wall 171 b of the grip portion 171. The width of the gripping fiber insertion groove 171c is set to be larger than the coating diameter of the coated optical fiber 11 and smaller than the jacket 18, and only the coated optical fiber 11 from which the jacket 18 has been removed is inserted. It is possible.

  The protection part 172 of the covering grip part 170 according to the present embodiment is formed in a U-shaped cross section in which a protection part fiber insertion groove 172a is opened on the upper surface (direction perpendicular to the axial direction). When the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted, the protective portion 172 is arranged so that the protective portion fiber insertion groove 172a is continuous with the gripping portion fiber insertion groove 171c. The U-shaped protection portion 172 can be modified so that the opening of the protection portion fiber insertion groove 172a can be opened and closed.

  Note that the protection portion 172 may be formed integrally with the grip portion 171 or may be formed separately. If the gripping part 171 and the protection part 172 are integrally formed by injection molding of resin or the like, the number of parts is reduced, so that the covering gripping part 170 can be realized at low cost. Further, if the gripping portion 171 is formed of resin and the protection portion 172 is formed by metal pressing or the like, the dimensional accuracy of the protection portion 172 is improved.

  Further, the covering gripping part 170 includes a cover part 173 that closes the openings of the jacket housing recess 171a and the gripping part fiber insertion groove 171c. The lid portion 173 is fixed to the grip portion 171 by engaging an engagement concave portion 173 a provided in the lid portion 173 with an engagement convex portion 171 d provided in the grip portion 171.

  On the other hand, a stepped recess having a shape along the outer shape of the covering grip 170 is formed at the rear of the connector body 60 to which the covering grip 170 is inserted and fixed. Specifically, the connector main body 60 according to the second embodiment has a gripping portion that has an inner diameter substantially the same as the outer diameter of the gripping portion 171 of the covering gripping portion 170 and fixes the gripping portion 171 by a fixing portion clamp (not shown). A fixed recess 165, a protective portion storage recess 166 substantially equal to the width of the protective portion 172 in a state where the protective portion fiber insertion groove 172a of the covering grip portion 170 is closed, and a holding portion fixing recess 165 and a protective portion storage recess 166. The taper part 167 which is provided in between and gradually expands in diameter toward the rear from the protection part storage recessed part 166 is provided (see FIG. 10A). The rear end of the taper portion 167 is opened larger than the width dimension of the protection portion 172 in a state where the fiber insertion groove 172a of the protection portion 172 is opened.

  A method for mounting the coated optical fiber 11 to which the coating grip 170 as described above is attached to the optical connector 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the covering gripping part 170 and the rear part of the connector main body 60.

  Referring to FIG. 9, the operator inserts the coated optical fiber 11 into the covering grip 170 from above the covering grip 170 with the cover 173 of the covering grip 170 being opened. At this time, the coated optical fiber 11 is coated and gripped so that the jacket 18 portion of the coated optical fiber 11 is housed in the jacket housing recess 171 a and the portion from which the jacket 18 is removed extends from the protection portion 172. Insert into the part 170. Since all of the jacket housing recess 171a, the gripping part fiber insertion groove 171c, and the protection part fiber insertion groove 172a are opened upward, the coated optical fiber 11 need only be inserted from above the coating gripping part 170. The coated optical fiber 11 can be easily inserted into the covering grip 170.

  Next, when the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted to a predetermined position of the covering grip 170, the engaging recess 173a of the lid 173 is engaged with the engaging protrusion 171d of the grip 171, and the lid 173 is gripped 171. The coated optical fiber 11 is prevented from coming out of the coating gripping portion 70.

  When the lid 173 is fixed, the coated optical fiber 11 to which the coating grip 170 is attached is inserted into the connector main body 60 from the rear as shown in FIG. In this state, the protection part fiber insertion groove 172a of the protection part 172 is opened upward.

  When the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted forward from the state shown in FIG. 10A to the state shown in FIG. 10B, the tip of the protection portion 172 abuts against the tapered portion 167 of the connector body 60 and is further inserted. Then, since the taper portion 167 gradually decreases in width toward the front, the fiber insertion groove 172a of the protection portion 172 is gradually closed.

  Further, when the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted forward and the tip of the protective portion 172 reaches the protective portion storage recess 166 as shown in FIG. 10C, the protective portion fiber insertion groove 172a is completely closed and covered. The optical fiber 11 is protected by the protection unit 172.

  In this embodiment, the length from the tip of the coated optical fiber 11 to the coating gripper 170 is set so that the tip of the coated optical fiber 11 abuts the coating removing unit 64 in the state shown in FIG. ing. When the coating is removed, a compressive stress (buckling load) acts on the coated optical fiber 11 in the insertion direction, so that the coated optical fiber 11 is deformed laterally between the rear hole portion 63 and the grip portion 171. There is.

  However, even if the coated optical fiber 11 in the vicinity of the rear side of the rear hole 63 is deformed to the side, the coated optical fiber 11 abuts against the inner wall of the protective portion storage recess 166 formed to be approximately the same size as the protective portion 172. Large deformation to is prevented. Further, since the protective portion 172 covers the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber 11 in the coated optical fiber 11 near the front of the gripping portion 171, deformation of the coated optical fiber 11 to the side is reliably prevented. Accordingly, since the coated optical fiber 11 is not excessively deformed laterally when the coating is removed, it is possible to prevent the compressive stress acting in the insertion direction of the coated optical fiber 11 from excessively escaping to the side. . That is, since the compressive stress in the insertion direction can be reliably applied to the tip of the coated optical fiber 11, the coating 14 can be reliably removed simultaneously with the insertion of the coated optical fiber 11. Therefore, the highly reliable optical connector 100 can be provided.

  Further, the coated optical fiber 11 is inserted forward, and is inserted until the protective portion 172 is completely located within the protective portion storage recess 166 as shown in FIG. 10D, and the coated optical fiber 11 is connected to the optical connector 100. Insertion is complete.

  From FIG. 10C to FIG. 10D, the coated optical fiber 11 forms a preliminary bend 11 </ b> A in the bend space 62. Similar to the first embodiment, the coated optical fiber 11 from which the coating 14 has been removed is also in contact with the coated optical fiber 11 even after the front end of the coated optical fiber 11 abuts the rear end of the short optical fiber 12 inserted into the ferrule 20. When the insertion is continued, the coated optical fiber 11 forms a preliminary deflection 11 </ b> A in the deflection space 62. Even when the preliminary deflection 11A is formed, since the inner wall of the protective portion storage recess 166 exists on the side of the coated optical fiber 11 between the rear end of the connector main body 60 and the gripping portion 171, the lateral deflection is suppressed. There is no risk of buckling.

  As in the first embodiment described above, the covering gripping portion 170 is stored in the protective portion so that it is fixed between the main body portion 30 and the fixing portion 50 when the coated optical fiber 11 is attached to the optical connector 1. The length (uninserted length) from the front end surface of the concave portion 166 to the front end of the protective portion 172 is attached at a position where the distance between the butting position and the coating removing portion 64 is combined with the bending length. Yes. At this time, the insertion direction length of the protection portion storage recess 166 is defined as the bending length so that the inner wall of the protection portion storage recess 166 regulates the lateral deformation of the coated optical fiber 11 that is deformed to the side when the coating is removed. It is preferable to set them equally.

  Further, in order to prevent the coated optical fiber 11 from being deformed excessively to the side, the inner diameter D5 of the protection portion storage recess 166 is the inner diameter of the rear hole 63 (the outer diameter of the coating 14 of the coated optical fiber 11) D6. It is preferable to set it to 4 times or less.

  After the above steps, similar to the first embodiment described above, after forming the preliminary deflection, the bifurcated deflection regulating member 85 is pulled out from the deflection space 62, and the preliminary deflection state of the coated optical fiber 11 is changed. The coated optical fiber 11 is relaxed and fixed in the optical connector 100 in a properly bent state. Thus, even in the optical connector 100 according to the second embodiment, the coated optical fiber 11 is appropriately bent, and thus is pressed to the short optical fiber 12 side, so that the distance between the coated optical fiber 11 and the short optical fiber 12 is increased. The signal loss is small, and there is no optical signal transmission loss due to the bent state of the coated optical fiber 11. Therefore, the optical connector 100 excellent in light transmission efficiency can be provided.

  In addition, although the cross-sectional shape of the protection part 172 was demonstrated as the U shape in the above example, it is good also as a V-shaped cross section. In addition, the shape of the protective portion 172 may not be a shape that is continuous in the longitudinal direction as long as the protective portion storage recess 166 can close the fiber insertion groove 172a.

  In the above-described example, the tapered portion 167 is provided behind the protective portion storing recess 166, and when the coated optical fiber is inserted into the optical connector 100, the distal end of the protective portion 172 is brought into contact with the tapered portion 167 to protect the protective portion fiber. Although the configuration in which the insertion groove 172a is closed is shown, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, before inserting the coated optical fiber 11 into the connector main body 60, the operator inserts the protective portion 172 into the protective portion storage recess 166 in a state where the protective portion fiber insertion groove 172a is closed by hand. You may attach to the connector main body 60. FIG.

  Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the protection parts 72 and 172 were provided in the front-end | tip of the holding parts 71 and 171, and the protection part storage recessed parts 66 and 166 were provided in the back of the back hole part 63, this was demonstrated. Conversely, the protective portions 72 and 172 may be provided so as to extend to the rear of the rear hole portion 63, and the protective portion storage recesses 66 and 166 may be formed at the tips of the grip portions 71 and 171. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical connector, 11 Covered optical fiber, 12 Short optical fiber, 20 Ferrule, 30 Main body part, 40 Lid part, 50 Fixing part, 60 Connector main body, 61 Front hole part, 62 Deflection space, 63 Rear hole part, 64 Cover Removal part, 65 Gripping part fixing concave part (gripping part storage concave part), 66 Protection part storage concave part, 67 Removal covering accommodation space, 70 Covering gripping part, 71 Gripping part, 71c Gripping part Fiber insertion groove, 72 Protection part, 72a Protection part Fiber insertion groove, 74 groove closing member, 75 rotation guide protrusion, 80 lid clamp, 90 fixing portion clamp, 100 optical connector, 165 gripping portion fixing recess, 166 protection portion storing recess, 167 taper portion, 170 covering gripping portion, 171 Grip part, 172 protection part, 172a protection part fiber insertion groove, 173 lid part

Claims (10)

An optical connection component for connecting a coated optical fiber and an optical component to each other,
A coating removing unit capable of removing the coating from the front end of the coated optical fiber by contacting the front end of the coated optical fiber;
A front hole portion provided in front of the coating removing portion, and the coated optical fiber being associated with the optical member;
A rear hole provided behind the covering removal portion;
A gripping part for gripping the coated optical fiber;
A protective part that extends forward from the gripping part or rearward from the rear hole part and covers an outer periphery of the coated optical fiber, and
The protective part is provided with an open part that opens a part of the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the coated optical fiber,
The open part is configured to be able to be closed after the protective part covers the outer periphery of the coated optical fiber,
An optical connection component, wherein a protective part storage recess for storing the protective part in a state where the open part is closed is formed behind the rear hole part or in front of the grip part. The protection part is provided to extend forward of the grip part, and the protection part constitutes a covering grip part attached to the coated optical fiber together with the grip part,
The gripping portion has a gripping portion fiber insertion groove that opens in a part of the outer periphery of the gripping portion,
The outer diameter of the protective part is smaller than the outer diameter of the grip part,
The protective part storage recess is smaller in diameter than the grip part,
The optical connection component according to claim 1, wherein the opening portion can be opened and closed by a groove closing member attached to the outer periphery of the protection portion. The grip portion includes a lid portion capable of closing the grip portion fiber insertion groove,
The groove closing member is attached to the protection portion so as to be rotatable in the circumferential direction,
The groove closing member includes a rotation guide protrusion protruding in a radial direction,
When the grip portion fiber insertion groove is closed by the lid portion, the lid portion rotates to turn the groove closing member when the lid portion comes into contact with the rotation guide projection, thereby closing the grip portion fiber insertion groove. The optical connection component according to claim 2, wherein   4. The optical connection component according to claim 2, wherein an inner diameter of the protection part storage recess is not more than four times an inner diameter of the rear hole part.   5. The optical connection according to claim 2, wherein the main body is formed with a gripping portion fixing concave portion that fixes the gripping portion on a rear side of the protective portion storing concave portion. parts.   The optical connection component according to claim 2, wherein the rotation guide protrusion is provided in the vicinity of the opening in the groove closing member. The protection part is provided to extend in front of the grip part,
The outer diameter of the protective part is smaller than the outer diameter of the grip part,
The protective part storage recess is substantially the same size as the outer diameter of the protective part,
The protective part can be deformed in the circumferential direction to close the opening part,
The optical connection component according to claim 1, wherein the opening portion is attached to the main body in a state in which the opening portion is deformed in a circumferential direction to close the opening portion. The protective part storage recess provided at the rear of the rear hole part is provided with a tapered part that expands toward the rear,
8. The optical connection component according to claim 7, wherein the coated optical fiber is inserted into the rear hole portion, and the protection portion is deformed in the circumferential direction by the taper portion to close the open portion. .   9. The optical connection component according to claim 7, wherein an inner diameter of the protection portion storage recess is not more than four times an inner diameter of the rear hole portion.   10. The optical connection according to claim 7, wherein the main body is formed with a gripping portion fixing recess for fixing the gripping portion on the rear side of the protection portion storing recess. parts.

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