JP2014170168A - Optical fiber cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure accuracy of a position of an optical fiber in an optical connector without being influenced by processing accuracy of the optical connector.SOLUTION: There is provided an optical fiber cable 20a provided with an optical connector 15a attached to an optical receptacle R. The optical connector 15a includes: a tubular outer member 11a provided to be fit into the optical receptacle R; a tubular inner member 10a, provided inside the outer member 11a, in which an optical fiber 3 is fixed in a state of being inserted thereinto; and a position fixing part 12a interposed between the outer member 11a and the inner member 10a to fix a position of the inner member 10a with respect to the outer member 11a.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber cable, and more particularly to an optical fiber cable provided with an optical connector.

  In an optical fiber cable, for example, an optical connector for connecting to an optical receptacle provided in an incident optical system or an outgoing optical system is provided at the end of the cable.

  For example, Patent Document 1 includes a ferrule that holds an optical fiber and a flange that contacts the ferrule, and at least the ferrule of the light receiving side connector is made of transparent glass, and the light receiving side flange has an optical fiber. An optical connector for high power composed of a material transparent to propagating light is disclosed.

JP 2009-223149 A

  By the way, when the optical connector provided in the optical fiber cable is attached to the optical receptacle, the central axis of the optical fiber insertion port (fiber insertion port) in the optical connector fitted to the optical receptacle, and the optical fiber It is necessary to coincide with the center of the end face of. However, the position accuracy of the optical fiber in the optical connector is easily affected by the processing accuracy of the optical connector. For example, if the processing tolerance of the optical connector is set large and the processing accuracy of the optical connector deteriorates, the fiber insertion of the optical connector The center axis of the mouth and the optical coupling position of the end face of the optical fiber will not match. In that case, for example, a long time is required for the alignment work at the time of optical coupling with the incident optical system and the outgoing optical system, and the work efficiency is lowered. If the incident optical system is optically coupled with insufficient alignment, the optical fiber may be damaged by the laser light from the incident optical system. Also, if the processing tolerance of the optical connector is set small, the center axis of the fiber insertion port of the optical connector and the optical coupling position of the end face of the optical fiber are likely to coincide with each other, but the optical connector itself becomes expensive or the optical connector May be difficult to fit or assemble.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object thereof is to ensure the positional accuracy of the optical fiber in the optical connector without being affected by the processing accuracy of the optical connector.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a position fixing portion is interposed between an outer member and an inner member constituting an optical connector.

  Specifically, an optical fiber cable according to the present invention is an optical fiber cable provided with an optical connector attached to an optical receptacle, and the optical connector is a cylindrical shape provided to be fitted to the optical receptacle. An outer member, a cylindrical inner member provided inside the outer member and fixed with an optical fiber inserted therein, and the outer member interposed between the outer member and the inner member; A position fixing portion for fixing the position of the inner member.

  According to the above configuration, in the optical connector, the inner side with respect to the outer member is interposed between the cylindrical outer member fitted to the optical receptacle and the cylindrical inner member fixed with the optical fiber inserted therein. Since the position fixing portion for fixing the position of the member is interposed, the inner member and the optical fiber fixed thereto are fixed at an arbitrary position in the space inside the outer member by the position fixing portion. Thereby, even if the processing accuracy of the outer member and the inner member constituting the optical connector is deteriorated, the position of the optical fiber in the optical connector can be appropriately adjusted and fixed by the position fixing portion. The positional accuracy of the optical fiber in the optical connector is ensured without being affected by the above. Also, since the positional accuracy of the optical fiber in the optical connector is ensured, when the optical connector is attached to the optical receptacle, for example, the incident optical system and the outgoing optical system attached to the optical receptacle and the optical connector are attached. The optical coupling with the end face of the optical fiber is performed with good reproducibility.

  The position fixing portion may be at least one of an adhesive disposed between the outer member and the inner member and a fixing screw screwed to the outer member.

  A core wire fixing member that is provided continuously to the inner member and fixes the core wire of the optical fiber may be provided.

  The outer member and the inner member may be provided in a cylindrical shape.

  The outer member and the inner member may be provided in a rectangular cylindrical shape.

  According to the present invention, since the position fixing portion is interposed between the outer member and the inner member constituting the optical connector, the positional accuracy of the optical fiber in the optical connector can be increased without being affected by the processing accuracy of the optical connector. Can be secured.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of an optical fiber cable attached to the optical receptacle according to the first embodiment. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an optical fiber cable according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the optical fiber cable taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a modification of the optical fiber cable according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of an optical fiber cable according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the optical fiber cable which concerns on Embodiment 3. FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the optical fiber cable which concerns on Embodiment 4.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

Embodiment 1 of the Invention
1 to 4 show Embodiment 1 of an optical fiber cable according to the present invention. Here, FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an optical fiber cable 20a attached to the optical receptacle R of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing only the optical fiber cable 20a. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the optical fiber cable 20a along the line III-III in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a modification of the optical fiber cable 20a.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the optical fiber cable 20a includes an optical connector 15a attached to an optical receptacle R provided in an incident optical system or an outgoing optical system.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the optical connector 15a includes an outer member 11a provided so as to be fitted inside the optical receptacle R, an inner member 10a provided on the inner side of the outer member 11a, and an outer member. 11a and the inner member 10a are provided with an adhesive 12a and a core fixing member 13 provided continuously with the inner member 10a.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the outer member 11a is formed in a cylindrical shape, for example, of brass or copper. Here, the outer member 11a has an outer diameter of about 15 mm and an inner diameter of about 10 mm, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the inner member 10a is formed in a cylindrical shape, for example, of brass or copper. The inner member 10a is fixed with the optical fiber 3 inserted therethrough. Here, the inner member 10a has an outer diameter of about 9 mm and an inner diameter of about 0.5 mm, for example. That is, the distance between the outer member 11a and the inner member 10a is about 0.5 mm in a concentric arrangement.

  In this embodiment, the cylindrical inner member 10a and the outer member 11a are illustrated, but the inner member and the outer member are, for example, a rectangular cylindrical inner member 10b and an outer member 11b as shown in FIG. There may be.

  The optical fiber 3 constitutes an optical fiber core wire 5 as shown in FIGS. That is, the optical fiber core wire 5 includes an optical fiber 3 and a coating layer 4 provided so as to cover the optical fiber 3 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The optical fiber 3 includes a core 1 that is the center of the fiber and a clad 2 that is provided so as to cover the core 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. Here, the core 1 is formed of, for example, quartz and has a refractive index of quartz alone. The clad 2 is made of, for example, quartz doped with fluorine, boron or the like, and has a refractive index lower than that of quartz alone. The covering layer 4 includes, for example, an inner buffer layer formed of silicone resin and an outer jacket layer formed of nylon resin. In addition, the size of the optical fiber 3 and the optical fiber core wire 5 is, for example, the diameter of the optical fiber core wire 5 is about 1.3 mm, the diameter of the core 1 is about 100 μm, and the outer diameter of the clad 2, that is, The diameter of the optical fiber 3 is about 500 μm.

  The adhesive 12a is a position fixing unit that fixes the position of the inner member 10a with respect to the outer member 11a. The adhesive 12a is formed of, for example, an acrylic or epoxy resin.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the core wire fixing member 13 is formed in a cylindrical shape using, for example, brass or copper, and is provided so as to fix the optical fiber core wire 5.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the optical fiber cable 20a having the above-described configuration has an optical connector 15a attached to an optical receptacle R provided in an incident optical system such as a laser light source, and condenses light by a condensing lens (not shown). By making the laser beam L incident on the core 1 (optical coupling position) on the end face of the optical fiber 3, the inside of the core 1 is reflected from the left side in the figure while the laser beam L is repeatedly reflected at the interface between the core 1 and the cladding 2. It is configured to transmit toward the right side.

  Next, the manufacturing method of the optical fiber cable 20a of this embodiment is demonstrated.

  First, the optical fiber core wire 5 including the optical fiber 3 is bonded to the inside member 10a and the core wire fixing member 13 connected to each other by inserting the optical fiber core wire 5 from which the coating layer 4 at the tip portion is removed. Fix with an agent.

  Subsequently, the inner member 10a and the core wire fixing member 13 to which the optical fiber core wire 5 is fixed are held on the first fine movement stage, and the outer member 11a is arranged outside the held inner member 10a. After holding the core wire fixing member 13 on the second fine movement stage, the laser light L is incident on one end (left side in FIG. 2) of the optical fiber core wire 5 (optical fiber 3), and the optical fiber core The light intensity of the laser light L emitted from the other end face of the line 5 is measured with a power meter, and the light intensity of the laser light L is maximized while operating at least one of the first and second fine movement stages. Search for a location. In the present embodiment, the manufacturing method for aligning based on the light intensity measured by the power meter is exemplified. For example, the end face of the fiber is photographed by a CCD (charge-coupled device) camera, and the photographed image is taken. The manufacturing method may be based on the alignment.

  Furthermore, after aligning the inner member 10a and the outer member 11a at a position where the light intensity of the laser beam L becomes maximum, the adhesive 12a is poured between the inner member 10a and the outer member 11a, and the inner member 10a and the outer member 11a is fixed to each other with an adhesive 12a.

  As described above, the optical fiber cable 20a of the present embodiment can be manufactured.

  As described above, according to the optical fiber cable 20a of the present embodiment, in the optical connector 15a, the cylindrical outer member 11a that fits into the optical receptacle R and the optical fiber 3 are fixed in a state of being inserted inside. Since the adhesive 12a is interposed as a position fixing portion for fixing the position of the inner member 10a with respect to the outer member 11a between the cylindrical inner member 10a and the inner space of the outer member 11a by the adhesive 12a. The inner member 10a and the optical fiber 3 fixed to the inner member 10a can be fixed at arbitrary positions. Thereby, even if the processing accuracy of the outer member 11a and the inner member 10a constituting the optical connector 15a is deteriorated, the position of the optical fiber 3 in the optical connector 15a can be appropriately adjusted and fixed by the adhesive 12a. Therefore, the positional accuracy of the optical fiber 3 in the optical connector 15a can be ensured without being affected by the processing accuracy of the optical connector 15a. Further, since the positional accuracy of the optical fiber 3 in the optical connector 15a can be ensured, when the optical connector 15a is attached to the optical receptacle R, an incident optical system and an output optical system attached to the optical receptacle R, Optical coupling with the end face of the optical fiber 3 attached to the optical connector 15a can be performed with good reproducibility.

<< Embodiment 2 of the Invention >>
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the optical fiber cable 20b of the present embodiment. Here, in FIG. 5, the upper half cross section is a cross section of a portion rotated 120 degrees in the axial rotation direction with respect to the lower half cross section. In addition, in each following embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same part as FIGS. 1-4, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the optical fiber cable 20b includes an optical connector 15b attached to an optical receptacle R provided in the incident optical system or the outgoing optical system.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the optical connector 15b includes an outer member 11a provided so as to be fitted inside the optical receptacle R, an inner member 10a provided on the inner side of the outer member 11a, an outer member 11a, and an inner member. Six fixing screws 12b provided so as to be interposed between the members 10a and a core fixing member 13 provided continuously with the inner member 10a are provided.

  The fixing screw 12b is a position fixing portion that is provided so as to be screwed to the outer member 11a and fixes the position of the inner member 10a with respect to the outer member 11a.

  The optical fiber cable 20b of this embodiment is the same as the manufacturing method of Embodiment 1 described above, in place of the adhesive 12a being poured between the inner member 10a and the outer member 11a, the inner member 10a is fixed to the outer member 11a with the fixing screw 12b. It can manufacture by fixing with.

  As described above, according to the optical fiber cable 20b of the present embodiment, the fixing screw 12b is provided as a position fixing portion between the outer member 11a and the inner member 10a constituting the optical connector 15b, as in the first embodiment. Since it is interposed, the positional accuracy of the optical fiber 3 in the optical connector 15b can be ensured without being affected by the processing accuracy of the optical connector 15b.

<< Embodiment 3 of the Invention >>
FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the optical fiber cable 20c of the present embodiment. Here, in FIG. 6, as in FIG. 5, the optical fiber cable 20 c in which the cross section of the upper half is a cross section of a portion rotated 120 degrees in the axial rotation direction with respect to the cross section of the lower half is shown in FIG. 6. As described above, the optical connector 15c attached to the optical receptacle R provided in the incident optical system or the outgoing optical system is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the optical connector 15c includes an outer member 11a provided so as to be fitted inside the optical receptacle R, an inner member 10a provided on the inner side of the outer member 11a, the outer member 11a and the inner member. An adhesive 12a and six fixing screws 12b provided so as to be interposed between the members 10a, and a core fixing member 13 provided continuously to the inner member 10a are provided.

  As described above, according to the optical fiber cable 20c of the present embodiment, as in the first and second embodiments, the adhesive is used as a position fixing portion between the outer member 11a and the inner member 10a constituting the optical connector 15c. Since the 12a and the fixing screw 12b are interposed, the positional accuracy of the optical fiber 3 in the optical connector 15c can be ensured without being affected by the processing accuracy of the optical connector 15c.

<< Embodiment 4 of the Invention >>
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the optical fiber cable 20d of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the optical fiber cable 20d includes an optical connector 15d attached to an optical receptacle R provided in the incident optical system or the outgoing optical system.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the optical connector 15d includes an outer member 11a provided so as to be fitted inside the optical receptacle R, an inner member 10c provided on the inner side of the outer member 11a, an outer member 11a and an inner member. Bonded to the adhesive 12a provided so as to be interposed between the members 10c, the core fixing member 13 provided continuously with the inner member 10c, and the fiber end face of the optical fiber 3 inside the inner member 10c. A cylindrical quartz block 14 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the inner member 10c is formed in a cylindrical shape, for example, of brass or copper, and is fixed with the optical fiber 3 inserted therethrough. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the inner member 10 c is formed in a step shape on the left side in the drawing so that the end on the right side in the drawing of the quartz block 14 is fitted.

  As described above, according to the optical fiber cable 20d of the present embodiment, as in the first to third embodiments, the adhesive is used as a position fixing portion between the outer member 11a and the inner member 10c constituting the optical connector 15d. Since 12a is interposed, the positional accuracy of the optical fiber 3 in the optical connector 15d can be ensured without being affected by the processing accuracy of the optical connector 15d.

  In each of the above embodiments, the optical fiber cable provided with the optical connector at the incident end or the outgoing end is exemplified. However, the present invention provides the optical connector at both the incident end and the outgoing end. It can also be applied to optical fiber cables.

  In each of the above embodiments, an optical fiber cable for transmitting laser light has been exemplified, but the present invention can also be applied to an optical fiber cable for communication.

  As described above, the present invention can secure the positional accuracy of the optical fiber in the optical connector without being affected by the processing accuracy of the optical connector, and thus is useful for the optical fiber cable provided with the optical connector. is there.

R Receptacle 3 Optical fiber 5 Optical fiber core wire 10a-10c Inner member 11a, 11b Outer member 12a Adhesive (position fixing part)
12b Fixing screw (position fixing part)
13 Core wire fixing members 15a to 15d Optical connectors 20a to 20d Optical fiber cable

Claims (5)

An optical fiber cable having an optical connector attached to an optical receptacle,
The optical connector is
A cylindrical outer member provided to fit into the optical receptacle;
A cylindrical inner member which is provided inside the outer member and fixed in a state where the optical fiber is inserted into the inner member;
An optical fiber cable comprising: a position fixing portion that is interposed between the outer member and the inner member and fixes the position of the inner member with respect to the outer member. The optical fiber cable according to claim 1,
The position fixing portion is an optical fiber cable that is at least one of an adhesive disposed between the outer member and the inner member and a fixing screw screwed to the outer member. In the optical fiber cable according to claim 1 or 2,
An optical fiber cable comprising a core wire fixing member provided continuously to the inner member and fixing the core wire of the optical fiber. In the optical fiber cable described in any one of Claims 1-3,
The outer member and the inner member are optical fiber cables provided in a cylindrical shape. In the optical fiber cable described in any one of Claims 1-3,
The outer member and the inner member are optical fiber cables provided in a rectangular tube shape.

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