JP2015087636A - Optical signal connection member - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-sized optical signal connection member having a plurality of optical fibers identically arranged in optical fiber connectors at both ends.SOLUTION: An optical signal connection member comprises: a plurality of optical fiber tapes 100a and 100b fixed in the state that n optical fibers (n is an integer of 2 or more) covered with a protective covering are arranged in parallel; and a connector 201a attached to each end part of the optical fiber tapes 100a and 100b. The plurality of optical fiber tapes 100a and 100b are laminated. In each of the optical fiber tapes 100a and 100b, an optical fiber having the i-th (1≤i≤n) arrangement order in a fixed portion has the n+1-i-th arrangement order in a connector at one of the end parts where fixation between the plurality of optical fibers is released and the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed and released.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical signal connecting member, and in particular, a plurality of optical fiber tapes fixed in a state where n optical fibers covered with a protective coating (n is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged in parallel; The present invention relates to an optical signal connecting member provided with a connector attached to each end.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical fiber connector capable of easily connecting a plurality of optical fibers in an optical signal input / output unit such as an optical signal transmission device using an optical fiber has been developed and put into practical use. For example, an optical fiber connector capable of collectively connecting a plurality of optical fibers using optical fiber tape core wires in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel and connected to each other has been put into practical use ( Patent Document 1).

  In recent years, the amount of information communicated has increased significantly, and optical signal transmission devices have become smaller and more functional, so that one optical fiber V-groove connected to equipment, There is a need to increase the number of optical fibers contained in a connector including a fiber array, and a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are stacked and inserted into one optical fiber connector as disclosed in Patent Document 1. It has come to be done. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the ferrule 201, which is the tip portion of the optical fiber connector, has a plurality of rows (here, two rows) of optical fiber exposure hole groups 300 and 400 in which the end surfaces of the optical fibers are exposed. Is provided.

  The optical fiber constituting the lower optical fiber tape core wire is exposed from the optical fiber exposed hole group 300 in the lower row, and the upper optical fiber tape core wire is exposed from the optical fiber exposed hole group 400 in the upper row. The optical fiber which comprises is exposed. Then, as shown in FIG. 7 on the front end face of the ferrule 201, the exposed holes 301, 302,..., 312 and 12 exposed holes are arranged from the left in FIG. 401, 402,..., 412 and 12 exposed holes are arranged. The optical fibers arranged in the lower row are supported by the lower guide groove 203, and the optical fibers in the upper row are supported by the upper guide groove 204. The window 206 opened on the upper surface is necessary for the optical fiber insertion work. When the insertion work is completed, resin is injected from the window 206 to fix the optical fiber and the ferrule 201. Reference numeral 207 denotes a guide pin hole for alignment with the device side.

JP 2012-63649 A JP 2000-206381 A International Publication No. 2011043324

  Here, the same type of ferrule 201 is attached to the opposite end of the optical fiber ribbon, but when the two optical fiber ribbons are simply overlapped as in Patent Document 1, For example, the optical fiber exposed from the exposure hole 301 at the left end of the lower row of the ferrule 201 is exposed from the exposure hole 312 at the right end of the ferrule 201 on the opposite side. When an optical fiber is inserted with the ferrule 201 at the opposite end upside down, the optical fiber exposed from the exposure hole 301 at the lower left end of one ferrule 201 is exposed at the left end of the upper row in the opposite ferrule 201. It will be exposed from the hole 401.

  When two optical fiber ribbons are simply overlapped in this way, for example, in the case of connection to a device by the optical fiber ribbon with the ferrule using the adapter described in JIS C5982, If the adapter is used on the premise that it passes through the adapter twice and is connected to the internal optical circuit, the arrangement order in the exposed portion of the optical fiber is restored to the original, and no problem occurs. However, in the case where it is used by directly connecting to an optical component mounted on an electronic substrate, there is a disadvantage that the arrangement of a plurality of optical fibers is changed in the ferrule 201 (connector) at both ends.

  As disclosed in Patent Document 2, when the wiring method is such that each optical fiber ribbon is overlapped and twisted once, if the top and bottom of the ferrule 201 on the opposite end are reversed, the ferrules on both ends are reversed. In 201, the arrangement of the plurality of optical fibers can be made the same. However, when twisting is applied to the optical fiber ribbon and the overlapping order is changed, the optical fiber is stressed at the twisted part and before and after the twisted part, and the stressed state is maintained. As a result, transmission loss of the optical signal occurs, and the optical fiber may be broken. In addition, this method cannot cope with the case where the upper and lower ferrules 201 and 201 are the same.

  In order not to put excessive stress on the optical fiber, it is conceivable to arrange the optical fiber ribbons between the ferrules at both ends so as not to overlap each other, but to pass different routes. The length of the optical fiber ribbon is required to be considerably long, and an extra storage space for storing the redundant portion is also required, so that it cannot be stored in a small transmission device.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical signal connection member in which the arrangement of a plurality of optical fibers is the same in the optical fiber connectors at both ends and is small. There is.

  The first optical signal connecting member of the present invention comprises a plurality of optical fiber tapes fixed in a state where n optical fibers covered with a protective coating (n is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged in parallel, and the optical fiber A plurality of the optical fiber tapes are stacked, and in each of the optical fiber tapes, the arrangement order of the fixed portions is i-th (1 ≦ i ≦ In the optical fiber of n), the fixing of the plurality of optical fibers is released at any end, the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed, and the n + 1-i-th arrangement order in the connector at the released end is It has the composition which becomes. With this configuration, the optical fiber positioned i-th when the end face of the connector at one end of the optical fiber is observed is positioned i-th when the end face of the connector at the other end is observed. Become.

  In the optical fiber tape, the plurality of light beams from the portion where the fixing of the plurality of optical fibers is released and the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed to the portion fixed to the connector at the released end portion. The fibers may be arranged in parallel and fixed with an adhesive.

  In the plurality of optical fiber tapes, the number of the optical fiber tapes in which the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed at one end and the part in which the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed at the other end. There may be an equal or one difference from the number of optical fiber tapes that exist.

  The connector may include a housing and a boot portion, and the portion in which the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed may be accommodated in at least one of the housing and the boot portion of the connector. The boot of the connector is a cover-like member that protects a part of the optical fiber tape attached to the ferrule following the ferrule that fixes the tip of the optical fiber and a housing that covers a part of the ferrule.

  The connector may include at least one of a V groove and an optical fiber array.

  The second optical signal connecting member of the present invention is a connecting portion between two optical fibers adjacent to each other in a state in which n optical fibers covered by a protective coating (n is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged in parallel. And a plurality of intermittently connected optical fiber tapes, each of which is provided by intermittently providing and fixing the connecting portions in the longitudinal direction and the alignment direction of the optical fibers, and connectors attached to the respective end portions of the optical fiber tapes. A plurality of the optical fiber tapes are laminated, and each of the optical fiber tapes has a free region in which the coupling portion is removed and n optical fibers are released from being fixed. And has a configuration rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal direction. Here, the intermittently connected optical fiber tape has a structure described in Patent Document 3, for example.

  The arrangement order of the plurality of optical fibers is changed in the free region, the connector includes a housing and a boot portion, and the free region may be accommodated in at least one of the housing and the boot portion of the connector. .

  The number of the free areas stored in one of the connectors and the number of the free areas stored in the other connector may be equal to or different from each other.

  The connector may include at least one of a V groove and an optical fiber array.

  The optical signal connecting member of the present invention can have the same arrangement of a plurality of optical fibers in the optical fiber connectors at both ends with a small and simple configuration.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which isolate | separated one end part of the optical fiber tape which concerns on Embodiment 1 from single core. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating one procedure for changing the arrangement order of the optical fibers according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing another procedure for changing the arrangement order of the optical fibers according to the first embodiment. It is the typical figure which attached the ferrule to the edge part of the optical fiber tape which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an optical fiber tape according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a typical perspective view of the optical fiber connector concerning an embodiment. It is a typical perspective view of the ferrule used for an optical fiber connector.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, components having substantially the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals for the sake of brevity.

(Embodiment 1)
As shown in FIG. 1, the optical signal connecting member according to the first embodiment includes two optical fiber tapes 100a and 100b fixed with four optical fibers 102, 102,... Arranged in parallel on the same plane. Have. The optical fiber 102 is covered with a protective coating, and is shown as the optical fiber 102 including the protective coating in the drawing. In order to change the arrangement order of the optical fibers 102, 102,..., The first optical fiber tape 100a is released on the right side of the figure, and the second optical fiber tape 100b is released on the left side of the figure. 102, 102,... Are in a single-core separated state. For this single-core separation, for example, S233C manufactured by Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. is used.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2, four pieces of optical fiber sheets 100 a and 100 b that are not separated from each other are affixed to an adhesive sheet 500 in which a resin film is coated with an adhesive, and then separated from each other. Are arranged so that the i-th (1 ≦ i ≦ 4) optical fibers 102 are arranged in the 4 + 1−i-th order in the fixed portion. Then, the optical fiber bundles 101a and 101b in which four optical fibers are arranged in parallel on the same plane are attached to the optical fiber bundle 101a and 101b adhesive sheet 500 from the arrangement order changing units 103a and 103b to the end of the optical fiber. . Here, when the arrangement order of the optical fibers 102 is changed, the optical fibers 102 intersect with each other. However, the optical fibers 102 are bent by the intersection. The radius of curvature of the curve is determined so that the transmission loss caused by this curve falls within the allowable range of the optical signal connecting member. Further, when changing the arrangement order, the optical fibers 102 are crossed so as not to be twisted around the central axis.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, an adhesive is applied to the portions of the optical fiber bundles 101a and 101b, and the adjacent optical fibers 102 and 102 are bonded and fixed to form fixed bundle portions 104a and 104b. Then, the adhesive sheet 500 is removed from the optical fiber sheets 100a and 100b. The pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet 500 is preferably made of a resin film coated with a silicone-based pressure-sensitive adhesive so that it can be easily removed. The adhesive sheet 500 has a width that is slightly larger than the width of the optical fiber tapes 100a and 100b, and a length that can be fixed by changing the arrangement order of the optical fibers 102 (for example, 2 to 3 cm). Just do it.

  In this way, the two optical fiber sheets 100a and 100b in which the arrangement order of the optical fibers 102, 102,... Is changed are overlapped, and the first and second ferrules 201a and 201b are respectively attached to both ends as shown in FIG. Install. At this time, the arrangement order changing unit 103a of the first optical fiber tape 100a is located in the vicinity of the second ferrule 201b, and the arrangement order changing unit 103b of the second optical fiber tape 100b is located in the vicinity of the first ferrule 201a. The two arrangement order changing units 103a and 103b are arranged so as not to overlap. The ferrules 201a and 201b can be attached with 12 fibers × 2 rows of optical fibers, but use only 4 holes × 2 rows of exposed holes in the central portion.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the rear side of the ferrule 201 (the side opposite to the fiber exposed end surface) and the vicinity of the ferrule 201 of the optical fiber tapes 100a and 100b are covered and protected by a protective member 205. The protective member 205 includes a housing and a boot, and the arrangement order changing units 103a and 103b are housed therein. In FIG. 6, the arrangement of holes on the tip surface of the ferrule 201 is omitted.

  In the optical signal connecting member of the present embodiment, the optical fiber tapes 100a and 100b are used to make the arrangement of the plurality of optical fibers 102, 102,. Can do. Transmission loss of the optical fiber 102 between the two connectors can be suppressed to be small, and the space and length occupied by the optical fiber tapes 100a and 100b can be suppressed to be small. In addition, since the arrangement order changing sections 103a and 103b that are most likely to be subjected to the side pressure are accommodated in the protective member 205, the arrangement order changing sections 103a and 103b may be excessively bent or other parts may come into contact with or be pressed. In other words, the optical fiber 102 can be prevented from being broken or the transmission loss increasing.

(Embodiment 2)
The optical signal connecting member of the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that an intermittently connected optical fiber tape is used as the optical fiber tape, and the configuration of the connector portion is the same as that of the first embodiment. The following description will be focused on parts different from 1.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the optical fiber tape of the present embodiment includes four optical fibers 102, 102,... Covered with a protective coating, arranged side by side in parallel on the same plane, and two adjacent fibers. Between the optical fibers 102 and 102, a connecting portion 110 provided intermittently is connected. The connecting part 110 is made of an adhesive or a synthetic resin, and is not provided continuously between the two adjacent optical fibers 102 and 102 over the entire length of the optical fiber, but discontinuously and intermittently. Although the optical fiber tape 120 as a whole is scattered, the four optical fibers 102, 102,... Are fixed as the optical fiber tape 120 and disposed so as to be integrally handled.

  In the present embodiment, the free region 122 is formed by removing some of the connecting portions 110 at a portion near the end portion 121 of the optical fiber tape 120. Since the connecting portion 110 is removed in the free region 122, the adjacent optical fibers 102 and 102 are released from being fixed, and the respective optical fibers 102 are separated. In this state, when the space between the end portion 121 and the central portion of the optical fiber tape 120 is rotated 180 degrees along the central axis, the arrangement order of the optical fibers 102 in the free region 122 changes. In this arrangement order changing unit 123, each optical fiber 102 is twisted around its axis. However, unlike Patent Document 2, the twisting stress is distributed over the entire free region 122. The 102 does not break and the transmission loss can be kept small.

  In this embodiment, two optical fiber tapes 120 are prepared, and as shown in FIG. 5B, a free region 122 is created near one end, the optical fiber tapes 120 are twisted, and the arrangement order is changed. . Then, the two optical fiber tapes 120 are overlapped so that the end portions 121 in the vicinity of the free region 122 go to different ends, and the ferrules 201 are respectively attached to the overlapping ends. The same ferrule 201 as that of the first embodiment is used. Then, similarly to the first embodiment, the protection member 205 is attached to the ferrule 201, and the free region 122 is stored in the protection member 205.

  In the second embodiment, the same effect as in the first embodiment is obtained. Further, the second embodiment can create the rearrangement order more easily and in a shorter time than the first embodiment.

(Other embodiments)
The above-described embodiment is an exemplification of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these examples, and these examples may be combined or partially replaced with known techniques, common techniques, and known techniques. Also, modified inventions easily conceived by those skilled in the art are included in the present invention.

  The type of optical fiber may be any type such as quartz or plastic.

  The number of optical fibers arranged on one optical fiber tape only needs to be two or more. In the case of n optical fibers (n is an integer of 2 or more), in the array of optical fibers at one end The arrangement order is changed at the intersection so that the i-th (1 ≦ i ≦ n) optical fibers in the column are positioned n + 1-i-th at the other end. Accordingly, when the end face of the first connector is observed, the i-th optical fiber is arranged in the i-th order when the end face of the second connector is observed, and when the end face is observed, The order and arrangement of the optical fibers are the same for the connectors on both sides.

  The number of optical fiber tapes is not particularly limited as long as it is 2 or more. When the number of optical fiber tapes is three or more and an even number, the number of rearrangement order changing units or free areas arranged in the vicinity of the first ferrule 201a and the rearrangement order changing part or free area arranged in the vicinity of the second ferrule 201b It is preferable that the thickness of the thickest portion when the optical fiber tape is laminated can be kept small. In the case of an odd number, it is preferable that either the vicinity of the first ferrule 201a or the vicinity of the second ferrule 201b is arranged, and the number of order change parts or free regions is one.

  The shape and length of the ferrule and the protective member, the number of optical fiber tapes to be stored, and the number of optical fibers are not particularly limited.

  Note that the arrangement order changing portion and the free region do not need to exist at the end of the optical fiber tape, and need not be accommodated in the protective member.

  Two or more second connectors may be provided. For example, in the first embodiment, two second connectors in which optical fibers for two optical fibers are inserted and fixed may be used.

  As described above, the optical signal connection member according to the present invention is useful for connecting various optical signals because the arrangement order of the optical fibers is the same when the connector end faces at both ends are viewed.

100a, 100b Optical fiber tape 102 Optical fiber 110 Connecting portion 120 Optical fiber tape 122 Free region 201 Ferrule (connector)
201a, 201b Ferrule (connector)

Claims (8)

A plurality of optical fiber tapes fixed in a state where n optical fibers covered by a protective coating (n is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged in parallel; and connectors attached to respective ends of the optical fiber tapes; With
A plurality of the optical fiber tapes are laminated,
In each of the optical fiber tapes, the i-th (1.ltoreq.i.ltoreq.n) optical fibers arranged in the fixed portion are unfixed from each other at any end, and the optical fibers are arranged. The optical signal connecting member, the order of which is changed, and the n + 1-i-th order is arranged in the connector at the released end.   In the optical fiber tape, the plurality of light beams from the portion where the fixing of the plurality of optical fibers is released and the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed to the portion fixed to the connector at the released end portion. The optical signal connecting member according to claim 1, wherein the fibers are arranged in parallel and fixed by an adhesive.   In the plurality of optical fiber tapes, the number of the optical fiber tapes in which the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed at one end and the part in which the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed at the other end. The optical signal connecting member according to claim 1, wherein the number of the optical fiber tapes is equal to or different from one. The connector includes a housing and a boot portion;
4. The optical signal connection member according to claim 1, wherein the portion in which the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed is housed in at least one of a housing and a boot portion of the connector. 5. Two optical fibers adjacent to each other in a state where n optical fibers (n is an integer of 2 or more) covered with a protective coating are arranged in parallel are connected by a connecting portion, and the connecting portion is connected to the length of the optical fiber. A plurality of intermittently connected optical fiber tapes that are intermittently provided and fixed in the direction and the alignment direction, and a connector attached to each end of the optical fiber tape,
A plurality of the optical fiber tapes are laminated,
Each of the optical fiber tapes has a free region in which the coupling portions are removed and n optical fibers are released from being fixed, and is rotated 180 degrees around the longitudinal direction. Signal connection member. The arrangement order of a plurality of optical fibers has been changed in the free region,
The connector includes a housing and a boot portion;
The optical signal connection member according to claim 5, wherein the free region is accommodated in at least one of a housing and a boot portion of the connector.   The optical signal according to claim 6, wherein the number of the free areas accommodated in one of the connectors and the number of the free areas accommodated in the other connector are equal or different from each other. Connection member.   The optical signal connecting member according to claim 1, wherein the connector includes at least one of a V groove and an optical fiber array.

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