JP2015094838A - Light-signal connection member - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light signal connection member in which the arrangements of optical fibers in optical fiber connectors at both ends are identical, and which is small in size.SOLUTION: A light-signal connection member comprises: a plurality of optical fiber sheets in which n (n is an integer of 2 or greater) number of optical fibers 102a to d are arranged on the resin film, they are covered with a cover film from above, thereby fixing the optical fibers 102a to d, and both ends of each of the optical fibers 102a to d project beyond the respective external parts of a resin film and a cover film; and connectors 200a, b attached to the end parts of each of the optical fibers 102a to d. The optical fiber sheets are arranged in layers. In each optical fiber sheet, the arrangement order of the optical fibers 102a to d is altered between both the end parts. Thereby, an optical fiber located at the i-th (1≤i≤n) order in the arrangement order in a line at one end part is located at the (n+1-i) order at the other end part.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical signal connecting member, and in particular, a plurality of optical fibers are arranged on a resin film, a cover film is covered from above and the optical fiber is fixed, and both ends of the optical fiber are resin film and cover film. The present invention relates to an optical signal connecting member including a plurality of optical fiber sheets protruding outward and a connector attached to an end of the optical fiber.

  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. 3, 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 where the tip surfaces of the optical fibers are exposed on the end surfaces. 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. 3 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

  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 the two optical fiber ribbons are simply overlapped as described above, the arrangement of the plurality of optical fibers is changed in the ferrule 201 (connector) at both ends, and the arrangement of the modules on the transmission / reception device side of the transmission device is changed. The inconvenience of having to change occurs.

  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 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.

  In the optical signal connecting member of the present invention, n optical fibers (n is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged on a resin film, a cover film is covered from above, and the optical fiber is fixed. A plurality of optical fiber sheets having both ends projecting to the outside of the resin film and the cover film, and a connector attached to an end of the optical fiber, wherein the plurality of optical fiber sheets are laminated, In the optical fiber sheet, the optical fibers are arranged in adjacent rows at both ends of the optical fiber, and the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed between the both ends. Thus, the i-th (1 ≦ i ≦ n) optical fiber in the row at one end is positioned n + 1−i-th at the other end. It has Configurations that was. 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.

  The arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed by crossing the optical fibers, and in the two optical fiber sheets adjacent in the stacking direction, the crossing portion of the optical fibers in one optical fiber sheet and the other The structure which does not overlap by arrange | positioning in the position which differs in a longitudinal direction with the cross | intersection part of optical fibers in an optical fiber sheet | seat may be sufficient.

  The arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed by crossing the optical fibers, and in the two optical fiber sheets adjacent in the stacking direction, the crossing portion of the optical fibers in one optical fiber sheet and the other The structure which does not overlap by arrange | positioning in the position which differs in the direction orthogonal to a longitudinal direction with the cross | intersection part of optical fibers in an optical fiber sheet | seat may be sufficient.

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

  The one end of the optical fiber is attached to a first connector, the other end of the optical fiber is attached to a second connector, and there are a plurality of the second connectors. May be.

  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 typical end view of an optical fiber sheet concerning an embodiment. 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. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of components and a finished product of the optical signal connection member according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of components and a finished product of an optical signal connection member according to Embodiment 2.

  An example of the optical fiber sheet used in the embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. A plurality of optical fibers 102, 102,... Are arranged next to each other on a base sheet 104 made of a resin film, and a cover film 106 made of a resin film is covered on the optical fibers 102, 102,. It is fixed so that it does not move. Note that both end portions of the optical fibers 102, 102,... Protrude from the base sheet 104 and the cover film 106. Here, twelve optical fibers 102, 102,... Are used.

  As an example of the optical fiber 102, an optical fiber using quartz as a raw material can be given. Adjacent optical fibers 102, 102 are adjacent to each other in a row along the longitudinal direction.

  The base sheet 104 and the cover film 106 may be manufactured using any resin film, but a resin film having high rigidity to some extent and thermally stable dimensions is preferable, and a film such as a polyimide resin or a polyester resin is preferable. Is preferred. Moreover, it is preferable to apply an adhesive to the base sheet 104 so that the optical fiber 102 and the cover film 106 can be bonded together.

  In the optical fiber sheet 100, it is preferable that the base sheet 104 and the cover film 106 are more flexible than the optical fiber 102. In this case, the optical fiber sheet 100 itself can be bent in the same manner as the optical fiber 102. it can.

  An optical signal connecting member using such an optical fiber sheet 100 is exemplified by a structure in which two optical fiber sheets 100, 100 are attached to an optical connector 200 having a ferrule 201 at the tip as shown in FIG. Can do. In FIG. 2, the arrangement of holes on the tip surface of the ferrule 201 is omitted. The configuration of the ferrule 201 is shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments 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 FIGS. 4A and 4B, one optical fiber sheet 100a and the other optical fiber sheet 100b used in the optical signal connecting member according to Embodiment 1 are composed of four optical fibers 102a, 102b, and 102c. , 102d are arranged and fixed. In each of the optical fiber sheets 100a and 100b, four optical fibers are arranged in order of 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d in order from the top at the left end, but in order of 102d, 102c, 102b, and 102a in order from the top at the right end. Is reversed.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, in one optical fiber sheet 100a, four optical fibers 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d are arranged in a straight line at both ends, but are parallel in the meandering portion 101a. From the state where the direction is changed and the lines are aligned in a straight line, the four optical fibers 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d intersect in order at the intersection 103a, and the order is changed (FIG. 4D). )). In the intersection 103a, three or more optical fibers do not overlap at the same position, but only two overlap. The optical fiber 102 deviates from the parallel straight portion at the intersection 103a, but may be straight.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, in the other optical fiber sheet 100b, the four optical fibers 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d intersect in order at the intersection 103b, and the order is changed. However, in the meandering portion 101b, the optical fiber changes its direction to the side opposite to the meandering portion 101a of one optical fiber sheet 100a and protrudes laterally. Further, the position of the intersecting portion 103a in the longitudinal direction of one optical fiber sheet 100a and the position of the intersecting portion 103b in the longitudinal direction of the other optical fiber sheet 100b are not coincident and are in different positions. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 4C, when the two optical fiber sheets 10a and 100b are overlapped, the two intersecting portions 103a and 103b do not overlap. Therefore, the two optical fiber sheets 100a and 100b are stacked. The thickness is equal to the thickness of two straight portions that are not intersecting portions, and does not become thicker than that.

  As shown in FIG. 4C, the two optical fiber sheets 100a and 100b are overlapped, and the eight optical fibers at both ends are inserted and fixed to the ferrules 201a and 201b, respectively. Connector 200b. Thereby, the arrangement of the upper and lower sides of the optical fibers is not exchanged, and the arrangement of only the left and right is exchanged.

  In the optical signal connection member of the present embodiment, the arrangement order of the optical fibers can be made the same when the connection end surfaces of the first connector 200a and the second connector 200b are observed with a simple configuration. The thickness of the laminated portion of the two optical fiber sheets can also be kept small.

(Embodiment 2)
The optical signal connecting member of the second embodiment has four optical fiber sheets, and the four sheets are overlapped, and connectors are attached to both ends, but the other points are almost the same as those of the first embodiment. The following description will be focused on the points different from the first embodiment.

  In this embodiment, in addition to the two optical fiber sheets 100a and 100b of the first embodiment, two optical fiber sheets 100c and 100d are further provided. As shown in FIG. 5C, in the optical fiber sheet 100c, the four optical fibers 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d intersect in order at the intersection 103c, and the order is changed. The meandering portion 101c protrudes on the same side as the meandering portion 101a of one optical fiber sheet 100a, but is different from the meandering portion 101a of one optical fiber sheet 100a in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber sheet 100c. Is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 5D, in the optical fiber sheet 100d, the four optical fibers 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d intersect in order at the intersection 103d, and the order is changed. The meandering portion 101d protrudes on the same side as the meandering portion 101b of the other optical fiber sheet 100b, but is different from the meandering portion 101a of one optical fiber sheet 100a in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber sheet 100d. Is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 5E, four optical fiber sheets 100a, 100b, 100c, and 100d are overlapped, and 16 optical fibers at both ends are inserted and fixed to ferrules 201c and 201d, respectively. 200c and the second connector 200d. Thereby, the arrangement of the upper and lower sides of the optical fibers is not exchanged, and the arrangement of only the left and right is exchanged. At this time, the four intersecting portions 103a, 103b, 103c, and 103d are all arranged at different positions so that they do not overlap each other and the overall thickness does not increase.

  In the optical signal connection member of the present embodiment, the optical fibers can be arranged in the same order when the connection end surfaces of the first connector 200c and the second connector 200d are observed with a simple configuration. The thickness of the laminated portion of the four optical fiber sheets can also be kept small.

(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 number of optical fibers arranged on one optical fiber sheet may be two or more, and in the case of n optical fibers (n is an integer of 2 or more), in the optical fiber array 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 arrangement method is not particularly limited, and a gap may be provided between adjacent optical fibers.

  The number of optical fiber sheets is not particularly limited as long as it is 2 or more.

  The first connector and the second connector may not be arranged on the same straight line, and may not be arranged in parallel. Further, the front end surfaces of the first and second connectors may not be parallel to each other. In this case, in the optical fiber sheet, the protruding direction of the optical fiber at one end from the resin film is the protruding at the other end. The configuration is not parallel to the direction.

  There may be two or more second connectors. For example, in the second 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.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Optical fiber sheet 100a-d Optical fiber sheet 102 Optical fiber 102a-d Optical fiber 104 Base sheet (resin film)
106 cover film 200 connector 200a, c first connector 200b, d second connector

Claims (5)

N optical fibers (n is an integer of 2 or more) are arranged on a resin film, a cover film is covered from above and the optical fiber is fixed, and both ends of the optical fiber are external to the resin film and the cover film. A plurality of optical fiber sheets protruding into the
An optical signal connecting member comprising a connector attached to an end of the optical fiber,
The plurality of optical fiber sheets are laminated,
In each of the optical fiber sheets, the optical fibers are arranged in adjacent rows at both ends of the optical fiber, and the arrangement order of the optical fibers is changed between the both ends. Accordingly, the optical signal connecting member in which the i-th (1 ≦ i ≦ n) optical fiber in the row is positioned n + 1−i-th at the other end at one end. The order of the optical fibers has been changed by crossing the optical fibers,
In the two optical fiber sheets adjacent to each other in the stacking direction, the intersection between the optical fibers in one optical fiber sheet and the intersection between the optical fibers in the other optical fiber sheet are arranged at different positions in the longitudinal direction. The optical signal connection member according to claim 1, wherein the optical signal connection member does not overlap each other. The order of the optical fibers has been changed by crossing the optical fibers,
In the two optical fiber sheets adjacent in the stacking direction, the intersection between the optical fibers in one optical fiber sheet and the intersection between the optical fibers in the other optical fiber sheet are different in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The optical signal connection member according to claim 1, wherein the optical signal connection member does not overlap by being disposed at a position.   4. The optical signal connection member according to claim 1, wherein the connector includes at least one of a V groove and an optical fiber array. 5. The one end of the optical fiber is attached to a first connector;
The other end of the optical fiber is attached to a second connector;
5. The optical signal connection member according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of the second connectors. 6.

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