JP2023072325A - optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an optical connector capable of easily being inserted into an adapter.SOLUTION: An optical connector includes a ferrule for storing optical fiber and a housing for covering an outer periphery of the ferrule along an optical axis direction of the optical fiber. The housing includes a front housing that extends along the optical axis direction and stores the ferrule, and a rear housing that has a latch arm and is attachable to/detachable from the front housing. The latch arm has a locking piece that is positionable on a side wall configuring an outer periphery of the front housing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present disclosure relates to optical connectors.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology related to an optical connector. This optical connector includes an optical fiber, a ferrule for holding the optical fiber, a cylindrical front housing, and a rear housing fixed to the front housing, the rear housing having an insertion hole into which the optical fiber can be inserted. have The front housing has a latch arm that engages the adapter. The rear housing has a tab that abuts a latch on the front housing.

JP 2020-24339 A

When the latch arm formed on the front housing is pressed by the knob formed on the rear housing, when the length of the latch arm and the knob is long, the abutting portions of the latch arm and the knob are shifted left and right. It is possible that the In this case, it is conceivable that the optical connector cannot be smoothly inserted into the adapter.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an optical connector that can be easily inserted into an adapter.

An optical connector according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a ferrule that accommodates an optical fiber, and a housing that covers the outer periphery of the ferrule along the optical axis direction of the optical fiber, the housing extending along the optical axis direction. a front housing that accommodates a ferrule; and a rear housing that has a latch arm and is attachable to and detachable from the front housing. have.

According to the optical connector according to the present disclosure, insertion into the adapter can be easily performed.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a ferrule according to one embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an optical connector according to one embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a front housing that constitutes the optical connector according to one embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a rear housing that constitutes the optical connector according to one embodiment. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the optical connection structure according to one embodiment cut along the optical axis direction.

[Description of Embodiments of the Present Disclosure]
First, the contents of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described. An optical connector according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a ferrule that accommodates an optical fiber, and a housing that covers the outer periphery of the ferrule along the optical axis direction of the optical fiber, the housing extending along the optical axis direction. a front housing that accommodates a ferrule; and a rear housing that has a latch arm and is attachable to and detachable from the front housing. have.

In this optical connector, a latch arm provided on the rear housing can be positioned on the side wall of the front housing. Therefore, when the latch arm is positioned on the side wall of the front housing, lateral displacement of the latch arm is suppressed, so that the optical connector can be easily inserted into the adapter.

A side wall of the front housing may include a front slit extending along the optical axis direction, and the locking piece may be positioned by being inserted into the front slit. In this configuration, the latch arm is positioned in the direction intersecting the extending direction of the front slit by inserting the latch arm into the front slit.

The side wall includes a first side wall and a second side wall facing each other in a direction intersecting the optical axis direction, the locking pieces are positionable on the first side wall and the second side wall, respectively, and the rear housing is attached to the front housing. In the folded state, it may be positioned on either one of the first side wall and the second side wall. In this configuration, the manner in which the rear housing is attached to the front housing is selected from a manner in which the engaging piece of the latch arm is attached to the first side wall and a manner in which the engaging piece of the latch arm is attached to the second side wall. can do.

The rear housing may have a rear slit extending in the optical axis direction through which the optical fiber housed in the ferrule can be inserted and removed. With this configuration, it is possible to remove only the rear housing from the optical connector while the housing accommodates the ferrule.

The rear housing may be attachable to the front housing in two states rotated by 180° around a rotation axis along the optical axis direction. With this configuration, when the ferrule accommodates a plurality of optical fibers, the relationship between the arrangement of the optical fibers and the orientation of the latch arm can be changed.

[Details of the embodiment of the present disclosure]
An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals will be used for the same elements or elements having the same functions, and redundant description will be omitted. In each figure, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is shown for easy understanding. In each figure, the extending direction (optical axis direction) of the optical fibers is the X direction, and the alignment direction of the optical fibers is the Y direction. When describing the X direction, which is the direction of the optical axis, as the front-rear direction, the front end side of the optical fiber is the front side, and the opposite side is the rear side.

An example optical connector includes a ferrule and a housing for receiving an optical fiber. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example ferrule. A ferrule 10 is attached to the tip of the optical fiber ribbon 4 . The optical fiber ribbon 4 accommodates a plurality of optical fibers 3 . The ferrule 10, as shown in FIG. 1, is a member for holding each tip of the optical fibers 3 and optically coupling these optical fibers 3 to another optical fiber held by another optical connector. (See Figure 5).

Each optical fiber 3 of the optical fiber ribbon 4 extends along the X direction, and is aligned along the Y direction that intersects (for example, is perpendicular to) the X direction. The optical fiber ribbon 4 may have a configuration in which a plurality of optical fibers 3 are arranged in a plurality of layers. The plurality of optical fibers 3 are arranged or inserted and held in the plurality of optical fiber grooves or the plurality of optical fiber holding holes formed inside the ferrule 10 along the X direction.

The outer peripheral surface of the example ferrule 10 has a positioning portion (for example, a recess) for relative positioning with the adapter 60 (see FIG. 5). This positioning portion extends along the optical axis direction of the optical fiber. The ferrule 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a body portion 11, a flange portion 12, side surfaces 13 and 14, and recesses 13a and 14a (first recess and second recess) as positioning portions.

The ferrule 10 is made of, for example, PPS (polyphenylene sulfide), PEI (polyetherimide), PC (polycarbonate), PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), PES (polyethersulfone), or COP (cycloolefin polymer). Constructed by material. An example ferrule 10 may be constructed of PEI.

The body portion 11 is a portion having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped appearance. Window portions 11a and 11b are provided on the upper surface of the body portion 11 so as to open toward the inside of the ferrule. An optical fiber groove is formed to Further, inside the body portion 11, a housing portion (internal space) extending from the opening of the rear end portion 18 toward the optical fiber groove is formed. Each tip portion of the optical fiber 3 inserted from the opening of the rear end portion 18 passes through the accommodating portion and is placed in the optical fiber groove. Each optical fiber 3 is optically coupled to each lens 19 of the lens array provided at the distal end 17 . Each lens 19 is aligned along the Y direction.

The flange portion 12 is a portion located at the rear end of the body portion 11 in the X direction. In the cross-sectional shape along the XY plane, the outer shape of the collar portion 12 is larger than the outer shape of the main body portion 11 . The step formed by the flange portion 12 restricts the position of the ferrule 10 in the X direction with respect to the housing 30 (see FIG. 2) that accommodates the ferrule 10 .

The side surfaces 13 and 14 constitute the outer peripheral surface of the ferrule 10 . Both side surfaces 13 and 14 are side surfaces facing each other in the Y direction, which is the direction in which the plurality of optical fibers 3 are arranged, in the body portion 11 . The side surface 13 is provided with a concave portion 13a, and the side surface 14 is provided with a concave portion 14a. The recesses 13 a and 14 a are, for example, V-grooves or U-grooves extending in the X direction, and function as guides when the ferrule 10 is inserted into and removed from the adapter 60 . The recesses 13 a and 14 a may not be formed in the collar portion 12 or may extend to the collar portion 12 .

When the recesses 13a and 14a have a V-groove cross-sectional shape, the opening angle of the V-groove (that is, the angle formed by a pair of surfaces constituting the V-groove) is, for example, 45° or more in a cross section perpendicular to the X direction. And it may be 150° or less, or it may be 60° or more and 100° or less. As an example, the opening angle of the V-groove may be 90°. The bottoms of the V-grooves forming the recesses 13a and 14a may be rounded, for example, in a cross section perpendicular to the X direction. Moreover, the concave portions 13a and 14a may have a semicircular cross-section as long as they can be positioned by contacting the convex portions of the adapter 60 described later.

The recesses 13a and 14a in the illustrated example are formed in a V-groove shape extending in the X direction and having the Z direction as the width direction. In the width direction, the central positions of the V-shaped recesses 13a and 14a coincide with the central positions of the side surfaces 13 and 14 in the width direction. That is, the deepest portions (bottom portions) of the recesses 13a and 14a are formed at the centers of the side surfaces 13 and 14 in the width direction.

The side surfaces 15 and 16 are side surfaces that connect the side surfaces 13 and 14 , and constitute the outer peripheral surface of the ferrule 10 like the side surfaces 13 and 14 . The side surfaces 15 and 16 are opposed to each other in the Z direction that intersects (perpendicularly) both the extending direction of the optical fibers 3 and the alignment direction of the optical fibers 3 . In the illustrated example, the distance between side surfaces 13 and 14 is greater than the distance between side surfaces 15 and 16 . That is, the width of the ferrule 10 in the Y direction is larger than the width in the Z direction.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the optical connector 1 according to one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 30 covers the outer periphery of the ferrule 10. As shown in FIG. That is, optical connector 1 includes ferrule 10 and housing 30 that accommodates ferrule 10 . The housing 30 according to this embodiment has slits extending along the optical axis direction at positions corresponding to the recesses 13 a and 14 a of the ferrule 10 . Thereby, the recesses 13a and 14a formed in the ferrule 10 are exposed to the outside of the housing 30 through the slits. That is, the concave portions 13 a and 14 a can be visually recognized from the outside of the optical connector 1 .

The housing 30 is made of an elastic material such as PEI, PBT, PPS, PC, PMMA, PES, PA, or the like. In order to reduce the difference between the coefficient of linear expansion of the material of the housing 30 and the material of the ferrule 10 , the same material as the ferrule 10 may be used as the material of the housing 30 .

The housing 30 has a front housing 31 and a rear housing 41 . FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the front housing. The front housing 31 has, for example, a substantially cylindrical shape with a substantially rectangular cross section, and covers the side surface of the ferrule 10 . That is, the front housing 31 has side walls 33, 34, 35 and 36 facing the side surfaces 13, 14, 15 and 16 of the ferrule 10, respectively. The front housing 31 also includes an opening 31a formed at the front end in the X direction and an opening 31b (see FIG. 5) formed at the rear end in the X direction.

As described above, the front housing 31 is formed with slits for exposing the concave portions 13a and 14a of the ferrule 10 to be accommodated. Examples of slits include a slit 33a (front slit) formed in the side wall 33 and a slit 34a (front slit) formed in the side wall 34 . The slit 33a is formed to the center of the side wall 33 along the optical axis direction with the front end of the side wall 33 as the base end, and the slit 34a is formed along the optical axis direction with the front end of the side wall 34 as the base end. formed up to Although the tips of the slits 33a and 34a shown in FIG. 3 are formed, for example, in an arc shape, the tips of the slits 33a and 34a may be formed in a straight line.

In the Z direction, the center position of the slit 33a and the center position of the recess 13a match each other, and the center position of the slit 34a and the center position of the recess 14a match each other. In the Z direction, the width of the slit 33a may be greater than or equal to the width of the recess 13a, and the width of the slit 34a may be greater than or equal to the width of the recess 14a. In one example, the width of the slits 33a and 34a and the width of the recesses 13a and 14a may be the same. In this case, when viewed from the Y direction, the full width of the recess 13a can be visually recognized through the slit 33a. Further, when viewed from the Y direction, the full width of the recess 14a can be visually recognized through the slit 34a.

Further, the front housing 31 has side walls 35 and 36 with engagement portions 31h with which the rear housing 41 engages. The engaging portion 31h is, for example, an engaging hole, and the engaging portion 42h (see FIG. 3) of the rear housing 41 engages with this engaging hole.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the rear housing. The rear housing 41 includes an insertion portion 42 inserted into the front housing 31, an extension portion 47 extending at the rear end of the insertion portion 42, an optical fiber tape extending through the insertion portion 42 and the extension portion 47 in the front-rear direction, and an optical fiber tape. and an insertion hole 41a through which the core wire 4 is passed.

The insertion portion 42 includes, for example, side walls 43, 44, 45 and 46 facing the side walls 33, 34, 35 and 36 of the front housing 31, respectively. The internal space formed by the side walls 33, 34, 35, and 36 and the outer peripheral surface formed by the side walls 43, 44, 45, and 46 have substantially the same rectangular shape when viewed from the Z direction. is making That is, the rear housing 41 can be attached to the front housing 31 in two states rotated by 180° around the rotation axis along the X direction. 2, the side walls 33, 34, 35 and 36 face the side walls 44, 43, 46 and 45, respectively.

The side walls 45 and 46 are provided with the engaging portions 42h described above. The engaging portion 42h in the illustrated example is formed by notching so as to be surrounded in three directions, and includes an engaging projection at its tip. The side wall 44 is one of a pair of side walls 43 and 44 facing each other in the direction in which the optical fibers 3 are arranged (the Z direction). The side wall 44 is formed with a slit 44a (rear slit) extending in the optical axis direction. The slit 44 a is formed not only in the side wall 44 but also in the extension 47 . That is, the slit 44a is formed from one end to the other end of the rear housing 41 in the X direction. The width of the slit 44a may be, for example, a size through which the optical fiber ribbon 4 can pass. The optical fiber ribbon 4 (optical fiber 3) accommodated in the ferrule 10 can be inserted into and removed from the insertion hole 41a through the slit 44a. With the ferrule 10 housed in the front housing 31 , the optical fiber ribbon 4 housed in the ferrule 10 can be taken out from the slit 44 a and the rear housing 41 can be removed from the front housing 31 . Furthermore, after rotating the rear housing 41 by 180°, the optical fiber ribbon 4 is inserted into the insertion hole 41a through the slit 44a, and the rear housing 41 can be attached to the front housing 31. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2 , when the rear housing 41 is engaged with the front housing 31 , the extended portion 47 is in contact with the rear end of the front housing 31 . A coil spring 50 (see FIG. 5) is arranged between the rear housing 41 and the ferrule 10 when the rear housing 41 is engaged with the front housing 31 . That is, the ferrule 10 is biased forward by the coil spring 50 .

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the extension 47 has a latch arm 48 projecting forward on which the front housing 31 is arranged. A proximal end of the latch arm 48 is provided on a side surface 47a of the extended portion 47 along the XZ plane. The latch arm 48 slopes forward away from the plane along the side wall 43 and slopes forward toward the plane along the side wall 43 from a predetermined position in the Y direction as the top. That is, the latch arm 48 includes a first portion 48b formed from the base end to the top and a second portion 48c formed from the top to the tip.

A latch 38a that protrudes in the left-right direction (Z direction) is provided at the central portion in the X direction of the second portion 48c. A locking piece 49 that can be positioned in the slits 33a and 33b of the front housing 31 is provided at the tip of the second portion 48c. With the rear housing 41 attached to the front housing 31 , the locking piece 49 is selectively positioned in either the slit 33 a of the side wall 33 or the slit 34 a of the side wall 34 .

The locking piece 49 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The width of the locking piece 49 in the Z direction may be substantially the same as the width of the slits 33a and 34a in the Z direction. The locking piece 49 also includes a projecting portion 49a that projects toward a plane along the side wall 43 in the Y direction. The width of the protrusion 49a in the Z direction may be substantially the same as the width of the slits 33a and 34a in the Z direction. The rear side surface of the projecting portion 49a shown in the figure in the X direction is formed in an arc shape when viewed in the Y direction like the tips of the slits 33a and 34a, but is not formed in a straight line shape. may In the unloaded state, the position of the protruding portion 49a in the Y direction may be closer to the side wall 43 of the insertion portion 42 than at least the position of the side surface 47a of the extension portion 47 .

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the optical connection structure including the optical connector cut along the optical axis direction. In FIG. 5, the optical connection structure 100 is cut along the XY plane at the center in the Z direction. The adapter 60 is a cylindrical member for holding the pair of ferrules 10A and 10B housed in the housings 30A and 30B so as to face each other and optically connecting them. Therefore, the adapter 60 has an inner space through which the housing 30 is inserted. The adapter 60 also has protrusions 67a and 64a that engage with the recesses 13a and 14a of the ferrule 10 through the slits 33a and 34a of the housing 30 inserted into the internal space. Thereby, the relative position between the adapter 60 and the ferrule 10 when viewed from the X direction is determined.

The adapter 60 is made of an elastic material such as PEI, PBT, PPS, PC, PMMA, PES, or PA. In order to reduce the difference between the coefficient of linear expansion of the material of the adapter 60 and the material of the ferrules 10A, 10B, the material of the adapter 60 may be the same material as the ferrules 10A, 10B.

The adapter 60 has, for example, a substantially cylindrical shape with a substantially rectangular cross section, and covers the side surface of the housing 30 that accommodates the ferrule 10 . The adapter 60 also includes a first opening 61 formed at the front end in the X direction and a second opening 62 formed at the rear end in the X direction. In the optical connection structure 100, for example, the housing 30A containing the ferrule 10A is inserted into the adapter 60 through the second opening 62, and the housing 30B containing the ferrule 10B is inserted into the adapter 60 through the first opening 61. A latch 48 a of the latch arm 48 provided on each housing 30 is engaged with the adapter 60 . When the housing 30 is to be pulled out from the adapter 60, the locking of the latch 48a to the adapter 60 can be released by pressing the latch arm 48 as if pinching it.

The adapter 60 is fitted to the ferrules 10A and 10B so that the tip portion 17 of the ferrule 10A and the tip portion 17 of the ferrule 10B to be connected face each other. That is, when the housing 30 containing the ferrule 10 is inserted into the adapter 60, the protrusions 67a and 64a pass through the slits 33a and 34a of the housing 30 and engage with the recesses 13a and 14a of the ferrule 10, respectively. Thereby, the projections 67a and 64a guide the insertion of the ferrule 10 into the adapter 60 and its extraction to the outside.

As described above, the optical connector 1 includes the ferrule 10 that accommodates the optical fiber 3, and the housing 30 that covers the outer circumference of the ferrule 10 along the optical axis direction of the optical fiber 3. A front housing 31 extending along a direction to accommodate the ferrule 10 , and a rear housing 41 having a latch arm 48 and detachable from the front housing 31 . has a locking piece 49 that can be positioned on the side wall constituting the .

In a configuration including a front housing and a rear housing like the optical connector 1, if the latch arm is formed only on the rear housing, the length of the latch arm may be long. In such a case, it is conceivable that the latch arm is likely to shift in a direction intersecting the extending direction (horizontal direction), and smooth insertion into and removal from the adapter cannot be performed. In this embodiment, a latch arm 48 provided on the rear housing 41 can be positioned on the side walls 33 and 34 of the front housing 31 . Therefore, when the latch arm 48 is positioned on either side wall 33 or 34 of the front housing 31, the latch arm 48 is prevented from shifting left or right. Further, when the optical connector 1 is pulled out from the adapter 60, it is necessary to press the latch arm 48, but in this case as well, the latch arm 48 is prevented from shifting left and right. Therefore, the optical connector 1 can be easily inserted into and removed from the adapter 60 .

The side walls 33, 34 of the front housing 31 may include slits 33a, 34a extending along the optical axis direction, and the locking piece 49 may be positioned by being inserted into the slits 33a, 34a. . In this configuration, by inserting the latch arm 48 into the slits 33a, 34a, the latch arm 48 is positioned with respect to the direction intersecting the extending direction of the slits 33a, 34a. That is, the latch arm 48 is restrained from shifting left and right. Further, when the latch arm 48 is pressed when the optical connector 1 is pulled out, the locking piece 49 moves along the slit in the X direction, so the latch arm 48 can be easily elastically deformed.

The locking piece 49 can be positioned on each of the side walls 33 and 34 , and may be positioned on either one of the side walls 33 and 34 when the rear housing 41 is attached to the front housing 31 . In this configuration, the rear housing 41 is attached to the front housing 31, and the locking piece 49 of the latch arm 48 is attached to the side wall 33, and the locking piece 49 of the latch arm 48 is attached to the side wall 34. Aspects can be selected from.

The rear housing 41 may have a slit 44a extending in the optical axis direction through which the optical fiber 3 accommodated in the ferrule 10 can be inserted. With this configuration, it is possible to remove only the rear housing 41 from the optical connector 1 while the housing 30 accommodates the ferrule 10 . In this case, the rear housing 41 may be attached to the front housing 31 in two states rotated by 180° around the rotation axis along the optical axis direction. With this configuration, when the ferrule 10 accommodates a plurality of optical fibers 3, the relationship between the arrangement of the optical fibers 3 and the orientation of the latch arm 48 can be changed.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, consider the case where the rear housing 41 is attached to the front housing 31 with the locking piece 49 inserted into the slit 33a. In this case, the rear housing 41 is separated from the optical connector 1 by passing the optical fiber ribbon 4 through the slit 44 a of the rear housing 41 removed from the front housing 31 . Then, the optical fiber ribbon 4 is accommodated in the insertion hole 41a of the rear housing 41 through the slit 44a with the rear housing 41 turned upside down in the Y direction. By attaching the rear housing 41 to the front housing 31 in this state, the locking piece 49 of the latch arm 48 is inserted into the slit 34a facing the slit 33a. Before and after the series of operations, the relationship between the arrangement of the optical fibers 3 and the direction of the latch arm 48 is reversed.

Although the optical connection structure according to the present disclosure has been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the scope of the claims.

For example, in the above embodiment, recesses 13a and 14a (grooves) are formed on the side surfaces 13 and 14 of the ferrule 10, protrusions 67a and 64a are formed on the inner surface of the adapter 60, and protrusions 67a and 67a are formed on the recesses 13a and 14a. The positioning of the ferrule 10 with respect to the adapter 60 was achieved by the intermingling of the ferrules 64a. However, on the contrary, protrusions (first protrusion, second protrusion) are formed on the side surfaces 13 and 14 of the ferrule 10, and recesses (grooves) (third recess, fourth recess) are formed on the inner surface of the adapter 60. A recess) may be provided to allow the ferrule 10 to be inserted into the adapter 60 . In this case, the protrusions formed on the side surfaces 13 and 14 of the ferrule 10 may be shaped like the protrusions 67a and 64a of the adapter 60, or may be semicircular or elliptical. Well, the recesses formed on the inner surface of the adapter 60 may be shaped like the recesses 13a, 14a (V-groove, U-groove, etc.) formed on the side surfaces 13, 14 of the ferrule 10. FIG.

Also, an example is shown in which the rear housing 41 is removed from the optical fiber tape core wire 4 through the slit 44a formed in the rear housing 41 and the rear housing is turned over. If the rear housing 41 can be reversed with the .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Optical connector 3... Optical fiber 4... Optical fiber ribbon 10... Ferrule 10A... Ferrule 10B... Ferrule 11... Body part 11a... Window part 11b... Window part 12... Collar part 13... Side surface 13a... Recess 14... Side surface 14a Recess 15 Side 16 Side 17 Front end 18 Rear end 19 Lens 30 Housing 30A Housing 30B Housing 31 Front housing 31a Opening 31b Opening 31h Engaging portion 33 Side wall 33a Slit (front slit)
33b... Slit 34... Side wall 34a... Slit (front slit)
35... Side wall 36... Side wall 38a... Latch 41... Rear housing 41a... Insertion hole 42... Insertion part 42h... Engagement part 43... Side wall 44... Side wall 44a... Slit (rear slit)
45... Side wall 46... Side wall 47... Extended portion 47a... Side surface 48... Latch arm 48a... Latch 48b... First part 48c... Second part 49... Locking piece 49a... Protruding part 50... Coil spring 60... Adapter 61... First part Opening 62 Second opening 64a Convex portion 67a Convex portion 100 Optical connection structure

Claims (5)

a ferrule that accommodates an optical fiber; and a housing that covers the outer circumference of the ferrule along the optical axis direction of the optical fiber;
The housing is
a front housing that extends along the optical axis direction and houses the ferrule;
a rear housing having a latch arm and detachable from the front housing;
The optical connector, wherein the latch arm has a locking piece that can be positioned on a side wall forming the outer periphery of the front housing. the side wall of the front housing includes a front slit extending along the optical axis direction;
2. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein said locking piece can be positioned in said front slit. the sidewall includes a first sidewall and a second sidewall facing each other in a direction crossing the optical axis direction;
The locking piece can be positioned on each of the first side wall and the second side wall, and is positioned on either the first side wall or the second side wall when the rear housing is attached to the front housing. 3. An optical connector according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein: The optical connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rear housing has a rear slit extending in the optical axis direction through which the optical fiber housed in the ferrule can be put in and taken out. 5. The rear housing according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the rear housing can be attached to the front housing in two states rotated by 180 degrees around a rotation axis along the optical axis direction. 1. The optical connector according to item 1.

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