JP2801350B2 - Optical switch device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an optical switch device used for switching an optical path.

(Prior Art) As an optical switch device used for a monitoring system or the like for monitoring an optical line composed of a large number of optical fibers without affecting the current optical communication, for example, a plurality of optical switches having pin holes for fitting are used. A multi-core connector is arranged and fixed in a matrix on a connector holder, and a required multi-core connector on the connector holder has a fitting pin fitted in the pin hole, and n optical fiber terminals are connected. The applicant has proposed an optical switch device that switches and connects the optical line while switching and connecting the master connector thus controlled by a control device.

In the above optical switch device, in order to minimize the light loss at the joint end face of the two connectors, the attaching / detaching device supports the holding means for holding the master connector, and the holding means is vertically movable and swingably supported. Along with the aligning means for automatically aligning the fitting position of the two connectors, and the aligning means,
Lifting means for raising and lowering the master connector in the direction in which the master connector comes into contact with and separating from the multi-core connector, and attaching and detaching both connectors, and applying a predetermined urging force to the master connector when the two connectors are fitted to the lifting means. A spring is provided.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, even with the above configuration, if the end faces of the two connectors are insufficiently joined and a gap is formed between the two connectors, refraction occurs between the end faces of the optical fibers held by the two connectors. There is a problem that air layers having different rates are formed, and optical signals to be transmitted cause optical loss.

In order to solve this problem, it is only necessary to accurately position the master connector and the multi-core connector. However, due to various manufacturing errors and mounting errors, etc., it is very difficult to mechanically position both connectors mechanically. Have difficulty.

In addition, if the positioning of both connectors is not performed accurately, the mating pins of the master connector damage the pin holes of the multi-core connector, and the pin holes of the multi-core connector are clogged by minute damage pieces or the like due to such damage. As described above, there is a problem in that the end face bonding between them becomes insufficient and light loss occurs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an optical switch device that can suppress occurrence of optical loss and realize a stable optical communication state even when a gap occurs between optically connected connectors. The purpose is to provide.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a connector holder in which a plurality of first connectors each having a pin hole on a joint end face are arranged and fixed, and the first connector is provided on the joint end face. A second connector in which a fitting pin fitted into a pin hole is mounted, and a mounting / dismounting device for mounting and demounting a required connector in the plurality of first connectors; And a moving device for moving the second connector to the required first connector position, the second connector is sequentially butted to the plurality of first connectors, and is joined while being positioned by the fitting pin and the pin hole. An optical switch device for optically switching and connecting the first connector and an air blow device for cleaning a pin hole of the first connector by an air flow in advance, and the second connector and the first connector. Prior to the joining operation of the connectors, an application device for applying a matching oil is provided in advance on the joining end face of at least one of the first and second connectors.

(Operation) Since the matching oil is applied in advance to at least one of the joining end surfaces of the first or second connector, the end surface joining between the first and second connectors is insufficient.
Even if a gap occurs between both connectors, the refractive index between both end surfaces is maintained at a predetermined value by the applied matching oil,
The occurrence of optical loss in the transmitted optical signal is suppressed.

Furthermore, since the air blow device cleans the pin hole of the first connector with the airflow, the fitting pin is smoothly fitted into the pin hole, and the end faces between the two connectors are joined well.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an optical switch device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

The optical switch device is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,
A connector holder 20 in which p × q multi-core connectors 21 are arranged and fixed in a matrix on the pedestal 10 and a required multi-core connector 21 on the connector holder 20 are switched and connected. Master connector to which fiber terminals are connected
32 (FIG. 1), an attaching / detaching device 40 for holding the master connector 32 and attaching / detaching to / from a required multi-core connector 21 on the connector holder 20, and moving the attaching / detaching device 40 on the connector holder 20 in two-dimensional directions. A moving device 50 for moving the master connector 32, a control device 60 for controlling the operation of attaching and detaching the master connector 32, and a selecting means 70 for outputting a selection signal for selecting a predetermined multi-core connector 21 from the plurality of multi-core connectors 21. I have. 1 and 2, the connector holder 20 to which the multicore connector 21 is fixed and the base 10 are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the multi-core connector 21 has a rectangular parallelepiped main body 21a in which the end of the tape fiber 80 is embedded and held.
Steps 21b, 21b for stopper when fitting to the connector holder 20 are formed on both sides in the width direction of the main body 21a, and the connection end face 21c at the front part of the main body 21a has each core fiber of the tape fiber 80 whose end face is polished. The end face 80a is exposed, and pin holes 21d, 21d are formed on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the joint end face 21c with the core end face 80a interposed therebetween. Reference numeral 21e denotes a rubber boot provided at the rear of the main body 21a to protect the tape fiber 80 from bending.

The master connector 32 is provided with the pin holes 21d and 21 of the multi-core connector 21.
Except that the fitting pin that fits into d and performs positioning when joining the two connectors 32 and 21 is implanted at a position corresponding to the pin holes 21d and 21d, It is configured similarly.

The attaching / detaching device 40 is attached to a movable table 51 of a moving device 50 described later, and as shown in FIG. 1, a support member 41 for supporting the attaching / detaching device 40, a holding means 42 for holding the master connector 32, The holding means 42 is vertically moved and swingably supported, and the aligning means 43 for automatically aligning the joining position of the master connector 32 to the multi-core connector 21 and the lifting and lowering operation of these holding means 42 and the aligning means 43 are performed. Elevating means for connecting the master connector 32 to the selected predetermined multicore connector 21 at its end face
Has 44.

The moving device 50 is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a movable table 51 on which the attaching / detaching device 40 is mounted, and the movable table 51 is moved by a ball screw 52a in a lateral direction indicated by an arrow XX in FIG. Movable stage 52, freely movable stage 52
First drive motor 5 installed on top and moving movable table 51
3. A rail that is disposed on the left and right sides of the pedestal 10 and movably extends the movable stage 52 in the vertical direction indicated by arrows YY in FIG.
Rail brackets 54, 55 on which 54a, 55a are installed, and a drive bracket suspended from the lower surface of the movable stage 52 on the first drive motor 53 side
52b and the movable stage 52 in the vertical direction (Y-Y direction)
And a second driving motor 57 for driving the ball screw 56 to rotate.

The control device 60 is connected to the attachment / detachment device 40, the movement device 50, and a matching oil application device 90, which will be described later, by a connection line 61 extending from the pedestal 10. In addition, for controlling the operation of applying the matching oil by the application device 90, for example, a computer device (ECU) is used. In this computer device, the order of attaching and detaching the master connector 32 to and from the multi-core connector 21 arranged on the connector holder 20, the operation procedure of the attaching / detaching device 40 and the moving device 50 accompanying the attachment / detachment, etc. are programmed and stored in advance. ing. The control device 60 is, for example, a connector holder shown in FIG.
The position of the multi-fiber connector 21 disposed on the upper left of 20, as the origin position I _P of when the master connector 32 is moved to the multi-fiber connector 21, is performed the position control when the move.

The selection means 70 uses an operation panel of the control device 60 provided adjacent to the control device 60 and provided with a selection switch for selecting a predetermined multi-core connector 21, but has a similar selection switch on the base 10. A device may be provided, or an appropriate selection device may be separately provided in the computer device of the control device 60.

The optical switch device of the present embodiment is a coating device that applies matching oil to the multi-core connector 21 as the first connector.
90 is provided.

In parallel with the joining operation of joining the master connector 32 to the multi-core connector 21 by the attachment / detachment device 40, the coating device 90 is connected to another multi-core connector 21 on the connector holder 20, for example, two pitches in the direction of arrow XX. In the preceding multi-core connector 21,
A matching oil is applied in advance, and is provided on the support member 41 adjacent to the attaching / detaching device 40 as shown in FIGS. The coating device 90 includes the control device 60
The operation is controlled by the oil nozzle 91,
The bracket 92 includes a support bracket 92 that supports the oil nozzle 91 and a cylinder 93 that moves the bracket 92 up and down. The bracket 92 is provided with an air blow device 94 adjacent to the oil nozzle 91.

The oil nozzle 91 has a sponge 91a impregnated with matching oil attached to the tip thereof, and an oil pipe 95 connected to a metering and discharging device (not shown) connected to the base end of the oil nozzle 91. The metering and discharging device is controlled by the control signal from the control device 60 to control the oil pipe 95.
The matching oil is pressure-fed to the oil nozzle 91 via.

The support bracket 92 is attached to a slide guide 41a installed on the support member 41 via a slide guide 96 so as to be able to move up and down, and an attachment portion 9 attached to the slide guide 41a.
An upper flange 92b and a lower flange 92c are formed above and below 2a,
An oil nozzle 91 is attached to the distal end of the lower flange 92c.

The cylinder 93 is suspended from a cylinder bracket 41b disposed above the support bracket 92, and a distal end of a piston 93a extending downward is connected to an upper flange 92b of the support bracket 92.

In addition, the air blow device 94 cleans the pin holes 21d, 21d of the multi-core connector 21 further ahead by one pitch in the direction of the arrow XX from the multi-core connector 21 to which the matching oil is applied by an air flow in advance. An air nozzle 94a having a bifurcated distal end corresponding to the distance between the pin holes 21d, 21d, an air pipe 94b connected to the base end of the air nozzle 94a, and a holding portion 94c for holding the air nozzle 94a.
4b is connected to a compressed air source via a solenoid valve (not shown). The air blow device 94 is also provided with the control device 60.
The operation is controlled by.

The optical switch device of the present invention configured as described above,
For example, when the attachment / detachment of the master connector 32 to / from each multi-core connector 21 is repeated about 500 times, the application of the matching oil by the application device 90 is performed and used as follows.

First, when the optical switch device is activated, the moving device 50
There actuated, by the first drive motor 53 and the second drive motor 57 to rotate the respective ball screw 52a and a ball screw 56, the movable table 51 together with the support member 41 is moved to the home position I _P on the connector holder 20. Thus, the air nozzle 94a of the air blow device 94, is moved to a position directly above multifiber connector 21 disposed in the origin position I _P.

Then, the support bracket 92 cylinder 93 is actuated to drop with the air nozzle 94a of the air blow device 94, the tip of the air nozzle 94a is, multifiber connectors 2 which is in the home position I _P
It stops just above the pin holes 21d, 21d. Thereafter, the compressed air supplied from the compressed air source is supplied to the nozzle 94a for a predetermined time.
To discharge the pin holes 21d, 21d by an air flow.

After such cleaning, when the cylinder 93 raises the support bracket 92, the moving device 50 moves the movable table 51 to the right along the arrow XX in FIG. 4, that is, the direction of the arrow A in FIG. It is moved together with 41 by one pitch of the multi-core connector 21.

Next, the cylinder 93 lowers the support bracket 92 as described above. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the air blow device 94 causes the multi-core connector 21 to advance one pitch.
The sponge 91a at the tip of the oil noise 91 abuts the joining end face 21c of the multi-core connector 21 after one pitch, where the pin holes 21d and 21d of the multi-core connector 21 have already been cleaned by the air flow, and are matched by the coating device 90. Oil is applied.

Thereafter, when the cylinder 93 raises the support bracket 92, the moving device 50 moves the movable table 51 together with the support member 41 to the first position.
In the direction of arrow A shown in the figure, the pin holes 21d are further moved by one pitch, and the cleaning of the pin holes 21d, 21d by the air flow and the application of the matching oil to the joint end face 21c are repeated. Since the coating device 90 is separated from the master connector 32 of the attaching / detaching device 40 by two pitches in the multi-core connector 21, the coating device 90 advances three pitches ahead of the multi-core connector 21 at the origin position. At the same time as cleaning the pin holes 21d, 21d and applying the matching oil to the joint end surface 21c in parallel with the master connector 32.
The operation of attaching and detaching the multi-core connector 21 is started.

Such a series of operations is performed by the connector holder 20 shown in FIG.
Is completed for one line in the direction of arrow XX, the moving device 50 moves by one line in the direction of arrow YY, and the above series of operations is repeated again in the direction of arrow XX. For all the multi-core connectors 21 on the connector holder 20, cleaning of the pin holes 21d and 21d, application of matching oil to the joint end surface 21c, and switching of the optical path by attaching and detaching the master connector 32 and the multi-core connector 21 are performed. It is done at the same time.

The application of the matching oil may be performed separately from the attachment / detachment operation, and after the attachment / detachment operation is completed, the pin hole cleaning and the matching oil application operation may be performed again.
Moreover, it is not necessary to apply the matching oil every time each attaching / detaching operation is performed, and the matching oil may be applied intermittently during a series of attaching / detaching operations. Further, the air blow device 94 does not necessarily need to move up and down, and therefore, a new bracket may be provided on the support member 41 and fixed to this bracket. Further, the sponge 91a is not necessarily provided on the oil nozzle 91.
It is not necessary to attach the pipe, and if a matching oil can be applied, the pipe may be branched into two or more branches or a straight pipe without branch.

Next, an optical switch device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The optical switch device of this embodiment is different from the coating device 90 shown in the above embodiment in that a master connector as a second connector is provided.
Coating device 10 for applying matching oil to 32 joint end faces
0 is provided, and the same components as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The coating device 100 includes a connector holder 10 on one side of the base 10.
Is installed adjacent to the oil tank 101, oil nozzle 102,
It has an oil pipe 103, and the oil tank 101 has a sponge 104 packed inside. And the coating device 100
A predetermined amount of matching oil is pressure-fed to an oil nozzle 102 via an oil pipe 103 from a not-shown metering / discharging device operated by a control signal from the control device 60. As a result, the sponge 104 in the oil tank 101
The matching oil discharged from the tip of 2 is impregnated while keeping the liquid level constant, so that the matching oil does not overflow out of the oil tank 101 due to vibrations and the like accompanying the operation of this optical switch device. I have.

Here, the liquid level of the matching oil is
When the master connector 32 which moves up and down by the operation of 40 descends to the lower limit, so that a good application state is obtained,
The joint end surface is set in advance so as to be in contact with the liquid surface or at a position slightly submerged in the liquid surface.

The coating apparatus 100 having the above-described configuration allows the master connector 32 to be connected to the multi-core connector 21 according to a procedure set in the control device 60 in advance when joining the master connector 32 to the multicore connector 21.
The matching oil is applied by moving the joint end surface to the sponge 104 in the oil tank 101 by moving the joint end surface to the position 0. Here, the frequency of applying the matching oil to the master connector 32 is not particularly limited as long as it does not affect the end surface joining of both connectors.

Therefore, according to the optical switch device of the present embodiment, the multi-core connector 21 has the pin holes 21d,
21d is cleaned, and the joining end face 2 is
Matching oil is applied to 1c. At the same time, the matching oil is applied to the joining end face of the master connector 32 by the application device 100. For this reason, both connectors 21,3
When joining the end faces of 2, it is difficult for gaps to occur between connectors,
Even if a gap is formed, the occurrence of light loss is suppressed by the applied matching oil, and a stable optical communication state is realized.

In the optical switch device according to the second embodiment, the coating device 90 and the coating device 100 are provided.
If there is 00, the coating device 90 is not always necessary. If the coating device 90 is omitted and only the coating device 100 is used, the support member 41
Since there is no need to secure a space for the coating device 90, the structure of the support member 41 side is simplified, the support member 41 can be reduced in size, and the pedestal 10 has a sufficient arrangement space, so that the coating device 100 is installed. There is an advantage that the degree of freedom described above is increased.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail, according to the present invention, a connector holder in which a plurality of first connectors each having a pin hole on a joint end face are arranged and fixed, and a pin of the first connector is arranged on the joint end face. A second connector having a fitting pin fitted in the hole is mounted thereon, and a mounting / dismounting device for mounting and demounting a required connector in the plurality of first connectors, and a second mounting device mounted on the mounting / dismounting device. A moving device for moving the second connector to the required first connector position, sequentially butting the second connector with the plurality of first connectors, and joining the second connector while positioning the connector with the fitting pin and the pin hole. In the optical switch device for optically switching and connecting, an air blow device for cleaning the pin hole of the first connector by an air flow in advance is provided, so that the operation of joining the second connector and the first connector is performed. Prior to the above, a coating device for previously applying a matching oil is also provided on the joint end surface of the first or second at least one connector, so that even if a gap is generated between optically connected connectors, the applied matching oil is not applied. Since this gap is closed, it is possible to realize a stable optical communication state while suppressing the occurrence of light loss. Further, since the matching oil has a lubricating action, the joining operation of the second connector to the first connector becomes smooth, and it is possible to prevent the first connector from being damaged at the time of joining both connectors. In addition, it is possible to realize a stable joining operation, and to provide an inexpensive optical switch device capable of automating the device itself.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1 to 6 show an optical switch device according to a first embodiment of the present invention having an application device for applying matching oil to a first connector, and FIG. 1 shows an application device. FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a front view of an essential part showing an operation state of a coating device and an air blow device, FIG. 4 is a plan view of an optical switch device, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing a multi-core connector, and FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention having an application device for applying matching oil to the second connector. FIG. 7 is a front view showing an application device, and FIG. 8 is a plan view of the optical switch device. 20 ... connector holder, 21 ... multi-core connector (first connector), 32 ... master connector (second connector),
40: detachable device, 41: support member, 50: moving device, 60
…… Control device, 90 …… Coating device, 91 …… Oil nozzle,
92: Support bracket, 93: Cylinder, 94: Air blow device. 100 ... coating device, 101 ... oil tank, 102 ...
... oil nozzle, 103 ... oil pipe.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Shizuka Yamaguchi 6 Yawata Kaigandori, Ichihara-shi, Chiba Prefecture Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. Chiba Works (56) References JP-A-63-231305 (JP, A) JP-A Sho 63-281108 (JP, A) JP-A-2-150810 (JP, A) JP-A-2-99908 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02B 6/38 G02B 26/08

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connector holder in which a first connector having a pin hole on a joint end face is duplicately arranged and fixed, and a second connector having a mating pin fitted on the joint end face to be fitted in a pin hole of the first connector. And a detachable device for attaching and detaching to and from a required connector in the plurality of first connectors, and a second connector attached to the detachable device is moved to the required first connector position. An optical switch device comprising a moving device, wherein the second connector is sequentially butted with the plurality of first connectors, and is optically switched and connected by joining while positioning with the fitting pin and the pin hole. An air blow device that cleans a pin hole of the first connector by an air flow in advance is provided, and prior to the joining operation of the second connector and the first connector, the air blow device of the first or second connector is used. Even in one of the joining end face without an optical switch apparatus characterized in that a coating device for applying a pre-matching oil.