JP2843436B2 - Optical cable terminal structure - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a terminal structure of an optical fiber cable.

<Prior Art> An optical fiber connector (hereinafter, referred to as an optical connector) for detachably connecting optical fibers is provided at a terminal portion of an optical fiber cable (hereinafter, referred to as an optical cable). After laying
Optical cables are connected to each other by connecting the optical connectors to each other. There are two methods for arranging optical connectors in conventional optical cable terminals.

Here, the first conventional method is shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b). As shown in both figures, in this method, the optical cable 1
The optical fiber core wire 2 is pulled out from the terminal part of
An optical connector is mounted on the end of the optical fiber core 2. In the section of the pipeline in which such an optical cable 1 is mainly laid, the pipeline diameter is determined to be 75 mmφ. In order to connect all the optical connectors 3 in this area, the position of each optical connector 3 must be changed. 1, the optical connectors 3 are connected at different positions in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 6 (b). The figure also shows the optical cable terminal of the other party to be connected.

FIG. 7 shows a second conventional method. As shown in the figure, in this method, each optical connector 3 mounted on the optical fiber core wire pulled out from the terminal portion of the optical cable 1 has:
It is fixed to the alignment section 4. That is, the alignment section 4 has an end face 4a orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the optical cable 1, and each optical connector 3 is fixed such that its connection ends are arranged in the end face 4a.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in the above-described first method, it is necessary to precisely adjust the mounting position of the optical connector 3 in the hand direction such as the cable, so that the yield and the working time at the time of manufacturing are extremely low. You are in a disadvantaged situation. In this case, each optical connector 3
Need to be connected individually, it is extremely difficult to reduce the connection time.

On the other hand, in the second method, since the optical connectors 3 arranged in the alignment section 4 can be connected collectively, the optical cable 1
Although it is possible to greatly reduce the connection work time of each other, there is a problem that the number of optical connectors 3 that can be arranged on one cable is limited. That is, for example, the aforementioned 75 mmφ
In order to fit the size of the terminal within the limit value,
The number of optical connectors that can be mounted is approximately up to about 25.
When this is converted into the number of optical fiber cores, eight optical fiber cores can be connected with one optical connector 3.
200 hearts. However, at present, optical cables of up to 1000 fibers have been put into practical use, and since multicore is being studied in the future, this method is not practical.

In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical cable terminal structure in which the number of optical connectors to be mounted can be arbitrarily set without limitation and can be collectively connected.

<Means for Solving the Problems> An optical cable terminal structure according to the present invention that achieves the above object is an optical cable terminal structure in which a plurality of optical connectors for detachably connecting optical fibers are mounted on a terminal. An alignment member having an array surface parallel to the optical cable and holding an optical connector is provided at an end of the optical cable, and the optical connector is arranged on the inner surface of the array so that its optical axis is orthogonal to the array surface. I do.

<Operation> According to the above configuration, the arrangement surface of the optical connector is provided in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the optical cable, and the size thereof can be set arbitrarily. Not restricted. When connecting optical cables, the optical connectors can be connected collectively by matching the arrangement surfaces.

<Examples> Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on examples.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an optical cable terminal structure according to one embodiment. In the figure, 11 is an optical cable, 12 is an optical fiber core,
Reference numeral 13 denotes an optical connector mounted on each optical fiber core 12, and each optical connector 13 is arranged on an alignment member 14. The alignment member 14 has a rectangular shape, and is protrudingly provided at a substantially central portion of a cylindrical support member 15 provided at an end of the optical cable 11,
The arrangement surface 14a matches a plane including the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable 11. Each of the optical connectors 13 is arranged and fixed to the alignment member 14 so that its connection end is flush with the arrangement surface 14a and its optical axis is orthogonal to the arrangement surface 14a. Are appropriately assembled so as not to cause an optical fiber loss at the bending radius.
Also, on the back side of the alignment member 14, each arranged optical connector
A semi-cylindrical terminal cover 16 which covers the optical fiber 13 and the optical fiber core 12 connected to the optical connector 13 and has substantially the same diameter as the optical cable 11 is provided.

In the present embodiment, the rectangular optical connectors 13 are arranged in a grid pattern with respect to the rectangular alignment member 14, but depending on the method of assembling the optical fiber core wires 12, as shown in FIG.
The side of each optical connector 13 may be arranged to be inclined with respect to the side of the alignment member 14.

To connect optical cables having such an optical cable terminal structure, opposing optical cable terminals having the same structure are opposed to each other at predetermined positions as shown in FIG.
The optical connectors 13a may be fitted together by fitting the 14a together, and then the optical cable terminals may be fixed by a fastening member (not shown). Note that the reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows an outline of an optical cable terminal structure according to another embodiment. As shown in FIG.
The terminal cover 16 is attached to a support member 15A that can be extended and contracted in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable 11 and bendable in a direction inclined in the same direction. Therefore, alignment member 1
Numeral 4 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable 11, and its arrangement surface 14a is rotatable at least in a plane including this surface.

When connecting optical cable terminals having such a structure, even if both optical cables are in a twisted position to some extent, by moving and rotating the alignment member 14, the arrangement surfaces 14a can easily be connected together and connected collectively. Can be.

FIG. 5 schematically shows an optical cable terminal structure according to still another embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the present embodiment, a support member for supporting the alignment member 14 and the terminal portion cover 16 is provided.
15B is detachably provided on the optical cable 11. The figure shows a state in which the support member 15B has been detached from the optical cable 11, and 12 shows an optical fiber core.

Therefore, when laying an optical cable having such a terminal structure in a conduit, the alignment member 14 and the terminal cover
Since the cable 16 can be removed from the end of the optical cable 11 and housed and laid in a towing end cover (not shown), the laying operation can be simplified.

In the optical cable terminal according to each of the embodiments described above, the optical connector 13 has the arrangement surface 14 parallel to the longitudinal direction of the optical cable 11.
are arranged in an array member 14 having a
The length of the optical connector 13 can be set arbitrarily, so that the limitation on the number of mounted optical connectors 13 due to the size of the conduit, that is, the radial dimension of the optical cable 14 is eliminated. Incidentally, when the structure of the present invention is applied to a terminal portion of an optical cable on which about 4,000 cores of optical fibers are mounted, the length of the terminal is about 25 cm, so it is recognized that an extremely small connecting portion can be realized.

<Effect of the Invention> As described above, in the optical cable terminal structure of the present invention, the optical connectors are arranged in an arrangement plane parallel to the longitudinal direction of the optical cable such that the optical axis of the optical connector is orthogonal to the arrangement plane. Therefore, it is possible to remove the limitation of the number of optical cables mounted in the conventional cable terminal, and
The optical connectors can be connected collectively, and are compact, efficient, and easy to handle.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an optical cable terminal structure according to one embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an optical cable terminal structure according to another embodiment, FIG. FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic diagrams showing an optical cable terminal structure according to another embodiment, respectively, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams showing an optical fiber terminal structure according to the prior art. In the drawings, 11 is an optical cable, 12 is an optical fiber core, 13 is an optical connector, 14 is an alignment member, 14a is an arrangement surface, 15, 15A and 15B are support members, and 16 is a terminal cover.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shigeru Tomita 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Hiroyuki Akimoto 1-16-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Japan Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Co., Ltd. Incorporated (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02B 6/36 G02B 6/24

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An optical cable terminal structure in which a plurality of optical connectors for detachably connecting optical fibers are mounted on a terminal, wherein an alignment member having an arrangement surface parallel to a longitudinal direction of the optical cable and holding the optical connector is provided at an end of the optical cable. Wherein the optical connector is arranged in the arrangement plane such that an optical axis thereof is orthogonal to the arrangement plane. 2. The optical cable terminal structure according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement surface is provided so as to be rotatable in a plane including the arrangement surface and to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable. 3. An optical cable terminal structure according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement surface is provided detachably with respect to the end of the optical cable.