JP3240038B2 - Optical fiber connector cleaning device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an optical fiber connector cleaning device for cleaning a plug of an optical fiber connector in an optical communication system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method for cleaning an optical fiber connector, wiping with alcohol or spraying with Freon gas is known. However, in the former, the amount of alcohol and the degree of wiping are greatly different depending on the individual who performs the cleaning, so that the cleaning effect tends to vary. In addition, since alcohol is easily flammable, it is necessary to pay close attention to handling and storing alcohol in terms of fire. On the other hand, Freon gas is known to destroy the ozone layer, and its use is regulated internationally due to its environmental harm.

Therefore, as an alternative to the above method,
An optical fiber connector cleaning device is commercially available which presses a dry, tape-shaped cleaning cloth (cleaner tape) against a plug of the optical fiber connector to remove dust, oil film, etc. attached to the plug. Have been.

A conventional optical fiber connector cleaning device will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a conventional optical fiber connector cleaning device, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view for explaining the internal structure of the device. In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a case body, 2
Is a tape feed lever, 3 is a shutter, 4 is a cleaner tape, 5 is a take-up reel, 6 is a supply reel, and 7 is a tape pad section.

First, the use of the optical fiber connector cleaning device will be described. In FIG. 10, the tape feed lever 2 is rotated. In conjunction with the movement of the lever 2, the shutter 3 is opened, the cleaner tape 4 is wound on the take-up reel 5, and a new cleaner tape 4 is paid out from the supply reel 6. While the tip of the plug of the optical fiber connector is pressed against the new cleaner tape 4 through the hole of the shutter 3, scanning is performed in the direction opposite to the winding direction of the cleaner tape 4. This operation removes dust and the like near the tip of the plug. By returning the tape feed lever 2 to the original position, the shutter 3 is moved rearward, so that the dust does not adhere to the cleaner tape. Here, the cleaner tape 4 is made of polyester 2
It is woven with very thin thread of about 3 microns, and can remove not only fine dust but also oil film. In addition, since the tape pad portion 7 travels while the cleaner tape 4 slides, the friction is small and the tape pad portion 7 does not generate dust by itself.
Plastic materials are used.

[0006]

However, in the above-described conventional optical fiber connector cleaning device, the cleaning operation is performed by rubbing the cleaner tape 4 with the tip of the plug. And the cleaner tape 4 is charged (the ferrule, the tape pad member, and the cleaner tape all have extremely low conductivity). Further, when the tape pad member is formed of a general plastic, the tape pad member itself is charged by friction with the cleaner tape.
For this reason, there is a danger of attaching other dust or the dust that has just been removed. This tendency is remarkable when cleaning is performed continuously or when cleaning is performed strongly. This may cause a problem that connection loss increases.

Further, since the plug is moved by manually pressing the tip of the plug against the cleaner tape, the pressing force and the moving distance are not constant, and the cleaning effect tends to vary.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an optical fiber connector cleaning device in which the cleaning effect is always stable.

[0009]

As described above, the optical fiber connector cleaning apparatus according to the present invention comprises a cleaner tape for removing dust adhering to a plug of an optical fiber connector, and a cleaner tape for cleaning the tape. In the optical fiber connector cleaning device having a pad member disposed on the back surface, and a support member for pressing the plug against the pad member via the cleaner tape, the surface or the entire surface of the pad member, metal, Ri Do a conductive plastic material or a conductive rubber material, wherein the pad member is
Supported by a metal base and guide shaft,
The pad member has a small thickness at the part pushed by the plug.
And itself has elasticity, or
An elastic member that can expand and contract along the direction pressed by the plug
It is characterized by being supported . Preferably, the
The liner tape is metal or conductive plastic
It is made of stick material or conductive rubber.

[0010] Preferably, the pad member is supported by stretchable elastic member along a direction to be pressed by the plug.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention has a cleaner pad material formed of metal or a material having high conductivity. This makes it possible for the electric charge charged on the tape to escape from the cleaner tape. Further, in order to keep the pressing force against the cleaner tape constant, the plug is gripped by a robot, and the tape pad portion is supported from behind by a spring material. That is, the optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention makes it difficult for the cleaner tape to be charged, discharges the charge immediately even if charged, reduces the amount of charge to the plug, and makes it difficult for dust to adhere. There is action. Also,
Since the cleaner tape is supported by the tape pad portion having the spring property, the pressing force is constant.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. here,
Reference numeral 4 is a cleaner tape, 5 is a take-up reel, 6
Is a supply reel, and 17 is a conductive tape pad portion.
The configuration is the same as in FIGS. Tape pad 1
Reference numeral 7 is formed of a conductive plastic material, a conductive rubber material, or a metal. By forming the tape pad portion with a conductive material, the cleaner tape or the tape pad portion is hardly charged, and even if the cleaner tape or the tape pad portion is charged, the charge easily flows to the main body side, and the cleaner tape or the tape pad portion is electrically charged. The residual charge on the tape pad decreases.

FIG. 2 shows the result of measuring the surface potential at the tip of the plug. Using plastic and rubber (4 mm, 3 mm, 2 mm thick) as the material of the tape pad portion, the surface potential of the plug tip 20 seconds after cleaning with respect to the tape traveling distance is shown. The plastic material used here is a polyacetal resin, and the rubber material is a soft rubber. The rubber material has a conductivity that is one to two digits higher than that of a plastic material (volume resistance: 10 ¹⁴ Ωcm). The base of the rubber material is formed of an aluminum material. From this figure, it can be seen that the amount of charge is smaller for the rubber material than for the plastic and for the thinner rubber. This is because a larger amount of static electricity of the thinner rubber escapes to the base material. Therefore, when a metal, a conductive plastic material, or a conductive rubber, which is a highly conductive member, is used for the tape pad portion, generation of static electricity can be suppressed. further,
If conductivity can be imparted to the cleaner tape itself, the cleaning effect will increase. In this case, it is preferable that the friction accompanying the movement of the cleaner tape is small from the viewpoint of the hoisting torque. Therefore, it is better to select a smooth processing and material. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the conductivity of the surface is reduced by coating the metal surface.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the construction of the optical fiber connector cleaning device when the back side of the tape pad is supported by a spring. Here, reference numeral 14 denotes a cleaner tape, 1
5 is a take-up reel, 16 is a supply reel, 27 is a tape pad section, 18 is a tape cartridge, 19 is a coil spring, and 20 is a plug.

When the tip of the plug 20 is pressed against the cleaner tape 14, the tape pad portion 27 retreats, and a constant pressing force is generated as much as the coil spring 19 is compressed.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show an example of the construction of a tape pad section according to the present invention, wherein FIG.
(B) is a side view, and (c) is a rear view. Here, reference numeral 31 is a rubber pad, 32 is a metal base,
33 is a coil spring, 34 is a guide shaft, 35 is a washer, and 36 is a support shaft. The rubber pad 31 is fixed to the base 32 with an adhesive. The guide shaft 34 is coaxial with the coil spring 33, and when the plug is pushed in, the spring contracts and the rubber pad 31
Retreats. Here, it is advantageous to make the adhesive layer as thin as possible or to have a conductive material in order to quickly discharge the electric charge charged in the tape pad portion or the cleaner tape. The electric charge is discharged to the main body in the route of the tape pad portion, the base, and the guide shaft.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show another embodiment of the tape pad portion. In the figure, reference numerals 50 and 6
Reference numeral 0 denotes a tape pad portion, and reference numerals 51 and 61 denote elastic portions provided on the tape pad portion. The tip of the plug of the optical fiber connector contacts the elastic portion 51 or 61.
In each case, the portion into which the plug is pushed is thin.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a device configuration for automating a cleaning operation by the optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes a winding motor, 41 denotes an encoder,
2 is a pad driving motor, 43 is a robot hand,
44 is a linear guide, 45 is a motor for driving a robot, 4
6 is a personal computer, 47 is a motor controller, and 48
Is an input / output interface.

The take-up motor 40 is a take-up reel 1
It may be connected directly to the rotating shaft 5 or may be connected via a belt or the like. An encoder is also installed on the supply reel shaft. The tape pad section is pushed out together with the coil spring 19 by a pad driving motor 42. Motors are controlled by a personal computer 46 via a motor controller 47. The signal of the encoder 41 is taken in via the input / output interface 48. Since the electric charge charged at the tip of the plug is gradually discharged from the hand part 43 of the robot to the main body through the ferrule metal part, the ferrule metal part and the hand part serving as the passage are kept in a good conduction state and the main body is sufficiently grounded. You also need to take

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an automatic cleaning operation by the optical fiber connector cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.

First, the remaining amount of the cleaner tape wound on the supply reel is checked (S-101). If there is no remaining amount ("Yes" in S-101), a message requesting replacement of the tape cartridge is output. When there is remaining amount (S
(No at -101), the plug of the optical fiber connector to be cleaned is gripped by the robot hand, and the plug is moved to the cleaning position (S-103). Next, the motor for the tape pad section is driven (S-105).
As a result, the tape pad is pressed against the cleaner tape. The encoder pulse installed on the supply reel shaft is counted, and the winding motor is driven until a predetermined count value is reached (S-106). As a result, the cleaner tape is transferred. When the predetermined number of pulses is reached (S
When the tape pad portion is returned to the storage position, the winding motor is driven to remove slack in the cleaner tape, and a series of cleaning operations is completed (S-110 to S-111). On the other hand, when the predetermined number of pulses has been reached ("No" in S-107), the winding motor is driven again until the predetermined count value is reached (S-10).
6).

Here, the encoder for detecting the rotation angle has been described as being on the supply reel side. Even if it is on the take-up reel side, the effect is not changed. Although the winding motor is described as a DC motor, it may be a pulse motor. In that case, the encoder can be omitted.

Further, the remaining amount of the cleaner tape is obtained by integrating the used amount of the cleaner tape by the number of times of cleaning used in the past. Further, the running distance of the cleaner tape changes with the same reel rotation angle drive in accordance with the change of the take-up reel diameter, but this can also be controlled to be constant by integrating one of the reel rotation angles or the number of rotations.

FIG. 9 shows the results of actual measurement of the cleaning effect with respect to the tape running distance. Dust was intentionally attached to the tip of the plug, and the dust removal effect of the cleaning operation was measured. The vertical axis shows the measurement result of the received light power when the laser light is passed through the cleaned plug. The more the dust is left at the tip of the plug, the lower the received light power is, and the level of the plot on the graph is lowered. When no cleaning operation is performed, the received light power drops to -17 dB or less, depending on the amount of dust attached. Tape running distance is 15mm
Above this level, the loss is small and there is almost no problem, but below this distance it can be seen that the light receiving level is reduced due to the effects of residual dust.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the generation of static charge can be suppressed to a small extent as compared with the conventional optical fiber connector cleaning device, and thus a high performance optical fiber connector cleaning device can be realized. Further, since the plug is gripped by the robot and the tape pad portion is supported by the spring material from the back side, the pressing force and the moving distance are constant, and the cleaning effect is less likely to vary.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration of a cleaner tape applied to an optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention and a tape pad portion for supporting the tape.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a result of measuring a surface potential of a tip of a plug to be cleaned by an optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing one configuration example of the optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration of a tape pad portion applied to the optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention;
(A) is a top and front view, (b) is a side view, and (c) is a rear view.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are a top view and a front view showing a configuration of a tape pad section applied to the optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention; FIGS.

FIG. 6 is a top view and a front view showing the configuration of a tape pad section applied to the optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining automatic cleaning using the optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining automatic cleaning using the optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a measurement result of a cleaning effect with respect to a tape traveling distance when the optical fiber connector cleaning device according to the present invention is used.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a conventional optical fiber connector cleaning device.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration of a cleaner tape and a tape pad portion applied to a conventional optical fiber connector cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case main body 2 Tape feed lever 3 Shutter 4 Cleaner tape 5 Take-up reel 6 Supply reel 7 Tape pad part 14 Cleaner tape 15 Take-up reel 16 Supply reel 17 Conductive tape pad part 18 Tape cartridge 19 Coil spring 20 Plug 27 Tape Pad part 31 Rubber pad 32 Base 33 Coil spring 34 Guide shaft 40 Winding motor 41 Encoder 42 Pad driving motor 43 Robot hand part 44 Linear guide 45 Robot driving motor 46 Personal computer 47 Motor controller 48 Input / output interface

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tsuneo Kanai 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Tetsushi Shoji 1-16-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Stock JP-A-2-264907 (JP, A) JP-A-51-98041 (JP, A) JP-A-4-96723 (JP, A) JP-A-6-242347 (JP, A) JP-A-4-298707 (JP, A) JP-A-6-68011 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/24 G02B 6/36-6 / 40 B08B 1/00-1/04 B08B 5/00-13/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cleaner tape for removing dust adhering to a plug of an optical fiber connector, a pad member disposed on a back surface of the cleaner tape, and the plug attached to the pad member via the cleaner tape. in connector cleaning device for an optical fiber and a support member for pressing the surface or entirety of the pad member, Ri Do a metal, conductive plastic material or a conductive rubber material, the pad
The components are supported by a metal base and guide shaft.
The pad member has a portion into which the plug is pushed.
It has a small thickness and is itself elastic.
Or a bullet that can expand and contract along the direction pressed by the plug.
An optical fiber connector cleaning device supported by an elastic member . 2. The surface or the entirety of the cleaner tape.
Is metal, conductive plastic material or conductive rubber material
The optical fiber connector cleaning device according to claim 1, comprising: