JP3312511B2 - Optical connector molding die and core - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mold for molding an optical connector by injecting a resin and a core used for the mold.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A mold for molding an optical connector for a tape fiber in which a large number of optical fibers are arranged in parallel is disclosed in, for example, Transactions of the Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers, '85 / 3 Vol. J
No.-68-B No. 3 "Design and characteristics of plastic molded optical fiber multi-fiber connector", and the present inventor discloses a small hole for fixing an optical fiber according to Japanese Patent Application No. 5-252249. At that time, a method of improving mutual positional accuracy was shown.

[0003]

Conventionally, in such a small hole forming die, it is necessary to change the shape of the small hole for fixing the optical fiber in the middle, and a pin for forming the small hole and other parts are required. However, there is a problem that the core is difficult to position because the core is configured to be pulled out. The positioning accuracy is determined by a time-dependent change due to mold clamping deformation, shrinkage of the molding resin material, or a temperature change.
For this reason, there is a problem that the processing accuracy and the measurement accuracy of the mold become extremely difficult. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mold for molding an optical connector having a high mutual positional accuracy without having to change the shape of the small hole in the middle, and a configuration of a core used for the same.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a core 3 is sandwiched between an upper mold 1 and a lower mold 2 and a resin is injected between the molds to form a plurality of fine pieces having high mutual positional accuracy. A mold for molding an optical connector having a hole, wherein an inner surface of an upper mold 1 is formed to be flat, and a resin injection port 12 formed from the outside to the inside.
And a cavity 11 provided on the inside for accumulating the injected resin, and a groove 14 provided from the cavity 11 to the outer periphery. A cavity 21 provided on the inner side for accumulating the resin, a groove 24 provided from the cavity 21 to the outer periphery, and a plurality of grooves 21 provided on the opposite side of the groove 24 to the inside of the lower mold 2 in parallel with the cavity 21. A V-shaped groove 22 for thin pins, a resin flow path 26 provided for connecting the injection port 12 and the cavity 21,
And a V groove 23 for thick pins provided on both sides of 1, the
For the mold, guide pins are provided on both sides of the V-groove 22 for fine pins.
It is characterized in that a V groove 27 is provided .

[0005]

The above-mentioned mold has a V-groove 22 for a thin pin, a guide
The angle of the V groove 27 for the pin or the V groove 23
The fine pin 5, the guide pin 9 or the thick pin 4 provided on the core is set to be within the range of {± 15}, and the thin die V-groove 22, the guide pin V-groove 27 or the thick pin V-groove 23 and the upper die 1 And the upper and lower molds are clamped to form a small deformation, and the deformation is set to a range that covers the accuracy of V-groove processing and the variation in core pin production within the elastic limit due to Hertz contact. The region is within the elastic limit due to hertz contact between the mold and the core pin.

Further, according to the present invention, a core 3 is sandwiched between an upper mold 1 and a lower mold 2 and a resin is injected between the molds to form a light having a plurality of fine holes with high mutual positional accuracy. A plurality of fine pins 5 which are cores for molding a connector and are arranged in parallel
When the thick pin 4 which is located remotely from both sides of the thin pin 5 is held by the fixing unit 31, fine pin 5 is supported from above and below by the arm 32, the said core, on both sides of the thin pin 5
It is characterized in that a guide pin 9 is provided .

[0008]

[0009]

According to the above-described structure, the mold of the present invention uses the thin pin 5, the guide pin 9 or the thick pin 4 provided on the core for the thin pin V groove 22, the guide pin V groove 27 or the thick pin. Since the upper and lower molds are sandwiched between the flat grooves 23 and the upper mold 1, and the upper and lower molds are clamped and deformed minutely, the positional accuracy between the pins is improved. It has the effect of reducing that effect. Since the core of the present invention has a configuration in which one end of the thin pin 5 and the thick pin 4 is gripped by the fixing portion 31, there is no need to provide a step on one pin, and the configuration of the mold and the core is simplified, and Becomes easier.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements will be denoted by the same reference symbols, without redundant description. FIG. 1 shows a related technique of the present invention .
It is a perspective view showing composition of metallic molds 1, 2 and core 3 which are operations. In the figure, a core 3 is sandwiched between an upper mold 1 and a lower mold 2 and a resin is injected between the molds to form an optical connector having a plurality of small holes with high mutual positional accuracy. Mold

The inner surface of the upper mold 1 is formed to be flat, and a resin injection port 12 opened from the outside to the inside, a cavity 11 provided inside for storing the injected resin, and a support for the core 3. And a groove 14 provided from the cavity 11 to the outer periphery to accommodate the arm 32a.
Has a cavity 21 provided on the inside for accumulating the injected resin, and a groove 24 provided from the cavity 21 to the outer periphery for accommodating the support arm 32b of the core 3. Groove 2 for cavity 21
A plurality of thin pin V-grooves 22 provided in parallel with the inside of the lower mold 2 on the opposite side of the lower mold 4 and a U-groove-shaped resin flow path provided for connecting the injection port 12 and the cavity 21. 26,
A thick pin V-groove 23 is provided on both sides of the cavity 21.

In the core 3, a plurality of thin pins 5 arranged in parallel and a thick pin 4 arranged apart from both sides of the thin pin 5 are gripped by a fixing portion 31. It is supported from above and below by an arm 32. The plurality of thin pins 5 and the thick pins 4a and 4b are arranged in the thin pin V-grooves 22 and the thick pin V-grooves 23a and 23b, respectively, and are fixedly fastened by the upper mold 1 formed in a plane. . The fine pin 5 is positioned by a V-groove provided on the surface of the support arm 32b, and has the same spacing and the same height as the fine-pin V-groove 22. The thick pins 4a and 4b are used as references when positioning the core 3 in the mold, and a cemented carbide having a diameter of 3 mm is used.

In this state, the resin press-fitted from the resin injection port 12 enters the cavities 11 and 21 through the flow path 26. The thin pin 5 and the support arms 32a, 3
2b is disposed. Support arms 32a, 32
The tip of b is slightly larger than the cross-sectional dimension of the tape fiber. The optical connector 6 thus formed has a hole 7 and a square hole 8 for inserting and fixing an optical fiber and a tape fiber as shown in FIG.

[0014]

EXAMPLES Next, the basic idea according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A shows a state in which thin pins 5a, 5b, 5c and a thick pin 4a are arranged, upper and lower molds 1 and 2 are brought into contact with each other without any deformation, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a view showing a state in which the mold 2 is clamped and slightly deformed. CA is a mold gap on the side of the thin pin 5a formed by combining the upper and lower molds 1 and 2, and CB is a mold gap on the side of the thick pin 4a.
C _{1 to} C ₄ are gaps formed between the pins when the upper and lower dies 1 and 2 are mated and the plane of the upper die 1, and the angle of the V groove is 60 °
It is.

When the upper and lower dies 1 and 2 are clamped by pressing, the amounts of the gaps CA, CB and C _{1 to} C ₄ are as shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the thin pins 5a, 5b, 5c and the thick pins 4a
Is desirably deformed in the V-groove and the plane of the upper mold 1, so that all of the above gaps are desirably zero, that is, close to close contact. This deformation is desirably within the elastic limit for Hertz contact. In this embodiment, these pins use cemented carbide, and the upper and lower molds 1 and 2 use alloy steel. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that CA = CB, and the triangle formed by the V groove and the plane is an equilateral triangle. Under this condition, all the pins move downward by 2/3 of the amount projected from the imaginary line at the time of close contact of the mold. This reduces the depth accuracy error of the V-groove to 1/3. To ensure this accuracy, the V-groove is 6
Preferably, it is formed within 0 ° ± 15 °.

Also, by changing the imaginary line, it is possible to control the amount of movement, thereby obtaining different molding hole dimensions.
It is possible to adjust an error between sizes which tends to occur when the processing axis of the groove processing is changed up and down. This is a control of a plane step, and is possible with sub-μm accuracy.

Further, even when there is a mold clamping gap, the positional relationship between the pins does not change from the time when all the pins come into contact. This means that it is not necessary to rework the V-groove each time due to a pin diameter error or a small change in the pin diameter. Another feature of the present invention is that, since one end of the thin pin 5 and the thick pin 4 is gripped by the fixing portion 31, there is no need to provide a step on one pin, and the configuration of the mold and the core is simplified, It is easy to manufacture.

FIG. 5A is a front view of the optical connector 6 formed by the mold and the core shown in FIG. FIG. 5B shows a guide pin hole 1 on both sides of the optical fiber hole 7 of the optical connector.
It is a front view at the time of providing 0. FIG. 2 shows an upper mold 1 and a lower mold 2 for obtaining an optical connector having the shape shown in FIG.
3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a core 3. FIG. Figure 1 in principle
1 is added to the lower die 2 of FIG. 1 and V-grooves 27 for guide pins are added to both sides of the V-groove 22 for thin pins. And guide pins 9a and 9b are added to both sides of the guide.

The positions of the optical fiber hole 7 and the guide pin hole 10 formed by the mold and the core are shown in FIG.
One of them is arranged on the plane of the upper mold 1 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the positions of the pins are asymmetric in the vertical direction. When the connection is made by such a connector, since the connection cannot be made upside down, there is a feature that erroneous connection can be prevented.

[0020]

As described above, the mold of the present invention
The thin pin 5, the guide pin 9 or the thick pin 4 provided on the core is sandwiched between the thin pin V groove 22, the guide pin V groove 27 or the thick pin groove 23 and the plane of the upper mold 1, and the upper and lower molds are formed. Are clamped and slightly deformed, so that the positional accuracy between the pins is improved, and even if a processing error occurs in the pin or the V-groove, the effect is reduced. Since the core of the present invention has a configuration in which one end of the thin pin 5 and the thick pin 4 is gripped by the fixing portion 31, there is no need to provide a step on one pin.
The configuration of the mold and the core becomes simple, and the production becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a mold and a core which are related technologies of the present invention .

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a mold and a core according to the embodiment of the present invention .

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a molded optical connector.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a basic concept of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a configuration of a molded optical connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Upper mold 2: Lower mold 3: Core 4: Thick pin 5: Thin pin 6: Optical connector 7: Optical fiber hole 8: Tape fiber square hole 9: Guide pin 10: Guide pin hole 11, 21: Cavity 12: Resin injection port 13: Mold fitting pin hole 14, 24: Arm storage groove 22: V groove for thin pin 23: V groove for thick pin 25: Mold fitting pin 26: Resin flow path 27: V-groove for guide pin 31: Fixed part 32: Fine pin support arm

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/36 B29C 33/22

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An optical connector having a plurality of small holes having high mutual positional accuracy by sandwiching a core 3 between an upper mold 1 and a lower mold 2 and injecting resin between the molds. An inner surface of the upper mold 1 is formed in a plane, and a resin injection port 12 opened from the outside to the inside, a cavity 11 provided inside for accumulating the injected resin, and Cavity 11
And a groove 14 provided toward the outer periphery of the lower mold 2. The inner surface of the lower mold 2 is formed in a flat surface, and a cavity 21 provided inside for accumulating the injected resin, and from the cavity 21 toward the outer periphery. In order to connect the provided groove 24, the plurality of fine pin V-shaped grooves 22 provided in parallel with the inside of the lower mold 2 on the opposite side of the groove 24 with respect to the cavity 21, the injection port 12 and the cavity 21. An optical connector molding die provided with a resin flow path 26 provided in the V-shaped groove and V-grooves 23 for a thick pin provided on both sides of the cavity 21, wherein guide pins are provided on both sides of the V-groove 22 for the thin pin. V-groove 27
A mold for molding an optical connector, comprising: 2. The angle according to claim 1, wherein the angle of the V-groove 22 for the thin pin, the V-groove 23 for the thick pin and the V-groove 27 for the guide pin is within 60 ° ± 15 °. Mold for optical connector molding. 3. The thin pin 5, the guide pin 9 or the thick pin 4 provided on the core is formed on the plane of the thin pin V groove 22, the guide pin V groove 27 or the thick pin groove 23 and the upper mold 1. The optical connector molding die according to claim 1, wherein the upper and lower molds are clamped and slightly deformed by clamping. 4. The optical connector molding method according to claim 3, wherein the deformation amount is set to a range that covers the accuracy of V-groove processing and the variation in the manufacture of the core pin within the elastic limit due to Hertz contact. Mold. 5. The optical connector molding die according to claim 3, wherein the deformation region is within an elastic limit due to Hertz contact between the die and the core pin. 6. An optical connector having a plurality of small holes having high mutual positional accuracy by sandwiching a core 3 between an upper mold 1 and a lower mold 2 and injecting a resin between the molds. A plurality of thin pins 5 arranged in parallel and a thick pin 4 arranged apart from both sides of the thin pin 5 are gripped by the fixing portion 31 of the core 3, The pin 5 is an optical connector molding core supported from above and below by the arm 32 of the core 3, wherein the guide pins 9 are provided on both sides of the thin pin 5. Core for connector molding.