JP3329436B2 - Optical connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical connector used as an optical interface for a mounting device which requires miniaturization, simplification and cost reduction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an optical interface for a high-density mounting apparatus that requires miniaturization, high-density, and multi-terminals, mounting of an optical connector is restricted by employing a zirconia ferrule having a diameter of 1.25 mm and a self-holding structure. MU-type optical connectors have been developed, which have largely been solved, and are used in various fields.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an MU type optical plug used in the MU type optical connector of FIG. 9, and FIG. 9 is a conventional MU type optical plug.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the optical connector.

A conventional MU type optical connector 3 shown in FIG.
Is composed of a pair of MU-type optical plugs 10 as shown in FIG. 8 and a housing 16 which is inserted from the left and right directions in the figure to abut and connect the end faces of the ferrules (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei. No. 45538).

[0005] The MU optical plug 10 has a ferrule 12a.
And a knob 14 slidably mounted around the plug housing 12. The knob 14 has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axial direction of the ferrule 12a, and a pair of opposed plane-symmetric surfaces is formed with a groove 14a and a locking ridge 14b at positions where they do not interfere with each other. ing. The locking projection 12b formed on the plug housing 12 is viewed from the groove 14a, and a pair of elastic hook pieces 16b provided on the inner surface of the ferrule insertion hole 16a of the housing 16 can be engaged. The MU optical plug 10 can be inserted into the housing 16 only when the locking ridge 14b is aligned with the position of the locking groove 16c provided adjacent to the ferrule insertion hole 16a. . This prevents so-called erroneous insertion in which the eccentric direction of the ferrule is mistaken. When the knob 14 is slid with respect to the plug housing 12, the elastic hook piece 16b is lifted by the inclined surfaces 14d provided on both sides of the groove 14a, and the elastic hook piece 16b is lifted.
The engagement between the and the locking projection 12b is released. In this state, the MU-type optical plug 10 can be pulled out of the housing 16.

[0006]

On the other hand, with the development of optical technology, various optical components such as many optical active / passive components have been mounted on a printed circuit board inside the device.
Accordingly, it has become necessary to connect optical components at low cost and at high density. By the way, the MU type optical connector 10
Can connect the optical cable 11 outside the device to the optical components inside the device, but usually no external force acts on the inside of the device, so that a so-called pull-proof structure is not required. That is, in the above-described conventional optical connector 3, the MU-type optical plug on the side for connecting the optical components inside the device has an excessive quality structure, and it is preferable to reduce the cost by making this portion a simpler structure. .

In addition, a 0.9 mm diameter core wire or a 0.25 mm diameter UV coated core wire is often used inside the apparatus for connection with an optical component or the like. Therefore, there has been a demand for a plug that is easy to handle even when attached to a thin and easily bent optical fiber core wire, and that is small and lightweight.

As an optical connector for connecting an optical component inside the apparatus and an optical cable outside the apparatus, NTT R & D, Vol.
45, No. 6, p575-580, 1996 As described in “SC-type simple optical receptacle for ONU”, a simple ferrule 9
2, a split sleeve 94, a sleeve 96 with an engagement piece for inserting and holding the split sleeve 94, and a sleeve 96 with an engagement piece
There has been proposed an SC-type simple optical receptacle 90 having a simple structure including a housing 98 for fitting and fixing (see FIG. 10). In this SC type simple optical receptacle 90,
A structure in which a rectangular parallelepiped shoulder portion 92a provided on the outer peripheral surface of the simple ferrule 92 is coupled to two cantilever-shaped locking pieces 96a of a sleeve 96 with an engagement piece is adopted.

On the other hand, First Optoelectronics and Commun
ications Conference (OECC '96) Technical Digest, p
548-549, 1996, "MU Type Simplified Receptacles for
As described in "High-density Packing Systems", an MU-type simple receptacle having a similar structure has been proposed.

Since the ferrule used for the MU type simple optical receptacle is thinner than the SC type simple optical receptacle,
When the two ferrules are connected by two cantilever-shaped locking pieces as in the case of the SC type simple optical receptacle, the ferrule becomes unstable with respect to rotation around the axis. That is, there is a possibility of locking at a position deviating from a desired direction, in which case the locking piece is left open for a long time in an open state. In general,
Since the locking piece is made of resin, the locking strength is reduced by creep, and the ferrule may be detached.

A connection adapter for an MU-type optical connector that can be mounted on a printed circuit board is commercially available, but a metal mounting bracket is attached to the adapter as a separate component, which is disadvantageous in manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to meet the above-mentioned demands of the prior art, and to provide a structure in which a ferrule and a housing can be securely connected even in a MU type simple optical receptacle using a small-diameter ferrule, and a fixing member for a printed circuit board. An object of the present invention is to provide a low cost MU-type simple optical connector structure having the following.

[0013]

According to the present invention, there is provided a housing having a ferrule insertion hole therethrough, a fixed base fixed in the ferrule insertion hole of the housing, and a split base formed integrally with the fixed base. A cylindrical sleeve portion having a sleeve insertion hole, a pair of elastic locking pieces integrally formed on one side of the fixed base portion so as to sandwich the cylindrical sleeve portion, and a locking one side end surface of the cylindrical sleeve portion; A sleeve with a locking piece having a pair of formed guide projections,
A ferrule fixed to the end of the optical fiber, a sleeve member for receiving the ferrule, and a sleeve having a flange formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof so as to engage with a pair of locking pieces of the sleeve with locking pieces; Provided is an optical connector comprising: a member and a simple ferrule having a guide groove formed on a flange portion and spaced apart by 90 degrees in a circumferential direction to pass through a pair of guide protrusions on an end surface of a cylindrical sleeve portion.

The simple ferrule is inserted into the ferrule insertion hole of the housing with the guide groove of the flange aligned with the pair of guide protrusions on the end surface of the cylindrical sleeve. At this time, the simple ferrule can be inserted up to the innermost part of the ferrule insertion hole, whereby a pair of elastic locking pieces provided inside the ferrule insertion hole of the housing engage with the flange portion, and the simple ferrule is inserted. Is detachably fixed to the sleeve with the locking piece.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the optical connector according to the first aspect, a plurality of ferrule insertion holes are arranged in the housing in parallel in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the ferrule insertion holes penetrate. A fixing protrusion having a reference surface in the front-rear and left-right directions of the housing and a hook for restricting upward movement are formed on the opposite side surface. A fixing member operably fixed to the housing, and an abutment surface corresponding to a reference surface of the fixing protrusion and a hook portion for locking the hook at a position corresponding to the space for receiving the housing and the fixing protrusion and the hook of the housing. And mounted on a mounting device via a fixing member having a concave portion having

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An optical connector according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the optical connector according to the present invention.

A single-core optical connector 1 according to the present invention.
Schematically includes an MU-type optical plug 10, a housing 20 having a ferrule insertion hole 22 penetrating in the axial direction, a sleeve 30 with a locking piece, a split sleeve 31, and a simple ferrule 40. . Of these, MU
Since the optical plug 10 has the same configuration as that of the conventional optical plug described with reference to FIG. 8, the same reference numerals are given and the detailed description is omitted.

The housing 20 is manufactured by integral molding of plastic. The inside of the ferrule insertion hole 22 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
The right half is configured to receive the split sleeve 31 and the sleeve 30 with the locking piece into which the simple ferrule 40 is inserted. As described above, the optical fiber cores of all the ferrules are eccentric, and it is necessary to join the ferrules in the same eccentric direction. The MU-type optical plug 10 is also provided with a mark 13 at a predetermined position on the side surface so that the eccentric direction can be recognized, and a locking ridge 14b for preventing erroneous insertion is provided.
It is provided on the side of. Correspondingly, the housing 20 has a locking groove 22 adjacent to the ferrule insertion hole 22.
a is provided. On the side where the MU-type optical plug 10 is inserted, a pair of elastic hook pieces 24, 24 are provided integrally with the housing. At the tip of the elastic hook piece 24, a convex portion 24a protrudes toward the center of the ferrule insertion hole 22, and this engages with the locking projection 12b formed on the plug housing of the MU optical plug 10.

The sleeve 30 with the locking piece is also manufactured by integral molding of plastic. Sleeve 3 with locking piece
Reference numeral 0 denotes a generally rectangular parallelepiped fixed base 32 and a cylindrical sleeve portion 34 that penetrates through the fixed base 32 and protrudes to both sides.
And a pair of elastic locking pieces 36 arranged so as to sandwich the cylindrical sleeve part 34, and a pair of guide projections 38 formed on the locking one side end surface of the cylindrical sleeve part 34. I have.

The fixed base 32 has a predetermined size so as to be inserted into a substantially central portion of the ferrule insertion hole 22 of the housing 20 and to be fitted and fixed at the position by an engagement projection. As best shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, the side of the cylindrical sleeve portion 34 into which the MU-type optical plug 10 is inserted is a cylindrical portion 34a. The side to be inserted is a square tube portion 34b. At the center of the tubular sleeve portion 34, a hole 34c having a circular cross section for inserting a conventionally known split sleeve is provided. The pair of elastic locking pieces 36 are provided on the side of the square tube portion 34b, that is, on the side where the simple ferrule 40 is inserted. The elastic locking piece 36 has a hook 36a on the inside of the distal end. The pair of guide projections 38 are disposed on the end surface of the rectangular tube portion 34b and in a positional relationship orthogonal to the pair of elastic locking pieces 36.

The simple ferrule 40 is generally a ferrule 42 fixed to an end of the optical fiber 11, a flange member 44 having a flange 44 a for receiving the ferrule 42 and protecting the optical fiber 11. And a hood 46 having elasticity such as silicone rubber.

As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the flange 44a is formed with a guide groove 44 penetrating in the axial direction of the ferrule 42.
b are formed at intervals of 90 degrees in the circumferential direction.
The guide groove 44b has a width capable of receiving the guide protrusion 38 of the sleeve 30 with the locking piece. A pair of guide projections 38 are provided at point-symmetric positions about the optical fiber 11, and the guide groove 44 b is
Since they are formed at intervals of 90 degrees in the circumferential direction with respect to 1, they are rotationally symmetric every 90 degrees. Thereby, in the optical connector 1 of the present invention, centering at every 90 degrees is possible. The polished shape of the tip of the ferrule 42 is the same as the ferrule 12a of the MU-type optical plug 10 in order to realize a high-performance PC connection. The hook portion 36a of the elastic locking piece 36 is engaged with the flange portion 44a, and the simple ferrule 40 is fitted and fixed to the sleeve 30 with the locking piece, and eventually to the housing 20. By attaching a mark 43 indicating the eccentric position of the ferrule to the flange portion 44a, it is possible to easily match the eccentric position of the MU-type optical plug 10 on the opposite side.

Mark 4 indicating the eccentric position of the simple ferrule 40
3 to the eccentric position of the MU-type optical plug 10 inserted into the ferrule insertion hole 22 of the housing 20, and
The guide groove 44b of a is aligned with the pair of guide protrusions 38 on the end surface of the cylindrical sleeve portion 34. In this state, the split sleeve 31 is attached to the simple ferrule 40, and the housing 2
0 is inserted into the ferrule insertion hole 22. At this time, the guide protrusions 38, 38 of the tubular sleeve portion 34 can enter the guide grooves 44b formed in the flange portion 44a of the flange member 44. Part can be inserted. Thereby,
A pair of elastic locking pieces 36 of the sleeve 30 with locking pieces fitted and fixed inside the ferrule insertion hole 22 of the housing 20.
Engages with the collar portion 44a to detachably fix the simple ferrule 40 to the sleeve 30 with the locking piece. When the eccentric position of the MU-type optical plug 10 does not match, the simple ferrule 40 is pulled out of the housing 20 by using dedicated jigs 70 and 80 described later, rotated 90 degrees, and inserted again.

Another embodiment of the optical connector according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The housing 50 used for the multi-fiber optical connector 2 has a plurality of ferrule insertion holes 52 arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the ferrule insertion holes 52 penetrate.
For example, sixteen are arranged. Each ferrule insertion hole 5
The MU type optical plug 10 and the simple ferrule 40 inserted into the ferrule insertion hole 52 can be exactly the same as those shown in FIG. It can be exactly the same as that of FIG. Therefore, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. An arbitrary number of ferrule insertion holes 52 can be provided in the housing 50, and the number of ferrule insertion holes 52 is not limited to one, and a plurality of ferrule insertion holes can be provided.

The housing 50 is mounted on the mounting apparatus via a fixing member 60 which is detachably fixed to a mounting apparatus such as a printed circuit board. Thereby, there is an advantage that the manufacturability is improved and that it is possible to flexibly cope with various numbers of cores or mounting structures. Opposite sides 50 of housing 50
a and a fixed projection 54 having a reference surface 54a, 54b in the front-rear direction (X direction) of the housing 50 and a reference surface 54c (or 54d) in the left or right direction (Y direction). A hook 56 for regulating movement is formed. On the other hand, the fixing member 60 has a cavity 62 large enough to receive the housing 50 and a concave portion 64 formed at a position corresponding to the fixing protrusion 54 and the hook 56. The concave portion 64 includes an abutment surface 64 a, 64 b, 64 c (or 64 d) corresponding to the reference surface of the fixed projection 54 and the hook 5.
6 is provided with a hook 64e.

In the illustrated preferred embodiment, downward regulation of the housing 50 with respect to the fixing member 60 is performed by contact between the bottom surface of the housing 50 and the top surface of the cavity 62. It is also possible to make such a reference plane on the lower end face of the hook 56. Thus, the housing 50
Are securely and precisely fixed to the fixing member 60 in the six directions of front, rear, left and right and up and down by respective reference planes.

Next, a jig used to pull out the simple ferrule 40 from the sleeve 30 with the locking piece will be described. The drawing jig 70 shown in FIG. 6 has a shape in which a metal cylinder is cut into approximately two vertically. A pair of triangular tips 72 are provided at the tip of the extraction jig 70.
72 are provided, and an inclined surface 72a is formed from the outside to the inside. The extraction jig 70 is inserted into the flange member 44 of the simple ferrule 40 and inserted into the ferrule insertion hole 22 of the housing 20 from the rear side. The pair of elastic locking pieces 36 engaged with the flange 44a of the simple ferrule 40 are pushed outward by the inclined surfaces 72a entering between them. In this state, when the simple ferrule 40 is pulled together with the drawing jig 70, the flange 44a
The engagement with the pair of elastic locking pieces 36 is released, so that it can be easily pulled out.

FIG. 7 shows a drawing jig 80 suitable for the multi-core type optical connector 2 shown in FIG. The drawing jig 80 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped block, and has a rectangular groove 82 formed through the simple ferrule 40 below. A pair of thin plate-like cusps 84 above and below the entrance side of the square groove 82,
An inclined surface 84a is formed from the outside to the inside.

The flange member 44 of the simple ferrule 40 is passed through the square groove 82 of the drawing jig 80 and the projection 8 at the bottom is formed.
8 is slid in the direction of the housing 50 along the guide groove 66 of the fixing member 60. Thereby, the drawing jig 8
0 of the ferrule insertion hole 5 of the housing 50
Go into 2. The pair of elastic locking pieces 36 engaged with the flange 44a of the simple ferrule 40 are pushed outward by the inclined surfaces 84a entering between them. When the pulling jig 80 is pulled in this state, the simple ferrule 40
Since the engagement between the flange portion 44a and the pair of elastic locking pieces 36 is released, it is possible to easily pull out together with the pull-out jig 80.

[0032]

According to the present invention, there is provided a housing having a ferrule insertion hole therethrough, a fixed base fixed in the ferrule insertion hole of the housing, and a cylindrical sleeve portion integrally formed with the fixed base and having a split sleeve insertion hole. A pair of elastic locking pieces formed integrally on one side of the fixed base so as to sandwich the cylindrical sleeve portion, and a pair of guide protrusions formed on the locking piece side end surface of the cylindrical sleeve portion. A sleeve with a locking piece, and a ferrule fixed to the end of the optical fiber, a sleeve member for receiving the ferrule, the outer peripheral surface of which is engaged with a pair of locking pieces of the sleeve with the locking piece. A simple ferrule having a sleeve member having a flange portion configured and a guide groove formed on the flange portion at 90 degrees in the circumferential direction and passing through a pair of guide protrusions on the end surface of the cylindrical sleeve portion. To become formed by including bets,
This has the effect that the simple ferrule can be reliably inserted into the ferrule insertion hole of the housing without any angular deviation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical connector according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (e) are a vertical center sectional view, a left side view, a right side view, a horizontal center sectional view and a plan view of the housing shown in FIG. 1, respectively.

FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (d) are a front view, a left side view, a right side view, and an upper half, respectively, of a cross section of the upper half of the sleeve with the locking piece shown in FIG. FIG.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a front view and a left side view, respectively, showing a cross section of a lower half of the simple ferrule shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment of the optical connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a jig used to pull out a simple ferrule from a sleeve with a locking piece.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the drawing jig.

8 is a perspective view of an MU type optical plug used in the MU type optical connector of FIG. 9;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional MU-type optical connector.

FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional simple optical receptacle for ONV SC type.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 Optical connector 10 MU type optical plug 11 Optical fiber 12 Plug housing 12a Ferrule, 12b Locking projection, 14 knob 14a Guide groove, 14b Locking ridge, 14d Inclined surface 16 Housing 16a Ferrule insertion hole, 16b Elasticity Hook piece, 1
6c Lock groove 20 Housing 22 Ferrule insertion hole 30 Sleeve with locking piece 31 Split sleeve 40 Simple ferrule 42 Ferrule 43 Mark 44 Flange member 44a Flange, 44b Guide groove 46 Hood 50 Housing 52 Ferrule insertion hole 54 Fixed projection 54a to 54d Reference Surface 56 Hook 60 Fixing member 62 Empty space 64 Depression 64a to 64e

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Ryuji Honda 3-19-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Shigeyuki Mitachi 3-19 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo -2 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Isao Nakanishi 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Toshiaki Nakano 6-18 Meguro-Honcho, Meguro-ku, Tokyo No. 12 Honda Communication Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Fumiaki Mochida 6-18-12 Meguro Honcho, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Examiner, Honda Communication Industry Co., Ltd.Eiichi Yoshida (56) References JP-A Sho64 -61713 (JP, A) JP-A-57-161820 (JP, A) JP-A-61-219013 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/38

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A housing having a ferrule insertion hole therethrough; a fixed base fixed in the ferrule insertion hole of the housing; a cylindrical sleeve portion integrally formed with the fixed base and having a split sleeve insertion hole; One side of the fixed base has a pair of elastic locking pieces integrally formed so as to sandwich the cylindrical sleeve portion, and a pair of guide projections formed on the locking piece side end surface of the cylindrical sleeve portion. And a ferrule fixed to the end of the optical fiber, a sleeve member for receiving the ferrule, the outer peripheral surface of which is engaged with the pair of locking pieces of the sleeve with the locking piece. A sleeve member having a flange portion, and a guide groove formed on the flange portion at a circumferential distance of 90 degrees and passing through a pair of guide protrusions on the end surface of the cylindrical sleeve portion. A simple ferrule, wherein the simple ferrule can be inserted up to the innermost portion when the guide groove of the flange is aligned with a pair of guide protrusions on the end face of the cylindrical sleeve portion. Thus, the pair of elastic locking pieces engage with the flange to fix the simple ferrule to the sleeve with the locking pieces in a detachable manner. 2. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein
A plurality of the ferrule insertion holes are arranged in the housing in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the penetrating direction of the ferrule insertion holes, and fixed projections having reference surfaces in the front, rear, left and right directions of the housing are provided on opposite sides thereof. A hook for restricting upward movement is formed, and the housing is a fixing member detachably fixed to a mounting device such as a printed circuit board, and a space for receiving the housing and the fixing member. The mounting device is mounted on a mounting device via a fixing member having a contact surface corresponding to a reference surface of the fixing protrusion at a position corresponding to the protrusion and the hook, and a concave portion having a locking portion for locking the hook. And optical connector.