JP3439674B2 - 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 in which a built-in optical connector ferrule is butt-connected with an optical connector ferrule on the female housing side by inserting it into a female housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 shows a conventional optical connector 1.
This optical connector 1 is a so-called MT type optical connector ferrule 2 (Mecanica) defined in JIS C 5981.
lly Transferable: hereinafter referred to as “ferrule”) is housed in a plastic housing 3. For example, by inserting the ferrule 2 into another female housing such as an optical connector adapter 4, the ferrule 2 is butt-connected with another ferrule. It is supposed to do. When the optical connectors 1 are inserted into the optical connector adapter 4 from both sides and the ferrules 2 are butted and connected to each other, the optical fibers 5 (mainly multi-core optical fibers) terminated by the ferrules 2 so as to be butted and connected are optically connected. It At this time, in the optical connector 1, the latch 6 and the optical connector adapter 4 are engaged,
Removal from the optical connector adapter 4 is restricted. Specifically, for example, the engagement protrusion 6 protruding from the latch 6
Since a enters the engaging hole 4a of the optical connector adapter 4 from the inner surface side of the optical connector adapter 4 and engages with the engaging hole 4a, the withdrawal of the optical connector 1 is restricted. The engagement structure between the latch 6 and the optical connector adapter 4 is not limited to the engagement between the engagement protrusion 6a and the engagement hole 4a, and various configurations can be adopted.

The operating end 6b at the tip of the latch 6 is exposed to the outside of the optical connector adapter 4 even when the optical connector 1 is inserted into the optical connector adapter 4. When the latch 6 is elastically deformed by pushing into the housing 3 of the optical connector 1, the engagement between the engagement protrusion 6a and the engagement hole 4a is released, and the optical connector 1 can be pulled out from the optical connector adapter 4. It will be possible. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 1a is a boot,
The ferrule 2 held at the tip of the housing 3 penetrates the cylindrical housing 3 and accommodates and protects the optical fiber 5 pulled out from the rear end of the housing 3. On the joining end surface 2a of the ferrule 2, a plurality of bare fibers 5a drawn to the end of the optical fiber 5 are exposed in an array state. When the ferrule 2 is butt-connected to the ferrule on the optical connector adapter 4 side, the bare fibers of both ferrules are butt-connected.

However, the optical connector 1 as described above is used.
In order to maintain the engagement state between the engagement hole 4a and the engagement protrusion 6a, the latch 6 and the optical connector adapter 4 depend on the spring force acting from one latch 6 toward the inner surface of the optical connector adapter 4. There was a complaint that the optical connector 1 was easily detached from the optical connector adapter 4 due to insufficient engagement force with the optical connector adapter 4. In view of this problem, in recent years, for example, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, there has been proposed an optical connector 9 having latches 8 on opposite sides of a resin housing 7. As shown by the phantom line in FIG. 8, the optical connector 9 is inserted into the female housing 10 such as an optical connector adapter or the like from the latches 8 on both sides to the female housing 10.
The engaging projection 8a of each latch 8 is engaged with the engaging hole 10a of the female housing 10 by the spring force acting to spread the
The state in which the latch 8 and the female housing 10 are engaged with each other (engagement protrusion 8a and engagement hole 10a
Is difficult to release. 8 and 9, reference numeral 11 is a guide pin for positioning the ferrules 2 with each other,
12 is a pin clamp and 13 is a spring. As the female housing 10, various configurations such as an optical connector adapter and an optical connector receptacle can be adopted.

[0005]

By the way, in the optical connector 9, since the periphery of the latch 8 is surrounded by the housing 7 and the wall 7a for closing the inside of the housing 7 from the latch 8 is provided, the latch 8 is provided. Foreign matter is prevented from entering the housing 7 through the gap around the. Further, the housing 7 around the latch 8 is brought close to the latch 8 and the gap around the latch 8 is made as narrow as possible, so that foreign matter is prevented from entering between the latch 8 and the wall 7a, and the latch 8 is prevented. To maintain normal operation (elastic deformation). However, the optical connector 9 having such a configuration has a problem that it is difficult to integrally mold the entire housing 7 including the latch 8 with resin. That is, in the housing 7 having a shape surrounding the periphery of the latch 8,
Die cutting and the like at the time of resin molding becomes extremely difficult work, and as a practical problem, mass production is difficult. In view of this, if the housing 7 is composed of a plurality of parts, it is inevitable that the number of parts is increased and the assembling work is complicated, and the problem cannot be fundamentally solved. Further, in the optical connector 1 of FIG. 7, the latch 6 on only one side functions as a key for preventing reverse insertion, but in the optical connector 9 of FIGS. 8 and 9, the latches 8 are provided on both sides facing each other. Therefore, there is also a problem that reverse insertion becomes possible.
If reverse insertion is possible, the combination of the bare fiber connected between the ferrule on the female housing 10 side and the ferrule 2 on the optical connector 9 side will be reversed, making it difficult to make a correct connection. Become. Further, in order to prevent reverse insertion, it is necessary to separately provide a protruding wall or the like on the housing 7 of the optical connector 9, which may make it more difficult to integrally mold the housing 7 with resin.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has a simple structure, and can prevent foreign matter from entering the housing, and can easily prevent reverse insertion, which is a low-cost optical connector. It is intended to provide.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cylindrical housing for accommodating and holding an optical connector ferrule, which is terminated so that optical fibers can be butted and connected to each other. By inserting into the housing, the optical connector ferrule is adapted to be butt-connected to another optical connector ferrule housed in the female housing, and from opposite side portions of the housing, Extending from the housing front end to the housing rear end along the outer surface of the side wall of the housing through a clearance ,
And said female housing and detachably elastically deformable latch comprised comprise an engaging portion for engaging the projecting, these
The latch has a surface that is orthogonal to the surfaces on both sides.
The rack between the pair of protruding walls protruding from both sides of the housing.
The latch storage groove is open at the rear end.
The boot, which has a released shape and which passes the inside of the housing from the optical connector ferrule and accommodates the optical fiber pulled out to the rear end of the housing, is the latch.
Latch the open rear end of the storage groove to close the latch.
Of the optical connector, the periphery of the latch is surrounded by the boot and the housing provided around the latch while avoiding the boot. This is a means for solving the above-mentioned problems. According to this optical connector, the periphery of the latch is surrounded by the housing and the boot, so that foreign matter can be prevented from entering through the gap formed around the latch.
The housing side wall portion can reliably prevent foreign matter from entering the housing. Further, entry of foreign matter into the space between the side wall of the housing and the latch through the gap around the latch is prevented by the housing and the boot surrounding the periphery of the latch, and the operation of the latch can be normally maintained. The side wall of the housing need only reach the tip of the latch in the protruding direction from the front end of the housing to the rear end, and it is not necessary to have a shape that surrounds the periphery of the latch, which is advantageous in resin molding and includes the latch. It is possible to integrally mold the entire housing. The invention according to claim 2 is the optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the female housing is
The sectional shape of the cylindrical side wall portion (30b) to be inserted is the upper wall.
The lower wall portion (30) facing the upper wall portion and the vicinity of the portion (30c)
It is asymmetric with the vicinity of d), and the upper wall has
One of the latches on both sides of the housing is engaged
Engaging groove (30a) is formed on the lower wall portion.
Engages the other of the latches on both sides of the housing
Engaging groove (30a) is formed, and the cross-sectional shape of the housing is the cross-section of the side wall of the female housing.
Corresponding to the shape, it is asymmetrical between a pair of both side parts provided with a latch , the side wall part of the female housing
In the orientation that corresponds the cross-sectional shape of the housing to the cross-sectional shape of
Only because it can be inserted into the female side housing, it is possible to prevent reverse insertion into the female side housing. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the optical connector ferrule terminated so that the optical fibers can be abutted and connected to each other is provided with a cylindrical housing for holding and holding the optical connector ferrule. In an optical connector in which a connector ferrule is butt-connected with another optical connector ferrule housed in the female housing, from opposite side parts of the housing, the housing front end to the housing rear end part Along the outer surface of the side wall of the housing .
Extends through the clearance, and the female housing and detachably elastically deformable latch comprised comprise an engaging portion for engaging the projecting, the latches, the surface of the side portions
Between opposite sides of the housing with a surface orthogonal to
It is stored in the latch storage groove, and the latch storage groove is at the rear end.
An open shape, and through the housing from the optical connector ferrule, boots for accommodating the optical fiber drawn on the housing rear end portion, the La
The open rear end of the slot
The light is characterized in that the periphery of the latch is surrounded by the boot and the housing that is provided around the latch while avoiding the boot and provided near the tip of the latch in the protruding direction. It is a connector.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION One embodiment of an optical connector of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6A and 6B. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an optical connector 20 of the present embodiment, FIG. 2A is a side view of the optical connector 20, and FIG.
3B is a front view of the optical connector 20 seen from the front end side, FIG.
Is a side sectional view of the optical connector 20, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the optical connector 20. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A and 2B, the optical connector 20 includes an optical connector ferrule 22 formed by terminating an optical fiber 21 so that they can be connected to each other.
Housing 23 for storing and holding
And a boot 24 which is provided in the vicinity of the rear end portion 23b of the housing 23 facing the front end 23a and accommodates the optical fiber 21 which is drawn from the rear end portion 23b through the housing 23.

The optical connector ferrule 22 is a JIS C
It is a so-called MT type optical connector ferrule (Mecanically Transferable) established in 5981, and includes a guide pin 22b protruding from the joint end face 22a.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, this optical connector ferrule 2
A pin clamp 22d that clamps and fixes the guide pin 22b is integrally provided on the collar portion 22c at the rear end (right side in FIG. 3) of the second guide 2. In the present embodiment, the two-core optical fiber tape core wire 21a drawn out to the end of the optical fiber 21 which is an optical fiber cord is inserted into the optical connector ferrule 22, and further, the two optical fiber tape core wires 21a exposed at the tip of the optical fiber tape core wire 21a. The bare fiber 21c is exposed and fixed to the joining end surface 22a of the optical connector ferrule 22 in an array state and terminated, but the optical connector ferrule according to the present invention is not limited to this, and the single fiber or Various configurations such as terminating a multi-core optical fiber cord of three or more cores, terminating a single-core or multi-core optical fiber core which is directly drawn into the housing 23 without being coded. Can be adopted.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an optical fiber 21 which is an optical fiber cord has a push ring 25 having a tensile strength member 21b (Kevlar) exposed at the end fixed to a housing rear end portion 23b, and a push ring 25 thereof. It is retained by inserting it between the ring 26 and the ring 26 which is fixed to the outside by caulking or an adhesive agent, and fixing it by sandwiching between them. The push wheel 25 is fixed by a push wheel fixing portion 23d (see FIGS. 1 and 4) formed near the housing rear end portion 23b. The boot 24 is fixed to the outside of the ring 26 with an adhesive or the like. The optical fiber ribbon 21a drawn from the end of the optical fiber 21 is the ring 26,
The optical connector ferrule 22 is passed through the push wheel 25, the biasing member 27, which is a coil spring housed between the push wheel 25 and the pin clamp 22d, and the pin clamp 22d. Also, boots 24
Protects and stores the optical fiber 21 drawn from the optical connector ferrule 22 through the housing 23 and the housing rear end 23b.

A biasing member 2 housed in the housing 23
7 applies a reaction force to the push wheel 25, and the pin clamp 22
The optical connector ferrule 22 is urged forward (left side in FIG. 3) in the connection direction via d. Optical connector ferrule 22
Is a support portion 23 formed inside the housing tip 23a.
When the collar portion 22c comes into contact with c, further forward movement in the connecting direction is restricted, and the stopper 22c is prevented from falling off from the housing distal end 23a. In FIG. 3, the biasing member 27
Is a coil spring, but is not limited to this, and various configurations such as a leaf spring and an elastic body such as rubber can be adopted.

The housing 23 is integrally molded from resin such as plastic. As shown in FIGS. 2 (a), 2 (b) and 3, latches 28a, 28b extending from the front end 23a to the rear end 23b of the housing 23 are provided on opposite sides of the housing 23.
Is projected. The latches 28 a and 28 b extend along the outer surface of the side wall portion 23 e (see FIG. 3) of the housing 23 via a clearance 29, and the clearance 29 a.
It is elastically deformable within the range.

As shown in FIG. 3, the latches 28a, 2
8b is provided with an engaging portion 31 which is removably engaged with a female housing 30 into which the optical connector 20 is inserted. In FIG. 3, the engaging portion 31 is an engaging protrusion protruding from the latches 28 a and 28 b, and an engaging hole formed in the female housing 30 when the optical connector 20 is inserted into the female housing 30. The springs of the latches 28a and 28b themselves engage with 30a by pushing them from the inside of the female housing 30. Moreover, the engaging hole 30 of the engaging portion 31
The pushing force to a is sufficiently given by the spring force of the latches 28a and 28b on both sides, so that the engaging portion 31 and the engaging hole 3
The engagement state with 0a is stably maintained. The engaging portion 31 engaged with the engaging hole 30a has the latch 28.
The operating portion 32 at the tip of the protruding direction of a and 28b is attached to the housing 2
3 It can be easily released by pushing it inward and elastically deforming the latches 28a, 28b. Since the operation portion 32 is exposed to the outside of the female housing 30 even when the insertion of the optical connector 20 into the female housing 30 is completed, it can be easily operated at any time. The latch 28a,
It is needless to say that the 28b shape and the engaging portion 31 are not limited to the present embodiment, and various changes can be made. As the female housing 30 into which the optical connector 20 is inserted, various configurations such as an optical connector adapter and an optical connector receptacle can be adopted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2B, the latches 28a and 28b on both sides of the housing 23 (upper and lower sides in FIGS. 1 and 2B) are projected from both sides of the housing 23. Between the pair of protruding walls 33, 33, 34, 34,
It is stored in the latch storage grooves 35 and 36. The projecting walls 33, 33 on both sides forming a latch housing groove 35 for housing one latch 28a are formed with an inclined surface 37 having a chamfered corner portion at the tip, but the other latch 28b.
The projecting walls 3 on both sides forming the latch storage groove 36 for storing the
No structure corresponding to the inclined surface 37 is provided on the surfaces 4 and 34. Therefore, the cross-sectional shape of the housing 23 is
There is asymmetry between the both sides where the latches 28a and 28b are provided.

FIGS. 5, 6A and 6B are views showing the female side housing 30, FIG. 5 is a perspective view, FIG. 6A is a side sectional view, and FIG. 6B is a front view. It is a figure. 5 and 6
As shown in (a) and (b), a cylindrical side wall portion 30b for accommodating the optical connector 21 inserted into the female housing 30.
The cross-sectional shape of corresponds to the cross-sectional shape of the housing 23 of the optical connector 20, and the vicinity of the upper wall portion 30c and the lower wall portion 30 which face each other.
It is asymmetric with the vicinity of d. That is, in the vicinity of the upper wall portion 30c, the inclined inner surface 30e corresponding to the inclined surface 37 of the housing 23 is formed in the side wall portion 30b, but in the vicinity of the lower wall portion 30d, the inclined inner surface 30e is not formed. Therefore, in order to insert the optical connector 20 into the female housing 30, the inclined surface 37 is oriented so as to correspond to the inclined inner surface 30e, and the tips of the protruding walls 34, 34 are oriented so as to correspond to the corner portions 30f on both sides of the lower wall portion 30d. It is necessary to insert it in any other direction, for example, a direction reversed by 180 degrees or a direction rotated by 90 degrees, and reverse insertion can be prevented.

In FIG. 2B, reference numeral 38 denotes a parting part housing groove, which is a parting part 39 (parting line. Parting line, which is formed at a boundary of a mold or the like in resin molding of the optical connector ferrule 22. Etc.), which is formed on both inner surfaces of the front end of the housing 23. At the housing tip 23a, the optical connector ferrule 22 is accommodated with a slight clearance while allowing it to float a little, and the positioning property at the time of butt connection with another optical connector ferrule 22 is secured. Burrs and the like generated in the parting portion 39 hinder the floating of the optical connector ferrule 22.
There is a possibility that the workability of positioning between them may not be improved.
Also, the parting portion 39 of the optical connector ferrule 22
Burrs and the like generated on the optical connector ferrule 22 are removed by polishing on the joint end face 22a, but on both sides of the optical connector ferrule 22 other than that, a laborious work is required to completely remove the optical connector ferrule 22. If the processing of the parting section 39 is performed over the entire range, the assembly time will be extended and the cost will be increased. In the present embodiment, the burr and the like of the parting portion 39 can be stored by the parting portion storage groove 38 formed at a position corresponding to the parting portion 39 of the optical connector ferrule 22 housed in the housing front end 23a, so that the housing front end 23a can be stored. The free floating of the optical connector ferrule 22 in is surely obtained. Therefore, if the burr or the like of the parting portion 39 is within a range where the free floating of the optical connector ferrule 22 at the housing distal end 23a can be reliably obtained, the optical connector ferrule 22 can be removed without performing a troublesome complete removal work. It is possible to store the optical connector 20 in the housing 23, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the assembly time and cost of the optical connector 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, in this optical connector 20, the optical connector ferrule 22 is accommodated in the female housing 30 by inserting the housing tip 23 a into the female housing 30. It is adapted to be butt-connected with the ferrule 22. When the optical connector 20 is inserted into the female housing 30, the engaging projections, which are the engaging portions 31 of the latches 28a and 28b, come into contact with the side wall portion 30b of the female housing 30 and enter the inner surface side of the side wall portion 30b. The latches 28a, 28b are slightly elastically deformed so as to approach each other, and the female housing 3
0 is inserted inside. After the optical connector ferrules 22 are abutted against each other, the insertion of the optical connector 20 into the female side housing 30 is continued for a little more distance, and the engaging portion 31 reaches the engaging hole 30a of the female side housing 30. The engaging portions 31 of the latches 28a and 28b are pushed into the engaging holes 30a by the spring force of the latches 28a and 28b to engage with each other. As a result, the pulling-out of the optical connector 20 from the female housing 30 is restricted. At this time,
The optical connector ferrule 22 of the optical connector 20 is slightly pushed in from the housing front end 23a toward the housing rear end portion 23b, and the urging member 27 in the optical connector 20 is compressed. The urging force acts as a butting force between the optical connector ferrules 22 in the butted and connected state, and the optical fibers terminated by these optical connector ferrules 22 are optically connected with low connection loss.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2B, the optical connector ferrule 22 on the optical connector 20 side.
A plurality of (two in the figure) exposed optical fibers (bare fibers) 21c on the joint end face 22a of the above are respectively exposed to bare fibers similarly exposed on the joint end face 22a of the mating optical connector ferrule 22. By the butt connection, the optical fiber 21 and the optical fiber terminated by the mating optical connector ferrule 22 are optically connected. The positioning of the optical connector ferrules 22 is performed by positioning the two guide pins 22b protruding from the joint end surface 22a.
Is the end face 22 of the mating optical connector ferrule 22.
The guide pin holes (not shown) opened in a are inserted into and fitted into the guide pin holes (not shown), respectively, to achieve precision. Since the optical fibers 21c exposed on the joining end surface 22a of the optical connector ferrule 22 are arranged in a line, when the fitting between the guide pin 22b and the guide pin hole is made in a 180-degree inverted direction, The correspondence relationship between the optical fibers 21c that are butt-connected to each other is also reversed, but since the optical connector 20 cannot be reversely inserted into the female housing 30, the target optical fibers are always connected. Therefore, the inconvenience due to the reverse insertion does not occur.

After the butt connection of the optical connector ferrules 22 to each other, the operating portion 32 of the latches 28a and 28b is operated to disengage the engaging portion 31 from the engaging hole 30a, and the latch 2
When the engagement between 8a and 28b and the female housing 30 is released, the optical connector 20 can be pulled out from the female housing 30.

As shown in FIG. 3, according to the optical connector 20, the boots 24 are brought close to the rear ends of the latches 28a and 28b (the front ends in the protruding direction; in the vicinity of the operation portion 32), and the boots 24 are avoided. Since the latches 28a and 28b are all surrounded by the housing 23, the clearance 2 is generated from the gap generated around the latches 28a and 28b.
It is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering the port 9 and maintain the normal operation of the latches 28a and 28b. Also, the latch 28
The inner surface side (inside the housing 23) with respect to a and 28b is
Since it is blocked by the side wall portion 23e, foreign matter can be surely prevented from entering the housing 23, and the urging member 27 can freely expand and contract within the housing 23, and the optical connector ferrule 22 can freely float. Can be reliably maintained.

The rear end of the side wall portion 23e has latches 28a, 2
The optical connector 20 up to the tip of the protruding direction of 8b
Does not extend toward the rear end. That is, the side wall portion 23e
Is a protruding wall 33 protruding from both sides of the latches 28a and 28b.
The gaps on both sides of the latches 28a, 28b are made as narrow as possible by 33, 34, 34 to prevent foreign matter from entering, and the latches 28a, 28b are not shaped so as to surround the entire circumference, It has a shape in which the rear ends of the latch storage grooves 35, 36 for storing 28a, 28b are opened. Then, the boot 24 provided so as to close the open rear ends of the latch housing grooves 35, 36 is brought close to the tips of the latches 28a, 28b in the projecting direction, and the boots 24 near the tips of the latches 28a, 28b in the projecting direction. By making the gap as narrow as possible, the gap around the latches 28a and 28b is narrowed over the entire circumference to prevent foreign matter from entering. Therefore, the rear end of the side wall portion 23e is
Since it is not necessary to form the latches 28a and 28b so as to surround the tips in the projecting direction, it is possible to form a shape that facilitates die cutting during resin molding, and integrally mold the entire structure including the latches 28a and 28b with resin. It is possible. As a result, the housing 23 can be manufactured easily in a short time, which contributes to cost reduction of the optical connector 20. Moreover, in this optical connector 20, the protruding walls 33, 33
Reversed insertion can be prevented only by the inclined surface 37 formed in 1., and since a separate complicated structure is not required to obtain a function for preventing reverse insertion, it can be easily molded.

The optical connector of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and, for example, as means for making the cross-sectional shape of the housing asymmetrical, instead of the inclined surface 37, a key groove or a protruding wall is used. Needless to say, various changes can be made, such as applying changes to the cross-sectional contour shape of the housing. Further, the cross-sectional shape of the housing is not limited to be asymmetric between the both side portions provided with the latches 28a and 28b, and for example, between the pair of opposite side portions where the latches 28a and 28b are not provided. It can also be asymmetric.

As described above, claim 1 or claim
According to the optical connector of item 3, the latch extending from the front end of the housing along the outer surfaces of the side wall portions on both sides toward the rear end is housed, and the optical fiber pulled out from the rear end portion of the housing is housed. The boot is surrounded by a housing provided around the boot to prevent foreign matter from entering the inside through a gap formed around the latch. It is possible to form the entire housing including the latch integrally with the resin because the rear end can be made into a shape that is advantageous for die cutting during resin molding, rather than the shape that surrounds the circumference. It has an excellent effect that it can be realized.

According to the optical connector of the second aspect, since the cross-sectional shape of the housing is asymmetrical between the pair of opposite side portions, it is possible to prevent reverse insertion into the female side housing and the optical connector ferrule. It has an excellent effect that optical connection can be surely made without making a mistake in the intended optical fibers terminated by.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the optical connector of FIG.
Is a side view and (b) is a front view.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the optical connector of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the optical connector of FIG.

5 is a perspective view showing an optical connector adapter which is an example of a female housing into which the optical connector of FIG. 1 is inserted.

6 is a diagram showing the female housing of FIG. 5,
(A) is a side sectional view and (b) is a front view.

FIG. 7 is a view showing an optical connector of a conventional example, and is a perspective view showing an optical connector having a latch only on one side portion of a housing.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an optical connector of a conventional example, which is a side sectional view showing an optical connector having latches on opposite sides of a housing.

9 is a plan sectional view showing the optical connector of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 ... Optical connector, 21 ... Optical fiber (optical fiber cord), 21a ... Optical fiber (optical fiber ribbon),
21c ... Optical fiber (naked fiber), 22 ... Optical connector ferrule, 23 ... Housing, 23a ... Housing tip, 23b ... Housing rear end, 23e ... Housing side wall, 24 ... Boots, 28a, 28b ... Latch, 31 ...
Engagement portion (engagement protrusion) 30, female housing.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masaaki Takatani 3-21-3 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Shinji Nagasawa 3-19 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (56) Reference JP 2000-147323 (JP, A) JP 2000-111759 (JP, A) JP 9-329724 (JP, A) JP 5 -45538 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/38

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An optical fiber (21, 21a, 21c)
Optical connector ferrule terminated for butt connection
A cylindrical housing (2) that houses and holds (22) at its tip.
3), the housing end (23a) is attached to the female side
By inserting the optical connector into the housing (30),
The rule is that another optical connector stored in the female housing is
To be butt-connected with the Kuta ferrule (22)
In the optical connector that has become From opposite sides of the housing, the housing is
From the front end of the housing to the rear end of the housing (23b).
Along the outer surface of the side wall (23e) of the housingclearance
Via (29)Extending and with the female housing
An elastically deformable member including an engaging portion (31) that is detachably engaged.
Projectable latches (28a, 28b),These latches have faces that are orthogonal to the faces on both sides.
A pair of projecting walls projecting from both sides of the housing
Fit in the latch housing groove (35, 36) between (33, 33)
The latch housing groove has an open rear end.
, Pass from the optical connector ferrule into the housing
The optical fiber that is pulled out to the rear end of the housing.
The boots (24) that store the baOpening the latch storage groove
The protruding direction of the latch that closes the released rear end.
tipIs installed close to Avoid this boot and the boot around the latch
With the housing provided, the circumference of the latch
An optical connector (2) characterized in that the enclosure is surrounded.
0). 2. The female housing is the housing
The cross-sectional shape of the cylindrical side wall part (30b) into which the
The lower wall portion (30) facing the upper wall portion and the vicinity of the wall portion (30c)
It is asymmetric with the vicinity of d), and the upper wall has
One of the latches on both sides of the housing is engaged
Engaging groove (30a) is formed on the lower wall portion.
Engages the other of the latches on both sides of the housing
Engaging groove (30a) is formed, and the cross-sectional shape of the housing is the cross-section of the side wall of the female housing.
Corresponding to the shape, it is asymmetrical between a pair of both side parts provided with a latch , the side wall part of the female housing
In the orientation that corresponds the cross-sectional shape of the housing to the cross-sectional shape of
The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the optical connector can be inserted into the female housing only . 3. A cylindrical housing (2) for accommodating and holding at its tip an optical connector ferrule (22) terminated by butting and connecting optical fibers (21, 21a, 21c).
3) and by inserting the housing tip (23a) into the female housing (30), the optical connector ferrule is butt-connected with another optical connector ferrule (22) housed in the female housing. In the optical connector configured as described above, a clearance is provided along the outer surface of the side wall portion (23e) of the housing from the opposite side portions of the housing to the housing front end portion to the housing rear end portion (23b).
Extends through (29), and said female housing and detachably engaging portion for engaging (31) comprising an elastic deformable latch (28a, 28b) is protruded, these The latch has a surface that is orthogonal to the surfaces on both sides.
Latch housing groove (35,
36) and the latch storage groove opens the rear end.
The boot (24) for storing the optical fiber pulled out to the rear end portion of the housing from the optical connector ferrule through the inside of the housing has the opening of the latch storage groove.
The protruding direction of the latch that closes the released rear end.
An optical connector (2) characterized in that the periphery of the latch is surrounded by the boot and the housing provided around the latch while avoiding the boot and provided near the tip.
0).