JP3450052B2 - Sleeve holder storage case - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a case capable of accommodating a sleeve holder, and more particularly to a case for accommodating a sleeve holder mounted on a connector connected to an end of an optical cable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical cable has been used as a means for transmitting an optical signal, and a so-called optical transmission network in which a plurality of optical cables are connected to each other via a switch or the like has been used in recent years.

In this optical transmission network, when connecting an optical cable and a switch or the like, a connector is provided at the end of the optical cable and the connector is fitted into a plug of the switch or the like. In such a connection between the connector and the plug, the end faces of the optical fiber in the connector and the optical fiber in the plug are brought into close contact with each other to enable transmission of an optical signal.

Conventionally, optical fibers are connected to each other by an adhesive material, but even if there is a deviation of several hundredths of a millimeter, light leakage occurs and an optical signal transmission loss cannot be avoided. There was a problem.

Therefore, recently, a sleeve holder is fitted to the connector, and the sleeve is inserted into the plug so that the end faces of the optical fiber of the optical cable and the plug are brought into contact with each other in the sleeve holder with high accuracy. Is being attempted.

Such a sleeve holder is manufactured with high precision in order to accurately connect optical fibers to each other.
Moreover, its outer peripheral surface is mirror-finished.

[0007]

However, if the sleeve holder is fitted into the connector while dust or oil stains are still attached to the sleeve holder, dust or oil may be attached to the connecting end faces of the optical fibers. And the like may be attached, which may hinder the transmission of a part of the optical signal and cause a light transmission loss.

[0008] Further, by putting gloves on by the worker, it is possible to prevent the oil of the hand from adhering to the sleeve holder, but if dust or the like adheres to the glove itself, the light transmission loss is completely eliminated. Cannot be prevented.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the sleeve holder is dusted,
An object of the present invention is to provide a sleeve holder storage case that can be stored in a clean state free from oil and can be connected to a connector or the like of a light transmission path without being directly touched by human hands. It is a thing.

[0010]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has a base portion and a lid portion for accommodating a sleeve holder to be mounted on a predetermined component, and the sleeve is directly attached to the predetermined component. A storage case for a sleeve holder configured to transfer the holder, wherein the base portion and the lid portion are formed on a circumferential protrusion formed on an inner peripheral surface of the base portion and an outer peripheral surface of the lid portion. And a storage section having a circular cross section for storing the sleeve holder in a sealable manner, the storage section being formed so as to be detachable from each other by the circumferential fitting groove formed.
The base portion and the lid portion each have a small-diameter cavity for gripping both ends of the sleeve holder in the longitudinal direction, and the inner diameter of the small-diameter cavity is formed so as to be different between the base portion and the lid portion. When the lids are separated from each other,
The sleeve holder is held on either one.

The storage case includes the base and the lid.
The inner diameter of the small-diameter cavity of the
Formed larger than the diameter of the connection part of the predetermined part to be worn
Is, the sleeve holder when mounted on the predetermined part, said sleeve holder from the base or the lid may be spaced apart.

The predetermined component is preferably a connector connected to an optical cable. The storage case is preferably made of an antistatic material.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, the sleeve holder can be hermetically housed in the case, and moreover, the sleeve holder can be directly attached to a predetermined component from the case without touching the sleeve holder with hands. You can

[0014]

EXAMPLES Next, examples of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a side view of a sleeve holder which is an object of a storage case according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a bottom view thereof.
And FIG. 3 shows the III-III sectional view of FIG.

The sleeve holder 10 is composed of a lower portion 12, an intermediate portion 14 and an upper portion 16 along the vertical direction,
The respective parts are integrally formed into a hollow metal cylinder. Hollow part 18 inside the sleeve holder 10
Accommodates an optical fiber 44 of an optical cable connector shown in FIG. 9 described later and an optical fiber of an adapter (not shown), and the respective optical fibers are optically arranged so that their end faces are accurately positioned at the center position thereof, that is, there is no gap or gap. I try to connect to each other.

The lower part 12 of the sleeve holder is fitted into a circular recess 42 having a circular cross section formed from the end of the optical cable connector (see FIG. 9), and the upper part 16 thereof is provided.
Is to be fitted into a recess on the plug side (not shown). The outer diameters of the lower part and the upper part are slightly larger than the diameters of the recesses so that the sleeve holder can be fixed in the recesses.

Further, a double circular flange 20 is provided at a substantially central portion of the sleeve holder. Of the circular flanges, the lower flange abuts the end surface 46 (see FIG. 9) of the connector to support the sleeve holder when the sleeve holder is fitted into the recess of the end portion of the connector. Similarly, the flange on the upper side abuts on the end surface of the plug (not shown). The end 16A on the plug side of the sleeve holder is formed in a tapered shape to facilitate insertion into the recess of the plug.

It is preferable that the outer circumference of the sleeve holder is strictly controlled so that its diameter becomes a design value, and that mirror finishing is performed.

Next, the storage case of the sleeve holder 10 will be described. FIG. 4 is a side view showing an embodiment of the storage case 22, and FIG. 5 is a bottom view thereof.
6 shows a perspective view thereof, and FIG. 7 shows FIG.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG.

The storage case 22 is composed of two members, a base portion 24 and a lid portion 26 covering the base portion, and FIGS. 4 to 7 show a state in which the base portion and the lid portion are assembled to each other. The base portion 24 and the lid portion 26 are each made of an antistatic material, for example, a conductive material in order to prevent adhesion of foreign matter such as dust and dust. Specifically, carbon is added to a synthetic resin, or It is made of polystyrene, AS, ABS or the like to which an antistatic material is added.

Both the base portion 24 and the lid portion 26 are formed in a columnar shape, and a cavity 27 having a circular cross section is formed therein. These cavities are formed on the sides where the base portion 24 and the lid portion 26 face each other, and are formed to be larger than the outermost peripheral diameter of the sleeve holder.

Then, in succession to the cavity 27, the base 2
Small cavities 28, 38 for gripping both ends of the sleeve holder are provided in the respective longitudinal directions of the sleeve 4 and the lid 26. The small-diameter cavity 38 on the lid side is the sleeve holder 1
The cavity diameter is formed to be smaller than the outer peripheral diameter of the sleeve holder 10 so that the end portion of the upper portion 16 of 0 can be relatively strongly gripped, but the grip force is the concave portion 42 at the end portion of the connector.
(See FIG. 9) is formed to be weaker than the force for fixing the sleeve holder. On the other hand, the small-diameter cavity 2 on the base side
The inner diameter of 8 is formed to be slightly smaller than or equal to the outer diameter of the sleeve holder so as to grip the outer circumference of the sleeve holder relatively weakly.

As shown in detail in FIG. 7, the base portion 24 and the lid portion 26 are assembled by fitting a short columnar protruding piece 29 protruding from the tip of the lid portion 26 into the cavity 7 of the base portion. Is realized from. More specifically, since the protruding piece 29 has a diameter slightly smaller than the outer circumference of the tip of the lid portion, a groove having a constant width is formed in the circumferential direction, and the inner circumference of the tip end side of the base portion 24 is formed in the groove. The surface is fitted. Furthermore, by providing a circumferential projecting portion 33 on the inner peripheral surface on the distal end side of the base portion 24 and forming a circumferential fitting groove 35 into which the projecting portion 33 can be fitted, on the outer circumferential surface of the projecting piece 29, a cavity is formed. The sleeve holder 10 can be housed in the housing 27 in a sealable manner.

A base 30 for supporting the storage case and a flange 31 having a function for facilitating grasping with a finger are formed at the base end of the base portion 24 and the tip end of the lid portion 26, respectively. The lid-side flange 31 is formed in a circular shape, whereas the base-side base 30 is formed in a rectangular shape with R-shaped corners, as shown in FIG. A substantially trapezoidal small protrusion 32 is provided on one side surface of the rectangular base 30, and a small groove 34 that engages with this protrusion is formed on the opposite side. Therefore,
Small groove 3 of another case adjacent to small projection 32 of case 22
By continuously engaging with 4, the base of the case can be linearly connected. And this small protrusion 3
By providing 2 and the small groove 34 on the other side, the cases can be connected in the X and Y directions. However, the base portions may be connected and preformed.
By forming the case continuum in this manner, it is possible to prevent individual cases from coming apart when the sleeve holder is continuously inserted into the connector.

In order to store the sleeve holder in the case, it is preferable that the sleeve holder is not touched by human hands. Specifically, the sleeve holder is erected so that its longitudinal direction is vertical. The lid portion is pressed from the plug-side tip of the sleeve holder to fit the sleeve holder into the small-diameter cavity 38. Then
By pressing the other end of the sleeve holder against the small diameter cavity 28 at the base, the sleeve holder can be hermetically housed in the space inside the case.

Next, a method of using the storage case will be described. First, from the storage case in the state of FIG.
Is operated so as to be separated from the base portion 24. At this time, since the small-diameter cavity 38 on the lid side grips the sleeve holder 10 more strongly than the small-diameter cavity 28 on the base side, the sleeve holder 10 is gripped on the lid side. This state is shown in FIG.

Next, the sleeve holder 10 as it is, the recess 42 formed inside from the end portion of the connector 40.
Then, the lid 26 is press-fitted (see FIG. 9). Then, the sleeve holder slides in the recess 42 until the connector-side end surface of the flange 20 comes into contact with the connector end surface.

When the lid portion 26 is separated from the connector in this state, the sleeve holder 10 is more firmly fixed in the recess 42 than the small-diameter cavity 38 of the lid portion, so that the lid portion 26 and the sleeve holder 10 are separated from each other. The grip is released and the sleeve holder 10 is fixed in the recess 42 as it is.

Then, by connecting the connector in this state to the plug of the equipment constituting the optical cable network such as the exchanger, a desired light transmission path can be constructed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the sleeve holder can be housed in the case in a clean state where it does not come into contact with dust and the like, and the connector of the optical cable can be attached without touching the sleeve holder itself. Can be installed.

In this embodiment, the sleeve holder is mounted by press-fitting it into the connector of the optical cable. However, the invention is not limited to this. The sleeve holder may be attached to the connector of the optical cable by forming a thread groove on the peripheral surface. Also,
In the present embodiment, the small-diameter cavity 28 on the base side does not necessarily have to hold the sleeve holder, and therefore the inner diameter may be formed larger than the outer diameter of the sleeve holder.

At least the lid portion 26 of the storage case 22 is preferably transparent. By doing so, it can be confirmed that the sleeve holder is completely attached to the connector through the lid.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the sleeve holder can be stored in a clean state free from dust, oil, etc., and the sleeve holder can be connected to the connector of the light transmission path without human touch. It is possible to provide a storage case for the sleeve holder that can be directly connected to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a sleeve holder.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the sleeve holder.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a storage case of the sleeve holder.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a storage case of the sleeve holder.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a storage case of the sleeve holder.

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a state in which a lid part is removed from a base part.

FIG. 9 is a state diagram before the sleeve holder is attached to the male connection portion of the optical cable connector.

FIG. 10 is a state diagram after the sleeve holder is attached to the male connection portion of the optical cable connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Sleeve holder 22 Sleeve holder storage case 24 Base (plural members) 26 Lid (plural members) 27 Storage

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Bibliography Futai Hira 6-2308 (JP, U) Furukai Hira 3-119804 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/38

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage case for a sleeve holder, which has a base for accommodating a sleeve holder to be mounted on a predetermined component and a lid, and is configured so that the sleeve holder can be directly transferred to the predetermined component. The base portion and the lid portion are detachably formed with each other by the circumferential projection portion formed on the inner peripheral surface of the base portion and the circumferential fitting groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lid portion, A storage section having a circular cross section for sealingly storing the sleeve holder, and a small-diameter cavity for holding both ends of the sleeve holder in the longitudinal direction of the base section and the lid section are provided inside, and the inner diameter of the small-diameter cavity is The sleeve holder is formed so that the base portion and the lid portion are different from each other, and when the base portion and the lid portion are separated from each other, the sleeve holder is held in one of them. Storage case. 2. The small-diameter cavities of the base portion and the lid portion
The inner diameter of the sleeve holder is the predetermined one
Of is larger than the diameter of the connecting portion of the part, upon mounting the three <br/> Buhoruda the predetermined component, said base
Alternatively, the storage case according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve holder is separated from the lid portion . 3. The storage case according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined component is a connector connected to an optical cable. 4. The storage case according to claim 1, wherein the storage case is made of an antistatic material.