JP3461732B2 - Optical connector assembly tool - 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 assembly tool for inserting an optical fiber into an optical fiber insertion hole formed in an optical connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in the work of terminating an optical fiber by butting and connecting with an optical connector (optical connector ferrule) established in JIS C 5981 or the like, an optical fiber insertion hole formed in a joint end face of the optical connector. There is a step of inserting an optical fiber (bare fiber) into the.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned insertion step, the diameter of the optical fiber insertion hole is several tens of μm, and the difference in diameter between the optical fiber insertion hole and the optical fiber is as small as about several μm. In view of the above, it is necessary to perform it while confirming with a microscope, and it is troublesome and it is difficult to improve work efficiency. Therefore, development of an appropriate jig capable of improving work efficiency has been demanded. In particular, in a multi-fiber optical connector, the space between the optical fiber insertion holes formed on the splicing end face is 2 or less.
It is usually about 0.00 to 300 μm, and it takes a lot of time and labor to select an optical fiber insertion hole for the purpose of insertion work.

In the case of a so-called unpolished connector (an optical connector in which the optical fiber is not polished after being inserted), the optical fiber is carefully processed so that the end face of the cut optical fiber is not damaged when the optical fiber is inserted into the optical connector. It becomes more difficult to insert the optical fiber into the fiber insertion hole. That is, when the optical fiber is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole opened in the joint end face of the optical connector from the optical connector rear end side facing the joint end face, the cut optical fiber end face is inside the optical connector. It is necessary to avoid contact with walls. In consideration of insertion workability, it is conceivable to use a jig having a guide groove or the like to move the optical fiber in its longitudinal direction and insert the optical fiber into the optical connector. Since the optical fiber has a small diameter, the optical fiber end face often comes into contact with the inner wall of the optical connector near the optical fiber insertion hole, and the contact is repeated until the optical fiber is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole. There is a concern that it will hurt.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and (a) the connector fixing portion supporting the optical connector is tilted by the tilting mechanism so that the optical fiber of the optical fiber insertion hole formed in the optical connector. With the configuration in which the tilt angle is set, the positioning work between the optical fiber insertion hole and the optical fiber can be easily performed, and further, the insertion work can be easily performed by the reciprocating fiber support portion. By abutting the optical fiber inserted in the fiber insertion hole against the positioning block, the optical fiber can be easily positioned at the target position of the optical connector. (C)
Since the tilting mechanism integrally tilts the positioning block adjacent to the optical connector together with the optical connector,
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector assembling tool that can be easily positioned by tilting the optical connector and abutting the optical fibers inserted in the optical fiber insertion holes formed in the optical connector against the positioning block. To do.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an optical connector assembly tool for inserting an optical fiber into one or a plurality of optical fiber insertion holes formed in the optical connector, wherein the optical connector is mounted on a tool body 11. A connector fixing part that tiltably supports, a fiber supporting part that moves forward and backward toward the connector fixing part in the vicinity of the tip of the optical fiber in the insertion direction into the optical connector, and a connector fixing part that faces the fiber supporting part. A connector urging means for urging,
By tilting the optical connector at the connector fixing portion, the tilt angle of the optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector with respect to the optical fiber is adjusted, and further, the optical fiber supported by the connector fixing portion is adjusted. The connector is provided with a positioning block which is adjacent to a joint end face of the optical connector which is butted and joined to the mating optical connector when the optical connectors are connected to each other, and which is integrally tiltably supported together with the optical connector by the connector fixing portion. , The optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector is opened in the joint end surface, the optical fiber inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole from the rear end side facing the joint end surface of the optical connector toward the joint end surface Is positioned by contacting the positioning block, and
The positioning block pressed by the pressing force acting from the optical fiber hitting the positioning block,
The connector urging means is adapted to move in association with the fiber supporting portion against the urging force for urging the connector fixing portion, and further, the connector fixing portion.
Sets the optical connector and the positioning block
Connector holder (13a) and this connector holder
The projection block, and touch the positioning block.
To the connector holder of the positioning block
Used for positioning in the
Abutment wall that bears the pressing force applied from the optical fiber to the connector
(13e), and the contact wall is the connector.
Tilt the holder vertically on the tool body.
An optical connector assembling tool, which is operated as a handle for the above, is a means for solving the above problems. According to this optical connector assembling tool, the optical fiber is moved toward and away from the connector fixing portion by the fiber supporting portion, so that the tip of the optical fiber is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector supported and fixed by the connector fixing portion. . At this time, when the optical connector is tilted by the connector fixing portion, the tilt angle of the optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector with respect to the optical fiber is adjusted, and the optical fiber insertion hole can be easily positioned with respect to the optical fiber. Therefore, the optical fiber can be easily inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole.

Further , when the positioning block is brought into contact with the optical connector splicing end face, the end of the optical fiber inserted into and penetrating the optical fiber insertion hole is merely abutted against the positioning block, and this optical fiber end face is flush with the optical connector splicing end face. It can be easily positioned so as to be one. This allows, in particular,
In the non-polished connector, the positioning of the optical fiber is completed simply by abutting the tip of the optical fiber inserted into and penetrating the optical fiber insertion hole against the positioning block. It is also possible to place the positioning block adjacent to and separate from the optical connector joint end face. At this time, the optical fiber inserted / penetrated in the optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector and abutted to the positioning block is Only the dimension corresponding to the separation distance between the joint end face and the positioning block of
It projects from the joint end face of the optical connector.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the optical connector assembling tool according to the first aspect, a fiber urging means for urging the fiber supporting portion toward the connector fixing portion is provided. With this optical connector assembling tool, when the tip of the optical fiber inserted into and penetrating the optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector supported by the connector fixing part hits the positioning block, both the fiber urging means and the connector urging means are urged. By the biasing force of the means, the abutting state between the optical fiber and the positioning block is stably maintained, and during this period, the work of fixing the optical fiber with the optical connector can be advanced. Needless to say, the urging force of both the urging means of the fiber urging means and the connector urging means does not cause deformation such as optical fiber buckling abutted against the positioning block.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an optical connector assembling tool of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an optical connector assembling tool 10 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical connector assembling tool 10 includes a plate-shaped tool main body 11 installed substantially horizontally, a connector fixing portion 13 that tiltably supports the optical connector 12, and a connector fixing portion 13. And a fiber support portion 15 for moving the optical fiber 14 forward and backward.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view showing the optical connector assembling tool 10, and FIG. 3 is a plan view. As shown in FIG. 2, the connector fixing portion 13 includes a connector holder 13a on which the optical connector 12 is placed. As shown in FIG. 4, the optical connector 12 is set on the connector holder 13a in a state where the positioning block 16 is integrally attached by the clip 12b, and is clamped by the clamp claw 13b protruding from the connector holder 13a. As a result, it is detachably held. The abutting surface 16a of the positioning block 16 that is precisely flat is brought into close contact with the joint end surface 12a of the optical connector 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the connector holder 13a
2 has an end portion on the fiber support portion 15 side rotatably supported about a shaft 13c, and an end portion on the side separated from the fiber support portion 15 rotates up and down in FIG. 2 about the shaft 13c. To do. Further, since the connector holder 13 is connected to the tool body 11 by the elastic body 13d, the rotation range around the shaft 13c is set within the elastic deformation range of the elastic body 13d. And the connector holder 1
3a is, for example, an operation of vertically moving (up and down in FIG. 2) using a contact wall 13e projecting upward from an end portion separated from the shaft 13c (that is, an end portion separated from the fiber support portion 15) as a handle. Is tilted up and down. The contact wall 13e is used for positioning by contacting the positioning block 16 or the clip 12b. As a means for tilting the connector holder 13a up and down, it is possible to separately apply a drive mechanism that is manually operated or a drive mechanism that uses a drive source such as an electric motor.

The elastic body 13d is formed of rubber or the like, and when the upward or downward displacement force acting on the connector holder 13a is released, the elastic body 13d returns the connector holder 13a to a predetermined position by its restoring force. The connector holder 13a is slidable on the tool main body 11 along the same movement line as the fiber supporting portion 15, and the connector urging means 17 (for urging the connector fixing portion 13 toward the fiber supporting portion 15). It is biased toward the fiber support portion 15 by a coil spring.

In FIG. 2, as the optical connector 12,
It illustrates an optical connector ferrule of a so-called MT type optical connector (Mechanically Transferable) established in JIS C 5981. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of the optical connector 12 and the positioning block 16. In FIG. 5, the positioning block 16 has a flat contact surface 16a in contact with the joint end surface 12a of the optical connector 12, which is an MT type optical connector ferrule. Further, a pair of guide pin holes 12e formed in the optical connector 12,
12e and the guide pin holes 16 formed in the positioning block 16 so as to correspond to these guide pin holes 12e, 12e.
Guide pins (not shown) are made to communicate and fit with b and 16b to prevent positional displacement between the positioning block 16 and the optical connector 12. Therefore, the positioning block 1
Since the 6 and the optical connector 12 are sandwiched by the clip 12b and the positional displacement is prevented by the guide pin, the installation work on the connector holder 13a can be efficiently performed without causing the positional displacement. In this embodiment, as the optical connector 12, an M of four cores is used.
FIG. 5 illustrates a T-type optical connector ferrule. As shown in FIG. 5, in this optical connector assembly tool 10, four optical fiber insertion holes 12c formed in the optical connector 12 are formed.
The four bare fibers 14a (see FIG. 4) exposed at the tip of the optical fiber 14, which is the four-fiber optical fiber ribbon, are inserted into.

Since the positioning block 16 has the same outer shape as the optical connector 12 except that it does not have an optical fiber insertion hole, the clip 12b (which clamps the optical connectors 12 and maintains the joined state). JIS C
If the clip applied to the optical connector established in 5981 is used, the optical connector 12 and the positioning block 16 can be easily clamped and fixed, whereby the contact state between the both can be maintained. Further, the clip 12b can be easily attached to and detached from the optical connector 12 and the positioning block 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fiber support portion 15
Is a plate-like member that slides on the tool body 11, and the optical fiber 1
The fiber holder 18 to which 4 is clamped is set. Further, the fiber supporting portion 15 is provided with the fiber urging means 1
When it is urged by 9 (coil spring) and moves toward the connector fixing portion 13, the fiber holder 18 set in the fiber supporting portion 15 also moves toward the fiber supporting portion 15.
As it is pressed by the engaging claw 15a protruding from, it is pressed in the direction of the connector fixing portion 13 and is reliably moved.
The movement of the fiber holder 18 is possible until it comes into contact with a stopper 13f that is provided in a fixed position near the connector fixing portion 13, and is restricted when it comes into contact with the stopper 13f.

The fiber supporting portion 15 is the connector fixing portion 13.
When the fiber holder 18 is advanced toward and approaches
Optical fiber 14 projected from the connector fixing portion 13 side
The tip is inserted into the optical connector 12 supported by the connector fixing portion 13. The protruding dimension of the optical fiber 14 from the fiber holder 18 is about several millimeters, which is such that the optical fiber 14 itself does not bend due to its rigidity. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, when the connector fixing portion 13 is driven to tilt the optical connector 12, the optical connector 1
The optical fiber insertion hole 12c formed in the second joint end face 12a is positioned with respect to the bare fiber 14a exposed at the tip of the optical fiber 14. Next, when the fiber support portion 15 further moves toward the connector fixing portion 13, the tip of the bare fiber 14a abuts on the guide groove 12d formed in the optical connector 12 so as to be continuous with each optical fiber insertion hole 12c, By moving along the guide groove 12d, it is guided and inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 12c. As a result, each bare fiber 14a at the tip of the optical fiber 14 can be reliably inserted into the target optical fiber insertion hole 12c.

The bare fiber 1 at the end of the optical fiber 14
4a can be inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 12c as long as it is inserted into the guide groove 12d.
In 3, the tilting of the optical connector 12 causes the bare fiber 1
Instead of positioning the optical fiber insertion hole 12c itself with respect to 4a, the guide groove 12d corresponding to this optical fiber insertion hole 12c may be positioned in the bare fiber 14a.

To assemble the optical connector 12 to the end of the optical fiber 14 using the optical connector assembling tool 10,
The optical connector 12 clamped integrally with the positioning block 16 by the clip 12b is set in the connector fixing portion 13, and the fiber holder 18 holding the optical fiber 14 by clamp is set in the fiber supporting portion 15. At this time, the fiber support portion 15 is slightly moved in a direction away from the connector fixing portion 13 against the urging force of the fiber urging means 19 by a manual operation or the like.

The fiber support portion 15 of the fiber holder 18
When the setting of the fiber support portion 15 is completed, the force for separating the fiber support portion 15 from the connector fixing portion 13 is released. Then, the urging force of the fiber urging means 19 causes the fiber supporting portion 15 to move.
Moves toward the connector fixing portion 13, and the tip of the optical fiber 14 is inserted into the optical connector 12 from the boot 12f at the rear end of the optical connector 12. Therefore, the connector fixing portion 13
The optical connector 1 set in the connector fixing portion 13 by pressing the contact wall 13e of the connector downward or pulling the contact wall 13e upward.
When 2 is tilted, the four bare fibers 14a at the tip of the optical fiber 14 are collectively inserted into the vicinity of the target optical fiber insertion hole 14c.

More specifically, simply by setting the fiber holder 18 supporting the optical fiber 14 in the fiber support portion 15, the tip end position of the optical fiber 14 is determined by the size of the fiber holder 18 and the like, and the optical fiber insertion hole 12 of the optical connector 12 is positioned.
It is positioned on substantially the same axis as c, and therefore, the guide groove 12d continuous to each optical fiber insertion hole 12c is also positioned on substantially the same axis. Here, when the optical connector 12 set in the connector fixing portion 13 is tilted, the guide groove 12d is also tilted, and the opening area of the bare fiber 14a at the tip of the optical fiber 14 is substantially increased. Therefore, before tilting the optical connector 12, even if there is a slight positional deviation between the optical fiber insertion hole 12c and the bare fiber 14a, it is easy to insert the bare fiber 14a into the guide groove 12d. The bare fiber 14a is smoothly inserted from the guide groove 12d into the optical fiber insertion hole 12c as the fiber support portion 15 moves toward the optical connector 12.

The bare fiber 14a inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 12c penetrates the optical fiber insertion hole 12c,
The abutment surface 16a of the positioning block 16 is abutted. Therefore, the optical fiber 1 which is a 4-fiber optical fiber ribbon
When all the bare fibers 14a of No. 4 are inserted and penetrated into the fiber insertion holes 12c of the optical connector 12, the tip surfaces (cutting surfaces) of all these bare fibers 14a are positioned at the joint end surface 12a of the optical connector 12. . When each bare fiber 14a hits the positioning block 16, the positioning block 16 is pressed by the pressing force applied from the optical fiber 14, and resists the biasing force of the connector biasing means 17 as shown by the phantom line in FIG. It is moved so as to interlock with the fiber support portion 15. At this time, the pressing force applied from the optical fiber 14 to the positioning block 16 is the contact wall 13e protruding from the connector holder 13a.
Needless to say, when the positioning block 16 moves, the connector holder 13a and the optical connector 12 move integrally with each other because the pressure is supported by. Therefore, by detecting the movement of the positioning block 16 (or the optical connector 12 or the connector holder 13a), it can be surely confirmed that the bare fiber 14a has hit the positioning block 16.

Since the positioning block 16 is fixed to the optical connector 12 by the clip 12b and the guide pin and further clamped to the connector holder 13a by the clamp claw 13b, the optical connector 12 is fixed at the connector fixing portion 13. When tilted, it tilts integrally with the optical connector 12, and no positional deviation occurs with the optical connector 12. Therefore, the connector fixing portion 1
Even when the optical connector 12 is tilted at 3, the operation of abutting the bare fiber 14a inserted in the optical fiber insertion hole 12c of the optical connector 12 against the positioning block 16 and positioning is the same as when the optical connector 12 is not tilted. It can be done exactly as well.

Optical fiber 1 into optical fiber insertion hole 12c
4 (bare fiber 14a) is completely inserted, the adhesive is injected into the inside from the window 12g (see FIG. 5) opened in the optical connector 12 to solidify, and then the optical connector 12 and the positioning block 16 are clipped to the clip 12b. Is taken out from the connector fixing portion 13 while being clamped by. Then, by removing the clip 12b, the optical connector 12 assembled at the tip of the optical fiber 14 can be taken out.

When the optical fiber 14 (bare fiber 14a) inserted / penetrated in the optical fiber insertion hole 12c is abutted against the positioning block 16, connector urging means 17 is provided.
Since the contact force between the optical fiber 14 and the positioning block 16 is secured by the biasing force of the fiber biasing means 19, there is no risk of the optical fiber 14 being displaced during the adhesive injecting work, and the bonding is performed. Optical fiber with agent 1
The fixing workability of 4 can be improved. As an adhesive,
It is preferable to use an ultraviolet curable adhesive or the like that can be solidified in a short time in order to shorten the assembly time. Also,
It is also possible to apply a curing accelerator or the like prior to the injection of the adhesive.

To remove the clip 12b from the optical connector 12, it is possible to use a switching connector for automatically switching the connection between the MT type optical connectors. That is, in the present embodiment, by adopting the positioning block 16 which has substantially the same outer shape as the optical connector 12 which is the MT type optical connector ferrule, and to which the clip 12b for fixing the optical connectors 12 to each other can be applied. The positioning block 16 can be handled by the switching connector in the same manner as the MT type optical connector ferrule. When the bare fiber 14a is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 12c and fixed with an adhesive, the connector fixing portion 1
The optical connector 12 taken out from No. 3 is applied to the switching connector together with the positioning block 16 fixed by the clip 12b, and the positioning block 16 is replaced with another optical connector assembled to the optical fiber terminal to be connected, When the replaced optical connector and the optical connector 12 are connected, the optical connector 12 at the optical fiber 14 terminal is connected.
It is possible to efficiently perform a series of operations from the assembling of (1) to the connection of the target optical fibers with a small number of steps.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and, for example, the configurations of the fiber supporting portion, the connector fixing portion, the tilting mechanism and the like can be appropriately designed and changed. As the optical connector to which the optical connector assembling tool of the present invention is applied, various configurations other than the optical connector ferrule established in JIS C 5981 can be adopted. The connector urging means and the fiber urging means are not limited to the coil springs exemplified in the above-described embodiment, and various springs other than the coil springs and elastic bodies such as rubber can be applied. In the above embodiment,
Optical connector 12 which is a 4-core MT type optical connector ferrule
In the above, the case where the optical fiber 14 which is the 4-fiber optical fiber ribbon is inserted is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the types of the optical connector and the optical fiber, the number of cores, and the like can be appropriately changed.

[0027]

As described above, according to the optical connector assembling tool of the present invention, the optical fiber supported by the fiber supporting portion is pushed toward the optical connector fixed by the connector fixing portion to insert the optical fiber insertion hole. By tilting the optical connector at the connector fixing portion when inserting the optical fiber into the optical fiber, the optical fiber insertion hole can be easily positioned with respect to the tip of the optical fiber fixed to the fiber supporting portion. The optical fiber can be easily inserted into the insertion hole, and the optical connector can be easily assembled in the optical fiber tip in a short time.

[0028] In addition, according to this optical connector assembly tool,
A positioning block is provided adjacent to a joint end face of the optical connector supported by the connector fixing portion, which is abutted and joined to another optical connector, and is supported by the connector fixing portion so as to be integrally tiltable together with the optical connector. , Inserted in the optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector
Since it is possible to position the optical fiber through the positioning block only at the target position, it is possible to more efficiently assemble the optical connector to the optical fiber terminal.

According to the optical connector assembling tool of the second aspect , when the optical fiber inserted / penetrated in the optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector is butted against the positioning block, the fiber urging means and the connector urging means are activated. By the power
The contact force of the optical fiber with respect to the positioning block is maintained, and during this period, the work of fixing the optical fiber at the optical connector can be performed efficiently, and the assembly of the optical connector at the optical fiber terminal can be performed more efficiently. It has an excellent effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

2 is a front sectional view showing the optical connector assembling tool of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a plan view showing the optical connector assembling tool of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view showing an operation of the optical connector assembling tool of FIG. 1, and is a front view showing an operation of inserting an optical fiber into an optical fiber insertion hole.

5 is a perspective view showing an optical connector and a positioning block applied to the optical connector assembling tool of FIG. 1. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Optical connector assembly tool, 12 ... Optical connector (MT type optical connector ferrule), 12a ... Joining end face, 12c ...
Optical fiber insertion hole, 13 ... Connector fixing part, 14 ... Optical fiber (4 core optical fiber tape core wire), 14a ... Optical fiber (bare fiber), 15 ... Fiber support part, 16 ... Positioning block, 17 ... Connector energizing Means, 19 ... Fiber energizing means.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Tamaki 1440 Rokuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Fujikura Co., Ltd. Sakura Factory (72) Inventor Masaaki Takatani 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Shinji Nagasawa 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (56) Reference JP-A-9-197190 (JP, A) JP-A 9-189830 (JP, A) JP 8-248265 (JP, A) JP 5-307130 (JP, A) Actual development 4-53204 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/36

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An optical fiber (1) is provided in one or a plurality of optical fiber insertion holes (12c) formed in an optical connector (12).
4, 14a) for inserting an optical connector, the connector fixing portion (13) for tiltably supporting the optical connector on the tool body (11), and the insertion direction of the optical fiber into the optical connector. The connector fixing part is provided with a fiber supporting part (15) for advancing and retracting the vicinity of the tip toward the connector fixing part and a connector urging means (17) for urging the connector fixing part toward the fiber supporting part. By tilting the optical connector at, the tilt angle of the optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector with respect to the optical fiber is adjusted, further, of the optical connector supported by the connector fixing portion,
A positioning block (1) that is adjacent to a joint end face (12a) that is abutted and joined to a mating optical connector when the optical connectors are connected to each other, and is supported by the connector fixing portion together with the optical connector so as to be tiltable.
6), wherein the optical fiber insertion hole of the optical connector is opened in the joint end surface, and is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole from a rear end side facing the joint end surface of the optical connector toward the joint end surface. The positioned optical fiber is positioned by abutting on the positioning block, and the positioning block pressed by the pressing force applied from the optical fiber hitting the positioning block is the connector urging means. Is moved in association with the fiber support portion against an urging force for urging the connector fixing portion , and the connector fixing portion is further connected to the optical connector and the optical connector.
Connector holder (1
3a), which is projected from this connector holder,
By contacting the positioning block, the positioning block
Used to position the connector in the connector holder.
And act from the optical fiber on the positioning block
The contact wall (13e) for supporting the pressing force
The abutting wall connects the connector holder to the tool body.
Operates as a handle for tilting up and down
Optical connector assembly tool, characterized in that it is. 2. The optical connector assembling tool according to claim 1, further comprising fiber urging means (19) for urging the fiber supporting portion toward the connector fixing portion.