JP3599553B2 - Groove processing method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical component and a method of processing a groove required for manufacturing a mold required for manufacturing the optical component.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Most multi-core optical connectors used in the optical communication field are manufactured by plastic molding. This optical connector is used for connecting an optical fiber, and it is necessary to accurately butt the cores of the optical fiber in order to realize a low connection loss. For this reason, a molding die for an optical connector requires high processing accuracy. In particular, the portion of the mold in which the optical fiber and the guide pin insertion hole are formed greatly affects the characteristics of the molded connector, so that high processing accuracy is required.
[0003]
As shown in FIG. 5, the mold includes a guide pin insertion hole forming pin 10 and a fiber insertion hole forming pin 11, and two points on both slopes of the V-shaped grooves 10a and 11a of the V-shaped groove mold member 9. An optical connector having a guide pin insertion hole and a fiber insertion hole that is configured to be held at three points, one point on the upper surface of the holding die member 8 having the rectangular or polygonal groove 10b, and that is positioned with high precision. I do.
It is desirable that the pressing die member 8 is processed with a processing accuracy of 0.1 μm or less in consideration of molding errors and the like. The mold members 8 and 9 are made of a material (e.g., a super hard material) in consideration of wear resistance and the like, and are ground by a diamond grindstone.
[0004]
The method of working of the presser mold member 8, as shown in FIG. 6, firstly the workpiece 3 by surface grinding a flat grindstone 5 to process the height H ₁ to a predetermined size height H ₂ (FIG. 6 (a)). Next, a full-type grinding method (FIG. 6 (b)), in which a full-type grindstone 6 molded with high precision according to the groove shape is used, and the rotational shape of the grindstone 6 is directly transferred, or a thin blade whetstone narrower than the groove width. A groove is machined to a depth of a predetermined size by a processing method such as a grinding method (FIG. 6C) in which the grindstone 7 is processed while being sent at a fine pitch so as to have a predetermined size by using the 7. As described above, the processing of the plane and the groove is performed in two steps by changing the grindstone and the processing machine.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above-mentioned processing method has the following problems. That is,
1) In the die shaping method, even if a high-precision die wheel is used, brittle fracture occurs because the abrasive grains in the rotating die wheel intermittently hit the work surface and grind. Is processed to be tattered), and the surface roughness is not good.
Also, in the die grinding method, it is important to maintain the shape of the grindstone for the process of transferring the rotational shape of the grindstone. Therefore, in order to perform processing with a predetermined accuracy, it is necessary to frequently adjust the shape of the grindstone, and the working efficiency is not good.
2) In the profile grinding method, since the rotating grindstone is fed at a minute pitch, the processed surface has a slight undulation corresponding to the feed pitch. Further, since the processing is performed by feeding at a fine pitch, the processing time becomes long, and thus the processing accuracy is limited due to the influence of the temperature change of the processing environment due to the heat generated by the rotation of the grindstone.
3) Further, since the processing is performed in two steps of the flat processing and the groove processing, an error is apt to occur in mounting at the time of resetting, and the processing accuracy is limited.
[0006]
An object of the present invention is to provide a groove processing method capable of accurately processing a fiber pressing member of an optical component having a groove for holding an optical fiber and a pressing mold member of an optical connector molding die. With the goal.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has an annular opening whose outer diameter is sufficiently large with respect to the width of a groove to be machined on a workpiece, and whose width is smaller than the width of the groove. Using a cup-shaped whetstone,
While forming an arc-shaped groove with a cup-shaped grindstone at a predetermined position on the workpiece, the workpiece and the workpiece are relatively moved so as to be parallel to the groove for processing the cup-shaped grindstone. Forming a first side wall by straightening the side wall;
Next, the workpiece and the cup-shaped grindstone are relatively moved so that the outer surface of the cup-shaped grindstone contacts the other side wall of the groove to be processed, and the inner surface of the cup-shaped grindstone does not contact the first side wall. , A second side wall is formed in the same manner as the first side wall, and a linear groove formed by the first and second side walls is formed.
Here, the meaning that “the outer diameter is sufficiently larger than the width of the groove to be machined on the workpiece” of the cup-shaped grindstone means that the grinding portion having the curvature of the cup-shaped grindstone has a curvature as shown in FIG. The curvature is small enough to fit within the groove width W within the groove length L, in other words, the outer diameter is large.
[0008]
According to the present invention, unlike the form grinding, the abrasive grains in the rotating grindstone continuously grind the processing surface within the rotating surface, so that the surface is stripped like a cutting process, and the surface roughness is reduced. A machined surface with excellent properties can be obtained. Further, the shape of the cup-shaped grindstone can be easily controlled, the shape-adjustment interval of the grindstone becomes long, and the work can be performed with high efficiency.
[0009]
Further, when the groove is machined with a cup-shaped grindstone having an annular opening, a groove having a curvature is formed. According to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, using a cup-shaped grinding wheel 2 which is the width W ₀ having openings narrower annular than the width W of the groove. Then, as shown in FIG. 2A, the cup-type grindstone 2 is rotated while the rotation axis of the cup-type grindstone 2 is moved from the AD end to the BC end in parallel with the groove, and the workpiece 3 is ground. The side wall (grinding wheel outer peripheral trajectory) of the portion where the outer peripheral portion of the grindstone 2 is ground becomes linear, and the side wall (first side wall) on one side of the groove to be processed can be formed linearly. However, the other side of the groove has a curved shape corresponding to the locus of the inner peripheral portion of the moved cup-shaped grindstone. Incidentally, the cup-shaped grinding wheel 2 is sufficiently large with respect to the width W of the groove the outer diameter 2R is processed, and, since the width W ₀ having openings narrower annular than the width W of the groove, FIG. 2 (a ), The ground portion does not become wider than the width W of the groove.
Next, as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (b), the workpiece and the cup-shaped grindstone are relatively moved so that the outer surface of the cup-shaped grindstone contacts the other side wall of the groove to be machined. Then, similarly to the first side wall, the side wall (the second side wall) on the other side of the groove can be formed linearly so that the inner surface of the cup-shaped grindstone does not contact the first side wall.
In this way, a linear groove formed by the first side wall and the second side wall can be formed by the two grindings.
[0010]
Furthermore, once set, the upper surface of the workpiece can be machined with the cup-type grindstone, so that the upper surface and the groove can be machined with high accuracy without reattaching the workpiece or the grindstone.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of a groove processing method according to the present invention. In this embodiment, two linear grooves α and β having a length L and a width W are machined in parallel at an interval P. The steps are as follows. That is,
In 1) FIG. 1, an outer diameter 2R, the cup-shaped grinding wheel 2 of a width _{W 0,} attaching a third axial position of the X · Y · Z in machine spindle 1 to NC control. Further, the workpiece 3 is fixed on a reversing table 4 which can be rotated by 180 °.
2) Next, the upper surface of the workpiece 3 is processed to a predetermined height H by the cup-type grindstone 2.
3) Thereafter, groove processing is performed by the method shown in FIGS.
First, the cup-shaped grindstone 2 is moved in the Y-direction without changing the position of the cup-shaped grindstone 2 in the Z direction (height direction) from the upper surface processing end position, and the outer periphery of the cup-shaped grindstone 2 is positioned on the outer wall of the groove α. So that the cup-shaped grindstone 2 is positioned.
Next, the cup-shaped grindstone 2 is cut in an arbitrary amount in the Z direction and rotated to feed a distance L in the X direction (groove direction) to form a groove α (FIG. 3A).
4) Next, while maintaining the position in the Z direction, the grindstone 2 is moved in the Y direction by a predetermined distance P, and the outer periphery of the grindstone 2 is positioned on the inner wall of the other groove β. At this position, the inner wall of the other groove β is formed by feeding a distance L in the X direction (FIG. 3B).
As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the grooves α and β thus formed have a shape in which one side wall is straight and the other side wall has a curvature.
5) Next, after rotating the reversing table 4 by 180 °, the outer wall of the groove β is similarly processed (FIG. 3C), and the cup-shaped grindstone 2 is moved by a predetermined distance P in the Y direction to obtain the groove α. (FIG. 3D).
[0012]
This series of groove processing is performed by the NC program, processing and measurement are repeated, and processing is performed until a predetermined dimension is reached, whereby grooves having excellent surface roughness, straightness, and depth accuracy can be easily processed. In addition, since there is no need to replace the cup-type grindstone or the processing machine, there is no mounting error due to resetting. In addition, since one processing time is very short, the processing is hardly affected by the heat of the processing environment, so that high-precision processing can be performed.
[0013]
The width and length of the groove to be processed are restricted by the shape (outer diameter and width) of the cup-shaped grindstone. However, the shape of the cup grindstone used is preferably larger as the outer diameter is larger, because the grinding wall on the inner circumference of the grindstone becomes closer to a straight line, and the width is at least equal to or less than the width of the groove to be machined.
For example, 100 mm outer diameter 2R of the cup-shaped grindstone, the width _{W 0} as 0.11 mm, the width W to form a groove of 0.3 mm. In this case, the feed distance and the length of the groove to be processed can be made equal to each other until the feed distance of the grindstone is 4.93 mm. However, if the feed distance is larger than 4.93 mm, the inner locus of the cup-shaped grindstone exceeds the DC side surface of the groove in FIG. Therefore, the processing groove length is a maximum of 4.93 mm.
[0014]
(Embodiment 2)
In the above embodiment, the table on which the workpiece is fixed is rotated by 180 ° to grind both side walls of the groove to perform the groove processing. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment.
For example, in FIG. 3, the groove can be formed by moving the cup-type grindstone 2 in the Y direction without rotating the workpiece 3. The processing method will be described below with reference to FIGS. That is,
1) First, using a cup-type grindstone 2 having an outer diameter of 2R, the outer wall of the groove α having a width W is processed by the outer peripheral portion of the grindstone (FIG. 4A).
2) Next, the cup-type grindstone 2 is moved rightward in the Y direction by the distance P between the two grooves α and β to machine the inner wall of the groove β (FIG. 4B).
3) Next, the grindstone 2 is offset to the left in the Y direction by a distance of 2R-W, which is obtained by subtracting the width W of the groove to be machined from the cup-shaped grindstone outer diameter 2R, and machine the outside of the groove β (FIG. 4 (c)). )).
4) Finally, the cup-shaped grindstone 2 is moved to the left in the Y direction by the distance P to process the inside of the groove α (FIG. 4D).
[0015]
The above embodiment is a processing example corresponding to the pressing member of the mold for the MT connector, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the constituent members of the optical component, for example, the optical component such as the fiber array shown in FIG. It can be applied to the processing of the optical fiber fixing member 12. In FIG. 7, 13 is a V-groove substrate, and 14 is an optical fiber.
[0016]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the linear groove | channel with a good surface state can be processed with good workability, and since the planar processing and the groove | channel processing can be performed by one set, the outstanding effect that processing precision improves. There is. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is particularly effective for precisely processing a fiber pressing member of an optical component having a groove for holding an optical fiber, a pressing die member of an optical connector molding die, and the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of one embodiment of a groove processing method according to the present invention.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory views illustrating the principle of a groove processing method according to the present invention.
FIGS. 3A to 3D are explanatory views of the processing steps of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 4A to 4D are explanatory views of other processing steps of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an optical connector molding die.
FIGS. 6A to 6C are diagrams illustrating a method of processing a pressing die member of the optical connector molding die.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an optical component.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Processing machine spindle 2 Cup-shaped grindstone 3 Workpiece 4 Reversing table α, β Groove

Claims (3)

The outer diameter is sufficiently large with respect to the width of the groove to be processed on the workpiece, and the width is smaller than the width of the groove using a cup-type grindstone having an annular opening,
While forming an arc-shaped groove with a cup-shaped grindstone at a predetermined position on the workpiece, the workpiece and the workpiece are relatively moved so as to be parallel to the groove for processing the cup-shaped grindstone. Forming a first side wall by straightening the side wall;
Next, the workpiece and the cup-shaped grindstone are relatively moved so that the outer surface of the cup-shaped grindstone contacts the other side wall of the groove to be processed, and the inner surface of the cup-shaped grindstone does not contact the first side wall. Forming a second side wall in the same manner as the first side wall, and forming a linear groove formed by the first and second side walls. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first side wall is formed, and then the workpiece is rotated by 180 [deg.] In the processing plane to form the second side wall. The first side wall is formed, and then, the workpiece is perpendicular to the groove by a distance obtained by subtracting the groove width to be machined from the outer diameter of the cup-shaped grindstone, and relatively to the center axis direction of the cup-shaped grindstone. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the groove is moved to form a second side wall.

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