JP3678691B2 - Manufacturing method of optical communication connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an optical communication connector used for optical communication using an optical fiber.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, optical fibers have been used to send large amounts of data with low loss. In the use of this optical fiber, optical communication connectors are provided at both ends of the optical fiber. However, the optical communication connector is provided at a member that supports the end of the optical fiber and at the end of the optical fiber. A light receiving element that converts the optical signal into an electrical signal and / or a light emitting element that converts the electrical signal into an optical signal.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Conventionally, these wirings are manually or mechanically wired. However, when the number of signal lines increases, there is a problem that the wiring becomes complicated and troublesome. Further, along with the miniaturization of parts, it has been necessary to assemble an optical communication connector through a more complicated process.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a connector for optical communication with high manufacturing cost and low cost.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the method for manufacturing an optical communication connector according to the first invention that meets the above-mentioned object, a thin plate material having conductivity, a fiber glass mounting portion composed of a bundle of many optical fibers, and a base portion connected to the mounting portion, A lead frame in which the tip part becomes a flat pad part, and a lead group in which the respective inclined lead parts are arranged in parallel to the optical fiber, and a long hole on both sides of the mounting part, in which the guide pipe is disposed. And the resin sealing which mounts the fiber glass on the mounting portion of the lead frame and positions the guide pipe in the elongated hole so that the pad portion is exposed. A step of cutting the resin-encapsulated intermediate product at a base position of each inclined lead portion at right angles to the optical fiber, and sharpening a cut end surface of the intermediate product. A polishing step of, and a plating step of performing plating on the pad portion exposed to the lower side of the end surface and intermediate products of the inclined lead portion exposed from the cut end face.
[0005]
The optical communication connector manufacturing method according to the second invention is the optical communication connector manufacturing method according to the first invention, wherein after the plating step, a photoelectric conversion element is disposed on the cut end face, There is an element attachment step of joining the connection terminal of the photoelectric conversion element to the plated end face of the inclined lead portion.
An optical communication connector manufacturing method according to a third invention is the optical communication connector manufacturing method according to the second invention, wherein the connection terminals of the photoelectric conversion elements are outside the resin surrounding the photoelectric conversion elements. And the connection terminal is electrically connected to the inclined lead portion.
The optical communication connector manufacturing method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the optical communication connector manufacturing method according to the first to third aspects of the present invention, wherein the mounting portion is recessed from the surface of the lead frame. As a result, the fiberglass can be positioned.
An optical communication connector manufacturing method according to a fifth invention is the optical communication connector manufacturing method according to the first to fourth inventions, wherein the lead group is centered on a support frame orthogonal to the optical fiber. Is provided.
The optical communication connector manufacturing method according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the optical communication connector manufacturing method according to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, in the resin sealing step, the guide pipe is the lead frame. It is positioned separately.
And the manufacturing method of the connector for optical communication which concerns on 7th invention is a manufacturing method of the connector for optical communication which concerns on 1st-6th invention, In the said lead frame, the said pad part and the said inclination lead following this A ground lead part and a ground terminal part surrounding the part are provided.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings for understanding of the present invention.
Here, FIGS. 1A to 1J are schematic explanatory views showing manufacturing steps of a method for manufacturing a connector for optical communication according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is for optical communication manufactured by the method. FIGS. 3A and 3B are side views and plan views of a pressed lead frame, and FIGS. 4A and 4B are pressed. FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are a plan view of a state in which fiber glass is placed on the lead frame and a plan view of a state in which a guide pipe is further arranged, respectively. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an installation state of a guide pipe during resin sealing, FIGS. 7A and 7B are a side view and a plan view showing a resin sealing process, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are cutting processes. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the polishing process, and FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the plating process. 12 shows explanatory views of an element mounting step, FIG. 13 is a side view of an optical communication connector in the state attached to the circuit board.
[0007]
First, the optical communication connector 10 to be manufactured will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 12, and 13. The optical communication connector 10 is used, for example, by being attached to a circuit board 11, and includes a plurality of pad portions 12 and ground terminal portions 13 a that are electrically joined to connection terminals of the circuit board 11 by soldering or the like. Has on the back side.
As shown in FIGS. 1I and 1J, the optical fiber connector 13 connected in pairs to the optical communication connector 10 has guide pins 14 and 15 which are paired on the left and right, and the optical communication connector. 10 includes guide pipes 16 and 17 that form guide holes into which the guide pins 14 and 15 are inserted. A cut end surface 18 a of the optical fiber 18 is exposed at the end of the optical fiber connector 13, and this is in close contact with the one light receiving and projecting surface 20 of the fiber glass 19 of the optical communication connector 10. A plurality of photoelectric conversion elements 22 including a light receiving element and a light projecting element are attached to the light receiving / projecting surface 21 on the other side of the fiber glass 19, and connection terminals of the photoelectric conversion elements 22 are arranged in the optical communication connector 10. A plurality of inclined lead portions 24 and a ground lead portion 13b (see FIG. 3) adjacent thereto are connected to the pad portion 12 and the ground terminal portion 13a at the bottom. The inclined lead portion 24, the ground lead portion 13b, the fiber glass 19 disposed at a predetermined position, and the pair of guide pipes 16 and 17 are sealed with a sealing resin 25, respectively.
[0008]
Next, a method for manufacturing the optical communication connector 10 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1 (A), FIG. 3 (A), (B), FIG. 4 (A), (B), the copper or copper alloy having a thickness of about 0.06 to 0.12 mm is used. A thin plate member 27 having a predetermined size is prepared, and the mounting portion 28 of the fiber glass 19 is determined on the thin plate member 27. A narrow support frame 35 that crosses the vertically long mounting portion 28 and a plurality of slopes in which the base portions are connected to the front and rear of each support frame 35 and the front portion is a flat pad portion 12. The guide pipes 16 and 17 are provided on both sides of the lead portion 24, the ground lead portion 13b surrounding the plurality of inclined lead portions 24 and the pad portion 12 at the tip thereof with a gap, and the mounting portion 28. The attachment long holes 30 and 31 are formed by etching (or pressing).
[0009]
The mounting portion 28 is formed by providing a recess 32 of about 0.1 to 0.5 mm from the surface of the thin plate material 27 (that is, the material of the lead frame 38) by a first press process. A slope 33 is formed around the recess 32. Next, the inclined lead portion 24 and the pad portion 12 at the tip thereof in the recess 32 and the ground lead portion 13b and the ground terminal portion 13a at the tip thereof are bent. Further, the ground terminal portion 13a is divided into left and right sides on the light receiving side and the light projecting side, and the terminal lead portion 13b connected thereto is also divided. Each inclined lead portion 24 and the ground lead portion 13b are parallel to the optical fiber of the fiber glass 19, respectively.
As described above, in this embodiment, the support frame 35 is formed so as to cross the recess 32 from side to side, that is, orthogonally to the fiber glass 19, and the support frame 35 is set at the center, and the front and rear sides thereof are inclined. A lead group 34 including a lead portion 24 and a ground lead portion 13b is formed. Simultaneously with the second pressing, the base of each lead piece of the lead group 34 is bent obliquely, and the tip is flattened to form the pad portion 12 and the ground terminal portion 13a. The lead group 34 having the pad portion 12 and the ground terminal portion 13a is completed (the lead frame processing step).
[0010]
In this embodiment, the long holes 30 and 31 and the lead group 34 are formed by etching, but may be performed by pressing.
In addition, the base of each inclined lead portion 24 constituting the lead group 34 is provided with a step 37 on the support frame 35 and pushed down from the mounting portion 28, so that the fiber glass 19 is centered on the mounting portion 28. Is surely supported by. Note that the protruding step 37 is not shown in FIG.
[0011]
Next, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 5A, the fiber glass 19 is placed on the mounting portion 28 of the lead frame 38 that has been pressed. The fiber glass 19 is formed of a bundle of a large number of optical fibers and is formed in a rectangular cross section, and its planar dimension is the same as the width of the mounting portion 28.
Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 1C and 5B, the guide pipes 16 and 17 are placed in the left and right elongated holes 30 and 31, respectively. The widths of the long holes 30 and 31 are larger than the diameters of the guide pipes 16 and 17, but if the widths of the long holes 30 and 31 and the diameters of the guide pipes 16 and 17 are varied, the lead frame 38. As a result, the guide pipes 16 and 17 have a large variation in the left and right positions. Therefore, when these are sealed with resin, as shown in FIG. 6, positioning with V grooves for supporting the guide pipes 16 and 17 integrally (or separately) with the lower mold (lower mold 41). Parts 39 and 40 are provided, and both ends of the guide pipes 16 and 17 are supported by positioning parts 39 and 40 provided on the lower die 41. In addition, 41a shows the pot which press-fits resin, 41b shows a part of runner which is the channel | path of sealing resin.
Further, an air vent 44 serving as an air passage in the mold is provided in the V grooves of the positioning portions 39 and 40 on the other side of the runner when the resin is sealed.
[0012]
Resin sealing is performed in a state where the lead frame 38, the fiber glass 19, and the guide pipes 16 and 17 are placed in the mold. In this case, there is a possibility that the guide pipes 16 and 17 may float in the sealing resin 25. Therefore, on both sides of the guide pipes 16 and 17, that is, directly above the positioning portions 39 and 40, a pin with a spring that can be moved up and down provided in an upper mold (not shown), or a pin fixed to the upper mold Is holding down. In this embodiment, the positions of the pins for preventing the guide pipes 16 and 17 from being lifted are both ends of the guide pipes 16 and 17. However, the guide pipes 16 and 17 may be located at the center, and may be one or more. But you can. Further, the pin may be omitted and the guide pipe may be sandwiched between the upper mold and the lower mold and fixed.
When resin sealing is performed in this state, the result is as shown in FIGS. 1D, 7A, and 7B. In this case, the pad portion 12 and the ground terminal portion 13 a provided at the front portion of each inclined lead portion 24 are not sealed with resin and are exposed from the bottom of the sealing resin 25. Further, both end portions in the front-rear direction of the guide pipes 16 and 17 and the lead frame 38 are exposed from the sealing resin 25 (the resin sealing step).
[0013]
The intermediate product 48 sealed with resin is cut sequentially or simultaneously at positions a to g orthogonal to the optical fiber as shown in FIGS. Cutting positions a and g are end cuttings, cutting positions b, d and f are center positions of the support frame 35, and cutting positions c and e are intermediate positions between adjacent support frames 35, that is, each inclined lead portion. 24 base positions. Note that the blade of the cutter to be cut is the same as or larger than the width of the support frame 35. As a result, the inclined lead portions 24 to which the support frame 35 is connected are electrically insulated from each other. This state is shown in FIG. 9, and the intermediate product 49 of a plurality of optical communication connectors having the same shape is manufactured (the cutting process). In FIG. 9 (the same applies to FIGS. 11 to 13 below), the guide pipes 16 and 17 on both sides are displayed so as to be above the actual position. The present invention is intended to manufacture an intermediate product of a plurality of optical communication connectors, that is, an optical communication connector component element at the same time with a single resin sealing. It is also possible to manufacture the communication connector component element in the same process as described above.
[0014]
Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 (F) and 10, the cut end surface 50 of the intermediate product 49 is polished. Thereby, the cutter scratches on the cut end face 50 are removed, and the smooth end face of the fiber glass 19 is exposed. Of course, the cut surface of the cut end face 50 can be adjusted in relation to the processing conditions and processing time at the time of cutting, and in some cases, the following polishing step can be omitted.
Further, when the pad portion 12 and the ground terminal portion 13a exposed from the bottom of the intermediate product 49 are dirty, the polishing may be performed so that the metal of the pad portion 12 is completely exposed (the polishing is described above). Process).
And as shown in FIG.1 (G) and FIG. 11, in order to improve brazing performance to the end surface of the inclination lead part 24 exposed from the cut | disconnected end surface 50, the pad part 12, and the ground terminal part 13a, Precious metal (for example, gold, nickel) plating is performed. As a result, the end surface of the inclined lead portion 24 becomes the connection terminal 51 (the plating process).
[0015]
Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 1 (H) and 12, flip bumps are formed by attaching a gold bump or the like to each connection terminal of the photoelectric conversion element 22 and using a thermal welding tape such as ultrasonic waves or NCF (Non-Conductive-Film). Each connection terminal is electrically joined to the connection terminal 51 by connection or the like, and the manufacture of the optical communication connector 10 is completed. Each connection terminal of the photoelectric conversion element 22 is disposed (exposed) outside a resin (sealing resin) surrounding the photoelectric conversion element 22. The photoelectric conversion element 22 has a plurality of light receiving elements and / or light projecting elements arranged side by side on the light projecting / receiving surface 53, and can transmit and receive an optical signal to the optical fiber 18 through the fiber glass 19 (the element is described above). Installation process).
In this drawing, although there is a gap between the photoelectric conversion element 22 and the fiber glass 19, it is preferable that the photoelectric conversion element 22 and the fiber glass 19 are closely attached and fixed by an adhesive, metal bonding, or the like. A transparent curable resin is used in the gap between the photoelectric conversion element 22 and the fiber glass 19 in order to prevent dust and the like from being mixed into the gap between the photoelectric conversion element 22 and the connection strength between the photoelectric conversion element 22 and the fiber glass 19. It may be injected.
When the optical communication connector 10 thus manufactured is attached to the circuit board 11, the pad portion 12 is brazed to the connection terminal of the circuit board 11 as shown in FIG. 13.
[0016]
In the embodiment described above, the number of inclined lead portions is twelve, but may be one or other plural.
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, the method for manufacturing an optical communication connector according to claims 1 to 7 uses a lead frame that has been subjected to a predetermined processing treatment, and a fiber glass and a guide pipe are placed on the resin frame. Since it is stopped, it is relatively easy to manufacture and a uniform product can be provided.
In particular, in the method for manufacturing an optical communication connector according to claim 4, since the mounting portion is recessed from the surface of the lead frame, positioning of the fiber glass is facilitated.
6. The method of manufacturing an optical communication connector according to claim 5, wherein the lead group is provided on both sides of the support frame orthogonal to the optical fiber, so that at least two products are manufactured at a relatively short interval. it can.
In the optical communication connector manufacturing method according to claim 6, since the guide pipe is positioned separately from the lead frame in the resin sealing step, the position of the guide pipe is accurately determined. A highly accurate product.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIGS. 1A to 1J are schematic explanatory views showing manufacturing steps of a method for manufacturing an optical communication connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an optical communication connector manufactured by the same method before a photoelectric conversion element is attached.
3A and 3B are a side view and a plan view of a lead frame that has been etched and pressed, respectively.
4A and 4B are a front view and a partially enlarged side view of a pressed lead frame, respectively.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are a plan view of a state in which fiber glass is placed on a lead frame and a plan view of a state in which a guide pipe is further arranged.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an installed state of a guide pipe during resin sealing.
7A and 7B are a side view and a plan view showing a resin sealing step, respectively.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a cutting process.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a cutting process.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a polishing process.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a plating process.
FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of an element attachment process.
FIG. 13 is a side view of the optical communication connector attached to a circuit board.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10: Connector for optical communication, 11: Circuit board, 12: Pad part, 13: Optical fiber connector, 13a: Grounding terminal part, 13b: Grounding lead part, 14, 15: Guide pin, 16, 17: Pipe for guide, 18 : Optical fiber, 18a: cut end face, 19: fiber glass, 20, 21: light receiving surface, 22: photoelectric conversion element, 24: inclined lead portion, 25: sealing resin, 27: thin plate material, 28: mounting portion, 30, 31: long hole, 32: depression, 33: slope, 34: lead group, 35: support frame, 37: step, 38: lead frame, 39, 40: positioning part, 41: lower mold, 41a: pot, 41b: part of liner, 44: air vent, 48, 49: intermediate product, 50: cut end surface, 51: connection terminal, 53: light emitting / receiving surface

Claims (7)

A fiber glass mounting portion composed of a bundle of a number of optical fibers and a thin plate material having conductivity, and a base portion connected to the mounting portion, and a tip portion being a flat pad portion, and each inclined lead portion to the optical fiber. Lead groups arranged in parallel, and a process for processing a lead frame on both sides of the mounting portion to form a long hole for arranging a guide pipe,
A resin sealing step of mounting the fiber glass on the mounting portion of the lead frame, positioning the guide pipe in the elongated hole, and sealing the resin so that the pad portion is exposed;
A cutting step of cutting the resin-sealed intermediate product perpendicularly to the optical fiber at the base position of each inclined lead portion;
A polishing step of polishing the cut end surface of the intermediate product;
A method for manufacturing an optical communication connector, comprising: a plating step of plating the end surface of the inclined lead portion exposed from the cut end surface and the pad portion exposed under the intermediate product. 2. The optical communication connector manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein after the plating step, a photoelectric conversion element is disposed on the cut end face, and a connection terminal of the photoelectric conversion element is bonded to the plated end face of the inclined lead portion. A method for manufacturing an optical communication connector, comprising an element attaching step. 3. The method for manufacturing an optical communication connector according to claim 2, wherein the connection terminal of the photoelectric conversion element is disposed outside a resin surrounding the periphery of the photoelectric conversion element, and the connection terminal is electrically connected to the inclined lead portion. A method for manufacturing an optical communication connector, comprising: connecting. The method for manufacturing an optical communication connector according to claim 1, wherein the mounting portion is recessed from a surface of the lead frame. 5. The optical communication connector manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the lead group is provided on both sides of a support frame orthogonal to the optical fiber at the center. A method for manufacturing a communication connector. 6. The optical communication connector manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein, in the resin sealing step, the guide pipe is positioned separately from the lead frame. A method for manufacturing a communication connector. 7. The method of manufacturing an optical communication connector according to claim 1, wherein the lead frame is provided with a ground lead portion and a ground terminal portion surrounding the pad portion and the inclined lead portion. A method for manufacturing an optical communication connector.

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