JP3686758B2 - Optical connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical connector for connecting optical fibers to each other or connecting an optical fiber and another optical device in an optical fiber communication system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An optical connector for connecting optical fibers is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-159870.
A typical example of a conventional optical connector is shown in FIG. The optical connector includes an adapter 1 and an optical plug 2, and the optical plug 2 includes a ferrule 3 and a ferrule holder 4.
The optical fiber 5 is fixed to the ferrule 3 with an adhesive, and the end surface of the ferrule 3 is polished to a convex spherical surface. A groove 7 for locking the hook 6 of the adapter 1 is provided at the center of the ferrule holder 4.
The ferrule 3 is inserted into the alignment sleeve 8 of the adapter 1, and the ferrule 9 of another optical plug is inserted from the opposite side of the alignment sleeve 8. The left optical plug ferrule 3 and the right optical plug ferrule 9 are aligned by an alignment sleeve 8.
[0003]
An elastic locking hook 6 that fits into the groove 7 of the ferrule 3 is arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the alignment sleeve 8 so that the ferrule 3 does not come out of the alignment sleeve 8.
In order to stabilize the connection of the optical connector, it is necessary to generate a contact pressure on the joint surface between the ferrules. Therefore, a spring 10 is provided outside the right optical plug so that a predetermined contact pressure is generated on the joint surface between the ferrules so that a stable connection is achieved.
The spring 10 is supported by a spring receiving ring 11, and the spring receiving ring 11 is snap-fitted to a plug frame 12 fitted to the adapter body.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The problem with the conventional optical connector shown in FIG. 4 is that not only the ferrule 9 but also the spring 10 and the spring receiving ring 11 must be placed in advance on the right optical fiber. It means that workability becomes worse.
Further, since the spring 10 is disposed outside one optical plug in order to generate the contact pressure, and the spring receiving ring 11 is used to support this spring, there is a problem that the number of parts increases.
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector that is easy to assemble and excellent in productivity.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector that is simple in structure, has a small number of parts, and can be manufactured at low cost.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The optical connector of the present invention includes a cylindrical adapter case, a pair of optical plugs, a pair of movable locking members mounted in the adapter case so as to be axially slidable, and the pair of movable locking members disposed in the adapter case. A sleeve is provided for aligning the optical plugs.
Each movable locking member includes a hook that protrudes axially outward from the adapter case to engage with the locking portion of the optical plug. These movable locking members are urged in the direction in which the hooks are attracted to each other by one common coil spring disposed inside the adapter case.
[0006]
In use, when the optical plug is inserted into the adapter case, the hooks of the movable locking members are locked to the locking portions of the respective optical plugs, and the hooks of the two movable locking members are attracted to each other by the action of the coil spring. Be energized by. Thereby, a predetermined contact pressure is generated on the joint surface of the ferrule of the optical plug.
[0007]
In the optical connector of the present invention, since the coil spring is disposed inside the adapter case, it is not necessary to attach the coil spring and its spring receiving ring to the optical fiber. It is only necessary to attach an optical plug to the optical fiber. Therefore, the assembly workability of the optical plug is improved.
Further, since the number of parts is reduced as compared with the optical connector of the prior art, it can be manufactured at a lower cost.
[0008]
In a preferred embodiment, each movable locking member includes a spring receiver at the end opposite to the hook, and the spring receiver of each movable locking member is in the vicinity of the end of the adapter case opposite to the hook. The coil spring is composed of a compression coil spring supported at one end by a spring receiver of one movable locking member and supported at the other end by a spring receiver of the other movable locking member.
[0009]
In a further preferred embodiment, each movable locking member comprises an elongate coupling member extending parallel to the connector axis to couple the hook and the spring receiver, the coupling members of the two movable locking members being the connector axis. The two movable locking members are mounted in the adapter case so as to be offset from each other.
In this way, if the two movable locking members are arranged in a mutually different structure, the structure of the optical connector can be made compact.
[0010]
In the preferred embodiment, the sleeve is placed floating inside the adapter case so that the ferrules of the optical plug are properly aligned.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
1 to 3, the optical connector 20 includes a pair of optical plugs 22 and an adapter 24. The two optical plugs 22 have the same structure.
Each optical plug 22 includes a ferrule 26 made of zirconia ceramic and a ferrule holder 28 made of stainless steel or the like. The optical fiber 30 passes through the ferrule 26 and the ferrule holder 28, and is fixed to them by adhesion.
The end surface of the ferrule 26 is polished to a convex spherical surface. The body portion of the ferrule holder 28 is provided with a locking groove 32 for engaging a hook described later.
[0012]
The adapter 24 includes a cylindrical adapter case 34, two movable locking members 36 that are slidably mounted in the adapter case 34 in the axial direction, a compression coil spring 38, and an alignment sleeve 40. Has been.
[0013]
The adapter case 34 is formed of resin or the like, and can be formed, for example, by ultrasonically welding a half that is divided in half. The adapter case 34 has a generally square inner cross-sectional profile to accept the movable locking member 36. The adapter case 34 has an arbitrary outer shape, and can be, for example, a prismatic shape or a cylindrical shape. Although not shown, the adapter case 34 is provided with a flange portion for fixing to the substrate or the like.
[0014]
As can be seen from FIG. 3, each movable locking member 36 has the same structure and is manufactured by, for example, pressing a stainless steel plate.
Referring to FIG. 3, each movable locking member 36 includes a pair of hooks 42 that are diametrically opposed, a base 46 that is perpendicular to the axis 44 of the optical connector 20, and an elongated shape that connects the hook 42 and the base 46. Two connecting members 48 are provided. The base 46 also functions as a spring receiver for the compression coil spring 38.
The base 46 is provided with a hole 50 larger than the outer diameter of the ferrule 26 and smaller than the outer diameter of the alignment sleeve 40 so that the ferrule 26 can be inserted.
[0015]
The connecting member 48 of each movable locking member 36 is offset laterally with respect to the central surface 52 passing through the connector axis 44 and has a width that is less than or equal to half the width of the base 46. Therefore, when the two movable locking members 36 are aligned along the axis 44, the two movable locking members 36 are misplaced and fit into the adapter case 34 in a compact manner.
A protrusion 54 is formed on the base 46 of the movable locking member 36, and a longitudinal guide groove 56 in which these protrusions 54 can be engaged is formed on the inner surface of the adapter case 34. When the projection 54 slides in the guide groove 56, the movable locking member 36 is positioned when the movable locking member 36 moves in the axial direction.
[0016]
A compression coil spring 38 is placed inside the movable locking member 36 combined in the wrong state, and an alignment sleeve 40 is placed inside the compression coil spring 38. The sleeve 40 has an axial slit and is accommodated in a floating state inside the compression coil spring 38. The compression coil spring 38 is disposed in a compressed state between the inner side surface of the base 46 of one movable locking member 36 and the inner side surface of the base 46 of the other movable locking member 36. As shown in FIG. 1, when no insert the plug 22, the base portion of the movable locking member 36 projection 54 of the base portion 46 of the movable locking member 36 of each are two opposing until it hits the end of the guide groove 56 46 is expanded by a compression coil spring 38. The distance between the hooks 42 at this time is shorter than the distance between the locking grooves 32 when the ferrules are butted against each other.
[0017]
Next, how the optical connector 20 is used will be described. When the ferrule 26 of the optical plug 22 is inserted into the alignment sleeve 40 through the hole 50 of the movable locking member 36, the large-diameter ferrule holder 28 pushes the hook 42 of the movable locking member 36. When the optical plug 22 is further pushed in, the ferrule holder 28 hits the base 46 of the movable locking member 36 and stops. Similarly, when the optical plug 22 is inserted from the opposite side, the ferrule 26 of the optical plug 22 hits the end face of the ferrule 26 of the optical plug 22 previously inserted. At this time, since the distance between the hooks 42 of the movable locking member 36 is shorter than the distance between the locking grooves 32 of the optical plug 22, the hook 42 of the movable locking member 36 can lock the optical plug 22 inserted later. It does not fit into the groove 32.
[0018]
However, when the optical plug 22 inserted later is further pushed, the optical plug 22 inserted first is pushed to the outside of the adapter 24 and moves. As a result, the distance between the hooks 42 of the movable locking member 36 increases, and when the distance between the locking grooves 32 of the optical plug 22 becomes larger, the hooks 42 fit into the locking grooves 32.
When the optical plug 22 is further pushed in, the base 46 of the movable locking member 36 hits the alignment sleeve 40 and cannot be inserted any more.
When the insertion of the optical plug 22 is stopped in this state, the optical connector is in the state shown in FIG. At this time, the base portions 46 of the two movable locking members 36 in the misplaced state are pushed outward by the action of the compression coil spring 38, so that the hook 42 of the movable locking member 36 is attracted toward the adapter 24. Thereby, a contact pressure is generated on the joint surfaces of the ferrules 26, and the optical fiber can be maintained in a stable connection state.
When removing the optical plug 22 from the adapter 24, the hook 42 of the movable locking member 36 is spread by an appropriate jig (not shown), and the optical plug 22 is pulled out.
[0019]
Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to them, and various modifications and changes can be made. For example, it is possible to make the connecting member 48 of the movable locking member 36 more than half of the length from the center and rotate the movable locking members 36 to face each other and rotate 90 degrees to combine them.
In addition, by making the locking part of the optical plug an even number of polygons and making the hooks parallel, the optical plug is rotated by a half of the polygon and connected at the position where the characteristics are best. Can do.
In addition, by changing the top and bottom surfaces of the locking portion of the optical plug and the hook of the movable locking member and changing the top and bottom shapes, it can be connected only in one direction, and the characteristics when repeatedly connected can be stabilized. it can.
[0020]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is only necessary to attach an optical plug to the optical fiber, and it is not necessary to previously attach a coil spring or a spring receiving ring to the optical fiber as in the prior art, so that the assembly workability of the optical plug is improved. . Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the optical connector can be reduced.
Further, since the number of parts is reduced as compared with the optical connector of the prior art, it can be manufactured at a lower cost.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of an optical connector of the present invention, showing a state before connection.
FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the optical connector of the present invention, showing a state after connection.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a movable locking member of the optical connector shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional optical connector.
[Explanation of symbols]
20: optical connector 22: optical plug 24: adapter 30: optical fiber 32: locking portion 34: adapter case 36: movable locking member 38: compression coil spring 40: alignment sleeve 42: hook 46: movable locking member Spring support (base)
48: Connecting member of movable locking member

Claims (4)

An optical connector for connecting optical fibers:
A pair of optical plugs having a locking portion on the outer periphery and carrying an optical fiber;
A cylindrical adapter case capable of at least partially receiving the pair of optical plugs;
A pair of movable locking members, which are slidably mounted in the adapter case in the axial direction and respectively have hooks protruding outward in the axial direction from the adapter case to engage with the locking portions of the respective optical plugs,
One common coil spring disposed inside the adapter case and biasing the movable locking member in a direction in which the hooks of the pair of movable locking members are attracted to each other;
A sleeve arranged coaxially in the center of the adapter case for aligning the pair of optical plugs;
And an optical connector. Each movable locking member is provided with a spring receiver at the end opposite to the hook, and the spring receiver of each movable locking member is disposed in the vicinity of the end of the adapter case opposite to the hook. 2. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the spring comprises a compression coil spring supported at one end by a spring receiver of one movable locking member and at the other end by a spring receiver of the other movable locking member. Each movable locking member comprises an elongate connecting member extending parallel to the connector axis to connect the hook and spring receiver, the connecting members of the two movable locking members being relative to each other with respect to a central plane passing through the connector axis. 3. The optical connector according to claim 2, wherein the optical connector is offset laterally and the two movable locking members are mounted in the adapter case so as to be misplaced with each other. 4. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve is disposed in a floating state inside the adapter case.

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