JP4084230B2 - Optical connector plug polishing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical connector plug polishing apparatus used for polishing the tip of a ferrule in an optical connector plug into an obliquely convex spherical surface.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 8 shows an optical connector plug 1 used for optical communication. A ferrule 2 in which the tip of an optical fiber is inserted in the axial direction, and an outer side of the ferrule 2 for attaching the ferrule 2 to a device such as an optical connector adapter. And a plug rod 3 attached to the. In this optical connector plug, optical fibers are connected by abutting the tips of two ferrules 2 with each other. In such an optical fiber connection, in order to enable direct contact of the optical fiber to be connected and to suppress connection loss and reflection, polishing is performed so that the tip of the ferrule 2 becomes an oblique convex spherical surface 2a. ing.
[0003]
In the conventional polishing apparatus for this purpose, an oblique insertion hole is formed in the manual board, and an optical connector plug is inserted into the insertion hole by the holding portion and held obliquely. In this state, the manual board is opposed to the fixed board. By doing so, the manual board is made to face the polishing board on the fixed board side. Then, by manually rotating the manual board with respect to the fixed board, the tip of the ferrule slides while being obliquely in contact with the polishing plate, so that the tip of the ferrule can be polished into a convex spherical surface. In this case, the optical connector plug is ground in advance so that the tip of the ferrule has an oblique conical shape, and is used for polishing the convex spherical surface after the grinding (see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-155711 (pages 2 to 3, FIGS. 1 to 7)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional polishing apparatus, since it is necessary to grind the tip of the ferrule into an oblique conical shape in advance before polishing the convex spherical surface, the number of steps is large and processing takes time.
[0006]
In addition, it is difficult to make the optical connector plug inserted into the insertion hole into a stable fixed state, and the optical connector plug is likely to be displaced or rotated during the polishing process. It has a problem that it cannot be processed uniformly.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in consideration of such conventional problems, and can directly process a convex spherical surface on the tip of the ferrule, and can project at a highly accurate angle without any variation. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector plug polishing apparatus capable of processing a spherical surface.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, the polishing apparatus for an optical connector plug according to the first aspect of the present invention is such that a guide protrusion having an inclined upper surface is disposed on the upper surface and is substantially the same as a surface orthogonal to the inclined surface. A V-groove inclined at an angle is formed on the side end face, and is inserted in a state where an optical connector plug is engaged with a jig plate disposed so as to face a polishing plate for polishing the ferrule. A plug insertion hole that is inserted into the groove penetrates in the thickness direction, and a guide groove that is movably attached to the guide protrusion in contact with the inclined surface of the guide protrusion is formed on the lower surface, and the inner surface of the plug insertion hole A laterally moving plate having a locking projection that engages with a plurality of concave grooves provided on the flange of the plug, and a ferrule that is detachably attached to a side end surface of the jig plate and inserted into the V groove. Between jig plate A ferrule holding plate for clamping, the plug insertion hole of the horizontal moving plate, the groove and the insertion hole inner surface of the plug flange locking projection and inserts the optical connector plug so as to engage the plug tip The ferrule can be inserted into the center of the V groove of the jig plate .
[0009]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the optical connector plug and the plug insertion hole are fixed in an engaged state by inserting the optical connector plug into the plug insertion hole of the lateral movement plate, the optical connector plug is displaced. And no rotational deviation. The laterally moving plate is fixed in contact with the inclined surface of the guide ridge of the jig plate, and a V-groove having substantially the same angle as the surface orthogonal to the inclined surface of the guide ridge is formed. Since the ferrule of the optical connector plug is inserted into the ferrule, the ferrule can always be held at a constant inclination angle. As a result, the tip of the ferrule is stabilized, so that the convex spherical surface with a highly accurate angle can be uniformly polished. In addition, since the convex spherical surface can be directly processed with respect to the ferrule, it is not necessary to previously process it into an oblique conical shape, and processing in one process becomes possible.
[0010]
A second aspect of the present invention is the optical connector plug polishing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the jig plate is formed into a planar polygon, and the guide protrusion and the ferrule presser plate correspond to each side. It is characterized by being arranged.
[0011]
In the invention of claim 2, the jig plate is formed into a planar polygon, and the guide protrusion and the ferrule presser plate are arranged corresponding to each side of the planar polygon. The connector plug can be held. As a result, it is possible to simultaneously polish a plurality of optical connector plugs and increase the processing capacity.
[0012]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the optical connector plug polishing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the plug insertion hole is formed with an engaging projection engaging with the optical connector plug on the inner surface. .
[0013]
By engaging the locking projection with the optical connector plug in this way, the optical connector plug can be securely fixed, so that the optical connector plug does not shift or rotate and protrudes from the ferrule tip. A spherical surface can be processed with high accuracy.
[0014]
A fourth aspect of the present invention is the optical connector plug polishing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the ferrule presser plate is attached to a side end surface of the jig plate from a direction along the plate thickness.
[0015]
By attaching the ferrule presser plate to the jig plate from the direction along the plate thickness of the jig plate in this way, the ferrule presser plate does not protrude or jump out from the plate thickness surface of the jig plate. Since it does not interfere with other members, the ferrule can be securely clamped.
[0016]
A fifth aspect of the present invention is the optical connector plug polishing apparatus according to the first or fourth aspect, wherein the side end surface of the jig plate is inclined at substantially the same angle as the inclination of the V-groove, and the ferrule presser The sandwiching surface of the plate is inclined in the opposite direction.
[0017]
In the invention of claim 5, since the ferrule retainer plate is in close contact with the side end surface of the jig plate by inclining the side end surface of the jig plate and the holding surface of the ferrule retainer plate in the opposite direction, the optical connector plug Can be securely fixed.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 to 7 show a polishing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an overall plan view, FIGS. 2 and 3 are side views, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view, and FIG. AA line sectional view, FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged perspective view.
[0019]
The polishing apparatus 5 of this embodiment includes a jig plate 6, a laterally moving plate 7, and a ferrule presser plate 8, and is entirely made of a metal such as SUS or aluminum alloy.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 6, the jig plate 6 is fixedly disposed above the polishing plate 9, and the optical connector plug 1 fixedly held on the jig plate 6 by the swinging polishing plate 9. The tip is polished. On the upper surface of the substantially central portion of the jig plate 6, a support piece 6a having a notch 6b formed on the opposite side by 180 degrees is fixed with a screw (see FIGS. 1 and 5). When a support member (not shown) is engaged and fixed to both notches 6b of the support piece 6a, the jig plate 6 is arranged in a fixed state at a predetermined position.
[0021]
The jig plate 6 is formed in a regular hexagon when viewed from above, and a guide protrusion 10 is fixed to the upper surface thereof. The guide ridges 10 are attached so as to be positioned in the peripheral portion of the jig plate 6 and are arranged so as to correspond to the respective sides of the regular hexagon. Each guide protrusion 10 has a horizontally long shape extending along each side of a regular hexagon and is formed in a substantially wedge shape when viewed from the side, and the lower surface thereof is brought into contact with the jig plate 6. Thus, the upper surface 10a becomes an inclined surface inclined with respect to the jig plate 6 (see FIG. 6). The guide protrusion 10 is fixed to the jig plate 6 by screwing the fixing screw 11 from the bottom surface side of the jig plate 6.
[0022]
V-grooves 12 are formed on the side end surfaces 14 of the jig plate 6. The V-groove 12 is formed so as to correspond to a plug insertion hole 13 of the laterally moving plate 7 to be described later. In this embodiment, two V grooves 12 are provided on each side (each guide protrusion 10) of the jig plate 6. Since the two laterally moving plates 7 are arranged, the V-groove 12 is formed at two locations with respect to each side end face 14. The ferrule 2 is fixed by inserting the ferrule 2 on the distal end side of the optical connector plug 1 into each V groove 12. The groove wall of the V-shaped groove 12 is inclined at substantially the same angle as the surface orthogonal to the upper surface 10a of the guide protrusion 10 that is an inclined surface. Each side end face 14 of the jig plate 6 in which the V-groove 12 is formed is also formed to be an inclined surface.
[0023]
The lateral movement plate 7 is attached to the guide protrusion 10 on the upper surface of the jig plate 6. In this case, two laterally moving plates 7 are attached to one guide protrusion 10. Each laterally moving plate 7 has a horizontally long guide groove 7a formed on the lower surface thereof, and the laterally moving plate 7 is attached to the guide ridge 10 by fitting the guide ridge 10 into the guide groove 7a. It has become. By this fitting, the inclined upper surface 10a of the guide ridge 10 contacts the guide groove 7a, so that the laterally moving plate 7 is inclined in the same manner as the upper surface 10a of the guide ridge 10, as shown in FIGS. It becomes a state and is attached to the guide protrusion 10.
[0024]
As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the lateral movement plate 7 is attached to the guide protrusion 10 after a laterally long fixed hole 7 b is formed in the lateral movement plate 7 and the coil spring 15 is inserted into the fixed hole 7 b. The fixing screw 16 is passed through the coil spring 15, and the tip of the fixing screw 16 is screwed into a screw hole 10 c formed in the guide protrusion 10. In such fixing, since the lateral movement plate 7 automatically moves along the guide protrusion 10 in accordance with the position where the optical connector plug is fixed to the V-groove 12, the position of the lateral movement plate 7 is automatically adjusted. be able to. As a result, the plug insertion hole 13 can be adjusted to coincide with the V groove 12.
[0025]
The laterally moving plate 7 is for attaching the optical connector plug 1, and the plug insertion hole 13 into which the optical connector plug 1 is inserted penetrates in the thickness direction. In this case, a locking projection 17 is formed on the inner surface of the plug insertion hole 13. The locking projection 17 is formed so as to protrude from the opposite portion into the plug insertion hole 13. When the optical connector plug 1 is inserted into the plug insertion hole 13, the plug protrusion 3 of the plug 1 is inserted. The concave grooves 3a (four in the illustrated example) are engaged. In this case, any groove 3a can be engaged. By this engagement, the optical connector plug 1 is fixed to the plug insertion hole 13, so that the optical connector plug 1 is not rotationally displaced. Thereby, the shift | offset | difference of the front-end | tip of the ferrule 2 during grinding | polishing processing can be eliminated.
[0026]
The ferrule presser plate 8 is disposed so as to be attached to each side end face 14 of the jig plate 6, and the ferrule 2 is held between the jig plate 6 by pressing the ferrule 2 from the outside. . For this reason, the end surface of the ferrule presser plate 8 facing the jig plate 6 is a clamping surface 24. The clamping surface 24 is inclined in the opposite direction to each side end surface 14 of the jig plate 6 which is an inclined surface, and the clamping surface 24 and the side end surface 14 are brought into contact with the side end surface 14 of the jig plate 6. And can be closely adhered.
[0027]
Further, the ferrule presser plate 8 is attached to the side end face 14 of the jig plate 6 from the direction along the thickness of the jig plate 6. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the ferrule presser plate 8 is disposed outside the jig plate 6 so as to be in the same direction as the jig plate 6. By arranging in this way, the ferrule presser plate 8 does not protrude or jump out of the thickness of the jig plate 6, so that the ferrule presser plate 8 does not interfere with the outside. Thereby, the ferrule presser plate 8 can securely hold the ferrule 2 between the jig plate 6.
[0028]
In order to attach the ferrule presser plate 8 to a fixed position of the corresponding side end surface 14, a guide pin 19 inserted into the guide hole 20 of the ferrule presser plate 8 protrudes from each side end surface 14 of the jig plate 6. Further, the ferrule presser plate 8 is fixed to the jig plate 6 using fixing screws 21.
[0029]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 4, the guide protrusion 10 is fixed along each side of the jig plate 6, and the lateral movement plate 7 is attached to each guide protrusion 10. The lateral movement plate 7 is attached so that the plug insertion hole 13 of each lateral movement plate 7 substantially coincides with the V groove 12 in the side end surface 14 of the jig plate 6. By attaching the lateral movement plate 7 to the guide ridge 10, the lateral movement plate 7 is inclined in the same manner as the inclined upper surface 10a of the guide ridge 10.
[0030]
Thereafter, when the optical connector plug 1 is inserted into the plug insertion hole 13, the recessed groove 3 a of the plug rod 3 engages with the locking protrusion 17 of the plug insertion hole 13. When the ferrule 2 is thus inserted into the V-shaped groove 12, the laterally moving plate 7 moves in parallel along the guide protrusion 10 while being pressed by a spring 15 with a constant force. However, the ferrule 2 is engaged with the locking protrusion 17. It is guided to the center of the V-shaped groove 12 without rotating. Thereby, the ferrule 2 is attached while performing fine adjustment automatically at a predetermined position and angle of the V groove 12 while maintaining the polishing direction. Accordingly, the convex spherical surface 2 a can be formed at the tip of the ferrule 2 that contacts the polishing plate 9 by swinging and rotating the polishing plate 9.
[0031]
In such an embodiment, the upper surface 10a of the guide protrusion 10 that contacts the lateral movement plate 7 into which the optical connector plug 1 is inserted is inclined, and the V groove 12 into which the ferrule 2 of the optical connector plug 1 is inserted is formed. Since the inclined surfaces have substantially the same angle, the ferrule 2 can always be held at a constant angle. Further, since the optical connector plug 1 is inserted into the plug insertion hole 13 of the lateral movement plate 7 in an engaged state, the optical connector plug 1 is not displaced or rotated. As a result, the tip of the ferrule 2 is in a stable and fixed state, so that a convex spherical surface with a highly accurate angle can be polished into the ferrule 2.
[0032]
In particular, in this embodiment, by forming the jig plate 6 to be a regular hexagon, a plurality of guide protrusions 10 and ferrule presser plates 8 can be assembled, whereby a plurality of optical connector plugs 1 are simultaneously held and polished. Since it can be processed, the throughput and throughput can be increased.
[0033]
The present invention can be variously modified without being limited to the above embodiments. For example, the jig plate 6 can be a polygon other than a regular hexagon such as a triangle, a quadrangle, or an octagon. The plug insertion hole 13 may be inserted in a state where the optical connector plug 1 is engaged. Therefore, a groove shape into which the plug rod 3 of the optical connector plug 1 is inserted is formed on the inner surface of the plug insertion hole 13. May be.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the laterally moving plate can be automatically moved and set to the optimum position of the V-groove only by attaching the ferrule, so that the optical connector plug is displaced or rotated. Since the ferrule can be securely held at a certain angle without being displaced, a convex spherical surface with a high-precision angle without variation can be formed at the tip of the ferrule. A plurality of ferrules can be polished at the same time in the operation, and the processing capability can be increased.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a side view of an embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged perspective view of an embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a front view of the optical connector plug.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical connector plug 2 Ferrule 5 Polishing device 6 Jig board 7 Lateral movement board 8 Ferrule pressing board 9 Polishing board 10 Guide protrusion 12 V groove 13 Plug insertion hole 14 End face 17 Locking protrusion 24 Holding surface

Claims (5)

A guide ridge whose upper surface is an inclined surface is disposed on the upper surface, and a V-groove inclined at substantially the same angle as the surface orthogonal to the inclined surface is formed on the side end surface to face the polishing plate for polishing the ferrule. The jig plate and the optical connector plug that are arranged to be inserted are inserted, and a plug insertion hole for inserting the ferrule into the V-groove penetrates in the thickness direction by the insertion, and the inclined surface of the guide protrusion A locking groove is formed on the lower surface of the guide groove so as to be movably attached to the guide protrusion while being in contact with the inner surface of the plug insertion hole. And a ferrule presser plate that is detachably attached to a side end surface of the jig plate and sandwiches the ferrule inserted into the V-groove between the jig plate and the lateral movement plate. In the plug insertion hole, Characterized in that the locking projection of the groove and the insertion hole inner surface of the lug collar is to obtain insert the inserted plug tip of the ferrule for optical connector plug so as to engage the V-groove center of the jig plate An optical connector plug polishing apparatus. 2. The polishing apparatus for an optical connector plug according to claim 1, wherein the jig plate is formed into a planar polygon, and a guide protrusion and a ferrule presser plate are arranged corresponding to each side. 2. The polishing apparatus for an optical connector plug according to claim 1, wherein the plug insertion hole is formed with an engaging projection for engaging with the optical connector plug on an inner surface. 2. The polishing apparatus for an optical connector plug according to claim 1, wherein the ferrule presser plate is attached to a side end surface of the jig plate from a direction along the plate thickness. The side end surface of the jig plate is inclined at substantially the same angle as the inclination of the V-groove, and the holding surface of the ferrule presser plate is inclined in the opposite direction. Optical connector plug polishing equipment.

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