JP5097068B2 - Optical receptacle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical receptacle connected to an optical plug including an optical transmission medium such as an optical fiber.

  Conventionally, optical communication has been introduced to enable high-speed data communication between electronic devices. An optical fiber plug (hereinafter referred to as “optical plug”) having an optical transmission medium such as an optical fiber is connected to the optical plug in order to perform optical wiring between an electronic device and the outside in optical communication. An optical connector composed of an optical receptacle is used, which is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. Hereinafter, an example of an optical receptacle as disclosed in Patent Document 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the top, bottom, left, and right in FIG. 8A are defined as the top, bottom, left, and right directions, the front side of the paper is defined as the front direction, and the back side of the paper is defined as the rear direction.

  This optical receptacle constitutes, for example, an SC type optical connector (F04 type single-core optical fiber connector defined by JIS C5973), as shown in FIGS. 8 (a), (b), and (c). An optical plug of an optical cable wired in advance to the other end side (rear side) is connected to a plug connection port 1a to which an optical plug A of an optical cable wired from a communication device (not shown) is connected to one end side (front side). A housing 1 having a substantially rectangular tube shape having a plug connection port (not shown) to which a light plug A is connected is provided, and the housing 1 is provided at the front end side of the optical plug A. A first sleeve 11 into which one end portion of the ferrule A1 is detachably inserted is integrally formed. In addition, a second sleeve (not shown) in which one end of a ferrule (not shown) provided on the front end side of the optical plug connected to the rear plug connection port is detachably fitted in the housing 1. A sleeve holding portion 2 having a not-shown) is provided.

  The housing 1 is formed such that the outer peripheral surface on the front side protrudes from the outer peripheral surface on the rear side, and flanges 10 that protrude outward are provided on the left and right sides behind the outer peripheral surface on the front side. The first sleeve 11 and the second sleeve are respectively disposed on the front and rear sides of the sleeve holding portion 2, and inside the ferrule A 1 of the optical plug A connected to the front plug connection port 1 a, A split sleeve 22 is provided for aligning and holding the ferrule of the optical plug connected to the rear plug connection port. The sleeve holding portion 2 is provided with a sleeve hole 20a that communicates with each of the center holes of the first sleeve 11 and the second sleeve. A pair of locking pieces 21 having claw 21 a and projecting so as to be flexible are provided with the first sleeve 11 interposed therebetween.

  Further, in the vicinity of the inside of the front plug connection port 1a of the housing 1, when the optical plug A is not connected to the plug connection port 1a, a laser output from the optical plug connected to the rear plug connection port. A pair of door bodies 3 is provided to prevent light from being irradiated outside through the front-side plug connection port 1a. These door bodies 3 are attached so as to be swingable between a position where the front plug connection port 1a is closed and a position where the front plug connection port 1a is opened, and the plug connection port 1a is closed by a spring (not shown). It is elastically biased in the direction of

Thus, when the optical plug A is connected to the front plug connection port 1a, the door body 3 is pushed by the optical plug A against the urging force of the spring, so that the door body 3 is pushed open. When the plug A is inserted, the ferrule A1 is fitted into the first sleeve 11 and comes into contact with the ferrule of the optical plug connected to the rear plug connection port in the split sleeve 22, so that the optical plug A is paired with the pair of locking pieces 21. The optical plug A is connected by being locked to the respective locking claws 21a. When removing the optical plug A from the front plug connection port 1a, the optical plug A and the locking claw 21 are unlocked by pulling the optical plug A outward (forward direction). Removed. At this time, the door body 3 moves forward by the biasing force of the spring, and closes the front plug connection port 1a.
JP 2008-83086 A

  By the way, in the above conventional example, when the optical plug A is connected, the door body 3 swings inward of the housing 1, so that the door body 3 is locked with the locking body 21 so as not to contact the locking claw 21. It is necessary to increase the length dimension L1 between the claws 21. However, as shown in FIG. 9, the optical plug A is set so that it can be fitted with an adapter defined in JIS C 5973, but the dimension between the end face of the knob portion of the optical plug A and the mechanical reference surface. Depending on L2, when the optical plug A is inserted, the tip of the ferrule A1 on the optical plug A side does not reach the ferrule of the optical plug connected to the rear plug connection port, and the optical plug A is not connected correctly. There was a risk of occurrence.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical receptacle capable of reducing the probability of occurrence of a problem that the optical fiber plug cannot be connected when the optical fiber plug is inserted. .

In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention provides a first plug connection port and a second plug connection port having substantially rectangular shapes with different length and width lengths to which optical fiber plugs are connected to both ends. A housing that holds the ferrules of the optical fiber plugs housed in the housing and connected to the first plug connection port and the second plug connection port, respectively, and a first housing Provided on the plug connection port side, each side along the longitudinal direction of the first plug connection port is displaced to the inside of the housing with each side as an axis, and a position for closing and opening the first plug connection port and pivotable pair of door body between, and a locking portion in the connection direction of the optical fiber plug provided at a first plug connection port at a predetermined distance to engage the tip of the optical fiber plug The door body is configured to close the first plug connection port by abutting the leading edges of each other, and provided so that the longitudinal direction thereof coincides with the longitudinal direction of the first plug connection port. And at least one of the door body and the locking portion is cut out in a portion overlapping each other so that the locking portion is not located on the swinging locus of the door body on the swinging locus of the door body. The body is swingable about a swing shaft whose both ends are pivotally supported by a pair of long bearing holes penetrating the housing, and the swing shaft is inserted into the coil portion. The torsion coil spring having one end attached to the housing and the other end attached to the door body is urged to swing to a position for closing the first plug connection port, and the bearing hole has a length in the short direction. The dimension is approximately the same as the diameter of the swing shaft and is Dimensioned is characterized in that it is formed to be larger than the diameter of at least the pivot shaft.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the housing is provided with a cover that is attached to the first plug connection port side and holds the door body, and the door body and the cover are both made of a metal material. It is formed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the door body is at least one of the optical fiber plugs connected to the first plug connection port and at least the tip portion of the optical fiber plug. It is characterized by being bent so as to leave a predetermined distance from the outer surface.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the door body and the torsion coil spring are fixed to the swing shaft.

According to the invention of claim 1, since the track in the connecting direction of the optical fiber plug of the door body is shortened, the length dimension between the first plug connection port and the locking portion can be shortened, and therefore Reduces the probability that the tip of the ferrule on the side of the optical fiber plug will not reach the ferrule of the optical plug connected to the second plug connection port when the optical fiber plug is inserted, and the optical fiber plug will not be connected correctly can do. Further, the length dimension between the first plug connection port and the locking portion can be further shortened without shortening the track in the connecting direction of the optical fiber plug of the door . Furthermore, even if the door body is moved by an external force, the swing shaft follows the movement of the door body, so that the positional relationship between the swing center of the door body and the center of the swing shaft is difficult to shift. The urging force of the coil spring is efficiently converted into a force for swinging the door body, and it is possible to prevent malfunction of the door body .

According to the invention of claim 2 , since the thickness dimension of the cover can be reduced without reducing the strength, the length dimension between the first plug connection port and the locking portion can be further shortened. Further, since the door body can be prevented from being scraped by the tip of the optical fiber plug coming into contact with the door body, the transmission performance is improved by the intrusion of dust generated as the door body is scraped into the housing. Deterioration can be prevented.

According to invention of Claim 3 , when inserting and extracting the optical fiber plug in which the level | step difference was provided in the front-end | tip part, it can avoid that site | parts and steps other than a bending part in a door body interfere with a bending part. Therefore, the optical fiber plug can be easily inserted and removed regardless of the level difference.

According to the invention of claim 4 , the positional relationship between the swinging center of the door body and the center of the swinging shaft is more difficult to shift, and therefore the urging force of the torsion coil spring is efficiently used for the force that swings the door body. It is converted and it can prevent that the malfunctioning of a door body generate | occur | produces.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an optical receptacle according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, since the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the conventional example, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the following description, the vertical and horizontal directions in FIG. 1A are defined as the vertical and horizontal directions, the front side of the paper is defined as the front direction, and the back side of the paper is defined as the rear direction.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1A to 1E, first plug connection ports having substantially rectangular shapes with different vertical and horizontal length dimensions, to which optical plugs A are connected to both ends in the front-rear direction, respectively. A housing 1 having 1a and a second plug connection port 1b, and a first sleeve 11 which is integrally formed in the housing 1 and holds the ferrule A1 of the optical plug A connected to the first plug connection port 1a. A sleeve holding portion 2 having a second sleeve 20 for holding a ferrule (not shown) of an optical plug (not shown) housed in the housing 1 and connected to the second plug connection port 1b; A split sleeve 22 that is a sleeve that holds the ferrules of the optical plugs accommodated in the first plug connection port 1a and the second plug connection port 1b in an aligned state, and a housing Of the optical plug A and a pair of door bodies 3 that are provided on the front side of the door 1 and that are displaceable inside the housing 1 and swingable between a position where the first plug connection port 1a is closed and a position where the first plug connection port 1a is opened. The first plug connection port 1a (in the front-rear direction) is provided with a pair of locking pieces 21 that are provided at a predetermined interval and are locking portions that lock the tip of the optical plug A.

  On the left and right side surfaces of the front end portion of the housing 1, fitting pieces 12 projecting outward are projected, and the cover 4 is attached to the housing 1 by fitting into fitting holes 41 a of the cover 4 described later. (See FIG. 1 (e)). The cover 4 is formed by bending a metal plate. The main piece 40 has a substantially rectangular insertion hole 40a facing the front surface of the housing 1 and communicating with the first plug connection port 1a. And a pair of side pieces 41 that are opposed to the left and right side surfaces of the portion and that are fitted with substantially rectangular fitting holes 41a into which the fitting pieces 12 are fitted. Each door body 3 is held between the cover 4 and the housing 1 by attaching the cover 4 to the front surface of the housing 1 as described above.

  The sleeve holding portion 2 protrudes rearward in a shape of a substantially flat plate-shaped main portion 23 integrally formed with the second sleeve 20 protruding rearward and the second sleeve 20 sandwiched from the rear surface of the main portion 23. A pair of locking pieces 21 and a pair of locking pieces 21 that protrude forward from the front surface of the main portion 23 and that are disposed in the housing 1 with the first sleeve 11 interposed therebetween. . A sleeve hole 20 a that communicates with each central hole of the first sleeve 11 and the second sleeve 20 is provided in a substantially central portion of the main portion 23. Further, on both the left and right side surfaces of the main portion 23, protruding portions 23a that protrude outward are integrally formed.

  By the way, a groove portion 14 that is recessed downward is provided in a substantially central portion on the upper surface of the housing 1 so as to extend in the left-right direction. The groove portion 14 is provided with a fixing portion 15 having a substantially U-shaped cross section having a pair of upright pieces 15a respectively inserted into the left and right end portions. The fixing portion 15 fixes the sleeve holding portion 2 inside the housing 1, and the front surface of the main portion 23 of the sleeve holding portion 2 is brought into contact with the rear portion of the first sleeve 11 as shown in FIG. By disposing the fixing portion 15 in the groove portion 14 in the state of being moved, the first sleeve 11 restricts the forward movement of the sleeve holding portion 2 and the standing piece 15a comes into contact with the protruding portion 23a so that the sleeve holding portion The backward movement of 2 is restricted.

  Each of the door bodies 3 is formed in a substantially flat plate shape from a metal material, and is configured to close the first plug connection port 1a by abutting one side edge to each other. A pair of attachment portions 3a having a substantially semicircular cross section are integrally formed on the other side edge of each door body 3, and a rod-like swing shaft 31 is fitted into the attachment portion 1a. ing. In addition, at the four corners of the front surface of the housing 1, bearing holes 13 having a substantially semicircular cross section are provided in which end portions of the swing shaft 31 are respectively inserted. Thus, by inserting the pair of swing shafts 31 into the respective bearing holes 13 so that the longitudinal direction thereof coincides with the left-right direction, and inserting the swing shaft 31 into the mounting portion 3a of each door body 3. Each door 3 is attached to the housing 1 so as to be swingable about the swing shaft 31. Further, a torsion coil spring 30 is disposed on each swing shaft 31, and one end thereof is attached to the door body 3 and the other end is attached to the housing 1, whereby each door body 3 is attached to the first plug. The connection port 1a is urged so as to swing to a position where the connection port 1a is closed.

  Here, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the door body 3 is provided such that its longitudinal direction coincides with the longitudinal direction of the first plug connection port 1a. For this reason, in the conventional example, the door body 3 oscillates with its long side as a radius, whereas in this embodiment, the door body 3 oscillates with its short side as a radius. In comparison, the required length L1 between the first plug connection port 1a and the locking piece 21 is shortened (see FIG. 1 (e)). Thus, the length dimension L1 between the first plug connection port 1a and the locking piece 21 can be shortened, and when the optical plug A is inserted, the tip of the ferrule A1 of the optical plug A is second. It is possible to reduce the probability of occurrence of a problem that the optical plug A does not reach the tip of the ferrule of the optical plug connected to the plug connection port 1b and the optical plug A is not correctly connected. Specifically, it is desirable to set the length dimension L1 between the first plug connection port 1a and the locking piece 21 so as to be within the dimensions of the adapter defined in JIS C 5973.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.1 (c), the site | part which mutually overlaps with each door body 3 on the locus | trajectory in which each door body 3 of the latching piece 21 rock | fluctuates and is formed. Thus, the length L1 between the first plug connection port 1a and the locking piece 21 can be further shortened without shortening the track in the front-rear direction of the door body 3. Instead of forming the notch in the locking piece 21, each door body 3 may be formed by cutting out a portion overlapping with the locking piece 21. Even in this case, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, since the cover 4 is formed of a metal plate, the thickness dimension can be reduced without reducing the strength as compared with the case of forming the cover 4 from a resin material. Therefore, the length dimension L1 between the first plug connection port 1a and the locking piece 21 can be further shortened. Moreover, since each door 3 is also formed of a metal material, it is possible to prevent the door 3 from being scraped when the ferrule A1 of the optical plug A made of ceramics contacts the door 3, for example. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the transmission performance from deteriorating due to the dust generated as the door body 3 is scraped invades into the housing 1 and adheres to the front end surface of each ferrule of each optical plug.

  By the way, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.1 (c), the bending part 3b of the cross-sectional substantially triangular shape which protrudes ahead in the substantially center part in one door body 3, and the other door body 3 from the front-end edge. A bent portion 3c protruding rearward at a substantially right angle is formed by bending. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, in the state where the optical plug A having the step A2 protruding outward at the tip is connected to the first plug connection port 1a, each door body is bent by the bent portions 3b and 3c. 3 and a side face of the optical plug A can be spaced apart from each other. For this reason, when the optical plug A is pulled out, there is no problem that the leading edge of each door body 3 is caught by the step A2, and the optical plug A can be pulled out easily.

(Embodiment 2)
Hereinafter, an optical receptacle according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, since the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), in any door body 3, a bent portion 3b having a substantially triangular cross section protruding forward is formed at a substantially central portion by bending. 4B, the width of each bearing hole 13 is substantially the same as the diameter of the swing shaft 31, and the length in the longitudinal direction is the diameter of the swing shaft 31. As shown in FIG. It is formed in a long hole shape so as to be larger. For this reason, in a state in which the swing shaft 31 is fitted in each bearing hole 13 and closed by the cover 4, the swing shaft 31 can move in a space surrounded by the inner peripheral wall of the bearing hole 13 and the cover 4.

  Here, in the conventional bearing hole 13, as shown in FIG. 7A, a substantially trapezoidal portion that becomes narrower from the front to the rear of the housing 1, and a substantially circle that is connected to the short side of the portion. The narrow portion is formed with a length dimension slightly smaller than the diameter dimension of the swing shaft 31. For this reason, the rocking shaft 31 is inserted into the bearing hole 13 by being pushed into the narrow portion from the front side of the housing 1. However, in the conventional configuration, as shown in FIG. 7B, for example, when the optical plug A is pulled out, the leading edge of the door body 3 is pressed in the direction of the arrow by the optical plug A, and the door body 3 swings. The positional relationship between the center and the center of the swing shaft 31 may be shifted. In this case, of the force for swinging the door body 3 by the urging force of the torsion coil spring 30, a part of the force presses the mounting portion 3 a of the door body 3 against the corner portion formed by the cover 4 and the inner wall of the housing 1. End up. Therefore, the force for swinging the door body 3 becomes weak, and the door body 3 cannot swing due to the friction between the mounting portion 3a of the door body 3 and the corner as shown in FIG. There was a possibility that the mouth 1a could not be closed.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as described above, the swing shaft 31 is movable in the space surrounded by the inner peripheral wall of the bearing hole 13 and the cover 4, so that the external force as described above is applied to the door body 3. Even if it moves in addition, the swing shaft 31 follows the movement of the door body 3, so that the positional relationship between the center of the swing of the door body 3 and the center of the swing shaft 31 is difficult to shift. Thus, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of malfunction such that the door body 3 cannot be swung and the plug connection port 1a cannot be closed.

  As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, in this embodiment, a torsion coil spring 30 is disposed at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the swing shaft 31, and the mounting portion 3a is a torsion coil spring. Both end portions of the swing shaft 31 are fitted into the mounting portion 3 a so as to sandwich the 30, but the torsion coil spring 30 and the mounting portion 3 a may be fixed to the swing shaft 31 in this state. With this configuration, the positional relationship between the swinging center of the door body 3 and the center of the swinging shaft 31 is more difficult to shift, and thus the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 30 causes the door body 3 to swing. It is possible to more effectively prevent the malfunction of the door 3 from occurring.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows Embodiment 1 of the optical receptacle based on this invention, (a) is a front view, (b) is a left view, (c) is sectional drawing seen from the right side, (d) is from upper side FIG. 4 is a partially broken side view as seen, and (e) is a partially omitted sectional view as seen from above. It is an exploded perspective view same as the above. It is the partially expanded sectional view seen from the right side which shows the state by which the optical plug same as the above was inserted. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an optical receptacle according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a partially omitted cross-sectional view as viewed from the right side, and (b) is a main part cross-sectional view. It is a figure which shows a door body same as the above, and a torsion coil spring, (a) is the figure seen from the axial direction, (b) is the figure seen from one direction orthogonal to an axial direction. (A) is principal part sectional drawing when external force is added to a door body in the same as the above, (b) is an expanded sectional view of (a). (A) is principal part sectional drawing which shows the fixing method of the conventional rocking | fluctuation shaft, (b) is principal part sectional drawing when external force is added to a door body in the fixing method of (a), (c) is It is an expanded sectional view of (b). It is a figure which shows the conventional optical receptacle, (a) is a front view, (b) is sectional drawing abbreviate | omitted partially seen from the upper side, (c) is sectional drawing abbreviate | omitted partially seen from the right side. It is sectional drawing abbreviate | omitted partially seen from the optical plug and optical receptacle same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 11 1st sleeve 1a 1st plug connection port 1b 2nd plug connection port 20 2nd sleeve 21 Locking piece (locking part)
22 Split sleeve (sleeve)
3 Door A Optical plug (optical fiber plug)
A1 Ferrule

Claims (4)

A housing having a substantially rectangular first plug connection port and a second plug connection port having different vertical and horizontal length dimensions to which optical fiber plugs are connected to both ends, and a first plug connection housed in the housing A sleeve for holding each ferrule of the optical fiber plug connected to each of the opening and the second plug connection port in an aligned state; and a first plug connection port provided on the first plug connection port side of the housing A pair of door bodies that are displaced inwardly of the housing about the respective sides along the longitudinal direction of the housing, and are swingable between a position for closing and opening the first plug connection port, and an optical fiber plug comprising of a first plug connection port and provided at predetermined intervals locking portion for locking the tip of the optical fiber plugs in the connecting direction, the door is abutting each leading edge with each other It is configured to close the first plug connection port by, and its longitudinal direction is provided so as to coincide with the longitudinal direction of the first plug connection port, at least one of the door body and the locking part The portions overlapping each other are cut out so that the locking portion is not positioned on the swinging locus of the door body on the swinging locus of the door body, and the door body has a pair of elongated holes penetrating the housing. Is swingable about a swing shaft whose both ends are pivotally supported in the bearing hole, and the swing shaft is inserted into the coil portion, one end is attached to the housing, and the other end is attached to the door body. The torsion coil spring to be attached urges the first plug connection port to swing to a position that closes the first plug connection port, and the bearing hole has a length in the short direction substantially equal to the diameter of the swing shaft and is long. The length in the direction is at least larger than the diameter of the rocking shaft Optical receptacle, characterized in that it is formed such that.   2. The cover according to claim 1, wherein the housing is provided with a cover that is attached to the first plug connection port side and holds the door body, and the door body and the cover are both formed of a metal material. Optical receptacle.   At least one of the door bodies is bent so that at least a tip of the optical fiber plug is connected to the first plug connection port with a predetermined distance from the outer surface of the optical fiber plug. The optical receptacle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The door body and the torsion coil spring, optical receptacle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that fixed to the pivot shaft.

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