JP5320175B2 - Connector structure and assembly method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector structure in which tensile strength fibers arranged between an outer peripheral portion of a connector main body and a ring are fixed to the outer peripheral portion by caulking the ring, and an assembling method thereof, in particular, a cord is firmly fixed to the connector main body. Relates to improved technology.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical connector is known that is provided with a mechanical splice in a connector main body and is connected to an optical fiber in order to make the structure easy to assemble at the site (indoor). In an optical cord connected to this type of optical connector, tensile strength fibers (mainly aramid fibers) are vertically attached to the optical fiber core, and further, the upper portion is covered with a jacket. To attach an optical connector to the end of the optical cord, insert the end of the optical cord that is exposed by tearing the outer sheath from the rear end of the mechanical splice, and then close the mechanical splice by removing the wedge, etc. And fix the connecting part of the optical fiber.

  Next, the tensile strength fiber is disposed on the outer peripheral portion of the connector body, the crimping ring previously passed through the optical cord is advanced to the outside of the tensile strength fiber, and the crimping ring is crimped by plastic deformation, whereby the tensile strength fiber is Generally, it is fixed to the outer periphery (see, for example, Patent Documents 1, 2, 3, and 4). In such a connector structure, increasing the holding force of the caulking component leads to an improvement in the handling characteristics of the optical connector.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 01-054005 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 02-007612 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-084149 JP-A-11-231171

  However, in the conventional connector structure in which the optical cord is connected to the connector body, when the caulking ring is caulked to the connector body, the force for fixing the caulking ring to the connector body is only pressure due to deformation of the caulking ring. It was. That is, it depends only on the caulking force of the pair of parallel clamping surfaces. For this reason, there has been a demand for the development of a connector structure that can be fixed with a stronger fixing force and can improve handling characteristics.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a connector structure that can fix a cord to a connector body with a strong fixing force and an assembling method thereof, and an object thereof is to improve the handling characteristics of the connector.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) A connector in which a tensile strength fiber of a cord is disposed between an outer peripheral portion of a connector main body and a ring extrapolated to the outer peripheral portion, and the tensile strength fiber is fixed to the outer peripheral portion by caulking the ring by plastic deformation. Structure,
A connector structure characterized in that a concave portion into which a part of the plastically deformed ring enters is formed in an outer peripheral portion of the connector main body.

  According to this connector structure, a part of the ring after crimping fits into the concave part of the connector body, so that the cord has a hook part (locking part) as well as the conventional crimping area in the pulling direction. Thus, the tensile strength is increased as compared with the conventional structure in which the fixing is performed only depending on the caulking force of the pair of parallel holding surfaces.

(2) The connector structure of (1),
A connector structure, wherein the ring is a metal ring.

  According to this connector structure, plastic deformation of the fitting ring is facilitated following the recess formed in the connector body.

(3) The connector structure according to (1) or (2),
A connector structure, wherein a protrusion is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the ring so as to bite the ring into the recess by the caulking.

  According to this connector structure, it is possible to easily bite the ring into the recess. A conventional crimping die having a flat crimping pressing surface can be used. The ring outer peripheral surface after the ring is crushed can be used as a mark, and normal caulking can be easily confirmed as compared with a case where a concave portion is formed after caulking.

(4) The connector structure according to any one of (1) to (3),
The connector structure characterized in that the cord proximal end edge of the recess is formed at a right angle or an acute angle.

  According to this connector structure, it is possible to increase the frictional force against the pulling force caused by bending the tensile strength fiber, and it is difficult to cause slipping in the pulling direction when the edge has an obtuse angle.

(5) The connector structure according to any one of (1) to (4),
A connector structure characterized in that the connector body is a molded product made of plastic resin.

  According to this connector structure, it is a plastic resin that is more likely to cause a creep phenomenon than metal, but the tensile strength can be increased by adopting the locking structure by the recess, and the glass fiber of the plastic resin can be used. Effective characteristics that do not damage can be exhibited.

(6) a step of sequentially extrapolating the boot, the second ring, and the first ring from the end of the cord;
Tearing the outer sheath of the cord tip to expose the tensile fiber and the optical fiber core;
Fixing the exposed optical fiber core wire to a mechanical splice provided in the connector body;
A step of caulking the first ring and allowing the tensile fiber to enter and fix in a recess formed in the outer periphery; and
Caulking the second ring to fix the outer cover to the first ring;
Fitting the boot into the connector body;
A method for assembling a connector structure comprising:

  According to this connector structure assembling method, the friction structure resists the pulling force by the hook structure in which the tensile strength fibers are bent in a plurality, compared to the conventional structure in which the pair of parallel holding surfaces are fixed only by the caulking force. Power increases. In addition, since the first ring itself is also configured to be locked in the recess after being deformed, the tensile strength is greatly improved. Moreover, by becoming a latching structure, the slip of the tensile strength fiber when the tensile strength fiber is clamped between a pair of conventional parallel clamping surfaces is eliminated. Furthermore, the first ring is fixed to the connector main body with a high tensile strength by the locking structure, and the tensile strength of the jacket fixed to the first ring via the second ring is also increased, and the tensile strength of the entire cord with respect to the connector main body is increased. Increases synergistically.

  According to the connector structure of the present invention, since the concave portion into which the plastically deformed ring enters is formed in the outer peripheral portion of the connector main body, the cord can be fixed to the connector main body with a strong fixing force. As a result, the handling characteristics of the connector can be improved.

  According to the assembling method of the connector structure according to the present invention, the first ring is swaged and the tensile strength fibers are allowed to enter into the concave portion of the outer peripheral portion to be fixed, so that it depends only on the swaged force of the conventional pair of parallel clamping surfaces. Compared with the structure in which the tensile strength fiber is fixed, the hook structure in which the tensile strength fibers are bent into a plurality of portions can increase the frictional force against the pulling force, thereby strengthening the fixing force of the cord.

It is an exploded perspective view of an optical connector provided with the connector structure concerning the present invention. It is sectional drawing in the assembly state of the optical connector shown in FIG. (A) is sectional drawing of the outer peripheral part and 1st ring of an optical connector, (b) is a recessed part enlarged view near an edge. It is sectional drawing of the crimped 1st ring. It is sectional drawing of the connector structure to which the optical cord was connected. It is an assembly process explanatory drawing showing the assembly method of the connector structure which concerns on this invention in the procedure of (a)-(d). It is sectional drawing before the 1st ring caulking of the connector structure concerning other embodiments. It is sectional drawing after the 1st ring caulking of the connector structure concerning other embodiments.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 is an exploded perspective view of an optical connector having a connector structure according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the optical connector shown in FIG. 1 in an assembled state.
The connector structure according to the present embodiment is characterized by a tensile strength fiber of an optical cord that is a cord and a caulking portion that fixes an outer peripheral portion of the optical connector 100 that is a connector. Optical cords are made by attaching tensile strength fibers such as polyarylate fiber, polyparaphenylene benzbisoxazole fiber, polyester fiber such as polyethylene terephthalate fiber, nylon fiber, etc. on the optical fiber core, and covering the outer periphery of the outer circumference. Covered and integrated.

  The optical connector 100 includes a connector main body 11 made of plastic resin, a reinforcing tube 13 (see FIG. 2), a boot 15 that covers the outer side of the reinforcing tube 13 and has an end attached to the connector main body 11, and a tensile strength fiber. The first ring 17 that is crimped to the main body 11 and the second ring 19 that is crimped to the first ring 17 are roughly classified.

  The connector main body 11 has a mechanical splice 21 for positioning and fixing an optical fiber, and a ferrule 23 for inserting the optical fiber core wire. The mechanical splice 21 has a wedge member insertion recess 27 into which the wedge member 25 is inserted. The mechanical splice 21 opens in a state where the optical fiber can be inserted while the wedge member 25 is pushed into the recess 27 for inserting the wedge member, and closes when the wedge member 25 is retracted to connect the previously inserted optical fiber. Fix to state.

  A reinforcing tube 13 is inserted inside the boot 15. The optical cord has a problem that the optical fiber is easily broken at the rear end portion of the attached optical connector 100. For this reason, the reinforcing tube 13 and the boot 15 are used to prevent the optical fiber core wire from being bent beyond the minimum bending radius.

  In the connector main body 11, the first ring 17 is extrapolated to the outer peripheral portion 29 on the rear end side. A tensile strength fiber of an optical cord is arranged between the outer peripheral portion 29 and the first ring 17, and the tensile strength fiber is fixed to the outer peripheral portion 29 by caulking the first ring 17 by plastic deformation. The first ring 17 has a large-diameter portion 31 on the distal end side inserted (extrapolated) outside the outer peripheral portion 29, a small-diameter portion 33 behind the bulge, and a bulge formed on the entire rear end of the small-diameter portion 33. The unit 35 is provided in a row.

  The second ring 19 is formed in a cylindrical shape having the same cross-sectional shape. The second ring 19 has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the bulging portion 35 and is inserted into the small diameter portion 33 so that a jacket can be disposed between the second ring 19 and the small diameter portion 33. The first ring 17 and the second ring 19 are made of metal rings.

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the outer peripheral portion of the optical connector and the first ring, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of a recess near the edge.
A concave portion 37 into which a part of the plastically deformed first ring 17 enters is formed in the outer peripheral portion 29 of the connector main body 11. The concave portion 37 may be formed continuously on the entire circumference of the outer peripheral portion 29, or a plurality of the concave portions 37 may be formed apart in the circumferential direction.

  In the recess 37, it is preferable that the edge 39 on the cord base end side (right side in FIG. 3) is formed at a right angle (θ = 90 degrees) or an acute angle (θ <90 degrees). By forming the edge 39 at a right angle or an acute angle, it is possible to increase a frictional force against a pulling force caused by bending the tensile strength fiber. This also makes it difficult for slippage in the pull-out direction when the edge 39 has an obtuse angle. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 41 denotes an optical fiber core wire.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the crimped first ring.
The first ring 17 of the first ring 17 is crimped by pressing the outer peripheral side of the first ring 17 in the diameter reducing direction by the crimping die 43. The caulking die 43 is provided with a convex portion 45 at a position coinciding with the concave portion 37. The large-diameter portion 31 pressed by the caulking die 43 becomes a locking portion 47 in which the portion pressed by the convex portion 45 is plastically deformed and protrudes into the concave portion 37.

  Since the first ring 17 is made of a metal ring, the ring to be fitted is easily plastically deformed following the recess 37 formed in the connector main body 11. Moreover, the connector main body 11 consists of a molded product by a plastic resin as mentioned above. Although it is a plastic resin that is prone to creep as compared with metal, the locking structure by the concave portion 37 can increase the tensile strength and has an effective characteristic that does not damage the glass fiber of the plastic resin. Has been demonstrated.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the connector structure to which the optical cord is connected.
In the connector structure according to the present embodiment, high fixing characteristics can be secured even in the connector body 11 made of plastic resin. As shown in FIG. 5, a portion of the first ring 17 (engagement portion 47) after crimping fits into the recess portion 37 of the connector main body 11, whereby the tensile strength fiber 51 is pushed into the recess portion 37. The optical cord 53 has not only a conventional crimping region (a region where the tensile strength fiber 51 is in pressure contact with the first ring 17) but also a catching portion (locking portion 47) with respect to the pulling direction (right direction in FIG. 5). It will be. Thereby, the tensile strength is greatly increased as compared with the conventional structure in which the fixing is performed only depending on the caulking force of the pair of parallel holding surfaces.

  Conventionally, when the connector body 11 made of plastic resin is crimped, it is assumed that the plastic resin creeps and the fixing force becomes weaker with time. On the other hand, in the structure according to the present embodiment, since the locking portion 47 is provided, the fixing characteristics can be ensured with little deterioration with time even with a plastic resin.

  In addition, the outer jacket 55 of the optical cord 53 is also formed by caulking the second ring 19 to the small-diameter portion 33 of the first ring 17 with increased tensile strength that has engaged the locking portion 47 with the concave portion 37 in this way. Since crimping is possible, the tensile strength to the connector body 11 via the first ring 17 is increased. The outer cover 55 is crimped to the second ring 19 in front of the bulging portion 35 and fixed to the small diameter portion 33, so that the bulging portion 35 becomes a stepped portion and the tensile strength with respect to the first ring 17 is increased. It is done. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 57 denotes a concave portion that is depressed by the convex portion 45 of the crimping die 43.

Next, a method for assembling the connector structure will be described.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of an assembling process showing the assembling method of the connector structure according to the present invention in the order of (a) to (d).
To assemble the optical connector 100, first, as shown in FIG. 6A, the boot 15, the reinforcing tube 13, the second ring 19, and the first ring 17 are sequentially inserted into the tip of the local optical cord 53. deep. The outer jacket 55 at the end of the cord is torn, the tensile strength fiber 51 and the optical fiber core wire 41 are exposed, and the extra tensile strength fiber 51 and the outer jacket 55 are cut. The exposed optical fiber core wire 41 is fixed to the mechanical splice 21 provided in the connector main body 11.

  As shown in FIG. 6B, the tensile strength fiber 51 is put on the outer peripheral portion 29 of the connector body 11, and then the first ring 17 is advanced to insert the large diameter portion 31 outside the tensile strength fiber 51. In a state where the tensile strength fiber 51 is disposed between the outer peripheral portion 29 and the large diameter portion 31, the large diameter portion 31 of the first ring 17 is crimped by a crimping die 43 (not shown). Thereby, a part of the large-diameter portion 31 protrudes into the concave portion 37 and becomes the locking portion 47 to fix the tensile strength fiber 51. Next, the reinforcing tube 13 is advanced.

  As shown in FIG. 6C, the jacket 55 is put on the small diameter portion 33 of the first ring 17, and the second ring 19 is inserted outside the jacket 55. In a state where the outer cover 55 is disposed between the small diameter portion 33 and the second ring 19, the second ring 19 is crimped with a crimping die (not shown). As a result, the diameter of the second ring 19 is reduced to the small diameter portion 33, and the outer cover 55 is fixed to the first ring 17.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 6 (d), the boot 15 is advanced to these caulking portions, and the tip is attached to the connector main body 11, thereby completing the assembly of the optical connector 100.

  According to the connector structure according to the present embodiment, the concave portion 37 into which the plastically deformed first ring 17 enters is formed in the outer peripheral portion 29 of the connector main body 11, so that the optical cord 53 is fixed to the connector main body 11 with a strong fixing force. it can. As a result, the handling characteristics of the optical connector 100 can be improved.

  Further, in the assembly method of the connector structure, the friction that resists the pulling force is obtained by the hook structure in which the tensile strength fibers 51 are bent in a plurality, compared with the structure in which the conventional structure is fixed only depending on the caulking force of the pair of parallel holding surfaces. Power increases. Since the first ring 17 itself is also configured to be engaged with the recess 37 after being deformed, the tensile strength is greatly improved. With the locking structure, slippage of the tensile strength fiber 51 when the tensile strength fiber 51 is clamped between a pair of conventional parallel clamping surfaces is eliminated. Further, the first ring 17 is fixed to the connector main body 11 with a high tensile strength by the locking structure, and the tensile strength of the jacket 55 fixed to the first ring 17 via the second ring 19 is also increased. The tensile strength of the entire optical cord 53 is increased synergistically.

  What is important when attaching this type of mechanical splice connector to the end of the optical cord 53 on site is whether or not the optical connector 100 can be attached without depending on skills. The first problem is fiber insertion into the mechanical sp. Anyone can easily assemble the mechanical sp by using a fiber holder or the like. However, the next problem is that when assembling with a folder, the outer sheath of the cord is torn, the optical fiber core wire 41 is connected to the connector body 11, and then the tensile strength fiber 51 and the outer sheath 55 are fixed with high strength. It must be.

  According to the method for assembling the connector structure according to the present embodiment, the first ring 17 is swaged and the tensile strength fibers 51 are allowed to enter and be fixed to the recesses on the outer peripheral portion. Compared to a structure that is fixed depending only on the tension structure, the hook structure in which the tensile strength fibers are bent into a plurality of portions can increase the frictional force against the pulling force, thereby strengthening the fixing force of the cord.

Next, another embodiment of the connector structure according to the present invention will be described.
7 is a cross-sectional view of the connector structure according to another embodiment before caulking the first ring, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view after the first ring caulking of the connector structure according to another embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the member same as the member shown in FIGS. 1-6, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.
In the connector structure according to the present embodiment, a protrusion 61 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter portion 31 of the first ring 17A to cause the large-diameter portion 31 to bite into the recess 37 by caulking. The protrusion 61 may be formed on the entire circumference of the large-diameter portion 31, or a plurality of protrusions 61 may be formed by being divided in the circumferential direction. Other configurations are the same as those in the above embodiment.

  According to the connector structure according to this embodiment, the large-diameter portion 31 can easily bite into the recess 37. A conventional crimping die 63 having a flat crimping pressing surface can be used. The ring outer peripheral surface after crushing the large-diameter portion 31 of the first ring 17A can be used as a mark. When it becomes the recessed part 57, the grade of the recessed part 57 cannot be judged easily. On the other hand, if the ring outer peripheral surface after crushing the large-diameter portion 31 is flat, the normal caulking can be confirmed easily and reliably as compared to the case where the concave portion 57 is formed after caulking.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Connector main body 15 Boot 17 1st ring 19 2nd ring 21 Mechanical splice 29 Outer peripheral part 37 Concave part 39 The edge of the code | cord | tip end side of a recessed part 41 Optical fiber core wire 47 Locking part (a part of ring)
51 Tensile fiber 53 Optical cord (cord)
55 Outer sheath 61 Projection 100 Optical connector

Claims (4)

A connector structure in which a tensile strength fiber of a cord is disposed between an outer peripheral portion of a connector main body and a ring extrapolated to the outer peripheral portion, and the tensile strength fiber is fixed to the outer peripheral portion by caulking the ring by plastic deformation. And
A recess into which a part of the plastically deformed ring enters is formed on the outer periphery of the connector body ,
The ring is a metal ring;
A connector structure , wherein a protrusion is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the ring so as to bite the ring into the recess by the caulking . The connector structure according to claim 1 ,
The connector structure characterized in that the cord proximal end edge of the recess is formed at a right angle or an acute angle. The connector structure according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A connector structure characterized in that the connector body is a molded product made of plastic resin. A method for assembling the connector structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A step of sequentially extrapolating the boot, the second ring, and the first ring from the tip of the cord;
Tearing the outer sheath of the cord tip to expose the tensile fiber and the optical fiber core;
Fixing the exposed optical fiber core wire to a mechanical splice provided in the connector body;
A step of caulking the first ring and allowing the tensile fiber to enter and fix in a recess formed in the outer periphery; and
Caulking the second ring to fix the outer cover to the first ring;
Fitting the boot into the connector body;
A method for assembling a connector structure comprising:

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