JP5508869B2 - Optical connector device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connector device having a housing groove for housing an optical fiber and a lens optically coupled to the optical fiber.

  An example of this type of optical connector device is disclosed in Patent Document 1. The optical connector device of Patent Document 1 includes a fiber holding portion in which a fiber guide groove for accommodating an optical fiber is formed, and a lens forming portion in which a lens is formed. Here, the fiber holding part and the lens forming part are integrally formed, and the lens and the fiber guide groove are associated with each other. According to Patent Document 1, it is said that the alignment between the optical fiber and the lens can be performed by a simple assembly process by associating the lens with the fiber guide groove.

JP 2007-41222 A

  When an optical connector device is manufactured as a molded product, the optical connector device may be at least partially warped in the manufacturing process. The problem of positional deviation (axial deviation) between the lens and the optical fiber due to such warpage can also occur in the optical connector device of Patent Document 1. Unlike Patent Document 1, even when an optical connector device is configured by separately forming and combining a lens forming portion and a fiber holding portion, a problem of axial misalignment at the time of combination may occur. In any case, the axial misalignment is directly related to the performance of the optical connector device, so it is necessary to accurately grasp the misalignment amount.

  As a method for accurately grasping the positional deviation amount (axial deviation amount) between the lens and the optical fiber, there is a method for evaluating the attenuation amount of light when light input from the optical fiber passes through the lens. However, this evaluation takes time and has a problem with cost.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector device having a structure that makes it possible to easily evaluate the amount of axial deviation.

According to the present invention, as a first optical connector device, an optical connector device comprising a lens, a lens support portion that supports the lens, and a base portion that is located behind the lens support portion,
The lens is supported by a front portion of the lens support portion,
The base is formed with a housing groove for housing an optical fiber and extending in the front-rear direction so as to correspond to the lens,
The lens support portion has a suggestion portion indicating the center of the lens,
The suggestion is obtained as an optical connector device formed so as to extend along the front-rear direction.

According to the present invention, the second optical connector device is a first optical connector device,
The suggestion portion includes two grooves extending in the front-rear direction and arranged in parallel in the left-right direction,
An optical connector device is obtained in which the center in the left-right direction of the lens is located on a line passing through the middle of the two grooves in the left-right direction and extending along the front-rear direction.

Further, according to the present invention, as the third optical connector device, the first or second optical connector device,
The lens support portion has a substantially plate shape having a front surface and a rear surface,
The lens is formed on the front surface;
An optical connector device formed on the lens support portion is obtained so that the suggestion portion is visible when the rear surface is viewed from behind.

According to the present invention, the fourth optical connector device is a first optical connector device,
The lens support portion has a square plate-like pedestal portion,
The lens is provided on the front surface of the pedestal,
The suggestion portion includes two edges corresponding to each other in the left-right direction among the edges of the pedestal portion,
An optical connector device is obtained in which the center in the left-right direction of the lens is a line passing through the middle in the left-right direction of the two edges constituting the suggesting portion and extending along the front-rear direction. It is done.

According to the present invention, as the fifth optical connector device, any one of the first to fourth optical connector devices,
An optical connector device formed on the lens support portion is obtained so that the suggestion portion is visible when the lens support portion is viewed from above.

According to the present invention, the sixth optical connector device is any one of the first to fifth optical connector devices,
The lens support portion has an insertion hole into which the tip of the optical fiber is inserted,
An optical connector device in which the insertion hole is formed to be continuous with the receiving groove in the front-rear direction is obtained.

According to the present invention, as the seventh optical connector device, any one of the first to sixth optical connector devices,
The lens support portion and the base portion each have a substantially plate shape, and when viewed from the left or right, an optical connector device integrally formed in a substantially L shape is obtained. It is done.

According to the invention, as the eighth optical connector device, any one of the first to seventh optical connector devices,
An optical connector device in which a concave portion sandwiching the housing portion in the left-right direction and recessed inward in the left-right direction is formed in the base portion.

  According to the present invention, since the suggestion portion is formed along the front-rear direction in the lens support portion that supports the lens, the optical connector device can be viewed from above, behind, or from the side (right or left) of the optical connector device. By measuring this, the amount of axial misalignment can be evaluated using the suggestion part.

It is the figure which looked at the optical connector device by the 1st Embodiment of this invention from upper direction. It is the figure which looked at the optical connector device of FIG. 1 from back. It is sectional drawing along the III-III line of FIG. However, the lens is not sectioned. It is the figure which looked at the state which has arrange | positioned the optical fiber to the optical connector apparatus of FIG. 1 from upper direction. It is the figure which looked at the state which has arrange | positioned the optical fiber to the optical connector apparatus of FIG. 1 from back. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of the optical connector device of FIG. 4. However, the lens is not sectioned. It is the figure which looked at a part of optical connector device of Drawing 1 from the upper part. It is the figure which looked at a part of optical connector device of Drawing 1 from back. It is the figure which looked at the modification of the optical connector apparatus of FIG. 1 from upper direction. It is the figure which looked at the optical connector apparatus of FIG. 9 from back. It is sectional drawing along the XI-XI line of the optical connector apparatus of FIG. However, the lens is not sectioned. It is the figure which looked at the state which has arrange | positioned the optical fiber to the optical connector apparatus of FIG. 9 from upper direction. It is the figure which looked at the state which has arrange | positioned the optical fiber to the optical connector apparatus of FIG. 9 from back. It is the figure which looked at the optical connector device by the modification 1 of the 1st Embodiment of this invention from upper direction. It is the figure which looked at the optical connector device of FIG. 14 from back. It is sectional drawing along the XVI-XVI line of the optical connector apparatus of FIG. However, the lens is not sectioned. It is the figure which looked at the state which has arrange | positioned the optical fiber to the optical connector apparatus of FIG. 14 from upper direction. However, the lens is not sectioned. It is the figure which looked at the state which has arrange | positioned the optical fiber to the optical connector apparatus of FIG. 14 from back. It is sectional drawing along the XIX-XIX line | wire of the optical connector apparatus shown by FIG. However, the lens is not sectioned. It is the figure which looked at the optical connector device by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention from upper direction. It is the figure which looked at the optical connector device of FIG. 20 from back. It is sectional drawing along the XXII-XXII line | wire of the optical connector apparatus of FIG. However, the lens and the pedestal are not sectioned. It is the figure which looked at the optical connector device by the modification 2 of the 1st Embodiment of this invention from upper direction. It is the figure which looked at the optical connector device of FIG. 23 from back, and is sectional drawing along the XXIV-XXIV line. FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XXV-XXV in FIG. 23. However, the lens is not sectioned. It is a figure showing a mode that the optical connector apparatus of FIG. 23 is arrange | positioned on a jig. It is a figure showing a mode that an optical fiber is arrange | positioned to the optical connector apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which has arrange | positioned the optical connector device and optical fiber of FIG. 26, and a cover part. It is a figure showing the state which combined the optical connector device of FIG. 26, and the cover part.

(First embodiment)
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the optical connector device according to the embodiment of the present invention is connected to an optical fiber 100. The optical connector device includes a lens 200, a lens support part 300, and a base part 400. The illustrated optical connector device includes three lenses, and is connected to three optical fibers 100 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, both the lens support portion 300 and the base portion 400 have a substantially plate shape, and are integrally formed in a substantially L shape when the optical connector device is viewed from the left-right direction. Hereinafter, in the description of the present embodiment, an optical connector device located at the center will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lens support unit 300 has a front surface 302 and a rear surface 304. The lens 200 is integrally formed with the lens support unit 300 so as to be positioned on the front surface 302 of the lens support unit 300. Two grooves (suggesting portions) 320 are formed on the upper surface 306 of the lens support portion 300 so as to sandwich the lens 200 in the left-right direction. The grooves 320 extend in parallel (parallel) with each other in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, in the left-right direction, the center of the lens 200 is positioned on a line L1 that passes through the middle of the edge 322 on the lens 200 side in the two grooves 320 and extends in the front-rear direction. It is formed to do.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5, a housing groove 420 for housing the optical fiber 100 is formed in the base 400. As well shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the receiving groove 420 is composed of two side surfaces 423 and extends in the front-rear direction. In the present embodiment, one accommodation groove 420 corresponds to one lens 200. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the optical fiber 100 is housed in the housing groove 420 so that the end surface thereof is in contact with the rear surface 304 of the lens support portion 300. The optical fiber 100 is fixed in the accommodation groove 400 with an adhesive or the like (not shown).

  Here, a method of creating the optical connector device in the present embodiment will be described. The dimensions of the lens 200, the lens support portion 300, and the base portion 400 used in the optical connector device in the present embodiment are the same as the center of the optical fiber 100 in a state where the optical fiber 100 is disposed in the accommodation groove 420 (see FIG. 4). It is designed in advance so that the center of the lens 200 coincides. Therefore, if the optical fiber 100 is appropriately arranged with respect to the optical connector device produced according to the dimensions, the center of the optical fiber 100 and the center of the lens 200 coincide.

  The optical connector device shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 is produced, for example, by assembling after being molded integrally or separately. When producing by integral molding, a mold (mold 1) for forming a lens side part composed of the lens 200 and the lens support part 300 and a mold (mold 2) for creating a fiber side part composed of the base part 400 are formed. Use to mold. Here, when the mold 1 and the mold 2 are combined, for example, when the resin is injected in a state where the positions of the joints of the molds are shifted, or the optical connector device after molding is warped. In such a case, the center of the lens 200 of the optical connector device may be shifted from the center of the optical fiber 100 disposed in the receiving groove 420, and the performance of the optical connector device is significantly impaired. . On the other hand, in the case where the optical connector device is formed by assembling the lens side portion and the fiber side portion separately, the positional relationship between the assembled lens side portion and the fiber side portion is shifted. In the same manner as described above, there is a possibility that the shaft is displaced, and the performance of the optical connector device is significantly impaired. Such axial misalignment is caused by the fact that the dimensions of the lens-side portion and the fiber-side portion of the created optical connector device and the positional relationship between them are different from those designed.

  According to the present embodiment, by using the structure of the optical connector device described above, it is possible to measure the axial deviation generated in the optical connector device after molding. In the present embodiment, the axial deviation is measured and evaluated separately for the horizontal axis deviation and the vertical axis deviation. Hereinafter, the measurement method will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the horizontal axis misalignment grasping method includes a center M <b> 1 between the grooves 320 of the lens support unit 300 (a center between the edge portions 322) and a center M <b> 2 ( It is measured whether or not the center between the edge portions 422 matches. Since the groove 320 according to the present embodiment can be recognized from both above and behind the optical connector device, it can be measured from any direction.

  Note that by measuring whether or not the center M3 between the edges 110 of the lens 200 in the left-right direction and the center M2 of the receiving groove 420 coincide with each other, it is possible to grasp the left-right axis misalignment. It is difficult to accurately grasp the edge 110 of the correct lens 200. Therefore, as described above, by using the groove 320 that is designed to coincide with the center of the lens 200 in advance and is easy to grasp, the axial misalignment in the left-right direction can be grasped accurately and easily.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, the vertical axis misalignment grasping method includes a height H <b> 1 from the bottom surface 402 of the base 400 to the apex 424 of the receiving groove, and a bottom surface 402 of the base 400 to the top surface 426 of the base 400. , And a design value (the center of the lens 200 and the center of the optical fiber 100 disposed in the receiving groove 420) are measured. Are determined so as to coincide with each other, and a difference between a measured value and a predetermined value is evaluated to confirm whether or not the dimensions are as designed. Thereby, the vertical axis | shaft shift can be grasped | ascertained. The heights H1 to H3 may be measured from the back of the optical connector device, or may be measured by measuring the depth of focus from the top of the optical connector device to the apex 424, the upper surface 426, and the upper surface 306. Also good.

  As described above, according to the optical connector device according to the present embodiment, the groove 320 is used for the axial misalignment in the left-right direction, and the heights H1 to H2 from the bottom of the base portion for the axial misalignment in the vertical direction (see FIG. 8) can be used to accurately and easily grasp the axis shift. In particular, according to the present embodiment, both the horizontal axis deviation and the vertical axis deviation can be measured from either the upper side or the rear side. Further, according to the optical connector device according to the present embodiment, it is possible to easily evaluate the axial deviation without using a complicated evaluation method such as evaluating the attenuation amount of light transmitted through the lens.

  In addition, as FIG. 9 thru | or FIG. 13 shows, in addition to the two side surfaces 423, you may be comprised by the perpendicular | vertical side surface 423a and the hypotenuse 423b as a modification of the accommodation groove | channel 420a. With this structure, it is possible to prevent the optical fiber 100 from being displaced in the left-right direction. In this case as well, the size of the receiving groove 420a may be designed in advance so that the center of the optical fiber 100 disposed in the receiving groove 420a and the center of the lens 200 coincide. As for the axial deviation measuring method, as for the method of grasping the axial deviation in the left-right direction, the center between the grooves 320 (center between the edge portions 322) and the center of the receiving groove 420a (center between the edge portions 422a) It is only necessary to confirm whether or not the two coincide with each other, and the method of grasping the vertical axis deviation can be performed by the same method as described above.

(Modification 1 of the first embodiment)
As shown in FIGS. 14 to 19, the lens support portion 300a of the optical connector device according to the first modification of the first embodiment is provided with an insertion hole 330 into which the tip of the optical fiber 100 is inserted. . In addition, since it is the same as that of the optical connector apparatus by 1st Embodiment about structures other than the lens support part 300a, the same referential mark is attached | subjected about the same component and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 14 to 16, the insertion hole 330 is formed so as to be recessed forward from the rear surface 304 of the lens support portion 300a. The insertion hole 330 and the accommodation groove 420 are formed to be continuous. As shown in FIGS. 17 to 19, the optical fiber 100 is inserted into the insertion hole 330 so as to be in contact with the inner portion 332 of the insertion hole 330 and is accommodated in the accommodation groove 420. Thereby, the front-end | tip of the optical fiber 100 is fixed to the optical connector apparatus, without raising, and an axial shift | offset | difference can be prevented more reliably. The insertion hole 330 according to the present embodiment has the same shape as the receiving groove 420, but the shape of the insertion hole 330 may be substantially the same as the outer diameter of the optical fiber 100 or may be a round hole having a slightly larger outer diameter. Good.

  In this embodiment, since the configuration of the groove 320 and the base 400 is the same as that of the optical connector device according to the first embodiment, the method used in the first embodiment is also used for the measurement of the axial deviation. can do.

(Second Embodiment)
As shown in FIGS. 20 to 22, the lens support 300b of the optical connector device according to the second embodiment is not provided with the groove 320 (see FIG. 1) in the first embodiment. A square plate-like pedestal 340 is provided. In addition, since it is the same as that of the optical connector device by 1st Embodiment about structures other than the lens support part 300b, the same referential mark is attached | subjected about the same component and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 20 and 22, the pedestal portion 340 is provided on the front surface 302 of the lens support portion 300b. A lens 200 is provided on the front surface of the pedestal 340. In the present embodiment, the edge 342 in the left-right direction of the pedestal portion 340 functions in the same manner as the edge portion 322 (see FIG. 1) of the first embodiment described above. That is, in the left-right direction, the center of the lens 200 is located on a line L2 passing through the middle of the edge 342 located at both ends of the pedestal 340.

  As a measuring method of the axial deviation of the optical connector device according to the present embodiment, as a grasping method of the axial deviation in the left-right direction, the center of the edge 342 located at both ends of the pedestal part 340 and the ends 422 of the receiving grooves Measure whether the center matches. On the other hand, the method of grasping the vertical axis deviation is the same as in the first embodiment.

(Modification 2 of the first embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 23 to FIG. 29, the base 400b of the optical connector device according to the second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention is provided with a recess 430. In addition, since it is the same as that of the optical connector device by 1st Embodiment about structures other than the base part 400b, the same referential mark is attached | subjected about the same component and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 23 to 25, the recess 430 is provided in the base 400 b so as to sandwich the accommodation groove 420 in the left-right direction, and is formed to be recessed toward the inside of the accommodation groove 420.

  In this embodiment, since the configuration of the groove 320 and the base 400 is the same as that of the optical connector device according to the first embodiment, the method used in the first embodiment is also used for the measurement of the axial deviation. can do.

  As shown in FIGS. 26 to 29, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 29, the optical fiber 100 is fixed by sandwiching the optical fiber 100 between the optical connector device and the lid portion 600. . For the fixation, a jig 500 shown in FIG. 26 is used. The jig 500 is provided with two positioning portions 510. The positioning portion 510 is erected at a location corresponding to the concave portion 430 (see FIG. 23) of the optical connector device. At the distal end of the positioning portion, an inclined portion 512 that is inclined inward is provided so that the optical connector device and the lid portion 600 can be smoothly set on the jig 500.

  The lid portion 600 is provided with two concave portions 630 and has a substantially H-shape. As shown in FIG. 26, the optical connector device is arranged on the jig 500 such that each of the concave portions 430 of the base portion 400 b extends along the positioning portion 510. Next, as shown in FIG. 27, the optical fiber 100 is accommodated in the accommodation groove 420. Further, as shown in FIG. 28, the lid portion 600 is disposed on the optical connector device and the optical fiber 100 so that each of the concave portions 630 of the lid portion 600 extends along the positioning portion 510. As illustrated, the optical fiber 100 is held in a state of being sandwiched between the lid portion 600 and the optical connector device. In this state, the concave portion 430 of the accommodation groove 420 and the concave portion 630 of the lid portion 600 correspond to each other. Since the optical connector device according to the present embodiment does not use an adhesive for fixing the optical fiber 100 unlike the optical connector devices according to the first to third embodiments described above, the optical fiber 100 can be easily replaced. is there. Note that a conventional locking mechanism or the like can be applied as means for holding the state where the lid 600 and the optical connector device are sandwiched. Moreover, as a modification of the cover part 600, an elastic body is provided in the surface (bottom surface 602) which contacts the optical fiber 100 among the cover parts 600, or the cover part 600 itself is comprised with elastic bodies, such as resin. Also good. Thereby, the optical fiber 100 can be more firmly held in the optical connector device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Optical fiber 110 Edge 200 Lens 300, 300a, 300b Lens support part 302 Front surface 304 Rear surface 306 Upper surface 320 Groove (indication part)
322 Edge portion 330 Insertion hole 340 Base portion 342 Edge 332 Deep portion 400, 400a, 400b Base portion 402 Bottom surface 420, 420a Housing groove 422, 422a Edge portion 423, 423a Side surface 424, 424a Vertex 426 Top surface 430 Recessed portion 500 Jig 510 Positioning portion 600 Lid 602 Bottom 630 Recess

Claims (4)

A method of holding an optical fiber in a device comprising an optical connector device and a lid,
The optical connector device includes a lens, a lens support portion that supports the lens, and a base portion that is located behind the lens support portion ,
The lens is supported by a front portion of the lens support portion,
The base is formed with a housing groove for housing an optical fiber and extending in the front-rear direction so as to correspond to the lens,
The lens support portion has a suggestion portion indicating the center of the lens,
The suggestion is formed to extend along the front-rear direction ,
The base is formed with a recess that sandwiches the receiving groove in the left-right direction and is recessed inward in the left-right direction so as to reach the receiving groove,
The lid portion has two concave portions,
In the method, the device holds the optical fiber by being sandwiched between the optical connector device and the lid portion,
Preparing jigs having two positioning portions respectively erected so as to correspond to the concave portion of the optical connector device and the concave portion of the lid portion;
The optical connector device is disposed on the jig so that the concave portions of the optical connector device are along the positioning portions, respectively.
Receiving the optical fiber in the receiving groove;
By disposing the lid portion on the optical connector device and the optical fiber so that the concave portion of the lid portion is along the positioning portion, the optical fiber is separated between the optical connector device and the lid portion. Pinch
Method. An optical connector device used in the method according to claim 1,
A lens, a lens support that supports the lens, and a base located behind the lens support ,
The lens is supported by a front portion of the lens support portion,
The base is formed with a housing groove for housing an optical fiber and extending in the front-rear direction so as to correspond to the lens,
The lens support portion has a suggestion portion indicating the center of the lens,
The suggestion is formed to extend along the front-rear direction,
An optical connector device in which the base is formed with a recess that sandwiches the receiving groove in the left-right direction and is recessed inward in the left-right direction so as to reach the receiving groove. An apparatus used in the method according to claim 1,
The device includes an optical connector device and a lid portion having two concave portions, and holds the optical fiber by being sandwiched between the optical connector device and the lid portion,
The optical connector device includes a lens, a lens support portion that supports the lens, and a base portion that is located behind the lens support portion,
The lens is supported by a front portion of the lens support portion,
The base is formed with a housing groove for housing an optical fiber and extending in the front-rear direction so as to correspond to the lens,
The lens support portion has a suggestion portion indicating the center of the lens,
The suggestion is formed to extend along the front-rear direction,
The base is formed with a recess that sandwiches the receiving groove in the left-right direction and that is recessed inward in the left-right direction so as to reach the receiving groove.
apparatus. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein
The lid portion has a substantially H-shape.

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