JP6005778B2 - Optical connection structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connection structure for connecting an optical connector inside a package and an optical connector on the outside via an optical adapter.

  In a base station of an optical communication network or the like, an optical transmission device such as a concentrator or a switch having a large number of optical modules mounted in a casing is installed. The packages of each optical module are arranged in a housing (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). An optical adapter is fixed to each package. The optical adapter holds the optical connector inside the package and the external optical connector inserted from the outside of the package in an opposing state capable of optical transmission, and connects the optical connectors to each other. In general, an optical adapter has a connector connection port on both sides of a housing formed integrally with resin or the like, and has a structure in which a mechanism for holding an optical connector in an insertable / removable manner is housed inside each connector connection port ( Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In general, packages are closely arranged on the housing. In addition, the use of packages in which a plurality of optical adapters are arranged is increasing. Therefore, the optical adapter may be densely packed at a narrow interval vertically and horizontally on one surface. When the optical connectors on the external side are inserted into these, the optical fiber cables following these optical connectors are in a state where they hang down several times within a narrow lateral width. For example, in an exchange operation in which the connection partner of the optical connector inside the package is changed from an existing counterpart to a new connection counterpart, an external optical connector insertion / extraction operation is performed. In this insertion / extraction operation, the external optical connector being connected is extracted from the optical adapter, and the external optical connector to be newly connected is inserted into the extracted optical adapter. At this time, if the operator tries to pick up the optical connector on the outside from the vertical direction, it will be obstructed by the hanging optical fiber cable. Further, when an operator tries to pick the external optical connector from the lateral direction, it is obstructed by the adjacent external optical connector that projects forward on both sides.

  For example, as described in Patent Document 3, the external optical connector can be inserted and removed with a dedicated tool that can be easily inserted into and removed from a narrow space, thereby facilitating the insertion and removal of the external optical connector even in a situation where the optical adapters are densely packed. Is possible.

JP 2012-83519 A JP 2011-7839 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-119058

“Cisco Nexus 7000 10 Slot Switch Introduction”, [Search February 23, 2015], Internet <URL: http://www.cisco.com/web/JP/product/hs/switches/nexus7000/nexus7010/index .html>

  However, the dedicated tool needs to be prepared according to the type of the optical connector on the outside. It is burdensome for an operator to carry various kinds of dedicated tools, and the cost of tool procurement is also high. In addition, the external optical connector needs to have a structure on the premise of insertion / extraction with a dedicated tool, and there is a problem that the existing external optical connector cannot be used.

  In view of the above-mentioned background, the problem to be solved by the present invention is that the existing optical connector can be diverted, and the optical adapter can be used on the outside side without depending on the dedicated tool even when the optical adapters are densely arranged. It is to facilitate insertion and removal of the optical connector.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an optical connection structure in which an optical connector inside a package and an optical connector on the outside are connected via an optical adapter, and the optical adapter receives the optical connector inside the package. It is divided into a fixed adapter portion and a plurality of movable adapter portions that receive the external optical connector, and the package is connected to any one of the plurality of movable adapter portions facing the fixed adapter portion. A movable support section that holds the other movable adapter section at a standby position that is out of the connection position and guides the movement of the plurality of movable adapter sections between the connection position and the standby position. Is adopted.

  According to the above configuration, the movable adapter unit at the connection position held by the movable support unit is opposed to the fixed adapter unit, while the new connection partner is opposed to the movable adapter unit at the standby position held by the movable support unit. It is possible to insert an external optical connector. Then, when the movable adapter portion inserted is moved to the connection position and the movable adapter portion at the connection position is moved to the standby position by the guide of the movable support portion, the inserted movable adapter portion faces the fixed adapter portion. Can be made. Then, the optical connector on the external side of the old connection partner can be removed from the movable adapter portion moved to the standby position. Here, in a situation where the optical adapters are densely packed, a large number of fixed adapter portions are arranged closely, and the movable adapter portions at the connection positions facing the fixed adapter portions are also arranged in the same manner. On the other hand, at the standby position deviating from the connection position, there is no need to leave the movable adapter portion with the external optical connector inserted. Therefore, when the movable adapter part to be inserted / extracted is in the standby position, the external optical connector is not inserted into the other movable adapter part arranged immediately next to it, and in this state, the movable adapter part to be inserted / extracted It is possible to insert and remove the optical connector on the outside. For this reason, even in a situation where the optical adapters are densely packed, it becomes easy to pick and insert the external optical connector by hand. In addition, since it is possible to easily insert and remove by simply changing the position of the movable adapter portion according to the movable support portion provided in the package, it is possible to divert the existing external optical connector. There is no need to rely on dedicated tools that depend on the type of tool.

  Further, according to the above configuration, the operator confirms the movable adapter portion at the connection position to be replaced at the time of replacement work, and the movable adapter portion at the standby position held by the same movable support portion is externally connected to the movable adapter portion. Since the optical connector is inserted and moved to the connection position, it is possible to avoid a situation where an optical connector at a position different from that of the optical connector to be replaced can be mistakenly removed.

Preferably, the plurality of movable adapter portions may be continuous so as to move integrally between the standby position and the connection position.
In this case, the movable adapter unit at the standby position that is easily operated manually even in a situation where the optical adapters are densely moved is moved to the connection position by hand, and the movable adapter unit at the connection position is moved to the standby position at the same time. It is excellent in workability.

It is also preferable that the movable support portion holds the movable adapter portion at the standby position away from the package in a direction facing the fixed adapter portion.
If it does in this way, when moving a movable adapter part between a stand-by position and a connection position, rubbing of an opposing surface (surface which faces a fixed adapter part) of a movable adapter part and a package can be prevented.

  As described above, the present invention adopts the above-described configuration, without relying on a dedicated tool depending on the type of the optical connector on the external side, and allowing the existing optical connector to be diverted, while the optical adapters are densely packed. Even so, it is possible to easily insert and remove the optical connector on the external side, and it is possible to avoid a situation where the optical connector at a position different from the optical connector to be replaced is mistakenly removed.

(A) is a front view of the optical connection structure which concerns on embodiment of this invention, (b) is sectional drawing of the II line | wire of the said (a). The enlarged perspective view which showed the optical adapter vicinity of FIG. 1 from the outer side Partial enlarged front view of the optical adapter of FIG. 1 with an external optical connector inserted into each movable adapter portion Sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. Action | operation figure which shows the 1st step at the time of inserting / extracting the optical connector of an external side in embodiment Action diagram showing the second stage following FIG. Operational diagram showing the third stage following FIG. Operational diagram showing the fourth stage following FIG. Action diagram showing the fifth stage following FIG.

  Hereinafter, an optical connection structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the optical module package 100 is accommodated in a housing in an aligned state. Each package 100 has the same structure.

  The package 100 is mounted with an optical connection structure that connects the optical connector 20 inside the package and the optical connectors 30 on the outside via the optical adapter 10.

  The package 100 in the illustrated example is a box-like body that is long in the vertical direction and short in the horizontal direction. In the plate portion 101 disposed on one surface of the package 100, a plurality of optical adapters 10 are arranged in the vertical direction. The package 100 is arranged in the horizontal direction on one surface of the housing. Accordingly, the optical adapters 10 are arranged vertically and horizontally on one surface of the housing. Here, the vertical direction corresponds to the vertical direction perpendicular to the installation surface of the housing for the operator, and the horizontal direction corresponds to the horizontal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction. In addition, the pattern of the dense arrangement of the optical adapters can adopt an appropriate pattern other than the illustrated example. It is also possible to adopt a package having only one optical adapter. For example, even in a pattern in which packages having only one optical adapter are arranged in two directions, the optical adapters are densely arranged in a lattice pattern on one surface of the housing.

  The optical connector 20 inside the package is attached to an optical fiber cable arranged in the package 100. The external optical connector 30 is attached to an optical fiber cable disposed outside the package 100. In FIG. 1B, only the package 100 is shown in cross section, and the optical adapter 10 and the optical connectors 20 and 30 are shown in appearance.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the optical adapter 10 is divided into a fixed adapter portion 11 that receives the optical connector 20 inside the package and a plurality of movable adapter portions 12 and 13 that receive the optical connectors 30 and 31 on the outside side. ing. In the illustrated example, the number of movable adapter parts is set to two.

  The external optical connectors 30 and 31 have the same shape, and the movable adapter units 12 and 13 are the same. The optical connectors 20, 30, and 31 are each coupled to the corresponding fixed adapter unit 11 or the movable adapter units 12 and 13 with a push-pull structure. The illustrated example includes SC-type optical connectors 20, 30, and 31, and a fixed adapter unit 11 and movable adapter units 12 and 13 corresponding thereto. Each adapter part 11, 12, and 13 has the following structure each independently. For example, it has a housing that penetrates in the opposing direction of the optical connector 20 inside the package and the optical connectors 30 and 31 on the external side, and the corresponding optical connector 20, 30, 31 is placed in the opposing direction through one side of the housing. A mechanism for holding the corresponding optical connectors 20, 30, 31 so as to be insertable / removable in the housing (for example, the locking claw 14 of the movable adapter portion 13 in FIG. 2), and a corresponding light This is a structure in which a sleeve (not shown) that holds the ferrules of the connectors 20, 30, and 31 in the opposing direction is housed. The opposing direction of the fixed adapter portion 11 and the movable adapter portions 12 and 13 is the same as the opposing direction of the optical connector 20 inside the package and the optical connectors 30 and 31 on the outside side (hereinafter simply referred to as “opposing direction”).

  The fixed adapter unit 11 is fixed to the plate unit 101 in a state of being fitted into the opening of the plate unit 101 of the package 100. The outer end portion of the fixed adapter portion 11 is substantially flush with the outer surface of the plate portion 101.

  Between each of the plurality of movable adapter portions 12 and 13 is connected in series by a beam-like transmission portion 15 extending between the housings. The transmission unit 15 is disposed so as to connect the four corners of the upper surface of the housing of the movable adapter unit 12 and the four corners of the lower surface of the housing of the movable adapter unit 13.

  The package 100 has a movable support portion 102 composed of a pair of rails fixed to the outer surface of the plate portion 101. The movable support unit 102 holds one of the plurality of movable adapter units 12 and 13 at a connection position facing the fixed adapter unit 11 and holds the other movable adapter unit at a standby position away from the connection position. In addition, the movement of the plurality of movable adapter portions 12 and 13 is guided between the connection position and the standby position.

  The movable support portion 102 in the illustrated example has a larger number of linear regions than the plurality of movable adapter portions 12 and 13 (in the illustrated example, one more number: 3). In each linear area, a parallel guide surface along the vertical direction is formed. Moreover, the movable support part 102 has the protrusion 103 which protruded in the rail opposing direction in each linear area of each rail, and the inclination area | region 104 which changed the distance with the board part 101 between each linear area gradually. The straight region passing through the same height as the fixed adapter portion 11 is closest to the plate portion 101, and the straight regions on both sides adjacent to each other through the straight region and the inclined region 104 are relatively separated from the plate portion 101. Pass through an equal distance.

  On the other hand, the movable adapter parts 12 and 13 are sandwiched between a pair of rails of the movable support part 102. The movable adapter portions 12 and 13 have a recess 16 formed at a location facing the rail of the movable support portion 102 and a pair of guided surfaces 17 and 18 that sandwich the rail of the movable support portion 102 in the opposing direction. The pair of guided surfaces 17 and 18 are chevron-shaped with a surface parallel to the upper inclined region 104 in the drawing of the movable support portion 102 and a surface parallel to the lower inclined region 104 in the drawing. The rail is always sandwiched in the opposite direction at the ridge line. For this reason, the movable adapter parts 12 and 13 can pass through the inclined region 104.

  The protrusion 103 of the movable support portion 102 is formed in a hemispherical shape. On the other hand, the recess 16 has a hemispherical shape that fits into the protrusion 103. The movable support portion 102 connects the one movable adapter portion 12 by fitting the protrusion 103 in the linear region closest to the plate portion 101 and one of the plurality of movable adapter portions 12 and 13 into the recess 16. The other movable adapter part 13 is held at the standby position by fitting the adjacent linear region projection 103 with the recess 16 of the other movable adapter part 13. The movable support unit 102 holds the movable adapter unit 13 at the standby position away from the plate unit 101 of the package 100 in the facing direction.

  Further, the movable support portion 102 guides the movable adapter portions 12 and 13 to slide in the vertical direction by sliding contact between the parallel guide surfaces of each linear region and the pair of guided surfaces 17 and 18, and each inclined region. By sliding contact between 104 and the pair of guided surfaces 17 and 18, the movable adapter parts 12 and 13 are guided to slide in the vertical direction while being displaced in the opposing direction.

  The transmission unit 15 transmits a moving operation force in the vertical direction between each of the plurality of movable adapter units 12 and 13, and the movable adapter unit 12 by sliding contact between the inclined region 104 and the pair of guided surfaces 17 and 18. 13 has the flexibility to bend following the displacement in the opposite direction. For this reason, these movable adapter parts 12 and 13 can move integrally between a standby position and a connection position.

  The usage mode of the optical connection structure according to the embodiment is as follows. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 5, in each optical adapter 10 that is densely arranged vertically and horizontally on one surface of the housing, any one of the plurality of movable adapter parts 12, 13 is used. The movable adapter unit 12 is a connection position, and the other movable adapter unit 13 is a standby position. Normally, the external optical connector 30 is inserted only into the movable adapter portion 12 at the connection position, and the other movable adapter portion 13 at the standby position is left without the external optical connector being inserted. Here, an initial state in which the movable adapter portion 13 on the upper side in the figure is at the standby position on the upper side in the figure with respect to the connection position is illustrated.

  When there is a need for replacement work to change the connection partner with the optical connector 20 inside the package inserted into the fixed adapter unit 11 from the initial state, the worker first waits as shown in FIG. The optical connector 31 on the external side as a new connection partner is inserted into the movable adapter portion 13 at the position. As is apparent from FIG. 1A, this insertion operation is a state in which the external optical connector is not inserted into the movable adapter portion at the other standby position located immediately on both sides of the movable adapter portion 13 to be inserted and removed. Can be done.

  Thereafter, the operator pushes the inserted movable adapter portion 13 in the vertical direction from the upper side to the lower side in the drawing to give a moving operation force. As a result, the protrusion 103 of the movable support portion 102 can be removed from the recess 16 of the movable adapter portion 13, and at the same time, the moving operation force is transmitted to the movable adapter portion 12 at the connection position via the transmission portion 15. The protrusion 103 can also be removed from the recess 16, and thereafter, by continuing to push, the plurality of movable adapter portions 12 and 13 can be integrally slid in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 7. This moving operation is a simple operation of inserting a finger from the side above the movable adapter portion 13 while avoiding the hanging optical fiber cable.

  Soon, as shown in FIG. 8, when the movable adapter portion 13 reaches the connection position, the protrusion 103 of the movable support portion 102 is fitted into the recess 16 of the movable adapter portion 13, and simultaneously on the lower side in the figure. The protrusion 103 of the movable support portion 102 is fitted into the recess 16 of the movable adapter portion 12 that has reached the standby position, and the movable adapter portion 13 is naturally held at the connection position by the movable support portion 102, and the movable adapter portion 12 is The movable support portion 102 is naturally held at the lower standby position in the figure.

  Thereafter, the operator pulls out the optical connector 30 on the external side of the old connection partner from the movable adapter portion 12 held at the standby position on the lower side in the drawing. Thereafter, the movable adapter section 12 is left unused as shown in FIG. This extraction operation can also be performed in a state where the external optical connector is not inserted into the movable adapter portion at the other standby position located immediately on both sides of the movable adapter portion 13 to be inserted / extracted. Next, when changing the connection partner with the optical connector 20 inside the package, the external optical connector as a new connection partner is inserted into the movable adapter portion 12 at the lower standby position in the figure, and the lower side in the figure Will be moved upwards.

  As described above, in the optical connection structure according to the embodiment, even in a situation where the optical adapters 10 are densely packed, the optical connector 31 on the external side is grasped by hand from the side to the movable adapter unit 13 at the standby position to be inserted and removed. It becomes easy to insert and to pull the optical connector 30 on the outside from the side from the movable adapter portion 12 at the standby position to be inserted and removed by hand. Since the optical connection structure according to the embodiment can be easily inserted / removed only by the position changing operation of the movable adapter parts 12 and 13 according to the movable support part 102 provided in the package 100, an existing external optical connector 30 and 31 can be used, and it is not necessary to rely on a dedicated tool depending on the type of the optical connectors 30 and 31 on the external side.

  Furthermore, in the optical connection structure according to the embodiment, due to the interlocking of the plurality of movable adapter units 12 and 13 via the transmission unit 15, the movable adapter unit 12 in the standby position that is easily operated manually even in a situation where the optical adapters 10 are densely packed. Alternatively, the movable adapter portion 13 or 12 at the connection position can be moved to the standby position at the same time as the hand 13 is moved by hand to the connection position, and the workability is excellent.

  Furthermore, the optical connection structure according to the embodiment holds the movable adapter parts 12 and 13 at the standby position in a state of being separated from the package 100 in the facing direction as shown in FIGS. When the movable adapter portions 12 and 13 are moved, the opposing surfaces of the movable adapter portions 12 and 13 (fixed adapters) until the movable adapter portions 12 and 13 approach the connection position through the inclined region 104 as shown in FIG. The surface facing the portion 11) and the plate portion 101 of the package 100 can be prevented from rubbing.

  Furthermore, in the optical connection structure according to the embodiment, the operator confirms the movable adapter portion 12 at the connection position to be replaced at the time of replacement work, and the same movable support above or below the movable adapter portion 12 to be replaced. The external optical connector 31 is inserted into the movable adapter unit 13 at the standby position held by the unit 102, and the movable adapter unit 13 to be inserted is moved to the connection position. The operator clearly recognizes and removes the optical connector 30, thereby avoiding a situation where the optical connector at a position different from the optical connector 30 to be replaced is mistakenly removed.

  The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes all modifications within the scope of the technical idea based on the description of the scope of claims. For example, the optical connector on the inner side of the package and the optical connector on the outer side need not have the same type, and the optical adapter can be configured as either a relay adapter or a conversion adapter. In addition, the transmission part is not limited to one integrally formed in the housing of the plurality of movable adapter parts, and is interlocked from the middle of movement by the abutment of independent movable adapter parts as long as there is no hindrance in guiding and holding the movable support part. It is also possible to configure so as to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Optical adapter 11 Fixed adapter part 12, 13 Movable adapter part 15 Transmission part 16 Recesses 17, 18 Guide surface 20 Optical connector 30 inside package Optical connector 100 outside 101 Package 101 Plate part 102 Movable support part 103 Protrusion 104 Inclination Area

Claims (3)

In the optical connection structure that connects the optical connector inside the package and the optical connector on the outside side through the optical adapter,
The optical adapter is divided into a fixed adapter part that receives the optical connector inside the package and a plurality of movable adapter parts that receive the optical connector on the outside side,
The package holds any one of the plurality of movable adapter parts at a connection position facing the fixed adapter part, and holds the other movable adapter part at a standby position away from the connection position; and the movable supporting portion for guiding movement of said plurality of movable adapter section between the connecting position and the waiting position and possess the outer surface of the package,
The external optical connector is grasped by hand and inserted into and removed from the movable adapter portion at the standby position, and the movable adapter portion is moved by hand and moved to the connection position according to the movable support portion. Characteristic optical connection structure.   2. The optical connection structure according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of movable adapter portions are continuous so as to move integrally between the standby position and the connection position.   The optical connection structure according to claim 1, wherein the movable support portion holds the movable adapter portion at the standby position in a state of being separated from the package in a direction facing the fixed adapter portion.

Images