JP7490871B1 - Connector work tool - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a connector working tool that can easily perform work of attaching to and detaching from a connection board while reliably securing hand space during termination work. [Solution] The tool has a mounting base 12 fixed to a part of a back plate 108, a pair of side plates 18 that form a wall surface in a direction away from the port 106 with the port 106 as a base end when the mounting base 12 is fixed to the back plate 108, and an opening/closing beam 24 arranged on the tip side of the side plate 18, the mounting base 12 has a fixing portion 14 for fixing to the back plate 108, and a widening portion 16 that widens as it moves away from the port 106 when the fixing portion 14 is fixed to the back plate 108, and the side plate 18 has a parallel portion 20 connected to the fixing portion 14 and an expanding portion 22 connected to the widening portion 16. [Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to the termination work of optical cables, and in particular to a tool that is useful when inserting and removing cable connectors.

As data traffic increases and communication speeds improve, the use of optical fiber cables for communication lines is on the rise. In large facilities such as buildings, in particular, there are a large number of optical fiber cables distributed within the building, and when installing cables or switching equipment, it is necessary to accurately insert and remove (terminate) the cables into the ports that connect the multiple cable connectors arranged in a narrow space. However, when performing termination work in such a densely packed cable area, there is a risk that the worker's hands or the cables themselves may come into contact with or get caught on surrounding cables, causing malfunctions or incorrect connections.

In view of this situation, connector work jigs such as those disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 have been proposed. For example, the connector work jig disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a wiring attachment section formed in a frame shape surrounding a row of ports arranged vertically on each level of a number of shelves that make up the connection board, and a pair of trumpet sections that are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the wiring attachment section and extend away from the port group from the wiring attachment section as a base point. The trumpet sections are configured to have a warp such that the distance between the pair of trumpet sections increases as they approach the tip.

In a connector work jig configured in this way, by fixing the wiring board mounting portion to the outer periphery of the group of ports arranged on the connection board, the trumpet portion can push aside wiring other than the wiring connected to the ports in the area surrounded by the wiring board mounting portion. This prevents wiring from piling up and getting in the way of your hands during work, allowing you to perform termination work with a clear view of your hands. However, the connector work jig disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a wiring board mounting portion formed in a frame shape, and requires attachment and detachment means such as a permanent magnet to be attached to the frame-shaped portion. This could make it difficult to use with highly integrated connection boards where the gap between adjacent ports is narrow.

The connector work jig disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a U-shaped base with the upper ends of a pair of vertical plate sections connected by a connecting section, and a curved plate section arranged along the longitudinal direction of the vertical plate sections and configured to curve outward as it moves away from the port group in the attached state. The connector work jig disclosed in Patent Document 2 also has a temporary fastening protrusion on the outside of the vertical plate section that is pressed against the side of the adjacent port group. With a connector work jig configured in this way, it can be attached to a connection board even if the gap between adjacent ports is narrow. However, the connector work jig disclosed in Patent Document 2 does not take measures to prevent misidentification of the port number for inserting and removing the optical cable.

The connector work jig disclosed in Patent Document 3 solves these problems. In the connector work jig disclosed in Patent Document 3, a line number indication with a port number is provided on the inside of the extended sheet portion, which corresponds to the curved portion of the connector work jig disclosed in Patent Document 2. Therefore, in addition to the effects of the connector work jigs disclosed in Patent Document 1 and 2, the connector work jig disclosed in Patent Document 3 makes it possible to prevent wiring errors during termination work.

However, in all of the connector work jigs disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, the trumpet portion, curved plate portion, and extension sheet are made of flexible materials. Therefore, when the optical wiring becomes dense, the trumpet portion, curved plate portion, and extension sheet may be pushed in by the surrounding optical cables, making it impossible to maintain the expanded state. This may result in a problem of the space required for termination becoming narrow.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-142656 JP 2008-64916 A JP 2008-224891 A

The present invention aims to solve the above problems and provide a connector work tool that can easily perform attachment and detachment work on a connection board while reliably securing hand space during termination work.

The connector work jig according to the present invention, which is intended to achieve the above object, comprises a mounting base fixed to a part of a rear plate exposed at the top of a terminal block in an optical cable connection board having a terminal block with a plurality of ports arranged in a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the ports, a pair of side plates whose upper ends are connected to the mounting base and form a wall surface in a direction away from the port with the port as the base end when the mounting base is fixed to the rear plate, and an opening/closing beam arranged on the tip side of the side plates, the mounting base having a fixing portion for fixing to the rear plate and a widening portion whose width increases as it moves away from the port when the fixing portion is fixed to the rear plate, and the side plates having a parallel portion connected to the fixing portion and an expanding portion connected to the widening portion.

In addition, in a connector work jig having the above-mentioned characteristics, it is preferable that the opening and closing beam is provided at the lower end of the expanded portion of the pair of side plates. By having such a characteristic, the opening and closing beam does not get in the way when performing the termination work.

Furthermore, in a connector work jig having the above-mentioned characteristics, it is desirable that the widening section has multiple linear guidelines arranged along the arrangement positions of the ports from the parallel section side to the tip side, and that port numbers corresponding to each port are provided near both ends of the guidelines. By having such characteristics, it becomes easier to confirm the port to be connected, and it is possible to prevent work errors such as incorrect connection.

A connector work jig with the above characteristics allows easy installation and removal of connectors from a connection board while ensuring sufficient hand space during termination work.

13 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a connector working jig attached to the front side of the rear panel. FIG. 13 is a front view showing the configuration of a connector working jig attached to the front side of the rear panel. FIG. 13 is a side view showing the configuration of a connector working jig attached to the front side of the rear panel. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a connector working jig attached to the rear side of the rear panel. FIG. 13 is a side view showing the configuration of a connector working jig attached to the back side of the rear panel. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a state in which a connector working jig is attached to a rear plate provided on a shelf of the connection board. FIG. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view of the perspective view shown in FIG. 6 . FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the movable portion of the opening and closing beam is opened in the perspective view shown in FIG. 7 . 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a connection board to which a connector working jig according to an embodiment is applied;

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the connector working jig of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments shown below are some of the preferred forms for carrying out the present application, and even if some of the configurations are changed, they can be considered as part of the present invention.

[Configuration: Connection board]
The connector working jig 10 according to this embodiment is a jig used in a termination work on a connection board 100 as exemplified in FIG. 9. The specific configuration of the connection board 100 is not limited, but it is desirable that the connection board 100 has at least the following elements. That is, a shelf 102 formed in multiple stages is provided, and each stage of the shelf 102 is provided with a bundling section 102a (see FIG. 6 and FIG. 7) for arranging the optical cable 110 (see FIG. 6) arranged on the shelf 102, and a plurality of port groups are arranged in parallel. In each port group, a plurality of ports 106 are arranged on a straight line along a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the port 106 (see FIG. 7). In addition, each port 106 is arranged on a terminal block 104 provided for each port group, and the terminal block 104 is fixed to a back plate 108 provided on the shelf 102. In addition, although not shown in the example shown in FIG. 9, the terminal block 104 is provided on both the front and back of the back plate 108. The back panel 108 has a bent portion 108a at its upper end, which increases its strength against bending in the longitudinal direction (the width direction of the shelf 102 in FIG. 9).

[Configuration: Connector work jig (front side)]
Next, the configuration of the connector work jig 10 to be attached to the front side of the back plate 108 will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. The connector work jig 10 according to this embodiment is basically composed of a mounting base 12, side plates 18, and an opening and closing beam 24. The mounting base 12 is an element that serves to fix the connector work jig 10 with the back plate 108 of the connection board 100 as a base point. The mounting base 12 according to this embodiment has a fixing portion 14 and a widening portion 16.

In the case of the connector work jig 10 according to this embodiment, the fixing portion 14 is basically a rectangular flat plate with a width that matches the width of the terminal block 104. Note that the specific shape of the fixing portion 14 is not limited as long as it can be attached to the upper part of the back plate 108, i.e., the bent portion 108a. For example, in this embodiment, the shapes of the fixing portions 14, 14A are different between the connector work jig 10 attached to the front side of the back plate 108 and the connector work jig 10A (see FIG. 4) attached to the back side of the back plate 108.

As described above, the back plate 108 of the connection board 100 to which the connector work jig 10, 10A according to the embodiment is applied has a bent portion 108a at the upper end, and this bent portion 108a is bent so as to protrude toward the front surface (valley fold). For this reason, the fixing portion 14 of the connector work jig 10 attached to the front surface side of the back plate 108 is configured to sandwich the protruding portion of the bent portion 108a from above and below (thickness direction).

Specifically, it is composed of an upper support piece 14a and a lower support piece 14b. The upper support piece 14a is a rectangular flat plate with a width that matches the width of the port 106. The lower support piece 14b is a portion formed by bending the L-shaped protruding pieces extending from both side surfaces of the tip side (the side located on the rear plate 108 side in the attached state is the base end) of the rectangular flat plate that constitutes the upper support piece 14a at a right angle toward the rear side of the upper support piece 14a. Since the tip of the L-shaped part of the lower support piece 14b is directed toward the base end side of the upper support piece 14a, the bent part 108a of the rear plate 108 can be inserted into the slit formed between the base end of the upper support piece 14a and the tip of the lower support piece 14b, and the bent part 108a can be sandwiched. In this embodiment, the lower support piece 14b is formed to be shorter than the upper support piece 14a.

The widening section 16 is an element that plays a role in holding the widening section 22 in the side plate 18. The widening section 16 is composed of a flat plate-like member that extends from the tip of the fixed section 14, and is a member that has a trapezoidal or fan-shaped shape that widens from the connection part with the fixed section 14 as a base end toward the tip side. In addition, both ends in the width direction of the widening section 14 are provided with engagement pieces 16a for connecting the widening section 22 in the side plate 18, which will be described in detail later. The engagement pieces 16a in this embodiment are formed by bending the plate pieces protruding from both ends in the width direction of the widening section 16 at a right angle toward the back side of the widening section 16, similar to the lower surface support pieces 14b in the fixed section 14.

In this way, in the mounting base 12 according to this embodiment, the upper support piece 14a and the widening portion 16 of the fixed portion 14, which are made up of continuous plate pieces, are configured so that the plate surfaces of the lower support piece 14b and the engagement piece 16a provided at both ends in the width direction form a right angle.

The side plate 18 is an element that plays a role in preventing the optical cable (not shown) connected to the periphery of the port 106 to be worked on from interfering with the hand during the termination work. The side plate 18 according to this embodiment is composed of a pair of plate pieces having a parallel portion 20 and an expanded portion 22. The parallel portion 20 is an element whose upper end is connected to the lower support piece 14b of the fixed portion 14 in the mounting base 12, and is arranged to sandwich the terminal block 104 on which the ports 106 are arranged when the connector work jig 10 is attached to the connection board 100, and the end portion (the side located on the base end side) located on the back plate 108 side is abutted against the back plate 108 to stabilize the mounting state of the connector work jig 10. The expanded portion 22 is an element whose upper end is connected to the engagement piece 16a of the expanded portion 16 in the mounting base 12, and is a plate piece that is extended in a direction away from the port 106 in the mounted state with the end portion located on the parallel portion 20 side as the base end. Because the plates are arranged along the side of the trapezoidal or sector-shaped widening section 16, the distance between the pair of widening sections 22 becomes wider toward the tip. In addition, the widening section 22 has multiple straight lines (guidelines 22a) that correspond to the placement of the port 106. The guidelines 22a are drawn from the base end side to the tip side of the widening section 22, and each guideline 22a has a port number 22b that corresponds to the placement of the port 106.

The length L of the expansion section 22 (the length in the direction away from the port 106 in the installed state) is not particularly limited, but when used in a connection board 100 such as that shown in FIG. 9, it is preferable to determine it as follows, as an example. Specifically, if the distance between the binding section 102a (see FIG. 6 and FIG. 7) provided on the shelf 102 and the back plate 108 is A, it is preferable to determine the length L in the range of A/2≦L<A. By determining the length L in such a range, the effect of the side plate 18 (expansion section 22) can be achieved, and the opening and closing beam 24, which will be described in detail later, can be prevented from interfering with the termination work (the wiring path of the optical cable 110 (see FIG. 6) being behind the opening and closing beam 24).

This configuration makes it easier to grasp the position of the port 106 where the termination work is performed, making it possible to reduce work errors such as incorrect connections. In addition, it is desirable to add the port number 22b in two places, at the base end side and the tip end side of the expansion section 22. The parallel section 20 and the expansion section 22 may be formed by bending or curving a single plate piece, or may be formed as separate bodies. In addition, it is desirable to form the side plate 18 from a material that is translucent, but it is not necessary that it be translucent.

The opening/closing beam 24 is an element that plays a role in maintaining the expanded state of the tip of the expansion section 22 on the side plate 18. The opening/closing beam 24 is composed of a beam base 24a and a movable section 24b, and is configured to be openable and closable by the movement of the movable section 24b relative to the beam base 24a. In this embodiment, a pair of beam bases 24a are disposed at the lower end of the tip side of the pair of expansion sections 22. One end of the movable section 24b is rotatably attached to one beam base 24a, and the other end of the movable section 24b is configured to be engageable with the other beam base 24a. The specific configuration of the rotation mechanism and engagement mechanism in the movable section 24b is not important, and any configuration that can obtain each function will suffice.

With this configuration, the expanded state of the expansion portion 22 on the side plate 18 is maintained, and even after the termination work of the optical cable 110 (see FIG. 6) is completed, the tip side of the expansion portion 22 can be opened by operating the movable portion 24b, and the connector work jig 10 can be removed from the connection board 100. The mounting position of the opening/closing beam 24 does not matter as long as it is on the tip side of the expansion portion 22. For example, it may be the upper or middle part of the tip side of the expansion portion 22, but by placing it at the lower end, the field of view during the termination work is not obstructed. In this embodiment, the length (vertical length in the installed state) of the side plate 18 (expanded portion 22) is set to be longer than the length of the arrangement range of the port 106 on the terminal block 104, and the opening/closing beam 24 is attached to the range where the port 106 is not arranged, so that the opening/closing beam 24 does not interfere with the termination work.

[Action and Effects]
When using the connector work jig 10 according to this embodiment to perform termination work on the connection board 100 described above, the connector work jig 10 is used as follows: First, in the connection board 100 to be worked on, the terminal block 104 having the port 106 to be worked on is identified. After identifying the terminal block 104, the fixing portion 14 of the mounting base 12 is fixed to the bent portion 108a located at the top of the target terminal block 104 (see FIGS. 6 and 7).

The mounting base 12 can be fixed to the bent portion 108a by pushing the connector work jig 10 so that the bent portion 108a is inserted into the slit provided between the upper support piece 14a and the lower support piece 14b of the fixing portion 14. When the connector work jig 10 is pushed so that the bent portion 108a is inserted into the slit, the base end side end of the parallel portion 20 constituting the side plate 18 comes into contact with the back plate 108, and the mounting state of the connector work jig 10 becomes stable.

In the case of termination work in the connection board 100 as shown in FIG. 9, the optical cable 110 is generally pulled up to the rear panel 108 side, as shown in FIG. 6, and connected to the port 106. When performing termination work with the above-mentioned connector work jig 10 attached to the connection board 100, the optical cable 110 is connected to the port 106 that is arranged between a pair of side panels 18 provided on the attached connector work jig 10 as shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, the optical cable 110 pulled up from the shelf 102 side is wired so as to straddle the upper side of the opening and closing beam 24 arranged on the tip side of the side panel 18. Therefore, it is possible to maintain good workability. In addition, as described above, in this embodiment, the length of the side panel 18 (the vertical length in the attached state) is set longer than the length of the arrangement range of the port 106 in the terminal block 104, so that the opening and closing beam 24 arranged at the lower end of the side panel 18 does not obstruct the view during the termination work.

In addition, by using the connector work jig 10, it is possible to prevent the optical cables (not shown) connected to the ports 106 located to the left and right of the port 106 being worked on from being pushed toward the port 106 being worked on. This makes it possible to prevent the surrounding optical cables (not shown) from getting caught in the port 106 being terminated (blocking visibility and work space). This also makes it possible to improve the workability of the termination work. In addition, since it is no longer necessary to manually push aside the optical cables (not shown) connected to the left and right of the port 106 being worked on when performing the termination work, it is possible to prevent problems caused by bending the pushed-aside optical cables (not shown) at an unreasonable angle.

Furthermore, the expanded portion 22 of the side plate 18 is marked with a guideline 22a along with a port number 22b, which helps prevent incorrect connection. As shown in FIG. 8, the opening/closing beam 24 provided on the expanded portion 22 can open the movable portion 24b, so that the connector work jig 10 can be removed from the connection board 100 even after the optical cable 110 has been wired from above the opening/closing beam 24.

[Configuration: Connector work jig (rear side)]
Next, the connector working jig 10A to be attached to the rear side of the rear plate 108 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The connector working jig 10A attached to the back side of the back plate 108 is different from the connector working jig 10 attached to the front side mainly in the shape of the fixing part 14A in the mounting base 12. Specifically, a hook part 14a1 is provided on the base end side of the upper support piece 14a constituting the fixing part 14A, the lower support piece 14b is deleted, and an engagement piece 14c is provided in place of the lower support piece 14b. With this configuration, even if the lower support piece 14b is deleted, it is possible to support the parallel part 20 of the side plate 18. In addition, the bent part 108a of the back plate 108 is bent toward the front side. Therefore, the connector working jig 10A cannot be fixed by pinching the bent part 108a from the back side. Therefore, the hook part 14a1 provided on the base end side of the upper support piece 14a is hooked onto the tip of the bent part 108a to stably support the connector working jig 10A (see FIG. 5).

In the connector work jig 10A placed on the back side, the hook portion 14a1 engages with the base end of the parallel portion 20 that constitutes the side plate 18, and the base end of the connector work jig 10A abuts against the back plate 108, allowing the connector work jig 10A to be stably supported.

The other configurations and effects are the same as those of the connector work jig 10 placed on the front side described above.

10, 10A... Connector work jig, 12... Mounting base, 14, 14A... Fixed portion, 14a... Upper support piece, 14a1... Hook portion, 14b... Lower support piece, 14c... Engagement piece, 16... Widening portion, 16a... Engagement piece, 18... Side plate, 20... Parallel portion, 22... Widening portion, 22a... Guide line, 22b... Port number, 24... Opening and closing beam, 24a... Beam base, 24b... Movable portion, 100... Connection board, 102... Shelf, 102a... Binding portion, 104... Terminal block, 106... Port, 108... Rear plate, 108a... Bending portion, 110... Optical cable.

Claims (3)

a mounting base fixed to a part of a rear plate exposed at an upper part of a terminal block in an optical cable connection board having a terminal block with a plurality of ports arranged in a direction perpendicular to a width direction of the ports;
a pair of side plates each having an upper end connected to the mounting base and forming a wall surface in a direction away from the port with the port as a base end in a state in which the mounting base is fixed to the rear plate;
An opening/closing beam disposed on the tip side of the side plate,
the mounting base includes a fixing portion for fixing to the rear plate, and a width increasing portion that increases in width as the mounting base moves away from the port when the fixing portion is fixed to the rear plate,
The side plate has a parallel portion connected to the fixed portion and an expanded portion connected to the expanded portion. The connector working jig according to claim 1, characterized in that the opening and closing beam is provided at the lower end of the expanding portion of the pair of side plates. The expanding portion has a plurality of linear guidelines arranged along the arrangement positions of the ports from the parallel portion side to the tip side,
3. The connector working jig according to claim 2, wherein port numbers corresponding to the respective ports are provided near both ends of said guide lines.

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