JPH01263602A - Terminal structure of optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simultaneously and collectively caulk and fix a reinforcing fiber and sheath and to improve assembling workability by collectively caulk the part of a sleeve which is inserted with the caulking receiving member between the fiber of an optical fiber and the reinforcing fiber and is positioned on the caulking receiving member and ferrule. CONSTITUTION:A sleeve 13 is fitted onto the sheath 11d of the optical fiber 11 and is moved toward the right; thereafter, a fiber 11a and the fiber 11b are adhered and fixed via a low-viscosity adhesive agent 12 into the holes 10a, 10b of the ferrule 10. The end of the reinforcing fiber 11c is then positioned to the outside circumference in the part B of the ferrule 10 in the sate of inserting and fixing the caulking receiving member 14 between the fiber 11b and the reinforcing fiber 11c and after the sleeve 13 is moved to the ferrule 10 side, the parts B and C of the sleeve 13 are simultaneously caulked and fixed by a caulking tool. The reinforcing fiber 11c and the sheath 11d are thereby extremely easily caulked and fixed with the high fixing strength without using a high-viscosity adhesive agent.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an optical fiber terminal structure for an optical device into which an optical fiber is inserted and fixed.

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, optical fiber terminal structures used in optical devices such as optical connectors, optical modules, and optical switches include:
A structure shown in FIG. 5 is known.

The conventional method for assembling an optical fiber terminal is to first strip the optical fiber 1 as shown in FIG.
After pouring a low-viscosity adhesive 3 into the internal hole 2a12b, the strands 1a and core wire 1b of the optical fiber 1 are inserted into the ferrule 2.

Next, the reinforcing fiber IC is placed on the ferrule 2, a high viscosity adhesive 4 is applied to the reinforcing fiber IC and the outer cover 1d, and then the sleeve 5, which has been inserted into the optical fiber 1 in advance, is moved by a predetermined amount. It is brought to the position shown in FIG. 5, and the adhesive 4 is heated and cured at this position.

In such a conventional optical fiber terminal structure, if the adhesion work is perfect, the reinforcing fiber IC1 jacket 1d of the optical fiber 1 can be firmly connected.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in such a conventional optical fiber terminal structure, since the reinforcing fiber IC of the optical fiber 1 and the outer sheath 1d are adhesively fixed with a high viscosity adhesive 4, two types of adhesives, low viscosity and high viscosity, are used. Not only does it require processing such as mixing and defoaming as described in 3.4, but it also takes time to apply the adhesive 4, resulting in poor assembly workability.

Moreover, the applied adhesive 4 often penetrates into the reinforcing fiber IC, flows to the A part of the optical fiber 1, and hardens.
There is also a drawback that if the optical fiber 1 is bent in this state, the optical fiber 1 will be damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber terminal structure that can improve assembly workability and reliably prevent damage to the optical fiber.

[Failure to solve the problem]

In order to achieve this objective, the present invention provides a ferrule having holes for inserting and fixing optical fiber strands and core wires;
reinforcing fibers placed around the ferrule; a sleeve covering the ferrule and a portion of the outer sheath of the optical fiber;
The sleeve includes a caulking receiving member which is placed inside the sleeve, inserted between the core wire of the optical fiber and the reinforcing fibers, and has a plurality of slits at one end, and the sleeve includes the caulking receiving member and the ferrule. The upper part is caulked.

[Effect]

As described above, in the optical fiber terminal structure according to the present invention, the reinforcing fibers and the outer sheath of the optical fiber can be crimped and fixed at the same time, thereby greatly improving the assembly work. Furthermore, since both the reinforcing fibers and the outer sheath can be fixed without using adhesive, there is no leakage of the adhesive to the outside of the optical fiber terminal, and the risk of damage to the optical fiber can be eliminated.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of an optical fiber terminal structure according to the present invention.

The ferrule 10 is provided with a hole 10.10b into which the strand 11a and core wire 11b of the optical fiber 11 are inserted. The hole 10a into which the strand 11a is inserted is formed to have a smaller diameter than the hole 10b into which the core wire 11b is inserted. The holes 10a and lOb of this ferrule 10 are filled with a low-viscosity adhesive 12, and the strands 11a and core wires 11b are adhesively fixed in the holes 10a and 10b via the adhesive 12. It has become. Further, a part of the reinforcing fiber 11c of the optical fiber 11 is covered at the outer peripheral position corresponding to the hole 10b of the ferrule 10, and a part of the reinforcing fiber 11c and a part of the outer covering lid of the optical fiber 11 are covered. A sleeve 13 is fitted around the outer periphery. Furthermore, a caulking receiving member 14 is provided between the core wire 11b and the reinforcing fiber tic.
is inserted and placed. This caulking receiving member 14 is the second caulking receiving member 14.
As shown in detail in the figure, it is made in a cylindrical shape, and has a flange 14b at one end in which ribs 14a are formed toward the center and at regular intervals in the circumferential direction. There is.

Next, the method for assembling the optical fiber terminal of this example is shown in Figure 3 (
This will be explained using a) to <f>. The process in which this embodiment differs from the conventional one is the process shown in FIGS. 3(C) and 3(f). That is, in the process shown in FIG.
In the process shown in FIG. 1(f), parts B and 0 of the sleeve 13 (Fig. 1 (see the hatched portion in FIG. 3(f)) are simultaneously crimped and fixed to appropriate dimensions using a crimping tool 15.

This makes it possible to fix the right reinforcing fiber 11c and the outer cover lid with great fixing strength and very easily, as in the case of conventional adhesion.

Note that FIG. 3(a) shows the process of fitting the sleeve 13 onto the outer sheath 11d of the optical fiber 11, and FIG.
The process of bending and arranging C around the outer cover lid, the same figure (
d) is the step of inserting the strand 11a and the core wire 11b of the optical fiber 11 into the ferrule 10, and (e) of the same figure is the step of moving the sleeve 13 toward the ferrule 10 and inserting the ferrule 1 into the ferrule 10.
This shows the process of covering part of the outer periphery of 0. In this embodiment, since the adhesive does not directly contact the reinforcing fiber 11C1 jacket lid, the adhesive does not flow into the optical fiber 11.

In addition, since the caulking receiving member 14 is provided with sleeves 14a at regular intervals in the circumferential direction on the flange portion 14b,
In FIG. 1, the reinforcing fibers 11c can be uniformly set in the ferrule 10 in the circumferential direction through the slits 14a of the caulking receiving member 14. Therefore, there is no reduction in caulking strength due to the unevenness of Kevlar on the ferrule 10, and there is an advantage that the terminal can be made smaller.

Note that FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the crimping receiving member, and the crimping receiving member 16 in FIG. , the caulking receiving member 14 of the above-described embodiment
It has the advantage of being easier to manufacture than. Further, the structure in which the caulking receiving member 16 has the sleeves 16a provided at regular intervals in the circumferential direction at one end thereof is the same as that of the caulking receiving member 14 described above.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the optical fiber terminal structure according to the present invention has the following various effects.

(i) The structure allows the reinforcing fibers of the optical fiber and the outer sheath to be crimped and fixed at the same time, making assembly work much easier than in the past.

(11) Since the structure allows both the reinforcing fibers and the jacket to be fixed without using adhesive, the adhesive does not leak out of the optical fiber terminal, thereby eliminating the possibility of damage to the optical fiber.

(iii) By using the caulking receiving member, the outer sheath can be firmly fixed in the same way as in the case of adhesion, without damaging the optical fiber.

(iv) By providing a plurality of slits in the caulking receiving member and inserting reinforcing fibers into the slits, the terminal can be miniaturized and the structure can be simplified, similar to the case of adhesion, even though it has a caulking structure.

(V) Since it is possible to uniformly set and sow reinforcing fibers on the ferrule, the quality of caulking can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of an optical fiber terminal structure according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a caulking receiving member, and FIG. 3 is an assembly of an optical fiber terminal according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the caulking receiving member, and FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a conventional optical fiber terminal structure. 10... Ferrule, 10a, 10b... Hole, 11... Optical fiber, 11a... Element wire, 11b... Core wire, 11C...1 strong fiber, 11d...outer cover, 13...sleeve, 14.16...caulking receiving member, 14a,
16a... Slit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical fiber terminal structure of an optical device for inserting and fixing an optical fiber, which includes: a ferrule having a hole for inserting and fixing the strands and core wires of the optical fiber, reinforcing fibers placed around the ferrule, and the ferrule and the optical fiber. and a caulking receiving member disposed inside the sleeve and inserted between the core wire of the optical fiber and the reinforcing fiber, and having a plurality of slits at one end. consisting of the sleeve,
An optical fiber terminal structure characterized in that a portion located on the caulking receiving member and the ferrule is caulked.