JPH0320703A - Optical switch device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lower a light loss and to execute stable optical communication by applying a matching oil to the joint end face of one connector prior to the joint operation of the connectors and thereby closing the spacing generated at the time of joining by the matching oil. CONSTITUTION:A supporting member 41 is moved in a direction A by a driving device and is stopped when an oil nozzle 91 arrives at the position right above the multi-fiber connector 21. A cylinder 93 lowers a bracket 92 contracts by and pressing a sponge 91a at the top end of the nozzle 91 to the joining end face of the connector 21. The matching oil is then applied thereon by a coating device 90. The supporting member 41 is moved in the direction A when the cylinder 93 rises the supporting bracket 29. Attaching and detaching operations are executed at the point of the time when the master connector 32 arrives at the position right above the connector 21. The oil closes the spacing generat ed in the joint end faces of the connectors in this way even if such spacing is formed. The generation of the light loss is suppressed and the stable optical communication is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an optical switch device used for switching optical paths.

(Prior Art) As an optical switch device used in a monitoring system that monitors an optical line consisting of a large number of optical fibers without affecting the current optical communication, for example, a plurality of optical switch devices having pin holes for fitting are used. The multi-core connectors are arranged and fixed in a matrix on a connector holder, and the required multi-core connectors on the connector holder have fitting pins that fit into the pin holes,
A mask connector with n optical fiber terminals connected to it,
The applicant has proposed an optical switch device that switches and connects optical lines while being controlled by a control device.

In the above optical switch device, in order to minimize optical loss at the joint end surfaces of both connectors, the attachment/detachment device includes a holding means for holding the mask connector, and a holding means for lifting and lowering the holding means.
and an aligning means that supports the connectors in a swingable manner and automatically aligns the mating positions of the two connectors; The structure includes an elevating means for attaching and detaching the connector, and the elevating means is provided with a spring that applies a predetermined biasing force to the mask connector when both connectors are fitted.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, even with the above configuration, if the end face contact between both connectors is insufficient and a gap is created between both connectors, the optical fiber held by both connectors will be bent between the end faces of the optical fiber. There is a problem in that layers of air with different rates are formed, causing optical loss in the optical signal to be transmitted.

In order to solve this problem, it is sufficient to accurately position the mask connector and the multi-core connector, but due to various manufacturing and installation errors, it is extremely difficult to accurately position both connectors mechanically. It is difficult to

Moreover, if the positioning of both connectors is not done accurately,
The mating pin of the mask connector damages the pin hole of the multi-fiber connector, and the pin hole of the multi-fiber connector is clogged with minute pieces of damage caused by this damage, resulting in insufficient end surface connection between the two connectors, resulting in the above-mentioned problem. Similarly, there was a problem that optical loss occurred.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is an optical switch device that can suppress the occurrence of optical loss and realize a stable optical communication state even if a gap occurs between optically connected connectors. The purpose is to provide a

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a connector holder in which a plurality of first connectors having pin holes on the joint end surface are arranged and fixed, and a connector holder with a plurality of first connectors arranged and fixed on the joint end surface, and an attachment/detachment device for attaching and detaching a second connector having a mating pin that fits into a pin hole to a desired connector in the plurality of first connectors; 2
a moving device for moving the connectors to the required first connector positions, the second connectors are sequentially butted against the plurality of first connectors, and the connectors are joined while being positioned by the fitting pins and pin holes. In an optical switch device that optically switches and connects, prior to the joining operation of the second connector and the first connector, matching is performed in advance on the joining end surface of at least one of the first or second connectors. The structure includes a coating device for applying oil.

(Function) Since matching oil is applied in advance to the joint end surface of at least one of the first or second connector, the first
Even if the end surface connection between the first and second connectors is insufficient and a gap occurs between the two connectors, the applied matching oil will maintain the refractive index between the two end surfaces at a predetermined value, and the optical signal to be transmitted will be The occurrence of optical loss is suppressed.

Furthermore, since the air blow device cleans the pin holes of the first connector with air flow, the fitting pins fit smoothly into the pin holes, and the end surfaces of both connectors are well joined together.

(Example) Hereinafter, an optical switch device according to a first example of the present invention will be described.
This will be explained in detail based on FIGS. 1 to 6.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the optical switch device is arranged on a pedestal lO, and includes a connector holder 20 in which pxq multi-core connectors 2l are arranged and fixed in a matrix, and the required connectors on the connector holder 20. Switch to multi-core connector 21.
A mask connector 32 (FIG. 1) to which n optical fiber terminals are connected; an attachment/detachment device 40 that holds the master connector 32 and attaches and detaches it to a required multi-core connector 2l on the connector holder 20; a moving device 50 for moving the attachment/detachment device 40 in two-dimensional directions on the connector holder 20;
, a control device 60 for controlling movement and attachment/detachment operations of the mask connector 32, and a selection means 70 for outputting a selection signal for selecting a predetermined multi-core connector 2l from the plurality of multi-core connectors 21. Note that in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connector holder 20 to which the multi-core connector 21 is fixed and the pedestal 10 are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the multi-fiber connector 2l has a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped main body 2 in which the end of the tape fiber 80 is embedded and held.
Step portions 2lb, 2lb are formed on both sides in the width direction of 1a for use as a stopper when fitting into the connector holder 20, and the main body 2
Each fiber end surface 80a of the tape fiber 80, whose end surface has been polished, is exposed on the connection end surface 21c at the front of 1a, and pin holes 21d are provided on both sides of the joint end surface 21c in the longitudinal direction, with these fiber end surfaces 80a in between. ．． 21d is bored. Incidentally, reference numeral 21e denotes a rubber boot provided at the rear of the main body 21a to protect the tape fiber 80 from bending.

The mask connector 32 is connected to the pin hole 21 of the multi-core connector 2l.
d, 21d to position the connectors 32, 21 when joining them together, except that the fitting pins 32d, 32d are implanted at positions corresponding to the pin holes 21d, 21d. It is designed in the same way as the multi-core connector 2l. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the parts corresponding to the multi-core connector 2I in the figure, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

The attachment/detachment device 40 is attached to a movable base 5l of a moving device 50, which will be described later, and as shown in FIG. Aligning means 43 that supports the holding means 42 in a vertically movable and swingable manner and automatically aligns the bonding position of the mask connector 32 to the multi-core connector 2l, and lifts and lowers the holding means 42 and the aligning means 43. The mask connector 32 has an elevating means 44 for connecting the end face of the mask connector 32 to a selected predetermined multi-core connector 21.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the moving device 50 moves the movable base 5l1 on which the attachment/detachment @40 is attached in the lateral direction indicated by the arrow X-X in FIG. 4 by means of a ball screw 52a. A movable stage 52 is freely placed, a first drive motor 53 is installed on the movable stage 52 and moves the movable base 51, and a first drive motor 53 is placed on the left and right sides of the pedestal IO to move the movable stage 52 along arrow Y-Y in FIG. A first drive motor 53 of the movable stage 52 includes a rail stand 54, 55 on which rails 54a and 55a are horizontally movable in the vertical direction, and a first drive motor 53 for the movable stage 52.
Screwed together with a drive bracket 52b vertically installed on the lower surface of the side,
It has a pole screw 56 that moves the movable stage 52 in the vertical direction (Y-Y direction), and a second drive motor 57 that rotationally drives the pole screw 56.

The control device 60 includes an attachment/detachment device 40, a moving device 50, a matching oil application device 90 (to be described later), and a connection line 6 extending from the pedestal 10! are connected to each other by the attachment/detachment device 4.
For example, a computer unit (ECU) is used to control the movement and attachment/detachment of the mask connector 32 by the robot 0, etc., and the application of matching oil by the application device 90.

This computer device is programmed and stored in advance with the sequence of attaching and detaching the mask connector 32 to and from the multi-core connector 2l arranged on the connector holder 20, the operating procedure of the attaching and detaching device 40 and the moving device 50 accompanying such attachment and detachment, etc. ing. The control device 60, for example, changes the position of the multi-core connector 21 arranged at the upper left of the connector holder 20 to the origin position 1p when the mask connector 32 moves to each multi-core connector 21 in FIG. As a result, position control is performed during movement.

The selection means 70 uses an operation panel of the control device 60 that is provided adjacent to the control device 60 and is equipped with a selection switch for selecting a predetermined multi-core connector 21. Alternatively, an appropriate selection device may be provided separately in the computer device of the control device 60.

The optical switch device of this embodiment is provided with an application device 90 that applies matching oil to the multi-core connector 2l, which is the first connector.

This coating device 90 is used to connect the mask connector 32 to the multi-fiber connector 21 on the connector holder 20 in parallel with the joining operation of joining the mask connector 32 to the multi-fiber connector 21 by the attachment/detachment device 40.
1. Matching oil is applied in advance to the multi-core connector 2l, which precedes the multi-core connector 2l by two pitches in the arrow x-X direction, for example, and as shown in FIGS. It is located adjacent to. Coating device 90
The operation is controlled by the control device 60, and includes an oil nozzle 91, a support bracket 92 that supports the oil nozzle 9l, and a cylinder 93 that moves the bracket 92 up and down. An air blow device 94 is arranged adjacent to the oil nozzle 9l.

A sponge 91a impregnated with matching oil is attached to the tip of the oil nozzle 9l.
An oil vibrator 95 connected to a metering and discharging device (not shown) is connected to the base end of the pump 1 . The metering and discharging device pumps the matching oil to the oil nozzle 9l via the oil pipe 95 in response to a control signal from the control device 60.

The support bracket 92 is attached to the slide guide 41a installed on the support member 41 via a slide guide 96 so as to be able to rise and fall freely, and an upper flange 92b and a lower flange 92c are formed above and below a mounting portion 92a attached to the slide guide 41a. An oil nozzle 91 is attached to the tip side of the lower flange 92c.

The cylinder 93 is vertically installed on the cylinder bracket 4lb arranged above the support bracket 92, and the piston 93a extending downward has its tip connected to the support bracket 4lb.
2 is connected to the upper flange 92b.

The air blow device 94 also blows the pin hole 21d of the multi-core connector 2l which is further ahead in the direction of arrow XX from the multi-core connector 2l to which matching oil is applied. 21
d is cleaned in advance by air flow, and the pin hole 2
1d. An air nozzle 94a1 whose tip is bifurcated in correspondence with the interval 21d, an air pipe 94b connected to the base end of the air nozzle 94a, and a holding part 94 that holds them.
The air pipe 94b is connected to a compressed air source via a solenoid valve (not shown). Note that the operation of this air blow device 94 is also controlled by the control device 60.

The Hikari Sui-Sochi device of the present invention configured as described above has the following features:
For example, when the mask connector 32 is attached to and detached from each multi-core connector 2l about 500 times, matching oil is applied by the applicator 90 and used as follows.

First, when this optical switch device is activated, the mobile device 50
operates, and the first drive motor 53 and the second drive motor 57
By rotating the ball screw 52a and the ball screw 56, respectively, the movable base 5l is moved to the origin position IF on the connector holder 20 together with the support member 4l. This moves the air nozzle 94a of the air blow device 94 to the origin position IF.
2. Move the connector to a position directly above the multi-core connector 2l.

Next, the cylinder 93 is activated and the support bracket 92 is lowered together with the air nozzle 94a of the air blowing device 94.
The tip of the air nozzle 94a is located in the pin hole 21d of the multi-core connector 21 at the origin position I. Stop just above 21d. After that, the compressed air pumped from the compressed air source is
Discharge from the tip of the nozzle 94a for a predetermined period of time, and the pin hole 2
1d and 21d are cleaned by air flow.

After such cleaning, when the cylinder 93 raises the support bracket 92, the moving device 50 moves the movable base 5l to the support member in the right direction along the arrow XX in FIG. 4, that is, in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 4l and move the multi-core connector 2l by 1 bit.

Cylinder 93 then lowers support bracket 92 in the same manner as before. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the air blow device 94 blows the pin holes 21d. 21d is cleaned, and the sponge 91a at the tip of the oil nozzle 91 comes into contact with the joining end surface 21c of the multi-core connector 2l after l-bitch, which has already been cleaned by the air flow, and matching oil is applied by the application device 90. .

Thereafter, when the cylinder 93 raises the support bracket 92, the moving device 50 moves the movable base 5l together with the support member 41 by l pitch in the direction of the arrow A shown in FIG. 21d. 21d cleaning and
Application of matching oil to the joint end surface 21c is repeated. Since the coating device 90 and the mask connector 32 of the attachment/detachment device 40 are separated by 2 pitches in the multi-core connector 2l, the coating device 90 moves forward by 3 pitches from the multi-core connector 2l at the origin position. At this time, the operation for attaching and detaching the master connector 32 and the multi-fiber connector 21 is started in parallel with cleaning the pin holes 21d, 21d and applying matching oil to the joint end surface 21c.

This series of operations completes the connector holder 20 shown in FIG.
When one line in the arrow X-X direction is completed, the moving device 50 moves one line in the arrow Y-Y direction, and the above series of operations is repeated again in the arrow X-X direction. , for all the multi-core connectors 21 on the connector holder 20, the pin holes 21d. Cleaning of 21d, joint end surface 2tc
Applying matching oil to the mask connector 32 and switching the optical path by attaching and detaching the multi-core connector 2I are performed at the same time.

The application of the matching oil may be performed separately from the attachment/detachment operation, or the pin holes may be cleaned and the matching oil applied again after the attachment/detachment operation is completed. Moreover, the matching oil need not be applied every time the attachment/detachment operation is performed, but may be applied intermittently during a series of attachment/detachment operations. Further, the air blow device 94 does not necessarily need to move up and down, and therefore, a new bracket may be provided on the support member 4l and fixed to this bracket. Further, the oil nozzle 91 does not necessarily need to be fitted with a sponge 91a, and may be branched into two or more branches, or may be a straight pipe without branches, as long as matching oil can be applied.

Next, an optical switch device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained based on FIGS. 7 and 8.

In addition to the coating device 90 shown in the previous embodiment, the optical switch device of this embodiment is provided with a coating device 100 for applying matching oil to the joint end surface of the mask connector 32, which is the second connector. Components that are the same as those in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The applicator floO is installed on one side of the pedestal IO adjacent to the connector holder IO, and has an oil tank 101, an oil nozzle 102, and an oil pipe 103, and the oil tank 101 is filled with a sponge 104 inside. ing.

In the coating device 100, a predetermined amount of matching oil is force-fed to the oil nozzle 102 via the oil pipe 103 from a metering and discharging device (not shown) that is operated by a control signal from the control device 60. As a result, the oil tank 101
The inner sponge 104 is impregnated with the matching oil discharged from the tip of the oil nozzle 102 while keeping the liquid level constant, and the matching oil flows out of the oil tank 101 due to vibrations caused by the operation of this optical switch device. Prevents oil from spilling out.

Here, the liquid level of the matching oil is determined by the attachment/detachment device 4
When the mask connector 32, which is raised and lowered by the operation of 0, descends to the lowering limit, the joint end surface 32c is in contact with the liquid level or slightly submerged in the liquid level so that a good coating condition can be obtained. Set this in advance.

The coating device 100 having the above configuration has a control device 6 in advance when joining the mask connector 32 to the multi-core connector 2l.
According to the procedure set to 0, the mask connector 32 is moved to the position of this coating device 100, and matching oil is applied by bringing the joint end surface 32c into contact with the sponge 104 in the oil tank 101. Here, the frequency of applying matching oil to the mask connector 32 is not particularly limited as long as it does not affect the connection between the end faces of both connectors.

Therefore, according to the optical switch device of the present embodiment, the multi-fiber connector 21 is inserted into the pin hole 2 by the air blow device 94.
1d and 21d are cleaned, and matching oil is applied to the joint end surface 21c by the application device 90. At the same time, matching oil is applied to the mating end surface 32c of the master connector 32 by the application device 100. Therefore, when connecting the end faces of both connectors 21 and 32, it is difficult to create a gap between the connectors, and even if a gap occurs, the applied matching oil suppresses the occurrence of optical loss and achieves a stable optical communication state. Ru.

In addition, in the optical switch device according to the second embodiment,
Although the coating device 90 and the coating device 100 are provided, the coating device 90 is not necessarily necessary as long as the coating device 100 is provided.

If the coating device 90 is omitted and only the coating device 100 is used,
Since there is no need to secure a space for the coating device 90 on the support member 4l, the structure on the support member 41 side becomes simple,
Since the support member 41 can be made smaller and the pedestal 10 has sufficient space for arrangement, there is an advantage that the degree of freedom in installing the coating device 100 is increased.

(Effects of the Invention) As detailed above, according to the present invention, there is provided a connector holder in which a plurality of first connectors having pin holes on the joint end surface are arranged and fixed, and a connector holder with pin holes of the first connector on the joint end surface. an attachment/detachment device for attaching and detaching a second connector having a mating pin that fits into the hole to a desired connector in the plurality of first connectors, and a second connector attached to the attachment/detachment device; a moving device for moving the connectors to the required first connector positions, the second connectors are sequentially butted against the plurality of first connectors, and the connectors are joined while being positioned by the fitting pins and the pin holes. In the optical switch device for optically switching and connecting the second connector and the first
Prior to the joining operation of the connector, the first or second
An applicator is installed in advance to apply matching oil to the mating end surface of at least one of the connectors, so even if there is a gap between the optically connected connectors, the applied matching oil closes this gap, reducing optical loss. It is possible to achieve stable optical communication conditions by suppressing the occurrence of In addition, since the matching oil has a lubricating effect, the joining operation of the second connector to the first connector becomes smooth, and damage to the first connector can be prevented when joining both connectors. In addition to realizing stable joining operation, the present invention has excellent effects such as being able to provide an optical switch device that can be operated at a low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 6 show an optical switch device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, which is equipped with a coating device for applying matching oil to a first connector, and FIG. 1 shows the coating device. A front view, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a front view of main parts showing the operating state of the coating device and air blow device, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the optical switch device, and FIG. 5 is the same device. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing a multi-core connector, and FIGS. 7 and 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention, which is equipped with an application device for applying matching oil to a second connector. This optical switch device is shown in which FIG. 7 is a front view showing the coating device, and FIG. 8 is a plan view of the optical switch device. 20... Connector holder, 2l... Multi-core connector (
1st connector), 32... Mask connector (second connector), 40... Attachment/detaching device, 4l... Support member, 50... Movement device, 60... Control device, 90...
- Coating device, 91... Oil nozzle, 92... Support bracket, 93... Cylinder, 94... Air blow device. ! oo... Coating device, 101... Oil tank, 102... Oil nozzle, 103... Oil pipe.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A connector holder in which a plurality of first connectors having pin holes on the joint end surface are arranged and fixed;
The second connector has a mating pin that fits into the pin hole of the connector.
an attachment/detachment device that attaches and detaches the connector to a required connector in the plurality of first connectors, and moves a second connector attached to the attachment/detachment device to the required first connector position. an optical switch device comprising a moving device, the second connectors are successively butted against the plurality of first connectors, and are joined while being positioned by the fitting pins and pin holes to optically switch and connect; Prior to the joining operation of the second connector and the first connector,
An optical switch device characterized in that an application device is provided for applying matching oil in advance to a joining end surface of at least one of the first or second connector. (2) The optical switch device according to claim 1, wherein the coating device is provided with an air blow device that cleans the pin holes of the first connector with air flow in advance.