JPH0336968Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [1] Technical field The present invention provides an engagement groove and a protrusion on the insertion guide and the tension member holding part, and a cap nut is fitted therein so that assembly can be easily and accurately performed. This invention relates to an optical fiber connector that can be freely divided into two parts.

[2] Background Art For example, there are conventional optical fiber connectors shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which have protrusions 11, 11 provided with grooves 12, 12 on the outer circumferential surface and optical fibers on the inner circumferential surface. a substantially cylindrical core 10 having an insertion hole 13 and a large optical fiber insertion hole 14;
A protrusion 21 and an axial insertion guide protrusion 22 connected to the protrusion 21 are provided approximately at the center of the outer circumferential surface, and inner circumferential protrusions 23 and 23 that engage with the protrusions 11 and 11 are provided on the inner circumferential surface.
and a fitting protrusion 2 that fits into the grooves 12, 12.
3' and 23', respectively, a protrusion 31 approximately in the center of the outer peripheral surface, a fitting part 32 at the tip that fits into the rear end of the insertion guide 20, and an adhesive part 33 at the rear end. a cylindrical tension member holding portion 30 having a cylindrical tension member holding portion 30; and a locking protrusion 4 that locks onto the projections 21 and 31 approximately at the center of the inner circumferential surface.
1, a cap nut 40 having a threaded portion 42 at the tip of the inner circumferential surface, and a protective portion 43 at the rear end of the inner circumferential surface, respectively.
and a tension member bushing 50 having a tension member holding part 51 fitted to the outer circumferential surface of the adhesive part 33 at the tip of the inner circumferential surface and an optical fiber cord holding part 52 at the rear end of the inner circumferential surface; A tension member bushing insertion portion 61 that fits into the outer peripheral surface of the tension member holding portion 51 is provided at the tip of the inner peripheral surface, and an optical fiber cord insertion hole 6 is provided at the rear end of the inner peripheral surface.
2, and a bushing 60 provided between the protrusion 11 and the distal end of the fitting portion 32 and having the protrusion 1
1 and a coil-shaped spring 70 that presses against the inner circumferential protrusion 23. And middle child 1
0 is made of ceramic, metal, plastic, etc., and the insertion guide 20, tension member holding part 30, cap nut 40, and tension member bushing 50 are made of PBT resin,
Injection molded with thermoplastics such as PET resin, PPO resin, PC resin, etc., and bushing 6
0 is made by injection molding of materials such as vinyl chloride and rubber.

Furthermore, the functions of each of the above members will be explained.

The core 10 is for fixing the optical fiber 5 and the optical fiber coating 4, and has a protrusion 11 on its outer peripheral surface.
is the fitting part 32 of the tension member holding part 30
A spring 70 is arranged on the outer periphery of the rear end with the tip of the spring 70.
, and is pressed against the inner peripheral protrusion 23 of the insertion guide 20 by the spring pressure of the spring 70. The two recesses 12, 12 on the outer peripheral surface are
Engagement convex portions 23', 2 of insertion guide 20
3' to perform positioning with the insertion guide 20. The optical fiber 5 is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 13 of the core 10, and the optical fiber coating 4 is inserted into the large optical fiber insertion hole 14 and fixed by adhesive.

The insertion guide 20 holds the core 10 and mechanically protects the core 10 from the outside, and the protrusion 21 on the outer peripheral surface locks the cap nut 40 to prevent it from slipping out. Insertion guide protrusion 22 on the outer peripheral surface
determines the positioning of the connection upon insertion into receptacle 100. Inside the rear end of the insertion guide 20 is a tension member holding portion 30.
The fitting part 32 is inserted and fixed by adhesive.

The tension member holding part 30 fixes the tension member 3 of the optical fiber cord 1, and the protrusion 31 on the outer circumferential surface of the tension member holding part 30 holds the rear end of the insertion guide 20 when it is inserted and fixed into the rear end of the insertion guide 20. The tension member holding portion 30 is positioned by engaging with the cap nut 4.
Lock 0. And in the adhesive part 33 on the outer peripheral surface,
The tension member pressing portion 51 of the tension member bushing 50 and the tension member bushing insertion portion 61 of the bushing 60 are fitted,
The tension member 3 is adhesively fixed to the tension member holding portion 51. Incidentally, when the tension member holding part 51 and the tension member bushing insertion part 61 are fitted into the adhesive part 33, they are engaged with the protrusion 31 and positioned.

The cap nut 40 connects the core 10 and the insertion guide 20 to the receptacle 100, and also connects the insertion guide 20 and the bushing 6.
0 mechanically protects the tip from the outside.
The locking protrusion 41 on the inner peripheral surface is the insertion guide 2
0 and the projection 31 of the tension member holding part 30 to restrict movement in the axial direction,
It is rotatably attached to the outer periphery of the insertion guide 20. The threaded portion 42 on the inner peripheral surface of the receptacle 1
This screw portion 42 and the rear end protection portion 43 protect the insertion guide 20 and the front end of the bushing 60 from the outside. In addition,
The vertical movement of the threaded portion 42 using the inner circumferential projection 41 as a fulcrum is regulated by the projection 31 of the tension member holding portion 30 .

The tension member bushing 50 protects the exposed part of the outer sheath 2 of the optical fiber cord 1 and the tip of the optical fiber cord 1, and its presser part 51 is attached to the adhesive part 3 of the tension member holding part 30.
3, the tension member 3 of the optical fiber cord 1 is adhesively fixed, and the optical fiber cord 1 is held by the holding part 52.

The bushing 60 holds and protects the optical fiber cord 1, and its tension member bushing insertion portion 61 is adhesively fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the tension member bushing 50.
The optical fiber cord 1 is inserted into the optical fiber cord insertion hole 62.

Further, the spring 70 applies a constant force to the front (to the left in FIG. It's pressing.

In the above configuration, the optical fiber connector is assembled according to, for example, the following procedure.

First, the bushing 60, the tension member bushing 50, the tension member holding part 30, the cap nut 40, and the spring 70 are inserted into the optical fiber cord 1 in advance. , tension member 3,
The covering 4 and the optical fiber 5 are exposed to a predetermined length. Then, an adhesive such as epoxy with strong adhesive strength is applied to predetermined positions of the optical fiber 5 and the covering 4, and the optical fiber 5 is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 13 of the core 10.
The optical fiber cover 4 is inserted into each of the holes 4 and fixed with adhesive. An insertion guide 20 is attached to the cap nut 40, and a spring 70 is attached to the outer periphery of the rear end of the core 10.
Insert the engaging protrusions 23', 23' of the insertion guide 20 into the grooves 12, 12 of the core 10, respectively, and apply adhesive to the fitting part 32 of the tension member holding part 30. Then, the fitting part 32 is inserted into the insertion guide 20, and the fitting part 32 is adhesively fixed into the insertion guide 20 at a position where the protrusion 31 contacts the rear end surface of the insertion guide 20. After placing the tension member 3 on the adhesive part 33 at the rear end of the outer periphery of the tension member holding part 30, adhesive is applied to the adhesive part 33, and the tension member bushing 50 is fitted thereto to tighten the tension member. The member holding part 51 is adhesively fixed at a position where it contacts the protrusion 31 of the tension member holding part 30. Then, the optical fiber cord holding part 52 and the optical fiber sheath 2 to which no adhesive is applied are separated.
are in a mated state. Next, an adhesive is applied to the outer circumferential surface of the tension member bushing 50, and the bushing 60 is fitted and fixed with adhesive. As a result, the optical fiber cord insertion hole 62 to which no adhesive is applied and the optical fiber jacket 2 are brought into a fitted state, and the assembly of the optical fiber connector and the connection of the cord are completed.

The optical fiber connector assembled in this manner is connected to the receptacle 100 shown in FIG. 1B in the following manner.

Note that, in the receptacle 100 in FIG. 1B, the left side is omitted and only the right side sectional view is shown.
The receptacle 100 includes a sleeve 102 having an insertion hole 101 into which the connector core 10 is inserted, and a cylindrical projection 106.
and the sleeve 102 form an insertion groove 103 into which the insertion guide 20 is inserted, and a guide groove provided in a part of the cylindrical projection 106 to guide the insertion guide projection 22 of the insertion guide 20. 105, and a threaded portion 107 provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical projection 106 and screwed into the threaded portion 42 of the cap nut 40.

To connect an optical fiber connector to such a receptacle 100, first, connect the receptacle 10
After placing the core 10 in the insertion hole 101 of No. 0 and aligning the optical fiber connector so that the insertion guide protrusion 22 of the insertion guide 20 is inserted into the guide groove 105, the core 10 is inserted into the insertion hole 101. Insert. Then, the insertion guide protrusion 22 is inserted into the guide groove 105, and the tip of the insertion guide 20 is inserted into the insertion groove 103, and the inner protrusion 23 of the insertion guide 20 is locked on the tip surface of the sleeve 102. do. Next, the threaded part 42 of the cap nut 40 is screwed into the threaded part 107 on the outer periphery of the cylindrical protrusion 106, and the cap nut 40 is closed.
Tighten to complete the connection between the fiber optic connector and receptacle. At this time, the core 10 slightly compresses the spring 70 and moves to the end of the optical fiber cord, but since the tension member 3 and the outer sheath 2 on the optical fiber sheath 4 are formed slightly loosely, the core 10 slightly compresses the spring 70 and moves to the end of the optical fiber cord. The compressive strain of the optical fiber sheath 4 due to the compressive movement of the child 10 is absorbed by the entire optical fiber cord, and the optical fiber sheath 4 is held straight without distortion.

In such a conventional optical fiber connector, the core 10 is arranged in a suspended state within the insertion guide 20, so that the distance between the connecting surfaces of the cores of the connector must always be kept constant when connecting to the receptacle. Furthermore, the horizontal and vertical positions of the connection surfaces of the cores of the connector can always be matched. The outer shape of the connector is approximately cylindrical, and its outer dimensions are, for example, diameter 10φ and length 40mm.
It is about mm. Each member constituting this, for example, the core 10 and the sleeve 102 of the receptacle 100, is injection molded with a dimensional accuracy on the order of microns, and other members are injection molded with a dimensional accuracy of 5/100 mm or more, so the dimensions of each assembled member are It has good accuracy and can therefore reduce connection loss. Further, by using a thermoplastic hard resin or a resin containing glass fiber for each member, wear and tear on each member due to attachment and detachment can be reduced. Since it has the above-mentioned advantages, the connection loss of the optical fiber cord 1 can be greatly reduced. Furthermore, the core 10 is held together by the insertion guide 20 and the bag nut 40, and the optical fiber cord 1 is held together by the tension member bushing 50 and the bushing 60.
The exposed part and the end of the optical fiber cord are double protected, so they have good impact resistance.
Furthermore, it has good tensile strength in the horizontal and vertical directions, and can prevent destruction of the connector itself and the adhesive portion. In particular, by moving the fulcrum to the contact point between the protrusion 31 and the protection part 43 to reduce the deflection that occurs due to tension in the vertical direction, the vertical tensile resistance is improved (as described above), stabilizing connection loss and reducing destructive force. We are planning an increase. Furthermore, since each component of the connector is made of plastic, it can be manufactured at low cost.

However, in the case of conventional optical fiber connectors, each component is molded in advance, and the adhesive strength between the optical fiber cord 1 and each component is high, except between the core 10, the spring 70, and the cap nut 40. By applying adhesives such as epoxy, which are excellent in terms of
Since each assembly portion is fixed and assembled, there is a risk that the adhesive may adhere to the excess portions and prevent movement of the cap nut 40, making it impossible to assemble easily and accurately.

That is, when the insertion guide 20 and the tension member holding part 30 are fitted together, if the adhesive applied to the outer circumferential surface of the fitting part 32 is too large, it will adhere to the distal end surface of the fitting part 32. Therefore, the adhesive may adhere to the rear ends of the spring 70 and the core 10, and the spring 70 and the core 10 may not be able to be suspended in the middle.

During assembly, the insertion guide 20 is inserted until it comes into contact with the protrusion 31, so the adhesive is squeezed in the direction of the protrusion 31, forming a pool on the protrusion 31 and adhering to the protrusion 31 and the protective part 43 of the cap nut 40. There is a risk that the insertion guide 20 and the locking protrusion 41 of the cap nut 40 may be bonded and solidified, and the nut 40 may be prevented from moving or rotating in the axial direction. In particular, leftward movement of the cap nut 40 is restricted by the locking protrusion 41 and the protective portion 43 always covers the protrusion 31, making it impossible to wipe off the adhesive buildup.

When fitting the tension member holding portion 30 and the tension member bushing 50, and the tension member bushing 50 and the bushing 60, each of these members 50 and 60 is inserted after applying adhesive until it abuts the protrusion 31. Therefore, the adhesive is squeezed in the direction of the protrusion 31 and
This adhesive accumulation cannot be sufficiently wiped off due to the presence of the protective portion 43 of the cap nut 40, and there is a risk that the protrusion 31 and the protective portion 43 of the cap nut 40 may be bonded and solidified.

If there is a surplus of adhesive on the protrusion 31, each member is removed via the tension member 3 disposed between the adhesive part 33 of the tension member holding part 30 and the holding part 51 of the tension member bushing 50. The adhesive used is optical fiber cord 1.
The core 10 when connecting the optical fiber connector to the receptacle 100 flows into the exposed part of the outer sheath 2 and adheres and hardens the sheath 4, tension member 3, and outer sheath 2 on the exposed part. It becomes impossible to maintain the compression of the covering 4 due to the movement of the covering 4, and the exposed part of the covering 4
There is a risk that compressive strain will be applied to the cable and connection loss will increase. When a heat-curable epoxy adhesive is used, these fears tend to flow out due to clay deterioration at the initial stage of heating, which exacerbates the above-mentioned fears.

[3] Purpose and structure of the invention The present invention has been made in view of the above, and aims to facilitate the wiping off of excess adhesive after applying adhesive, eliminate the adhesion of adhesive in areas other than the application area, and improve the assembly of connectors. In order to improve ease of use and maintain a stable connection even when external shocks and tensile forces are applied to the connector, an engaging portion is provided between the insertion guide and the tension member holding portion, and a cap nut is provided. The present invention provides an optical fiber connector that is divided into two parts that can be freely fitted together.

[4] Embodiments The optical fiber connector according to the present invention will be described in detail below.

3 and 4 show an embodiment of the present invention,
The same parts as in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are indicated by the same reference numerals, so duplicate explanations will be omitted. In a configuration in which one or more protrusions that are inserted into the vertical groove and engage with the locking groove are provided on the outer circumferential surface of the fitting part of the tension member holding part 130, and the cap nut 140 is divided into two parts that can be freely fitted,
Figures 1 and 2 are different.

That is, the insertion guide 120 of the optical fiber connector according to this embodiment has a projection 121 provided approximately at the center of the approximately cylindrical outer periphery;
The receptacle 1 is connected to the receptacle 21 and extends in the forward direction.
The insertion guide protrusion 122 inserted into the guide groove 105 of 00 and the protrusion 1 of the core 10 provided on the inner peripheral surface
1, and an inner circumferential protrusion 123 that locks the inner circumferential protrusion 123.
two engagement protrusions 123', 123' that are connected to each other and engage with the two grooves 12 of the core 10, and a tension member holding portion 13 that is located at the rear end of the outer periphery.
The fitting part 124 into which 0 is inserted and fitted, and the fitting part 1
Consisting of at least one vertical groove 125 provided in the axial direction (left direction in FIG. 4) from the rear end of 24, and a locking groove 126 that communicates with the vertical groove 125 and is provided in a direction substantially perpendicular thereto. has been done. The tension member holding part 130, which is fitted into the insertion guide 120 from the rear, has a protrusion 131 that is provided approximately in the center of the cylindrical outer periphery and comes into contact with the rear end surface of the fitting part 124, and a protrusion 131 that is located at the front end of the outer periphery. A fitting part 132 that fits into the fitting part 124, an adhesive part 133 located at the rear end of the outer periphery and into which the tension member bushing 50 is fitted, and the longitudinal groove 125 and the longitudinal groove 125 on the outer periphery of the fitting part 132. The projections 134 are provided in the same number as the locking grooves 126, and are inserted into the vertical grooves 125 and locked in the locking grooves 126. The cap nut 140 that is loosely fitted around the outer periphery of the insertion guide 120 has a threaded groove screwed into the threaded portion 107 of the receptacle 100 on the inner peripheral surface, and a locking protrusion that is locked by the projections 121 and 131. 141 and a threaded portion 142 (first divided portion) in which a stepped portion 144 is formed at the rear end of the outer circumferential surface, and a stepped portion 145 that is provided at the front end of the inner circumferential surface and fits into the stepped portion 144. It is composed of a section 143 (second divided section).

In the above configuration, the optical fiber connector is assembled according to, for example, the following procedure.

First, on the optical fiber cord 1, the bushing 60, the tension member bushing 50, the tension member holding part 130, the protection part 143 and threaded part 142 of the cap nut 140, and the spring 7 are attached in advance.
0 are inserted through the optical fiber cord 1, and the outer sheath 2, tension member 3, covering 4, and optical fiber 5 of the optical fiber cord 1 are exposed to predetermined lengths. and an optical fiber 5 and its covering 4
Apply an adhesive such as epoxy to the specified location,
The optical fiber 5 is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 13 of the core 10.
The optical fiber cover 4 is inserted into the large optical fiber insertion hole 14 and fixed by adhesive. Insertion guide 1 into threaded part 142 of cap nut 140
20, and a spring 70 on the outer periphery of the rear end of the core 10.
, the engagement protrusions 123' and 123' of the insertion guide 120 are inserted and engaged into the groove 12 of the core 10, respectively, and the tension member holding portion 130 is inserted into the longitudinal groove 125 of the insertion guide 120. The tension member holding portion 130 is rotated to fit the projection 134 into the locking groove 126, and then adhesive is applied onto the vertical groove 125 and the locking groove 126 from the outside. Glue and fix. This differs from conventional connectors in which adhesive is applied before the insertion guide 20 and tension member holding portion 30 are fitted together.
Then, in the same manner as the conventional assembly procedure, the tension member 3 is clamped between the tension member holding part 130 and the tension member bushing 50,
A bushing 60 is fitted into the tension member bushing 50. Here, the difference of this embodiment from the conventional connector is that when the tension member bushing 50 is fitted to the tension member holding portion 130 and the bushing 60 is fitted to the tension member bushing 50, In contrast, in this embodiment, it was not possible to completely wipe off the excess adhesive adhering to the protrusion 31 of the tension member holding part 30 due to the protective part 43 of the cap nut 40. Since the protective portion 143 of the cap nut 140 is not adhesively fixed to the threaded portion 142, excess adhesive can be visually observed and wiped off. After that, the threaded portion 14 of the cap nut 140
The assembly is completed by applying adhesive to the second step 144 and fixing the step 145 of the protection part 143 thereto.

In the optical fiber connector assembled in this way, the insertion guide 120 has a vertical groove 12.
5 and a locking groove 126, and a protrusion 134 is provided on the tension member holding portion 130. After inserting the protrusion 134 into the vertical groove 125 and locking it in the locking groove 126, the vertical groove 125 and the locking groove 126 are inserted from the outside. Stop groove 12
Apply adhesive to 6 and attach the insertion guide 12.
Since the insertion guide 120 and the tension member holding portion 130 are fixedly attached to each other, the insertion guide 120
Since the adhesive is applied only to the vertical groove 125 and the locking groove 126, the adhesive is applied at a constant position, and the tension member holding part 130 is held in place by the spring 70. Adhesion of excess adhesive between the parts 130 and between the rear end of the core 10 and the tension member holding part 130 can be prevented, and the suspension locking between the core 10 and the spring 70 can be more complete. Furthermore, bag nut 1
40 is divided into a threaded portion 142 and a protective portion 143,
Since the screw portion 142 and the protective portion 143 are fixed together after the assembly of all the connector members is completed, insertion and fitting of the insertion guide 120 and the tension member holding portion 130 can be performed visually.
In addition, the adhesive can be applied from the outside after mating, and it can be done while visually checking the amount applied.
This makes it easy to insert and fit the insertion guide 120 and the tension member holding part 130 and apply adhesive, and also facilitates the assembly work and shortens the number of assembly steps due to visual inspection. Furthermore, since the cap nut 140 is divided, excess adhesive accumulated on the protrusion 131 that occurs when the tension member bushing 50 and bushing 60 are fitted to the tension member holding portion 130 can be easily wiped off from the outside. This eliminates adhesive adhesion between the protrusion 131 and the protection part 143 of the cap nut 140, and the quality is stabilized because the sliding and rotation of the cap nut 140 is not hindered. code 1
Covering body 4 of exposed part, tension member 3
Also, the adhesive hardening of the outer cover 2 is eliminated, and connection loss can be reduced.

[5] Effects of the invention As explained above, according to the optical fiber connector of the invention, an engagement groove is provided in the insertion guide, a protrusion that engages with this groove is provided in the tension member holding part, and Since the cap nut is divided into two parts that can be fitted freely, excess adhesive can be wiped off and assembly can be simplified, and impact resistance and tensile strength can be improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional optical fiber connector, in which FIG. 1A is a sectional view of the optical fiber connector, FIG. 1B is a partially omitted sectional view of a receptacle into which the optical fiber connector is inserted, and Figure A is a sectional view taken along the line A-A' in Figure 1A, Figure 2B is a sectional view taken along the line B-B' in Figure 1B, and Figure 3 shows an optical fiber according to an embodiment of the present invention. A sectional view of the connector, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the insertion guide and tension member holding portion in FIG. 3. Explanation of codes, 1... Optical fiber code, 2...
outer cover, 3... tension member, 4... covering body, 5... optical fiber, 10... core, 20,
120...Insertion guide, 30,130
...Tension member holding section, 40,140...
... Cap nut, 42 ... Threaded part, 142 ... Threaded part (first division part), 43 ... Protection part, 143 ... Protection part (second division part), 50 ... Tension member bushing , 60...butsuthing, 125...
...Vertical groove, 126...Lock groove, 134...Protrusion.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A core that is fixed to the exposed tip of the optical fiber cord, an insertion guide that supports the core so that it can freely move around the inner circumference, and a core that is fitted into the insertion guide and that elastically supports the core. a tension member holder that presses the tension member holder, a cap nut that covers the insertion guide and the tension member holder and is slidably and rotatably attached to the outer periphery of the insertion guide, and a cap nut attached to the outer periphery of the tension member holder An optical fiber connector including a bushing that is fitted with a tension member interposed at the end thereof, wherein the insertion guide is provided with an engagement groove and a protrusion that engages with the groove is attached to the tension member holding portion. a first divided part provided with the cap nut and a threaded part, and a second divided part provided from the end of the insertion guide to the bushing for protection.
When the adhesive at the interface between the tension member holding part and the bushing overflows as excess adhesive, the excess adhesive is wiped off, and then the first and second divided parts are separated. An optical fiber connector that is integrated by bonding with adhesive.