JPH04216511A - Lamination method for laminating type optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the lamination method for the laminating type optical connector which allows the easy lamination of plural optical connectors by as much an arbitrary number at a high density and facilitates the increase of the optical connectors and the removal of only the desired optical connector even after the lamination is performed. CONSTITUTION:This lamination method for the laminating type optical connectors simultaneously butting the plural optical connectors 10 to the other optical connectors of the same number corresponding thereto and integrally laminating the plural optical connectors 10 so as to connect the same is provided. Ferrules 11 of the respective optical connectors 10 are individually mounted in housings 30 having connecting holes 30f and the plural housings 30 mounted with the ferrules 11 are stacked. The housings are laminated by inserting connecting rods 21 into the connecting holes 30f.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for laminating a laminated optical connector.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art An optical connector used for butt connection between optical fibers of an optical communication line has a ferrule 2 and a single-core or multi-core optical fiber 3, as in the optical connector 1 shown in FIG. 12, for example. , an optical fiber 3 is attached to the main body 2a of the ferrule 2, and each optical fiber core 3a of the optical fiber is exposed at the abutting end surface 2b of the main body 2a. The ferrule 2 has pin holes 2c, 2c formed on both sides of the main body 2a sandwiching the optical fiber 3, and by inserting a fitting pin (not shown) into each pin hole 2c, it can be connected to the ferrule and pin of another optical connector with the same configuration. They are fitted and butt connected.

When stacking a large number of optical connectors 1, for example, as shown in FIG. By attaching the adapters 5 and fitting the optical connectors 1 to each adapter 5, a large number of optical connectors 1 are stacked on one mounting plate 5.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when a large number of optical connectors are stacked as described above, the number of optical connectors to be mounted is determined by the number of adapters mounted on the mounting plate in advance, and the number of optical connectors to be mounted is There was a problem in that the number could not be increased later and there was little freedom. Moreover, in this case, since the optical connector is attached using a mounting plate and an adapter, extra space is required, and the size of the optical connector after mounting becomes unnecessarily large.

[0005] Furthermore, when attempting to remove only one arbitrary optical connector, there is a problem in that it cannot be removed while connected because it interferes with other optical connectors. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for laminating a laminated optical connector, which allows an arbitrary number of optical connectors to be laminated easily and which can be detached even after lamination. .

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plurality of optical connectors are laminated together in order to butt connect the plurality of optical connectors to the same number of corresponding other optical connectors at the same time. In the method of laminating a stacked optical connector, the ferrules of each of the optical connectors are individually attached to a housing having a connecting hole, the plurality of housings with the ferrules attached are stacked, and a connecting rod is inserted into the connecting hole. The plurality of housings are stacked one on top of the other.

[0007]

[Function] By connecting the housings with optical connector ferrules attached and stacking them using connecting rods, you can easily stack any number of optical connectors. Even after stacking, you can pull out the connecting rod to connect the optical connectors It is possible to increase the number of attached housings, or to remove any housings and therefore desired optical connectors. It is also possible to disassemble it into individual housings and disassemble each optical connector.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11. FIG. 1 explains a first embodiment of the method of the present invention, in which an optical connector 10 is constructed by attaching each ferrule 11 to a housing 20.
0 are stacked in five stages and connected by a connecting rod 21.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical connector 10 has a ferrule 11 and a tape fiber 12 attached to the ferrule 11, and the tape fiber 12 has an extending portion extending from the rear of the main body 11a. is protected by boots 13. The ferrule 11 is the main body 11
The front part of a protrudes stepwise, and the front abutting end surface 11
Each optical fiber core wire (not shown) of the tape fiber 12 is exposed in b. In addition, step-shaped engagement portions 11c, 11c are formed in the front and back direction on both sides of the main body 11a in the width direction,
Pin holes 11d, 11d passing through in the front-rear direction are provided on both sides of the abutting end surface 11b.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the housing 20 includes a substrate 20a and side walls 2 erected on both sides of the substrate 20a.
0b, 20b, flanges 20c, 20c protruding inward from the upper ends of the side walls 20b, 20b, and side walls 20b, 20
Flange-shaped insertion portions 20d, 20 provided vertically on the outside of b
It is equipped with d. Each side wall 20b and flange 20c on the rear side is formed with a mounting groove 20e for mounting a leaf spring 22 (described later), and each insertion portion 20d is provided with a connecting hole 20f in the vertical direction through which the connecting rod 21 is inserted. . Furthermore, a notch 20g is provided approximately at the center of the flange 20c to receive the engaging portion 11c when the ferrule 11 is attached to the housing 20.

As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting rod 21 has a head 21a that is engaged with the upper surface of the main body 11a of the ferrule 11, and a pin shaft 21b that is inserted into the connecting hole 20f. A groove 21c is formed in the circumferential direction near the tip. In the method of the present invention, the housing 20
A plurality of optical connectors 10 are stacked using the following method.

First, the main body 11a of the ferrule 11 is placed between the side walls 20b, 20b from above the housing 20,
The engaging parts 11c and 11c are sandwiched in the housing 20 so that they are accommodated in the notches 20g and 20g. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a leaf spring 22 is attached to each mounting groove 20e, and the pressing portion 22a presses the rear part of the ferrule 11 forward in the abutting direction. As a result, the optical connector 10
Each engaging portion 11c is sandwiched between the substrate 20a and the flange 20c, and the ferrule 11 is attached to the housing 20 with the abutting end surface 11b slightly protruding.

Next, for example, five housings 20 with the ferrules 11 attached thereto are stacked one on top of the other with the corresponding insertion portions 20d aligned, and the presser plate 23 is placed on the uppermost housing 20. The connecting rod 21 is inserted into the connecting holes 20f that overlap in the vertical direction. Then, a retaining ring 24 such as a circlip is fitted into the concave groove 21c of the connecting rod 21 whose tip protrudes from the connecting hole 20f of the ferrule 11 located at the lowest position.

As a result, the optical connectors 10 attached to the housing 20 can be stacked compactly without taking up extra space, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. At this time, even if an upward pulling force is applied to the connecting rod 21,
Since the retaining ring 24 is fitted into the groove 21c, the connecting rod 21 will not be pulled out from the stacked housings 20, and the stacked housings 20 will not be disassembled.

[0015] Furthermore, the number of optical connectors 10 may be increased,
When it is desired to remove any housing 20 to which an optical connector 10 is attached, the number of optical connectors 10 can be easily increased or the housing 20 can be removed simply by removing the retaining ring 24 and pulling out the connecting rod 21. In the optical connector 10 group in which a plurality of housings 20 are stacked in this way, as shown in FIGS. By inserting them, they are positioned with respect to each other and are butt-connected all at once, and a clip 26 is attached from the side surface of each corresponding insertion portion 20d, 20d. Note that in FIG. 7, the presser plate 23 is omitted.

[0016] Then, the butt-connected optical connector 10
The group can be easily separated into 10 individual optical connector groups by removing each clip 26 and pulling them apart, and can be disassembled into individual housings 20 by removing the retaining ring 24 and pulling out the connecting rod 21. . In addition, each disassembled housing 20
The ferrule 11 of the optical connector 10 can be easily taken out by simply removing the leaf spring 22 from the mounting groove 20e.

Here, as a housing, for example, as shown in FIG.
By using the housing 30 shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to use the existing optical connector 40 shown in FIG. 10, which has no engaging portion and has a simple shape. In this way, since the housing 30 has a simple structure, manufacturing costs can be kept low, and existing optical connectors 40 can be easily stacked. In the drawings, the same components as those in the embodiment described above are designated by corresponding symbols, and detailed explanations thereof will be omitted.

At this time, in the optical connector 40, the ferrule 41 is attached to the housing 30 and the leaf springs 32 are attached to each attachment groove 30e, and then a plurality of optical connectors 40 are stacked one on top of the other and connected to each connection hole 30f. By inserting the rod 31 (see FIG. 11), they are stacked to form a group of optical connectors 40. Both pin holes 4 of the opposing ferrules 41, 41
1d and 41d, and insert the fitting pin 35 (see FIG. 11) into the corresponding insertion portion 30 as shown in FIG.
A clip 36 is attached from the side every 30d and 30d, and the connectors are butted and connected to other groups of optical connectors 40.

In the above embodiment, a retaining ring fitted near the tip of the connecting rod was used to prevent the connecting rod from coming off from each housing. A nut may be screwed on, or a split pin may be inserted into a hole drilled at the tip of the connecting rod to prevent it from coming off.

[0020]

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above explanation, according to the method of the present invention, an arbitrary number of optical connectors can be easily stacked at high density using the housing and the connecting rod, and even after stacking, the connecting rod can be easily stacked. By pulling it out, you can easily add more housings with optical connectors installed, or remove any housing and therefore the desired optical connector. Furthermore, it is also possible to disassemble the optical connector into individual housings. Therefore, since no extra space is taken up, the entire stacked optical connector group can be miniaturized, and it also has excellent effects such as shortening the connection time when connecting to other optical connector groups at once. play.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 explains one embodiment of the method of the present invention, and is a front view of an optical connector group in which housings equipped with optical connector ferrules are stacked.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an optical connector.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the housing.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a connecting rod used for stacking housings.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the optical connector shown in FIG. 2 attached to a housing.

6 is a left side view of the optical connector group in FIG. 1. FIG.

7 is a plan view of a state in which the optical connector groups in FIG. 1 are butt-connected; FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a state in which optical connector groups are butt-connected to each other.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the housing, explaining another modification.

10 is a perspective view of an optical connector attached to the housing of FIG. 9. FIG.

11 is a plan view of a group of optical connectors formed by stacking the housings of FIG. 9 to which the optical connectors of FIG. 10 are mounted, butt-connected; FIG.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an optical connector, illustrating a conventional method of laminating an optical connector.

13 is a side view showing a state in which the optical connector of FIG. 12 is fitted to the adapter on the mounting plate and stacked; FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Optical connector 11 Ferrule 12 Tape fiber 20 Housing 20f connection hole 21 Connecting rod 22 Leaf spring 24 Retaining ring 30 Housing 30f connection hole 31 Connecting rod 32 Leaf spring 40 Optical connector 41 Ferrule 42 Tape fiber

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: In a method for laminating a stacked optical connector in which a plurality of optical connectors are laminated at once in order to butt connect the plurality of optical connectors to the same number of corresponding other optical connectors at the same time, A stacked optical connector characterized in that the ferrules of each of the optical connectors are individually attached, a plurality of housings with the ferrules attached are stacked, and a connecting rod is inserted into the connecting hole to stack the plurality of housings. Lamination method.