JPH0536405U - connector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To downsize the hood mounting portion in a connector in which a connecting portion is projected outside the hood when coupled to a receptor. [Structure] Insertion hole 5 through which tip 7a of optical fiber 7 is inserted
A hood 5 including a front wall 5h having a hole j formed therein and a peripheral wall 5i continuous with a part of the peripheral edge of the front wall 5h and extending in the front-rear direction is a cover body 2 that does not overlap with the peripheral wall 5i of the hood 5.
It is slidably mounted on the housing body 2 including c, and the peripheral wall 5i of the hood 5 and the cover body 2c of the housing body 2 form a storage space S at the tip of the optical fiber 6. .. [Effect] By forming the peripheral wall forming the storage space by the peripheral wall of the housing and the peripheral wall of the hood that do not overlap with each other, the hood mounting portion, that is, the connector as a whole can be downsized.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a connector that is particularly suitable for connecting optical fibers.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In an optical fiber connector, it is preferable to conceal the end of the optical fiber so that the end face of the optical fiber is not damaged when not in use. Thus, in order to protect the tip of the optical fiber, at least when not in use, the tip of the optical fiber is concealed as a conventionally known connector for an optical fiber, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-316711. Some are disclosed. The connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-316711 holds an optical fiber 101 as a connector in a housing 100 of the connector, as shown in FIG. A hood 102 is attached to the housing 100 in order to conceal the fiber end 101a of the optical fiber 101 when not in use. The hood 102 is normally in a position where the fiber end 101a is housed inside the hood 102 by being urged by a spring 103, as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 16B, when this connector is connected to the receiver 104, the hood 102 slides against the biasing force of the spring 103, and the fiber end 101a of the optical fiber is formed on the hood 102. It projects outside the hood 102 through the formed insertion hole 102c. Therefore, the fiber end 101a can be connected to the fiber end (not shown) on the side of the receptor 104 in the receptor 104.

By the way, the hood 102 of the conventional connector shown in FIG. 16 is composed of a rectangular front end face 102a in which the insertion hole 102a is formed, and four side walls 102b continuous with each side of the front end face 102a. And a tubular portion. Then, as shown in FIG. 17, the tubular portion of the hood 102 is externally fitted to the housing 100 such that each side wall 102 b slides along the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall of the housing 100.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the structure of the connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-316711, as described above, the side surface 102b of the hood 102 overlaps with the peripheral wall of the housing 100 over the entire circumference, so that the connector as a whole. There was a problem that the peripheral wall of the connector became thick and it was difficult to miniaturize the connector.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has a housing for holding a connecting body and a hood mounted on the housing, and the hood is provided with a connecting portion of the connecting body. A connector that can be slid relative to this housing from a position where it is housed inside the hood to a position where the connecting portion is projected outside the hood. This connector is designed to be easily miniaturized. It is an object.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In the connector according to claim 1, which achieves the above object, the hood includes a front wall having an insertion hole through which the connector is inserted, and a peripheral wall continuous with a part of a peripheral edge of the front wall and extending rearward. In addition, the housing includes a peripheral wall that does not overlap with the peripheral wall of the hood, and an accommodating space for accommodating the connecting portion of the connector inside the hood is formed by the peripheral wall of the hood and the peripheral wall of the housing. It is characterized by that.

[0007]

[Action]

 In the connector according to the invention constructed as described above, the peripheral wall of the hood and the peripheral wall of the housing respectively form a part of the peripheral wall of the connector without overlapping. In other words, the peripheral wall of this connector, which forms a space for accommodating the connection part of the connector, consists of part of the peripheral wall of the hood and the other part of the peripheral wall of the housing.

[0008]

【Example】

 An optical connector, which is an embodiment of the connector according to the invention, will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, the optical connector includes a pair of ferrules 1, a housing body 2, a housing cap 3, a pair of springs 4, and a hood 5. In this optical connector, a fiber cable 6 having an optical fiber 7 projecting at its tip is sequentially inserted through a housing cap 3, a spring 4, and a ferrule 1, and the ferrule 1 is fixed after fixing the fiber cable 6 to the ferrule 1. It is assembled by inserting it into the housing body 2 and then fixing the housing cap 3 to the housing body 2 while attaching the hood 5 to the housing body 2. Hereinafter, each unit will be described in detail.

The ferrule 1 is provided to align the axes of the optical fiber 7 and efficiently perform optical coupling. As shown in FIG. 2, a fiber cable 6 having an optical fiber 7 exposed at the tip end is fitted into the ferrule 1. That is, the ferrule 1 has a large-diameter cylindrical portion 1b into which the fiber cable 6 is fitted and a small-diameter cylindrical portion 1c into which the optical fiber 7 is fitted. The fiber cable 6 is crimped and fixed to the ferrule 1 by caulking the large-diameter cylindrical portion 1b in a state where the tip surface 7a of the optical fiber 7 matches the tip opening 1a of the ferrule 1. Further, the ferrule 1 is provided with a flange-shaped spring receiver 1d at a substantially central portion in the axial direction. A surface 1e is formed at the boundary between the cylindrical portion 1b and the cylindrical portion 1c.

A connector housing consisting of a housing body 2 and a housing cap 3 holds the ferrule 1 inside thereof.

As shown in FIG. 5, the inner wall formed inside the housing body 2 is formed with an insertion hole 2 a into which the central portion of the ferrule 1 fits. The front end surface of the spring receiver 1d of the ferrule 1 is in contact with the rear end surface 2aa of the inner wall forming the insertion hole 2a. In this state, the tip of the ferrule 1 projects from the front surface 2b of the housing body 2 by a predetermined amount. A cover portion 2c having an inverted U-shaped cross section is provided so as to project forward from both sides and an upper side of the front surface 2b. The cover portion 2c forms a space S for accommodating the tip portion of the ferrule 1 protruding from the front surface 2b together with the bottom surface 5i of the hood 5 described later (see FIGS. 7 and 8). On the other hand, the housing main body 2 has locking recesses 2e formed on the upper surfaces of both sides thereof. The inner surface 2e ₁ of the rear upper wall 2j of the locking recess 2e is located slightly above the inner surface 2e ₂ of the front upper wall. The locking recess 2e is provided at a position corresponding to the passage of the housing 10 of the receiving body described later. The rear portion of the housing body 2 constitutes a storage portion for the spring 4, and engaging protrusions 2f are formed on both side surfaces of the storage portion. The engagement protrusion 2f has a trapezoidal cross section having an inclined surface 2g rising forward. The housing body 2 also has an elastic piece 2h whose rear end is a free end on the upper wall thereof, and a rectangular locking portion 2i protruding upward is formed on the upper surface of the elastic piece 2h. Both the front end surface and the rear end surface of the locking portion 2i are inclined and rise from the front to the rear. Further, the free end of the elastic piece 2h is formed with an operating portion 2n which bulges upward in order to forcibly elastically deform the elastic piece 2h. As shown in FIG. 6, the housing main body 2 further includes an inner wall 2k extending downward from the inner surface of the upper wall and a pressing piece 2m extending rearward from the lower end of the inner wall 2k.

The housing cap 3 closes the rear end opening of the housing body 2, and presses one end of the spring 4 previously inserted into the ferrule 1 to compress the spring 4 as shown in FIG. There is. As shown in FIG. 1, the housing cap 3 has an insertion hole 3a through which the fiber cable 6 is inserted. Further, the housing main body 2 is provided with a side wall 3b which overlaps the outer surface of the rear end portion. A notch 3c is formed in the side wall 3b which overlaps the side surface of the housing body 2 among the side walls 3b. When the housing cap 3 is attached to the housing body 2, as shown in FIG. 5, the engaging projection 2f of the housing body 2 is engaged with the cutout portion 3c so that the both are fixed.

The hood 5 includes a front wall 5h forming a front end surface, and a peripheral wall 5i forming a bottom surface extending rearward from the bottom of the front wall 5h. As is apparent from FIG. 1, the hood 5 does not include a peripheral wall extending rearward from the upper side and both side edges of the front wall 5h. Further, the hood 5 is provided with elastic pieces 5a extending rearward at both upper ends of the front wall 5h. Locking protrusions 5b projecting upward are integrally formed at the tips of these elastic pieces 5a. These locking projections 5b have a rising dimension larger than the dimension difference L between the inner surface of the front upper wall and the outer surface of the rear upper wall of the locking recess 2e formed in the housing body 2. At the tips of these locking projections 5b, a receptor contact surface 5c that slopes downward from the top and a slope 5d that slopes downward from the top are formed. Has been done. A notch 5e extending upward from the lower end is formed at the center of the front surface of the hood 5 in the left-right direction (see FIGS. 1 and 6). The hood 5 further includes an engaging piece 5f extending rearward from the upper end of the cutout portion 5e by a predetermined dimension (see FIG. 6). The rear end surface of the engagement piece 5f constitutes a locking surface 5g. The front wall 5h of the hood 5 has a pair of insertion holes 5j through which a receiving portion 12 provided in a receiver 10 described later can be inserted at a position facing the pair of ferrules 1, that is, the tips 7a of the optical fibers 7. Has been drilled.

The hood 5 constructed as described above is constructed by inserting the elastic pieces 5a and the peripheral wall 5i into the housing body 2 from the front in a state where the elastic pieces 5a are elastically deformed. It is attached to 2. That is, when the hood 5 is inserted into the housing main body 2 as described above, first, the locking protrusion 5b reaches the position corresponding to the locking recess 2e of the housing main body 2, and as shown in FIG. The piece 5a elastically returns and the locking projection 5b fits into the locking recess 2e. As is apparent from FIG. 5, when the locking projection 5b of the hood 5 is fitted into the locking recess 2e of the housing body 2 in this way, the movement of the hood 5 in the pull-out direction A and the insertion direction B is restricted. It That is, the hood 5 is temporarily fixed to the housing body 2 with the locking projection 5b fitted in the locking recess 2e. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 7, in this temporarily fixed state, the tip of the ferrule 1 protruding from the front end of the housing body 2, that is, the tip surface 7a of the optical fiber 7 is the cover of the housing body 2. It is hidden in a space S formed by the portion 2c and the peripheral wall 5i of the hood 5. As shown in FIG. 8, the peripheral wall forming the space S for accommodating the distal end surface 7a of the optical fiber 7 is constituted by only one of the cover portion 2c and the peripheral wall 5i. ing. That is, the cover portion 2c and the peripheral wall 5i do not form a double structure portion where they are superposed.

In the state of FIG. 5 described above, the hood 5 also applies an inward force to the locking protrusion 5b to bend the elastic piece 5a, and then pushes the entire piece further rearward, so that the hood 5 shown in FIG. ), The inclined surface 5d of the locking projection 5b slides along the peripheral edge of the locking recess 2e of the housing body 2. Therefore, when the hood 5 is pushed further rearward, the distal end surface 7a of the optical fiber 7 penetrates the insertion hole 5h and projects to the outside of the hood 5, as shown in FIGS. 4 (b) and 9 (b). At this time, the locking projection 5b of the hood 5 reaches further rearward of the rear side upper wall 2j of the locking recess 2e, whereby the elastic piece 5a elastically returns.

As described above, the optical connector as described above does not have the double structure portion in which the cover portion 2c of the housing body 2 and the peripheral wall 5i of the hood 5 overlap each other, so that the space S having a required size is provided. It is possible to minimize the outer dimensions of the hood 5 mounting portion for securing the same. In this optical connector, of the outer peripheral walls of the mounting portion of the hood 5 that first comes into contact with a receiver described later, the outer peripheral walls forming the upper surface and both side surfaces are constituted by the cover portion 2c of the housing main body 2. The peripheral wall 5i of the hood 5 only constitutes the peripheral wall forming the bottom surface. For this reason, for example, when the receiver is erroneously inserted upside down, the receiver can be made to contact the cover body 2c of the housing body 2, thereby preventing the erroneous insertion as described above. Also, if this is done, there is less risk of unreasonable force being applied to the hood due to erroneous insertion, etc. Therefore, when the hood 5 receives a force, the elastic piece 5a that receives this force is not so strong. It doesn't have to be strong. Therefore, the strength of the elastic piece 5a can be made relatively small to reduce the force required for coupling with the receptor. Further, the above-mentioned optical connector can be constructed by simply assembling the respective parts in the axial direction of the optical fiber, and the assembling can be performed relatively easily.

The optical connector is combined with a receiver as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, the receiver accommodates the optical transmission module 11a and the optical receiving module 11b inside the housing 10, and has an opening 11c into which the front portion of the corresponding optical connector is inserted. ing. The entire hood 5 of the optical connector is inserted into the housing 10 of this receiver. A pair of cylindrical receiving portions 12 into which the tips of the ferrules 1 of the optical connector are fitted are integrally formed on the inner wall 10a of the housing 10 which serves as a hood receiving portion that contacts the hood 5 of the optical connector. The modules 11a and 11b are arranged so as to be in contact with the respective rear end openings of the receiving portions 12 respectively. Further, inside the housing 10, an elastic piece 13 integrally formed with the housing 10 is provided at an intermediate portion of the pair of receiving portions 12. The elastic piece 13 has a front end that is continuous with the housing 10 and a rear end that is a free end, and has a locking projection 14 that extends upward at this free end. Further, the elastic piece 13 is formed so that the upper surface thereof coincides with the lower surface of the engaging piece 5f formed on the hood 5 of the optical connector when the optical connector is coupled to this receiver (FIG. 14). See). Further, the dimension L ₁ (see FIG. 10) from the base end portion of the elastic piece 13 to the rising position of the locking projection 14 is substantially equal to the length L ₂ (see FIG. 6) of the engaging piece 5f of the hood 5. It is dimensioned. Further, the locking protrusion 14 is formed so that the height L ₃ (see FIG. 14) is larger than the thickness of the engaging piece 5f. Further, at the upper end of the locking protrusion 14, a connector housing abutment surface 15 is formed which slopes downward from the top of the locking projection 14 and slopes downward from the top toward the rear. The hood contact surface 16 is formed. The housing 10 is provided with an engaging portion 17 formed by notching the upper wall at the center of the rear end of the upper surface in the left-right direction. The housing 10 also has a pair of protrusions 18 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the upper wall thereof and at positions corresponding to the locking recesses 2e formed in the housing body 2 of the optical connector. As will be described later, these projections 18 are engaged with the locking surface 5g of the hood 5 by the engagement projections 14 in a state where the hood 5 of the optical connector is in a position to cover the tip 7a of the optical fiber 7. When it is inserted up to the position, the locking projection 5b of the hood 5 protruding from the locking recess 2e is pressed. Reference numeral 19 is a terminal connected to the modules 11a and 11b.

The optical connector and the receiver are connected as follows.

That is, when the hood 5 of the optical connector is inserted into the opening of the housing 10 of the receiver, the hood 5 contacts the hood contact surface 16 formed at the tip of the engaging projection 14 on the receiver side. When a force in the coupling direction is applied to the optical connector in this state, as shown in FIG. 11, the hood 5 causes the tip 7a of the optical fiber 7 to move due to the engagement of the locking projection 5b with the rear upper wall 2j. Stop at the position to hide. On the other hand, as the hood abutment surface 16 moves along the hood 5, the elastic piece 13 elastically deforms, whereby the engaging protrusion 14 moves downward and the engaging portion 5f of the hood 5 is moved downward. Get in. Therefore, by further applying a force in the coupling direction to the optical connector, the optical connector is inserted into the inner part of the receiving body, and finally, as shown in FIG. 12, the engaging projection 14 is engaged with the engaging surface 5g of the hood 5. Is inserted to a position where it can be engaged with. However, at this time point, the engaging projection 14 is not engaged with the locking surface 5g because it is prevented from moving upward by the pressing piece 2m. When the optical connector has been inserted into the receiver up to this point, the protrusion 18 formed on the housing 10 of the receptor presses the locking protrusion 5b of the hood 5 protruding from the locking recess 2e, whereby the locking is achieved. The engagement between the projection 5b and the locking recess 2e is released. Further, at this time, the inner wall 10a of the housing 10 of the receiver comes into contact with the hood 5. Therefore, when a force in the coupling direction is further applied to the optical connector, the movement of the hood 5 is blocked, and only the housing body 2 holding the optical fiber 7 is inserted into the inner part of the receiver. That is, as shown in FIG. 4B or FIG. 9B, the hood 5 relatively moves to the position where the tip 7a of the optical fiber 7 is projected to the outside of the hood 5.

In this way, when the hood 5 is relatively moved to the position where the tip 7a of the optical fiber 7 is projected to the outside of the hood 5, as shown in FIG. 14, the pressing piece 2m of the housing body 2 is pushed. Has moved further to the inside than the position corresponding to the engaging projection 14 on the receiver side. Therefore, the engagement projection 14 engages with the locking surface 5g of the hood 5 as the elastic piece 13 elastically returns, and the movement of the hood 5 in the detaching direction is prevented. At this time, the locking portion 2i of the housing body 2 is engaged with the engaging portion 17 of the housing 10 of the receiving body. In this connection process, when the locking portion 2i of the housing main body 2 of the optical connector is inserted into the housing 10 of the receiver, the front end face of the locking portion 2i moves along the upper wall of the housing 10. By doing so, the elastic piece 2h bends. By the state shown in FIG. 14, the coupling between the optical connector and the receptor is completed (see FIG. 13). When the optical connector is thus coupled to the receptor, the tip of each ferrule 1 is outside the hood 5 and has a very small gap of about 0.1 mm from the optical transmission module 11a or the optical reception module 11b. Facing each other.

As is clear from the above description, in the above-described optical connector / receptor coupling structure, the tip surface 7a of the optical fiber 7 and the surface of the optical transmission module 11a, and the tip surface 7a and the optical receiving module 11b. No force is exerted in the direction of increasing the gap between the faces. On the contrary, the ferrule 1 holding the optical fiber 7 by the action of the spring 4 is always urged in the direction in which the gap between the surfaces of the connection portion does not widen, so that the contact reliability is extremely high and the gap loss is minimized. It is suppressed.

When the optical connector is removed from the receiver, it is as follows. At the time of removal, first, the elastic piece 2h is bent by forcibly pushing the operating portion 2n of the optical connector downward, whereby the locking portion 2i and the engaging portion 17 are engaged, that is, the housing body 2 of the optical connector. Disengage the housing 10 of the receiver.

Next, when a force in the pull-out direction is applied to the optical connector, the housing main body 2 first moves in the pull-out direction together with the housing cap 3. At this time, the hood 5 cannot move because the locking surface 5g is engaged with the locking projection 14 on the receiver side. However, when the housing body 2 is further pulled out, the pressing piece 2m formed on the housing body 2 comes into contact with the connector housing contact surface 15 formed at the tip of the engaging projection 14. Therefore, by further applying the pulling force, as shown in FIG. 15, the elastic piece 13 bends and the pressing piece 2m moves along the abutment surface 15. In this manner, the elastic piece 13 is bent by the pressing piece 2m, so that the contact surface 15 formed on the engaging projection 14 contacts the rear end of the engaging piece 5f of the hood 5. Therefore, when a pulling force is further applied to the optical connector, the rear end of the engaging piece 5f moves along the contact surface 15, and the hood 5 is also pulled out from the housing 10 of the receiver.

Although the above embodiment has been described with respect to the optical connector in which the optical fiber 7 is used as the connection body and the tip end surface 7a thereof is used as the connection portion, this invention is for an FPC using the connection piece as the connection body. It can also be applied to connectors. That is, when not in use, the contact formed on the electrical connection part, that is, the contact, is concealed by the hood, and the contact is projected outside the hood when the corresponding contact is connected. it can.

[0026]

[Effect of the device]

 Although the connector according to the invention has a hood to protect the connection part of the connection body, the shape of the hood mounting part can be reduced, and the connector itself can be downsized. Has the effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an optical connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a coupled state of a ferrule and a fiber cable.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the optical connector of FIG. 1 after assembly.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the optical connector of FIG. 1 after assembly.

5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG.

7 is a schematic end view showing a main part of a cut surface taken along line VII-VII of FIG.

8 is an end view of VIII-VIII of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a moving state of the hood.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a receptor according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a process of coupling the optical connector and the receptor.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a process of coupling an optical connector and a receptor.

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a state in which an optical connector and a receiver are combined.

14 is a central vertical cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a process of separating the optical connector from the receiver.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a conventional optical connector and a receiver.

FIG. 17 is a schematic end view of the main part of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 housing body 5 hood 5h front wall 5i peripheral wall 7 optical fiber (connecting body) 7a tip (connecting portion) S space

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A housing for holding a connecting body and a hood mounted on the housing, wherein the hood projects from the position where the connecting portion of the connecting body is housed inside the hood to the outside of the hood. In a connector that can be slid relative to the housing to a position where the hood is provided, the hood has a front wall having an insertion hole through which the connector is inserted, and a peripheral edge of the front wall. A peripheral wall continuous to the portion and extending rearward, the housing includes a peripheral wall that does not overlap with the peripheral wall of the hood, and an accommodating space for accommodating the connecting portion of the connector inside the hood is A connector formed by the inner surface of the peripheral wall and the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the housing.