JPH0559412U - Optical fiber connector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In an optical fiber connector, the optical fiber is securely held with a simple structure, and the optical fiber core is not cut or damaged. [Constitution] The insertion groove (15) of the connector body (10) is slightly larger than the plate thickness of the holding plate (20). A substantially L-shaped kerf is formed on the outside of the leg portion (21) of the holding plate (20), and the leg portion (21)
One end of the is bent from the surface formed by the legs to form the protrusion (23). The protrusion (23) engages with the wall surface of the insertion groove (15).

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an optical fiber connector used for connecting an optical fiber for transmitting an optical signal to an optical signal transmitting / receiving device or the like.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 An optical fiber for transmitting optical signals consists of a linear core cable made of optical glass or plastic, and a jacket made of urethane, polyethylene, vinyl, or another resin that covers the outer diameter of this core cable. And is applied in various fields such as optical communication.

In the case of transmitting an optical signal using this optical fiber, the end of the optical fiber is opposed to the device for exchanging signals with the optical fiber or the end of another optical fiber. It is necessary to connect both to enable the transmission and reception of optical signals. For this reason, various optical fiber connectors have been proposed in the past. For example, there is a connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-174916, in which the end portion of an optical fiber inserted in a connector housing is press-fitted between the connector housing and the optical fiber. The optical fiber is fixed and held in the connector housing by crimping with a fixing bracket. That is, the fixing metal fitting presses and holds the end portion of the optical fiber in the connector housing, and the optical fiber is fixed by this pressing force.

Therefore, when such a connector is used, if the crimping force of the fixing bracket is weak, the problem of pulling out the optical fiber occurs, and conversely, if the crimping force is strong, when the core cable is made of plastic. In addition, there is a problem in that the core cable is compressed and deformed by receiving the crimping force, resulting in transmission loss of the optical signal. Furthermore, in the case of fixing and holding by crimping, this crimping force is obtained by elastic deformation of the jacket, but the elastically deforming part permanently deforms depending on the usage conditions and usage time of the optical fiber, and the elasticity of this part There is a problem that the force is reduced and the crimping force is reduced, and the optical fiber is easily separated from the connector.

As a method of attaching the optical fiber to the connector, there is a method of adhering and fixing the end portion of the optical fiber to the connector with an adhesive or the like, but there is a problem that the work is troublesome and the work is difficult to automate. ..

Further, as another conventional example, an optical fiber connector which is held in a so-called pressure contact state with a thin metal plate having a slot for receiving an optical fiber jacket is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-185,810. That is, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, in the holding clamp 1 ', two holding plates 11' with slots are connected in parallel by a connecting plate 12 '. Further, the connecting plate 12 'is formed with a retaining mechanism 17' having a locking claw 16 'so that the retaining plate 11' is retained in the fitting groove 21 'of the connector housing 2'. As another example, as shown in FIG. 8, the holding blade 14 'of the holding plate 11' itself has a locking claw 16 '. Here, 3'denotes an optical fiber, 31 'denotes its core wire, and 32' denotes the coating of the optical fiber.

However, the conventional holding clamp 1'cannot be effectively held unless the dimensional accuracy of the locking claw 16 'and the connector housing 2'is extremely high (insufficient holding force or excessive insertion force). In particular, when the locking claws 16 'projecting to the outside of the holding blade 14' are formed as shown in FIG. 8, the holding blade 14 'may be bent inward to cut or damage the optical fiber core of the optical cable inserted into the slot. There is

[0008]

[The purpose of the device]

 In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber connector which has a simple structure and holds an optical fiber securely, and which does not cause cutting or damage to the optical fiber core and has excellent workability. Is to provide.

[0009]

[Device configuration]

 The optical fiber connector of the present invention comprises at least one metal having an approximately U-shaped slot between a pair of legs in an insertion groove which is substantially orthogonal to the insertion hole from the outside of the connector body having the optical fiber insertion hole. In an optical fiber connector in which a thin holding plate is inserted and the optical fiber jacket is inserted into the slot to fix the optical fiber to the connector body, the insertion groove of the connector body is a plate of the holding plate. The thickness is slightly larger than the thickness, a substantially L-shaped cut groove is formed on the outside of the leg portion of the holding plate, and the end of the leg portion far from the insertion end is bent from the surface formed by the leg portion to form a protrusion. When the holding plate is formed and is inserted into the insertion groove, the projection is engaged with the wall surface of the insertion groove.

[0010]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a connector assembly using an optical fiber connector according to the present invention, in which a plug connector 1 to which an end of an optical fiber 5 is fixed and a photoelectric element 6 are mounted. And a receptacle connector 3 to be used. The plug connector 1 is an optical fiber connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, and comprises a connector body 10 and a holding plate 20, and the end of the optical fiber inserted into the connector body 10 is fixed and held by the holding plate 20, At this time, the core cable 5b is inserted until it reaches the end surface of the distal end cylindrical portion 12 of the connector body 10. The receptacle connector 3 has a cylindrical hole 32 penetrating in the front-rear direction, and engaging arms 31, 31 for engaging with the engaging protrusions 11 of the connector body 10 at the front part thereof. A photoelectric element 6 is attached to the end. The photoelectric element 6 is a light emitting diode, a light receiving diode, or the like, and is for transmitting / receiving an optical signal to / from the optical fiber. In order to connect the plug connector 1 and the receptacle connector 3, the tip cylindrical portion 12 is inserted into the cylindrical hole 32, and the engaging projection 11 and the engaging arm 31 are engaged with each other. The end surface of the core cable 5b reaching the tip end surface of the cylindrical portion 12 is brought into proximity or contact with the photoelectric element 6 to face it.

The Bragg connector 1 is shown in detail in FIG. 2, which shows a method of attaching the optical fiber 5 to the plug connector 1 by cross-sectioning the plug connector 1 along the arrow III-III in this figure. Are FIGS. 3A to 3C. Further, FIGS. 4A to 4C show a method of mounting the optical fiber 5 in a cross section of the plug connector 1 along the arrow IV-IV in FIG. 3A and corresponding to FIGS. 3A to 3C. The detailed structure of the plug connector 1 and the method of mounting the optical fiber 5 on the connector will be described below with reference to these drawings.

The connector body 10 is provided with an insertion hole 13 penetrating from the rear end surface 10 a to the front end surface 10 b of the front end cylindrical portion 12, and the insertion hole 13 has a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the jacket of the optical fiber 5. It comprises a side insertion hole 13a and a front insertion hole 13b having a diameter slightly larger than the core cable diameter. Further, an opening 14 reaching from the upper surface 10c of the connector body 10 to the rear insertion hole 13a is formed in the connector body 10, and a pair of vertically extending holding plate insertion grooves 15 and 15 are formed in the front and rear inside the opening 14. Has been done.

The holding plate 20 is inserted into the holding plate insertion grooves 15 and 15. The holding plate 20 is formed by bending a relatively hard and thin plate made of metal or the like into a "U" shape that opens downward. Both legs 21 and 21 are formed with inverted U-shaped slots 22 and 22 that open downward. Further, bent protrusions 23, 23 are formed at both ends of the leg portion 21, respectively.

In order to attach the optical fiber 5 to such a plug connector 1, first, as shown in FIG. 4A, the connecting portion 25 is separated from a plurality of holding plates connected by the connecting portion 25, and the separated holding plates are attached. As shown in FIG. 3A, the lower ends of both legs 21, 21 are inserted into the plate insertion grooves 15 and 15 to such an extent that they do not reach the rear insertion hole 13a, and the bending protrusion 23 and the plate insertion groove 15 are engaged with each other. It is kept in this state. Next, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 4B, the optical fiber 5 from which the core cable 5b is partly exposed at the tip is inserted into the insertion hole 13. At this time, the tip of the jacket 5a is inserted into the rear insertion hole 13a, the exposed core cable 5b is inserted into the front insertion hole 13b, and the core cable 5b penetrates the front insertion hole 13b. And projects forward from the front end face 10b.

After that, the holding plate 20 is pushed down. This holding plate is made of a thin metal plate or the like, so that the U-shaped slot 22 bites into the jacket 5a of the optical fiber 5. At this time, the bent protrusion 23 of the holding plate 20 engages with the insertion groove 15 and holds the U-shaped slot 22 so as not to come off when the U-shaped slot 22 bites into the jacket 5a (FIGS. 3C and 4C). The width of the U-shaped slot 22 is smaller than that of the jacket 5a so that the U-shaped slot 22 bites into the jacket 5a. Next, the core cable 5b protruding forward from the distal end cylindrical portion 12 is cut and end face treatment is performed as shown in FIG. 3C.

In this way, the holding plate 20 is fixed and held in the connector body 10 by the plate insertion groove 15, so that the optical fiber 5 is fixed to the connector body 10 by the U-shaped slot 22 biting into the jacket 5a. Will be retained. In this case, since there is no crimping portion unlike the conventional optical fiber holding, there is no problem that the core is compressed to cause a transmission loss of an optical signal, and the optical fiber 5 is held securely.

5 and 6 are perspective views showing different embodiments of the optical connector according to the present invention. In the optical connector 6 of FIG. 5, an example in which two holding plates 60 made of one flat thin plate are used instead of the folding holding plate 20 in the above case is shown. Therefore, the same connector body 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is used, and the holding plates 60 are inserted into the plate insertion grooves 15 and 15 to fix the optical fiber 5 to the body 10. It is supposed to do. FIG. 6 shows an example in which only one holding plate 60 is used. In this optical connector 7, only one plate insertion groove 71 is formed in the body 70, and the insertion hole 13 is inserted. The formed optical fiber 5 is fixedly held by the holding plate 60 on the body 70.

[0019]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the optical fiber connector of the present invention, the L-shaped cut grooves are formed on both sides of the leg of the holding plate having the U-shaped slot, and the L-shaped cut grooves are cut and raised to engage with the wall surface of the connector body. Since they are combined, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) The optical fiber is not deformed or damaged because the optical fiber is not excessively pressed by bringing both the leg parts close to each other as in the case of the conventional connector in which the engagement protrusion protruding to the outside of the leg part is formed. There is no danger of it occurring.

(2) The leg width of the holding plate is narrowed due to the kerf, and it has a relatively large elasticity at the time of insertion, which facilitates the insertion operation, and after the insertion, the projection is pushed to become a flat plate shape. The holding strength of the optical fiber is large.

(3) Since the relatively long edge engages with the wall surface of the connector body, even if a relatively thin holding plate is used, the leg portion holding the optical fiber can be directly held with a large force.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an optical connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a plug connector as an optical connector according to the present invention.

3A, 3B, 3C and 3D are cross-sectional views sequentially showing the assembly process of the plug connector along the arrow III-III in FIG.

4A, 4B, and 4C are cross-sectional views sequentially showing the assembly process of the plug connector along the arrow IV-IV in FIG. 3A.

5 and 6 are perspective views showing different embodiments of the optical connector according to the present invention.

7A and 7B are views showing a conventional optical fiber connector.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional optical fiber connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 optical fiber 5a jacket 10 connector body 13 insertion hole 15 plate insertion groove 20 holding plate 22 U-shaped slot 21 leg 23 bent protrusion

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A holding member made of at least one thin metal plate having a substantially U-shaped slot between a pair of legs in an insertion groove that is substantially orthogonal to the insertion hole from the outside of a connector body having an optical fiber insertion hole. In an optical fiber connector in which a plate is inserted and the jacket of the optical fiber is bited into the slot to fix the optical fiber to the connector body, the insertion groove of the connector body is slightly thinner than the plate thickness of the holding plate. A large L-shaped cut groove is formed on the outside of the leg portion of the holding plate, and an end of the leg portion far from the insertion end portion is bent from a surface formed by the leg portion to form a protrusion, An optical fiber connector, wherein the protrusion is adapted to engage with a wall surface of the insertion groove when the holding plate is inserted into the insertion groove.