JPH0566323A - Manufacture of multifiber optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To finish an optical fiber end surface into a spherical surface. CONSTITUTION:A step wherein, for example, an optical fiber 2 is inserted into the center thin hole of a single-fiber ferrule 6 and temporarily fixed with a temporary fixing adhesive, a step wherein the optical fiber 2 and single-fiber ferrule 6 are polished into the spherical surface, and a step wherein the optical fiber 2 is detached from the single-fiber ferrule 6 are carried out for plural optical fibers and then the optical fibers are inserted into and fixed in plural fine holes of a multifiber ferrule 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a multi-core optical connector. Optical connectors are used in the field of optical communication or optical transmission to optically and mechanically connect optical fibers used as transmission lines. This type of optical connector is configured such that mirror-polished optical fiber end faces are coaxially butted. When the end faces of the optical fibers are butted against each other, even if there is a slight gap between the end faces, the end face reflectance becomes high, which causes inconvenience such as increase in connection loss. It is required that the core end faces of the fibers are in close contact with each other without a gap. Further, in order to cope with the increase in the number of channels accompanying the increase in transmission capacity, there has been a demand for multi-core optical connectors, that is, realization of multi-core optical connectors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a single-core optical connector, there is known a so-called PC type optical connector in which an end face of an optical fiber is polished into a spherical surface so that the end faces of the core are closely contacted with each other without a gap during connection. According to the PC type optical connector, since the tolerance for the angle deviation of the optical fibers and the like in maintaining the low end face reflectance increases, it becomes possible to stably connect the optical fibers to each other in which reflected light is unlikely to occur.

As a method of manufacturing the optical fiber holding portion of the PC type optical connector, the optical fiber is inserted and fixed in the ferrule, and the ferrule is rotated while the center line of the optical fiber is slightly inclined with respect to the polishing surface. On the other hand, a method is known in which the end surface is polished to finish the end surface of the optical fiber into a spherical surface.

[0004]

The manufacturing method of the optical fiber holding portion in the PC type optical connector described above cannot be directly applied to the multi-core optical connector. because,
If the spherical polishing method for a multi-core optical connector is applied to a multi-core optical fiber as it is, the spherical surface is polished so that the end faces of each optical fiber share the same spherical surface, making it virtually impossible to use as an optical connector. Because. As described above, according to the conventional technique, the end faces of the optical fibers in the multi-core optical connector cannot be finished to be spherical.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a method of manufacturing a multi-core optical connector in which the end faces of the optical fibers in the multi-core optical connector can be finished into spherical surfaces. ..

[0006]

A method for manufacturing a multi-core optical connector according to the present invention comprises a step of inserting an optical fiber into a central pore of a single-core ferrule and temporarily fixing it with a temporary adhesive. A step of spherically polishing together with the single-core ferrule, and a step of removing the spherically-polished optical fiber from the single-core ferrule and removing the temporary fixing adhesive adhered to the optical fiber are performed for a plurality of optical fibers. After that, the plurality of optical fibers are inserted and fixed in the plurality of pores of the multi-core ferrule such that the tips of the spherically polished end faces thereof are located on the same plane (first method).

Another method of manufacturing a multi-core optical connector according to the present invention comprises a step of inserting and fixing an optical fiber into a central pore of a single-core ferrule, and a step of spherically polishing the optical fiber together with the single-core ferrule. After carrying out the above-mentioned optical fiber, the plurality of ferrules in which the plurality of optical fibers are inserted and fixed are respectively inserted and fixed in the plurality of holes of the multi-core ferrule so that their spherical polished end faces are located on the same plane. That is the second method.

[0008]

According to the first method or the second method of the present invention, the optical fiber is mounted on the multi-core ferrule directly or together with the single-core ferrule after spherical polishing of each optical fiber. It is possible to provide a multi-core optical connector in which the end faces of the fibers are each spherical.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the manufacturing procedure of the multi-core optical connector in the first embodiment of the present invention. First, as shown in FIG. 1 (A), a temporary fixing adhesive 4 is attached to a portion of the optical fiber 2 in the vicinity of the tip thereof, and the optical fiber 2 is applied to the central pores of a single-core ferrule 6 made of ceramics or the like. Insert and fix. As the temporary adhesive 4, paraffin, varnish, or the like that can be melted at high temperature can be used.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, the ferrule 6 having the optical fiber 2 inserted and fixed therein is rotated about the rotary polishing plate 8 to polish the end face. At this time, the axis of the single-core ferrule 6 is slightly inclined with respect to the direction perpendicular to the rotary polishing plate 8 so that the optical fiber 2
The end surface of (1) and the end surface of the single-core ferrule 6 are spherically polished.

Then, the temporary fixing adhesive is melted by heating or the like, and the spherically polished optical fiber 2 is removed from the single-core ferrule 6 as shown in FIG.
The adhesive for temporary attachment adhering to is removed.

The steps shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C are carried out for the number of optical fibers required for the multi-core optical connector. Then, as shown in FIG. 1D, an adhesive 10 such as an optical adhesive is attached to a portion of each spherically-polished optical fiber 2 in the vicinity of the tip thereof, so that each optical fiber 2 is made into a pore of the multicore ferrule 12. Insert and fix in. The multi-core ferrule 12 is a rectangular parallelepiped block in which pores are penetrated in parallel at equal intervals.

When inserting and fixing the optical fiber 2 into the multi-core ferrule 12, as shown in FIG. 1 (E), the ends of the optical fibers are placed parallel to the multi-core ferrule 12. For example, stoppers 14 having a flat surface are provided at intervals of several μm, and the tips of the optical fibers 2 are brought into contact with the stoppers 14.

If it is difficult to keep the stopper 14 parallel to the multi-core ferrule 12, the stopper 14
It is also possible to form a recess of the same depth on the surface of which the tip of each optical fiber should be seated, and to make this stopper adhere to the multi-core ferrule.

Further, a stopper made of an elastic body may be brought into close contact with the multi-core ferrule 12, and the tip of each optical fiber may be pressed against this stopper with the same pressure. A multicore optical connector configured by using such a multicore ferrule in which an optical fiber is inserted and fixed will be described. 2 is a perspective view of this multi-core optical connector, FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of this multi-core optical connector.

The male connector 16 is constructed by fixing the multi-core ferrule 12 in which the optical fiber 2 is inserted and fixed in the body case 20. A recess 22 is formed on the side surface of the body case 20 near the tip.

On the other hand, the female connector 18 is used for the optical fiber 2
The multi-core ferrule 12 in which is inserted and fixed is provided in the main body case 24 via a spring 26 so as to be movable in the fiber axis direction. At the tip of the main body case 24, the main body case 2 on the male side is attached.
A groove 30 into which the front end portion of 0 is fitted is formed, and a projection 28 that engages with the recess 22 on the male side is formed in this groove 30.

According to this structure, when the male connector 16 is mounted on the female connector 18, the end faces of the optical fibers come into contact with each other by the elastic force of the spring, so that a good optical coupling state is realized. By using this multi-core optical connector, it is possible to connect multiple optical fibers to each other at the same time, so it is easy to increase the transmission capacity. Also, since the end faces of each optical fiber are polished to a nearly spherical surface, the connection part The reflection of the light propagating in the optical fiber is unlikely to occur.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the manufacturing procedure in the second embodiment of the present invention. First, as shown in FIG. 4 (A), an adhesive 1 such as an optical adhesive is applied to a portion near the tip of the optical fiber 2.
0 is attached and the optical fiber 2 is inserted and fixed in the single-core ferrule 6.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the single-core ferrule 6 with the optical fiber 2 inserted and fixed is spherically polished by the rotary polishing plate 8 as in the previous embodiment. In this embodiment, the spherically polished single-core ferrule is mounted on the multi-core ferrule as it is. That is, as shown in FIG. 4C, a plurality of single-core ferrules 6 in which optical fibers are inserted and fixed and spherically polished are prepared, and the single-core ferrules 6 are inserted into the holes 30 of the multi-core ferrule 12. Fix it.
An ordinary adhesive can be used for this fixing. The single-core ferrule 6 is closely inserted into each hole 30,
It is desirable that they are formed in a grid pattern at equal intervals.

When inserting the single-core ferrule 6 into the multi-core ferrule 12, as shown in FIG. 4D, stoppers 14 having a flat surface are arranged in parallel with the multi-core ferrule 12 at equal intervals. The tip of the inserted single-core ferrule 6 may be brought into contact with the flat surface of the stopper 14.

A large-diameter portion (flange portion) formed in the middle of the single-core ferrule 6 in the longitudinal direction is accurately formed, and the large-diameter portion positions the single-core ferrule in the multi-core ferrule. You may do it.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a multi-core optical connector (female side connector) according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Also in this embodiment, in the female connector, the multi-core ferrule 12 holding the optical fiber 2 is held in the main body case 24 via the spring 26, and when the male connector is attached to the female connector. The single-core ferrules are brought into contact with each other with an appropriate contact force.

Also in this embodiment, as in the case of the previous embodiment, it becomes possible to connect a plurality of optical fibers at the same time, and the reflection of the optical fiber propagating light at the connection portion hardly occurs.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the multi-core optical connector, the end face of the optical fiber can be finished to be spherical.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a manufacturing procedure of a multi-core optical connector showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a multi-core optical connector according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a multi-core optical connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the manufacturing procedure of the multi-core optical connector in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a multi-core optical connector according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Optical fiber 6 Single-core ferrule 12 Multi-core ferrule

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A step of inserting an optical fiber (2) into a central pore of a single-core ferrule (6) and temporarily fixing it with a temporary fixing adhesive (4); A plurality of steps of polishing the spherical surface together with the ferrule (6) and removing the spherically polished optical fiber (2) from the single-core ferrule (6) and removing the temporary fixing adhesive adhered to the optical fiber are performed. The optical fiber is then inserted into and fixed to a plurality of pores of the multi-core ferrule (12) so that the tips of the spherically polished end faces thereof are located on the same plane. Manufacturing method of multi-core optical connector. 2. A plurality of steps of inserting and fixing the optical fiber (2) into the central pore of the single-core ferrule (6), and polishing the optical fiber (2) with the single-core ferrule (6) into a spherical surface. After that, the plurality of ferrules in which the plurality of optical fibers are inserted and fixed are inserted and fixed in the plurality of holes of the multi-core ferrule (12) so that the spherical polished end faces thereof are located on the same plane. A method for manufacturing a multi-core optical connector, comprising: