JPH0720355A - Sleeve holder inserting and pulling tool for optical fiber connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the sleeve holder inserting and pulling tool for an optical fiber connector which is high in efficiency and simple in operation and has no possibility of damaging a housing by an erroneous operation, etc. CONSTITUTION:This tool has a cylindrical part 15 for fitting to a housing and a sleeve holder inserting and pulling body 16 for every body piece of sleeve holders. This inserting and pulling body 16 has projections 14 for width expansion which expand the width between projecting wall parts 8 and elastic detaining members 12 to be detained to the flange parts of the sleeve holders 7. A sleeve holder housing part 13 is formed at the front end of the tool body part 11. These projections 14 for width expansion project from the front ends of the tool body part 11 and are formed with tapered surfaces 14A for elastically deforming the projecting wall parts 8 in such a manner that a detaining part 9 of the housing 2 releases the detention with the flange parts. These elastic detaining members 12 are detained with the flange parts of the sleeve holders 7 by the chucking action of the elastic detaining members12 when the projections 14 for width expansion are pushed into the prescribed position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tool for inserting / removing a sleeve holder in an optical fiber connector, which is inserted into a ferrule of an optical fiber, into / from the ferrule.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool of this type is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 05-17611. In the optical fiber connector in which this known sleeve holder insertion / removal tool can be used, the flange portion formed in the middle portion of the sleeve holder has parallel cut-off portions formed at two locations opposed in the diametrical direction. On the other hand, the locking portion of the housing that locks with respect to the flange portion is a parallel portion having a width that allows passage of cutout portions facing the flange portion.

When the sleeve holder is inserted / removed, the cut-out portion of the flange portion of the sleeve holder is made parallel to the locking portion so that the locking portion is allowed to pass therethrough. The flange part is locked to the locking part by rotating 90 degrees with respect to it.

The tool used for inserting and removing the sleeve holder is used together with a jig. The jig is for guiding the tool at a predetermined position and is attached to the housing of the connector. The jig has a tool guide hole, and a groove is formed in the tool guide hole so that the tool can be inserted / removed at two positions displaced by 90 °.

On the other hand, the tool has four protrusions projecting from the tip of the tool body in the form of a shaft, and by pressing the rear end of the tool body, it resists the reaction force of the built-in spring. The above-mentioned four protrusions protrude while expanding their intervals.
The sleeve holder is positioned between the four protrusions, the pressure at the rear end of the tool body is released, and the protrusion is slightly retracted to grip the sleeve holder. Then, after passing the locking part of the housing as described above,
The sleeve holder is inserted by rotating it. The reverse operation is performed at the time of extraction.

When a sleeve holder is fitted in each of a plurality of ferrules and these are accommodated in one connector housing, each sleeve holder is inserted or removed one by one using the above tool.

[0007]

However, when using such a conventional sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool, there are the following problems.

[0008] When the sleeve holder is pulled out, the rotation angle is completely 90 or not even if the tool is rotated.
If it is not °, the sleeve holder is still locked in the housing, and the housing may be damaged if it is forcibly pulled out. It may even damage the jig for guiding the tool. The flange is inside the housing when it is pulled out, and
Since it is difficult to confirm whether or not it has rotated, the above accidents are likely to occur.

The cut-off portion of the flange portion of the sleeve holder must be processed in parallel, which increases the manufacturing cost.

In order to insert and remove the sleeve holder, two kinds of jigs and tools must be prepared, which not only complicates the work but also increases the cost.

When a plurality of sleeve holders are attached to the connector housing, each sleeve holder must be inserted and removed one by one, which is troublesome.

The present invention solves such a problem, there is no risk of damaging the housing, the work is simple, the jig is not required, and the cost can be reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool for an optical fiber connector, which has an extremely high operability and can insert / extract all the sleeve holders by the operation of.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the above object is to provide a plug frame in each tubular plug frame housed in each of a plurality of openings formed at equal intervals in a housing. The optical fiber ferrule forming an annular space open to the outside has a sleeve holder in which the front portion is detachably fitted to the intermediate portion in the annular space, and the sleeve holder is fitted with the sleeve holder. Has a flange portion abutting the end face of the plug frame on the outer surface of the intermediate portion, and the housing has protruding wall portions which face each other in parallel to the side portions of the intermediate portions of the sleeve holders and are adjacent to each other. A sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool for an optical fiber connector in which an engaging portion for engaging with the flange portion is formed on the inner surface of the protruding wall portion facing the flange portion, and the engaging portion prevents the sleeve holder from coming off. At this time, a tubular portion having an opening fitted into the housing and a sleeve holder insertion / extraction body corresponding to a sleeve holder in a spaced position in the internal space of the tubular portion are provided, and each sleeve holder insertion / extraction body is at least It has a tool main body having a shaft-like tip, at least a pair of widening projections for widening the width between the projecting wall portions facing each other, and a pair of elastic locking members for locking the flange portion of the sleeve holder. Then, a sleeve holder accommodating portion for accommodating the rear portion of the sleeve holder in the axial direction is formed as a recess at the tip end portion of the tool body portion, and the pair of widening projections are the tip end portions of the shaft-like tool body portion. The protruding wall portion is elastically deformed to a position where the locking portion of the housing releases the locking with the flange portion of the sleeve holder when pushed into a predetermined position on the outer surface of the tip of the widening projection. Blame A pair of elastic locking members are formed between the pair of widening projections, and one end of the pair of elastic locking members is located as a free end ahead of the tip of the tool main body and is elastically deformable. Is attached to the tool body, and when the widening protrusion is pushed to a predetermined position, the pair of elastic locking members of each sleeve holder insertion / extraction body are interlocked by the picking operation to lock to the flange of the sleeve holder. It is achieved by being in a position to.

[0014]

In the present invention, the sleeve holder is inserted / removed in the following manner.

A. When inserting Insert the rear part of the sleeve holder into the sleeve holder accommodating part of the tool body part in order. The front part is projected from the tip of the tool body. At that time, the sleeve holder is inserted for all the sleeve holder insertion / extraction bodies. That is,
When viewed from the connector side, the sleeve holder corresponding to the ferrule at the spaced position is held by the tool.

The tubular body is fitted in the housing so that the pair of widening projections projectingly formed from the tip of the tool body are brought into contact with the inner surfaces of the corresponding opposing projecting walls of the housing. And push the widening projection toward the housing.

The taper surface of the widening projection pushes the projecting wall portion outward to cause elastic bending deformation.
When the widening protrusion is pushed to a predetermined position, the opposed locking portions of the projecting wall portion are sufficiently widened, and the flange portion of the sleeve holder passes through the position of the locking portion and is brought to the predetermined position.

After that, when the tool is pulled out, the protruding wall portion returns to its original shape, the locking portion is locked to the flange portion of the sleeve holder, and the sleeve holder is held at a predetermined position. Thus, all sleeve holders are inserted into the corresponding fiber optic cable ferrules, ie, the ferrules in the remote position.

Next, the tool is turned upside down and the above operations 1 to 3 are repeated. As a result, the sleeve holder is inserted into the ferrules at other spaced positions where the sleeve holder has not been inserted yet, and the sleeve holders are inserted into the ferrules of all the optical fiber cables.

B. When pulling out When pulling out the sleeve holder, push the pair of widening projections of the tool into contact with the inner surfaces of the opposing projecting wall portions of the housing while fitting the tubular portion into the housing, Expand the space between the facing locking parts to unlock the locking part from the flange part of the sleeve holder.

In such a state, the pair of elastic locking members are pushed by fingers to cause elastic bending deformation, and the tip ends thereof are locked to the flange portion of the sleeve holder.

Thereafter, the tool is pulled out, and the sleeve holder is pulled out by the elastic locking member. Thus, the sleeve holders in the spaced position are pulled out at once.

Next, the tool is turned upside down and the above-mentioned operations (1) to (5) are repeated to remove the sleeve holders at the remaining spaced positions, and the removal operation of all the sleeve holders is completed.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an optical fiber connector 1 and a sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool 10 of this embodiment in a separated state, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view when the tool is used. Note that in FIG. 2, the upper half is a horizontal cross section and the lower half is a vertical cross section.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is an optical fiber connector, which has a cylindrical plug frame 3 inside a housing 2 at an arbitrary even number of locations (two locations in the illustrated example). In the figure, one plug frame is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 2, the cylindrical hollow space of each plug frame 3 is fitted to the optical fiber 4 and has a flange portion 5A.
The ferrule 5 having the above is inserted while being biased to the right by a spring 6 arranged on the left side of the ferrule 5.
Around the right part of the ferrule 5 is the plug frame 3
A ring-shaped space is formed between the two and is opened to the outside toward the right, and the sleeve holder 7 is inserted into the ring-shaped space.

The sleeve holder 7 has an outer cylinder 7A consisting of a front outer cylinder 7A1 and a rear outer cylinder 7A2, and an inner cylinder 7B housed in the outer cylinder 7A. The front outer cylinder 7A1 is provided with a flange portion 7E that forms an annular groove 7D at the joint with the rear outer cylinder 7A2. The inner cylinder 7B has an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the right part of the ferrule 5 and has a slit 7F formed in the axial direction so that the diameter can be increased when the ferrule 5 is fitted to the right part. Has become.

As described above, the cylindrical plug frames 3 are evenly arranged in parallel in the housing 2 at equal pitches, and the ferrules 5 are inserted and held in the respective plug frames 3. A projecting wall portion 8 extending in the axial direction is provided between two adjacent plug frames 3 and at a side portion of the plug frame 3 at a side end, and a tip end portion thereof has a direction perpendicular to the projecting wall portion 8. It has a locking portion 9 extending to. The two locking portions 9 facing each other have locking edges 9A forming a part of an arc on parallel side edges, and the locking edges 9A are formed in the flange portion 7E of the sleeve holder 7 in an annular shape. It is locked in the groove 7D.

The sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool 10 has a tubular portion 15 having a quadrangular cross section which is open to the front. The tubular portion 1
Reference numeral 5 has a shape and dimensions that are fitted into the housing 2. A sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 16 corresponding to only one (the left side in the figure) of the two sleeve holders 7 of the housing 2 is arranged in the left half 15A of the inner space of the cylindrical portion 15, and the right half 15B is hollow.

The sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 16 has a shaft-shaped tool body 11 having a quadrangular cross section and the tool body 11.
It is provided with a pair of plate-like elastic locking members 12 provided along the upper and lower surfaces. The tool main body 11 is formed with a recess 13 as a sleeve holder accommodating portion for accommodating the rear outer cylinder 7A2 of the sleeve holder 7 which is slid into the tool main body 11, and is opened leftward. Two pairs of upper and lower widening projections 14 are provided. In FIG. 1, the widening projections 14 forming a pair on the left and right have a tapered surface 14A on the outer side of the tip,
When the pair of widening projections 14 are pushed into between the projecting wall portions 8 facing each other, the tapered surface 14 </ b> A widens between the projecting wall portions 8.

In FIG. 1, the pair of upper and lower elastic locking members 12 extend in the longitudinal direction of the tool body 11, and are located at a position away from the end of the tool body 11 on the side of the recess 13. One end is attached to the tool main body 11 in a cantilever shape. Then, at least in the vicinity of the recess 13 on the free end side, there are predetermined intervals H with the upper and lower surfaces of the tool main body 11, respectively, and the tip end contacts the tool main body 11 under pinching force by pinching with a finger (H = 0), elastic bending deformation is possible. The ends of the pair of elastic locking members 12 are bent along the front end surface of the tool body 11,
The opposing edges form arcuate locking edges 12A.
When the elastic locking member 12 is in a free state, the facing locking edge 12A passes through the flange portion 7E of the sleeve holder 7 without coming into contact with the flange portion on the tool main body portion 11 side and the position of the annular groove 7D. When the elastic locking member 12 receives the clamping force and bends, the gap and the radius are formed so as to enter the annular groove 7D.

In this embodiment, the sleeve holder is inserted and removed in the following manner.

A. At the time of insertion The sleeve holder 7 is inserted and held by the rear outer cylinder 7A2 into the recess 13 of the tool main body portion 11 of the sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 16 located on the left side in the cylindrical body 15 in the drawing.

As the cylindrical portion 15 is fitted into the housing 2, the taper surfaces 14A of the pair of widening projections 14 of the tool body 11 come into contact with the ends of the protruding wall portions 8 of the housing 2 which face each other. Then, the tool 10 is positioned and pushed toward the housing 2 as it is.

As the widening projection 14 is pushed in, the space between the opposing projecting wall portions 8 is widened, so that the locking portion 9 is formed.
The engaging edges 9A facing each other are widened, and the flange portion 7E of the sleeve holder 7 passes through the engaging portion 9 without hitting the engaging portion 9. In this way, the sleeve holder 7 is inserted into the ferrule 5 on the left side in FIG. 1 with the inner cylinder 7B having its diameter expanded at the front outer cylinder 7A1.

After that, the tool 10 is pulled out. Then, the projecting wall portions 8 facing each other return to the original shape, the locking edge 9A of the locking portion 9 enters the annular groove 7D of the sleeve holder 7, and the sleeve holder 7 is prevented from coming off.

Next, the tool 10 is turned upside down. Since the connectors are vertically and horizontally symmetrical, the sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 16 of the tool 10 is positioned rightward within the tubular portion 15. In such a state, the above operations 1 to 3 are performed again. Then, the sleeve holder is inserted into the ferrule on the right side.

B. At the time of withdrawal In the same way as the process at the time of the above insertion, the cylindrical portion 15
Sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 1 located in the left half 15A
By the widening projections 14 forming a pair with the tool body 11 of 6,
The width between the locking portions 9 of the housing 2 facing each other is widened. Due to this widening, the lateral locking of the flange 7E of the sleeve holder 7 at the locking edge 9A is released. At that time, the elastic locking member 12 has the locking edge 12A at the tip thereof reaching the position of the annular groove 7D vertically.

After that, the operator presses the elastic locking members 12 forming the upper and lower pairs with a finger to bend the elastic locking members 12, and the locking edge 1
2A is locked to the flange portion 7E.

In this state, pull the tool 10 toward you,
The sleeve holder 7 is pulled out. Thus, the sleeve holder 7 on the left side in FIG. 1 is pulled out.

Next, the tool 10 is turned upside down so that the sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 16 is positioned in the right half within the tubular portion 15, and the sleeve holder on the right side is extracted in the same manner as above.

In this embodiment, an example of inserting / removing the sleeve holder when two sleeve holders are attached to the connector housing is shown, but any number of even numbered sleeve holders can be implemented in this embodiment. . For example, in the case of eight tools, if the tool is equipped with a total of four sleeve holder insertion / extraction bodies so as to correspond to the sleeve holders fitted to the ferrules of a total of four optical fiber cables every other distance, the tool can be separated at a time. A total of four sleeve holders can be inserted and removed, and the remaining four sleeve holders can be inserted and removed next by reversing the tool. At this time, the elastic locking members of the four sleeve holder insertion / extraction bodies must be interlockable.

<Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the first embodiment, as described above, by simply pushing the tool 10 into the housing and pinching the elastic locking member, the sleeve holder can be surely inserted / removed without requiring rotation around its axis. However, if the insertion / extraction is performed from above, the sleeve holder may drop from the tool, and the elastic locking member must be kept in a pinched state during extraction. The present embodiment is characterized by improving this point.

In the device of this embodiment, as compared with the tool of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. A stop release device 30 and a switching device 40 are added to the rear part.

As shown in FIG. 4, a slider 41, which is a part of the switching device 40, is arranged at the rear portion (right portion) of the tubular body 17 having the tubular portion 15 at the front portion thereof so as to be movable left and right. The tool body 21 is attached to the slider 41. The switching device 40 includes a handle 45 having a knob 44 at the tip of a shaft portion 43 inserted in a shaft hole 42 formed in the slider 41. The cylindrical body 17 is formed with a cross groove 18 having cross grooves 18A and 18B (see FIG. 3) so that the key 46 provided on the shaft portion 43 engages with the groove 18A or 18B. Has become. A spring 47 is arranged in the shaft hole 42 and biases the shaft portion 43 upward. By rotating the handle 45 by 90 ° while pushing it downward against the spring 47, the engagement of the key 46 can be switched between the groove 18A and the groove 18B. And, as is clear from FIG. 3,
The slider 41 is movable when the key 46 is in the groove 18A, and the slider 4 is movable when the key 46 is in the groove 18B.
1 is prevented from moving.

As shown in FIG. 4, the sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 20 has a shaft body-like tool main body 21 connected to the slider 41 with a through hole formed in the axial direction, and the right end portion thereof. The support shaft 22 is screwed in from, and a push shaft 23 is arranged in the middle part so as to be movable in the axial direction. A step portion is formed on the support shaft 22 and the push shaft 23 on opposite sides thereof, and a spring 24 is arranged therein, and the push shaft 23 is biased to the left by the force of the spring 24. There is. The push shaft 23
The vicinity of the left end of the tool is engaged with the stepped portion 25 of the tool body 21, and the amount of movement of the push shaft 23 to the left is regulated by a predetermined value. The diameter of the left end portion of the push shaft 23 is set to a value capable of contacting the end surface of the rear outer cylinder 7A2 of the sleeve holder 7.

A holding ring 26 having a slit 26A in the axial direction so that the diameter can be expanded is inserted into the recessed portion of the tool main body portion 21 on the left side of the stepped portion 25. The stop ring 27 which is provided prevents the falling.

The width-increasing projection 14 provided so as to project from the tip of the tool body 21 is the same as in the first embodiment described above, and the description thereof is omitted here. The elastic locking member 12 is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, but as shown in FIG. 4, it has a pressure receiving portion 12A that is formed by projecting outward at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction, When the tool body 21 moves together with the slider 41, the protrusion 17A of the cylindrical body 17
This is different from the case of the first embodiment in that the pressure receiving portion 12A comes into contact with the elastic locking member 12 to cause the elastic locking member 12 to bend and maintain the locked state with the sleeve holder.

As shown in FIG. 5, the unlocking device 30 has a hole portion 31 formed at a portion integrated with the tool main body portion 21 of the sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 20 and located on the side of the push shaft 23. It has a release shaft 33 biased upward by a spring 32 arranged. The release shaft 33 has an engaging portion 34 at the top.
have. The engaging portion 34 includes a small diameter portion 34A and a large diameter portion 3
4B and the pressing portion 34C at the top. An engagement hole 35 is formed in the cylindrical body 17 with which the engagement portion 34 of the release shaft 33 engages. As shown in FIG. 6, the engagement hole 35 is formed by two semicircular holes 35A and 35B formed in the moving direction A of the tool body 21, and the release shaft is formed in the small diameter semicircular hole 35A. The small diameter portion 34A of 33 is adapted to engage the large diameter portion 34B with the large diameter semicircular hole 35B. In the state of FIG. 5, the small diameter portion 34A has a small diameter semi-circular hole 35.
Although engaged with A, when the tool body 21 is moved in the direction opposite to the arrow A in FIG.
4B moves to the position of the large diameter semi-circular hole 35B, and the spring 32
Is lifted by the force of the above and engages with the large diameter semicircular hole 35B, and no longer moves in the direction of arrow A. In order to move the slider 41C in the direction of arrow A, the slider 41 must be moved in the direction of arrow A while pressing the pressing portion 34C downward against the spring 32.

The insertion / removal of the sleeve holder into / from the housing by the tool of this embodiment is performed as follows.

A. At the time of insertion First, the elastic locking member 12 does not act at the time of insertion. Therefore, the pressure receiving portion 12A of the elastic locking member 12 is located in front of the protrusion 17A of the cylindrical body 17 and is not engaged with each other. For that purpose, the pressing portion 34C in FIG.
To push the small diameter portion 34A into the small diameter semi-circular hole 35A. In this state, the tool main body 21 and the slider 41 are also advanced in the same direction in the tubular body 17, and the pressure receiving portion 12A of the elastic locking member 12 is located forwardly away from the projection 17A of the tubular body 17. Not receiving any force and in a free state. In this state, the handle 45 is rotated by 90 ° while being pressed, the key 46 is locked in the groove 18B, and the movement of the slider 41 is blocked. Thus, the pair of elastic locking members 12 maintain the released state as in the state (A) of FIG. 7.

Next, as shown in the state (A) of FIG. 7, the sleeve holder 7 is held by being pressed into the holding ring 26 of the tool. The holding ring 26 is elastically expanded to firmly hold the sleeve holder 7, and the sleeve holder 7 does not fall in any orientation.

By inserting the tubular portion 15 into the housing 2, as shown in the states (B) and (C) of FIG. 7, the procedure is the same as the inserting step of the previous embodiment. The sleeve holder 7 is fitted on the ferrule 5. that time,
As also shown in FIG. 8, the locking portion 9 of the housing is outside the annular groove 7D of the sleeve holder 7. Therefore, when the plug frame 3 receives a pressing force from the back,
When the sleeve holder 7 shifts to the right together with the plug frame and the locking portion 9 returns to its original shape, it may hit the sleeve holder 7 outside the annular groove 7D. However, in this embodiment, the push shaft 23 biased by the spring 24 in the tool body 21 prevents the sleeve holder 7 from being displaced, and the locking portion 9 is reliably locked in the annular groove 7D at the regular position. .

Thus, as shown in the state (D) of FIG. 7, the tool is pulled out.

B. At the time of withdrawal At the time of withdrawal, the handle 45 is rotated by 90 ° while being pressed, and the key 46 is engaged with the groove 18A, and the slide 41 is made movable.

In this state, as shown in states (A) to (B) of FIG. 9, the sleeve holder 7 is operated in the same manner as in the step of extracting in the first embodiment.
Press into 6 Further, at this time, the tool body 21 is pressed by the locking portion 9 of the housing 2, so that the slider 4
Retreat with 1. When the large-diameter portion 34B of the engaging portion 34 reaches the position of the large-diameter semicircular hole 35B, it rises due to the force of the spring 32 to engage with the semicircular hole 35B and maintain that state. That is, the elastic locking member 12 is also moving rearward with respect to the cylindrical body 17 due to the retraction of the tool body 21, and the elastic locking member 12 is in a state in which the pressure receiving portion 12A is pressed by the protrusion 17A and is bent. That is, the state of being locked to the flange portion 7E of the sleeve holder 7 is maintained.

Then, as shown in the state (C) of FIG.
The tool is pulled out and the sleeve holder 7 is pulled out.

Then, as shown in the state (D) of FIG. 9, the tool main body 21 is moved forward while pressing the pressing portion 34C of the locking releasing device 30 to release the elastic locking member 12 and the handle. The state is locked by the operation of 45 to prepare for the insertion of the sleeve holder.

Also in this embodiment, when the sleeve holder is inserted and removed, the tubular portion 15 is inserted into and removed from the housing in the same manner as in the previous embodiment by inserting and removing the odd-numbered sleeve holders. After this, the tool is turned upside down and the even-numbered sleeve holder is inserted and removed.

<Third Embodiment> Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the first and second embodiments, the housing 1
The attachment / detachment of the sleeve holder insertion / removal tool 10 to / from the housing 1 has been described as directly attaching / removing the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool 10 to / from the housing 1. However, for example, using a guide jig of a ferrule cleaning device, the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool 10 can be easily and accurately attached to the housing 1. It may be a good guide. Further, in the above description, the unlocking device 30 is manually operated, and the unlocking device can be automatically operated by interlocking the operation with the guide jig. Is. Further, by using the key portion provided on the outer surface of the cylindrical portion 15 of the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool, the insertion / extraction tool housing 1
It is also possible to adopt a structure that restricts the attachment to the. This will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 10 shows the structure of the guide jig 120 of the ferrule cleaning device in a partial cross section.

Reference numeral 120 is a guide jig. The guide jig 120 is formed with a guide hole 122 that penetrates a cylindrical jig body 121 having a quadrangular cross section. The guide hole 12
The guide jig 120 is fitted to the housing of the connector 1 on the left end side of the connector 2. The guide jig 120 has a fixing device 123 at the left end.

The fixing device 123 has a tapered surface attached to the lower end of the shaft body 124 by rotating the handle 125 attached to the upper part of the shaft body 124 penetrating the upper wall of the jig body 121 by a predetermined angle. The pressing piece 126 can be pressed against a part of the housing to fix the position with respect to the housing. A spring 128 is built in the handle 125 in an annular space closed by a washer 127 at the bottom, and biases the handle 125 and the shaft body 124 upward. The disk 12 is provided at the lower end of the shaft body 124.
9 is attached, and a cam pin 130 is planted on the disk 129 at a lateral position of the shaft body 124. Jig body 12
A spiral groove 131 is formed on the back surface of the upper wall of No. 1 to press the cam pin 130 so as to move the cam pin 130 in the axial direction when the shaft body 124 rotates around its axis.
The above-mentioned pressing piece 126 is attached to the above-mentioned shaft body 124, but the above-mentioned pressing piece 126 is provided with a shaft portion facing upward (not shown), and relative to the above-mentioned axis line 124, there is relative rotation about the axis line. It is freely rotatable, and the pressing piece 126 causes only a predetermined amount of vertical movement by rotation of the handle 125 at a predetermined angle around the axis.

The guide jig 120 is provided with a guide switching device 132 on the right end side of the guide hole 122. A guide groove 133 is formed on the inner surface of the upper wall of the jig body 121 toward the right end of the guide hole 122, and a movable key 134 is arranged on the right half of the width thereof. The movable key 134
Is a slide handle 135 provided on the outer surface of the upper wall of the jig body 121 so as to be movable in the left-right direction in the width direction.
And the position of the key groove is also moved by moving the slide handle 135 to the left or right. The guide groove 133 is formed on the inner surface of the lower wall of the jig body 121.
A groove 136 having the same width and depth as the above extends to the same position as the guide groove 133 in the longitudinal direction of the jig body 121.

The guide groove 133 is formed by a concave portion 137 and a convex portion 138 which form locking releasing means which will be described later.

A description will be given below with reference to FIG. Figure 11
Shows a partially sectional structure of the sleeve holder insertion / extraction jig. The approximate structure is the same as that of the second embodiment, but the sleeve holder insert / extract body 20 has a structure in which the tool body 21 is biased to the left in the drawing by the spring 51 in the tubular portion 15. Is a big difference. The tool has a cylindrical portion 15 guided by the guide hole 122, and an insertion / extraction body 2 into / from which a left sleeve holder is inserted / extracted in / from a left region inside thereof.
0 is arranged, and the right area is empty. A key portion 50 is provided on the outer surface of the tubular portion 15 at the right portion in the width direction. Therefore, when inserting / removing the left sleeve holder, the slide handle 135 of the guide jig 120 is moved to the left to form a guide space in the right part of the guide groove 133, and the key part 50 is inserted therein. Then, the above tool is inserted into the guide hole 122, and the sleeve holder on the left side is inserted and extracted by the insertion and extraction body 20. To insert and remove the right sleeve holder, the slide handle 135 may be moved to the right and the tool may be turned upside down.

As described above, by using the guide jig 120 together, the tool can be attached to and detached from the housing 2 easily and accurately, and the key portion 50 provided on the outer surface of the tubular portion 15 of the tool. It is possible to employ a structure that restricts reversal mounting when the tool is mounted on the housing 2.

When the guide jig 120 is also used,
It is also possible to have a structure in which the unlocking device 30 is automatically activated from the state in which the engagement portion 34 is engaged with the large diameter portion 34B when the tool is removed. For example, the guide jig 12
The guide grooves 133 and 136 provided in
7. The convex portion 138 is provided, and the pressing portion 34C of the tool unlocking device 30 is made to abut against the concave portion and the convex portion, and the pressing portion 34C presses downward against the spring 32, and the tool body is caused by the spring 51. The portion 21 is moved to the left, and in conjunction with the removal operation of the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool from the guide jig, the unlocking device 30 is automatically operated to engage the engagement portion 34 with the large diameter portion 34B. You can cancel the current status.

The sleeve holder is inserted into and removed from the housing by the tool of the third embodiment in the following manner.

A. At the time of insertion First, the elastic locking member 12 does not act at the time of insertion. When the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool 10 is not fitted into the guide jig 120, the pressure receiving portion 12A of the elastic locking member 12 is located in front of the protrusion 17A of the cylindrical body 17 and is in a state of not bending. That is, the small diameter portion 34A has a small diameter semicircular hole 3
It is locked at 5A. In this state, the tool body 21 and the slider 41 are also moving forward in the A direction within the cylindrical body 17,
The pressure receiving portion 12A of the elastic locking member 12 is the protrusion 17 of the cylindrical body 17.
It is located in front of A and is free from any force. In this state, press the handle 45 and press 9
Rotate 0 ° to lock the key 46 in the groove 18B,
1 is blocked. Thus, the pair of elastic locking members 12 maintain the released state as in the state (A) of FIG.

Next, in the housing 2, as shown in FIG.
The guide jig 120 is fitted. After fitting, handle 125
Is rotated by a predetermined angle to lower the pressing piece 126, the corresponding tapered surface of the housing is pressed by the tapered surface, and the position of the guide jig 120 is fixed.

The slide handle 13 of the guide jig 120
Movable key 1 by moving 5 to the right in FIG.
34 is moved to the right, leaving the left part as a space in the guide groove 133.

It is confirmed that the key portion 50 of the tool is on the left side, and as shown in the state (A) of FIG. 12, the sleeve holder 7 is press-fitted into the retaining ring 26 of the tool and held. The holding ring 26 is elastically expanded to firmly hold the sleeve holder 7, and the sleeve holder 7 does not fall in any orientation.

The tubular portion 15 is easily and accurately guided to the housing 2 by using the guide jig 120 so that the tubular portion 15 can be inserted and attached to the housing 2, and the state (B) of FIG.
As shown in (C), the sleeve holder 7 is fitted to the ferrule 5 in the same manner as the step of inserting the second embodiment. At that time, as shown in FIG. 8, the locking portion 9 of the housing is located outside the annular groove 7D of the sleeve holder 7. Therefore, when the plug frame 3 receives a pressing force from the back portion, when the sleeve holder 7 shifts to the right together with the plug frame and the locking portion 9 returns to the original shape, the sleeve holder 7 is outside the annular groove 7D. It is possible to hit 7. However, in this embodiment, the push shaft 23 biased by the spring 24 in the tool body 21 prevents the sleeve holder 7 from being displaced, and the locking portion 9 is reliably locked in the annular groove 7D at the regular position. .

Thus, as shown in the state (D) of FIG. 12, the tool is pulled out.

B. At the time of withdrawal At the time of withdrawal, the handle 45 is rotated by 90 ° while being pressed, and the key 46 is engaged with the groove 18A, and the slide 41 is made movable.

In this state, as shown in the states (A) to (B) of FIG. 13, the sleeve holder 7 is operated in the same manner as in the step of extracting in the first embodiment.
Press into 6 Further, at this time, the tool body 21 is pressed by the locking portion 9 of the housing 2, so that the slider 4
Retreat with 1. When the large-diameter portion 34B of the engaging portion 34 reaches the position of the large-diameter semicircular hole 35B, it rises due to the force of the spring 32 to engage with the semicircular hole 35B and maintain that state. That is, the elastic locking member 12 is also moving rearward with respect to the cylindrical body 17 due to the retraction of the tool body 21, and the elastic locking member 12 is in a state in which the pressure receiving portion 12A is pressed by the protrusion 17A and is bent. That is, the state of being locked to the flange portion 7E of the sleeve holder 7 is maintained.

Thereafter, as shown in the state (C) of FIG. 13, the tool is pulled out and the sleeve holder 7 is pulled out. At this time, by pulling the tool out of the guide jig, the pressing portion 34C of the tool unlocking device 30 is brought into abutment with the uneven portion provided with the guide grooves 133 and 136 of the guide jig 120, and the pressing portion 34C becomes the spring 32. The lock release device 30 is automatically released by pressing downwardly against it and moving the tool body 21 to the left by the spring 51 in conjunction with the removal operation of the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool from the guide jig. The state in which the swaging engagement portion 34 is engaged with the large diameter portion 34B is released.

Thus, as shown in the state (D) of FIG.
The tool is pulled out. The tool body 21 is moved forward to release the elastic locking member 12, and the handle 4
The state is locked by the operation of 5 to prepare for the insertion of the sleeve holder.

In the third embodiment as well, when the sleeve holder is inserted and withdrawn, the tubular portion 15 is attached to the housing in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments. After the insertion / removal has been performed, the tool is turned upside down and the even-numbered sleeve holders are inserted / removed next.

At this time, due to the positional relationship between the key portion 50 provided on the outer surface of the tubular portion 15 of the tool and the movable key 134 of the guide jig 120, when the tool is attached to the housing 2,
It is possible to adopt a structure that restricts reversing and mounting.

[0084]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if a plurality of sleeve holders are mounted on the optical fiber connector, all the sleeve holders can be inserted and removed by operating the sleeve holders twice. Very efficient work. In addition to this, according to the present invention, the sleeve holder can be inserted / removed by inserting the tool toward the housing and pinching the elastic locking member so as to pinch the elastic locking member.
° Easy to work with no need to rotate or check if the angle of rotation is accurate. Also,
The conventional problem of forgetting the rotation or damaging the housing in the case of incorrect rotation does not occur. Further, it is not necessary to process the cut-off portion on the flange portion of the sleeve holder, which is also convenient in this respect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool and an optical fiber connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view when the sleeve holder is inserted by the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool of FIG. 1, in which an upper half shows a horizontal sectional view and a lower half shows a vertical sectional view.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool according to a second embodiment in a plane including an axis.

4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of the apparatus shown in FIG.

5 is a VV enlarged cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG.

7A to 7C are vertical cross-sectional views sequentially showing the insertion process when the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool of FIG. 3 is used.

8 is a cross-sectional view when the sleeve holder is inserted by the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool of FIG. 3, in which an upper half is a cross-sectional view and a lower half is a vertical cross-sectional view.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing, in order, the extraction process when the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool of FIG. 3 is used.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the guide jig of the third embodiment in a separated state from the connector.

11 is a partially cutaway sectional view of a sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool that can be used with the guide jig of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a vertical cross-sectional view sequentially showing an insertion step when the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool of FIG. 11 is used.

FIG. 13 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing in sequence the extraction process when the sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool of FIG. 11 is used.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical fiber connector 2 Housing 3 Plug frame 5 Ferrule 7 Sleeve holder 7E Flange part 8 Projection wall part 9 Locking part 10 Sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool 11 Tool main body part 12 Elastic locking member 13 Recess 14 Widening projection 14A Tapered surface 15 Cylindrical portion 16 Sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 20 Sleeve holder insertion / extraction body 21 Tool body portion 26 Retaining ring 26A Slit 30, 40 Locking maintenance means 30 Locking release device 40 Switching device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Shinichi Iwano 1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inawata Kazunori Kanayama 1-6-1, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Ando 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A tubular plug frame housed in each of a plurality of openings formed at equal intervals in a housing, and each of which forms an annular space which is open to the outside between the plug frame and the plug frame. The optical fiber ferrule has a sleeve holder in which the front portion is detachably fitted to the intermediate portion in the annular space, and the sleeve holder has a flange portion that comes into contact with the end surface of the plug frame during the fitting. The housing has outer walls of the intermediate portion, and the housing has projecting wall portions facing each other in parallel to the side of the intermediate portion of each sleeve holder,
A sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool for an optical fiber connector in which an engaging portion for engaging with the flange portion is formed on the inner surface of the adjacent protruding wall portion that is adjacent to the protruding wall portion, and the engaging portion prevents the sleeve holder from coming off. A tubular portion having an opening to be fitted into the housing, and a sleeve holder insertion / extraction body corresponding to a sleeve holder in a spaced position in the internal space of the tubular portion, each sleeve holder insertion / extraction body being at least a tip end. Has a shaft-shaped tool main body, at least a pair of widening projections that widen the width between the opposing protruding wall portions, and a pair of elastic locking members that lock with the flange portion of the sleeve holder. A sleeve holder accommodating portion for accommodating the rear portion of the sleeve holder in the axial direction is formed as a recess at the tip portion of the tool body portion, and the pair of widening projections are tips of the shaft-shaped tool body portion. The protruding wall portion is elastically deformed to a position where the locking portion of the housing releases the locking with the flange portion of the sleeve holder when pushed into a predetermined position on the outer surface of the tip of the widening projection. A pair of elastic locking members are formed so that one end is located between the pair of widening projections and one end is located ahead of the tip of the tool main body as a free end, and the other end is elastically deformable. Is attached to the tool body, and when the widening protrusion is pushed to a predetermined position, the pair of elastic locking members of each sleeve holder insertion / extraction body are interlocked by the picking operation to lock to the flange of the sleeve holder. A sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool for an optical fiber connector, which is characterized in that 2. The sleeve holder accommodating portion has a slit that extends in the axial direction and has an inner diameter that is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the rear portion of the sleeve holder, and that is formed in a cylindrical recess that is recessed from the tip end surface of the tool body portion. Is formed by arranging a holding ring having the same, is housed in an inner space axially inward of the recess, and abuts against the end surface of the sleeve holder when the sleeve holder enters through the holding ring. The sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool for an optical fiber connector according to claim 1, further comprising a pressing member that is in contact with and is biased toward the sleeve holder within a predetermined range. 3. The sleeve holder insertion / extraction tool for an optical fiber connector according to claim 1, further comprising a locking maintaining means for maintaining the elastic locking member in a locked state with the sleeve holder. 4. A sleeve holder inserting / pulling tool for an optical fiber connector according to claim 1, further comprising locking releasing means for releasing the elastic locking member from the locked state with the sleeve holder.