JPH10286748A - Ferrule grinding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ferrule grinding device in which grinding work precision to a ferrule cylindrical body is improved. SOLUTION: In a ferrule grinding device, axial end parts of a ferrule cylindrical body in which anoptical fiber insertion hole is formed are supported by a pair of support members 41 to set it rotatable, and a grinding member 31 is pressed to an outer circumferential surface of the ferrule cylindrical body 12 to grind the outer circumferential surface. In this case, an engagement shaft part 43 to be engaged with the optical fiber insertion hole in the ferrule cylindrical body is formed at a tip surface of the support member 41.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ferrule grinding apparatus for grinding an outer peripheral surface of a ferrule cylindrical body having an optical fiber insertion hole formed therein.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, in an optical connector used for communication, an optical fiber is inserted and fixed in a ferrule whose inside diameter and outside diameter are processed with high precision, and then the end face of the connection portion is ground into a convex spherical shape. Then, the fibers are physically brought into contact with each other for connection. FIG. 5 shows a cross section of a general ferrule on which an optical fiber is mounted, FIG. 6 shows an outline of a conventional ferrule grinding device, and FIG. 7 shows an end cross section of a ferrule cylindrical body processed by the conventional ferrule grinding device. Show.

As shown in FIG. 5, a ferrule 11 generally comprises a cylindrical body 12 made of ceramic such as zirconia and a collar 13 made of stainless steel. The cylindrical body 12 has an optical fiber insertion hole 14 through which an optical fiber 21 is inserted. The optical fiber insertion hole 14 has an inner diameter of a minute clearance with respect to the outer diameter of the optical fiber 21 from which the coating is removed. have. In addition, spit 1
3 has a fitting hole 15 into which the tubular body 12 is fitted and an optical fiber core insertion hole 16 through which the optical fiber 22 is inserted.

Accordingly, the ferrule 11 is integrally formed by fitting the end of the cylindrical body 12 into the fitting hole 15 of the collar 13. Then, the optical fiber core wire 22 is inserted into and fitted into the optical fiber core insertion hole 16 of the collar 13,
The optical fiber 21 is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 14 of the cylindrical body 12 and fixed by an adhesive previously filled in the optical fiber insertion hole 14. The ferrule 11 assembled in this manner can be incorporated into, for example, an optical connector by grinding the end face of the cylindrical body 12 together with the optical fiber 21.

In the ferrule 11 described above, the cylindrical body 12 is ground by a grinding device so that the outer diameter becomes a predetermined size. That is, as shown in FIG.
2 is supported by a pair of support members 101 and 102 being locked at both ends of the optical fiber insertion hole 14, and the support members 101 and 102 are rotated by a driving device (not shown) to form a cylindrical body. 12 can be rotated.
The outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 12 is ground by the abrasive material 31 by moving in the axial direction of the cylindrical body 12 while pressing the abrasive 31 against the outer peripheral surface of the rotating cylindrical body 12. You. By this repetitive operation, the cylindrical body 12 is processed so that its outer diameter becomes a predetermined dimension.

[0006]

In the conventional ferrule grinding apparatus described above, the cylindrical body 1 made of the abrasive 31 is used.
2, the cylindrical body 12 is provided with a pair of support members 10
1 and 102 are supported by being locked at both ends of the optical fiber insertion hole 14. In this case, the pair of support members 10
In order for the support members 1 and 102 to reliably support the center of the cylindrical body 12, the tips of the support members 101 and 102 have a tapered shape and are held at a predetermined pressure.

Therefore, during the grinding process, the support members 101 and 102 are attached to the end of the optical fiber insertion hole 14 of the cylindrical body 12.
As a result, the end of the optical fiber insertion hole 14 is deformed, as shown in FIG.
The damaged portion B is generated due to the missing portion. Then, the concentricity between the support members 101 and 102 and the cylindrical body 12 is deviated, and the cylindrical body 12 cannot be properly rotated.
In the cylindrical body 12, there is a problem that the center of the optical fiber insertion hole 14 and the center of the outer diameter are shifted, and the cylindrical body 12 cannot be ground with high accuracy.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a ferrule grinding apparatus which improves the grinding accuracy of a ferrule cylindrical body.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a ferrule grinding apparatus according to the present invention provides a ferrule cylindrical body in which an optical fiber insertion hole is formed, wherein each shaft end is supported by a pair of support members. In a ferrule grinding apparatus that grinds the outer peripheral surface by pressing a grinding material on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating ferrule cylindrical body, the ferrule cylindrical body is disposed on the tip end surface of the supporting member. A fitting shaft portion for fitting into the optical fiber insertion hole is formed.

Therefore, the fitting shaft portions of the pair of support members are fitted to the respective ends of the optical fiber insertion hole to rotatably support the ferrule tubular body. When the outer peripheral surface is ground with a grinding material by rotating the optical fiber, the optical fiber insertion hole of the ferrule cylindrical body is supported by the fitting shaft portion, and the shaft end surface is supported by the distal end surface of the support member. Unnecessary force does not act on the end of the insertion hole, and damage to this portion is prevented.

Further, in the ferrule grinding apparatus according to the present invention, the fitting shaft portion of the support member has a tapered portion formed at a tip of a parallel portion. Therefore,
When the fitting shaft portion is inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole of the ferrule cylindrical body, the end portion of the optical fiber insertion hole can be easily fitted without damaging the end portion of the optical fiber insertion hole by the tapered portion. Accordingly, the optical fiber insertion hole can be reliably held.

Further, in the ferrule grinding apparatus according to the present invention, the fitting shaft portion is detachably attached to a tip portion of the support member. Therefore,
By making the supporting member and the fitting shaft part separate members, it becomes possible to form only the fitting shaft portion with a hard material,
If the fitting shaft is damaged due to long-term use, only the fitting shaft needs to be replaced, and the cost can be reduced.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a ferrule grinding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 illustrates details of a fitting shaft portion of a support member, FIG. 3 illustrates details of a fitting shaft portion of a support member according to another embodiment, FIG. 4 is a graph showing the concentricity of the ferrule cylindrical body processed by the ferrule grinding device of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the ferrule grinding apparatus of the present embodiment, the ferrule cylindrical body 12 is made of ceramic such as zirconia and has an optical fiber insertion hole 14 through which an optical fiber is inserted. . The grinding device has a pair of supporting members 41 and 42. The supporting members 41 and 42 rotatably support the ferrule cylindrical body 12, and therefore, the ferrule cylindrical body 1 is provided at opposing distal ends.
Fitting shaft 4 fitted to the end of the optical fiber insertion hole 14
3, 44 are integrally formed. This fitting shaft 43,
The reference numeral 44 has the same shape, and as shown in detail in FIG. The parallel portions 4 of the fitting shaft portions 43, 44
5 has an outer diameter of 0.
It is set smaller by 1 to 0.5 μm.

Accordingly, the fitting shaft portions 43 and 44 of the support members 41 and 42 are fitted to the respective ends of the optical fiber insertion hole 14 of the ferrule tubular body 12 so that the ferrule tubular body is formed. 12 is rotatably supported. Then, in this state, a ferrule cylindrical body 1 is formed by using a driving device (not shown).
2 while rotating the abrasive 31 with the ferrule cylindrical body 1
By moving the cylindrical body 12 in the axial direction while pressing against the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 2, the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 12 can be ground by the abrasive 31.

During the grinding, the ferrule cylindrical body 12
The fitting shaft portions 43 and 44 are fitted and supported in the optical fiber insertion hole 14, and the respective end surfaces are pressed and supported by the distal end surfaces of the support members 41 and 42. No force acts on the corners of the ends from unnecessary directions,
This part is not damaged. As described above, in the ferrule grinding device of the present embodiment, the fitting shaft portions 43 and 44 of the support members 41 and 42 are fitted and supported in the optical fiber insertion hole 14 of the ferrule tubular body 12. In addition, the outer peripheral surface of the ferrule cylindrical body 12 can be ground with high accuracy without damaging the end of the optical fiber insertion hole. Further, since the tapered portions 46 are formed in the fitting shaft portions 43 and 44, when the fitting shaft portions 43 and 44 are inserted into the optical fiber insertion hole 14, the end portions of the optical fiber insertion holes 14 are formed by the tapered portions 46. It can be easily fitted without damage.

In the above-described embodiment, the fitting shafts 43, 44 are formed integrally with the supporting members 41, 42, and the fitting shafts 43, 44 are formed integrally with the parallel portions 45 and the tapered portions. 4
6, the shape of the fitting shaft portions 43, 44 is not limited to this. That is, as shown in FIG.
The fitting shaft portion 52 of the support member 51 may be composed of only parallel portions, and even with this shape, substantially the same operation and effect as in the above-described embodiment can be achieved.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A mounting hole 62 may be formed on the front end surface of the first mounting shaft 63 so that the fitting shaft 63 can be detachably attached to the mounting hole 62. Since the support member 61 and the fitting shaft 63 are formed as separate members, only the fitting shaft 63 can be formed of a hard material (for example, cemented carbide, SiC, or diamond). Further, when the fitting shaft portion 63 is damaged by long-term use, only the fitting shaft portion 63 needs to be replaced, and the cost can be reduced.

In the ferrule grinding device of the present embodiment, the fitting shaft portions 43, 4 of the support members 41, 42 are provided.
4 fits into the optical fiber insertion hole 14 and supports the ferrule cylindrical body 12, so that the outer peripheral surface of the ferrule cylindrical body 12 can be ground with high precision. In this case, the ferrule cylindrical body In 12, the deviation of the concentricity between the center of the optical fiber insertion hole 14 and the center of the outer diameter can be reduced. This is clear from the graph shown in FIG.

The graph shown in FIG. 4 is the result of grinding a sample (ferrule cylindrical body) of predetermined data by the conventional grinding device and the grinding device of the present embodiment, and shows the result in a histogram. is there. FIG. 4A shows a conventional grinding apparatus, and many of them have low concentricity with respect to a predetermined number (about 1000) of samples. On the other hand, FIG.
(B) shows the grinding apparatus of the present embodiment, and there is almost no grinding apparatus having a low concentricity with respect to a predetermined number (about 750) of samples. From this graph, it can be seen that the grinding device of the present embodiment can grind the outer peripheral surface of the ferrule cylindrical body 12 with high accuracy and reduce the deviation of the center between the center of the optical fiber insertion hole 14 and the center of the outer diameter. .

[0021]

As described in the above embodiments, the present invention provides a pair of support members for rotatably supporting each end of a ferrule cylindrical body, and has a ferrule cylinder on a tip end surface of each of the support members. Since the fitting shaft portion that fits into the optical fiber insertion hole of the body is formed, during grinding, each fitting shaft portion of the pair of support members is fitted to each end of the optical fiber insertion hole, respectively, and the ferrule cylinder is formed. The ferrule cylindrical body has an optical fiber insertion hole supported by the fitting shaft portion and a shaft end face supported by the tip end surface of the support member, and unnecessary portions are provided at the end of the optical fiber insertion hole. No force is applied, and damage to this portion can be prevented. As a result, the accuracy of grinding the ferrule cylindrical body can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a ferrule grinding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a fitting shaft portion of a support member.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a fitting shaft portion of a support member according to another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the concentricity of a ferrule cylindrical body processed by the ferrule grinding device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a general ferrule to which an optical fiber is attached.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a conventional ferrule grinding apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an end sectional view of a ferrule cylindrical body processed by a conventional ferrule grinding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Ferrule 12 Cylindrical body 13 Collar 14 Optical fiber insertion hole 16 Optical fiber core wire insertion hole 21 Optical fiber 22 Optical fiber core wire 31 Grinding material 41, 42 Support member 43, 44 Fitting shaft part 45 Parallel part 46 Tapered part 51 Supporting member 52 Fitting shaft 61 Supporting member 62 Mounting hole 63 Fitting shaft

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A rotatable ferrule cylindrical body having an optical fiber insertion hole formed therein, wherein each shaft end is rotatably supported by a pair of support members, and an abrasive is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the rotating ferrule cylindrical body. In the ferrule grinding apparatus for grinding the outer peripheral surface by pressing the outer peripheral surface, a fitting shaft portion that fits into the optical fiber insertion hole of the ferrule cylindrical body is formed on the distal end surface of the support member. Ferrule grinding equipment. 2. The ferrule grinding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fitting shaft of the support member has a tapered portion formed at a tip of a parallel portion. 3. The ferrule grinding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fitting shaft portion is detachably mounted on a front end surface of said support member.