JPH1048469A - Optical connector and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a process for easily producing an optical connector good in positioning accuracy, in which the number of producing stages can be decreased. SOLUTION: This optical connector is obtd. by placing optical fibers 1 in the V grooves of a guide substrate 2, putting a retaining member 3 in this guide substrate 2 to position the optical fibers 1, fixing the guide substrate 2 and the retaining member 3 together with the optical fibers 1 and a coated optical fiber ribbon 6 into metal molds and molding the assembly with a resin, thereby forming the connector ferrule coated with a resin part 5 on the circumference. Grooves for guide pin holes 4 are previously formed at the guide substrate 2 and the retaining member 3.

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 an optical connector for connecting optical fibers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Optical connectors are used for optical connection in the field of optical communication. Of the optical connectors currently in practical use, multi-core optical connectors generally use a pin-fitting type multi-core connector ferrule. In the case of an application that is hardly detachable after being connected once, such as in a manhole, a so-called MT is used in which a pair of multi-core connector ferrules are connected using a simple holding tool such as a clip.
(Mechanically Transferrlabl
e) Connectors are used.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a conventional MT connector. FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the connector before it is connected.
(B) is a perspective view at the time of connection of a connector. In the figure, 1 is an optical fiber, 6 is a tape-shaped optical fiber core wire, 31 is a connector ferrule, 31a is a guide pin hole, 32 is a guide pin, and 33 is a clip. As shown in FIG. 3A, the pair of connector ferrules 31 fix the ends of the plurality of optical fibers 1 of the multi-core optical fiber ribbon 6 and couple them through a refractive index matching agent. . Two guide pin holes 31a for fitting with the guide pins 32 are formed in the end face, and end faces of the plurality of optical fibers 1 are exposed in a portion therebetween.

The right and left connector ferrules 31 are positioned and abutted by a guide member composed of two guide pins 32, and the right and left optical fibers 1 precisely aligned and fixed in the guide pin holes 31a are joined together. 5
It is fixed by the clip 33 as shown in FIG. Such an MT connector is manufactured by first forming a connector ferrule, thereafter inserting a fiber into a hole of the ferrule, and injecting and curing an adhesive. But,
There is a problem that the number of steps is large and the manufacturing efficiency is not good.

As described in JP-A-60-135911 and JP-A-60-257410, a method of directly setting an optical fiber in a mold and molding a resin is also conceivable. There is a problem that it is difficult to accurately set the fiber in the mold.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and has an excellent positioning accuracy, can reduce the number of steps, and is easy to manufacture. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical connector comprising at least one optical fiber, a guide substrate, a pressing member, and a resin portion, wherein the guide substrate comprises the optical fiber. And a groove serving as a guide pin hole, wherein the guide substrate and the pressing member are molded by the resin portion in a state where the optical fiber is fixed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing an optical connector, at least one optical fiber is positioned and placed in a groove of the guide substrate, and a pressing member is put on the guide substrate. The optical fiber is fixed, and in this state, the guide substrate and the pressing member are fixed together in a mold and resin-molded around, and the end face is polished to form an optical coupling end face. is there.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing an optical connector, at least one optical fiber and a pin are positioned and mounted in the first and second grooves of the guide substrate, respectively. The optical fiber and the pin are fixed by covering the guide substrate with the pressing member, and in this state, the guide substrate and the pressing member are fixed in the mold together with the pin, and the periphery thereof is resin-molded. , And the end face is polished to form an optical coupling end face.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an optical connector according to the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 2 is a guide board,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a pressing member, 4 denotes a guide pin hole, and 5 denotes a mold resin portion. In the optical connector of this embodiment, an optical fiber 1 is placed in a V-groove of a guide substrate 2, a pressing member 3 is placed on the guide substrate 2, the optical fiber 1 is positioned, and The entire member 3 is fixed together with the optical fiber 1 and the tape-shaped optical fiber core 6 in a mold and resin-molded, and the periphery is covered with a resin portion 5 to form a connector ferrule. A groove for the guide pin hole 4 is also formed in the guide substrate 2 and the holding member 3 in advance. In many cases, a bush is provided at the outlet of the tape-shaped optical fiber core 6, but is omitted in the drawing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the guide substrate and the holding member shown in FIG. In the figure, 2a is the optical fiber V
The grooves, 2b are V grooves for guide pin holes, 3a is a rectangular groove for optical fibers, and 3b is a rectangular groove for guide pins. Guide board 2
Is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and on the upper surface thereof, a plurality of optical fiber V-grooves 2a for positioning an optical fiber core wire, four in the illustrated example, are provided at a central portion. One V-groove 2b for each guide pin hole is provided on each side. The cross-sectional shape of the groove for positioning is
It does not necessarily need to be V-shaped.

On the other hand, the holding member 3 is shown with its lower surface facing upward, but is also a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and has a rectangular groove 3a for optical fibers for holding the optical fibers 1 collectively. Are provided in the center, and one guide pin rectangular groove 3b is provided on each side in parallel with this. The guide pin hole V groove 2b and the guide pin rectangular groove 3b are combined to form the guide pin hole 4, but during the manufacture of the optical connector, a dummy guide pin is provided in the guide pin hole 4 for positioning. used. The optical fiber rectangular groove 3a can be changed to a plurality of grooves for individually holding each optical fiber core.

The upper surface on the side of the guide substrate 2 and the lower surface on the side of the pressing member 3 are made to overlap each other when they are superimposed. The guide member 11 is pressed against the optical fiber V-groove 2a and the guide pin hole V-groove 2b of the guide substrate 2 to support each optical fiber 1 and the dummy guide pin 11 at three points. Does not need to contact the upper surface on the guide substrate 2 side. Aluminum, silicon, or glass can be used as a constituent material of the guide substrate 2 and the holding member 3.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view when the guide substrate and the pressing member shown in FIG. 2 are overlapped to fix the optical fiber. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 11 is a guide pin for dummy, 12
Is a clip. The optical fiber 1 and the dummy guide pin 11 are set in the optical fiber V-groove 2a and the guide pin hole V-groove 2b on the guide board 2 side shown in FIG. Clip 1
The optical fiber 1 is fixed by a fastening member such as 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the optical fiber fixed by the guide substrate and the pressing member shown in FIG. 3 is molded. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 21 is a lower mold, and 21a is a mold cavity. The optical fiber 1 fixed by the guide substrate 2, the holding member 3, and the clip 12 shown in FIG.
And dummy guide pin 1 extending from holding member 3
1 is a positioning member.
It is set in the mold cavity 21a so as to bridge over a.

It is desirable to apply a release agent to the dummy guide pins 11. A shallow groove for positioning the dummy guide pin 11 and the tape-shaped optical fiber core wire 6 is formed on the upper surface of the lower mold 21 in advance. In the case of using a connector ferrule that does not use a bush, in the case where a bush is used, the bush is fitted into the tape-shaped optical fiber core wire 6 and a groove for positioning the bush is formed in the lower mold 21. It is provided.

Although not shown, a molten resin is poured from a resin injection port (not shown) by covering an upper mold symmetrical to the lower mold 21, and the light fixed by the guide substrate 2, the holding member 3, and the clip 12. The fiber 1 is resin-molded to form a resin portion 5 shown in FIG. 1 around the fiber. After the completion of the molding, the dummy guide pins 11 are removed, and the end faces serving as the optical coupling ends are polished to expose the end faces of the guide substrate 2, the holding member 3, and the optical fiber 1 as shown in FIG.
The manufacture of the optical connector is completed.

The optical fiber 1 is separated from the optical fiber V groove 2a and the optical fiber rectangular groove 3a shown in FIG.
1a, slightly protrude and mold.
The guide substrate 2 and the pressing member 3 may not be exposed, and only the end face of the optical fiber may be exposed from the optical coupling end face. Alternatively, the dummy guide pins 11 may be re-inserted into the guide pin holes 4 after polishing the end face and reused as guide pins for positioning the connectors.

The resin to be molded is preferably a thermosetting resin or a thermoplastic resin. Epoxy resin can be used as the thermosetting resin, and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), liquid crystal polymer (LC) can be used as the thermoplastic resin.
P) can be used.

In the above description, a multi-core optical fiber cable is used as a multi-core optical cable, and a multi-core optical connector has been described as an example. However, a single-core optical fiber may be used as a single-core optical fiber connector. It is possible. Also, the present invention is applied to a device in which a plurality of tape-shaped optical fibers are superposed and optically coupled with one connector ferrule as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-135911 cited in the description of the prior art. It is also possible. In this case, a plurality of guide substrates 2 are stacked and used, and a V-groove for a guide pin is provided in one of them, and the upper guide substrate 2 is provided with an optical fiber or guide pin holding member thereunder. All the optical fibers may be fixed and resin molded. In this case, in the optical coupling end face, the arrangement of the optical fiber end faces is vertically arranged in a plurality of rows.

[0021]

FIG. 3 shows an aluminum guide substrate 2 having four single mode (SM) optical fiber V-grooves 2a shown in FIG. 2 and two guide pin hole grooves 2b on both sides thereof. As shown, the optical fiber 1 and the dummy guide pin 11 are set, and pressed by the pressing member 3 made of aluminum. This is pressed into the lower die 21 and the upper die (not shown) as shown in FIG. After fixing in a cavity, molding by pouring a resin, and polishing the end face, the connection loss was measured. When measured for 40 pairs of optical connector connections, the connection loss was 0.19 dB on average.

[0022]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least one optical fiber, a guide substrate, a holding member, and a resin portion are provided, and the guide substrate has a groove for positioning the optical fiber, a guide pin hole, Since the guide substrate and the holding member are molded with the resin portion while the optical fiber is fixed, there is an effect that the positioning accuracy of the optical fiber and the guide pin hole is good.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, at least one optical fiber is positioned and placed in the groove of the guide substrate, and the optical fiber is fixed by covering the guide substrate with the pressing member. In this state, the guide substrate and the holding member are fixed together in a mold, and the periphery is resin-molded, and the end surface is polished to form an optical coupling end surface. There is an effect that the positioning accuracy between the fiber and the guide pin hole is good and the manufacturing is easy. The connector can be attached to the optical fiber without using an adhesive and at the site where the connecting operation is performed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, at least one optical fiber and at least one pin are positioned and placed in the first and second grooves of the guide substrate, respectively, and the pressing member is placed on the guide substrate. To fix the optical fiber and the pin, and in this state, fix the guide substrate and the holding member together in the mold with the pin, resin mold the periphery, pull out the pin, and polish the end face to form the optical coupling end face From doing
The same effect as that of the invention described in claim 2 is obtained, and the guide substrate and the holding member can be easily fixed in the mold cavity of the mold, and the positioning accuracy of the outer shape of the resin mold and the guide pin hole is also improved. There is an effect of improving.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an optical connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a guide substrate and a holding member shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view when the optical fiber is fixed by overlapping the guide substrate and the pressing member shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the optical fiber fixed by the guide substrate and the pressing member shown in FIG. 3 is molded.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional MT connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical fiber, 2 ... Guide board, 2a ... V groove for optical fiber, 2b ... V groove for guide pin hole, 3 ... Holding member, 3
a: rectangular groove for optical fiber, 3b: rectangular groove for guide pin,
Reference numeral 4 denotes a guide pin hole, 5 denotes a molded resin portion, 6 denotes a tape-shaped optical fiber core wire, 11 denotes a dummy guide pin, 12 denotes a clip, 21 denotes a lower mold, and 21a denotes a mold cavity.

Claims (3)

[Claims] An optical fiber having at least one optical fiber, a guide substrate, a holding member, and a resin portion, wherein the guide substrate has a groove for positioning the optical fiber and a groove serving as a guide pin hole; An optical connector, wherein the holding member is molded with the resin portion while the optical fiber is fixed. 2. At least one optical fiber is positioned and mounted in a groove of a guide substrate, and a pressing member is put on the guide substrate to fix the optical fiber. A method of manufacturing an optical connector, comprising: fixing the pressing member together in a mold, resin-molding the periphery, and polishing the end surface to form an optical coupling end surface. 3. At least one optical fiber and a pin are positioned and placed in first and second grooves of a guide board, respectively, and a pressing member is put on the guide board to cover the optical fiber and the pin. Fix the pin and in this state,
A method for manufacturing an optical connector, comprising fixing the guide substrate and the holding member together in a mold with the pins, resin-molding the periphery, pulling out the pins, and polishing the end surface to form an optical coupling end surface. .