JPH112738A - Inspecting method for connector end surface - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the connector end surface inspecting method for inspecting the perpendicularity of a connector end surface. SOLUTION: For the inspecting method for inspecting the perpendicularity of the connector end surface, a master connector 11 which has its end surface formed with high perpendicularity precision is prepared; and the end surface 1a of the connector 1 to be inspected is made to abut against the end surface 11a of the master connector 11, the part where both the end surfaces 11a and 1a are made to abut against each other is irradiated with inspection light from at least one direction, and the perpendicularity of the inspected connector end surface 1a is inspected with its leakage, thereby enabling easy and speedy inspection.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector end face inspection method for inspecting the verticality of a connector end face.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are various types of connectors for connecting optical fibers, and among them, there is a type in which optical fibers are connected by accurately abutting respective end faces of a pair of connectors. As a specific example of this method, there is an MT connector as shown in FIGS.

This MT connector comprises a pair of connectors 1 and 1 having a substantially symmetrical structure, and the mating end faces 1a and 1a of the connectors 1 and 1 are provided with two connectors 1 and 2 as shown in FIG. A plurality of fitting holes 2, 2 are formed.
And an optical fiber, for example, a tape type optical fiber F, F
8 and 9, the optical fibers F, F are mounted on the fiber connection portions 1b, 1b side of the pair of connectors 1, 1 while the fitting holes of the connectors 1, 1 are fitted. 2.
.. May be inserted by inserting two fitting pins 3 and 3 so that the end faces 1a and 1a of the fitting pins 3 and 3 abut each other. As a result, the end faces of the optical fibers F embedded in the end faces 1a, 1a of the connectors 1, 1 are flush with each other (not shown).
Are brought into contact and optically connected.

In order to secure high-precision optical connection by such a method of abutting each end face, it is necessary to use an end face 1 of each connector 1, 1 in which optical fibers F, F are embedded.
When the a and 1a sides are formed flush with each other, accurate polishing is required. That is, in the end face 1a of the connector 1, there are a plurality of directions, at least an angle A in the width direction (Y direction) of the end face as shown in FIG. 8 and a height direction (Y) as shown in FIG. Angle B in X direction is exactly vertical (right angle)
Is required to be formed.

[0005]

However, it is quite difficult to accurately grind the end face 1a of the connector 1 in this manner, and errors tend to occur in the verticality (squareness). As shown in FIG. 7, the lengths a to d of the four corners of the connector 1 are measured with a micrometer or the like,
It is checked whether the difference between the longest and the shortest is within a predetermined range.

However, according to this inspection method, 1
It is necessary to measure four times for each connector with a micrometer or the like, which takes too much inspection time. That is, 1
. A measurement time of about 2 minutes is required for each connector. Also, since the MT connector is usually made of plastic, if a micrometer or the like is applied to the four corners of the connector 1 every time an inspection is performed, the end face 1a may be scratched, dented, or sometimes damaged. There were also problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an excellent connector end face inspection method which can shorten an inspection time and hardly gives a bad influence such as damage to a connector. Things.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an inspection method for inspecting the verticality of an end face of a connector, comprising preparing a master connector in which the verticality of the end face is formed with high precision in advance. The end face of the connector to be inspected is brought into contact with the end face of the connector, and the abutting portion of these end faces is irradiated with inspection light from at least one direction, and the light leakage on the side opposite to the light irradiation side is captured, and the light leakage is detected. A connector end face inspection method characterized by inspecting the verticality of a connector end face to be inspected from a quantity.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the connector end face inspection method according to the first aspect, wherein the leakage light amount is captured by an optical sensor or visually.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the master connector is fixed at a predetermined position, and the end surface of the master connector is moved forward by an auto-hand mechanism with respect to the end surface of the master connector. Match,
3. The connector end face inspection method according to claim 1, wherein after the inspection with the inspection light is completed, the connector to be inspected is released and moved backward.

[0011]

FIG. 1 shows a master connector 11 required for carrying out a connector end face inspection method according to the present invention. A fitting hole (not shown) in the end face 11a has The fitting pins 3 and 3 are fitted in advance, and the verticality (squareness) is formed with high precision in advance. That is, the difference between the longest and shortest directions of the end surface 11a in the width direction (Y direction) and the height direction (X direction) is within a predetermined range.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show one embodiment of the connector end face inspection method according to the present invention. In this method, first, the master connector 11 is fixed at a predetermined position, and then the end surface 1a of the connector 1 to be inspected having substantially the same structure as that of FIG. Then, the fitting pins 3 and 3 of the master connector 11 are inserted into the fitting holes 2 and 2 (not shown) to butt each other.

In this state, first, as shown in FIG. 2, inspection light (incident light) is sent out in one of the width directions (Y direction) of both end surfaces 11a, 1a of the master connector 11 and the connector 1 to be inspected. A light source 21 composed of an LD, an LED, a light-emitting lamp, etc. for
ADP (avalanche photodiode), PIN photodiode, phototransistor, photomultiplier, SC
The light receiving sensor 22 made of d or the like is installed.

Then, the inspection light (incident light) from the light source 21 is applied to the butted portions of the both end faces 11a, 1a, and the leaked light is received by the sensor 22. At this time,
If the amount of leaked light (the amount of received light) is larger than a predetermined value, the end surface 11a on the master connector 11 side is formed with high precision in advance, so that there is a problem in the verticality in the width direction of the end surface 1a of the connector 1 to be inspected. It turns out there is. That is, the degree of verticality in the width direction can be easily and quickly determined from the magnitude of the amount of leaked light.

Next, when the inspection of the verticality in the width direction is completed in this way, as shown in FIG. 3, the directions of both end surfaces 11a and 1a of the master connector 11 and the connector 1 to be inspected are changed. The light source 21 is installed on one side in the height direction (X direction), and the sensor 22 is installed on the other side. And, as in the width direction,
The inspection light (incident light) from the light source 21 is applied to the both end faces 11.
The abutted portions a and 1a are irradiated, and the leaked light is received by the sensor 22. Also in this case, the amount of leaked light (received light)
The degree of verticality in the height direction at both end faces 11a, 1a can be easily and quickly determined based on the magnitude of.

In the connector end face inspection method of the present invention, an operator can manually perform each of the connectors 1 to be inspected. However, an automatic transfer device or a robot device as shown in FIG. It is also possible to perform an inspection automatically by providing an apparatus system having an automatic hand mechanism or the like. That is, the master connector 11 is connected to the predetermined
And a large number of connectors 1 to be inspected are aligned on the mounting pallet 32 of the automatic transport device. Then, one connector 1 to be inspected is picked up from the mounting pallet 32 by the automatic hand mechanism 33 of the robot device installed on the side of the mounting pallet 32.

Thereafter, the connector 1 to be inspected is moved forward by the auto-hand mechanism 33 toward the end face 11a of the master connector 11 while the end face 1a is moved.
After the inspection by the light source 21 and the sensor 22 is completed, the butting of the connector 1 to be inspected is released and moved backward by the automatic hand mechanism 33 of the robot apparatus, and the connector which has been inspected on the placing pallet 32 is described above. As back. By the completion of the inspection, the mounting pallet 32 of the automatic transport device travels downward by one by one in the figure, and sets the connector 1 to be inspected before the next inspection to the start position. Therefore, if these steps are sequentially repeated, the inspection of many connectors 1 to be inspected can be performed automatically.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show another embodiment of the connector end face inspection method according to the present invention. Also in this case, the inspection method is basically the same as the inspection method of FIGS. 2 and 3, but instead of the sensor 22, a method of easily confirming light leakage visually by an operator. Of course, even in this method, the inspection can be automatically performed by providing an apparatus system as shown in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the description has been given of the case of the MT connector having the fitting pins 3 and 3 and the corresponding fitting holes 2 and 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, the present invention can be applied to a connector having another guide mechanism in place of the fitting pin 3 and simply abutting the end face 11a of the master connector 11 with the end face 1a of the connector 1 to be inspected.

[0020]

As is clear from the above description, the following excellent effects can be obtained by the connector end face inspection method according to the present invention.

(1) The degree of verticality of the end face of the connector to be inspected in the width direction and the height direction can be easily and quickly inspected based on the magnitude of the amount of light leaked by a sensor or visual observation. In the conventional method of measuring the length of the four corners of the connector using a micrometer or the like, a work time of about 2 minutes per connector is required, whereas in the case of the present invention,
A work time of about 0.5 minutes per connector was sufficient.

(2) If a fitting pin is provided on the end face of the master connector in advance, the fitting of the fitting pin and the fitting hole of the connector to be inspected is performed simultaneously with the inspection of the verticality of the end face. It is possible to easily check the degree of clogging of the hole with the abrasive or shavings. In the conventional method of measuring the length with a micrometer or the like, the inspection of the degree of clogging had to be performed separately as a separate step, and workability was poor.

(3) It is also possible to automate the inspection by installing a device system having an automatic transfer device and an automatic hand mechanism of a robot device. As a result, a very large number of connectors to be inspected can be inspected extremely quickly and with high reliability, and the inspection cost can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a master connector for carrying out a connector end face inspection method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a connector end face inspection method according to the present invention.
It is the schematic explanatory drawing which showed the case where the perpendicularity of the width direction of a connector end surface was inspected.

FIG. 3 shows a connector end face inspection method according to the present invention.
It is the schematic explanatory drawing which showed the case where the verticality of the height direction of a connector end surface was inspected.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing an example of an apparatus system for automating a connector end face inspection method according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view showing a case where the verticality in the width direction of the connector end face is inspected by another connector end face inspection method according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view showing a case where the verticality of a connector end face in a height direction is inspected by another connector end face inspection method according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a connector.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a state immediately before connection between connectors.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view showing a state immediately before connection between connectors.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector to be inspected 1a End face of connector to be inspected 2 Fitting hole 3 Fitting pin 11 Master connector 11a End face of master connector 21 Light source 22 Sensor 31 Installation table 32 Mounting pallet 33 Auto hand mechanism F Optical fiber

Claims (3)

[Claims] In an inspection method for inspecting the verticality of an end face of a connector, a master connector in which the verticality of an end face is formed with high precision is prepared in advance, and the end face of the connector to be inspected is brought into contact with the end face of the master connector. At the same time, irradiate inspection light from at least one direction to the abutting portion of these two end surfaces, catch light leakage on the side opposite to this light irradiation side, and inspect the verticality of the connector end surface to be inspected from the leakage light amount. A connector end face inspection method characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The connector end face inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the leakage light amount is detected by an optical sensor or visually. 3. An inspection using the inspection light, wherein the master connector is fixed at a predetermined position, and the end surface of the master connector is abutted against the end surface of the master connector by an automatic hand mechanism while the connector to be inspected is moved forward. 3. The connector end face inspection method according to claim 1, wherein after the step (c), the mating of the connector to be inspected is released and the connector is moved backward.