JPS584110A - Multiconnector for optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the constitution of the titled device, to improve the accuracy of axial adjustment and to connect optical fibers easily by forming V-shaped grooves on the surface of a cylindrical sleeve and applying a circular elastic element on the periphery. CONSTITUTION:An elastic element 3 is applied to the external periphery of a cylindrical sleeve 1 of which external peripheral part has plural V-shaped grooves 2 for accomodating a plug P1 into which one end of optical fiber is inserted and the plugs P1 accomodated into the V-shaped grooves are pressed by the elastic element in the direction of the axial center of the sleeve. Consequently, if the V-shaped groove are evenly arranged in the axial direction, the axes of plugs to be connected coincide, so that the multiconnector with simple constitution can be produced unexpensively and can accomplish automatic axial adjustment highly accurately and the connection of many optical fibers easily at the same time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an i-multi type connector for interconnecting optical fibers with optical fibers, light emitting sources, light receiving elements, etc.

General (For connectors used to connect Hikari 7 Eyer, the most important issue is to minimize the connection loss at the connection point. In order to actually connect Hikari 7 Eyer, a plug of a certain standard is used to connect the Hikari 7 Eyer. One end is inserted and the optical transmission core axes of these optical fibers are aligned and connected. In this case, (1) there is no misalignment of the core axes of the optical fibers to be connected.

■There should be as little gap as possible between the end faces of the two 7-eyes to be connected. ■There is no inclination of the core axis between optical fibers. etc. are important factors.

On the other hand, in the plug into which one end of the optical fiber is inserted and fixed, the accuracy of the outer diameter, roundness, cylindricity, surface roughness, etc., and the dimensional accuracy of the small hole into which the Optical 7 Eyeper is inserted and held, etc. Precision on the order of microns is also required for delivery.

However, in conventional multi-connectors for optical fibers, multiple optical fibers are arranged in parallel V-grooves formed at equal intervals on a flat plate, and these optical fibers are held together by other plate-shaped bodies. A method has been proposed in which the optical fibers to be connected are at least aligned with each other.

However, with this kind of connector, the centering accuracy of the optical 7 eyeper, and ultimately the magnitude of the splice loss, ultimately depend on the dimensional accuracy of the optical fiber, and the external dimensions are larger than that of a single-core optical fiber connector. Of course, there were drawbacks such as a decrease in centering accuracy.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and in order to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional optical 7-eyeper multi-connector, the present invention performs centering for each optical fiber and assembles these into a multi-connector. be.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 ci
6, reference numeral 1 denotes a sleeve 1 which constitutes the living body of the connector, and this sleeve 1 is made of synthetic resin, metal ceramic material, etc., and has a cylindrical shape and has a plurality of V@2 formed in the axial direction on the outer periphery of the surface. An annular elastic body 3 made of elastic material such as rubber is fitted around the outer periphery of such a sleeve 1. In this case, since the inner diameter of the annular elastic body 3 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the sleeve l, a tightening force in the axial center direction of the sleeve 1 acts on the annular elastic body 3. Therefore, optical fiber (
Plugs P1 and P2 with one end (not shown) inserted and fixed
When the plugs Pl and P21C are placed in the V groove 2 formed by the sleeve IC, the annular elastic body bone pressure acts in the axial center direction of the sleeve l, but the plugs Pl and P2
Since the outer diameters of the two are the same, they are connected with their axes aligned in the VJz as shown in Figure 2. Note that 4 is a sheet made of synthetic resin and is covered as an outer skin. This makes it dust-proof and moisture-proof, and the connectors can be easily identified by using sheets of different colors.

Further, FIGS. 3 and 4 show other embodiments, in which an annular member 5 is formed of metal, ceramic material, etc., and these annular members 5 are connected by elastic pieces 6. Therefore, the plugs PI and P2 are pressed into the V-groove 2 of the sleeve l, and as shown in Figure @4, the outer IC V-groove 2m is formed as an annular structure. Accordingly, a multi-connector capable of fixing and connecting the plugs Pi and P2 multiple times can be obtained.

By the way, since the V groove 2 formed in the connector of the present invention is pressed in the axial direction (if it is uniform) with a constant pressing force in the same V@2, the plug Pi that connects the optical fibers to each other is , P2's central axes almost completely coincide with each other.Moreover, the plugs Pl and P2 are metal.

When making optical fibers from brittle materials such as optical fibers, the eccentricity between the outer diameter and the optical fiber insertion hole can be suppressed to within a few microns. However, the eccentricity between the core of the optical core and the outer diameter of the plug is not a factor that increases the connection loss.

Further, by bringing the tips of the plugs, ie, the tips of the optical fibers, closer together, connection loss will be reduced. For this reason, an SC bullet body may be provided at the rear of each plug so that the tips of the plugs are always in contact with each other with a predetermined pressure.

As described above, the optical 7-eyeper multi-connector of the present invention has a simple structure, can be manufactured at low cost, can automatically align the optical 7-eyeper with high precision, and can connect a large number of optical fibers. It has great utility in optical communication systems, such as the ability to easily connect fibers all at once.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the multi-connector for optical fiber ζ according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are multi-connectors for optical fiber according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing an example of a pond. ! Ni sleeve 2: v # 3: Annular elastic body 4: Sheet 5: Annular elastic body pt, P2 Ni sleeve 6: Elastic piece Applicant Kazuo Inamori, representative of Kyoto Ceramic Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of V grooves are formed in a cylindrical or cylindrical sleeve in which a plug into which one end of an optical fiber is inserted is placed, and an elastic body is arranged around the outer periphery of the sleeve. c. A multi-connector for optical fibers, characterized in that the arranged plug is pressed in the direction of the axial center of the sleeve.