JPS6021363B2 - optical connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical connector, and more particularly to an optical connector used in optical fiber communications.

Optical connectors are used in various locations such as connecting fibers to each other in optical fiber communications and connecting fibers to devices.

For this reason, optical connectors are important elements that have a great influence on the characteristics and economic efficiency of optical transmission systems, and high performance and low cost are major issues. FIG. 1 shows a diagram of the configuration principle of a conventional optical connector and an example of its characteristics.

In Fig. 1a, 1 and 2 are cores for supporting the fibers, 3 and 4 are nylon coated portions of the fibers, 5 and 6 are iron guide screws of the connector, 7 and 8 are fibers, 9 and 10 means connector fiber support mechanism. The problems with the conventional connector configuration are as follows.

First of all, since such a grooved connector is a rotating type, the core portion, which is the heart of the connector, rotates with respect to each other as shown in Figure 1b, and as a result, if the hole in the fiber support part is eccentric, even if it is slightly eccentric. As shown in FIG. 1c, the coupling loss of the fiber varies depending on the position of the relative rotation angle 8 of the core, as shown in FIG. As described above, in this type of rotary connector, the deviation must be kept as small as possible in order to suppress fluctuations in coupling loss, and processing accuracy of 2 mm or less is generally required. For this reason, the processing yield is poor and a large number of man-hours are required. In such a rotary connector, it is necessary to tighten and guide the connector using screws 5 and 6 in order to align the connector, which is time-consuming and inconvenient to use. As described above, conventional optical connectors have had various problems in terms of characteristics, manufacturing, and use. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector based on a completely new principle that solves the above problems.

According to the present invention, first and second cores having V-groove guide mechanisms for holding an optical fiber, first and second support mechanisms that support the first and second cores, and means for guiding optical fibers to the first and second cores to integrate and fix the optical fibers; The first support mechanism is inserted into the second core and the second support mechanism so that the first support mechanism is in close contact with the first core and the second core. This optical connector connects optical fibers fixed to each of the first and second cores by abutting the end surfaces thereof, and a V-groove guide mechanism is formed on the upper surface of one piece of plate, and the V-groove guide mechanism is formed on the upper surface of one plate.
Among the plurality of basic pieces cut out in a direction perpendicular to the groove guide mechanism, two adjoining basic pieces are used as the first and second cores, and the adjoining end surfaces are butted, respectively. An optical connector with special features is proposed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the optical connector according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2a shows groove-shaped guide mechanisms 11 and 12, which are the basic components of the optical connector according to the present invention.
, 13, and 14 are shown, and the V-groove 15 is carved to guide and hold the fiber, and after the V-groove 15 is carved, each basic unit 11, 12, 13, and 14 is cut out. .

Next, as shown in FIG. 2b, the adjacent basic blocks 11
, 12 as a base, and the support covers 13 and 14 for fixing the fibers are attached, and the sheathed fiber parts 17, 18 and the bare fiber parts 19, 20 are integrated after a predetermined treatment with adhesives 15, 16. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2a, the plate is finished with optical precision in both straightness and parallelism. The fiber support thus produced is then supported by a support structure as shown in FIGS. 2c and d.

In Fig. 2c, 21 and 22 are fiber support parts configured as shown in Fig. 2b, 23, 24, 25, and 26 are sleeve parts of the connector, and 27, 30, 31, and 32 are holes for spring guides. , 28, 29, 33, and 34 align with the guide holes of the springs and insert the core 22 of the connector into the core 21.
A spring part 35 is embedded in the sleeve part in order to automatically provide butting accuracy against the core 22.
36 and 37 are nylon-coated fiber parts; 38
, 39 are bare fiber portions, and 40 and 41 are edge treatments performed to ensure smooth iron bonding. A cross-sectional view of the support mechanisms 23, 35 viewed from the core insertion direction is shown in FIG. 2d. The feature of the present invention is that the core 21 is brought into close contact with the orthogonal end surfaces 42 and 43 in advance, and the opposing core 2
2 are automatically placed in close contact with the end surfaces 42, 43 by the spring mechanisms 29, 34, thereby increasing the accuracy of the butt.

By doing this, because of the guide mechanism using the V-groove and the end faces 42 and 43, the end faces of the fibers are automatically butted, and since this mechanism essentially does not have a rotation mechanism, the problem of fluctuation in coupling loss is also avoided. Moreover, since it does not have a screw mechanism, it is not cumbersome to handle and is easy to handle.

Furthermore, the core uses multiple basic pieces cut out after processing one piece of board with a common precision, and the end faces of the two adjoining cores are used as the mating surfaces of the connector. , the end faces of the connector are closely attached with high precision.
Further, the material for the core and its supporting mechanism may be either metal or plastic, and in the case of plastic, the basic mechanism shown in FIG. 2a can be mass-produced at low cost by molding. As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to construct a high-performance optical connector at low cost, and its application has great effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional optical connector, and FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the optical connector according to the present invention. In the figure, 11, 12, 13, 14 are V-groove guide mechanisms,
15 is a V groove, 21 and 22 are cores, 24, 25, 26
, 32, 35 are core support mechanisms, 28, 29, 33, 3
4 is a spring for abutting the core 22 against the core 21, and 27, 30, 31, and 32 are guide holes for the spring. Tsutomu 1 figure Tsutomu 2 figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The first part has a V-groove guide mechanism that holds the optical fiber.
and a second core, first and second support mechanisms that support the first and second cores, and guide optical fibers to the first and second cores, respectively, to support the optical fibers. means for integrally fixing the second core to the first core;
Using the inner surface of the support mechanism as a guide, the first core is pressed against the first core, and the first support mechanism is inserted between the second core and the second support mechanism so that the first core and An optical connector that connects optical fibers fixed to each of the first and second cores by abutting the end surfaces of the first and second cores in close contact with the second core, the optical connector comprising: A V-groove guide mechanism is formed, and two adjacent basic pieces out of a plurality of basic pieces cut out in a direction perpendicular to the V-groove guide mechanism are used as the first and second cores, and An optical connector characterized by abutting the contacting end faces.