JPS61201205A - Method for grinding end surface of ferrule for optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an economical method of grinding the end surface of the columnar ferrule by making the ferrule fixed optical fibers in a center of said ferrule with a good accuracy in a bundle, and then by collectively polishing it. CONSTITUTION:The optical fiber strands 9 are fixed in the columnar ferrule 2, the optical fiber core 10 is connected to the ferrule 2 with a binder 11. The ferrule 2 makes in the bundle, and is collectively polished. When polishing it, the ferrules 2 are bundled together with each other by means of a holding means 1, and effectively polished the end surface of said ferrules with a grinding stone 4 provided on the abrasive disc 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for polishing the end face of a ferrule for an optical connector.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the end face polishing of a ferrule for an optical connector is explained using FIGS. 5 and 6. The ferrule 2 is mounted on a ferrule holding jig 1, and following a grinding process using a grindstone on a polishing disk 3, the polishing process shown in FIGS. Finishing is completed through a final polishing process using a 1-℃ tin alloy or the like, followed by a buffing process at 1-℃.

Since the ferrule 2 used for polishing generally has a flange portion 5 processed, the holding jig 1 for the ferrule 2 is
The fixing method is to set the 7 errule 2 in the V-shaped groove B, and press the C press plate 8 with the screw bolt 7 to fix the C press plate 8 C.

[Problem 3 to be solved by the invention In the conventional polishing method described above, or the ferrule 2
Because they are each fixed to the holding jig separately, the holding jig is a large member, and the number of errules that can be polished at once is severely limited. Cannot be polished.

Furthermore, this polishing process takes a particularly long time in the optical connector assembly process, and is a cause of increased processing costs.

Therefore, shortening the end face polishing process is an important issue in optical connector manufacturing.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and provides an economical end face polishing method by polishing a large number of ferrules at once. In the present invention, a bundle of columnar ferrules in which optical fibers are firmly fixed in the center will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 denotes a columnar ferrule to which an optical Z fiber wire 9 is fixed, and an optical fiber core wire 10 is connected to the ferrule 2 by an adhesive 11. Further, although not shown in the drawings, a tension member and a base are generally provided around the optical fiber core wire 10.

FIG. 2 shows a method of batch polishing the columnar ferrules 2 shown in FIG. 1 in a bundle. A large number of columnar ferrules 2 are held at one time by a holding jig 1, and the end faces can be efficiently polished by a grindstone 4 or the like on a polishing disk 3.

The shape of the ferrule 2 in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is columnar, or it is generally a column and needs to have excellent shape accuracy such as roundness and straightness within a certain range.

The material of the ferrule 2 in the present invention can be a composite system made of any combination of metal, ceramic, plastic single threads, and Q and Y.

The holding method of the ferrule holding jig 1 according to the present invention may be a method capable of holding a large number of ferrules at once, and an embodiment thereof is shown in FIG.

(a) shows a method in which the push plate 12 is pushed by the action of a push screw bolt 160 to press and hold the ferrule 2'xK14, and (b) shows a circular band-shaped ferrule holding jig 1. Moreover, (C) shows an example using the ferrule holding jig 1 made of an L-shaped member.

The material of the 7-errule holding jig 1 in the present invention is not particularly limited, but examples include stainless steel metals, plastics, etc., which do not easily rust.

The ferrule obtained according to the present invention can be reinforced with a reinforcing portion 1g'15, as shown in FIG. 4, if necessary.

〔Example〕

By placing the original fiber in the mold in advance and injecting an epoxy molding material (CEL-'7'000 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.), the ferrule outer cylinder is formed and bonded to the optical fiber wire at the same time. φ0.999±o, O'04
Produced ferrule outer diameter of mn+. Using this method, 100 ferrules are molded, set in the ferrule holding jig 1 shown in FIG. I did this.

That is, first, rough processing was performed using a grinding wheel (surface roughness: 10 μm), then intermediate finishing was performed using abrasive paper (surface roughness: 1 μm), and finally buffing was performed using alumina powder (0.05 μm). The time required for the above end face polishing processing was t3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 4 minutes, respectively.Fel-□
The actual end face processing time per piece is approximately 7 seconds.

In addition, as a result of observing the end face of the optical fiber using an optical microscope, the appearance of all 'i o o' Zuerurs was good.

Next, pairs of ferrules were selected from among the ferrules, and splicing was performed between them to obtain 10 sets of cords with tool rules at both ends. LED as a light source (on = 0.85
．． c+m) and after passing through a 3 dB mode scrambler, the insertion loss of any combination of these 10 samples was measured, and the average was 0.4'5 dB, and the maximum was 1.85 dB.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the prior art, it has been impossible to polish the end faces of a large number of ferrules at once.

On the other hand, in the present invention, by grouping a large number of columnar ferrules together, it became possible to polish a large number of end faces at once. As a result, the time required for polishing the end face of each ferrule can be significantly reduced, which is of great industrial significance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a columnar ferrule used for end-face polishing in the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the method for polishing the end-face of a ferrule according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the ferrule holding method of the present invention. , 61. Fig. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the reinforcing method of the ferrule obtained according to the present invention, Fig. 5 is a schematic side view showing the conventional 7-rule end face sacroiliac method, and Fig. 6 is FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ferrule holding system. 1... Ferrule (k-removal A, 2...
Ferrule 6... Polishing machine, 4... Grinding wheel, 5... Flange portion, 6... V-shaped groove, 7... Threaded bolt, 8... Pressing plate, 9... Optical fiber wire, 10...
Optical fiber core wire, 11... Adhesive, 12...
... Push plate, 13... Push screw bolt. 14... Reinforcement phase. (○) Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for polishing the end face of a ferrule for an optical connector, which comprises bundling a large number of columnar ferrules with an optical fiber precisely fixed in the center, and polishing the end face of the bundle.