JPS61209404A - Manufacture of multicore optical fiber connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify arraying of an optical fiber part and to shorten the manufacturing time of a connector by setting the optical fiber part of a terminal to a die in the state where it is inserted into the fiber inserting hole of a fiber array block and lines up and forming the connector block by resinmolding. CONSTITUTION:The coating parts 2 of plural fiber core wires 1 are restrained by a care wire line-up member 21 and lined up. Next, the optical fiber part 3 exposing the tip of each fiber core wire 1 is inserted into the fiber block array block 22 and lined up at the prescribed interval. Then it is set to the die 24. When the optical fiber part 3 protruding beyond the fiber array block 22 is set to the fiber positioning groove 25 of the die 24, and the core wire line-up member 21 is also set to the fixed groove 26, the fiber line-up block 22 is positioned in a cavity 27. Moreover the guide pin a pair of guide pins are set to the guide pin positioning groove 29 of the die 24 to close a cope. In this state, a resin is injected into the cavity 17 and caked, after which the end face is ground. Then a multicore optical fiber connector 32 can be manufactured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a multi-fiber optical fiber connector in which optical fiber portions of a plurality of optical fiber coated wire terminals are aligned at high density.

[Prior art and its problems]

When a plurality of coated optical fibers are connected to a counterpart at once, it is necessary to attach a multi-core optical fiber connector to the ends of the coated optical fibers. In this multi-core optical fiber connector, since it is necessary to arrange the optical fiber portions of each fiber terminal at high density, the terminals of each fiber are assembled into the following terminal group.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the conventional terminal aligner IO is composed of a substrate 11 and a lid 12 that is placed over the substrate 11. The substrate 11 has, in order from the base side, a core fiber accommodation groove 13, an intermediate groove 14, a fiber positioning groove 15 consisting of a plurality of V-grooves, and a fiber spacing adjustment groove 16. On the other hand, the lid 12
A core wire accommodating groove 17 and an intermediate groove 18 are formed in correspondence with the above, and the other portions are flat.

In order to collect and align the optical fiber coated wire ends using such a terminal alignment tool 10, first, as shown in FIG. 13, and the optical fiber portions 3 protruding from the coating portion 2 are aligned with the fiber positioning grooves 15 and arranged at a predetermined pitch. After the optical fiber section 3 is temporarily fixed in this state with an instant adhesive, a lid 12 is placed on the lid 12 as shown in FIG. 10, and adhesive is injected into the inside of the lid 12 to fix the substrate 11 and the lid 12.

After aligning the ends of the optical fibers in this way,
Furthermore, the optical fiber portion 3 protruding from the tip is solidified with a resin block, and in that state is assembled into a connector housing to constitute a multi-core optical fiber connector.

However, the method described above has the disadvantage that it takes time to align the ends of the optical fiber cores because it involves processes such as gluing, and it also increases costs because it uses a complicated-shaped end alignment member. There is also the problem.

[Means for solving problems and their effects]

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a multi-core optical fiber connector that solves the problems of the prior art as described above. At the same time, the optical fiber portions exposed at the tips of the optical fibers are aligned through a fiber alignment block having fiber insertion holes arranged at predetermined intervals. In order to This method is characterized in that the connector block is molded by injecting resin into the mold with the pair of guide pins set.

In this method, the optical fiber sections are aligned by passing them through the fiber insertion holes of the fiber alignment block, so alignment of the optical fiber sections is easy, and the structure can be made simpler than when using a conventional end alignment member.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

First, multiple optical fiber core wires 1 to be incorporated into the connector
The coated portions 2 are restrained and aligned by the core wire alignment member 21.

The core wire alignment member 21 may be of any type as long as it aligns the covering portions 2 and restrains the periphery thereof, but it is convenient to use a plastic molded body as shown in the figure. Next, the optical fiber part 3 exposed at the tip of each optical fiber core 1 is placed in a fiber alignment block 22. As shown in FIG. Holes 23 are arranged on the same plane at predetermined intervals.

Next, the pieces arranged as described above are set in the mold 24. This mold 24 has a fiber positioning groove 2 on the tip side.
5 has a core wire alignment member fixing groove 26 on the rear end side, and a cavity 27 is formed between them. Fiber positioning groove 2
5 consists of a plurality of V-grooves arranged at the same intervals as the fiber insertion holes 23. A gate 28 for resin injection is formed in the middle of the mold 24, and guide pin positioning grooves 29 are formed on both sides of the fiber positioning groove 25 and on both sides of the fiber alignment member fixing groove 26. In Figure 0, only the lower mold of the mold 24 is shown, but the upper mold also has a symmetrical shape with the parting surface 30 as a boundary.

Set the optical fiber portion 3 protruding from the fiber alignment block 22 into the fiber positioning groove 25 of the mold 24, and set the core fiber alignment member 21 into the fixing groove 26 J--7
-, No.J-stab, Rokuri-P, Nakagami, Shi"2, Riku-de.Furthermore, insert a pair of guide pins into the guide pin positioning groove 29 of the mold 24. When the upper mold is set and the upper mold is closed, the result is as shown in Fig. 5. That is, the optical fiber part 3 between the fiber alignment block 22 and the fiber positioning groove 25 of the mold is positioned by both of them and placed in a predetermined position in the cavity 27. The guide pins 31 are arranged at intervals, and are positioned on both sides of the aligned optical fiber sections 3 so that their central axes are parallel to the optical fiber sections 3 within the same plane.Although not shown, , the fiber alignment block 22 is positioned within the cavity 27 via a suitable spacer.

In this state, resin is injected into the cavity 27 and after solidifying, the mold 24 is opened, the guide pin 31 is pulled out, and the end face is polished, thereby completing the multi-core optical fiber connector 32 as shown in FIG. This connector 32 is embedded in a molded connector block 33 with the ends of the optical fiber portions 3 aligned at predetermined intervals, and guide pin insertion holes 34 are formed on both sides of the connector block 33. Further, the core wire alignment member 21 is partially embedded in the connector block 34 for reinforcement.

In the above embodiment, a spacer or the like is required to position the fiber alignment block within the cavity, which is troublesome. To solve this problem, it is recommended to use a guide pin to position the fiber alignment block. good.

For example, as shown in FIG.
If guide pin mounting grooves 35 are formed on both sides of A, and the guide pins 31 positioned by the mold 24 are mounted in the grooves 35 as shown in FIG. 6, the fiber alignment block 22A can be easily positioned. It is. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, guide pin insertion holes 36 are formed on both sides of the fiber insertion hole 23 of the fiber alignment block 22B, and by passing the guide pin 31 through the guide pin insertion hole 36, the position of the fiber alignment block 22B is determined. You can also do

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the optical fiber portions of the optical fiber core wire terminals are passed through the fiber insertion holes of the fiber alignment block, set in the mold in an aligned state, and molded with resin to form the connector block. Since the optical fiber parts are molded, alignment of the optical fiber parts becomes extremely easy, and the manufacturing time of the connector can be shortened. Furthermore, since the fiber alignment block has an extremely simple structure, it can be made compact, which reduces the cost and allows the entire connector to be made compact.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a process of manufacturing a multi-core optical fiber connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2(a) is a perspective view of a fiber alignment block used in the manufacturing method,
Okayama) is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of +al, Figures 3 and 4 are perspective views showing other examples of fiber alignment blocks, and Figures 5 to 7 are respectively the same as those in Figures 2 to 4. A cross-sectional view of the inside of the mold when a fiber alignment block is used, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a multi-core optical fiber connector manufactured by the above manufacturing method, and FIGS. 9 and 10 show the conventional state. FIG. 2 is a plan view and a sectional view. 1 - optical fiber core wire, 2 - coating section, 3 - optical fiber section,
21 - Core wire alignment member, 22/22A/22B - Fiber alignment block, 23 - Fiber insertion hole, 24 - Mold, 2
5 - Fiber positioning groove, 26 - Core wire alignment member fixing groove,
27 ~ Cavity, 29 ~ Guide bin positioning groove, 31
~Guide pin, 32~Multi-core optical fiber connector, 33~
Connector block, 34 - guide bin insertion hole, 35 - guide pin mounting groove, 36 - guide pin insertion hole. Figure 2 (a) (b) Figure 3 2A Figure 4 2B Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) The coated portions of a plurality of coated optical fibers are restrained and aligned with a coated fiber alignment member, and the optical fiber portions exposed at the tips are aligned using fiber insertion holes arranged at predetermined intervals. This is set in a mold having a fiber positioning groove on the front end side and a fiber alignment member fixing groove on the rear end side so that the fiber alignment block is positioned in the cavity, and A connector block is formed by injecting resin into the mold with a pair of guide pins set in the mold so as to be positioned parallel to each other on both sides of the aligned optical fiber sections. A method of manufacturing a fiber optic connector. (2) The manufacturing method according to claim 1, comprising:
A device characterized by positioning a fiber alignment block within a mold cavity using guide pins. (3) The manufacturing method according to claim 2, comprising:
The fiber alignment block has grooves on both sides for installing guide pins. (4) The manufacturing method according to claim 2, comprising:
The fiber alignment block has holes for guide pin insertion on both sides of the fiber insertion hole.