JPS62166960A - Automatic polishing device of optical fiber connector end face - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve work efficiency by installing plural ferrule chucks on a turret and arranging a loading section, a coarse polishing section, a cleaning section, a finish polishing section, a cleaning section and an unloading section on the opposite section. CONSTITUTION:Ferrule chucks 8 each fixed with a ferrule 1 at the center are fitted on a turret 9 at positions equally separated on the circumference. A rotary disk 10 provided with an eccentric pin 11 is provided near the center of the turret 9, and when this rotary disk 10 is rotated, procession occurs on the ferrule 1 via a connecting rod 12 connected to the eccentric pin 11. A loading section I, a coarse polishing section II, a cleaning section III, a finish polishing section IV, a cleaning section V and an unloading section VI are arranged below the turrent 9 and on the opposite section to the ferrule chucks 8. As a result, a series of processes are automatically performed, and the efficiency of the polishing work is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to an automatic polishing device that continuously performs operations from rough polishing to final polishing and measurement on the end face of a fiber holding portion of an optical fiber connector. .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In general, a fiber holding section of an optical fiber connector has a structure shown in FIG. Optical fiber 2 is ferrule 1
is accommodated in an optical fiber end face 120 provided at the center of the
It is fixed to the end 110 of the ferrule 1 with adhesive 3.

On the other hand, splice loss in optical fibers is caused by discontinuity in the splicing core, so in order to propagate optical signals without loss,
When the ferrule end faces 110 of the two fiber holders configured as shown in FIG. 5 are brought together, it is necessary to join the optical fiber end faces so that the optical axes of the optical fibers do not shift and there is no gap. For this purpose, the ferrule end face 110 is polished. At that time, the ferrule end face 110
As for the shape, there are two methods: a method in which the surface is perpendicular to the optical fiber axis, and a method in which the top of the optical fiber portion is made spherical and there is no step between the ferrule end surface 110 and the optical fiber end surface.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional polishing device. After fixing the plurality of ferrules 1 to the ferrule holder 4 using the ferrule holding tightening screws 5, the whole is placed on a polishing surface plate 6. Next, the polishing surface plate 6 is rotated while supplying the polishing slurry from the polishing slurry supply nozzle 7. At the same time, the ferrule holder 4 is rotated or oscillated in a circular manner. Polishing surface plate 6
The ferrule end face is polished by the movement of both the ferrule holder 4 and the ferrule holder 4.

Usually, ferrules are often made of hard materials such as ceramics. Therefore, in order to process this into a certain shape with high efficiency and finish the final surface with a mirror surface with a maximum unevenness of about 0.01 μm, 2 to 3 steps are required depending on the grade of the processed surface and the efficiency of polishing. Polishing is required. For this reason, a polishing device equipped with two or three rotating surface plate parts similar to the processing head shown in FIG. 6 is used.

When using such a conventional polishing device, the first step is to process the optical fiber 2 and adhesive 3 protruding from the ferrule end face 110 shown in FIG.
After processing, they are cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaning bath. Next, second and third polishing steps and cleaning after each step are performed.

During this time, work efficiency was extremely poor because workers had to manually proceed with each process.

In particular, when polishing the ferrule end face and fiber end face into a spherical shape, a polishing apparatus schematically shown in FIG. 7 is used. The surface of this polishing surface plate 6 is formed into a predetermined spherical shape, and the ferrule holder 4 is configured in such a shape that the central axis of the ferrule 1 passes through the center of the spherical surface of the polishing surface plate 6.

In order to make the tip of the ferrule spherical, rough polishing is first performed using a flat surface plate 6 shown in FIG. 6 to remove the protruding portion of the optical fiber 2 and the adhesive 3. Next, the ferrule holder 4 is replaced with one for machining spherical surfaces as shown in FIG. 7, and machining is performed. Therefore, there is a problem in that work efficiency is particularly deteriorated.

Further, when the spherical surface plate 6 shown in FIG. 7 is worn out and deformed, a separate dedicated device is required to correct the deformation, resulting in the problem of extra effort and time.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In order to precisely process the end face of a ferrule, it is necessary to perform several stages of polishing. At this time, in the conventional polishing apparatus, the polishing surface plate must be replaced manually each time the polishing process progresses, which caused a problem in that the efficiency of the polishing work was extremely poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic end face polishing apparatus for optical fiber connectors, which aims to improve the efficiency of polishing operations.

Means for Solving Problems In order to improve the work efficiency when polishing the end face of an optical fiber connector using a polishing device, an automatic optical fiber connector end face polishing device was completed according to the present invention.

According to the present invention, an apparatus for automatically polishing the end face of an optical fiber connector includes: a rotatable turret equipped with a plurality of ferrule chucks at equally divided positions on the circumference for gripping a ferrule having the optical fiber connector as a central axis; and; a loading function unit that sets the ferrule in the ferrule chuck, and an unloading function unit that removes the ferrule from the ferrule chuck after the polishing process, and further a rough polishing function unit that performs rough polishing of the ferrule. , a first cleaning function section that cleans the ferrule after rough polishing, a finish polishing function section that performs final polishing of the ferrule after cleaning, and a second cleaning function section that cleans the ferrule after finish polishing. The ferrule chuck on the turret is provided with at least one of a cleaning function unit and a measurement function unit for measuring the polished surface of the ferrule after the second cleaning, and these function units are provided on the ferrule chuck on the turret. an optical fiber connector comprising: functional means arranged in the order of polishing processing at positions corresponding to the circumferentially divided positions; a control device for controlling each of the functional parts; An automatic edge polishing device is provided. '□According to one aspect of the present invention, each of the rough polishing function section and the final polishing function section is
A spherical bearing inner ring whose side bearing portion has a spherical surface and a hole passing through the axis, and the ferrule is inserted into and held in the chain hole, and a bearing portion having a shape substantially complementary to the bearing portion of the spherical bearing inner ring. a spherical bearing outer ring which swingably holds the spherical bearing inner ring, a rotating disk having an eccentric pin, the eccentric pin of the rotating disk and the ferrule being connected; and a connecting rod that transmits differential motion.

Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, each of the rough polishing functional section and the final polishing functional section is located at a location where the ferrule corresponds to a functional section other than the rough polishing functional section or the final polishing functional section. In some cases, the polishing grindstone surface of the rough polishing function section and/or the finish polishing function section is in a fixed lower position that does not contact the surface to be polished of the ferrule, and the ferrule is in the rough polishing function section and/or the finish polishing function section. When it stops at a position corresponding to the polishing function part, the grinding wheel rises to a certain height, continuously rises by a certain amount of cutting, and when it finishes cutting by a certain amount, it descends to the lower fixed position to prepare for the arrival of the next ferrule. have

As described above, the optical fiber connector automatic polishing apparatus of the present invention has a configuration in which the chucks of a plurality of optical fiber connector ferrule parts are arranged on the circumference of one turret type rotation mechanism. In addition, stations for rough machining, finishing machining, and cleaning are provided on the opposite side of the chuck. Therefore, the unprocessed optical fiber connector set by the chuck in the loading section automatically goes through the cycles of rough processing, cleaning, finishing processing, and cleaning in order by the intermittent automatic rotation feed of the tarot rotation mechanism, and then polishing is completed. do. Therefore, the work efficiency of polishing can be significantly improved.

Even when it is necessary to process the end face into a spherical surface, a flat polishing tool is used instead of a curved polishing tool to give the ferrule a precession motion. No equipment or technology required.

The problems with conventional polishing equipment are that each step of rough machining, cleaning, and finishing is performed manually, and when the end surface is made into a spherical surface, a special polishing surface plate is required. The automatic optical fiber connector end face polishing apparatus of the present invention can simplify the need for special equipment and techniques when modifying the shape.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a top view of an embodiment of an automatic optical fiber connector end face polishing apparatus according to the present invention. The ferrule 1 is fixed at the center of a ferrule chuck 8, and the ferrule chucks 8 are mounted on a turret 9 at equally divided positions on the circumference. Although six ferrule chucks 8 are shown in this figure, more ferrule chucks 8 may be attached.

A rotating disk 10 equipped with an eccentric pin 11 is provided near the center of the turret 9 on a line connecting the center of the ferrule chuck 8 and the center of the turret 9. The eccentric pin 11 is connected to the upper part of the ferrule 1 by a connecting rod 12. By rotating the rotary disk 10, the ferrule 1 is caused to precess through the connecting rod 12 connected to the eccentric pin 11.

The turret 9 rotates and stops at certain angles depending on the indexing method. In the case of this embodiment, six chucks are provided, so the turret 9 rotates and stops every 60 degrees. When turret 9 stops, turret 9
The end face of the ferrule is processed and cleaned at a functional station located below the ferrule. The functional station is arranged so that the rotation direction of the turret 9 is counterclockwise.
Furthermore, assuming that the ferrule chuck 8 located at the 12 o'clock position of the clock in Fig. 1 is the loading section I for setting the ferrule, the following steps are taken counterclockwise: rough polishing section ■, cleaning section ■, final polishing section ■, and cleaning section V1. This will be the unloading section ■. When adding a measurement function, place the measurement device at the bottom of the unloading section.

The rough polishing section H is provided with a polishing surface plate 6 for rough polishing the tip of the ferrule 1, and the cleaning section (2) is provided with a cleaning brush 13 and a brush rotating tool 14 for cleaning the tip of the ferrule 1. The final polishing section (■) is equipped with a polishing surface plate for final polishing.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the rough polishing section. An eccentric pin 11 is fixed to the rotating disk 10. The eccentric pin 11 is connected to the upper part of the ferrule 1 by a connecting rod 12.

The connection between the continuous rod 12 and the upper part of the ferrule 1 is made using the connecting rod 1.
A hole is provided at the tip of ferrule 2, and the upper part of ferrule 1 is loosely fitted into this hole. Therefore, by rotating the rotary disk 10 provided with the eccentric pin 11, circular rocking can be applied to the upper end portion of the ferrule 1. Since the ferrule 1 is swingably restrained by the ferrule chuck 8, the lower end of the ferrule also swings. As a result, the lower end of the ferrule 1 is polished on the rough polishing grindstone 6.

Incidentally, the rough polishing whetstone 6 itself also performs rotational movement around its axis to help efficiently perform polishing.

The rough polishing grindstone 6 remains in the lower fixed position until the turret 9 rotates and the tip of the ferrule comes to a fixed position. When the rotation of the turret 9 stops, it rises to a certain height, and then rises to a predetermined height while making continuous cuts by a certain amount. When the predetermined incision is completed, it descends again to the lower position and prepares for the next coarse grinding ferrule.

The structure and operation of the final polishing section are almost the same as those shown in FIG. 2, except that the rough polishing grindstone 6 is replaced by the final polishing surface plate.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the cleaning section. By rotating and stopping the turret 9, when one tip of the ferrule that has been polished comes, the brush rotating tool 14 rotates and cleaning water is jetted from the center. Therefore, the tip of the ferrule 1 is scrubbed and cleaned by the cleaning brush 13. This method is the same for cleaning after rough polishing and cleaning after final polishing. The structure, configuration, and functions of each part of the optical fiber connector end face automatic polishing apparatus of the present invention are as described above.

The flow of work in this automatic polishing device will be explained below.

At the loading section I, the ferrule 1 to be processed is pushed into the chuck section 8 and fixed. Then turret 9 is 60°
It rotates and comes to the rough polishing part ■.

At this point, the rough-polishing diamond grinding wheel rapidly rises to a position where it resides at the tip of the ferrule 1. When the rotation of the rotary disk 10 equipped with the eccentric pin 11 causes the ferrule 1 to precess through the connecting rod 12, the rough polishing grindstone 6 rotates at a speed of 10,000 revolutions or more per minute, and at a speed of 5 μm/min.
Cut into ferrule 1 at a speed of around 1.2 seconds. At this time, the tip of the ferrule 1 is polished into shapes with different cone angles depending on the amount of eccentricity of the eccentric pin 11 in the rotating disk lO. In the end, rough polishing is completed in 30 to 40 seconds. When the rough polishing whetstone 6 rises to a predetermined cutting position, the rough polishing whetstone 6 descends while still rotating. Then,
The ferrule 1 that has been roughly polished by the rotation of the crette 9 is transferred to the cleaning section (2). The tip of the ferrule 1 is cleaned in this cleaning section (2). Next, in finishing polishing section IV, the turret 9 rotates and stops, and then the polishing surface plate rises until it contacts the tip of the ferrule 1. This polishing surface plate is rotated while applying diamond and other machine particles. At the same time, the rotation of the rotary disk 10 to which the eccentric pin 11 is fixed causes the ferrule 1 to undergo a precession motion similar to that during rough polishing through the connecting rod 12. Polishing is performed by the movement of both the polishing surface plate and the ferrule. The polishing surface plate is made of resin or the like, and its elastic deformation allows the tip to be polished smoothly into a spherical shape. After finishing the final polishing, the turret 9 rotates again and the ferrule 1 moves to the cleaning section (2). The ferrule 1 is cleaned again in this cleaning section (2). The ferrule 1 is finally transferred to the unloading section (2) and cut out there.

The above operations are performed continuously for each chuck section.

The operating time at each of these functional stations is 30 to 40 seconds for the rough polishing section (2), 20 seconds or less for each of the cleaning sections (2) and (2), and 30 to 40 seconds for the final polishing section (2).

If the time required for one division of rotation of the turret 9 is 10 seconds and the processing is performed continuously, the processed ferrule will be obtained within about 3 minutes.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, a complete automatic polishing device is provided by providing a loading section (2) and an unrope ink ffl<VI with a ferrule cassette 15 and a material hand 18 that automatically attaches and detaches the ferrule to the chuck section 8. be able to.

The ferrule cassette 15 is provided with a ferrule holding hole 151. This ferrule holding hole 151 is made of, for example, a resin material with low elasticity, so that it does not damage the ferrule 1.
Moreover, the ferrule 1 is stably held by its elastic force.

The ferrule cassette 15 is also provided with cassette guide rollers 16, 17, which serve to transport the ferrule cassette 15 along the guide rollers.

The work flow for this cassette part proceeds as follows. When the ferrule 1 is installed in the ferrule holding hole 151 of the ferrule force set (15) provided in the loading section (2), the ferrule cassette 15 is fed. When the first ferrule 1 comes to the extraction position, the material hand 18 descends, holds the rear end of the ferrule 1 with three spring claws, extracts it from the ferrule holding hole 151, and loads it into the ferrule chuck 8 of the processing device. do. When this is finished, the ferrule cassette 15 is fed one pitch, and the next ferrule 1
is grasped and loaded. On the other hand, the unloading section ■
A similar material hand 18 and an empty ferrule cassette are installed. In this unloading section,
The finished ferrule 1 is taken out and stored in the reverse process of loading into the chuck 8 of the processing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As described in detail, the present invention has a plurality of connector ferrule chuck parts installed and fixed on a turret, and a
By arranging the loading section, rough polishing section, cleaning section, final polishing section, cleaning section, unloading section, and (measuring section), the series of processes necessary for processing the end face of the optical fiber holding section can be automatically performed by indexing the turret. This is a polishing device that can perform Therefore, it is possible to polish small parts such as optical fiber connectors with good reproducibility, high precision, high quality, and high work efficiency.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of the polishing device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the rough polishing section of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the cleaning section of the device of the present invention. , Fig. 4 is an example of a device added to the device of the present invention to automate the loading and unloading of ferrules, and Fig. 5 is a configuration diagram of a fiber holding part of an optical fiber connector, which is a workpiece. FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional polishing device, and FIG. 7 shows an example of a conventional polishing device for polishing an end face into a spherical shape. (Main reference numbers) 1. Ferrule, 2. Optical fiber, 3. Adhesive, 4. Ferrule holder, 5. Tightening screw, 6.
... Polishing surface plate, 7. Abrasive supply nozzle, 8. Ferrule chuck, 9. Cret, 10
・・Rotating disk, 11・・Eccentric pin, 12・・Connecting rod,
13..Cleaning brush, 14..Brush rotating tool, 15..
- Ferrule cassette, 16, 17... Cassette guide roller, 18... Material hand, 110... Ferrule end face, 120... Ferrule fiber hole, 151... Ferrule holding hole.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An apparatus for automatically polishing the end face of an optical fiber connector, comprising: a rotatable turret equipped with a plurality of ferrule chucks, which grip a ferrule having the optical fiber connector as a central axis, at equally divided positions on the circumference; ; a loading function section for setting the ferrule in the ferrule chuck; and an unloading function section for removing the ferrule from the ferrule chuck after polishing; further comprising a rough polishing function section for rough polishing the ferrule; a first cleaning function section that cleans the ferrule after polishing; a final polishing function section that performs final polishing of the ferrule after cleaning; a second cleaning function section that cleans the ferrule after final polishing; At least one of a plurality of measurement function units for measuring the polished surface of the ferrule after the second cleaning is provided, and these function units are connected to the circumference of the ferrule on the turret where the ferrule chuck is provided. An automatic end face polishing device for an optical fiber connector, comprising: functional means arranged in the order of polishing processing at positions corresponding to the superior division positions; a control device for controlling each of the above functional units; . (2) Each of the rough polishing functional section and/or the final polishing functional section has a spherical bearing portion on the side and a hole passing through the axis, and the ferrule is inserted and held in the hole. a spherical bearing inner ring; a spherical bearing outer ring having a bearing portion having a shape substantially complementary to the bearing portion of the spherical bearing inner ring and swingably holding the spherical bearing inner ring; and a rotating disk having an eccentric pin; The end face of the optical fiber connector according to claim 1, further comprising a connecting rod that connects the eccentric pin of the rotating disk and the ferrule and transmits precession to the end of the ferrule. Automatic polishing equipment. (3) When the ferrule is not located at a location corresponding to the rough polishing function part and/or the final polishing function part, each of the rough polishing function part and/or the finish polishing function part is connected to the rough polishing function part. and/or the polishing whetstone surface of the final polishing function section is in a fixed lower position where it does not come into contact with the surface to be polished of the ferrule, and the ferrule is in a position corresponding to the rough polishing function section and/or the final polishing function section. A patent characterized in that the grinding wheel surface has a mechanism in which, when stopped, the grinding wheel surface rises to a certain height, continuously rises by a certain amount of cut, and when the cut by a predetermined amount is completed, descends to the lower fixed position to prepare for the arrival of the next ferrule. An automatic end face polishing device for an optical fiber connector according to claim 1 or 2.