JPS62173406A - Connecting device for single core optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability by constituting the titled device so that a connecting cylinder and a connector can be detached and attached by one touch. CONSTITUTION:In case each connector has been attached to each end part of a connecting cylinder, when it is placed so as to protrude a little before the middle part of an inserting hole 2, respectively, within a range l in which the tip of a core wire 1a projecting from the front end of a cylinder part 13 of each connector can move backward, each tip of the core wire 1a collides in the inserting hole 2, each of them bends an elastic leg piece of a stopper and moves backward a body and the stopper, a flange 12' is separated a little from the rear end of a cylindrical part 32 of a cover cylinder, always pushed in the direction as indicated with an arrow (a) by a restoring force of an elastic piece 25, and abuts closely. Therefore, when a projecting length of the tip of the core wire from the front end of the cylinder part 13 is made a little longer, even if its length is determined exactly, each tip of the core wire which has been connected is withdrawn a little and always abuts, therefore, a transfer loss of light is not generated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention mainly relates to a connecting device for an optical fiber in which the front and rear single-core wires are made of plastic.

(Prior Art) A single-core optical fiber splicing device has conventionally used a series of insertion holes into which two optical fibers to be spliced are inserted from each end, as shown in FIG. The optical fibers /, / are passed through and held through the connecting tube 3 having a connection tube 3, connected to the outer periphery of each end of the connecting tube 3, and the coating of the optical fiber is stripped within the insertion hole of the connecting tube. There is a known connector consisting of two connectors to which the ends of the exposed core wire /a are brought into contact.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The above-mentioned connector includes a cylindrical main body 5 having a through hole in its axial center for passing an optical fiber, and a cap nut 6 rotatably held on the outer periphery of the main body 5. The optical fiber is peeled off from the tip of the core wire/α and passed through the through hole of the main body, and then the optical fiber is glued or the rear part of the metal main body 5 protruding backward from the cap nut 6 is compressed and deformed. , they are held by crimping, which takes a lot of effort to hold. Furthermore, in order to connect this connector to the end of the connecting tube J, it is necessary to screw the cap nut 6 around the male thread on the outer periphery of the end of the connecting tube, which requires time and effort to attach and detach.

Furthermore, it is necessary to accurately determine the length of the core wire /α protruding from the tip of the cylindrical body j, and if that length is even slightly short, a gap will be created between the tips of the core wires of both fibers to be connected. occurs, causing loss in the light to be transmitted. On the other hand, if the amount of protrusion of the core wire /α is too large, the end faces of the side core wires will be strongly pressed against each other within the insertion hole of the connecting tube and will be damaged. Therefore, it takes time to accurately determine the amount of protrusion of the core wire from the tip of each cylindrical body.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to easily hold an optical fiber in a connector without requiring any trouble such as gluing or crimping, and also makes it possible to attach and detach the connecting tube and the connector with one touch. The connector has a stopper with a U-shaped cross section and two elastic pieces that engage the optical fiber, and a through hole through which the optical fiber is passed through the axial filter, and a stopper that is perpendicular to the through hole. a main body having a horizontal hole for accommodating and holding the stopper from a direction perpendicular to the axis; a main body having a pair of elastic arms protruding diametrically opposite from the front end of the main body; and a main body of the main body. a cylindrical part fitted and held so as to be movable in the axial direction on the outer periphery of the cylindrical part, and a cylindrical part that protrudes diametrically oppositely from the front end of the cylindrical part, is located within the interval between the elastic arms, and has a cylindrical part on the inner periphery of the tip of the connecting cylinder. and a cover cylinder equipped with a pair of elastic gripping arms having jaws that grip the outer periphery of the end. A cam device that opens outward in the direction is provided, and the stopper is provided with an elastic piece that is movable in the axial direction of the main body, and this elastic piece is locked to the cylindrical portion of the cover cylinder to connect the stopper and the main body to the cover cylinder. It is characterized by being pressed elastically in a forward direction.

(Function) To hold the optical fiber, remove the coating on the tip, pass the optical fiber through the through hole of the main body, push the stopper into the side hole of the main body, and hold the optical fiber between the elastic crotches of the stopper. The stopper is accommodated and held in the horizontal hole of the main body while biting the covering part, and then the cover cylinder is fitted to the outside of the main body, and the cylindrical part of the cover cylinder is fit and held on the outer periphery of the body of the main body so as to be movable in the axial direction. , a pair of elastic gripping arms are positioned at a spacing between the pairs of elastic arms of the main body.

As a result, the optical fiber is held under pressure by the two elastic crotches of the stopper housed in the side hole of the main body. In addition, when the tip of the optical fiber protruding from the front end of the main body is pushed backwards, the main body and the stopper in the side hole bend the elastic piece of the stopper to move back a little, and when the pushing force is released, the elastic piece returns to the stopper. and the main body moves forward a little.

To connect two optical fibers, push a connector onto the outer periphery of each end of the connection tube. As a result, the elastic gripping pieces of the cover tube cover the outer periphery of each end of the connecting tube, and the jaws at the tip of the inner circumference grip the outer periphery of each end of the connecting tube, and the bare optical fibers held in each connector are gripped. The tip of the core wire is inserted into a series of insertion holes in the connecting tube.

In this way, the tips of the core wires of the optical fibers that entered the insertion hole of the connection tube from both ends collide with each other in the insertion hole, and the stoppers in the main body and its side holes bend the elastic pieces of the stoppers and move back slightly, causing the above-mentioned The restoring force of the elastic pieces pushes them together and makes perfect contact.

To remove the connector from the connecting tube, press the pair of elastic arms protruding from the front end of the trunk of the main body radially inward. As a result, the pair of elastic arms come into sliding contact with the elastic gripping pieces of the cover cylinder using the cam device, thereby pushing the elastic gripping arms outward in the radial direction. Therefore, by applying force to pull out the connector from the end of the connecting tube while pressing the elastic arms of the main body radially inward, the connector can also be removed from the connecting tube.

(Embodiment) In the illustrated embodiment, 10 is a connector of the present invention, the aforementioned main body is indicated by //, the stopper is indicated by 2/, and the cover tube is indicated by 3/, and these are molded products of elastic plastic. be.

The main body // is the same as the cylindrical body /= and the small diameter cylindrical part /3 protruding forward from the center of the front end of the body /- (the body /,
Elastic arms /'IZ having an arcuate cross section protrude from the front end outer periphery of the two. The cylinder part /3 has a thickness that allows it to protrude from the end into the insertion hole in the connecting cylinder 3, and has a longer protruding length than the elastic arm /II, and is slightly smaller than the - of the total length of the insertion hole λ. It's short.

A through hole /S for penetrating the optical fiber is provided at the center VcG of the body part /2 and the cylinder part /3, and a horizontal hole /A for accommodating and holding the stopper inside is provided in the body part /C. This is provided by interrupting the through hole 15 mentioned above. In this embodiment, the through-hole 15 is formed in the body part /2 and has a large-diameter hole part /3α through which the coating of the optical fiber, which is interrupted by the horizontal hole /6, passes through, and a through-hole part /3α, which is provided in the cylinder part /3 and passes through the core wire / It consists of a small diameter hole /Sb with an inner diameter of about one gourd, for example, through which the hole a passes.

The strut box has a U-shaped cross section with two elastic pieces, and each piece has a non-return claw at the tip of its outer surface.8
Then, a slit uQ is cut from the rear end of the bottom where both pieces 1-1 are connected, and an elastic piece 3 that is movable in the axial direction is formed after the slit. to protrude.

In the horizontal hole /6 in the trunk /2 of the main body, there is an intermediate '977 that fits shallowly between the two installation pieces 2-2 of the above-mentioned stoppayu / between the front and rear walls of the horizontal hole. A protrusion 7g is also provided. The outer surface of the intermediate wall /7 is an arcuate surface having the same radius of curvature as the outer circumference of the body part /2.

The tip of the optical fiber / is a little longer than the small diameter hole /Sb of the through hole in the cylindrical part 13 of the main body, and the coating is removed, and the end part of the optical fiber / is inserted into the body /2: from the large diameter hole /Sα of a certain through hole to the side hole /6. Pass it through the small diameter hole /Sb of the cylindrical part, and let the tip of the core wire /LL protrude outside from the front end of the cylindrical part /3. In this case, the inner surface of the intermediate wall in the lateral hole 1A guides the optical fiber inserted from the large-diameter hole portion/left α to the small-diameter hole portion b of the cylindrical portion /3.

Next: Push stopper 2/ into side hole /6. As a result, the pair of elastic crotch pieces 22 of the stopper slide into contact with the upper and lower walls of the horizontal hole, and the elastic crotch pieces 22 of the stopper 23 move elastically close to each other while compressible (rubber material) of the original fiber crossing inside the horizontal hole 6.
'4. Pinch the ω part firmly.

When the stopper is completely pushed into the horizontal hole, the non-return claw blades 3 on both pieces pass through the opposing surfaces of the upper and lower walls of the horizontal hole and snap open, catching on the edges of the upper and lower walls and causing the stopper to slide out of the horizontal hole. Prevents it from coming off in the opposite direction (see Figure 3). Further, further pushing of the stopper σ) is prevented because the inner surface of the bottom part of the stopper comes into contact with the original fiber passing through the side hole.

The tip of each elastic crotch piece of the stopper, including the non-return claw J, has the same radius of curvature as the outer periphery of the body, and the outer surface of the bottom of the stopper also has the same curvature as the outer periphery of the body. When pushed in completely as described above, the tip surface and bottom outer surface of each elastic crotch piece will be continuous in the circumferential direction with the outer periphery of the trunk in the same way as the outer surface of the intermediate wall/7 of the horizontal hole (see Figure 6). ). Also, non-return claw, 2J,
The force with which the optical fiber is pinched by the two pieces is slightly reduced by the opening of the two pieces outward, but the two pieces are still able to pinch the coating of the optical fiber with sufficient force.

Incidentally, teeth 27 that bite into the coating of the optical fiber are provided on the opposing surfaces of each piece 2- in a direction perpendicular to the optical fiber.
＜Good. Further, although the elastic piece 2 is also U-shaped, it does not necessarily have to grip the optical fiber like the two pieces.

After the stopper/ is accommodated and held in the horizontal hole of the body of the main body in this way, the cover tube 3/ is fitted onto the outside of the main body. The cover cylinder 31 has three cylindrical parts whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the body part of the main body and which fits on the outer periphery of the body part, and which protrudes forward facing from the front end outer periphery of the three cylindrical parts. Elastic arm/da,
A pair of elastic gripping arms 33, . 7.
7, and the inner periphery of the tip of each gripping arm 33 is thickened to form the jaw 3.
The inner surface of the jaw 317 has a tapered slope 3S. On the rear side of the cylindrical portion 32, holes 36 and 37 are opened facing each other to receive the protrusion 15 on the body part 2/2 and the protrusion 2 on the elastic piece of the stopper 2/2. be.

The pair of elastic arms /q that protrude from the front end of the body of the main body mentioned above extend straight forward and then bend outward once to reach the tip /l.
I' again extends straight ahead. And this tip /9
' has a fan-shaped cross-section, with inclined cam surfaces on both sides /9, /
It has 9.

The elastic arm /4(, /# bends outward in the middle like this,
Since the radius of curvature of the outer periphery of the tip part 3/' is smaller than the outer periphery of the body, in order to cover the cylindrical part 3.2 of the cover tube 3/2 over the outer periphery of the body part 3/2, the elastic arm is used. /Hiroshi, /Da's image tip/! ', /' are compressed radially inward to deform them, and in this state, the elastic arms are passed through the cylindrical part 3.2 of the cover cylinder to inflate the cylindrical part 32 on the outer periphery of the body part.

Preferably, a collar/co' is provided on the outer periphery of the rear end of the body part/J, and the rear end of the cylindrical part 3 is brought into contact with this collar/l.

The aforementioned protrusions /II, 24 are deformed on the inner periphery of the cylindrical portion 3 while the cylindrical portion 32 is fitted onto the outer periphery of the body,
+'m when the rear end of the cylindrical part 3 comes into contact with the collar 72'
Opposed 14. It will come directly above J'tZ, so restore it and open hole 3.
6.37 and prevents the 1 cylindrical part 3= from coming out in the opposite direction, and at the same time the pair of elastic gripping arms 33 are connected to the elastic arms /44 and /
Located at intervals of lI. In this case, the axial lengths of the holes 36 and 37 are longer than the projections /II and 24, respectively, and the projection roller of the elastic piece Δ contacts the rear edge of the hole 36, whereas the projection /g is longer than the projections /II and 24, respectively. (see Figure 2). This distance t is within the range in which the main body 7 and the stopper 2 held in the horizontal hole 16 of the body 2 can retreat relative to the cover cylinder 3/ by bending the elastic piece of the stopper 2/. The protruding roller of the piece locks the rear edge of the hole 3A, and elastically presses the main body 7 and the stopper 2/ forwardly against the cover cylinder 3/.

The insertion port of the connecting tube 3 used in the connector of this embodiment has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion /3 of the main body,
When the cylindrical parts 31 of the main body are inserted from each end of the connecting cylinder and each end of the connecting cylinder comes into contact with the front part of the main body 31, the front side is grabbed by the jaws of the elastic gripping arms 33 of the cover cylinder. A flange 7 is provided on the outer periphery.

As a result, when the cylindrical part /J of the main body is inserted into the insertion hole of the connecting cylinder from each end, and the connecting cylinder is pushed into the interior surrounded by the pair of elastic arms /l, /& and the elastic gripping arms 33, 33, Elastic gripping arm 33
．． 33 is the diagonal l1fi of the inner circumference of the tip, 3! At this point, it rides on the 7 langage of the connecting tube and bends outward, and the 7 lang.
After passing 1I, it restores itself with elasticity, and the 3 da is 7 lunge 7.
grip the front of the connector to prevent the connecting tube from coming off. At this time, each end of the connecting tube comes into contact with the front end of the body section 12 of the main body (
(See Figure 5).

Therefore, when the connectors are attached to each end of the connecting cylinder as described above, the tip of the core wire /α protruding from the front end of the cylinder part /3 of each connector is inserted into the insertion hole λ within the retractable range described above. If it is placed so that it extends slightly forward from the middle of
The main body and the stopper are moved backward by bending the elastic crotch pieces of the stoppers, respectively, so that the brim/co' is the cylindrical part of the cover tube, 3:
Move a little away from the rear end of L and always use the restoring force of the elastic arm to move towards arrow C.
It is pushed in the direction of and is in perfect contact. For this reason,
If you make the protruding length of the core wire tips from the front end of the tube part 3 a little longer, you will not be able to determine the length accurately (but the tips of the connected core wires will retract a little towards each other and always touch each other, so it will not be possible to light up). No transmission loss occurs.

To disconnect the connection, as shown in FIG. 4, pull out the connector from the connecting tube J while pressing the tips of the pair of elastic arms radially inward as indicated by the arrow d. This results in inclined cam surfaces on both sides of each tip //I'/9. /9 is a pair of elastic gripping arms, ? ,? , 3.7 and deforms the elastic gripping arm outward in the radial direction as shown by the chain line, and each type 3.
1I away from the flange 7 of the connecting tube. Therefore, the connector is connected vJJ or disconnected.

If necessary, make a through hole at the rear end of the main body. A short socket tube 3g is protruded from the extension of r, and a rubber tube 3 is attached to this.
q Cover and install 1. Protect the optical fiber / that comes out from the body of the main body backwards with this rubber tube.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, in order to prevent the cover tube from coming out forward, the protrusion um of the elastic piece of the stopper and the protrusion ig of the intermediate wall of the body are inserted into the holes 36 and 37 of the cover tube.
It is not necessarily necessary to plunge both, but the protrusion/
S and hole 37 may be omitted.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the invention, it is possible to provide a connector that can be attached and detached from the connecting tube with a single touch, and that when attached to the connecting tube, the tips of the core wires are pressed against each other and do not cause any loss in transmitted light. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the connector according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the assembled state, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ of Fig. 5 is a front view, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the optical fiber connected to the connecting tube. FIG. 2 is a side view taken 90 degrees apart from the other side. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the optical fiber connection state. , FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional connecting device. In the figure, / is the optical fiber, Ia is the core wire, C is the insertion hole, 3 is the connection tube, // is the main body, /λ is the body, /+ is the elastic arm, /j is the through hole, /L is the side hole , /9 is an inclined cam surface,
2/ is a stopper, 2 is an elastic piece, and 0 is an elastic piece. 31 is a cover cylinder, 32 is a cylindrical portion, 33 is an elastic gripping arm, and 3 is a jaw.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A connecting tube having a series of insertion holes along its axis into which two optical fibers to be connected are inserted from each end, and a connecting tube that passes through and holds each of the optical fibers, and A single-core optical fiber connection device comprising a connector connected to the outer periphery of each end of the connector to abut the tip of the core wire of each optical fiber within the insertion hole of the connection tube, wherein the connector engages the optical fiber. A stopper having a U-shaped cross section and having two elastic prongs, and a through hole for passing an optical fiber along the axis, and perpendicular to the through hole to receive the stopper from a direction perpendicular to the axis. a body having a horizontal hole for holding the body, a pair of elastic arms protruding diametrically opposite from the front end of the body, and a body fitted to the outer periphery of the body of the body so as to be movable in the axial direction. a cylindrical part to be held; a pair of elastic grips protruding diametrically opposite from the front end of the cylindrical part, located within the interval between the elastic arms, and having jaws on the inner periphery of the tip for gripping the outer periphery of the end of the connecting cylinder; a cover cylinder provided with arms; the pair of elastic arms and the elastic gripping arm are provided with a cam device that opens the elastic gripping arm radially outward when the elastic arm is deformed radially inward; The stopper is provided with an elastic piece that is movable in the axial direction of the main body, and the elastic piece is latched to the cylindrical portion of the cover cylinder to elastically press the stopper and the main body forward against the cover cylinder. Single-core optical fiber connection device.