JPS6234762A - Polishing machine for convex endface of optical connector core - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To polish the necessary radius accurately by constructing a machine for polishing a convex endface of optical connector core while integrally laminating a polishing layer onto the surface of soft resilient material layer having the hardness in the range of JIS-A 50 deg. and Shore 60 deg.. CONSTITUTION:Polishing machine 3 for convex endface of an optical connector core has such structure as a polishing layer 5 of such as diamond lapping film is integrally laminated onto the surface of soft resilient material layer 4 composed of rubber or plastic. The soft resilient material layer 4 has the hardness in the range of JIS-A 50 deg. and Shore 60 deg.. When applying the endface of optical connector core 2 perpendicularly against the surface of said polishing machine 3, said portion will sunken to facilitate polishing of convex face.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a polishing machine for polishing the end face of an optical connector core into a convex spherical shape, which is used when polishing the end face of an optical connector core into a convex spherical shape. .

[Summary of the Invention] The polishing disc for polishing the convex spherical end face of an optical connector core according to the present invention has a polishing layer integrally laminated on the surface of a soft elastic material layer, and the soft elastic material layer has a hardness of JIS-^. By having a structure with a hardness within the range of 50° to 60" Shore hardness, the polishing disc has the characteristic that when the end face of the optical connector core is pressed against the surface of the polishing disc, the surface of that part is dented, The concavity can be used to polish the end face of the optical connector core into a convex spherical shape, and the radius R of the convex spherical surface is determined by the hardness of the soft elastic material layer, and the hardness is set within the above-mentioned range. Therefore, the end face of the optical connector core can be easily polished to a desired radius.

[Conventional technique @] Polishing the end face of the optical connector core into a convex spherical shape brings the end face of the optical fiber in the optical connector core into contact with the end face of the opposite optical fiber (physical contact), reducing connection loss. This is to obtain a small connection state.

Conventionally, when polishing the end face of an optical connector core into a convex spherical shape, a polishing disc 1 whose surface is 1A on all four sides is used as shown in FIG. This was done by bringing the end faces of the cores 2 into contact and driving the connector cores 2 with a saw drive mechanism (not shown).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when a pestle drive mechanism is used, the movement is complicated, so the structure of the pestle drive mechanism is also complicated, and the polishing device becomes expensive.

In addition, in order to polish the end face of the optical connector core into a convex spherical shape by interlocking with the pestle, there is a drawback that a polishing device is required to have high precision.

An object of the present invention is to provide a polishing machine for polishing the end face of an optical connector core into a convex spherical shape, which can easily shape the end face of an optical connector core into a convex spherical shape with a simple movement.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The structure of the present invention for achieving the above object will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 corresponding to embodiments. The polishing disk 3 having a convex spherical end surface has a polishing layer 5 integrally laminated on the surface of a soft elastic material layer 4.
The soft elastic layer 4 has a hardness of J [S-A Ia degree 50
It is set within the range of 60'' on the Shore hardness.

[Function of the Invention] In such a polishing disc 3, when the end face of the optical connector core 2 is pressed against the surface thereof at right angles, the surface of the polishing 113 is dented at that part, and the optical connector core 2 is held in that state. By rotating the polishing disc 3 while rotating around its axis, the end face of the optical connector core 2 can be polished into a convex spherical shape using the recess of the polishing disc 3.

The radius R of the convex spherical surface at that time is the soft elastic layer 4 of the polishing disc 3.
is determined by the vJ, degree.

[Example] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a polishing disk 3 for polishing a convex spherical end face of an optical connector core according to the present invention. Konoken@83
This has a structure in which a polishing layer 5 such as a diamond lapping film is integrally laminated on the surface of a soft elastic material layer 4 made of rubber or plastic. The hardness of the soft elastic material N4 is from JIS-A hardness 50° to Shore hardness J5i.
It is set within a range of 60°. Note that a hard substrate layer can also be laminated under the soft elastic material layer 4.

Such a polished gA3 has an optical connector core 2 on its surface.
When the end face of the optical connector core 2 is pressed at a right angle, the pressed part becomes concave, and by utilizing this property, the end face of the optical connector core 2 can be easily polished into a convex spherical shape.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a specific example of an apparatus for polishing a convex spherical end face of an optical connector core using the polishing disk 3 described above. As shown in the figure, the device of this embodiment has a rotating disk 6 that is rotationally driven in a horizontal state, and the rotating disk 6 has a rotating shaft 7 that is rotationally driven by a rotational drive source (not shown). ing. On the upper surface of the rotary disk 6 is fixed the polishing disk 3 of the present invention, which has the characteristic that when it is pressed, the pressed surface portion dents. A stand 8 is erected on the fixed system adjacent to the rotary disk 6, and a polished member support 9 is supported on the stand 8 so as to project above the polishing plate 3 and perform reciprocating circular arc movement. A core holder 10 is rotatably supported on the top surface of the tip end side of the polished member support stand 9 . An optical connector core 2 is supported through the center of the core holder 10 . The optical connector core 2 has an optical fiber 1 in the center.
1 is supported through the polishing member support base 9 so as to be able to rotate freely and be pressed against the surface of the polishing disc 3. A core holder 10 is placed on the support base 9 for the workpiece to be polished.
A core rotation mechanism 12 is mounted to rotate the optical connector core 2 around its axis via the core. This core rotation mechanism 12 includes a motor 14 supported on a workpiece support base 9 via a bracket 13, and an output shaft 1 of the motor 14.
It consists of a pulley 16 supported by the core holder 5, and an endless belt 17 that is passed between the pulley 16 and the bobbin portion 10A of the core holder 10.

Next, a method of polishing the optical connector core 2 using such a polishing device will be described. Polishing I! Press the end face of the optical connector core 2 to be polished onto the surface of A3 and press the polishing plate 3.
Make sure to make a dent in the surface of the plate with the part that is pressed against it. In this state, the connector core 2 is reciprocated by 360 degrees or more through the core holder 10 with the core rotation 1jHM12, and the polishing disk 3 is also rotated in one direction. When polishing is performed by partially recessing the surface of the polishing 5I33 on the end surface of the optical connector core 2 to be polished in this manner, the edge portion of the end surface of the optical connector core 2 is gradually polished by the concave surface of the recess. The shape of the concave surface gradually changes accordingly, and the end surface of the optical connector core 2 is finally polished into a convex spherical shape.

During such polishing work, it is preferable to move the member-to-be-polished support 9 to change the radial position of the polishing disk 3 against which the optical connector core 2 comes into contact.

In this way, when polishing the end face of the optical connector core 2 into a convex spherical shape, it is determined by the radius 1 of the convex spherical surface or the hardness of the soft elastic material layer 4 of the polishing disc 3.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the hardness of the soft elastic material layer (urethane, thickness IM) 4 and the radius R of the convex spherical surface.

In the figure, the plots marked with circles [1] show examples of optical connectors and plastic cores, and the plots marked with triangles show examples of optical connectors and metal-ceramic composite cores. Since the range of hardness cannot be covered by either JIS-^ hardness or Shore hardness alone, both are shown together.

FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the radius R of the convex spherical surface and the connection loss of the connector. From this figure, in the case of optical connector plastic core, R=250. Hereinafter, F1 light] In the case of a nectar/metal-ceramic composite core, R=150. It can be seen that stable physical contact can be obtained if the conditions are above.

Further, it was confirmed that when the soft elastic material layer 4 having a JIS-A hardness of 50° F or less was used, the optical fiber surface was not polished well.

From the above results, it was concluded that the hardness of the soft elastic material layer 4 must be within the range of JIS-A hardness of 50° to Shore hardness of 60°.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the polishing disc for polishing the convex spherical end face of an optical connector core according to the present invention has a structure in which a polishing layer is provided on the surface of a soft elastic material layer, so when pressed, the polishing layer is dented. Therefore, when the end face of the optical connector core is pressed against the surface of the polishing disk, that part is dented, and in this state, the polishing disk is rotated while rotating the optical connector core around its axis. Thereby, the end face of the optical connector core can be easily polished into a convex spherical shape using the recess of the polishing disk. In this case, the hardness of the soft elastic material layer of the polishing disk is a factor that determines the radius R of the convex spherical surface, and the hardness is set to JIS-A hardness 50.
Since it is set within the range of 60° to Shore hardness,
Polishing of the required radius R can be easily performed. Also,
The use of the polishing disk of the present invention simplifies the structure of the polishing device, and in terms of accuracy, it is only necessary to correctly bring out the right angle of the optical connector core, which is very suitable for practical use.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an example of a polishing disk according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are a side view and a plan view of an example of a polishing apparatus using the polishing disk of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a convex spherical surface. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the radius R and the hardness of the soft elastic material layer, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the convex spherical radius R and connection loss, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional polishing method. 2... Optical connector core, 3... Polishing disk, 4... Soft elastic material layer, 5... Polishing layer. @Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] An optical connector characterized in that a polishing layer is integrally laminated on the surface of a soft elastic material layer, and the hardness of the soft elastic layer is set within a range of JIS-A hardness of 50° to Shore hardness of 60°. A polishing machine for polishing a convex spherical end face.