KR100570421B1 - Connector for plastic optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

An optical connector for a plastic optical cable requiring a high precision connection with a long transmission distance and a core diameter of 250 μm or less among plastic optical cables. The present invention provides a plug body for accommodating a ferrule, a spring, and a stopper in an internal space, and an optical cable inserted therethrough. Boot to support, the ferrule is made to align the optical fiber of the stripped portion in the optical cable while being inserted in the one end direction, the connection is made, a spring for supporting the ferrule to prevent the flow of the ferrule, the spring to support the ferrule An optical plug having a stopper for supporting a flow preventing state of the optical plug; And an adapter having a sleeve for aligning the ferrule of the optical plug when connected, the adapter being coupled to the optical plug, wherein the optical plug and the adapter are connected by a combination of a key and a groove corresponding thereto.

Description

Connector for plastic optical fiber

1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment according to the present invention

2 is a perspective view of an optical plug 10 of the embodiment

3 is a perspective view of the plug body 20 of the embodiment

4 is a plan view of the plug body of FIG.

5 is a right side view of the plug body of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view taken along line II of FIG.

7 is a perspective view of the ferrule 30 of the embodiment

8 is a front view of the ferrule of FIG.

9 is a right side view of the ferrule of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a II-II partial sectional view of the ferrule of FIG.

11 is a perspective view of the stopper 50 of the embodiment

12 is a front view of the stopper of FIG.

13 is a right side view of the stopper of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a III-III partial sectional view of the stopper of FIG.

15 is a perspective view of a fixing pin 70 used in the embodiment

16 is a view for explaining how the fixing pin secures the cable.

17 is a view for explaining how the fixing pin is inserted into the optical plug 10.

18 is a perspective view of an adapter 80 used in the embodiment

19 is a top view of the adapter of FIG. 18

FIG. 20 is a left side view of the adapter of FIG. 18

FIG. 21 is a IV-IV partial cross-sectional view of the adapter of FIG.

22 is a perspective view of a boot 60 of the embodiment

FIG. 23 is a cutaway view of the state in which the optical plug 10 of FIG. 2 is coupled.

24 is a photographic perspective view showing an embodiment of a patch panel to which the present invention is applied

The present invention relates to an optical connector for a plastic optical cable, and more particularly, to an optical connector for a plastic optical cable that requires high precision connection with a long transmission distance and a core diameter of 250 μm or less.

In general, optical cables are used for long-distance transmission and high-speed information transmission.In particular, plastic optical cables with bandwidth capable of high-speed transmission are used for constructing wired networks in apartment complexes, buildings, or premises, among which HPCF (Hard) is used. Core Plastic Clad Fiber) or a fluorine-based plastic optical cable may be applied to the above.

However, the connector used for the connection of conventional optical cables uses a conventional configuration without consideration of the core diameter. That is, SC type optical connector, MU type optical connector, IEEE1394 optical connector, and F07 optical connector are used.

The conventional optical connector has a problem in that the number of parts is excessively large and difficult to assemble in the field, and the manufacturing cost of the parts is high and economic efficiency is low.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the object of the present invention is to maintain a constant connection even when the optical connector is floating in a floating connection method (ferrule is continuously applied by the spring force to the deformation of the material due to temperature change or the like). Can be implemented to ensure the accuracy and precision of the connection.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the parts and the complex fixing method such as the fixing of the core and the ferrule, the mechanical crimping method for fixing between the shell and the boot, and the adhesion to prevent the flow between the core and the ferrule to the fixing method by the skin and It is to reduce the assembly time.

Another object of the present invention is to simplify the component by simultaneously inserting the cable in a state where the plug is completely assembled to fix the outer skin and the core of the optical fiber at the same time.

Still another object of the present invention is to reduce the production cost of parts by eliminating the production process, such as the conventional zirconia ferrules, the post-processing of ferrules made of all the parts except the fixing pin made of plastic injection molding.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the degree of integration by manufacturing a compact optical connector for connecting high-density equipment for communication, patch panels, small light outlets, and thin notebooks or home appliances that are becoming smaller in size. .

The plastic optical cable connector according to the present invention includes a plug body for accommodating a ferrule, a spring and a stopper in an inner space, a boot for supporting an optical cable inserted therethrough, and an optical fiber in a portion where the coating in the optical cable is peeled off while being inserted in the one direction. An optical plug having the ferrule in alignment and connection, a spring supporting the ferrule to prevent the flow of the ferrule, and a stopper supporting the spring to support the anti-flow state of the ferrule; And an adapter having a sleeve for aligning the ferrule of the optical plug when connected, the adapter being coupled to the optical plug, wherein the optical plug and the adapter are connected by a combination of a key and a groove corresponding thereto.

Here, the optical plug is preferably formed with a through hole extending to the ferrule so that the fixing pin is inserted into the cable through the through hole to support the fixed state of the cable.

The fixing pin has a fork shape and inserts the optical cable, and a fixing knife and an outer shell support are formed at one side and a position corresponding to the inside of the fork-shaped leg, and the optical cable at at least two positions inside the leg. Fixing protrusions can be formed to be inserted into the outer shell of the.

In addition, the adapter may be further formed with a fixing key and the adapter flange to form a coupling corresponding to the groove formed in the patch panel.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a connector for a plastic optical cable according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2, an embodiment according to the present invention includes an optical plug 10 and an adapter 80, and the optical plug 10 has a structure inserted into the adapter 80.

The optical plug 10 includes a plug body 20, two ferrules 30, a spring 40 corresponding to each ferrule 30, and a spring 40 and a ferrule 30 within the plug body 20. A stopper 50 for fluidly supporting the inserted state, a fixing pin 70 inserted into the ferrule 30 to support the cable, and a boot 60 coupled to the plug body 20 to support the internal parts thereof. It is composed. When these parts are assembled, it becomes the optical plug 10 of FIG.

The detailed configuration of the components constituting the optical plug 10 will be described.

4 to 6, the plug body 20 is formed with a plug body groove 23 that is separated and opened to insert a pair of ferrules 30 therein, and assembled with an adapter 80 on an outer upper surface thereof. It has a snap 21 formed with a removable key 22 for fixing the time. Here, the snap 21 is integrally formed on the upper surface of the plug body 20 to have elasticity on a seesaw principle. Then, a ferrule insertion hole 24 is formed extending into the plug body groove 23 to insert and fix the ferrule 30, and the stopper fixing groove 25 is formed to extend therein so that the stopper 50 is fixed.

In addition, a fixing pin insertion hole 26 into which the fixing pin 70 for fixing the cable 71 inserted and coupled with the ferrule 30 may be inserted is formed at one surface of the plug body 20. A boot fixing key 27 having protrusions is formed to fix the boot 60 to the plug body 20 to protect the cable 71.

In particular, as the distance between the ferrule insertion openings 24 is narrowed, the embodiment according to the present invention can be miniaturized compared to the conventional plastic optical connector, and the integration degree of the optical connector can be improved correspondingly.

Meanwhile, referring to FIGS. 7 to 10, the ferrule 30 has a shape in which three cylinders are connected in a stepwise manner, and the ferrule 30 has a flat cut shape on both sides of the cylinder forming the largest cylindrical portion where the cable is inserted. 30) Inside the cylinder, grooves are formed to penetrate the core (optical fiber) and optical cable jacket.

In the ferrule 30, the cable insertion hole 35 into which the plastic optical cable is inserted into the outer shell 73 and the cable 71 passes through the cable insertion groove 34 and the cable insertion groove, which are fixed by the fixing pin 70. 34, the fixing pin guide (33) is formed so that the fixing pin (70) can be inserted in the correct position, the cable sheath (73) at the tip of the cable insertion groove 34 so as not to proceed further The optical fiber guide 32 formed in a cylindrical shape to align the optical fiber 72 to be well received by the optical fiber insertion hole 31 at the tip, and the small long optical fiber insertion hole 31 penetrating to the end of the thin and long ferrule 30 in turn Is formed.

 And it is easy to insert into the ferrule flange 36, the spring 40 is fixed, the fixing pin ferrule insertion hole 37 formed in a square so that the fixing pin 70 is inserted into the ferrule, the ferrule insertion hole 24 of the plug body 20. The ferrule guide 39 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the ferrule outer portion 38 is formed to have a small cylindrical shape so as to be inserted into the sleeve 81 of the ferrule 30 and the adapter 80 with almost no tolerance.

The ferrule 30 is preferably manufactured by using a plastic material having excellent strength to ensure stability while reducing size and length.

A stopper 50 that bears the spring 40 and the ferrule 30 and blocks the back of the plug body 20 is shown in FIGS. 11-14.

The stopper 50 has a circular cable inserting hole 51 into which the cable 71 is inserted, a spring guide 52 which is supported and fixed to prevent the spring from being shaken, and a stopper 50 for firmly fixing the plug body 20 to the plug body 20. The fixed key 53 is formed.

Fixing pin 70 for firmly fixing between the cable 71 and the ferrule 30 has a blade is formed to be fixed to the cable in the front and rear double as shown in Figure 15 and FIG. When the fixing pin 70 compresses the cable 71 as illustrated in FIG. 17, the fixing pin 74 slightly cuts the outer sheath as shown in FIG. 16, an outer sheath support 76 that stably supports the cable, and the outer sheath at three places. The fixing protrusion 75 which sticks and fixes 73 is formed. Therefore, the front pin is not symmetrical, and the fixing knife 74 is formed only on one side of the pin. The rear pin is 180 degrees symmetrical with the front pin, the fixing pin (74) is formed at the rear of the fixing pin formed with the fixing support (76) on the front pin, and if the fixing knife (74) is formed at the front of the pin, The fixed support 76 is formed. When the pin is pressed, the pin fixing protrusion 77 is formed to be stuck in the fixing pin guide 33 of the ferrule 30 to prevent the pin from falling out.

18 to 21 show an embodiment of the adapter 80, the adapter 80 aligns the ferrule 20 of the optical plug 10, the cylindrical sleeve 81 is made of the optical fiber connection, and the optical plug ( 10) A plug guide wall 82 for accommodating the plug, a plug key groove 83 for inserting the detachable key 22 of the optical plug at the time of connection, to maintain a stable connection, and an adapter 80 may be installed in the drawer or patch panel. The patch panel fixing key 84 and the adapter flange 85 for supporting the panel are formed to impart elasticity when inserting the panel of the patch panel and to make detachment difficult so that the panel of the patch panel can be configured as shown in FIG. 24.

22 is a plug 60 for accommodating the plug body 20 as a boot 60 for preventing performance degradation due to bending of the optical cable, and in the direction of the cable to prevent sudden bending of the cable 71. According to the cable protection part 62, the plug body 20 and the boot fixing groove 63 and the boot auxiliary fixing groove 64 for a firm fixing are formed.

For reference, Figure 23 is a cross-sectional view of the assembled state of the optical plug, Figure 24 is an embodiment of the configuration of a patch panel using the adapter of the present invention.

The assembly method and the specific shape of the embodiment according to the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail.

The optical plug 10 simultaneously inserts the two ferrules 30 from the rear surface formed with the snap 21 to the ferrule insertion hole 24 of the plug body 20 forward.

The ferrule 30 is inserted into the ferrule insertion hole 24 by matching the direction of the fixing pin insertion hole 26 of the plug body 20 with the fixing pin ferrule insertion hole 37 of the ferrule 30.

After the two springs 40 are seated on the two spring guides 52 of the stopper 50, the other side of the spring is seated between the ferrule flanges 36 and the stopper 50 is plugged into the body 20. ). The stopper fixing key 53 of the stopper 50 is compressed and fixed until fully inserted into the stopper fixing groove 25 of the plug body 20. In this way, the ferrule 30, the spring 40, the stopper 50 and the plug body 20 constitute a subassembly as shown in FIG.

Then, the plug body 20 assembled by the ferrule, the spring and the stopper is pushed in the direction of the plug body 20 from the stopper 50 through the plug body insertion opening 61 of the boot 60 to the snap 21 and the boot ( Insert the snap groove 65 of 60) to match.

The boot fixing key 27 is compressed and pushed to be inserted into the boot auxiliary fixing groove 64 of the boot 60. The assembled optical plug 10 is as shown in FIG.

In the optical plug 10 of FIG. 4, in order to connect the cable 71 in the field, the cable sheath 73 is stripped so that the optical fiber 72 is exposed to a predetermined length, for example, about 5 cm, and then the boot 60 Insert the optical fiber 72 stripped from the end.

When the optical cable is inserted deeply, the shell 73 of the optical cable hits the end of the optical fiber guide 32 of the ferrule and is no longer inserted. At this time, the optical fiber passes through the optical fiber guide 32 and the optical fiber insertion hole 31 to exit the ferrule 30.

When the fixing pin 70 is inserted into the fixing pin ferrule insertion hole 37 of the ferrule 30 through the fixing pin insertion hole 26 of the plug body 20 and compressed as shown in FIG. 17, the fixing pin 70 is fixed pin guide. Take the 33 to fix the cable as shown in Figure 16. The fixing pin 70, which tears a part of the cable and bites the cable, is not pushed up by the fixing protrusion 77 of the fixing pin 70 once inserted into the fixing pin guide 33.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the fixing pin is inserted into the narrow groove of the fixing pin guide 33 so that the fixing pin hardly moves in the front and rear directions. For this reason, the ferrule and the cable are integrated by the fixing pin.

In particular, when the pulling force of the cable fixed by the integrated fixing pin 70 is applied, the fixing knife 74 is fixed by staggering the outer shell as described above, it is possible to fix the cable without causing peeling of the fixed outer shell have. If the cable is rotated only 180 degrees, the entire cable sheath is damaged, but if the cable is staggered, at least 300 degrees of cable should be rotated to damage the sheath. In addition, the fixing pin (70) is formed with a fixing protrusion (75) to prevent the rotation of the cable can be more stably fixed the cable jacket.

Insert the assembled optical plug from the left and right around the adapter to complete the connection. When a pulling force is applied to the cable 71 on one side of the optical connector, the ferrule itself integrated with the cable retreats and affects the connection. Therefore, in the present invention, since the floating connection method of the conventional optical connector with high reliability is adopted, the distance moved by the spring force even if one ferrule is moved forward and backward slightly due to the pulling force or thermal expansion. On the other hand, the optical plug ferrule is pushed or pushed to maintain a constant connection force. Even if a large force is applied, the spring guide of the stopper prevents the retraction of the ferrule so that the retraction does not occur over a distance that may affect the connection, thereby ensuring connection reliability.

Also, like the conventional plastic optical connector, most connectors that crimp the optical fiber core wires and fix them with ferrules require a very precise fiber fixing device. Optical fiber damage is caused by creeping.

However, in the present invention, by adopting the fixing method by the skin crimping to prevent the optical loss or damage of the optical fiber due to the conventional fixing method by the optical fiber crimping and to secure the connection stability of the optical fiber by applying a sufficient fixing force to the outer skin.

If the outer diameter of the optical cable is small or the optical fiber is directly inserted, the cable or optical fiber can be fixed by using the outer diameter correcting jacket and the small diameter cable sheath or the optical fiber and the outer diameter correcting jacket. . When better transmission characteristics are required, the ferrule and the optical fiber can be completely fixed by applying an adhesive to the ferrule by applying an adhesive to the optical fiber, which is a conventional connector connection method.

As mentioned above, since the fixing pin 70 is assembled and supplied to the site user so that the cable is not disturbed when the cable is inserted into the assembled optical plug, the optical cable is removed from the cable jacket in the optical plug. Pressing the pins and cutting and polishing the optical fiber coming out of the ferrule end will complete the work, which will shorten the working time compared to the conventional splicing method.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the optical connector is implemented by applying a floating connection method, thereby ensuring the accuracy and precision of the connection and reducing the assembly time.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to insert a cable in a state where the plug is assembled as a sub-assembly, and to simplify the part by simultaneously fixing the outer skin and the core wire of the optical fiber. Can be.

Further, according to the present invention, since the structure is simple, the optical connector can be manufactured in a small size, and thus the degree of integration is improved.

Claims (5)

An optical cable connector comprising an optical plug and an adapter for coupling an optical cable in which a sheath of a predetermined length is stripped of a sheath of an optical cable consisting of an optical fiber and an outer sheath surrounding the optical fiber. The optical plug is: When the optical cable is inserted in one direction, the cable insertion hole into which the optical cable is inserted in the outer shell, the cable insertion groove in which the outer skin portion of the inserted optical cable is accommodated, and the outer skin of the cable at the tip of the cable insertion groove can not be inserted anymore. An optical fiber guide for aligning the optical fiber, and an optical fiber insertion hole for supporting and passing the optical fiber at the tip of the optical fiber guide; A stopper for opening a spring for carrying the ferrule in the direction of the front end portion from the rear of the ferrule; A plug body accommodating the ferrule, the spring, and the stopper from the rear end in turn and engaging with the stopper to form a subassembly; A boot fastened to the plug body at the rear end of the sub-assembly to prevent performance degradation due to bending of the optical cable; Equipped with The adapter is: A sleeve for aligning the ferrule of the optical plug when connected; Equipped with The optical plug and the adapter is an optical cable connector, characterized in that the connection is maintained by the combination of the detachable key and the corresponding plug key groove. The method of claim 1, A fixing pin ferrule insertion hole is formed at one side of the cable insertion groove position of the ferrule, and a fixing pin insertion hole is formed at a position corresponding to the position of the fixing pin ferrule insertion hole of the ferrule when receiving the ferrule on one side of the plug body. Formed, And a fixing pin is inserted into the cable through the fixing pin insertion hole and the fixing pin ferrole insertion hole to support the fixed state of the cable. The method of claim 2, The fixing pin is a quadrangular shape having four legs and is inserted from the side of the optical cable so as to surround the cable at the front and rear, a fixing knife is formed inside one side of the front leg, and an outer shell support is formed inside the other side. An outer shell support is formed inside one side of the fixing cable is formed on the inside of each other, at least two fixing projections on the inner surface is characterized in that the connector for the optical cable. The method of claim 1, One side of the adapter is a connector for a plastic optical cable, characterized in that the patch panel fixing key and the adapter flange is further formed to correspond to the groove formed in the patch panel. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Wherein each component is a plastic optical cable connector, characterized in that the injection plastic material.

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