KR20020089294A - Ferrule inspection device and inspection method using wire - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and method for testing ferrule is provided to clean the interior of ferrule and check whether the ferrule is open by directly inserting wire into the ferrule. CONSTITUTION: A jig(110), a holder(150) and a cylinder(130) are arranged in sequence onto a frame(100) having a support. The jig is positioned at the foremost portion of the frame, and an optical sensor(161) and a ferrule(200) for optical connector are installed onto the jib. The optical sensor is disposed in front of the ferrule so as to sense protrusion of a wire(121). The holder is installed in the rear of the jig, and the cylinder is coupled to the rear surface of the holder. The cylinder and the holder have through holes penetrating through the central portions of the cylinder and the holder, and which have the same central axis. A hollow piston rod(140) which moves by an electrical signal corresponding to the cylinder, is inserted into the through hole. The piston rod is mounted with the wire arranged at the front surface of the piston rod.

Description

Ferrule inspection device and inspection method using wires {omitted}

The present invention relates to a device for inspecting ferrules using a wire and a method for inspecting the same. More specifically, the inner diameter of the ferrule for an optical connector can be inserted directly into an inferior wire by inserting a low-cost wire without using a conventional expensive carbide pin. The present invention relates to an insertion apparatus and an inspection method having a function of checking or classifying the dimensions of an inner diameter.

Recently, the demand for optical communication using optical cables is increasing due to the explosive demand of high speed information communication networks.

In general, optical communication is to exchange information by transmitting light through optical fibers, and can transmit tens of thousands of times more information than electric communication by current coaxial cable. Therefore, it is widely used in the field of communication and its use range is gradually expanding to other fields.

Optical communication modulates and transmits and receives signals through optical fibers inherent in optical cables, so optical couplers or optical connectors for coupling with light emitting devices and light receiving devices are installed at both ends of the optical fiber.

In recent years, the rapid recognition of informatization has required more optical cable lines. Recently developed optical cables have been used to process a lot of information by producing ribbon-type multi-core optical cables incorporating a single optical fiber in a band shape. Such an optical cable is installed at a distance of several hundred kilometers or more, and thus requires connection and branching of the cable in the middle.

However, since an optical cable is formed with a very small diameter (125 mu m) inside, it is very difficult to connect the cores of the optical fibers to each other.

Since the optical fiber has a diameter of 125 μm, it is not easy to optically couple the end of the minute optical fiber to the light emitting device or the light receiving device.

Therefore, the ferrule is used to easily couple the optical fiber to such an optical connector. That is, the ferrule is inserted into the end of the optical fiber, and the end of the optical fiber into which the ferrule is inserted is inserted into the insertion hole of the optical connector, thereby coupling the optical fiber to the optical connector.

That is, by inserting a ferrule on the end of the optical fiber and inserting the end of the optical fiber covered with the ferrule into the insertion hole of the optical connector, the coupling becomes easy, and the end of the optical fiber can be protected.

Generally, ferrules are used as main components of optical connectors and are made of zirconia-based ceramics. And it is formed in a cylindrical shape is formed through the optical fiber insertion hole through the optical fiber is inserted into the fiber insertion hole.

The optical fiber insertion hole into which the optical fiber is inserted must penetrate both sides due to the insertion of the optical fiber, and precise dimension processing becomes an important factor. Therefore, in order to measure the penetration and dimensions of the optical fiber insertion hole, a contact type using a cemented carbide pin and a non-contact measuring device using a CD camera, a machine vision, or a laser is used. However, the measurement by the non-contact measuring device is frequently the error of the inspection decision due to foreign matter or fine unmolding, etc.

Due to the problem of non-contact, most of them use a method of inserting directly using expensive precision machined carbide pins, but this is a problem that the amount of cemented carbide pins, which are consumables of contact equipment, is expensive and breakage due to bending load is frequent.

Examples of the conventional ferrule inspection apparatus using the cemented carbide pins as described above are as follows.

A frame; A jig in which an inspection ferrule is formed on an upper surface of the frame and in which a fiber insertion hole is formed; Carbide pin is inserted into the fiber insertion hole is installed and flow shaft flowing back and forth; A cam coupled to the frame and flowing up and down; Flow means for flowing back and forth by the up and down movement of the cam to transfer the flow force to the flow shaft; And a detecting means for detecting whether the ferrule is penetrated. The insertion device for contact inspection of a ferrule configured to include the cam is coupled to a piston rod of a cylinder installed in the frame and flows up and down. The shaft is formed with a through hole therein; A first elastic spring having one side in contact with an end of the flow shaft and the other side in contact with an end of the shaft; A second elastic spring installed to surround an outer surface of the shaft and transmitting an elastic force to the shaft; A guide passage on a curved surface formed in the cam; A roller which is pivotally coupled to the other side of the shaft and flows along the guide flow path; and the detection means includes: a first optical sensor installed in the jig to sense penetration of a cemented carbide pin; A signal sensing member coupled to an end of the flow shaft and installed through a through hole of the shaft; And a second optical sensor installed on the shaft to sense whether the signal sensing member protrudes.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to enable an accurate measurement and inspection at a low cost by using an open / close wire guide jig for using a low-cost wire instead of an expensive carbide pin and a load cell (pressure sensor) for detecting a penetration force. .

1 is a perspective view of a ferrule inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a typical ferrule

3 is a perspective view of a conventional ferrule inspection apparatus

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: frame 110: jig

120: flow shaft 121: wire

130: cylinder 140: piston rod

141: spring 150: holder

160 detection means 161 light sensor

162: load cell 170: open and close wire guide

171: guide pin 180: wire through hole

190: guide pin through hole 200: ferrule

210: guide hole 220: taper

230: fiber insertion hole 240: tension spring

250: cap 260: fixed wire guide

270 hinge pin

The present invention for achieving the above object, the jig, the holder and the cylinder are sequentially installed from the front on a rectangular frame composed of the supporting portion and the support, the jig is located on the front surface of the frame, the upper surface of the light sensor And an arranging surface of the ferrule for the optical connector is sequentially installed from the front surface, and an optical sensor is installed at the front part of the ferrule arranging surface to detect the protruding of the wire, and is spaced apart from the jig at a proper distance behind the block shape. The holder is installed, the block-shaped cylinder is connected to the back of the holder is coupled to the bar, the center of the holder and the cylinder is provided with a through-hole is located in the same axis, the through-hole and the cylinder and the inside of the through-hole A hollow piston rod, corresponding to the electrical signal, is inserted across the proper length holder and cylinder. The rear end protrudes from the rear of the cylinder and is sealed by the cap,

The flow shaft is inserted into the through hole of the holder sequentially from the front, and the rear end of the flow shaft is coupled to the front part of the spring inserted into the piston rod, and the rear end of the spring is connected to the rod shell. The load shell is coupled, the movement is limited by the cap installed in contact with the rear, in particular, the front end of the flow shaft is formed to protrude forward from the front of the holder a certain length, the end of which the wire is mounted It features.

In addition, the jig has a semi-cylindrical ferrule settled surface is formed, the rear of the ferrule settled surface is provided with a fixed wire guide, the jig is attached to the opening and closing wire guide, the fixed wire guide is It is a substantially hollow cylindrical shape installed at the rear of the ferrule settled surface of the jig so that the wire passing through the fixed wire guide can be inserted into the insertion hole of the ferrule placed on the ferrule settled surface of the jig accurately. Rectangular blocks are overlapped with each other, and each block is symmetrically divided into two left and right sides. The upper part of the block is formed with wire through holes, the lower part with guide pin through holes, and the middle part is provided with a tension spring. Both ends thereof are fixedly installed in the left and right blocks, and thus, the spring The left and right blocks are normally brought together by the force, but the wire guide pins protruding toward the front of the holder from the front of the wire to a smaller length than the ends of the wires are inserted into the guide pin through holes. In this case, the guide pin through hole and the wire through hole are sequentially opened, and a hinge hole is formed at the bottom of the block, that is, the lower part of the guide pin through hole, and a hinge pin is attached to the jig through the hinge hole. The ferrule inspection device, characterized in that the three blocks are coupled together.

A method of inspecting a ferrule, the method comprising: positioning a ferrule or an ingot to be measured on the jig; A second step of advancing the piston rod when an electrical signal is applied; A third step in which the moving force of the piston rod is transmitted to the flow shaft through an elastic spring so that the flow shaft flows to the front side; 4 steps in which the wire flows to the front side by the flow of the flow shaft; Step 5 is the wire is inserted into the fiber insertion hole of the ferrule; Detecting whether the wire penetrates by the optical sensor; The detected signal is transmitted to the cylinder to move the piston rod backward; The flow shaft and the wire are also retracted by the retraction of the piston rod, and the inspection method of the ferrule is characterized in that it consists of eight steps to return to the original state and complete the inspection,

In particular, when the wire is no longer advanced by the abnormality of the ferrule in the step 5, the elastic shaft is reduced by a predetermined shrinkage by the flow shaft is not advanced even though the piston rod is moved to the front side, The flow force of the flow shaft further includes the step of protecting the wire by being attenuated rather than transmitted directly to the wire,

In step 5, the load is measured by the load cell for the compressive load of which the elastic spring is reduced due to the wire not moving despite the flow of the flow shaft, and a signal is detected when a load higher than the reference load is generated. The piston is reversed by being delivered to the cylinder, and by the piston rod reversing, the flow shaft is further reversed to the rear side and at the same time further includes the step of retracting the wire to the rear side.

In step 4, the wire is flowed to the front side to protect the wire, and at the same time, the guide pins at the bottom of the wire are moved to the front side. At the same time as the retreat, the guide pin is also reversing the ferrule inspection method further comprising the step of closing the wire protection guide.

When the inspection of the eighth step is completed, the method of inspecting the ferrule further includes measuring a fiber insertion hole dimension of the ferrule by repeating the above process while changing the dimensions of the wire.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of the insertion device for contact inspection of the ferrule using a wire according to the present invention.

As shown, the ferrule inspection apparatus using the wire according to the present invention is largely composed of a frame, a jig, a wire guide, a flow shaft, a holder, a cylinder, a detection means and the like.

First, the frame will be described.

The frame is formed to have a supporting part and a supporting part so that the jig described later is fixed to the supporting part, and a holder having a through hole formed therein is spaced apart from the jig to be fixed to the upper surface of the supporting part. A flow shaft and an elastic spring, which will be described later, are installed in the through-hole of the holder, and are guided by the through-hole to flow back and forth.

The jig is fixed to the upper surface of the base of the frame, and the ferrule to be inspected is formed on the settled surface of the jig, which has a fiber insertion hole.

In addition, when a wire to be described later is protruded through the ferrule installed in the jig, a sensor is installed on the front or the top of the jig to detect the protruding signal to determine whether the cylinder passes the piston rod of the cylinder to be described later. It is delivered, the back is open and closed wire guide to protect the wire is coupled to the back.

The opening and closing wire guide is installed on the rear of the jig to reinforce the wire is inserted and opened sequentially by the guide pin during the transfer before and after the wire.

In addition, a hollow fixed wire guide through which the wire is inserted is provided behind the phenol-set surface of the jig, so that the wire is correctly inserted into the insertion hole of the ferrol placed on the jig.

The flow shaft has a circular cross section and a wire is coupled to the front end of the flow shaft. The flow shaft coupling of the wire may be coupled by the dimensions of the wire.

In addition, the flow shaft is installed in the through hole formed in the holder and configured to move forward and backward along the through hole, the elastic spring to be described later in close contact with the rear end of the flow shaft and at the same time the elastic spring to the load cell of the rear end Indirectly exerts a compressive load of. Therefore, when the fiber insertion hole of the ferrule is blocked, since the wire is not advanced, the elastic spring is compressed by the forward force of the piston rod to be described later.

The cylinder is provided at the rear of the holder with the same central axis on the flow shaft, and a piston rod, which will be described later, which flows back and forth is installed at the center of the cylinder.

The movement of the piston rod in the cylinder is a conventional technique for converting electrical energy into mechanical energy by means of a cam or a pneumatic valve or the like and relative movement of the piston rod. Growing up is a very common technique that can be carried out very easily, detailed description thereof is omitted.

The detection means is attached to the upper surface of the jig is coupled to the optical sensor to determine the pass and the rear of the piston rod there is a load cell for measuring the pass and the insertion load.

In the present invention, it is necessary to check whether the ferrule is penetrated, and whether the penetrate is detected by the detection unit.

When the optical sensor is installed in the jig and the wire passes through the pipe insertion hole of the ferrule, the optical sensor recognizes the wire and transmits a recognition signal to the cylinder to reverse the piston rod.

The elastic spring is configured to be inserted into the piston rod.

The load cell forwards the piston rod by transmitting a signal to the cylinder when a pressure equal to or greater than a reference value is applied during compression of the elastic spring.

That is, when the fiber insertion hole of the ferrule is blocked, the flow shaft does not move forward, and the elastic spring is compressed. At this time, the load of the compressed elastic spring is measured to measure and classify the blockage or insertion load of the ferrule.

Actions and effects by the above configuration are as described later.

First, the user places the ferrule or ingot to be measured on the jig. Then, when an electrical signal is applied, the piston rod is advanced.

When the piston rod moves to the front side, the moving force of the piston rod is transmitted to the flow shaft through the elastic spring so that the flow shaft flows to the front side, and the wire flows to the front side by the flow of the flow shaft. At this time, the guide pin of the lower wire is moved to the front side to sequentially open the three wire guides first. The wire protrudes a predetermined length to the front of the fixed wire guide and is inserted into the fiber insertion hole of the ferrule.

When the wire passes through the fiber insertion hole, the penetration is detected by the optical sensor. The detected signal is transmitted to the cylinder, which causes the piston rod to retract and the piston shaft retracts to retract the flow shaft. At this time, the guide pin is retracted, the wire protection guide is closed, and the wire is retracted to return to the original state. Is done.

In addition, when the wire is no longer moved due to the abnormality of the ferrule, the elastic shaft is reduced by a predetermined amount by not allowing the flow shaft to move forward despite the movement of the piston rod to the front side. The flow force of the flow shaft is protected by the attenuation rather than being transmitted directly to the wire. In addition, despite the flow of the flow shaft, the wire is not moved, the compressive load of the elastic spring is reduced by measuring the load in the load cell to detect a signal when a load higher than the reference load occurs. The sensed signal is transmitted to the cylinder to reverse the piston rod. As the piston rod retracts, the flow shaft also retreats to the rear side, and the wire also retreats to the rear side.

If there is an abnormality in the fiber insertion hole of the ferrule, even if the wire is no longer moved forward, the wire is retracted without damaging the wire by the wire guide, and the abnormality of the ferrule is detected. The fiber insertion hole size of the ferrule can be measured by repeating the above process while changing the wire dimension.

The present invention by the above configuration

First, by using a low-cost wire directly inserted into the fiber insertion hole to clean the inside and at the same time there is an effect that the inspection is made.

Second, there is an effect that the size of the fiber insertion hole can be classified according to the size of the wire.

Third, it is possible to set or check the damage prevention and insertion force of the wire by precisely measuring in the load cell, the penetration force detection unit of the wire.

Claims (11)

The jig 110, the holder 150, and the cylinder 130 are sequentially installed from the front surface on the rectangular frame 100 including the support part and the support part, and the jig 110 is disposed on the front surface of the frame 100. On the upper surface of the optical sensor 161 and the mounting surface of the optical connector ferrule 200 are sequentially installed from the front, the optical sensor 161 is installed on the front surface of the ferrule 200, the wire, Detecting whether or not the protrusion of the 121, the block-shaped holder 150 is installed to be spaced apart rearward from the jig 110 by a suitable distance, the block-shaped cylinder 130 on the back of the holder 150 Bars are coupled to each other, the through-hole is installed in the center of the holder 150 and the cylinder 130, the center axis of the same line, the inside of the through-hole is moved by an electrical signal corresponding to the cylinder 130 Hollow piston rod 140 and proper length holder 150 Doedoe insert installed over the cylinder 130, the front end portion of the ferrule testing device, characterized in that the wire (121) mounted on the piston rod 140. The rear end of the piston rod 140 is protruded from the rear of the cylinder 130 is sealed by the cap 250, the inside of the through hole of the holder 150 flows sequentially from the front The shaft 120 is inserted and installed, the rear end of the flow shaft 120 is coupled with the front portion of the spring 141 is inserted into the piston rod 140, the rear end of the spring 141 is rear The movement is restricted by the cap 250 installed to be in contact with, in particular, the front end portion of the flow shaft 120 protrudes forward from the front surface of the holder 150 at a predetermined length, and the wire 121 at the end thereof. Ferrule inspection apparatus characterized in that it is mounted. The method of claim 2, wherein the load cell 162 is inserted between the rear end of the spring 141 is inserted into the piston rod 140 and the cap 250, the load shell 162 is The ferrule inspection apparatus, characterized in that the movement is limited by the cap 250 is installed in contact with the back. According to claim 1, wherein the back of the jig 110 is installed is attached to the opening and closing wire guide 170, the opening and closing wire guide 170 is composed of three rectangular blocks overlapping each other back and forth, each block left and right Two symmetrically separated, the upper part of the block is formed through the wire through hole 180, the lower portion is formed through the guide pin through hole 190, the tension spring 240 is installed in the middle portion of the left and right blocks It is fixedly installed in the interior, and thus, the left and right blocks are normally combined by the tension of the tension spring 240, the lower portion of the front of the holder 150, that is, directly below the wire 121 When the wire guide pin 171 installed to protrude a minute length forward than the tip of the wire 121 is inserted into the guide pin through-hole 190, the guide pin through-hole 190 and the wire through-hole 180 This sequence The hinge pin is formed at the bottom of the block, that is, the lower portion of the guide pin through hole 190, and the hinge pin 270 is attached to the jig 110 through the hinge hole, thereby providing three hinge holes. Ferrule inspection apparatus, characterized in that the block is coupled together. The wire 121 of claim 1, wherein a hollow, substantially cylindrical fixed wire guide 260 is installed at the rear of the ferrule 200 settled surface of the jig 110, and passes through the fixed wire guide 260. ) Is accurately inserted into the fiber insertion hole 230 of the ferrule 200 placed on the jig 110, ferrule inspection apparatus. A method of inspecting a ferrule, the method comprising: positioning a ferrule (200) or an ingot to be measured on a jig (110); When the electrical signal is applied, the piston rod 140 is moved in two steps; A third step in which the moving force of the piston rod 140 is transmitted to the flow shaft 120 through the elastic spring 141 so that the flow shaft 120 flows to the front side; 4 steps in which the wire 121 flows to the front side by the flow of the flow shaft 120; Step 5 is the wire 121 is inserted into the fiber insertion hole 230 of the ferrule 200; Detecting whether the wire 121 is penetrated by the optical sensor 161; The detected signal is transmitted to the cylinder 130 so that the piston rod 140 moves backward; The flow shaft 120 and the wire 121 is also retracted by the retraction of the piston rod 140, the test method of the ferrule characterized in that it consists of eight steps to return to the original state and complete the inspection. The flow shaft 120 of claim 5, wherein when the wire 121 no longer moves forward due to an abnormality of the ferrule 200 in the fifth step, the piston rod 140 moves to the front side. Since the elastic spring 141 is reduced by a predetermined progress, and the flow force of the flow shaft 120 is not directly transmitted to the wire 121, the wire 121 is further protected by being attenuated. Ferrule inspection method. The load cell 162 measures the compressive load in which the elastic spring 141 is reduced because the wire 121 is not moved despite the flow of the flow shaft 120 in the fifth step. By detecting a signal when a load higher than the reference load occurs, the detected detection signal is transmitted to the cylinder 130 to reverse the piston rod 140, the piston shaft 140 by the reverse shaft flow ( 120 is a method for inspecting a ferrule, characterized in that it further includes the step of reversing to the rear side and at the same time the wire (121) to the rear side. 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of closing the wire guide (170) while retracting the wire (121) and the guide pin (171) at the same time. The method of claim 5, wherein the wire 121 is flowed to the front side in the fourth step, and at the same time, the three opening and closing wire guides 170 are sequentially opened while the guide pin 171 of the lower part of the wire 121 moves to the front side. Ferrule inspection method comprising the step further. According to claim 5, When the inspection of the eighth step is finished, the step of measuring the fiber insertion hole 230 of the ferrule 200 by repeating the above process while changing the dimensions of the wire 121 is further Ferrule inspection method comprising a.