TWI446035B - Decive and method for injection molding optical fiber connector - Google Patents

Description

Injection molding device for optical fiber connector and injection molding method

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to an injection molding apparatus and an injection molding method for an optical fiber connector.

With the increasing use of optical fiber in the field of communication, the electronic signal transmission cable of many information products, communication audio-visual equipment, etc., which have been widely used today, has gradually changed from an early metal wire to a high-efficiency fiber connector. As the main medium for signal transmission. The optical fiber connector is a device capable of being detachably connected between the optical fiber and the optical fiber. By precisely connecting the two end faces of the optical fiber, the optical energy outputted by the transmitting optical fiber can be coupled to the receiving optical fiber to the maximum extent. The signal is transmitted via a fiber core that is housed inside the fiber optic connector.

An integral fiber optic connector that is manufactured by injection molding. 6A to 6D are simulation analysis diagrams of the flow of molten plastic in the molding cavity at four times t1, t2, t3, and t4 in the injection molding process. The optical fiber connector includes a front end portion that forms a condensing lens, and a rear end portion that forms a receiving hole that receives the optical fiber and is directed toward the condensing lens. 6A to 6D, after the molten plastic is injected from the casting system into the cavity forming the optical fiber connector, the injection pressure is applied to the periphery of the cavity around the gate under the action of the injection pressure.

However, in this case, the molten plastic is not well filled from the front surface to the region where the collecting lens is formed. Thereby, the molding surface of the collecting lens is susceptible to the unbalanced impact of the molten plastic, which is disadvantageous for the complete molding of the collecting lens and ultimately affects the optical effect of the collecting lens. In addition, after the molten plastic reaches the front end portion of the condensing lens, it will flow to both sides. Thus, the molten plastic forms a lateral direct impact on the entanglement of the formed fiber receiving hole in the cavity, and the splicing is particularly inserted into the front end of the ray. Deformation occurs at the thinner portion and even causes the insulator to break, thereby affecting the final molding of the fiber optic connector and thereby affecting the production yield of the article.

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide an injection molding apparatus and an injection molding method of an optical fiber connector which are easy to implement and which can effectively improve the problems existing in the injection molding process of the existing optical fiber connector.

An injection molding apparatus for an optical fiber connector includes a mold. The mold has a mold cavity and a casting system, the cavity includes a front cavity and a rear cavity, and a gate of the casting system leads to the rear cavity, the front cavity has an area for forming a collecting lens. The rear cavity has an inlet for forming a fiber receiving hole, the inlet is located at two sides of the position of the back cavity corresponding to the gate, and the inlet is directed to the front cavity to form a collecting lens region. The injection molding apparatus further includes a stopper that cooperates with the mold to form an injection molding device of the optical fiber connector, the stopper is inserted into a rear cavity of the mold, and is disposed at the gate Near one side of the front cavity of the mold.

An injection molding method for a fiber optic connector, the method comprising: providing an injection molding device of the optical fiber connector as described above; and molding the injection molding device of the optical fiber connector. The stopper of the injection molding apparatus blocks the molten plastic injected into the rear cavity of the mold from flowing directly to the front cavity of the mold, so that the molten plastic bypasses the stopper and flows from both sides of the stopper to the front The cavity is filled until the molten plastic fills the cavity to form the fiber optic connector.

Compared with the prior art solution, the injection molding device of the optical fiber connector of the present invention is formed by combining a mold and a stopper, so that the injection molding method of the optical fiber connector using the injection molding device has the following advantages: First, injection Due to the blocking action of the stopper, the molten plastic in the cavity will bypass the stopper and flow and fill from the both sides of the stopper to the region where the collecting lens is formed in the cavity, thereby improving the molding surface of the collecting lens. Due to the unbalanced impact of the molten plastic, the concentrating lens has a better optical effect. Secondly, in the process of bypassing the stopper and flowing from the two sides of the stopper to the front end of the cavity, the molten plastic basically flows along the axial direction of the inlet, thereby avoiding the direct penetration of the molten plastic by the transverse direction of the molten plastic. Impact, to ensure that the fiber is formed into the fiber receiving hole, and a better fiber connector is obtained.

The technical solution will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 , an embodiment of the present invention provides an optical fiber connector injection molding apparatus 100 including a mold 10 and a stopper 20 .

The mold 10 has a mold cavity 11 and a casting system 12. The mold 10 is provided with a stopper receiving hole 13. The cavity 11 is used for injection molding a fiber optic connector. The gating system 12 is in communication with the mold cavity 11.

In this embodiment, the cavity 11 is bilaterally symmetric with its center line L. The gate 14 (see Fig. 3) of the gating system 12 is located on the centerline L. The stopper receiving hole 13 is located on the center line L. The cavity 11 includes a front cavity 111 and a rear cavity 112 that communicate with each other. The front cavity 111 has four optical forming zones 1110 that form a collecting lens. The gate 14 is disposed in the rear cavity 112. There are four inlets 15 for forming four fiber receiving holes in the rear cavity 112. The four inlets 15 are respectively located on two sides of the gate 14, and the four inlets 15 The center line L is symmetrical about the center. The four inlets 15 respectively face the four optical forming regions 1110 in the front cavity 111, whereby the fiber receiving holes formed by the inlets 15 face the collecting lens formed by the optical forming region 1110.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 together, the stopper 20 is received in the injection molding device 100 in which the stopper receiving hole 13 and the mold 10 cooperate to form the optical fiber connector. The stopper 20 is located between the gate 14 and the front cavity 111 and adjacent to the gate 14 . The stopper 20 is configured to block the molten plastic injected into the rear cavity 112 from the gate 14 from flowing directly to the front cavity 111, so that the molten plastic bypasses the stopper 20 from both sides of the stopper 20 The inlet 15 flows into the optical forming zone 1110 of the collecting lens in the forward cavity 111.

The stopper 20 is located on the center line L. The stopper 20 has the same distance from the inlets 15 on both sides.

Preferably, according to the size of the cavity 11 of the molded optical fiber connector, the length of the stopper 20 is set to 1.0 to 2.0 mm, the width is set to b=0.5 to 1.0 mm, and the thickness dimension is greater than or equal to that of the cavity 11. Depth size.

Preferably, the distance between the stopper 20 and the inlet 15 adjacent to the two sides is 0.1 to 1 mm, and the distance between the stopper 20 and the gate 14 is 0 to 0.5 mm.

In this embodiment, the stopper 20 penetrates through the rear cavity 112. Of course, the stopper 20 can also be disposed in the rear cavity 112 as long as the stopper 20 can sufficiently block the molten plastic injected into the rear cavity 112 to directly flow to the front cavity 111. When the stopper 20 is disposed in the cavity 11, the thickness of the stopper 20 is equal to the depth of the cavity 11, thereby effectively blocking the flow of molten plastic injected into the rear cavity 112. The front cavity 111 is described.

In this embodiment, the cross section of the stopper 20 is a rectangle. It is of course also possible to use the stopper 20 having other shapes in cross section. For example, the cross section of the stopper 20 is semicircular, trapezoidal, fan-shaped, triangular, circular, prismatic or annular, as long as the size of the cavity 11 is formed according to the molded optical fiber connector. The determined stopper 20 can realize that the molten plastic that blocks the injection of the rear cavity 112 flows directly to the forward cavity 111, so that the molten plastic bypasses the stopper 20 and flows from the both sides of the stopper 20 to the forward cavity 15 along the inlet 15 in the cavity 11. 111, and substantially forming a collecting lens from the front surface of the optical forming zone 1110.

The invention provides an injection molding method for a fiber optic connector, which comprises the following steps:

An injection molding apparatus 100 for providing a fiber optic connector as described above is provided to engage the mold 10 and the stopper 20.

The injection molding apparatus 100 of the optical fiber connector is injection molded, and the stopper 20 of the injection molding apparatus 100 blocks the molten plastic injected into the rear cavity 112 of the mold 10 from flowing directly to the front cavity 111 of the mold 10, so that the molten plastic The fiber optic connector 50 is formed by bypassing the stopper 20 and flowing from both sides of the stopper 20 to the front cavity 111 until the molten plastic fills the cavity 11.

Preferably, when the molten plastic fills the cavity 11, the cavity 11 is pressure-retained and cooled to ensure the shape of the optical fiber connector 50.

Please refer to FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D , which are simulation analysis diagrams of molten plastic flow in the cavity 11 at four times t1, t2, t3, and t4 in the process of molding the cavity 11 in the embodiment. In the present simulation analysis, the stopper 20 is used to have a length of 1.5 mm and a width of 0.8 mm, and the thickness dimension c is larger than the depth dimension of the cavity 11, whereby the stopper 20 can penetrate the cavity 11. The distance between the stopper 20 and the inlet 15 adjacent to both sides is 0.1 mm, and the distance between the stopper 20 and the gate 14 is 0.5 mm.

As can be seen from FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D, the stopper 20 blocks the molten plastic injected into the rear cavity 112 from flowing directly to the front cavity 111, so that the molten plastic bypasses the stopper 20 and from the stopper 20 The two sides flow along the inlet 15 to the front cavity 111, thereby preventing the inlet from being directly impacted by the lateral direction of the molten plastic, and ensuring the insertion of the fiber-forming hole. In addition, the molten plastic can be substantially filled from the front surface of the optical forming region 1110 to form a collecting lens, thereby effectively improving the uneven surface of the forming surface of the collecting lens by the molten plastic, and forming a concentrated light having a better optical effect. lens.

Referring to FIG. 4 again, in the embodiment, the optical fiber connector 50 includes a main body portion 51. The main body portion 51 includes a first side surface 511 and a second side surface 512 disposed opposite to each other and opposite to the first side. 511 adjacent two third sides 513. Two insertion ends 514 and a notch 515 are formed on the first side surface 511, and the insertion end 514 is used for plugging with a peripheral device. One side wing 516 is formed on the third side surface 513, and the side wing 516 extends from the first side surface 511 to the second side surface 512, and a narrow gap is formed between the side wing 516 and the third side surface 513. Slot 517. A recess 518 is formed on the outer surface of the side flap 516 away from the main body portion 51 for the user to press.

In this embodiment, the Moldflow simulation software is used to obtain a simulation analysis diagram of the flow of molten plastic in the cavity at different times during the injection molding process.

Compared with the prior art solution, the injection molding device of the optical fiber connector of the present invention is formed by combining a mold and a stopper, so that the injection molding method of the optical fiber connector using the injection molding device has the following advantages: First, injection Due to the blocking action of the stopper, the molten plastic in the cavity will bypass the stopper and flow and fill from the both sides of the stopper to the region where the collecting lens is formed in the cavity, thereby improving the molding surface of the collecting lens. Due to the unbalanced impact of the molten plastic, the concentrating lens has a better optical effect. Secondly, in the process of bypassing the stopper and flowing from the two sides of the stopper to the front end of the cavity, the molten plastic basically flows along the axial direction of the inlet, thereby avoiding the direct penetration of the molten plastic by the transverse direction of the molten plastic. Impact, to ensure that the fiber is formed into the fiber receiving hole, and a better fiber connector is obtained.

In summary, the present invention has indeed met the requirements of the invention patent, and has filed a patent application according to law. However, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and it is not possible to limit the scope of the patent application of the present invention. Equivalent modifications or variations made by persons skilled in the art in light of the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

10‧‧‧Mold

11‧‧‧ cavity

12‧‧‧ pouring system

13‧‧‧Block receiving hole

14‧‧‧ gate

15‧‧‧ into the child

20‧‧ ‧block

50‧‧‧Fiber Optic Connectors

51‧‧‧ Main body

100‧‧‧Injection molding device for optical fiber connector

111‧‧‧ front cavity

112‧‧‧ Back cavity

511‧‧‧ first side

512‧‧‧ second side

513‧‧‧ third side

514‧‧‧ Socket

515‧‧ ‧ gap

516‧‧‧Flanking

517‧‧‧ slot

518‧‧‧ dent

1110‧‧‧Optical forming area

1 is a schematic view of an injection molding apparatus for an optical fiber connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, the injection molding apparatus including a mold and a stopper.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the injection molding apparatus of the optical fiber connector shown in FIG. 1 assembled along the II-II direction.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the injection molding apparatus of the optical fiber connector shown in Figure 1 taken along the line III-III.

4 is a schematic view of an optical fiber connector obtained by injection molding of an injection molding apparatus of the optical fiber connector shown in FIG. 1.

5A to 5D are simulation analysis diagrams of molten plastic flow in a cavity at four times in an injection molding process of the optical fiber connector of the present invention.

6A to 6D are simulation analysis diagrams of the flow of molten plastic in the cavity of the original optical fiber connector in the injection molding process.

10‧‧‧Mold

11‧‧‧ cavity

15‧‧‧ into the child

20‧‧ ‧block

100‧‧‧Injection molding device for optical fiber connector

111‧‧‧ front cavity

112‧‧‧ Back cavity

1110‧‧‧Optical forming area

Claims (10)

An injection molding device for a fiber optic connector, comprising:
a mold having a mold cavity and a casting system, the mold cavity including communicating front and rear chambers, a gate of the casting system leading to the rear cavity, the front cavity having an area for forming a collecting lens The rear cavity has an inlet for forming a fiber receiving hole, the inlet is located at two sides of the position of the back cavity corresponding to the gate, and the inlet is directed to the front cavity to form a collecting lens Area;
Wherein the injection molding apparatus further includes a stopper that cooperates with the mold to form an injection molding device of the optical fiber connector, the stopper is inserted into a rear cavity of the mold, and is disposed in the The gate is adjacent to one side of the front cavity of the mold. The injection molding apparatus of the optical fiber connector of claim 1, wherein the stopper is disposed in the through cavity or penetrates the rear cavity. The injection molding apparatus of the optical fiber connector according to claim 2, wherein the spacer has an equal distance from the adjacent inlets on both sides and is 0.1 to 1 mm, and the stopper and the gate are The distance is 0~0.5mm. The injection molding apparatus of the optical fiber connector according to claim 1, wherein the stopper has a rectangular cross section, a semicircular shape, a trapezoidal shape, a sector shape, a triangular shape, a circular shape, a prism shape or a ring shape. An injection molding apparatus for an optical fiber connector according to claim 1, wherein the cavity has a symmetrical structure with a center line thereof. The injection molding apparatus of the optical fiber connector of claim 1, wherein the inlet is symmetrically disposed with a center line of the cavity. An injection molding method for a fiber optic connector, the steps of which include:
An injection molding apparatus for an optical fiber connector according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
Injection molding the injection molding device of the optical fiber connector, the stopper of the injection molding device blocking molten plastic injected into the rear cavity of the mold to directly flow to the front cavity of the mold, so that the molten plastic bypasses the stopper and Flowing from both sides of the block to the front cavity until the molten plastic fills the cavity forms the fiber optic connector. The injection molding method of the optical fiber connector according to claim 7, wherein the optical fiber connector has a stopper receiving hole. The injection molding method of the optical fiber connector of claim 8, wherein the stopper receiving hole is located on a center line of the optical fiber connector. The injection molding method of the optical fiber connector of claim 7, wherein the step of injecting the molding device of the optical fiber connector further includes a pressure maintaining and cooling step.