JP2935849B2 - Optical connector - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an optical connector for connecting an optical element such as a light emitting or light receiving element and a terminal portion of an optical fiber.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, an example of this type of optical connector is configured as shown in FIG. That is, the receptacle body 1 having the first and second sleeve insertion holes 2, 3 formed in the insulator.
Is inserted into the first sleeve insertion hole 2 and fixed by the adhesive 5, and is inserted into the end 4 of the optical fiber (not shown), specifically, the sleeve 4 into which the ferrule is inserted, and into the second sleeve insertion hole 3. A bottomed cylindrical shape which is fixed by an adhesive 8 and accommodates the optical element 7 such as a light emitting or light receiving element;
The second sleeve 6 has a light passage hole 6a on the bottom surface.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In order to assemble an optical connector having such a configuration, first, the first sleeve 4 is inserted into the sleeve insertion hole 2 of the receptacle body 1, and an adhesive 5 is inserted into a gap between the first sleeve 4 and the hole 2. And the sleeve 4 is adhered. Then, the optical element 7 inserted and fixed in the second sleeve 6 manufactured in advance is replaced with the second sleeve 6.
The adhesive 8 is injected between the hole 3 and the sleeve 6 while the adhesive 8 is not cured, and a light passage hole (for example, having a diameter of 20 microns) of the sleeve 6 is inserted. The center of the hole 6a and the center of the hole of the ferrule to be joined to the end of the optical fiber are aligned with, for example, a manipulator, and the alignment is maintained while the adhesive 8 is hardened.

The center alignment between the light passage hole 6a of the sleeve 6 and the ferrule is performed so that the light transmission efficiency does not decrease. It goes without saying that the ferrule and the optical element 7 having this inner diameter are inserted into the sleeves 4 and 6, respectively.

As described above, in order to assemble the conventional optical connector, it is necessary to previously align the center of the light passage hole 6a of the sleeve 6 with the ferrule, and for this, unless a positioning jig such as a manipulator is used. No. In addition, since the sleeve 5 is bonded to the receptacle body 1 with the adhesive 5 and then the center of the sleeve 6 is bonded to the receptacle body 1 with the adhesive 8 while performing the center alignment, the assembling work is troublesome and automation is also possible. Have difficulty.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical connector in which the center of an optical fiber terminal and the center of a light passage hole in an optical element housing can be easily aligned and assembly work is simple.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

That is, in the present invention, the optical connector has a sleeve formed into a stepped cylindrical shape having two stages, large and small, a receptacle body having a sleeve through hole into which the small diameter side cylindrical portion of the sleeve is inserted, and a receptacle body. And a holding plate to be fitted and attached. The sleeve is opened at one end in the lateral direction and has a cylindrical first housing portion capable of housing an optical element, and the sleeve is opened at the other end side in the axial direction and has a cylindrical first housing portion capable of housing a terminal portion of an optical fiber. The second storage portion extends coaxially with the stepped cylindrical shape, and further has a light passage hole in a partition wall between the first storage portion and the second storage portion. The receptacle body inserts the small-diameter cylindrical part into the sleeve through-hole and abuts the stepped part to position and hold the sleeve.The holding plate inserts the small-diameter cylindrical part into the sleeve through-hole. The sleeve is covered with the receptacle main body so as to cover the sleeve held therein, and is fixedly held between the receptacle main body and the sleeve.

In the state where the small-diameter-side cylindrical portion is inserted into the sleeve through-hole and the sleeve is held by the receptacle body, a circular hole for projecting the terminal extending from the optical element housed in the first housing portion outward is formed. Formed on the holding plate, and on the surface of the holding plate facing the sleeve, a plurality of interval adjusting projections are formed at the edges of the circular holes at equal intervals and protruding toward the sleeve. When the holding plate is engaged with the receptacle main body and is attached, the interval adjusting convex portion comes into contact with the bottom surface of the optical element stored in the first storage section, and the optical element is pressed into the first storage section. It is preferred to be configured so as to be fixed and held.

(Operation) According to the present invention, a cylindrical first housing portion for housing an optical element and a cylindrical second housing portion for housing an end portion of an optical fiber are stepped in a stepped cylindrical sleeve. It extends coaxially with the cylindrical shape and has a light passage hole in the partition wall between both storage parts, so center alignment of the end of the optical fiber and the optical element is extremely easy with only the sleeve. Can be done. In addition, since the sleeve has a stepped cylindrical shape, the first and second storage portions and the light passage hole may be formed coaxially with the central axis of the cylindrical shape, and the sleeve can be manufactured easily and at a high cost. Can be done with precision. further,
In this manner, high-precision center alignment is completed in a state where the optical element and the end portion of the optical fiber are attached to the sleeve, and the receptacle body and the holding plate only hold the sleeve in a fixed state. The positioning accuracy of the sleeve may be rough, and the manufacture of the receptacle body and the holding plate is simple.

Further, when a circular hole for passing a terminal extending from the optical element is formed in the holding plate and a plurality of interval adjusting projections are formed on an edge portion of the circular hole, the holding plate is engaged with the receptacle body and attached. In addition, the optical element can be pressed and fixedly held in the first housing portion by the interval adjusting projections. That is, the sleeve is fixedly held by being sandwiched between the receptacle body and the holding plate, while the optical element is fixedly held by being pressed by the interval adjusting projection. For this reason,
There is an advantage that it is possible to cope with different types of optical elements only by adjusting the height of the interval adjusting projection.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, only the receptacle will be described. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the optical connector according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 (a), (b), (c) and (d) are a top view and a front view, respectively, showing this assembled state. It is a figure, a bottom view, and a side view. As shown in FIG. 1 (a), this is made of an insulating material, and comprises a receptacle body 10 and a sleeve 20, which will be described in detail later, and a holding plate 30 shown in FIG. 1 (b). These will be described below.

3 (a), (b), (c), and (d) are a top view, a front sectional view, a bottom view, and a side view of the receptacle body 10, respectively. A rectangular parallelepiped plug insertion hole 17 is formed on the bottom surface side so that a plug (not shown) can be inserted. Through holes 11 are formed at equal intervals,
A positioning groove 13 for positioning a sleeve 20, which will be described later, is formed in the wall of each sleeve through hole 11 along the insertion direction. In addition, the receptacle main body 10 has an engaging projection having an inclined surface at an upper corner on each of the opposed side walls.
12 are formed. Further, the receptacle main body 10 has an engagement piece of a holding plate 30 described later close to the sleeve through hole 11 located at the center position of the sleeve through hole 11.
Engagement piece insertion holes 14, 15, 16 so that 34, 35, 36 can be inserted
Are formed respectively. Reference numerals 18 and 19 are grooves for determining the direction of insertion of a plug (not shown).

4 (a), (b), (c), and (d) are a top view, a front view, a bottom view, and a side view of the holding plate 30, respectively.
This is an engagement piece 31 having a rectangular hole 31a which rises vertically to the opposite left and right sides of the rectangular insulating plate and is inserted and engaged with the engagement protrusion 12 of the receptacle body 10, and a plate surface. Three circular holes 32 formed at intervals from each other so that the terminals of the optical element 42 or 41 protrude to the outside, and furthermore, are formed at the edges of the circular holes 32 at equal intervals. Engagement protrusions 34, 35 formed on the upper and lower sides of the plate surface and having vertically extending upright ends and having trapezoidal cross-sections 34a, 35a, 36a at the leading end side. , 36. In the holding plate 30 having such a configuration, several kinds of the holding plates 30 having different projecting lengths of, for example, 0.1 mm from each other are manufactured in advance.

5 (a), 5 (b) and 5 (c) show the sleeve 20 respectively.
3A and 3B are a top view, a front view, and a bottom view, respectively, in which two types of insulating cylinders having different diameters are integrally formed, and the optical element 42 or 41 can be housed in the cylinder having the larger diameter. The first storage portion 21 and a second storage portion 22 into which a ferrule fitted to an end of an optical fiber (not shown) can be inserted into a small-diameter cylinder, and a wall formed between the two. And a positioning projection 24 formed on the peripheral surface near the joint between the two cylinders so as to fit into the positioning groove 13 of the receptacle body 20, and an edge of the first storage portion 21 ( Optical element on the lower side of a large diameter cylinder)
In order to position 41 or 42, there is provided a positioning groove 25 formed so as to fit a positioning piece (not shown) provided in these flange portions.

In order to assemble such a structure, the following may be performed. First, the receptacle body 10 is placed on a jig with the plug insertion hole 17 on the lower side, and inserted into the sleeve through hole 11 at the lower end of the sleeve 20 (the side with the second storage portion 22). Positioning protrusion of sleeve 20
After the insertion of the optical element 42 into the positioning groove 13, the optical element 42 is inserted into the first housing portion 21 of the sleeve 20, and
Into the positioning groove 25. This is performed for each optical element. In FIG. 2 (B), the optical element
Although 41 is also inserted, usually two types are not inserted at the same time, but only one of them.

Next, the holding plate 30 may be engaged with the receptacle body 10. That is, first, terminal insertion is inserted into the terminal of the optical element 42, and then the left and right engagement pieces 31 and the front and rear engagement pieces 34, 3
While holding the tips of 5, 36 toward the left and right side walls of the receptacle body 10 and the engagement recesses 14, 15, 16 respectively,
When a pressing force is applied to the jig in the direction of the jig,
The fitting pieces 34, 35, 36 fit into the engaging projections 14, 15, 16 while fitting into the 31 rectangular hole 31a.

This state is shown in FIG. 2 (b). Since the interval adjusting projection 33 is in contact with the bottom edge of the optical element 42, the optical element
Both the sleeve 42 and the sleeve 20 are firmly fixed to the receptacle body 10. That is, the elastic force acting on the inside by the left and right engagement pieces 31 and the rectangular holes 31a of the engagement pieces 31 are engaged with the shoulders of the engagement projections 12, whereby the end side and the whole are The engaging pieces 34, 35, 36 are fixed and trapezoidal claws 34a, 35a, 36a are formed at the tips, respectively, and when they are inserted into the engaging recesses 14, 15, 16, they are narrowed inward. Thus, the restoring force secures the pressing plate 30 to the receptacle body 10, particularly the central portion. Then, since the interval adjusting projection 33 provided on the holding plate 30 is in contact with the bottom surface of the optical element 42,
The axial clearance of the optical element 42 is absorbed. Therefore, unlike the conventional optical connector, no adhesive is used, so that the assembling operation is easy and automation is possible.

In the sleeve 20, a second storage portion 22 for storing the terminal portion of the optical fiber and a first storage portion 21 for storing the optical element 42 are integrally formed, and a light passage hole 23 is formed between the two. Therefore, there is no need to perform positioning using a positioning jig as in the related art.
It is only necessary to insert the end of the optical fiber and the optical element 42, so that the center alignment becomes extremely easy.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and may be modified as follows, for example. In the embodiment, the combination of the sleeve 20 and the holding plate 30 of the receptacle main body 10 has been described.However, this is constituted by the receptacle main body 10 and the sleeve 20, and the sleeve 20 and the receptacle main body 10 are connected to each other. The effect that the center position can be easily adjusted can be obtained only by fixing by means. Further, any one of the engaging pieces 31 and 34, 35, 36 formed on the holding plate 30 may be used, and the number of these may be larger than that of the embodiment. Further, the engagement projection 12 formed on the receptacle body 10 is changed to an engagement recess, and a projection is formed in the rectangular hole 31a of the engagement piece 31 of the holding plate 30 accordingly. Good. It goes without saying that the number of optical elements may be other than three. Further, the relationship between the positioning protrusion 24 of the sleeve 20 and the positioning groove 13 of the receptacle body 10,
The relationship between the positioning groove 25 of the sleeve 20 and the positioning protrusions of the optical elements 41 and 42 can be variously modified and implemented.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention described above, the center position between the terminal portion of the optical fiber and the optical element can be extremely easily adjusted only by the sleeve, and the sleeve has a stepped cylindrical shape. The first and the second are located coaxially with this cylindrical shape.
It is sufficient to form the housing portion and the light passage hole, and the sleeve can be manufactured easily and with high precision. Furthermore, since the center alignment with high accuracy is completed with the optical element and the end portion of the optical fiber attached to the sleeve in this manner, and the receptacle body and the holding plate only hold the sleeve in a fixed state, the receptacle body and the holding body The positioning accuracy of the sleeve with respect to the plate may be rough, and the manufacture of the receptacle body and the holding plate is simple.

Also, when a plurality of interval adjusting projections are formed on the edge of the circular hole provided in the holding plate, the sleeve is sandwiched and fixedly held between the receptacle body and the holding plate, while the optical element is held in the interval adjusting projection. Since it is pressed and fixedly held, it is possible to cope with different types of optical elements only by adjusting the height of the interval adjusting projection.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the optical connector according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing an assembled state of the embodiment, FIG.
FIG. 5 to FIG. 5 are views showing each configuration of the embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional optical connector. 10… Receptacle body, 11… Sleeve through hole, 12…
… Engagement projection, 14-16… engagement recess, 20 …… sleeve, 2
1, 22: first and second storage portions, 23: light passage holes, bubbles: holding plate, 31, 34, 35, 36 ... engaging pieces, 41, 42 ... optical elements.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cylindrical first storage part which is formed in a stepped cylindrical shape having two stages of large and small and is opened at one end in the axial direction and capable of storing an optical element, and is opened at the other end in the axial direction. Having a cylindrical second storage portion capable of storing the terminal portion of the optical fiber,
A sleeve having a light passage hole in a partition wall between the first storage portion and the second storage portion; and a sleeve through hole for inserting a small diameter side cylindrical portion of the sleeve. A receptacle body for inserting the small-diameter cylindrical portion and abutting against a stepped portion to position and hold the sleeve; and a receptacle covering the sleeve held by inserting the small-diameter cylindrical portion into the sleeve through hole. An optical connector comprising: a holding plate which is engaged with and attached to the main body, and holds the sleeve between the receptacle main body and the fixed body. 2. A terminal extending from an optical element housed in the first housing part in a state where the small diameter side cylindrical part is inserted into the sleeve through hole and the sleeve is held in the receptacle body. A circular hole is formed in the presser plate for projecting into the presser plate, and a surface of the presser plate on the side facing the sleeve,
A plurality of interval adjusting projections are formed at equal intervals at the edge of the circular hole and protrude toward the sleeve, and when the holding plate is engaged with the receptacle body and attached thereto, The space adjusting projection is configured to abut on the bottom surface of the optical element housed in the first housing section, and press and hold the optical element into the first housing section to fix and hold the optical element. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein: