JP4675782B2 - Optical connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connector for butt-connecting optical fibers.

A conventional optical connector consists of an element consisting of a pair of clamp members that sandwich an optical fiber and a clamp spring that houses the element, and the optical fiber can be butt-connected to the opposing surface of the clamp member on the base side V-grooves that are aligned with each other are formed in the longitudinal direction (see, for example, Patent Document 1 or 2). The V groove near the connection portion is filled with a refractive index matching agent in order to reduce the connection loss at the butt surface of the optical fiber and obtain a high return loss.
When connecting optical fibers, insert a wedge between the clamp members from one side to create a gap between the base and the lid, insert optical fibers from both ends of the element, and butt on the V-groove, The optical fibers are connected to each other by removing the wedge. However, when the wedge is inserted between the base and the lid, the refractive index matching agent is divided into a portion that adheres to the V-groove and a portion that adheres to the lid, and when the wedge is removed from the clamp member Air is likely to be mixed into the refractive index matching agent. If air bubbles are present in the refractive index matching agent, light is diffusely reflected by the air bubbles, resulting in a phenomenon that the connection loss increases and the return loss decreases, which greatly impairs the reliability of the optical fiber line. Become.

Thus, in Patent Document 3, a cavity communicating with the V-groove is provided in one or both of the V-groove substrate (base) and the upper plate (lid), and the V-groove and the cavity are filled with a refractive index matching agent. An invention of a fiber connection member is disclosed. According to the invention described in Patent Document 3, since the cavity is filled with the refractive index matching agent, the refractive index matching agent is sufficiently filled in the vicinity of the V groove, and the refractive index matching agent is near the V groove. It is said that air will not be caught inside.
Japanese Patent No. 3540096 Japanese Patent No. 3675991 Japanese Patent No. 3400663

  However, in the case of the invention described in Patent Document 3, since there is a cavity on the surface of the V-groove substrate or the upper plate, the optical fiber cannot be pressed sufficiently by the lower surface of the upper plate, and the optical fiber may not be securely clamped. There is.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. When a wedge is inserted between a base and a lid to butt-connect optical fibers, bubbles are not involved in the refractive index matching agent. And it aims at providing the optical connector which can clamp an optical fiber reliably.

To achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a base and a lid, and includes a pair of clamp members that sandwich an optical fiber between opposing surfaces, and a clamp spring that houses the pair of clamp members, An optical connector in which an alignment groove for positioning and aligning an optical fiber is formed on an opposing surface of the base facing the lid, and a refractive index is provided on the opposing surface of the lid facing the base. by reservoir to be pooled matching agent is formed as a recess extending from the side end portion of the lid to the front of the pressing portion toward the pressing portion of the lid corresponding to the alignment groove, the base When the wedge is inserted between the lid and the lid, the refractive index matching agent can be supplied from the reservoir to the portion where the optical fibers are abutted with each other .

In the present invention, it is preferable that the pool portion is formed at least on the opening / closing fulcrum side of the pair of clamp members with the pressing portion interposed therebetween .

Moreover, in this invention, it is preferable that the said pool part is formed in the both sides which pinched | interposed the said press part in the said cover body .

  Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that a cross section of the pool portion viewed from the direction of the alignment groove is a triangular shape whose depth increases from the pressing portion toward the side end portion of the lid body. And

  Moreover, in this invention, the said reservoir part may be made into the funnel-shaped recessed part which becomes deep toward the side edge part of the said cover body from the said press part.

  In the present invention, since the reservoir for storing the refractive index matching agent is formed on the opposite surface of the lid that faces the base, when the wedge is inserted between the base and the lid, the refractive index matching agent is removed. The refractive index matching agent supplied from the reservoir is not divided into a portion adhering to the alignment groove and a portion adhering to the lid. For this reason, bubbles are not involved in the refractive index matching agent. Moreover, since the optical fiber is pressed by the pressing portion of the lid, the optical fiber can be securely held.

Embodiments of an optical connector according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section of an optical connector in the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the optical connector 1 has a rod-like split structure that is substantially circular or square in cross section when integrated, and includes a pair of clamp members 4, 4 including a base 2 and a lid 3, The clamp members 4 and 4 are each provided with an elongated clamp spring 5 having a U-shaped cross section that can substantially store the entire clamp members 4 and 4.

   The clamp members 4 and 4 are both rod-shaped members having a semicircular or square cross section, and are separated from each other on the opposing surfaces 7 and 8, and have an appropriate hardness such as plastic. It is made of material.

A V-shaped alignment groove 9 is formed in the longitudinal center of the facing surface 7 of the base 2 facing the lid 3 so as to position and align the optical fiber 6 (optical fiber single fiber) so that they can be connected to each other. Optical fiber guide grooves 15 for guiding the optical fiber 6 inserted from the outside of the clamp members 4 and 4 to the vicinity of the alignment groove 9 are formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the facing surface 7. The alignment groove 9 and the optical fiber guide groove 15 are arranged on the same straight line along the longitudinal direction of the base 2.
On the other hand, an optical fiber guide groove 15 similar to the facing surface 7 of the base 2 is also formed on the facing surface 8 of the lid 3 facing the base 2.

In the aligning groove 9, the bare fiber 6 a exposed by removing the coating at the tip of the optical fiber 6 is stored, and in the optical fiber guide groove 15, the coating 6 b of the optical fiber 6 is stored.
As the optical fiber (specifically, the bare fiber 6a), for example, a quartz optical fiber is employed.

   The clamp spring 5 is an elongated member that is slightly shorter than the clamp members 4 and 4 and is formed of a material such as beryllium copper. In the case of beryllium copper, those that have been formed into the desired shape and then age-cured, or those that have been heat-treated and coated with a fluororesin or the like are more preferred.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the facing surface 8 of the lid 3 facing the base 2 in the vicinity of the connection point P of the optical fiber 6, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the short direction of the vicinity of the optical fiber connection point P. .
As shown in FIG. 2, in the vicinity of the optical fiber connection point P, it corresponds to the aligning groove 9 as a reservoir 10 for storing the refractive index matching agent 11 on the facing surface 8 of the lid 3 facing the base 2. Funnel-shaped recesses 13 each having a depth deeper from the pressing portion 12 toward the side end portion 3a of the lid body 3 are formed across the pressing portion 12 of the lid body 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the cross section of the funnel-shaped recess 13 viewed from the direction of the aligning groove 9 has a triangular shape with a depth increasing from the pressing portion 12 toward the side end 3 a of the lid 3. The optical fiber 6 accommodated in the aligning groove 9 is always pressed by the pressing portion 12 of the lid 3, and the vicinity of the connection point P of the optical fiber 6 is filled with the refractive index matching agent 11. Yes.
In addition, the vicinity of the connection point P of the optical fiber 6 refers to a region having a width of the funnel-shaped recess 13 in the extending direction of the aligning groove 9 including a portion where the optical fibers 6 and 6 are abutted with each other.
For example, silicone grease is used as the refractive index matching agent.

Next, operations and effects of the optical connector 1 according to the present invention will be described.
FIG. 4 is a view showing an operation of generating a gap between the base 2 and the lid 3 by inserting a wedge (not shown) from the side end between the pair of clamp members 4 and 4. When the wedge is inserted in the direction of the arrow A, the lid 3 rotates upward with the side end on the opposite side of the wedge as a fulcrum (opening / closing fulcrum). Accordingly, the refractive index matching agent 11 of the reservoir 10 moves in the direction in which the distance between the base 2 and the lid 3 is narrow, that is, in the direction of the pressing portion 12 from the side end portion 3a of the lid 3. A column of refractive index matching agent 11 including the optical fiber 6 is formed between the lid 3 and the lid 3. Thus, the vicinity of the connection point P of the optical fiber 6 is always filled with the refractive index matching agent 11, and air is mixed into the refractive index matching agent 11 when the wedge is pulled out from the clamp members 4 and 4. There is no.

   Since the conventional optical connector has a structure in which the reservoir portion 10 does not exist in the lid body 3, when a wedge is inserted between the pair of clamp members 4, 4, the refractive index matching agent 11 is separated from the base 2, the lid body 3, and the like. The refractive index matching agent 11 was easily separated into a portion adhering to the aligning groove 9 and a portion adhering to the lid 3. Therefore, if the reservoir 10 having a depth deeper from the pressing portion 12 toward the side end 3a of the lid 3 is formed on at least the opening / closing fulcrum side instead of the both sides of the lid 3, the refractive index matching agent 11 is It can prevent flowing to the opening / closing fulcrum side.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of the optical connector which concerns on this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the meaning, it can change suitably. For example, in the above embodiment, the aligning groove 9 is a V groove, but an aligning groove having another shape such as a U groove other than the V groove may be applied. In the above embodiment, the reservoir 10 is the funnel-shaped recess 13, but it may be a groove having a triangular cross section whose depth increases from the pressing portion 12 toward the side end 3 a of the lid 3.

It is a longitudinal direction sectional view showing one embodiment of an optical connector concerning the present invention. It is a fragmentary perspective view of the opposing surface of the cover body which opposes the base in the connection point vicinity of an optical fiber. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view in the short-side direction in the vicinity of the optical fiber connection point viewed from the direction of the alignment groove. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the effect | action of the optical connector which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical connector, 2 ... Base, 3 ... Cover body, 4 ... Clamp member, 5 ... Clamp spring, 6 ... Optical fiber, 7 ... Opposing surface, 8 ... Opposing surface, 9 ... Alignment groove, 10 ... Reserving part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Refractive index matching agent, 12 ... Press part, 13 ... Funnel-shaped recessed part

Claims (5)

A pair of clamp members (4, 4) comprising a base (2) and a lid (3) and sandwiching an optical fiber (6) between opposing faces, and a clamp spring (5) for housing the pair of clamp members And an alignment groove (9) for positioning and aligning the optical fiber so that the optical fiber can be abutted and connected to the facing surface (7) of the base facing the lid.
A reservoir (10) for storing the refractive index matching agent (11) on the facing surface (8) of the lid facing the base corresponds to the alignment groove from the side end (3a) of the lid. When the wedge is inserted between the base and the lid body, the refractive index matching agent is stored in the reservoir portion by being formed as a recess extending toward the pressing portion (12) of the lid body. The optical connector (1) is configured so that the optical fiber can be supplied to a portion where the optical fibers are butted together .   The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the pool portion is formed at least on an opening / closing fulcrum side of the pair of clamp members with the pressing portion interposed therebetween.   2. The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the pool portion is formed on both sides of the lid, with the pressing portion interposed therebetween.   The cross section of the pool portion viewed from the direction of the aligning groove is a triangular shape whose depth increases from the pressing portion toward the side end portion of the lid body. 4. The optical connector according to any one of 3.   The optical connector according to claim 4, wherein the pool portion is a funnel-shaped recess (13) whose depth increases from the pressing portion toward a side end portion of the lid.

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