JPS5930247B2 - fiber optic connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a detachable optical fiber connector used for optical signal processing such as optical communication.

Generally, an optical fiber connector is composed of a plug into which an optical fiber is inserted and fixed, and an adapter having a mechanism for fitting and aligning the plugs. In particular, unlike conventional electrical connectors, it is important to accurately align the relative positions of the two fibers to be connected, and for this reason, it is necessary to minimize axial misalignment, angular bending, etc. of the optical fibers. Therefore, there is a method of aligning the optical fiber with the center of a cylindrical plug whose outer diameter has been finished to specified dimensions, inserting the fixed plug from both ends of the sleeve built into the adapter and butting it together, and aligning the axes of the optical fiber. is often used. Figure 1 shows an example of a typical conventionally used connector.The fundamentally important mating part has a microhole in the center that is slightly larger than the optical fiber 1, and has a cylindrical shape with no eccentricity. A split sleeve 10 incorporated into the plug core 5 and the adapter, which have been finely centered by the adjustment mechanism.
It is.

The plug core 5 is connected to the optical fiber 1, and is mounted so that it can be displaced to some extent within the plug so that the plug core 5 can be fitted and aligned within the sleeve 10, and the plug core 5 is moved forward by a spring. It has a pressing structure. However, in this structure, it is difficult to completely match the diameters of the left and right plugs, and as shown in Figure 2, the minute difference in the diameters of the left and right plugs becomes an unstable factor when subjected to mechanical shock, making optical communication difficult. This has become a major problem in implementation.

As described above, conventional optical fiber connectors have performance problems and cannot necessarily be the future choice.

In order to eliminate this drawback, the present invention provides a high-precision optical fiber connector that has a simple structure, does not require centering, is suitable for mass production, and is stable against mechanical shock. The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows a plug of the optical fiber connector of the present invention.

The structure of this plug is assembled based on a universal body 9 made of a sintered material, which is a hard and brittle material with excellent weather resistance, corrosion resistance, and strength. That is, the capillary 9 has a small hole 3a at its center having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the optical fiber 1, and a tapered portion 9b on the rear surface to facilitate insertion of the optical fiber 1. There is.
A capillary support tube 13 having a flange 13a is fixed to the rear portion of the capillary 9. The jacket of the jacket core wire 2 of the optical fiber is peeled off, and the tip of the optical fiber element 1 is inserted and fixed into the capillary 9, and at the same time, the jacket core wire 2 of the capillary support tube 13 is inserted and fixed. The end face of the optical fiber 1 inserted and fixed into the capillary 9 is polished or otherwise processed so that it is the same as the end face of the capillary 9 and has an optical plane. The plug frame 6 is screwed into the plug holder 18, and holds the capillary support tube 13, the spring 7, the cap 19, and the tapered sleeve 20, and also rotatably holds the tightening nut 8. Further, the Kevlar 3 located inside the optical cord 4 is held between the tapered portion 19a of the cap 19 and the tapered portion 20a of the tapered sleeve 20. FIG. 4 shows the structure of an adapter in which the plugs are inserted from both ends, fitted, and aligned.
The basic structure is a cylindrical sleeve 14 having a hole diameter 14a large on the order of μm.

The outer periphery of the sleeve 14 is provided with an annular engagement groove 14b in which a threaded C-ring (hereinafter referred to as an elastic member) 16 is engaged, and the sleeve center hole 14a is connected to the engagement groove.
A stepped hole 14c reaching . Said stepped hole 1
The engagement grooves having 4c are provided in at least two locations on the sleeve, and correspond to capillaries inserted from the left and right sides, respectively, and each of the stepped holes is provided at a position that coincides with the longitudinal direction of the sleeve. There is. A ball 15 is accommodated in the stepped hole 14c, and the ball 15 is engaged with the elastic member 16. Further, the sleeve 14 is fixed to the center of the left and right adapters 12, and the left and right adapters 12 are connected by screws 17. FIG. 5 shows the connector of the present invention in a connected state.

That is, when inserting the plug into the adapter, when the plug is pushed in, the capillary 9 pushes up the ball 15, and receives the reaction force of the elastic member 16 that has engaged with the ball and pushes the center hole 1 of the cylindrical sleeve.
It can be placed on one side of 4a. The plug and the adapter are fastened together by a tightening nut 8 provided on the plug. The connection thus obtained is resistant to mechanical shock and maintains a high precision connection.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily connect plugs using high-precision capillaries made of sintered material with high quality and high precision through an adapter, and it is resistant to mechanical shock. Both parts can be mass-produced easily and inexpensively, and compared to conventional fiber optic connectors,
Since it can use a capillary made of sintered material, it is extremely compact and robust.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a plug core of a conventional optical fiber connector, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional optical fiber connector when connected, and FIG. 3 is a plug of an optical fiber connector according to the present invention. FIG. 4a shows an adapter for an optical fiber connector according to the present invention, and FIG. 4b shows a cross section taken along line A--A in FIG. FIG. 5 shows the connected state of the optical fiber connector according to the present invention.
1... Optical fiber bare wire, 2... Jacket core wire, 3... Kevlar, 4... Optical cord, 5... Plug. Core, 6...Plug frame, 7...Spring, 8...
・Tightening nut, 9...Capillary, 9a...
...Minute hole, 9b...Tapered part, 10...
... Split sleeve, 12 ... Housing, 13
... Capillary support tube, 13a ... Flange section, 14 ... Sleeve, 14a ... Center hole, 14b ... Engagement groove, 14c...
Hole, 15...Ball, 16...Elastic member, 17...Screw, 18...Plug holder, 19...Cap, 19a・・・・・・
Tapered part, 20... Taper sleeve, 20a.
...Tapered part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In order to removably connect the ends of optical fibers for optical transmission, there is a microhole slightly larger than the diameter of the optical fiber on the central axis, and the end of the optical fiber is engaged within this microhole. An optical fiber connector comprising a capillary made of a fixed sintered material and a hollow cylindrical sleeve that linearly aligns the capillaries,
Annular grooves and stepped holes passing through the hollow portions of the sleeve from the respective annular grooves at at least two locations on the outer circumference of the sleeve are provided at positions corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the sleeve, respectively, and the outer periphery of the capillary is provided in each of the stepped holes. An optical fiber connector characterized in that a pressing ball is installed, and an elastic C-shaped ring is provided in the annular groove to sandwich the outer peripheral surface of the ball and the outer peripheral surface of a sleeve facing the ball.