JPS6321163B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to an optical branching/coupling device that is excellent in mass production and has low optical loss.

Prior Art Conventional optical branching/coupling devices include, for example, bundling multiple multi-port optical fiber cables at one end, and attaching the end face of the bundle to the end face of one single-port optical fiber cable using adhesive or the like. There is one in which a plurality of multi-port side optical fiber cables and one single-port side optical fiber cable are connected by bonding.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such conventional optical branching/coupling devices, until the adhesive hardens, the multi-port side optical fiber cable and the single-port side optical fiber cable are Because you have to leave it fixed on the jig with the butt in close contact with it,
It required a large work space and had a poor work flow, making it unsuitable for mass production.

Furthermore, it is difficult to align the optical fiber cable on the multi-port side and the optical fiber cable on the single-port side, and the work requires careful attention, which has also been a factor hindering improvement in production efficiency.

Purpose This invention was made in view of the above problems, and aims to provide an optical branching/coupling device that improves mass productivity and prevents optical loss as much as possible.

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve this object, the present invention provides a single-port fiber optic cable with a plug attached to one end, and a single-port fiber optic cable that transmits light received from one end to the other. A roughly cylindrical light guiding member emitting light from an end face, an optical fiber cable bundle formed by a plurality of multi-port side optical fiber cables bound at one end and a sleeve attached to the bundled part, and a large diameter hole, respectively. and a receptacle and a holder each having a through hole with a small diameter hole communicating with each other, and one end side of the light guide member is connected to the large diameter hole of the receptacle, and the other end of the light guide member is connected to the large diameter hole of the receptacle. While inserting the plug into the small diameter part of the receptacle and the sleeve into the small diameter part of the holder, one end surface of the light guide member and the single port side are inserted into the large diameter hole of the holder. The plug-side end surfaces of the optical fiber cables are opposed to each other, the other end surface of the light guide member and the end surface of the binding part of the optical fiber cable bundle are opposed to each other, and the receptacle and the holder are positioned in a component storage section of the case. It is an optical branching/combining device that is housed in a

Example The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings.

1 to 4 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the optical branching/coupling device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a single port side optical fiber cable, one end 1a of which
A plug 2 is attached to the plug 2, and the plug side end surface 1b coincides with the front end surface of the plug 2. Reference numeral 3 denotes a receptacle, which has a through hole 3c in which a plug insertion hole 3d as a small diameter hole and a light guide member unit insertion hole 3e as a large diameter hole communicate with each other, and the plug insertion hole 3d
A plug holding portion 3a into which the plug 2 is inserted is formed on the side. The plug holding portion 3a has a structure in which it has an annular engagement spring 3b that can be expanded in the radial direction, and when the plug 2 is inserted, the engagement spring 3b engages with the tip projection of the plug 2. An annular groove portion 2b formed at the base end portion of the portion 2a
The plug 2 is fitted into the hole to prevent the plug 2 from falling off. 4 is a light guide member unit, which includes a light guide member case 5 having a through hole, and a light guide member case 5.
The light guide member 6 is inserted into the through hole of the light guide member 6. Further, end surfaces 6a and 6b of the light guide member 6 correspond to each end surface of the light guide member case 5. The light guide member 6 receives light from one end face and emits the light from the other end face, and an optical fiber is used here. 7 is a holder;
It has a through hole 7a in which a sleeve insertion hole 7b serving as a small diameter hole and a light guiding member unit insertion hole 7c serving as a large diameter hole communicate with each other. Reference numeral 11 denotes an optical fiber cable bundle, which has a configuration as described below. That is, 8 is a plurality of multi-port side optical fiber cables, and 9 is a binding part in which one end thereof is tied together, and the binding part 9 has a collar part 1.
A sleeve 10 having a diameter of 0a is attached, and the end surface 9a of the binding portion coincides with the distal end surface of the sleeve 10. The end face 9a of the bundle part is designed as shown in FIG.
The respective end faces 8a, 8a, 8a of 8 are fan-shaped end faces having equal central angles, and are in close contact with each other with flat side surfaces. 8b is a core, 8c is a cladding, and _D0 indicates the diameter of a circle formed by connecting the arcs of the cores 8b, 8b, and 8b (hereinafter referred to as the outer diameter of the core gathering portion).

Note that in this embodiment, the end surface 6a of the light guide member 6
The core diameter at the plug-side end surface 1b of the single-port optical fiber cable 1 is set larger than the core diameter at the end surface 6b of the light guide member 6, and the core diameter at the end surface 9a of the bundled portion of the optical fiber cable bundle 11 is set larger than the core diameter at the plug-side end surface 1b of the optical fiber cable bundle 11. The outer diameter D is set larger than ₀ . That is, the core portion on the end surface 6a of the light guide member 6 has a size that covers the entire core portion on the plug side end surface 1b of the single port side optical fiber cable 1 facing the end surface 6a. The core portion at the end surface 6b is the bundle end surface 9 of the optical fiber cable bundle 11 facing the end surface 6b.
It has a size that covers the entire core portions 8b, 8b, 8b at a.

12 is a lower case, which is provided with a component storage section 12a, a semicircular notch 12b, a stepped semicircular notch 12c, and a hole 12d into which a screw S is inserted. 13 is an upper case, and has a semicircular notch 13b.
In addition, a similar parts storage section and a stepped semicircular notch (not shown) are provided at positions corresponding to the component storage section 12a and the stepped semicircular notch 12c. Furthermore, a threaded portion (not shown) that is screwed into the screw S is formed at a position corresponding to the hole 12d. These pair of upper case 13 and lower case 12 constitute one case.

All the various parts other than the screw S mentioned above are made of resin.

Such parts are assembled in the following steps. First, one end side of the light guide member unit 4, that is, the end face 6a side, is inserted into the light guide member unit insertion hole 3e of the receptacle 3, and the other end side of the light guide member unit 4, that is, the end face 6b side is inserted into the light guide member unit of the holder 7. The member unit insertion hole 7c is inserted to combine the receptacle 3 and the holder 7, and the optical fiber cable bundle 11 sleeve 10 is inserted into the sleeve insertion hole 7b of the holder 7. When the receptacle 3 and the holder 7 are combined and housed in the lower case 12 in this manner, the end surfaces 6a and 6b of the light guide member 6 are prevented from being damaged. That is, the light guide member 6 is placed in the holder 7, for example.
When the holder 7 and the receptacle 3 are housed in the lower case 12 with the end surface 6a exposed from the side surface of the holder 7, the receptacle 3 may come into contact with the end surface 6a and damage it.

Next, the combined receptacle 3 and holder 7 are stored in the parts storage section 12a of the lower case 12. At this time, the base end portion of the sleeve 10 and the collar portion 1
0a is fitted into the stepped semicircular notch 12c, and the proximal end of the plug holding part 3a is fitted into the semicircular notch 12b (see FIG. 2).

Then, cover the upper case 13, insert the screw S into the hole 12d from below the lower case 12, and screw it into the threaded part (not shown) of the upper case 13.
3 to the lower case 12, and then inserting the plug 2 of the single-port side optical fiber cable 1 into the outwardly protruding plug holding portion 3a, completing the assembly of the optical branch/coupler. At this time, the plug-side end surface 1b of the single-port optical fiber cable 1 is in substantially close contact with one end surface 6a of the light guide member 6, and the bundle end surface 9a of the optical fiber cable bundle 11 is in close contact with the other end surface 6b of the light guide member 6. It will be in a state where it is almost in close contact with.

The above assembly work can be performed as part of a series of assembly operations, and since positioning is achieved by engaging the parts with each other, difficult positioning work is not necessary.

The optical branch/coupler assembled in this manner branches the light guided to the single-port side optical fiber cable 1 to the multi-port side optical fiber cables 8, 8, 8 via the light guide member 6. Multi-port side optical fiber cable 8, 8, 8
The light guided respectively to the single port side optical fiber cable 1 is coupled to the single port side optical fiber cable 1 via the light guide member 6 and transmitted.

In this optical splitter/combiner, the end surface 6a of the light guide member 6 and the plug 2 are connected by being inserted into the through hole 3c of the receptacle 3, and the end surface 6b side of the light guide member 6 and the sleeve 10 are connected to the holder 7. The relative positional relationship between the end surface 6a of the light guide member 6 and the plug side end surface 1b of the single port side optical fiber cable 1 and the end surface 6b of the light guide member 6 are connected by being inserted into the through hole 7a of the light guide member 6. The relative positional relationship between the end face 9a of the optical fiber cable bundle 11 and the bundle end face 9a of the optical fiber cable bundle 11 is maintained appropriately, and there is almost no deviation during use. Therefore, the transmission and reception of light between the opposing end surfaces will not be performed effectively due to positional deviation, and the end surfaces will not be damaged due to rubbing against each other, and optical loss can be sufficiently reduced.

In addition, in this embodiment, as described above, the core diameter D ₀ at the end surface 6a of the light guide member 6 is set larger than the core diameter D ₀ at the plug side end surface 1b of the single-port side optical fiber cable 1, The core diameter D ₀ at the end surface 6 b of the light guide member 6 is set larger than the outer diameter D ₀ of the core gathering portion at the bundle end surface 9 a of the optical fiber cable bundle 11, and the core portion at the end surface 6 a of the light guide member 6 is The core portion on the end surface 6b of the light guide member 6 is large enough to cover the entire core portion on the plug-side end surface 1b facing the end surface 6a, and the core portion on the end surface 9a of the binding portion facing the end surface 6b is large enough to cover the entire core portion 8b, 8b, It has a size that covers the entire area 8b. If each part is manufactured within a predetermined part accuracy, one end 1a of the single port side optical fiber cable 1, the light guide member 6, and the binding part 9 of the optical fiber cable bundle 11 can be assembled by simply performing assembly work. The connected state is as shown in Fig. 4, and the multi-port side optical fiber cables 8, 8,
8 is equally transmitted to the single-port side optical fiber cable 1, and conversely, the light guided to the single-port side optical fiber cable 1 is transmitted to any of the multi-port side optical fiber cables 8, 8, 8. are equally transmitted.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the assembly is completed, the end surface 6a of the light guide member 6 is in close contact with the plug side end surface 1b of the single port side optical fiber cable 1, and the end surface 6b of the light guide member 6 is in close contact with the plug side end surface 1b of the single port side optical fiber cable 1.
Although the light amount loss is prevented as much as possible by making the wires come in close contact with the bundle end surface 9a, even if these opposing end surfaces are slightly separated, the loss of light amount caused by this will hardly be a problem in practice. Therefore, the production cost may be reduced by allowing these opposing end surfaces to be separated within a predetermined distance.

Further, in this embodiment, the light guiding member 6 is an optical fiber, but its material may be glass or resin. As the resin optical fiber, it is also possible to use a simple optical fiber made of an acrylic resin with good light transmittance coated with a resin having a smaller refractive index on the outer periphery. Further, the light guiding member is not limited to an optical fiber, but may be a metallic cylindrical tube whose inner peripheral surface is a reflective surface, or may be something like a lens.

Effects of the invention As explained above, according to this invention,
Assembly work can be carried out without stopping the flow of work in a series of assembly operations, and difficult positioning work between parts is no longer necessary, making mass production easier. Furthermore, the relative positional relationship between the plug-side end face of the single-port side optical fiber cable and the end face of the light guide member opposing this, and the relative position between the end face of the binding part of the optical fiber cable bundle and the end face of the light guide member opposing this. Since the relationships between each are maintained properly and there is almost no deviation during use, there is no possibility that the exchange of light between the opposing end surfaces may not be effective due to misalignment, or the end surfaces may rub against each other and be damaged. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the optical loss, and also to prevent the end face of the light guide member from being damaged during assembly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 are views showing one embodiment of the optical branching/coupling device according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the optical branching/coupling device, and FIG. A plan view of the optical splitter/coupler in the process of being assembled with parts stored therein; Figure 3 is a diagram showing the state of the end face of the bundled part of the optical fiber cable bundle; Figure 4 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the main parts of Figure 2. It is a diagram. 1...Single port side optical fiber cable, 1a...
...End of single port side optical fiber cable, 1b...
...Plug side end face, 2...Plug, 3...Receptacle, 3c...Through hole of receptacle, 6...Light guide member, 6a, 6b...End face of light guide member, 7...
Holder, 7a... Through hole of holder, 8... Multi-port side optical fiber cable, 9... Binding part, 9a...
... Bundle end face, 10 ... Sleeve, 11 ... Optical fiber cable bundle, {12 ... Lower case, 13 ...
...Upper case}Case, 12a...Parts storage section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A single-port side optical fiber cable with a plug attached to one end, and a roughly cylindrical light guide member that emits light received from one end face from the other end face. , a receptacle having a through-hole in which a large-diameter hole and a small-diameter hole are connected to an optical fiber cable bundle in which a plurality of multi-port side optical fiber cables are tied at one end and a sleeve is attached to the bundled portion; and a holder are formed separately, and one end of the light guide member is inserted into the large diameter hole of the receptacle, and the other end of the light guide member is inserted into the large diameter hole of the holder. , inserting the plug into the small diameter part of the receptacle and inserting a sleeve into the small diameter part of the holder, so that one end surface of the light guide member and the plug side end surface of the single port side optical fiber cable face each other, The other end surface of the light guide member and the end surface of the binding part of the optical fiber cable bundle are opposed to each other, and the receptacle and the holder are positioned and stored in a parts storage section of a case. combiner.