JPH0317620B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is directed to, for example, forming a convex spherical end of an optical fiber connector so that losses caused by misalignment or poor contact during connection are extremely reduced. The present invention relates to a polishing device for columnar members used for polishing.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, this type of polishing apparatus has been equipped with a ring-shaped rotating frame covered with a flexible elastic polishing plate, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-265255. Then, while rotating the polishing plate, place an optical fiber connector (hereinafter referred to as
An apparatus is known in which the lower end surface (referred to as a columnar member) is pressed against the polishing plate, and the pressing force is used to curve the polishing plate downward, thereby polishing the end surface into a convex spherical surface.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, according to the above-mentioned device, when the lower end surface of the columnar member is pressed against the center of the polishing plate, only the center of the polishing plate wears out quickly. Furthermore, if the lower end surface of the columnar member is pressed against the outer periphery of the polishing plate, only the outer periphery of the polishing plate will be worn in an annular shape, and in any case, the polishing plate will be locally worn and the polishing plate will be damaged. The entire surface cannot be used for polishing columnar members,
There is a problem that the polishing loss area is large and the replacement cycle of the polishing plate is accelerated, which is uneconomical.

In addition, when polishing is performed by pressing the lower end surface of a columnar member into contact with the outer circumferential portion eccentric from the middle of the polishing plate, the lower end peripheral edge of the columnar member facing toward the outer circumferential edge of the polishing plate is placed closer to the center of the polishing plate. The lower end surface of the columnar member cannot be polished into a curved surface with high precision because it receives a stronger contact force than the lower end peripheral edge facing toward the columnar member.

Therefore, the columnar member can be rotated, but the rotational drive mechanism is extremely complicated, and if the columnar member has a small diameter like the optical fiber mentioned above, the rotation may cause twisting. This has the fatal problem that the columnar member cannot be cut and used, and furthermore, even when the columnar member is rotated and revolved relative to the polishing plate, the polishing surface of the polishing plate is This still results in a ring-shaped area, and the above-mentioned problems cannot be solved.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned apparatus has a major problem in that it is not possible to polish the curved surfaces of a plurality of columnar members at the same time.

That is, when a plurality of columnar members are arranged in parallel and their lower end surfaces are pressed against the polishing plate, the portion of the polishing plate that contacts the outermost columnar member is bent along the lower end surface of the columnar member. , the polishing plate portion between the bent portions is stretched horizontally, and the flat lower end surfaces of all columnar members, including the outermost columnar members, are in contact with the horizontal surface of the polishing plate. It is from.

An object of the present invention is to provide a polishing apparatus for columnar members that can completely eliminate these problems.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the columnar member polishing apparatus of the present invention has a plurality of concave surfaces or A fixed member 6 having a receiving portion 6B such as a convex surface, a cylindrical rotating frame 8 that surrounds this fixed member 6 and revolves while rotating at a position eccentric to the center of the fixed member 6, and this cylindrical rotating frame 8. A polishing sheet 7 is attached to the frame 8 so as to be replaceable, and a part of its lower surface is placed on the fixing member 6, and a polishing sheet 7 is placed in a position corresponding to each receiving portion 6B of the fixing member 6. It consists of a vertical feeding device 25 that attaches the columnar members 26 to be polished and presses the lower end surface of each columnar member 26 through the polishing sheet 7 to the opposing receiving portion 6B of the fixed member 6. .

(Function) With this configuration, when the cylindrical rotary frame 8 is rotated and revolved, the abrasive sheet 7 stretched over the frame 8 changes the sliding contact portion with the upper surface of the fixed member 6 while moving the frame 8. It also performs eccentric rotation in the horizontal direction.

When a plurality of columnar members 26 to be polished are pressed by moving the feed device 25 downward onto the fixed member 6 through the polishing sheet 7, the lower end surfaces of these columnar members 26 are pressed against the polishing sheet 7. The polishing sheet 7 is received by each receiving portion 6B of the corresponding fixing member 6, and moves in the horizontal direction while being held between the lower end surface of each columnar member 26 and the receiving portion 6B. The lower end surface of the columnar member 26 is polished into a predetermined shape while being partially deformed between the member 26 and the receiving portion 6B along the receiving portion 6B.

In this way, the polishing sheet 7 moves on the fixed member 6, which is the polishing part, while eccentrically rotating and revolving, and its polishing surface is used to polish each columnar member 26 over almost the entire area, thereby extending the sheet replacement cycle. In addition, the lower end surfaces of the plurality of columnar members 26 can be simultaneously polished into a desired shape with high precision.

Further, the plurality of columnar members 26 are moved only in the vertical direction with respect to the fixed member 6 by the feeding device 25, and each receiving portion 6B of the fixed member 6 corresponding to each columnar member 26 is moved via the polishing sheet 7. The structure is extremely simple, and there is no risk of the columnar member 26 being cut or broken.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of a polishing apparatus for a columnar member according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view of FIG. , 2 is a fixed support shaft that is fixedly installed vertically vertically at approximately the center of the grounding frame 1, and thrust self-aligning roller bearings 3, 3 are installed on the outside of the fixed support shaft.
The cylindrical shaft 4 is fitted and supported in a concentric manner so that it can only rotate freely, and a polishing limiting fixing member having a disk shape in plan view is attached to the upper end of the fixed support shaft 2 via a connector chuck 5. 6 is removably attached. 7 is a circular polishing sheet,
This is made by attaching diamond abrasive grains to the surface of a thin sheet having flexibility and elastic restoring force, and includes a cylindrical rotating frame 8 and a horizontal horizontal axis 9 attached to the upper end of the rotating frame 8. It is replaceably stretched between the vertically opposing surfaces of a cylindrical holding frame 11 which can be vertically swung and is connected to the cylindrical holding frame 11 via a shrimp fitting 10 so as to be tightened and fixed, with its outer periphery being clamped and fixed. There is. Reference numeral 12 denotes a cylindrical rotary passive member concentrically connected to the lower part of the cylindrical rotating frame 8 via a knock pin 13, and its rotational axis b is aligned with the axis a of the fixed support shaft 2. It is rotatably supported by a large diameter gear 14 (described later) via a thrust bearing 15 in a state where it is deviated by Δl, and an internal gear 16 is concentrically fixed to its inner step. A gear 17 is fixed to the upper part of the cylinder shaft 4, and is connected to the internal gear 16 via an idle gear 18.
It is interlocked with the Reference numeral 19 denotes a gear fixed to the lower part of the cylindrical shaft 4, and is interlocked and connected to a motor 21 fixedly supported on the pedestal 1 via a gear 20 that meshes with the gear 19.
9, the cylindrical shaft 4 and the gears 17, 18, and 16 constitute an autorotation drive mechanism that drives and rotates the rotating frame 8 and the polishing sheet 7 around the axis b.

14 is the above-mentioned large diameter gear, which is rotatably supported by the above-mentioned ground frame 1 via a thrust bearing 22 around the axis a, and has a vertical through-hole 14A formed in its center; Part 14
The cylindrical shaft 4 is inserted through A, and the idle gear 18 is fixed to a vertical shaft 31 that is rotatably supported by the free end of an arm 14B that projects inside. A cylindrical portion 14C that is concentric with the rotating frame 8 is integrally projected from the upper surface of the large-diameter gear 14, and a cylindrical portion 12C that is externally fitted concentrically with this protruding cylindrical portion 14C is connected to the rotation passive member 12. It is integrally formed with. A gear 23 meshes with the large-diameter gear 14, and is directly connected to the motor 24.
C and 12C constitute a revolution drive mechanism that drives and rotates the rotating frame 8 and polishing sheet 7 around the axis a.

The surface of the polishing limiting fixing member 6 has a radius of curvature that is slightly larger than the convex spherical surface to be finally polished, specifically, the radius of curvature is the final finished convex spherical surface plus the thickness of the polishing sheet 7. A plurality of recesses 6B having concave spherical surfaces 6A are formed at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction, and concave spherical surfaces 6A having different radii of curvature can be arbitrarily selected and used by attaching and detaching the fixing member 6. It is configured.

25 is an example of a columnar member to be polished, and a plurality of optical fiber connectors 26 are fixedly held, and their ends to be polished are pressed concentrically toward each concave spherical surface 6A of the fixed member 6. This polishing feed device includes a pair of upper and lower disk-shaped holding members 27 and 28 that hold a flange 26A provided at the middle of the optical fiber connector 26, and a feed shaft 29.
The lower clamping member 28 is fixedly connected to the lower end of the feed shaft 29, and the collar portion 26
The upper clamping member 27 has a through-hole 28a through which the lower part of A is inserted, and the upper clamping member 27 is externally fitted to the feed shaft 29 so as to be slidable in the axial direction thereof, and is inserted through a spring 30. Lower holding member 28
It is biased to slide on the side.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

FIG. 4a is a cross-sectional view of the optical fiber connector 26 before spherical polishing, in which the optical fiber 26a consisting of a core and a cladding is inserted into the center of the connector body 26b made of stainless steel, and the connecting end is lengthened to an appropriate length. The connector body 26b has a structure in which the fiber portion in the area is fixedly held at the center by an alumina ceramic 26c filled in the connector body 26b, and the end face 26d is in a flat surface perpendicular to the axis before polishing.

While fixing and holding a plurality of optical fiber connectors 26 having the above-described structure to the polishing feeding device 25 as specified, both motors 21 and 24 are operated to move the rotating frame 8 and the polishing sheet 7 as shown schematically in FIG. As shown, while being driven to revolve around the axis a, it is driven to rotate around the axis b.

In this state, when the feed shaft 29 of the feed device 25 is moved downward (in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. sheet 7
The pressed portion is deformed by being depressed into the recess 6B on the surface of the fixing member 6. Due to this concave deformation, the corner portion of the end of the optical fiber connector 26 comes into contact with the polishing sheet 7 first, as shown in FIG. 5a, and that portion is polished. As the feed shaft 29 is sequentially moved downward during such polishing, the amount of concave deformation of the polishing sheet 7 increases, and the end portion of the optical fiber connector 26 is polished in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5a. When the polishing progresses and the amount of concave deformation of the polishing sheet 7 reaches the maximum, that is, when the polishing sheet 7 reaches the state shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4b, the end of the optical fiber connector 26 is polished into a convex spherical surface 26e.

Note that when the optical fiber connector 26 is unprocessed, the optical fiber 26a may protrude slightly from the end surface, and a portion of the adhesive present at the bonded portion with the connector body 26b may protrude from the end surface. In this case as well, the protruding portion from the end face is polished together with the other portions, and the final result is a convex spherical surface.

During the above-described spherical polishing, the polishing sheet 7 revolves around itself while rotating, so the polishing action area of one polishing sheet 7 can be widened, and the length of action until it needs to be replaced, that is, the polishing sheet with a constant area. This makes it possible to lengthen the replacement cycle.

In the above embodiment, the columnar member to be polished is an optical fiber connector, and the end portion thereof is polished into a convex spherical surface. In other words, the fixing member 6 may be provided with a plurality of receiving portions corresponding to the shape to be polished.

In addition, as shown in the above embodiment, the rotational drive mechanism and the revolution drive mechanism are stored and arranged in the space within the cylindrical rotating frame 8 and the space within the frame 1 below the frame 8 by effectively utilizing the space. By adopting such a structure, it is possible to downsize the entire device, but the present invention is not limited to this structure.

In addition, the rotation drive mechanism is omitted and the cylindrical rotating frame 8
The rotation drive may be made to follow the drive of the revolution drive mechanism.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the fixing member 6 has a plurality of receiving portions 6B such as concave or convex surfaces on the upper surface for polishing the lower end surface of the columnar member 26 to be polished into a predetermined shape. and each receiving part 6 of this fixing member 6
The columnar members 26 to be polished are attached to the positions corresponding to B, and the lower end surface of each columnar member 26 is attached to the fixing member 6.
Since the polishing sheet 7 stretched on the cylindrical rotating frame 8 is moved while being eccentrically rotated and revolved between the vertical feed device 25 and the vertical feed device 25 which is pressed against the opposing receiving portion 6B. sheet 7
Since the sheet 7 moves while changing the position of its sliding portion with respect to the upper surface of the fixed member 6, substantially the entire polishing surface of the sheet 7 can be used for polishing a plurality of columnar members 26 to be polished. , substantially the entire surface of the polishing sheet 7 can be uniformly abraded, and the sheet replacement cycle can be extended, making it extremely economical to use.

Furthermore, by moving the feeding device 25 downward, the polishing sheet 7 is pressed by the lower end surfaces of the plurality of columnar members 26 to be polished, and the lower ends of the columnar members 26 are moved to the respective receivers of the corresponding fixing members 6. Not only can the polishing sheet 7 be reliably received by the portion 6B, but also the polishing sheet 7 that slides on the fixing member 6 while being held by the lower end surface of each columnar member 26 and the receiving portion 6B of the fixing member 6. , these columnar members 26 and the receiving portion 6
B, the lower end surfaces of the plurality of columnar members 26 can be polished simultaneously into a predetermined shape with high accuracy and uniformity by partially deforming along the receiving portion 6B, and the polishing efficiency of the columnar members 26 is significantly improved. It is something that can be done.

Further, the plurality of columnar members 26 are moved only in the vertical direction with respect to the fixed member 6 by the feeding device 25, and each receiving portion 6B of the fixed member 6 corresponding to each columnar member 26 is moved via the polishing sheet 7. Since the structure is extremely simple, there is no risk of the columnar member 26 being cut or broken, and it is particularly suitable for polishing small-diameter columnar members such as optical fibers. It has the following effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the main parts of a polishing apparatus for columnar members according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows the movement of the polishing sheet. FIGS. 4A and 4B are a schematic plan view for explaining, FIGS. 4A and 4B are sectional views before and after polishing of an optical fiber connector as an example of the polishing target, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams of the polishing action. 6... Fixed member for polishing restriction, 7... Polishing sheet, 8... Cylindrical rotating frame, 25... Polishing feeding device, 26... Optical fiber connector (cylindrical member).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A fixing member 6 having a plurality of receiving portions 6B such as concave or convex surfaces on the upper surface for polishing the lower end surface of the columnar member 26 to be polished into a predetermined shape, and this fixing member 6
a cylindrical rotating frame 8 that surrounds the fixed member 6 and revolves around it while rotating at a position eccentric to the center of the fixed member 6;
A polishing sheet 7 is attached to the cylindrical rotating frame 8 in a replaceable manner, and a part of its lower surface is placed on the fixing member 6, and each receiving portion 6B of the fixing member 6 is attached to the polishing sheet 7. and a vertical feeding device 25 that attaches the columnar members 26 to be polished at corresponding positions and presses the lower end surface of each columnar member 26 to the opposing receiving portion 6B of the fixed member 6 via the polishing sheet 7. A polishing device for a columnar member, characterized in that: