JPH0418991B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is directed to, for example, forming the end face of an optical fiber connector into a convex spherical surface so that losses due to axis misalignment or poor contact during connection are extremely reduced. The present invention relates to a rotary polishing device used for polishing, and also for polishing the end faces of various members into curved or flat surfaces.

(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-described apparatus, 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 abraded 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.

In order to use the entire surface of the polishing plate as a polishing surface, the columnar member can be moved in the radial direction of the polishing plate, but in this case, if the columnar member is not moved while rotating, the lower end surface of the columnar member will be damaged. Since it is not possible to polish the desired curved surface, the structure not only becomes more complicated by requiring a mechanism for rotating the columnar member and a mechanism for moving the position in the radial direction, but also moves the columnar member in the radial direction of the polishing plate. In addition to the above-mentioned torsion caused by the rotation, there was a problem in that it was subjected to repeated bending action, making it even more likely to break.

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 Problem) In order to achieve the above object, the polishing apparatus for a columnar member of the present invention has a diameter smaller than the diameter of the columnar member 26 to be polished for receiving the lower end portion of the columnar member 26 on the upper surface. A disk-shaped fixing member 6 having a slightly larger diameter hole 6A is attached to the upper end of the support shaft 2, and the support shaft 2 is disposed in the center of the grounding frame 1. A large-diameter gear 14 rotatable around the axis of the support shaft 2 is provided on the large-diameter gear 14, and a cylindrical gear is mounted on the large-diameter gear 14 with its rotation axis eccentric to the rotation axis of the support shaft 2. A rotary frame 8 having the shape of a shape is disposed, and a polishing sheet 7 whose lower surface partially slides on the fixed member 6 is stretched over the rotary frame 8, and a polishing sheet 7 is attached to the fixed member through the polishing sheet 7. 6, a columnar member feeding device 2 for inserting the lower end surface of the columnar member to be polished into the hole 6A provided in the fixing member 6
5 is disposed so as to be movable only in the vertical direction, and further,
A drive motor 24 installed at a suitable location on the grounding frame 1
A gear 23 fixed to the rotating shaft of the cylinder is meshed with the large diameter gear 14, and an arm 14B protruding from the inner surface of the large diameter gear 14 rotatably supports the idle gear 18. An internal gear 16 fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the rotary frame 8 and a gear 17 fixed to the cylindrical shaft 4 rotatably fitted on the support shaft 2 are engaged, while the cylindrical shaft 4 and the rotating shaft of the drive motor 24 are connected by an appropriate independent rotation transmission mechanism such as a V-pulley and a V-belt that are separate from the meshing gear train from the gear 23 to the idle gear 18. 24 is configured to transmit the rotation of the cylinder shaft 4 to the cylinder shaft 4.

(Function) With this configuration, when the drive motor 24 is driven, the idle gear 18 rotates around the fixed support shaft 2 via the large diameter gear 14 by the gear 23 fixed to the rotating shaft 24A of the motor 24. , the cylindrical rotating frame 8 eccentrically revolves around the fixed member 6 attached to the upper end of the fixed support shaft 2 via the internal gear 16 meshing with the idle gear 18. As a result, the cylindrical shaft 4 is rotated via a rotation transmission mechanism separate from the meshing gear train extending from the gear 23 to the idle gear 18, and meshes with the gear 17 fixed to the cylindrical shaft 4 and this gear 17. The internal gear 16 rotates via the idle gear 18, which rotates, and the cylindrical rotating frame 8 rotates.

Therefore, the abrasive sheet 7 stretched over the cylindrical rotating frame 8 performs eccentric rotation with respect to the fixed member 6 and also revolves around the fixed member 6 to change the sliding contact portion with respect to the upper surface of the fixed member 6.

When the feeding device 25 is moved down onto the polishing sheet 7 toward the fixed member 6, the lower end surface of the columnar member 26 presses the polishing sheet 7 and enters the hole 6A formed in the fixed member 6. The lower end surface of the columnar member 26 to be polished is polished by partially pressing and deforming the polishing sheet 7.

In this way, the polishing sheet 7 is moved by the drive motor 24 while eccentrically rotating and revolving on the fixed member 6, which is a polishing section, and its polishing surface is used for polishing each columnar member 26 over almost the entire area. Along with
The columnar member 26 moves downward without being rotated, sinks into the hole 6A of the fixed member 6, and forcibly deforms the polishing sheet 7 partially, polishing its lower surface with precision. 26 is free from the risk of being cut or broken during polishing.

(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 rotary polishing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view of FIG. is a fixed support shaft that is fixedly erected in a vertical position at approximately the center of the grounding frame 1, and a cylindrical shaft 4 is attached to the outside of the shaft through thrust self-aligning roller bearings 3, so that it can only rotate freely in a concentric state. In addition to being fitted and supported, a polishing limiting fixing member 6, which is disk-shaped in plan view, is detachably attached to the upper end of the fixed support shaft 2 via a connector chuck 5. Reference numeral 7 denotes a circular abrasive sheet, which is made by adhering diamond abrasive grains or the like to the surface of a thin sheet having flexibility and elastic restoring force. Its outer periphery is clamped and fixed between the vertically opposing surfaces of a cylindrical holding frame 11 which is vertically swingable around the horizontal horizontal axis 9 and is connected to the upper end so that it can be tightened and fixed via a shrimp fitting 10. It is installed so that it can be replaced freely. 12
is 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 at an angle of Δl with respect to the axis a of the fixed support shaft 2. It is rotatably supported via a thrust bearing 15 by a large-diameter gear 14, which will be described later, in a state where it is deviated by a certain amount, and an internal gear 16 is concentrically fixed to the inner step portion thereof. 17 is a gear fixed to the upper part of the cylinder shaft 4, and is connected to the internal gear 16 via the idle gear 18.
It is interlocked with the 19 is a V-pulley fixed to the lower part of the cylinder shaft 4, to which a V-belt 20 is attached.
The V-pulley 21, which is interlocked via the
Motor 24, V pulley 21, V belt 20, V pulley 19, cylinder shaft 4, gears 17, 1
8 and 16, the rotating frame 8 and the polishing sheet 7
It constitutes an autorotation mechanism that drives and rotates around axis b. Note that the rotation from the drive motor 24 to the cylindrical shaft 4 may be transmitted through an appropriate rotation transmission mechanism such as a meshing gear mechanism, instead of using the V-pulley and V-belt as described above.

Reference numeral 14 denotes the above-mentioned large-diameter gear, which is rotatably supported by the above-mentioned grounding 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 18A that is rotatably supported by the free end of an arm 14B that projects inward. On the upper surface of this large diameter gear 14,
A cylindrical portion 14C that is concentric with the rotating frame 8 is integrally protruded, and a cylindrical portion 12C that is externally fitted concentrically with the protruding cylindrical portion 14C is integrally formed on the rotation driven member 12. A gear 23 meshes with the large-diameter gear 14, and is fixed to the rotating shaft 24A of the motor 24.
4. The protruding cylindrical parts 14C and 12C constitute a revolution mechanism that drives and rotates the rotating frame 8 and the polishing sheet 7 around the axis a, and this revolution mechanism and the rotation mechanism cause the polishing sheet 7 to be rotated within the polishing limit. It is configured to be continuously driven and moved in close contact with the surface of the fixing member 6.

A plurality of holes 6A are formed through the polishing limiting fixing member 6 at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction thereof. These holes 6A are formed to have a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of an optical fiber connector 26, which will be described later, which is an example of a material to be polished, and the end surface of the optical fiber connector 26 to be polished is pressed against the polishing sheet 7. At this time, the sheet portion 7 on which the pressing force acts
The maximum deformation amount of the sheet portion 7a is changed depending on the diameter of the hole 6A, and the end surface of the optical fiber connector 26 to be polished is polished. The curvature can be changed, and for this purpose, a plurality of fixing members 6 having different diameters of the holes 6A are prepared, and the fixing members 6 are detachably configured so that they can be selectively used.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a polishing feeding device which fixes and holds a plurality of the optical fiber connectors 26 and presses their end surfaces to be polished toward each hole 6A in the fixing member 6 in a concentric state. Flange portion 26A provided at the intermediate portion of the connector 26
A pair of upper and lower disk-shaped holding members 27, 28 that hold the
and a feed shaft 29, the lower holding member 28 is fixedly connected to the lower end of the feed shaft 29,
The upper clamping member 27 has a through hole 28a through which a portion below the flange 26A is inserted, and is externally fitted onto the feed shaft 29 so as to be slidable in the axial direction thereof. It is slidably biased toward the lower holding body 28 via the lower holding body 28 side.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a brake device that adjusts the rotational speed of the above-mentioned rotation mechanism, and this is provided with a hydraulic cylinder 32 or the like on the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder shaft 4 or, although not shown, on the outer peripheral surface of a rotating brake drum fixed to the cylinder shaft 4. The brake shoe 33 is provided so that it can be pressed and adjusted and separated freely, and by changing the setting of the pressing force of the brake shoe 33, the rotational speed of the cylinder shaft 4, that is, the rotational speed of the rotating frame 8 and the polishing sheet 7 is adjusted. The rotation speed is configured to be variable.

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 a plurality of optical fiber connectors 26 having the above-mentioned structure are fixedly held in the polishing feeding device 25 as specified, the motor 24 is operated to move the rotating frame 8 and the polishing sheet 7 as schematically shown in FIG. Then, it rotates around axis b while revolving around axis a.

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. The polishing sheet portion 7a on which the pressing force acts is the hole 6 of the fixing member 6.
A is locally indented and deformed inward. Due to this concave deformation, the corner portion of the end face of the optical fiber connector 26 first comes into contact with the polishing sheet 7, as shown in FIG. 5a, and that portion is polished. Along with such polishing, the feed shaft 29 is sequentially fed downward and the hole 6A of the polishing sheet 7 is removed.
As the amount of inward deformation increases, polishing of the end face of the optical fiber connector 26 progresses in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5a, and the amount of deformation of the polishing sheet 7 increases as shown in FIG. 5b.
When the maximum is reached as shown in FIG. 4b, the end surface of the optical fiber connector 26 becomes the convex spherical surface 2.
The result is a polished finish of 6e.

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.

In addition to optical fiber connectors, the apparatus of the present invention can also be applied to, for example, lens surface polishing that requires precision polishing, and can of course also be applied to simple flat surface polishing.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the rotary polishing device of the present invention, by driving one drive motor 24, the polishing sheet 7 is stretched from the drive motor 24 through the meshing gear train. The cylindrical rotating frame 8 can be rotated eccentrically with respect to the fixed member 6 disposed within the cylindrical rotating frame 8.

Further, the polishing sheet 7 is placed so that a part of its lower surface is in sliding contact with the upper surface of the fixing member 6, while the columnar member to be polished 26 is placed on the upper surface of the fixing member 6.
The columnar member 2 to be polished for receiving the lower end of the
A hole 6A having a slightly larger diameter than that of the columnar member 26 is bored, and the lower end surface of the columnar member 26 to be polished is inserted into the hole 6A provided in the fixing member 6 through the polishing sheet 7 above the fixing member 6. Columnar member feeding device 25
Since it is arranged so that it can move freely only in the vertical direction,
By moving the feeding device 25 downward, the lower end of the columnar member 26 to be polished is pressed against the polishing sheet 7 by pressing the lower end of the columnar member 26 into the hole 6A of the fixing member 6.
The polishing sheet 7 passing through the hole 6A is partially deformed while being pressed against the lower end of the columnar member 26 to be polished, and the polishing sheet 7 passes through the hole 6A.
The lower end surface of the grinder can be precisely and uniformly polished into a predetermined shape.

Furthermore, since the polishing sheet 7 revolves while performing eccentric rotation as described above and changes the position of the sliding portion with respect to the upper surface of the fixed member 6, the polishing sheet 7
The polishing surface of the polishing sheet 7 can be used for polishing the columnar member 26 to be polished over almost the entire area.
It is possible to uniformly wear out almost the entire surface of the sheet, and it is possible to extend the sheet replacement cycle.
It can be used extremely economically.

Furthermore, since the plurality of columnar members 26 can be moved only in the vertical direction with respect to the fixed member 6 by the feeding device 25, the structure is extremely simple, and the columnar members 26 are not subject to any twisting or bending action. Since it is not exposed to any damage, there is no risk of cutting or breaking it, and it is particularly effective in polishing small-diameter columnar members such as optical fibers.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the main parts of a rotary polishing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 explains the movement of the polishing sheet. A schematic plan view, FIGS. 4a and 4b are sectional views before polishing and a sectional view after polishing of an example of an optical fiber connector to be polished, and FIGS. 5a and 5b are illustrations of the polishing action. 7... Polishing sheet, 24... Drive motor, 25... Polishing feeding device, 26... Optical fiber connector (material to be polished), 31... Brake device, 33... Brake shoe.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A disk-shaped fixing member 6 having a hole 6A with a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the columnar member 26 to be polished for receiving the lower end of the columnar member 26 to be polished is attached to the support shaft 2. The support shaft 2 is mounted on the upper end, and the support shaft 2 is disposed in the center of the grounding frame 1, and a large diameter gear 14 rotatable around the axis of the support shaft 2 is provided on the grounding frame 1. A cylindrical rotating frame 8 is disposed above with its rotational axis eccentric to the rotational axis of the support shaft 2, and a part of the lower surface of the rotating frame 8 is placed on the fixed member 6. A polishing sheet 7 is stretched so as to be in sliding contact, and the lower end surface of the columnar member to be polished is inserted into the hole 6A provided in the fixing member 6 above the fixing member 6 through the polishing sheet 7. The columnar member feeding device 25 is disposed so as to be movable only in the vertical direction, and the gear 23 fixed to the rotating shaft of the drive motor 24 grounded at an appropriate position on the ground frame 1 is meshed with the large diameter gear 14. At the same time, an arm 14B protruding from the inner surface of the large diameter gear 14 rotatably supports an idle gear 18, and this idle gear 18 is attached to the cylindrical rotating frame 8.
Internal gear 16 fixed to the inner peripheral surface of
and a cylindrical shaft 4 rotatably fitted onto the support shaft 2.
The cylindrical shaft 4 and the rotating shaft of the drive motor 24 are meshed with the gear 17 fixed to the gear 2.
3 to the idle gear 18 by an appropriate independent rotation transmission mechanism such as a V pulley and a V belt, so that the rotation of the drive motor 24 is transmitted to the cylindrical shaft 4. A rotary polishing device consisting of: