JPH0581003B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a connector for connecting optical fibers,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a photoelectric composite connector that connects an optical fiber and an electric wire together when the electric wire is arranged in parallel with the optical fiber.

(Prior Art) In recent years, optical communication, which uses light as an information transmission medium and transmits information by sending signals of this light through optical fibers, has come into widespread use.
Furthermore, various connectors for connecting this optical fiber to a transmitting device, a receiving device, etc., or for connecting at the intermediate portion of the optical fiber have been proposed and put into practical use.

When transmitting signals using such optical fibers, both the transmitting device and the receiving device require power for photoelectric conversion for transmitting and receiving, so electric wires are connected in parallel with the optical fiber. It is common practice to provide a power source on either the transmitting side or the receiving side by transmitting power through the electric wire. In such cases, it is better to provide a connector that integrates both optical fiber connectors and electric wire connectors than to provide separate connectors, and for this reason, conventional optoelectronic composite connectors that integrate the two have been used. Various proposals have been made.

However, these conventional photoelectric composite connectors have separate terminals for the optical fiber (phenol) and electrical wire, and are simply a combination of the optical fiber connector and the electrical connector in a single housing. . For this reason, there are problems in that the structure of the connector is complicated, the assembly work of the connector tends to be complicated, it is difficult to downsize the connector, and the price tends to increase.

(Object of the Invention) In view of these problems, the present invention provides a photoelectric composite connector that can transmit and receive optical signals and electric power in one line, and facilitates the assembly work of the connector and reduces the size and size of the connector. The purpose of this is to reduce the number of products and the price.

(Structure of the Invention) The photoelectric composite connector of the present invention has an insertion hole into which the end of the optical fiber and the electric wire are inserted into the connector housing, and the end of the optical fiber and the end of the electric wire inserted into the insertion hole are inserted into the connector housing. The contact plate made of a conductive material is fitted into the hole, and the end of the optical fiber and the electric wire are fixedly held in the insertion hole by the engagement with the contact plate, and the contact plate and the conductor of the electric wire are brought into contact with each other. None, the connector housing is provided with a core insertion hole that exposes the core end surface of the optical fiber inserted into the insertion hole to the outside, and an opening that opens at the front for inserting the mating electrical contact. A part of the contact plate is exposed, and when the photoelectric composite connector is fitted and connected to a mating connector, the electrical connector of the mating connector comes into contact with the contact plate exposed in the opening. It is something to do.

(Example) Preferred examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a photoelectric composite connector member 10 according to the present invention and a mating connector member 30 to which this member is connected. The photoelectric composite connector member 10 has two connectors for transmitting and receiving optical signals. One end of the optical fiber cables 1, 1 is connected to the other end of the optical fiber cable 1, 1, and one end of an electric wire 2, 2 for supplying power to a device to which the other end of the optical fiber cable 1, 1 is connected is connected. . The mating connector member 30 is fixedly held on the printed wiring board 5, and includes a light emitting element 31 for transmitting an optical signal inside.
A light receiving element 32 for receiving the transmitted optical signal is also provided.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of the photoelectric composite connector member 10 along a plane perpendicular to the optical fiber cable 1, and the connector member 10 includes a connector housing 11 and a contact plate 13 made of a conductive material. , a removable cover plate 1 that closes the upper opening 11e of the connector housing 11;
It consists of 2. The connector housing 11 has a cable insertion hole 11a into which the entire optical fiber cable 1 is inserted as shown in the figure, and a cable insertion hole 11a into which the entire optical fiber cable 1 is inserted.
The optical fiber cable 1 has a core insertion hole 11b that extends further forward from the optical fiber cable 1a and penetrates through it, into which the optical fiber core 1a is inserted, and only the core 1a of the optical fiber cable 1 is inserted into the core insertion hole 11b. is inserted into the cable insertion hole 11a. This cable core 1a is aligned so as to be flush with the front end surface of the cylindrical portion 11c of the connector housing 11. That is, this cylindrical portion 11c
serves as a ferrule for optical connectors. Although not shown in this figure, a wire insertion hole is also formed in the connector housing 11, and the wire 2 is inserted into the connector housing 1 through this wire insertion hole.
It is designed to be inserted within 1. Furthermore, a mating contact insertion opening 11d that opens toward the front (left side in the figure) is formed in the upper part of the connector housing 11, and a contact plate insertion opening 1 is formed in the upper part of the mating contact insertion opening 11d.
1e is formed. However, this contact plate insertion opening 11e is
3 is inserted from above, and as shown in the figure, after the contact plate 13 is inserted, it is closed by a removable cover plate 12.

The contact plate 13 is inserted into the contact housing 11 through the contact plate insertion opening 11e and fixedly held within the housing 11. At this time, the contact plate 13 engages with the optical fiber cable 1 and the electric wire 2, and the contact plate 13 engages with the optical fiber cable 1 and the electric wire 2. 2 is fixedly held in the housing 11. This contact plate 13 and cable 1
3A and 3B.
This will be explained using figures. Figures 3A and 3B are
This is a perspective view of the connector housing 11 showing a state in which the ends of the optical fiber cable 1 and the electric wire 2 are inserted into the connector housing 11, and the jacket is peeled off at the tip of the optical fiber cable 1 to reveal the core 1a. A portion of the electric wire 2 is exposed, and the core wire of the electric wire 2 remains covered. Contact plate 13
is made by bending a plate made of a conductive material such as metal into a U-shape, and a slit 13a for an optical fiber cable and a slit 13b for an electric wire are formed in both legs, respectively. Therefore, when the contact plate 13 is inserted, the optical fiber cable 1 and the electric wire 2 enter into both slits 13a and 13b, respectively. At this time, the width of the slit 13a is smaller than the outer diameter of the cable 1 and larger than the core diameter, and the slit 13a bites into the jacket of the cable 1 and engages with the cable 1. The same goes for wire 2, and slit 1
3b bites into the covering of the electric wire 2 and engages with the electric wire 2,
Further, in this case, the slit 13b contacts the core wire, and the electric wire 2 and the contact plate 13 are electrically connected.

The front cross-sectional view in FIG. 4 and the plan cross-sectional view in FIG. This will be explained based on the diagram. Note that FIG. 5 shows only one side of both members 10 and 30. The mating connector member 30 is configured by arranging connection contacts 34 and light-emitting and light-receiving elements 31 and 32 (only the light-emitting element 31 is shown in the figure) in a connector housing 33, and is fixed on the printed wiring board 4 to emit light and receive light. The light receiving elements 31 and 32 and the connection contact 34 are connected to a circuit on the printed wiring board 4. Although the connection contact 34 does not appear in the cross section of FIG.
In the figure, only the connection contacts are left on the wiring board 4. Connector housing 33
has an opening 33a for receiving the photoelectric composite type connector member 10, and the connector member 10 is inserted into the opening 33a as shown in the figure, and the two connector members 10 and 30 are connected. Once the connection is made in this way, the connector housing 1
The front end surface of the cylindrical portion 11c of the core 1a faces the light emitting or light receiving elements 31, 32 in close proximity to each other.
It is possible to send and receive optical signals by facing the device. Further, the tip of the connection contact 34 is connected to the mating contact insertion opening 1 of the connector housing 11.
1d and comes into contact with the upper surface of the contact plate 13, the connection contact 34 and the contact plate 13 come into electrical contact, and it becomes possible to send and receive electrical signals. As described above, by using the photoelectric composite connector 10 of the present invention, it is possible to transmit and receive both optical signals and electrical signals with a connector having a simple structure.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a different example of the photoelectric composite connector member according to the present invention. In this case, the photoelectric composite connector member 40 inserts and holds the electric wires 2, 2 on the upper side and the optical fiber cables 1, 1 on the lower side, arranging them vertically in two rows,
For this reason, the contact plates 42, 42 are inserted into the connector housing 41 from both sides. In addition,
The engagement between the contact plates 42, 42 and the electric wires 2 and cable 1 is the same as described above, so a description thereof will be omitted. For this reason, the mating connector member 50 to which this connector member 40 is connected also has connection contacts 54, 54 arranged on both sides, and when both connector members 40, 50 are connected, as shown in FIG. The connection contacts 54, 54 contact the contact plates 42, 42 from one side. At the same time, the tip of the core 1a of the fiber cable 1 is closely opposed to the light-emitting and light-receiving elements 51 and 52,
Optical signals are exchanged.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the connection is made at the intermediate portion of the fiber cable 1, in which photoelectric composite connector members 10, 10 are attached to each end of the two cables 1, 1 to be connected. , which are connected by a connector member 60 for intermediate connection. Therefore, the intermediate connection connector member 60 has receiving openings 61a, 61 at both ends that receive the photoelectric composite connector members 10, 10.
a housing 61 having a
It is fixed inside and both ends are each receiving opening 61a, 61a.
The housing 61 is also formed with a through hole 61b that communicates the two receiving openings 61a, 61a. To make a connection using the intermediate connector member 60, the connector members 10, 10 are inserted into both receiving openings 61a, 61a, and each end of the connection contact 62 is connected to the contact plate 13, 13 of the connector member 10, 10. bring into contact with. Thereby, the electric wires 2, 2 of both the connector members 10, 10 can be electrically connected to each other via the connection contacts 62. At the same time, the cylindrical portion 11c of the connector member 10 enters the through hole 61b, and the cylindrical portions 11c closely face each other, making it possible to transmit optical signals between the optical fiber cables.

In the above example, the case where the optical fiber cable and the electric wire between the optoelectronic composite connector members are provided separately and arranged in parallel to each other has been described. Optical fiber core 3d and jacket 3c
A plurality of core wires 3 are wrapped around the cable coated with
In some cases, a photoelectric composite cable 3 is used, which is surrounded by an insulating coating 3a. This cable 3 has the advantage that not only can both optical signals and electrical signals be sent through one line, but also the strength of the cable 3 itself can be improved by the core wire 3b. As shown in FIG. 11, a photoelectric composite connector member 70 using this cable 3 has an end inserted into a connector housing 71 and is fixedly held in the connector housing 71 by engagement with a contact plate 73. The basic structure is similar to the optoelectronic composite connector member 10 shown in FIG. Therefore, the mating connector member 8
The structure of the connector 0 and the method of connecting it to the mating connector member 80 are also almost the same as in the case of FIG. 1, so a description thereof will be omitted. However, the engagement between the contact plate 73 and the cable 3 is achieved through the slit 73 of the contact plate 73, as shown in FIGS. 9A to 10B.
The contact plate 73 is designed to come into contact with the core wire 3b surrounding the optical fiber cable.

Next, an example of a device for transmitting information by optical signals using the photoelectric composite connector member according to the present invention will be described based on FIG. 9.

This device is constructed by connecting a transmitting device 5 and a receiving device 5' via an optical fiber cable 1 for transmitting optical signals. In this device, the power source 7 is only placed in the transmitting device 5, and therefore the light receiving element 32 and the stabilizing circuit 8 in the receiving device 5' are
An electric wire 2 for supplying operating power to the electronic circuit 9 is provided in parallel with the optical fiber cable 1. The ends of the optical fiber cable 1 and the electric wire 2 are connected to the transmitting and receiving devices 5, 5' by means of the above-mentioned photoelectric composite connector members 10, 10' according to the present invention. The transmitting device 5 includes a light emitting element 31 facing the front end surface within the photoelectric composite connector member 10;
The electronic circuit 6 and the light emitting element 3 send an electric signal to the light emitting element 31 to generate a predetermined optical signal.
1 and a power source 7 for supplying operating power to the electronic circuit 6. Therefore, the light emitting element 31 emits light based on the electrical signal from the electronic circuit 6, and a predetermined optical signal resulting from this light emission is sent to the optical fiber cable 1. Further, the power source 7 is connected to a contact plate in the photoelectric composite connector member 10, and power from the power source 7 is sent to the electric wire 2 via this contact plate.

On the other hand, the receiving device 5' includes a light receiving element 32, a stabilizing circuit 8, and an electronic circuit 9. The stabilizing circuit 8 stabilizes the power from the power source 7 sent through the electric wire 2 in order to operate the light receiving element 32 and the electronic circuit 9. The light receiving element 32 and the electronic circuit 9 are activated. The light receiving element 32 faces the front end surface of the photoelectric composite connector member 10' on the left side in the figure, and receives an optical signal sent from the transmitting device 5 via the optical fiber cable 1, and photoelectrically converts the signal. , the electric signal converted in this way is read in the electronic circuit 9.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the ends of the optical fiber cable and the electric wire are inserted into the connector housing and are engaged with the contact plate fitted into the connector housing. A photoelectric composite connector is constructed by holding the optical fiber cable firmly in place and at the same time making contact with the contact plate and the core wire of the electric wire.In order to connect this photoelectric composite connector to a mating connector, the core end face of the optical fiber cable must be connected to the mating element. etc., to transmit optical signals, and then bring the contact plate into contact with the mating electrical contacts to transmit electrical signals.One connector can transmit both optical and electrical signals. It is possible to cause communication to take place. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the structure and reduce the size of the optoelectronic composite connector, and also to facilitate assembly and reduce the cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a photoelectric composite connector member and a mating connector member according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the photoelectric composite connector member, and FIG.
Figures A and 3B are perspective views showing only the optical fiber cable, electric wire, and contact plate to explain their engagement, and Figures 4 and 5 are perspective views showing the connection between the optoelectronic composite connector member and the mating connector member. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a different example of the photoelectric composite connector member according to the present invention together with a mating connector member, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the state in which both connector members shown in FIG. 6 are connected. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of connecting photoelectric composite connector members according to the present invention, and FIGS. 9A and 9B are photoelectric composite connectors in which an optical fiber and an electric wire are integrated. FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are cross-sectional views corresponding to FIGS. 9A and 9B, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the engagement between the mold cable and the contact plate.
A perspective view showing a photoelectric composite connector member together with a mating connector member when the cable shown in the figure is used;
FIG. 12 is a schematic circuit diagram showing an apparatus for transmitting information by optical signals using the photoelectric composite connector member. 1... Optical fiber cable, 2... Electric wire, 4...
...Printed wiring board, 10,40,70...Photoelectric composite connector member, 13,42,73...Contact plate, 30,50,80...Mating connector member, 31...Light emitting element, 32...Light receiving element ,
34...Connection contact, 60...Intermediate connection connector member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A photoelectric composite connector in which an end of an optical fiber cable that transmits an optical signal is connected to an end of an electric wire arranged in parallel to the optical fiber cable, wherein the optical fiber is connected to the rear end side. a connector housing having an insertion hole into which the end of the cable and the electric wire are inserted; and a connector housing that is fitted into the connector housing and engaged with the end of the optical fiber cable and the electric wire inserted into the insertion hole, and the optical fiber is inserted into the insertion hole. The connector housing includes a contact plate made of a conductive material that fixes and holds the ends of the cable and the electric wire in the insertion hole and makes contact with the conductor of the electric wire, and the connector housing has an opening at its front end surface and the insertion hole is inserted into the connector housing. A core insertion hole through which the core end surface of the optical fiber is ejected onto the front end surface, and an opening for inserting a mating electrical contact that opens forward are formed, and a portion of the contact plate is exposed within the opening to allow the mating electrical contact to be inserted. A photoelectric composite connector characterized by being able to make contact with electrical contacts.