JPH0634845A - Optical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a couple of optical connectors which are optically connected to each other through guide pins. CONSTITUTION:This optical connector has a ferrule 11 where guide pin holes 14 penetrating it in the axial direction of optical fibers are formed while optical fiber end surfaces are positioned and arranged on the front end surface is equipped with the guide pins 13 which each project from the ferrule front end surface 11a at one end part and from the rear end surface of the ferrule 11 at the other end part and also have a narrow part 13a as an engagement part nearby the tip of the other end part and a clamper 15 which is arranged on the rear end surface side of the ferrule 11 and engages the narrow part 13a of the engagement parts of the guide pins projecting from the guide holes; and the guide pins 13 are prevented from falling when the connector is connected or disconnected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical connector which is optically coupled via a guide pin.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art MF optical connectors, MT optical connectors, SV optical connectors, etc., which have hitherto been known as multi-fiber optical connectors, are positioned by inserting guide pins into guide pin holes formed for positioning. Meanwhile, the front end faces are butted against each other and optically coupled. A clamp that presses in the optical fiber axial direction from the rear end face side of the optical connector is used as an optical connector holder for stably holding this optical coupling.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show the optical coupling state of the MT optical connector. As shown in the figure, the optical connector 1
Has two guide pin holes 2 penetrating in the axial direction of the optical fiber in the ferrule body 3, and the guide pins 4 are inserted into the guide pin holes 2 to insert the guide pins 4 into the ferrule body. The front end faces 5 are butted against each other so that they are optically coupled. The clip 6 that stably holds the optical coupling state has a structure in which the rear end surface 9 of the optical connector 1 is sandwiched by the plate spring portions 8 provided at both ends of the plate member 7.

[0004]

Since the guide pins 4 used for connecting the optical connectors 1 described above are not fixed in the guide pin holes 2, the optical connectors 1, 1 shown in FIG.
When the optical connectors 1 and 1 are separated from each other in the coupled state, the guide pins 4 may come off (see FIG. 7).
(Refer to (B)), but in the worst case, there is a problem of falling off. This is a problem particularly when the attachment / detachment of the optical connector is performed in a high place or a dark place.

On the other hand, if the guide pins 4 are fixed with an adhesive, it is difficult to clean the optical connector end face 5 as shown in FIG. 7C, and the guide pin 3 and the connector end face are not wiped. For example, there is a problem in that matching grease, dust, etc., adhere to the portion, which causes deterioration of the characteristics of the optical connector.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides an optical connector in which the guide pin is not lost when the optical connector is attached and detached, the end face of the optical connector is easily wiped, and the position of the guide pin is always kept in a fixed direction. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

According to the structure of an optical connector of the present invention for achieving the above object, an optical fiber end face is positioned and arranged on a front end face, and a guide pin hole penetrating in the optical fiber axial direction is formed. An optical connector having a ferrule, one end of which protrudes from the front end face of the ferrule, the other end of which protrudes from the rear end face of the ferrule and which forms a locking portion near the tip of the other end, and A clamper is provided on the rear end surface side of the ferrule, the clamper having locking means for locking the locking portion of the guide pin protruding from the guide pin hole.

[0008]

In the optical connector of the above construction, the guide pin is inserted into the guide pin hole formed in the ferrule from the side where the locking portion is formed, and the locking means of the clamper arranged on the rear end face side of the ferrule and The guide pin is locked to the locking portion, and one end of the guide pin to be inserted into the guide pin hole of another optical connector is projected from the front end face of the ferrule. As a result, the guide pin held by the clamper does not fall off when the optical connector is attached or detached.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical connector according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a clamper, and FIG. 3 is a plan view and a front view thereof.

As shown in these drawings, the optical connector 10
Is positioned in the ferrule body 11 so that the end surface of the optical fiber 12 faces the outside of the front end surface 11a of the ferrule body 11, and is used for inserting the guide pin 13 penetrating in the same direction as the axial direction of the optical fiber 12. Guide pin hole 1
4 is formed in two places.

The guide pin 13 has a constricted portion 1 in the vicinity of the tip of one end of the guide pin 13 at a position apart from the one end as a locking portion.
3a is formed as a stepped guide pin.

On the rear end surface 11b of the ferrule body 11, there is disposed a clamper 15 having locking means for engaging with the constricted portion 13a formed on the guide pin 13, and one end of the guide pin 13 is engaged. It has stopped.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the clamper 15 according to the present embodiment has an insertion hole 16a for the guide pin 13 and a slit portion 16b communicating with the insertion hole 16a formed in the clamper body 16 and the guide pin. 13 is the insertion hole 1
A locking piece 16 that elastically deforms in the R direction in FIGS. 2 and 3 and locks with the constricted portion 13a of the guide pin 13 when inserted into the 6a.
c is provided.

A stopper 16d is erected on the clamper body 16 in the insertion direction of the guide pin 13 to be inserted, and stops the tip of the guide pin 13 and positions it.

Therefore, the guide pin 13 having the constricted portion 13a is inserted into the guide pin hole 14 and the constricted portion 1 is formed.
By locking 3a by the locking means of the clamper 15, one end portion of the guide pin 13 of a predetermined length is projected from the front end surface 11a of the ferrule, and the guide pin 13 is locked.
The other end is always locked by the clamper 15.

When coupling the optical connectors, as shown in FIG. 4 (A), the optical connector 17 has a guide pin hole 18 that penetrates the tip end of the protruding guide pin 13 in the axial direction of the optical fiber as in the prior art. The multi-core optical fiber is optically coupled by inserting it into the guide pin hole 18 for coupling.

When the optical connector is attached or detached, the constricted portion 13a of the guide pin 13 is gripped by the clamper 15, so that only the optical connector comes off and the guide pin 1
There is no dropout of 3.

On the other hand, when wiping the front end surface 11a of the ferrule, the guide pin 13 may be attached and detached by using the pin drawing jig 19. The pin gripping force is preferably 100 gf to 1000 gf.

The clamper 15 used in this embodiment is made of synthetic resin or the like so that the locking piece 16c is elastically deformable and the diameter of the constricted portion 13a of the guide pin 13 is small. Even if the hole diameter and the hole pitch of the insertion hole 16a are not made highly accurate, the guide pin 13 does not receive stress.

Next, an example of another clamper will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the clamper 25 is provided with a pair of opposed clip portions 25a and 25b at two places, and the material thereof is metallic. And the clip portion 25a,
The guide pin 1 is provided in the slit portion 26 formed between the portions 25b.
The constricted portion 13a, which is the locking portion of No. 3, is inserted and gripped and fixed. The pin can be attached and detached by using a pin extracting jig as described above.

This clamper omits the formation of a guide pin hole for inserting the tip portion of the guide pin 13 by the slit portion 26 and makes the precision of the hole pitch unnecessary.

In the optical connector according to the present invention, the connection of other optical connectors may be held by using the clip 7 shown in FIG. 6 as in the conventional case, or the member may be provided in a push-on type housing, for example. May be incorporated.

[0024]

As described above with reference to the embodiments, when the optical connector according to the present invention is attached or detached, the guide pins for positioning the optical connectors do not fall off, so that the place where the number of attachments and detachments is frequent, for example, the optical connector. It is suitable for use in measurement and optical connector switching devices. Further, the multi-core optical connector can avoid the loss of the guide pin when working in high places and dark places.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B show an embodiment of an optical connector, FIG. 1A is a perspective view thereof, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line AA.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a clamper according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a front view of a clamper.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a detached state of the optical connector.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view and a sectional view of a clamper according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional optical connector.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing attachment / detachment of a conventional optical connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Optical Connector 11 Ferrule Main Body 12 Optical Fiber 13 Guide Pins 14, 18 Guide Pin Hole 15 Clamper 16 Clamper Main Body 17 Optical Connector 19 Pin Extraction Jig 25 Clamper 26 Slit Section

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Shinji Nagasawa 1-6, Uchiyuki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Toshiaki Satake 1-1-6 Uchiyuki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An optical connector having a ferrule in which an end face of an optical fiber is positioned and arranged on a front end face, and a ferrule having a guide pin hole penetrating in the optical fiber axial direction is formed, one end of which protrudes from the front end face of the ferrule. On the other hand, the guide pin having the other end protruding from the rear end face of the ferrule and having a locking portion formed near the tip of the other end, and the guide pin disposed on the rear end face of the ferrule and protruding from the guide pin hole. An optical connector comprising: a locking portion and a clamper having locking means for locking.