Optical waveguides – With disengagable mechanical connector – Optical fiber/optical fiber cable termination structure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-06
2001-01-30
Palmer, Phan T. H. (Department: 2874)
Optical waveguides
With disengagable mechanical connector
Optical fiber/optical fiber cable termination structure
C385S055000, C385S060000, C385S076000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179482
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an optical connector and to a housing for an optical connector, which can be easily assembled on the end of an optical fiber at a connection site.
BACKGROUND ART
Conventionally, there has been proposed an optical connector for field attachment of a connecting end of an optical fiber, carried out at a connection site away from the factory. Corresponding to this, various types of SC design optical connectors for field attachment have been elaborated.
Field attachment optical connectors are ones in a form where the optical fiber is inserted through and secured to a ferrule which has been previously polished at a tip end, thereby omitting the connector polishing operation after connection.
The connection operation of an optical fiber to an SC design optical connector other than one for field connection, involves a step of previously inserting the optical fiber through the center of all of the connector housing components such as the rubber boot and so on, and after connecting the tip of the optical fiber to the SC ferrule, polishing the connector tip to assemble and finish the overall connector.
With this however, there is a problem in that preparation of polishing equipment at a connection site other than the factory, and execution of the polishing and assembly operation at a site with a poor working environment is undesirable from the point of operating costs and work efficiency.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention takes into consideration the above situation with the object of providing an optical connector which can be easily assembled within a short time at a field connection site.
To achieve the above object, the optical connector of claim
1
comprises; a housing, a ferrule having an optical fiber secured thereinside and a flat tip end face capable of optical connection with another optical component, a connection mechanism located at a rear end side of the ferrule opposite to the tip end face, for positionally aligning and connecting by butt connection and clamping a portion of the optical fiber protruding from a rear end of the ferrule and another optical fiber to thereby maintain a connected condition, wherein the connection mechanism comprising; a hilt portion protruding rearward from the ferrule, a cover which together with the hilt portion clamps therebetween the pair of optical fibers to be butt connected, an alignment device for positionally aligning the pair of optical fibers to be connected between the hilt portion and the cover so as to be able to abut against each other, a clamping force applying device for applying a clamping force to the hilt portion and the cover for clamping the optical fibers, and an insertion opening for insertion of a release member for pressing between and opening the hilt portion and the cover against an biasing force of the clamping force applying device, and the insertion opening is opened to the side along an alignment axis direction of the optical fiber.
With such an optical connector, at first a condition with the release member inserted into the connection mechanism from the insertion opening, and the hilt portion and the cover separated is established. Then in this condition, the optical fiber is inserted from the rear end of the connection mechanism so as to connect by butt connection inside the connection mechanism with the optical fiber on the ferrule side. After this, when the release mechanism is extracted from the connection mechanism, the two abutted optical fibers are clampingly retained between the hilt portion and the cover to thereby maintain the connected condition. In this way, the optical connector can be assembled by merely performing a simple operation. When the release member is inserted into the connection mechanism of the completed optical connector for release, the optical fiber connected to the optical fiber on the ferrule side can be exchanged.
When releasing between the hilt portion and the cover, the release member is inserted into the connection mechanism from the side along the alignment axis direction. In this way, the operability of opening and closing the connection mechanism with operation of the release member is improved. By means of the connection mechanism with the construction including the hilt portion, the connection position of the pair of optical fibers is stably held at a fixed position relative to the ferrule, so that the connection condition of the optical fibers can be stably maintained.
For the alignment device, a construction which adopts for example, an alignment groove formed in one or both of the mutually opposed inner surfaces of the hilt portion and the cover, a microcapillary, or a construction where for example the optical fibers are supported by three precision rods or the like, is also included in the present invention.
The housing for an optical connector of claim
4
, constructed so as to be able to accommodate a ferrule having an optical fiber secured thereinside and a flat tip end face capable of optical connection with another optical component, incorporates thereinside an engagement protrusion for accommodation in a location groove formed in a ferrule holder fixed to the ferrule, and a ring portion accommodating socket for accommodating a ring portion protruding from the ferrule holder, and also incorporates an inclined lip for engaging with a ring-shape protruding portion protruding from a stop ring for accommodating a connection mechanism assembled at a rear end side of the ferrule opposite to the tip end face, the connection mechanism being constructed so as to positionally align and clamp the optical fiber protruding from a rear end portion of the ferrule and another optical fiber to thereby maintain an butt connecting condition, and when the stop ring accommodating the connection mechanism is inserted, assembly is effected by accommodating the engagement protrusion in the location groove of the ferrule, accommodating the ring portion in the ring portion accommodating socket, and engaging the ring-shape protruding portion with the inclined lip. When this housing for the optical connector is assembled with the ferrule and the ferrule holder, the engagement protrusion protruding from the inside of the optical connector housing is accommodated in the location groove formed in the ferrule holder, and the ring portion protruding from the ferrule holder is accommodated in the ring portion accommodating socket formed in the inside of optical connector housing. Preferably the ring portion is accommodated in the ring portion accommodating socket with a small amount of clearance so as to be movable. In this way, a small amount of forward and backward movement is permitted relative to the optical component with which the ferrule is to be connected. At this time, the movement of the ferrule holder is guided by the engagement protrusion. Since movement of the ring portion is limited inside the ring portion accommodating socket, then after fitting the optical connector housing, removal of the ferrule is prevented. In this way, with the housing for the optical connector, by assembling the ferrule, the connection mechanism and the stop ring, and inserting into the housing, assembly can be easily effected, thus improving operability in assembling the optical connector.
The optical connector according to claim
5
comprises; a ferrule having an optical fiber secured thereinside and a flat tip end face capable of optical connection with another optical component, a connection mechanism for positionally aligning and butt connecting and clamping the optical fiber protruding from a rear end side of the ferrule opposite to the tip end face and another optical fiber to thereby maintain a connected condition, and a housing for accommodating the ferrule, and an insertion opening for insertion of a release member for opening and closing the connection mechanism is opened on a side face.
For the connection mechanism, for example as with claim
1
a construction is adopted where this comprises; a bifurcated construction component se
Arikawa Toru
Furukawa Shin-ichi
Hogari Kazuo
Takizawa Kazuhiro
Tamaki Yasuhiro
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Fujikura Ltd.
Palmer Phan T. H.
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