JP2007093557A - Clamp device for optical connector plug and microinterferometer device provided therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clamp device for optical plug connector, capable of holding an optical connector plug having a plug member consisting of an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder in a highly reproducible state independently from the installation manner thereof. <P>SOLUTION: This device comprises an outer cylinder rotation regulating member 340 which makes contact with the outer cylinder 402 when a plug 400 is installed to regulate the rotation of the outer cylinder 402 around a central axis W; a guide cylinder 313 which makes contact with a ferrule 420 in a state where the rotating of the outer cylinder 420 is regulated to regulate movement of the ferule 420 in a direction right-angled to the central axis W; and an inner cylinder positioning member 420 which makes contact with the inner cylinder 404 in a state where the movement of the ferrule 420 is regulated, and positions the inner cylinder 404 by applying a pressing force right-angled to the central axis W to the inner cylinder 404. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connector plug that holds a ferrule when measuring and analyzing the shape and the like of the tip of the ferrule using a microscopic interferometer device (also referred to as “interference microscope device”). In particular, the present invention relates to a clamp device for an optical connector plug suitable for a case where a plug member for holding a ferrule includes an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder, and a microscopic interferometer apparatus including the same.

  Conventionally, a clamp for positioning and holding an optical connector plug, which holds a ferrule to be measured, with respect to a microscopic interferometer device when measuring the amount of spherical eccentricity, etc. at the tip surface of the ferrule with a microscopic interferometer An apparatus has been proposed by the applicant of the present application (see Patent Documents 1 and 2 below).

  In general, an optical connector plug is formed with a key (or key groove) that serves as an index for alignment when connected to the other side, and the spherical eccentricity of the ferrule tip surface is based on this key position. Measured. However, in an optical connector plug, a predetermined amount of play due to manufacturing tolerances between the cylindrical plug member that houses the ferrule and the ferrule (particularly around the central axis of the optical connector plug, the ferrule is connected to the plug member). Since the relative rotation error is allowed, there is a problem that the position of the ferrule with respect to the key position on the plug member side is not uniquely determined (see Patent Document 3 below).

  Therefore, the clamping device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 below rotates the plug member while the clamping device holds the ferrule so that the ferrule and the plug member do not cause relative rotational deviation during measurement. A rotation restricting portion for restricting the rotation. In addition, the clamping device disclosed in Patent Document 2 below is a pressing portion that presses the plug member so that the optical connector plug can be held with good reproducibility even when there is a backlash between the rotation restricting portion and the plug device. Is provided in the rotation restricting portion.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-12931 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-70104 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-69697

  However, in the clamping devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the optical connector plug is attached while inserting the ferrule into the guide cylinder for positioning the ferrule, and the plug member is engaged with the rotation restricting portion at the final stage. Since it is configured to restrict the rotation of the plug member, there is the following problem.

  In other words, the guide tube in the above-described clamping device is originally for restricting the ferrule from moving in a direction perpendicular to the central axis, but in a state where it is inserted into the guide tube, the guide tube Since the ferrule comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface, the rotation around the central axis of the ferrule is slightly restricted by the frictional resistance. For this reason, depending on the mounting method, when the plug member is engaged with the rotation restricting portion, a force that twists the plug member around the central axis acts on the ferrule inserted into the guide tube, and the ferrule and the plug There may be a relative rotational shift with the member. Optical connector plugs held in such an inappropriate state have low reproducibility, such as the relative position of the ferrule and the plug member differing from each other during measurement and during use, so the measurement results are highly reliable. There was a possibility that it could not be obtained.

  Some optical connector plugs include a plug member composed of an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder (see Patent Document 3). In such an optical connector plug, there is a gap between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder. However, a predetermined amount of play due to manufacturing tolerances is allowed, but in the above-described clamping device, sufficient consideration is given to holding the optical connector plug having such a configuration in a highly reproducible state. It wasn't.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is not affected by the manner in which the optical connector plug is mounted, and even if the plug member is an optical connector plug composed of an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector plug clamping device capable of holding this in a highly reproducible state and a microscopic interferometer device equipped with such a clamping device.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the ferrule movement is restricted in a state where the rotation of the outer cylinder is restricted, and the inner cylinder is positioned in a state where the movement of the ferrule is restricted.

That is, the clamping device for optical connector plug according to the present invention,
An outer cylinder, an inner cylinder held in the outer cylinder in a state where at least a part is loosely inserted in the outer cylinder, and held in the inner cylinder in a state where at least a part is loosely inserted in the inner cylinder A clamp device for positioning and holding an optical connector plug having a ferrule formed with respect to a measurement system,
An outer cylinder rotation restricting portion that contacts the outer cylinder when the optical connector plug is attached to the clamp device and restricts the outer cylinder from rotating around the central axis of the optical connector plug;
A ferrule movement restricting portion that contacts the ferrule in a state where the rotation of the outer tube is restricted by the outer tube rotation restricting portion, and restricts the ferrule from moving in a direction perpendicular to the central axis;
The inner cylinder is positioned by making contact with the inner cylinder in a state where the movement of the ferrule is regulated by the ferrule movement restricting portion and applying a pressing force in a direction perpendicular to the central axis to the inner cylinder. And an inner cylinder positioning portion.

  In the optical connector plug clamping device according to the present invention, the inner cylinder positioning portion includes an elastic displacement portion that is elastically displaced by a force received from the inner cylinder upon contact with the inner cylinder, and the elastic displacement portion is to be restored. The pressing force can be applied to the inner cylinder by the force In that case, it is preferable to provide an elastic displacement imparting portion that comes into contact with the inner cylinder positioning portion in a state before the optical connector plug is attached and applies a predetermined amount of displacement to the elastic displacement portion in advance.

  A microscopic interferometer apparatus according to the present invention is a microscopic interferometer apparatus for observing interference fringes obtained by causing object light carrying phase information of a subject to interfere with reference light. The optical connector plug clamping device is provided.

  In the optical connector plug clamping device according to the present invention, the movement of the ferrule is restricted in a state where the rotation of the outer cylinder is restricted, and the inner cylinder is positioned in that state. The inner cylinder is positioned by applying a pressing force in a direction perpendicular to the central axis to the inner cylinder by the inner cylinder positioning portion.

  This prevents the outer cylinder from being twisted around the central axis when the optical connector plug is attached, and the inner cylinder is positioned in an appropriate state with respect to the ferrule and the outer cylinder. Therefore, the optical connector plug can be held in a highly reproducible state.

  Further, according to the microscopic interferometer device of the present invention, the optical connector plug can be held in a highly reproducible state by the above-described optical connector plug clamping device, so that a highly accurate and reliable measurement result can be obtained. Can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, a configuration example of an optical connector plug that holds a ferrule to be measured will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. 3 is a perspective view of the optical connector plug, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view thereof.

<Configuration of optical connector plug>
An optical connector plug (hereinafter also abbreviated as “plug”) 400 shown in FIG. 4 includes a cylindrical plug member 410 and a vertical spherical polishing ferrule 420 housed in the plug member 410. Thus, the plug member 410 includes an outer cylinder 402 and an inner cylinder 404 that is partially accommodated and held in the outer cylinder 402. On the other hand, the ferrule 420 is formed by holding one end portion of the optical fiber 430 at the center of the outer diameter of a ferrule body 421 made of, for example, zirconia ceramic, and its front end surface 422 is easily in close contact with the front end surface of a counterpart ferrule (not shown). Thus, it is polished into a convex spherical shape.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a ferrule holder 425 including a flange portion 423 and a cylindrical portion 424 is attached to the rear end portion of the ferrule body 421. The ferrule 420 is accommodated in the inner cylinder 404 with the coil spring 426 attached to the cylindrical part 424, and a step part 414 formed on the inner surface of the inner cylinder 404 and a step formed on the inner surface of the outer cylinder 402. With the portion 416, the removal in the left-right direction in the drawing (the extending direction of the central axis W of the plug 400) is restricted. The ferrule 420 is urged by a constant pressure toward the front by the elasticity of the coil spring 426, and the front end surface 422 is pressed against the front end surface of the counterpart ferrule (not shown).

  Further, a pair of key groove portions 427 (only one is shown) is formed on the flange portion 423 of the ferrule holder 425 at positions facing each other across the central axis W. A pair of key portions (not shown) that engage with the pair of key groove portions 427 are formed. The key groove portion 427 on the flange portion 423 side and the key portion on the inner tube 404 side are engaged with each other so that the rotation of the ferrule 420 around the central axis W with respect to the inner tube 404 is restricted.

  In addition, a pair of hole portions 412 are formed at positions facing each other across the central axis W in the upper end portion and the lower end portion of the outer cylinder 402, and the pair of hole portions are formed on the outer surface of the inner cylinder 404. A pair of convex portions 413 that engage with 412 is formed. By the engagement of the hole 412 on the outer cylinder 402 side and the convex part 413 on the inner cylinder 404 side, the removal of the inner cylinder 404 in the left-right direction in the figure with respect to the outer cylinder 402 is restricted.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the outer cylinder 402 and the inner cylinder 404 are formed in a shape and size that can regulate the rotation around the central axis W of the inner cylinder 404 accommodated in the outer cylinder 402. Yes. In addition, a convex key portion 418 serving as an alignment index (guide) when being engaged with the mating plug is provided on the distal side surface portion of the outer tube 402, as described above. The rotation of the inner cylinder 404 around the central axis W and the rotation of the ferrule 420 around the central axis W with respect to the inner cylinder 404 are restricted, but there is a slight backlash between the above-described members due to their manufacturing tolerances. For this reason, the ferrule 420 is allowed to deviate in the predetermined angle range around the central axis W with respect to the plug member 410.

<Configuration of clamp device for optical connector plug>
Next, an embodiment of a clamp device for an optical connector plug according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an optical connector plug clamping device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view from the back side thereof. In FIG. 2, the configuration is shown in a considerably simplified manner.

  The optical connector plug clamping device 300 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “clamping device”) 300 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 positions the above-described plug 400 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) with respect to the measurement system. And includes a clamp body 310, an inner cylinder positioning member 320, an elastic displacement imparting member 330, and an outer cylinder rotation regulating member 340.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the clamp body 310 is formed of a disk-like member having an annular edge 311, and is partially formed by a notch 312 extending from the upper part in the figure toward the lower part in the figure. It is divided into The clamp body 310 includes a cylindrical guide tube 313 protruding in the extending direction of the central axis A of the clamp device 300. The guide tube 313 constitutes a ferrule movement restricting portion, and the inner diameter thereof is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the ferrule body 422 shown in FIGS. That is, when the ferrule main body 422 is inserted, the guide cylinder 313 has its inner peripheral surface in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ferrule main body 422 so that the ferrule 420 moves in a direction perpendicular to the central axis A. Is to regulate.

  The clamp body 310 is provided with an operation lever 314, and by operating the operation lever 314, the ferrule body 422 inserted into the guide tube 313 is connected to each center of the plug 400 and the clamp device 300. The shafts W and A are configured so as to be gripped in a state where they are overlapped with each other. Since the basic configuration and operation of the clamp body 310 are the same as those disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, refer to it for more detailed portions.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the inner cylinder positioning member 320 includes an annular base portion 321 and a pair of left and right pressing portions 322 protruding from the base portion 321 toward the clamp body 310. The pair of pressing portions 322 constitute an inner cylinder positioning portion, and contact the inner cylinder 404 when the plug 400 is attached to the clamp device 300, and the central axis W with respect to the inner cylinder 404. The inner cylinder 404 is positioned by applying a pressing force acting in a direction perpendicular to the inner cylinder 404. More specifically, the pair of pressing portions 322 includes a contact portion 323 and an elastic displacement portion 324 that face each other across the central axis A. The distance between the contact portions 323 is slightly shorter than the left and right widths of the inner cylinder 404, and when the plug 400 is attached to the clamp device 300, each contact portion 323 is connected to the inner cylinder 404. It comes in contact with both left and right side surfaces so as to be sandwiched from both sides. On the other hand, the elastic displacement part 324 is elastically displaced by the force received from the inner cylinder 404 when each contact part 323 comes into contact with the inner cylinder 404, and the pair of pressing parts 322 are provided with this elastic displacement. The pressing force is applied to the inner cylinder 404 by the force that the part 324 tries to restore.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the elastic displacement imparting member 330 includes an annular base 331 and a pair of upper and lower elastic displacement imparting pieces 332 protruding from the base 331 toward the inner cylinder positioning member 320. . The pair of elastic displacement imparting pieces 332 constitutes an elastic displacement imparting portion, and is configured to impart a predetermined amount of displacement to the elastic displacement portion 324 in advance by contacting the pair of pressing portions 322. Has been. More specifically, an insertion portion 333 to be inserted between the contact portions 323 of the pair of pressing portions 322 is provided at each distal end portion of the pair of elastic displacement imparting pieces 332. The width of the insertion part 333 is configured to be slightly longer than the distance between the contact parts 323 and slightly shorter than the left and right widths of the inner cylinder 404, and the insertion part 333 is inserted between the contact parts 323. By doing so, the pair of pressing portions 322 are maintained in a slightly expanded state (a state in which a predetermined amount of displacement is applied to the elastic displacement portion 324).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the outer cylinder rotation restricting member 340 includes a disk-shaped base portion 341 and a columnar plug mounting portion 342 protruding from the base portion 341. The base part 341 and the plug mounting part 342 are formed with outer cylinder insertion holes 343 extending in the direction of the central axis A. The outer cylinder insertion hole 343 constitutes an outer cylinder rotation restricting portion. That is, the outer cylinder insertion hole 343 includes a groove portion 344 that engages with the key portion 418 shown in FIG. 3, and comes into contact with the outer cylinder 402 when inserted into the outer cylinder 402. It is formed in a shape and size that can restrict rotation around the central axis W.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the inner cylinder positioning member 320, the elastic displacement imparting member 330, and the outer cylinder rotation restricting member 340 described above are clamped in a state where the base portions 321, 331, and 341 are overlapped with each other in this order. It is incorporated in the edge 311 of 310 and is fixed to the clamp body 310 by a plurality of screws 301 (only one is illustrated).

<Operation of clamping device for optical connector plug>
Hereinafter, the operation of the above-described clamping device 300 will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing the operation of the optical connector plug clamping device 400. FIG. 5A shows a state in which the rotation of the outer cylinder 402 is restricted, and FIG. 5B shows a state in which the movement of the ferrule 420 is restricted. The figure (a) has shown the state which positioned the inner cylinder 404, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, when the plug 400 is attached to the clamp device 300, first, the outer cylinder 402 is inserted into the outer cylinder insertion hole 343 of the outer cylinder rotation restricting member 340. At this time, the inner surface of the outer cylinder insertion hole 343 is in contact with the outer surface of the outer cylinder 402, and the outer cylinder 402 is restricted from rotating around the central axis W. At this time, the ferrule body 421 is not inserted into the guide tube 313. For this reason, the outer cylinder 402 is twisted around the central axis W when the plug 400 is attached, and a relative rotational deviation with respect to the ferrule 420 does not occur.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, in the plug 400, the ferrule body 421 is inserted into the guide cylinder 313 in a state where the rotation of the outer cylinder 402 is restricted by the outer cylinder insertion hole 343. At this time, the inner peripheral surface of the guide tube 313 is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ferrule body 421, thereby restricting the ferrule 420 from moving in a direction perpendicular to the central axis A.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, the plug 400 is in a state where the movement of the ferrule 420 is restricted by the guide cylinder 313, and the tip of the inner cylinder 404 is located between the contact portions 323 of the inner cylinder positioning member 320. Inserted. At this time, the elastic displacement part 324 shown in FIG. 2 is elastically displaced by the force received from the inner cylinder 404, and the pair of pressing parts 322 are moved to the inner cylinder 404 by the force that the elastic displacement part 324 tries to restore. On the other hand, a pressing force in a direction perpendicular to the central axis W is applied to position the inner cylinder 404. In addition, since a predetermined amount of displacement is applied to the elastic displacement portion 324 in advance by the elastic displacement applying member 330, an appropriate pressing force is applied from the stage when the inner tube 404 starts to contact the contact portions 323. 404 can be acted upon. For this reason, it is possible to position the inner cylinder 404 with respect to the ferrule 420 and the outer cylinder 402 in an appropriate state with high reproducibility.

  Further, by operating the operating lever 314 to grip the ferrule body 422 inserted into the guide tube 313, the mounting of the plug 400 to the clamping device 300 is completed, whereby the plug 400 and the clamping device 300 are The plug 400 is held by the clamp device 300 in a state where the central axes W and A overlap each other.

<Configuration of microscopic interferometer device>
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a microscopic interferometer apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a part of the microscopic interferometer apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention in a broken state.

  A microscopic interferometer apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 6 includes an apparatus housing including a bottom plate 2, a front plate 3 (partially broken away), a rear plate 4, a partition plate 5 and a cover case 6 (partially broken away). Is provided with a power supply unit 7, a control box 8, and an interferometer body unit 10. Among these, the interferometer body 10 includes an objective lens unit 11, a piezo unit 12, a half mirror / light source unit 13, an imaging lens unit 14, a mirror box 15, and a CCD camera unit 16. The front plate 3 is provided with a focus adjustment screw 20, and the focus adjustment of the interferometer main body 10 can be performed by rotating a knob portion 22 of the focus adjustment screw 20. .

  The interferometer body 10 irradiates a minute subject (not shown) held at a predetermined position in front of the objective lens unit 11 with light from a light source (not shown) separately from reference light. By measuring and analyzing the shape and change of interference fringes obtained by causing the object light reflected from the object to interfere with the reference light, the surface shape of the subject can be measured three-dimensionally and measured for physical properties.

  In addition, an inclination adjusting device 100 is disposed on the front plate 3. The tilt adjusting device 100 includes a pair of L-shaped first and second base members 110 and 120 arranged to face each other, and by operating the first and second tilt adjusting screws 140 and 150, The tilt of the second base member 120 with respect to the first base member 110 can be adjusted biaxially with the fulcrum portion 130 as the center.

  A clamp holder 200 is attached to the second base member 120 of the tilt adjusting device 100. The clamp holder 200 includes a front step portion 210, a rear step portion 220, and a connecting portion 230 that connects them, and the front step portion 210 is fixed to the second base member 120 by three mounting screws 240. Yes. The rear stage 220 of the clamp holder 200 is located on the front side of the objective lens unit 11, and a holding recess 221 is formed at the center thereof, and the clamp device 300 ′ is held in the holding recess 221. is doing. This clamping device 300 ′ is of a prior art having a different aspect from the above-described clamping device 300. Since the basic configuration and operation of the microscopic interferometer apparatus 1 are the same as those disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, refer to it for more detailed portions.

  Instead of the clamping device 300 ′ shown in FIG. 6, the above-described clamping device 300 can be attached to the clamp holder 200. According to the microscopic interferometer device 1 including the clamp device 300, the above-described plug 400 can be held in a highly reproducible state by the clamp device 300, so that a highly accurate and reliable measurement result can be obtained. Is possible.

  In addition, the clamp device 300 and the microscopic interferometer device 1 in the embodiment described above are not limited to the measurement of the vertical spherical polishing type ferrule 420, but are also an inclined spherical polishing type ferrule, an inclined flat surface polishing ferrule, or a vertical flat surface polishing type. It can also be used for measuring ferrules.

Cross section of clamp device for optical connector plug The exploded perspective view from the back side of the clamp device for optical connector plugs Perspective view of optical connector plug Cross section of optical connector plug The figure which shows the effect | action of the clamp apparatus for optical connector plugs Perspective view of microscopic interferometer device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Microscopic interferometer apparatus 2 Bottom plate 3 Front plate 4 Rear plate 5 Bulkhead plate 6 Cover case 7 Power supply unit 8 Control box 10 Interferometer main unit 11 Objective lens unit 12 Piezo unit 13 Half mirror / light source unit 14 Imaging lens unit 15 Mirror Box 16 CCD camera unit 20 Focus adjustment screw 22 Knob part 100 Tilt adjustment device 110 First base member 120 Second base member 130 Support point part 140 First tilt adjustment screw 150 Second tilt adjustment screw 200 Clamp holder 210 Front part 220 Rear part 221 Holding recess 230 Connecting part 240 Mounting screw 300 Clamp device for optical connector plug (clamp device)
300 'Conventional clamping device 301 Screw 310 Clamp body 311 Edge 312 Notch 313 Guide tube (ferrule movement restricting portion)
314 Operation lever 320 Inner cylinder positioning member 321 Base 322 Pressing part (inner cylinder positioning part)
323 Contact portion 324 Elastic displacement portion 330 Elastic displacement imparting member 331 Base portion 332 Elastic displacement imparting piece (elastic displacement imparting portion)
333 Insertion part 340 Outer cylinder rotation restricting member 341 Base part 342 Plug mounting part 343 Outer cylinder insertion hole (outer cylinder rotation restricting part)
344 Groove 400 Optical connector plug (plug)
402 outer cylinder 404 inner cylinder 410 plug member 412 hole portion 413 convex portion 414, 416 step portion 418 key portion 420 ferrule 421 ferrule main body 422 distal end surface 423 flange portion 424 cylindrical portion 425 ferrule holder 426 coil spring 427 key groove portion 430 optical fiber A Central axis (for optical connector plug) W Central axis (for clamp device)

Claims (4)

An outer cylinder, an inner cylinder held in the outer cylinder in a state where at least a part is loosely inserted in the outer cylinder, and held in the inner cylinder in a state where at least a part is loosely inserted in the inner cylinder A clamp device for positioning and holding an optical connector plug having a ferrule formed with respect to a measurement system,
An outer cylinder rotation restricting portion that contacts the outer cylinder when the optical connector plug is attached to the clamp device and restricts the outer cylinder from rotating around the central axis of the optical connector plug;
A ferrule movement restricting portion that contacts the ferrule in a state where the rotation of the outer tube is restricted by the outer tube rotation restricting portion, and restricts the ferrule from moving in a direction perpendicular to the central axis;
The inner cylinder is positioned by making contact with the inner cylinder in a state where the movement of the ferrule is regulated by the ferrule movement restricting portion and applying a pressing force in a direction perpendicular to the central axis to the inner cylinder. An inner cylinder positioning part;
An optical connector plug clamping device comprising:   The inner cylinder positioning part includes an elastic displacement part that is elastically displaced by a force received from the inner cylinder upon contact with the inner cylinder, and the pressing force is applied by the force that the elastic displacement part tries to restore. 2. The clamp device for an optical connector plug according to claim 1, wherein the clamp device is configured to act on the inner cylinder.   The elastic displacement imparting portion that contacts the inner cylinder positioning portion in a state before the optical connector plug is mounted and imparts a predetermined amount of displacement to the elastic displacement portion in advance. 3. A clamp device for an optical connector plug according to 2. A microscopic interferometer apparatus for observing interference fringes obtained by causing object light carrying phase information of an object to interfere with reference light,
A microscopic interferometer device comprising the optical connector plug clamping device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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