JP2012048038A - Optical connector cleaning tool - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical connector cleaning tool capable of preventing a cleaning body from being taken up while deviated to a part of the axial direction of a winding reel.SOLUTION: An optical connector cleaning tool is provided with a tool body and an extended section which is extended from the tool body. The tool body has: a feeding mechanism for supplying and taking up a cleaning body; a rotation mechanism; and a containing body for containing the feeding mechanism and the rotation mechanism. The feeding mechanism has a feeding reel for feeding the cleaning body and a winding reel for taking up the cleaning body. The rotation mechanism is provided with a rotary shaft 52 for rotating a head member around the axis thereof by the relative movement of the containing body. A take-up side insertion part 87B for guiding the cleaning body 2 to the winding reel 31 is formed in the rotary shaft 52. An opening end 87Ba of the winding reel side of the take-up side insertion part 87B is formed at a position separated from a rotation axis C1 position of the rotary shaft 52.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical connector cleaning tool for cleaning a joining end face of an optical connector with a cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material that is continuous in one direction, such as a tape-shaped cloth or string.

As is well known, if dirt or foreign matter adheres to the joint end face when the optical connector is butt-connected, the joint end face may cause damage at the time of attachment / detachment or increase in transmission loss. Need to be cleaned.
In order to clean the joining end face of the optical connector, an optical connector cleaning tool is conventionally used in which a flexible cleaning body such as a tape-like cloth or string is brought into contact with the joining end face to wipe off dirt and the like.
As this type of optical connector cleaning tool, at the tip portion (head portion), an optical connector is exposed while a part of the cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material continuous in one direction is exposed, and the exposed cleaning body is moved. There is known a method of contacting (pressing) a joint end surface of the material (for example, see Patent Document 1).
In the optical connector cleaning tool adopting such a system, a supply reel for feeding out a cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material such as a tape-like cloth or a string in one direction toward the tip of the tool, The feeding mechanism includes a take-up reel that takes up and winds up the cleaning body from the tool tip.

International Publication No. 2008/108278

  However, in the conventional optical connector cleaning tool as described above, the cleaning body may be unwound toward a part of the winding reel in the axial direction, and in that case, the cleaning body winding thickness ( (Height) becomes extremely large in only a part of the take-up reel in the axial direction, resulting in a space factor problem, making it difficult to further reduce the size of the tool, and taking up unevenly. In the part where the cleaning body is stacked so as to have a cross-sectional mountain shape, collapse (winding collapse) occurs during winding, and as a result, the cleaning body cannot be smoothly wound, and the cleaning body can be smoothly fed to the tool tip. In some cases, it was not possible to do so.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and prevents the occurrence of a situation in which the cleaning body is unwound in a part in the axial direction of the take-up reel, thereby improving the space factor. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical connector cleaning tool that enables further miniaturization and avoids the occurrence of collapse during winding, so that the cleaning body can be always drawn out smoothly. To do.

  As a result of intensive experiments and studies to solve the above-described problems, the present inventors formed a winding-side insertion portion for guiding the cleaning body from the head member to the take-up reel on the rotary shaft, and this take-up. By forming the open end of the side insertion part on the take-up reel side at a position away from the rotary shaft of the rotary shaft, the position of the cleaning body when wound on the take-up reel moves in the axial direction of the take-up reel As a result, it has been found that the above-described problems can be solved, and the present invention has been made.

Therefore, the optical connector cleaning tool of the present invention is
In the optical connector cleaning tool for wiping and cleaning the joint end face by pressing a part of the cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material continuous in one direction against the joint end face of the optical connector,
A tool body, and an extending portion extending from the tool body,
The tool body has a feeding mechanism for supplying and taking out the cleaning body, a rotating mechanism, and a housing body for housing them.
The extension portion includes an extension cylinder extending from the container, and a head member that presses the cleaning body against the joining end surface at a tip of the extension cylinder,
The feed mechanism has a supply reel that supplies the cleaning body to the head member, and a take-up reel that winds the cleaning body through the head member,
The container is relatively movable forward and backward in the extending direction with respect to the extending portion and the feeding mechanism, and the cleaning body is driven by rotating the take-up reel in the winding direction by the forward movement. Equipped with a drive body that feeds and moves
The rotating mechanism includes a rotating shaft that rotates about the axis by the relative movement of the container and rotates the head member about the axis;
The rotating shaft is formed with an insertion hole that guides the cleaning body from the supply reel to the head member and guides the cleaning body through the head member to the take-up reel.
A winding-side insertion portion that guides the cleaning body from the head member to the winding reel is formed in the insertion hole, and an opening end on the winding reel side of the winding-side insertion portion is a rotation of the rotating shaft. It is formed at a position away from the shaft.
The rotating shaft has a rotating cylinder part having a cam groove into which the insertion convex part of the container is inserted, and a guide cylinder part to which the head member is attached at a tip, and the rotating cylinder part is the container When the body is relatively moved, the head member is rotated around the axis by movement along the cam groove, and the cam groove is preferably formed at an angle of 180 ° or more in the direction around the axis.
The insertion hole may be configured to be divided into a feeding side insertion portion that guides the cleaning body from the supply reel to the head member and the winding side insertion portion.
The cleaning body may be formed in a tape shape, or may be formed in a string shape having a substantially circular cross section.

According to the present invention, since the open end of the take-up reel side of the take-up side insertion portion of the rotary shaft is formed at a position away from the rotary shaft of the rotary shaft, the take-up reel is rotated by rotation around the axis of the rotary shaft. It is possible to move (traverse) the position of the cleaning body at the time of winding in the axial direction of the winding reel.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cleaning body from being partially wound in the axial direction of the take-up reel, and as a result, due to the uneven distribution of the cleaning body in the axial direction of the take-up reel, the space factor is increased. Can be prevented, and the optical connector cleaning tool can be further reduced in size.
In addition, it prevents the occurrence of winding collapse due to the uneven distribution of the cleaning body on a part of the take-up reel in the axial direction and effectively prevents the cleaning body from being wound up smoothly due to the winding collapse. Can be prevented.
Further, in the present invention, since it is not necessary to increase the number of parts, there is no disadvantage such as cost.

It is a perspective view of one embodiment of the optical connector cleaning tool of the present invention. It is a front view of an optical connector cleaning tool. It is a front sectional view of an optical connector cleaning tool. It is a top view which shows a drive body. It is a perspective view which shows an extension cylinder. It is a perspective view which shows a head member. It is the perspective view which looked at the rotating shaft from one side. It is the perspective view which looked at the principal part of the rotating shaft from the other side. It is a rear view of a rotating shaft. It is a side view of the partial cross-section state which shows a rotating shaft and the head member attached to the front-end | tip. It is a top view which shows a feed mechanism. It is process drawing which shows the usage method of an optical connector cleaning tool. It is process drawing following a previous figure. It is process drawing following a previous figure. It is process drawing which shows operation | movement of a feed mechanism, (a) is sectional drawing which shows a normal state, (b) is sectional drawing which shows the state which the container moved forward. It is process drawing which shows operation | movement of a rotating shaft. It is process drawing following a previous figure. It is process drawing which shows the usage method of an optical connector cleaning tool. It is process drawing which shows the winding-up state of a cleaning body. It is process drawing which shows the winding-up state of a cleaning body. It is a perspective view of the principal part of the 2nd example of a rotating shaft. It is a rear view of the rotating shaft shown in the previous figure. It is a perspective view of the principal part of the rotating shaft of the 3rd example of a rotating shaft. It is a rear view of the rotating shaft shown in the previous figure.

Hereinafter, an optical connector cleaning tool (hereinafter also simply referred to as “cleaning tool”) 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the cleaning tool 1 includes a tool body 10 and an extending portion 20 that extends from the tool body 10.
In the following description, the front end direction of the extension part 20 (extension cylinder 21) shown in FIG. 1 may be referred to as the front in the extension direction, and the opposite direction may be referred to as the rear.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the tool body 10 includes a feeding mechanism 3 that supplies and takes up (winds) the cleaning body 2, and a rotating mechanism 5 that rotates the head member 23 (see FIGS. 3 and 7). ), And a container 11 that accommodates them, and a biasing means 40 that is in the container 11 and biases the container 11.
The container 11 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped case portion 12 and a drive body 13 positioned in the case portion 12 and positioned with respect to the case portion 12.

The case portion 12 includes substrate portions 12a and 12a that face each other across an accommodation space 12e (see FIG. 3), side plate portions 12b and 12b formed on the side edges of the substrate portions 12a and 12a, and a front edge of the substrate portion 12a. And a front plate portion 12c provided.
The front plate portion 12c is formed with an insertion port 12d (see FIG. 1) through which the extended cylindrical body 21 is inserted.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the driving body 13 includes a substrate 53 (see FIGS. 16 and 17), and an insertion convex portion 54 formed so as to protrude from the front end portion of the substrate 53 in the thickness direction of the substrate 53. , A protruding portion 55 formed to protrude from both side edge portions of the substrate 53 to the inner surface side, a pressing portion 57 formed at the front end portion of the substrate 53, and a rear end extending from the rear end portion of the substrate 53 to the inner surface side. Plate 58.

A serrated gear receiving portion 56 (driving portion) is formed on one of the protruding portions 55 on both side edges of the substrate 53.
The gear receiving portion 56 is a drive portion that rotates the take-up reel 31 in the take-up direction by the forward movement of the drive body 13 with respect to the feed mechanism 3, and is formed to protrude toward the other protrusion portion 55. It consists of a receiving tooth part 56a. The receiving-tooth part 56a is arranged in the front-back direction.
In this embodiment, the sawtooth gear receiving portion 56 is employed, but the configuration for driving the take-up reel 31 is not limited to this, and a force in the rotational direction can be applied to the take-up reel 31. As long as it is possible, other configurations may be employed, such as one that abuts the outer peripheral edge of the take-up reel 31 and applies a rotational force to the take-up reel 31 by friction.

  The insertion convex portion 54 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is formed so as to protrude from the inner surface of the substrate 53 in the thickness direction of the substrate 53, and its protruding height and outer diameter can be fitted in the cam groove 85 of the rotating cylinder portion 82. (See FIGS. 16 and 17).

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the pressing portion 57 includes a pressing plate 57 a that presses the urging means 40 and a cylindrical holding cylinder portion 57 b formed on the periphery thereof.
The pressing plate 57 a is formed so as to protrude from the inner surface of the substrate 53 in the thickness direction of the substrate 53. The pressing plate 57a can be formed perpendicular to the front-rear direction.
The holding cylinder portion 57b regulates the displacement of the urging means 40 and is formed so as to accommodate the rear end portion of the urging means 40.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a locking projection 53 a that locks in the locking hole 12 f of the substrate portion 12 a is formed on the outer surface of the substrate 53 of the driving body 13.
The driving body 13 is positioned with respect to the case portion 12 by the locking protrusion 53 a being locked in the locking hole 12 f and moves together with the case portion 12.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the rotation mechanism 5 includes a rotation shaft 52 that can rotate around an axis.
The rotating shaft 52 includes a rotating cylinder part 82 and a guide cylinder part 81 extending forward from the front end of the rotating cylinder part 82.
An insertion hole 83 through which the cleaning body 2 is inserted is formed in the rotary cylinder portion 82 so as to open at the rear end of the rotary cylinder portion 82. The insertion hole 83 is formed along the axial direction of the rotary cylinder portion 82. The insertion hole 83 in the illustrated example has a substantially rectangular cross section.

An insertion hole 87 is formed in the guide cylinder portion 81 over the entire length. The insertion hole 87 guides the cleaning body 2 from the supply reel 30 to the head member 23, and guides the cleaning body 2 that has passed through the head member 23 to the take-up reel 31, and communicates with the insertion hole 83 of the rotary cylinder portion 82. is doing.
The guide tube portion 81 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and the insertion portion 91 of the head member 23 can be inserted into the insertion hole 87 at the front end portion (see FIG. 10). The inner surface of the front end portion of the guide tube portion 81 is a rotation stop portion 84 formed flat.

The rotary cylinder portion 82 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a cam groove 85 into which the insertion convex portion 54 of the drive body 13 is inserted is formed on the outer surface thereof.
The cam groove 85 is formed so that at least a part thereof is inclined with respect to the axial direction of the rotary cylinder portion 82. For this reason, as will be described later, when the insertion convex portion 54 inserted in the cam groove 85 moves in the front-rear direction, the rotary cylinder portion 82 moves along the cam groove 85, so that the rotary shaft 52 rotates around the axis. To do. In the illustrated example, the cam groove 85 is formed in a spiral shape.
When the formation angle in the direction around the axis of the cam groove 85 (the angle around the axis from the one end to the other end of the cam groove 85) is 180 ° or more, the change in the winding position of the cleaning body 2 around the body portion 47 can be increased. Therefore, it is preferable.
The rotation axes C1 of the guide cylinder part 81 and the rotary cylinder part 82 coincide with these central axes.

  A partition wall 86 is formed in the guide cylinder portion 81, and the insertion hole 87 is partitioned by the partition wall 86 into a feeding side insertion portion 87A and a winding side insertion portion 87B. The partition wall 86 is formed along the length direction of the guide tube portion 81. The partition wall 86 is desirably formed at a position including at least the rear end portion of the guide tube portion 81.

  An opening end 87Ba on the take-up reel 31 side (rear end side) of the take-up side insertion portion 87B is formed at a position radially away from the rotation axis C1 of the guide tube portion 81 and the rotation tube portion 82 (FIG. 9). reference).

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 10, the head member 23 includes an insertion portion 91 that can be inserted into the insertion hole 87 of the guide cylinder portion 81, a flange portion 92 formed at the front end of the insertion portion 91, and the flange portion 92. A tip extending portion 28 extending forward from the front surface.
The distal end surface of the distal end extending portion 28 serves as a pressing surface 24 that presses the cleaning body 2 against the joining end surface 61a (see FIG. 18).

In the flange portion 92, passage ports 92A and 92B through which the cleaning body 2 passes are formed.
A guide slit 26 that guides the cleaning body 2 is formed in the distal extension 28 from the proximal end toward the distal end.
A guide opening 25 is formed in the distal extension 28 from the front end of the guide slit 26 to the outer surface of the distal extension 28.
The guide opening 25 guides the cleaning body 2 from the feeding mechanism 3 (supply reel 30) to the pressing surface 24 (or guides the cleaning body 2 that has passed through the pressing surface 24 to the feeding mechanism 3 (winding reel 31). ) By forming the guide opening portion 25 in the tip extension portion 28, it is possible to prevent the cleaning body 2 from coming off the pressing surface 24.

The insertion portion 91 is formed in a plate shape, and the flat portion 93 </ b> A on one surface side and the flat portion 93 </ b> B on the other surface side are disposed along the rotation stop portion 84. Does not rotate.
The insertion portion 91 is formed with an elastic piece 93b having an engaging claw 93a. The engaging claw 93a can restrict the forward movement of the head member 23 by being engaged with the front edge of an engaging opening 81a (engaging recess) (see FIG. 7) formed in the guide tube portion 81.
Reference numeral 94 in FIG. 10 denotes an urging means (for example, a spring member such as a coil spring) provided between the front end of the guide cylinder portion 81 and the flange portion 92. The urging means 94 urges the head member 23 forward when the head member 23 is pressed against the joining end surface 61a.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 7, 10, and 19, the cleaning member 2 drawn from the supply reel 30 is wound around the head member 23.
In the illustrated example, the cleaning body 2 reaches the head member 23 from the supply reel 30 through the insertion hole 83 and the insertion hole 87 (feed-side insertion portion 87A) of the rotary shaft 52.
The cleaning body 2 reaches the pressing surface 24 of the tip extension portion 28 through the flat portion 93A of the insertion portion 91 and the passage port 92A of the flange portion 92, and reaches the pressing surface 24 of the tip extension portion 28. It can be wound so as to pass through 93 </ b> B and reach the take-up reel 31 through the insertion hole 87 (winding side insertion portion 87 </ b> B) and the insertion hole 83.
In contrast, the cleaning body 2 reaches the head member 23 from the supply reel 30 through the insertion hole 83 and the insertion hole 87 (feed-side insertion portion 87A), and reaches the head member 23, the flat portion 93B, the passage port 92B, the guide slit 26, and the guide port. It can be wound so as to reach the pressing surface 24 via the portion 25 and reach the take-up reel 31 via the passage opening 92A, the flat portion 93A, the insertion hole 87 (winding side insertion portion 87B) and the insertion hole 83.
Since the insertion hole 87 is partitioned into a feeding side insertion portion 87A and a winding side insertion portion 87B, interference between the cleaning member 2 on the feeding side and the cleaning member 2 on the winding side is unlikely to occur. The movement is smooth.

The cleaning body 2 is not particularly limited, and is not particularly limited as long as it is a continuous material that is soft enough to be continuously drawn out and is continuous in one direction. Or woven fabric) processed into a tape shape or a string shape with a substantially circular cross section can be employed. Examples of the cleaning body 2 include those made of ultrafine fibers such as polyester and nylon.
The width of the tape-shaped cleaning body 2 is preferably 1.0 to 2.5 mm, and the thickness is preferably 0.1 to 0.2 mm.
When the tape-shaped cleaning body 2 is used, the contact area with respect to the object to be cleaned increases, so that the cleaning ability can be enhanced.
The string-like cleaning body 2 having a substantially circular cross section has an advantage that the accommodation space in the tool body 10 can be reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the feed mechanism 3 includes a supply reel 30 (supply means) around which the cleaning body 2 is wound, and a take-up reel 31 (take-up means) that winds and collects the used cleaning body 2. A support frame 35 that rotatably supports these components, a gear 38 that is mounted on the take-up reel 31, and a pressing portion 34 are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 11, the support frame 35 includes a substrate 41, a supply reel support shaft 32 that rotatably supports the supply reel 30, and a take-up reel support shaft that rotatably supports the take-up reel 31. 33, side plates 44 and 44 formed on both side edges of the substrate 41, a partition plate 43 provided between the side plates 44 and 44, and a front end plate 46 formed on the front end portion of the substrate 41. .
The partition plate 43 divides the space between the side plates 44 and 44 into a cylindrical body base accommodating portion 36 and a biasing means accommodating portion 37.

The tubular body base accommodating portion 36 can accommodate the tubular body base 15 of the extended tubular body 21.
A restricting plate 42 </ b> A that restricts the rearward movement of the cylinder base 15 is formed at the rear end of one side plate 44, and a restricting plate 42 </ b> B that restricts the rearward movement of the cylinder base 15 at the rear end of the partition plate 43. Is formed.
The front end plate 46 is formed with a recess 46a through which the extended cylinder 21 is inserted.
The tubular body base accommodating portion 36 restricts the backward movement of the tubular body base 15 by the restriction plates 42 </ b> A and 42 </ b> B and restricts the forward movement by the front end plate 46.

The urging means accommodating portion 37 is a space between the other side plate 44 and the partition plate 43 and can accommodate the urging means 40.
On the rear surface of the front end plate 46, a holding projection 39 that is inserted into the front end portion of the urging means 40 in the urging means accommodating portion 37 and positions the urging means 40 protrudes rearward (see FIG. 3). ).

The positions of the support shafts 32 and 33 are designed so that the installation position (front-rear direction position) of the supply reel 30 and the take-up reel 31 is closer to the rear than the cylindrical body base accommodating portion 36 and the biasing means accommodating portion 37. Can do.
In the illustrated example, the positions of the support shafts 32 and 33 are designed such that the arrangement direction of the central shaft 30a of the supply reel 30 and the central shaft 31a of the take-up reel 31 is the front-rear direction.

The board 41 is formed with two extending plates 45, 45 extending perpendicularly to the radial direction of the reels 30, 31, and the ends of the extending plates 45, 45 are directed toward the reels 30, 31, respectively. Projecting locking claws 45a, 45a are formed. The extension plate 45 can be elastically bent and deformed, and the locking claw 45a can move in a direction approaching and separating from the reels 30 and 31.
The pressing portion 34 is for preventing the reels 30 and 31 and the gear 38 from falling off.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 11, and 19, the supply reel 30 and the take-up reel 31 include a body portion 47 around which the cleaning body 2 is wound, a first flange plate 48 provided at one end of the body portion 47, and And a second flange plate 49 provided at the other end of the body portion 47.
A plurality of locking recesses (not shown) arranged along the circumferential direction are formed on the outer surface of the first flange plate 48, and the locking claws 45a of the extension plate 45 engage with the locking recesses. This prevents the reels 30 and 31 from rotating in the reverse direction. A plurality of locking projections (not shown) arranged along the circumferential direction are formed on the outer surface of the second flange plate 49.
The reels 30 and 31 are mounted on the support frame 35 by inserting the support shafts 32 and 33 through the body portion 47.

As shown in FIG. 3, the gear 38 includes a disk-shaped substrate 89 and a gear portion 88 formed on one surface of the substrate 89. On the other surface of the substrate 89, a locking projection (not shown) that is locked to a locking projection (not shown) of the take-up reel 31 is formed.
The gear portion 88 has a tooth portion 88 a that meshes with the receiving tooth portion 56 a of the gear receiving portion 56 of the drive body 13.
The gear 38 is installed so as to overlap the second flange plate 49 of the take-up reel 31. Since the locking projection (not shown) of the substrate 89 is locked to the locking projection (not shown) of the second flange plate 49, the take-up reel 31 also rotates as the gear 38 rotates.
When the gear 38 rotates in the direction opposite to the winding direction, the locking projection 87a is not locked to the locking projection (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 3, the urging means 40 urges the container 11 that has been relatively moved forward to the rear, and is preferably a spring member such as a coil spring.
The urging means 40 can urge the container 11 backward by applying a reaction force to the support frame 35. Specifically, a reaction force can be applied to the front end plate 46 to urge the pressing portion 57 of the driving body 13 backward.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 10, the extension portion 20 includes a cylinder base portion 15, an extension cylinder body 21 provided on the distal end side of the cylinder base portion 15, and a head member inserted through the extension cylinder body 21. 23.
The cylinder base 15 includes a holding frame part 97 that can accommodate the rotating cylinder part 82 of the rotating shaft 52, and a cylindrical connecting cylinder part 96 that extends forward from the front end of the holding frame part 97.
The holding frame portion 97 is formed in a cylindrical shape having a rectangular cross section. The side plate 99a, which is one of the four side plates 99 constituting the holding frame portion 97, has an insertion convex portion 54 of the driving body 13 along the front-rear direction. Is formed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the extending cylinder 21 includes a cylindrical large-diameter portion 21b and a small-diameter portion 21c extending forward from the front end thereof.
At the tip of the small diameter portion 21c, an insertion port portion 21d through which the tip extension portion 28 of the head member 23 is inserted and retracted is formed.
On the outer surface of the connecting tube portion 96, a fitting claw 96a that fits into the locking opening portion 21a formed in the large-diameter portion 21b of the extending tube body 21 is formed.

Next, an example of how to use the cleaning tool 1 will be described.
In the normal state shown in FIG. 15A, the container 11 is located relatively rearward with respect to the extending portion 20 and the feed mechanism 3.
As shown in FIGS. 12, 13, and 18, when the container 11 is gripped and the extension cylinder 21 of the extension portion 20 is inserted from the connector insertion port 71 of the optical adapter 70, the extension cylinder 21 is The connector enters the connector receiving hole 72 while being positioned by the inner wall 70a of the optical adapter 70.
As shown in FIG. 18, the cleaning body 2 on the pressing surface 24 comes into contact with an appropriate position (here, the optical fiber hole 61b and its periphery) of the joining end surface 61a of the optical plug 60.

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 (b), when a forward force is further applied to the container 11, the distal end of the extended cylindrical body 21 reacts from the wall portion 70b of the optical adapter 70 or the like (see FIG. 18). Accordingly, the forward movement is restricted and the container 11 moves forward relative to the extending portion 20.
As shown in FIG. 11, the cylinder base 15 of the extended cylinder 21 is accommodated in the cylinder base accommodating part 36 in a state where the rearward movement is restricted by the restriction plates 42 </ b> A and 42 </ b> B. The position in the front-back direction does not change significantly. For this reason, the urging means 40 is compressed by the driving body 13 and takes a reaction force on the support frame 35 to urge the driving body 13 backward.

As shown in FIGS. 15B, 16, and 17, the drive body 13 of the container 11 moves forward relative to the rotating cylinder portion 82, so that the insertion convex portion 54 is also a cam of the rotating cylinder portion 82. It moves forward while being inserted into the groove 85. For this reason, the rotating shaft 52 rotates around the axis.
As shown in FIG. 18, the rotation of the rotary shaft 52 causes the head member 23 to rotate about the axis. Therefore, the cleaning body 2 rotates about the axis of the head member 23 while being in contact with the bonding end surface 61a. The end surface 61a is wiped and cleaned.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 11, since the driving body 13 moves relative to the feed mechanism 3, a rotational force is applied to the gear portion 88 of the gear 38 by the gear receiving portion 56. Since the take-up reel 31 is also rotated by the rotation of the gear 38, the cleaning body 2 is taken up.
Along with this, the cleaning body 2 is pulled out from the supply reel 30 and is fed and moved through the pressing surface 24 of the head member 23. By the feed movement of the cleaning body 2, dirt such as dust, dust and oil adhering to the joining end surface 61 a is surely wiped off.

When pulling out the extended portion 20 from the optical adapter 70, the container 11 is moved backward.
The front-rear direction positions of the extending cylinder 21 and the feeding mechanism 3 with respect to the container 11 are returned to the normal state (the state shown in FIG. 15A) by the elastic force of the biasing means 40.

As shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, since the opening end 87Ba of the winding side insertion portion 87B is formed at a position away from the rotation axis C1 of the rotation shaft 52, when the rotation shaft 52 rotates around the axis, The position of the opening end 87Ba in the axial direction also changes, and the winding position of the cleaning body 2 around the body 47 of the winding reel 31 (the axial position of the winding reel 31) also changes accordingly.
For example, in FIG. 19, since the vertical position of the opening end 87Ba (the axial position of the reel 31) is relatively upward, the winding position of the cleaning body 2 around the body portion 47 is also a position corresponding thereto.
On the other hand, in FIG. 20, since the vertical position of the opening end 87Ba is relatively lower, the winding position of the cleaning body 2 around the body 47 is also relatively close to the first flange plate 48 accordingly.
Thus, the winding position to the trunk | drum 47 of the cleaning body 2 can be moved (traverse) to an axial direction by the position change of opening end 87Ba of winding side insertion part 87B.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cleaning body 2 from being unwound to be partly wound in the axial direction of the take-up reel 31, and as a result, the cleaning body 2 is caused by the uneven distribution of the take-up reel 31 in the axial direction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in terms of space factor and to reduce the size of the optical connector cleaning tool 1.

The tape-shaped cleaning body 2 is less likely to move in the axial direction when wound on the take-up reel 31 than the string-like cleaning body having a substantially circular cross section that is easy to roll. When it is wound in the axial direction, it is difficult to correct the deviation. For this reason, the space inside the tool 1 is wasted due to the uneven distribution of the cleaning body 2 in the axial direction of the take-up reel 31, which is a problem in reducing the size of the tool 1.
On the other hand, according to the above structure, since the winding position of the cleaning body 2 around the body portion 47 can be changed, particularly when a tape-shaped cleaning body is used, the above problem can be effectively solved. Can do.

On the other hand, when the string-like cleaning body 2 is wound extremely biased and the winding thickness is locally increased, the string-like cleaning body 2 is liable to collapse and may not be smoothly wound due to the collapse. However, according to the above structure, since such a problem can be solved, it is also effective when a string-like cleaning body is used.
Moreover, according to the said structure, since the number of parts does not need to increase, disadvantages, such as cost, do not arise.

  In the illustrated example, the insertion hole 87 is divided into a feeding side insertion portion 87A and a winding side insertion portion 87B. However, if the opening end is formed at a position away from the rotation axis of the rotation shaft, the insertion hole 87 is inserted. It is also possible to have a configuration in which the is not partitioned. In this case, the insertion hole has the functions of the feeding side insertion portion and the winding side insertion portion.

FIG. 21 and FIG. 22 show another example of the rotating shaft. The rotating shaft 112 includes a feeding side introduction hole 117A for guiding the cleaning body 2 from the supply reel 30 and a cleaning body 2 to the rotating cylinder portion 82. Winding side lead-out holes 117B leading to the winding reel 31 are formed independently of each other.
The feeding side introduction hole 117A (feeding side insertion portion) communicates with the feeding side insertion portion 87A, and the winding side lead-out hole 117B (winding side insertion portion) communicates with the winding side insertion portion 87B.
The feed-side introduction hole 117A and the winding-side lead-out hole 117B are formed to open at the rear end of the rotary cylinder portion 82 while being gradually separated from each other toward the rear. The winding side lead-out hole 117B is formed so as to gradually move away from the rotation axis C1 toward the publication.

The opening end 117Ba of the winding side insertion hole 117B is formed at a position away from the rotation axis C1 of the rotation shaft 122. For this reason, the winding position of the cleaning body 2 around the take-up reel 31 is moved in the axial direction of the take-up reel 31 by rotating the rotary shaft 112 around the axis, and the uneven distribution of the cleaning body 2 can be prevented.
In the rotary shaft 112, the winding side lead-out hole 117B is formed independently of the feed-side introduction hole 117A in the rotary cylinder portion 82 having a large diameter. It can be set far away from the axial position of the portion 82.
Therefore, the change in the winding position of the cleaning body 2 around the body portion 47 can be increased.

FIG. 23 and FIG. 24 show still another example of the rotating shaft. In the rotating shaft 122, an insertion hole 123 having a substantially circular cross section is formed in the rotating cylinder portion 82 along the axial direction.
In the insertion hole 123, movement restriction walls 127A and 127B are provided. The movement restricting wall portions 127A and 127B are for positioning in the width direction of the cleaning member 2 on the feeding side and the cleaning member 2 on the winding side, respectively, and the cleaning member 2 on the sending side is formed by the movement restricting wall portions 127A and 127B. And the position in the insertion hole 123 of the cleaning body 2 on the winding side can be stabilized.
Therefore, the change in the winding position of the cleaning body 2 around the body portion 47 can be increased.

  The present invention can be applied to various types of optical fiber connectors. For example, an LC type optical connector (trade name of Lucent), an SC type optical connector established by JIS C 5973 (SC: Single fiber Coupling optical fiber connector). ), MU type optical connector (MU: Miniature-unit coupling optical fiber connector) established in JIS C 5983, SC2 type optical connector and the like. The SC2 type optical connector is obtained by omitting the knob attached to the outside of the housing from the SC type optical connector.

In the illustrated example, the optical adapter 70 and the optical plug 60 are targeted. However, the object of the cleaning tool of the present invention is not limited to this, and the optical connector receptacle (specifically, the receptacle housing) functions as a connector positioning housing. It is also possible to adopt a configuration that has been adopted.
In this case, the ferrule incorporated in the sleeve-like receptacle housing functions as the optical connector according to the present invention. By inserting the insertion part of the cleaning tool into the connector receiving hole which is the inner space of the receptacle housing, the joining end face of the ferrule can be cleaned.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical connector cleaning tool, 2 ... Cleaning body, 3 ... Feed mechanism, 5 ... Rotation mechanism, 10 ... Tool main body, 11 ... Housing, 13 ... Drive body , 20 ... Extension portion, 21 ... Extension cylinder, 23 ... Head member, 30 ... Supply reel, 31 ... Take-up reel, 35 ... Support, 40 ... Energizing means, 52, 112, 122 ... rotating shaft, 56 ... gear receiving part (drive part), 61 ... ferrule, 61a ... joining end face, 81 ... guide tube part, 82・ ・ ・ Rotating cylinder, 85 ... Cam groove, 86 ... Partition wall, 83, 87 ... Insertion hole, 87A ... Feeding side insertion portion, 87B ... Winding side insertion portion, 87Ba ..Open end of winding side insertion portion, 117B ... Winding side insertion hole (winding side insertion portion), 117Ba ... Open end of winding side insertion hole, C ... rotation axis of the rotating shaft.

Claims (5)

In the optical connector cleaning tool for wiping and cleaning the joint end face by pressing a part of the cleaning body made of a flexible continuous material continuous in one direction against the joint end face of the optical connector,
A tool body, and an extending portion extending from the tool body,
The tool body has a feeding mechanism for supplying and taking out the cleaning body, a rotating mechanism, and a housing body for housing them.
The extension portion includes an extension cylinder extending from the container, and a head member that presses the cleaning body against the joining end surface at a tip of the extension cylinder,
The feed mechanism has a supply reel that supplies the cleaning body to the head member, and a take-up reel that winds the cleaning body through the head member,
The container is relatively movable forward and backward in the extending direction with respect to the extending portion and the feeding mechanism, and the cleaning body is driven by rotating the take-up reel in the winding direction by the forward movement. Equipped with a drive body that feeds and moves
The rotating mechanism includes a rotating shaft that rotates about the axis by the relative movement of the container and rotates the head member about the axis;
The rotating shaft is formed with an insertion hole that guides the cleaning body from the supply reel to the head member and guides the cleaning body through the head member to the take-up reel.
A winding-side insertion portion that guides the cleaning body from the head member to the winding reel is formed in the insertion hole, and an opening end on the winding reel side of the winding-side insertion portion is a rotation of the rotating shaft. An optical connector cleaning tool formed at a position away from the shaft. The rotating shaft has a rotating cylinder part having a cam groove into which the insertion convex part of the container is inserted, and a guide cylinder part to which the head member is attached at the tip.
The rotating cylinder portion rotates the head member around an axis by movement along the cam groove when the container is relatively moved.
2. The optical connector cleaning tool according to claim 1, wherein a forming angle of the cam groove in a direction around the axis is 180 ° or more.   The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein the insertion hole is partitioned into a feeding side insertion portion that guides the cleaning body from the supply reel to a head member, and the winding side insertion portion. Cleaning tool.   The optical connector cleaning tool according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning body is formed in a tape shape.   The optical connector cleaning tool according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning body is formed in a string shape having a substantially circular cross section.

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