JPH05313041A - Individual connector unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an individual connector unit simplified in device constitution and reduced in the number of part item so as to be low-priced and easy to manufacture and assemble CONSTITUTION:Engaging parts 18 are formed on the base end side of a ferrule 17 with an optical fiber 5 connected fixedly thereto. Plate arms 13 are protrusively provided at both upper and lower walls 11, 12 of a housing 10, and a first elastic engaging claw 14 is provided at the tip part of each plate arm 13. Both side walls of the housing 10 are provided with side wall arms 15 protruding in the further extended state than the plate arms 15, and a second elastic engaging claw 16 is provided at the tip of each side wall arm 15. When one end side of a push spring 28 is fixed to the base end face of the ferrule 17 to push the ferrule 17 into the housing 17, the first elastic engaging claws 14 are elastically engaged with the engaging parts 18 when the engaging parts 18 go over the first elastic engaging claws 14, and the ferrule 17 is accommodated slidably in the slip-off prevented state into the housing 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a unit connector unit for connecting and disconnecting a multi-core optical fiber core wire.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 12 shows a unit connector unit for connecting and disconnecting a tape-shaped multi-core optical fiber core wire. This unit connector unit has been previously prototyped by the applicant (not yet known), and includes a housing body 1, a sleeve body 2, a first pressing spring 3, a plug 9, and a second pressing unit. It is configured to have a spring 4, a ferrule 6 to which the front end side of the multi-core optical fiber core 5 is fixed, and a boot 7. When connecting a connector, the housing body 1 is moved forward (to the left in the drawing). ) To compress the second spring 4, which causes the ferrule 6 and the plug 9 to
Is moved forward and the projection 8 provided on the plug 9 is locked to the elastic locking piece of the adapter (not shown) to achieve the connector connection of the multi-core optical fiber core wire 5. When disconnecting the connector, pulling the sleeve main body 2 backward pulls the plug 9 backward, the projection 8 of the plug 9 is disengaged from the elastic locking piece, and the unit connector unit is detached from the adapter. The connector connection of the multi-core optical fiber core wire 5 is released.

[0003]

However, as is clear from FIG. 12, this unit connector unit has an extremely large number of parts constituting the unit connector unit, and therefore the workability of manufacturing and assembling thereof is extremely poor, and the unit connector unit There was a problem that the cost was high.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a unit connector unit that simplifies the apparatus configuration, reduces the number of parts, facilitates manufacturing and assembly, and reduces the apparatus cost. To do.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. That is, according to the present invention, the ferrule that accommodates and fixes the optical fiber of the multi-core optical fiber is slidably accommodated in the housing, and the ferrule is biased in the connecting direction between the inner wall surface of the housing and the ferrule. In the unit connector unit in which the pressing member is interposed, an engaging portion is provided on the outer surface of the ferrule, and the housing is elastically engaged with the engaging portion to retain and hold the ferrule. It is characterized in that a coupling holding portion and a connection engaging portion for connecting the connector by elastic engagement are provided.

[0006]

In the present invention having the above-described structure, the ferrule is pushed into the housing while the ferrule is inserted while elastically deforming the engagement holding portion of the housing, and when the engagement portion gets over the engagement holding portion, the ferrule of the housing moves. The engagement holding portion is elastically engaged with the engagement portion of the ferrule by the elastic restoring force, and the ferrule is retained and accommodated.

When connecting the unit connector units, the unit connector units are opposed to the adapter or the mating unit connector unit, and a pushing force is applied. Then, the connection engagement part of the housing elastically engages with the connection engagement part of the adapter or the other unit connector unit, and at that time, the connection end faces of the ferrules are pressed against each other by the pressing force of the pressing member, and the multi-core The connector connection of the optical fiber core wire is achieved.

In this connection state, when the housing is pulled out in the disconnecting direction, the pulling force elastically deforms the connection engaging portion in the opening direction to release the engagement, and the unit connector unit is the adapter or the unit connector on the mating side. Removed from unit.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of a unit connector unit according to the present invention. In these figures, a plate-like arm 13 is projected forward (to the right in FIG. 1) from the upper wall 11 and the lower wall 12 of the box-shaped housing 10, and the tip end of this plate-like arm 13 is provided. Is a first functioning as an engagement holding portion
The elastic engaging claws 14 are provided so as to project inward. Also,
Similarly, side wall arms 15 project forward from both side walls of the housing 10 further than the plate-like arm 13, and at the tip end side of the side wall arms 15, the connection engagement portion is directed inward. A second elastic engagement claw 16 that functions as a projection is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4, a step is formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the ferrule 17, the tip of which is thin, and the step functions as an engaging portion 18. Also the ferrule
A blind spring holding hole 21 is formed on both sides of the base end face 20 of the 17, and a pair of pin holes 22 are provided between the spring holding holes 21.
Further, a plurality of fiber insertion holes 23 are arranged between the pin holes 22 at equal intervals. The fiber insertion hole 23 and the pin hole 22 are penetrated, and the tip side thereof is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the connection end face 24 is opened. Each optical fiber 25 of the tape-shaped multi-core optical fiber core wire 5 is inserted into this fiber insertion hole 23 and fixed by adhesion or the like, and the tip of each optical fiber 25 is exposed to the connection end face 24 side,
It is ground integrally with the connection end face 24.

In this embodiment, the proximal inner surface 26 of the housing 10 is
Also, a pair of spring accommodating recesses 27 are formed, one side of the spring holding hole 21 and one side of the spring accommodating recess 27, the spring retaining hole 21 of the ferrule 17 in the example of FIG. In this state, by fitting the ferrule 17 into the housing 10 from the base end side thereof, the first elastic engaging claws 14 are in a state of being expanded by the base end side thick portion of the ferrule 17, and the ferrule 17 is When fitted to the engaging portion 18, the first elastic engaging portion 14 rides over the engaging portion 18 and engages with the engaging portion 18 due to the elastic restoring force, and the ferrule 17 is pulled out into the housing 10. It is slidably accommodated in the stopped state. Then, at this time, the other end of the pressing spring 28 is compressed and deformed while being fitted in the spring accommodating recess 27, and the ferrule 17 is always biased in the connecting direction.

This embodiment is constructed as described above. Next, the operation will be described. First, when connecting unit connector units together, use the pin hole 22
With one end side of the pin 30 fitted in, by pressing the unit connector units facing each other,
The pin 30 is fitted into the pin hole 22 of the ferrule 17 on the other side, and the ferrules 17 are aligned with each other. Push in the unit connector unit further to connect the ferrule 17
24 contact each other. Further, when the unit connector unit is pushed in, the second elastic engaging claw 16 is elastically coupled with the second elastic engaging claw 16 on the opposite side, which is a reverse direction claw, and the unit connector units are connected to each other. Be seen. At this time, since the ferrule 17 is pushed in the connecting direction by the pressing spring 28, the connecting end faces of the ferrule 17 are brought into a pressure contact state, and the effective connection of the multi-core optical fiber core wire 5 is achieved.

When disconnecting the unit connector units from each other, the unit connector units may be pulled out in the opposite direction to the connecting direction. In this embodiment, the first
The elastic engaging force of the elastic engaging claw of F ₁ and the second elastic engaging claw 16
When the elastic engagement force of F is F ₂ , the elastic engagement forces F ₁ and F ₂ are smaller than the breaking force of the elastic engagement claws 14 and 16,
The dimension and shape of the claws are set so that the relationship of F ₂ > F ₁ is established. Therefore, by applying a force in the direction of pulling out the unit connector units, the first elastic engaging claws 14 are engaged. As a result of the elastic engagement of the second elastic engaging claws 16 being released while maintaining the above condition, the disconnection of the unit connector unit is smoothly achieved.

As described above, in this embodiment, the housing
The assembly of the unit connector unit is completed simply by fitting the ferrule 17 into the inside of the housing 10 via the pressing spring 28, and furthermore, the first elastic engaging claw 14 for retaining and holding the ferrule 17 from the housing 10 and the unit connector. Since the second elastic engaging claws 16 for connecting the units to each other are integrally formed in the housing 10, the device configuration is extremely simple, and the number of parts constituting the unit connector unit is very small, so that the manufacturing is possible. Assembling becomes very easy, and the cost of the device can be greatly reduced.

Also, when connecting the unit connector units to each other, it is sufficient to simply push the unit connector units facing each other, and when disconnecting the unit connector units, the unit connector units are simply pulled out. Since it is sufficient, the work of attaching and detaching the unit connector unit becomes very easy.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various embodiments can be adopted. For example, in the above embodiment, a pair of spring holding holes is formed in the base end face 20 of the ferrule 17.
21 is provided and a pair of pressing springs 28 are fitted and held in the spring holding holes 21, but, for example, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a spring holding groove 31 is provided at the base end portion of the ferrule 17, The end portion of the pressing spring 28 may be held and fixed in the spring holding groove 31.

In addition, although the two pressing springs 28 are used in the above embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, one elliptic spring 32 is used and the stepped portion is narrowed toward the base end side of the ferrule 17. The surface 33 is formed, and the elliptical spring 32 is formed on the step surface 33.
You may make it fit and accommodate.

Further, as shown in FIG.
An elliptic spring 32 is arranged on the base end face 20 side of 17 in a state of being fitted in the multi-core optical fiber core wire 5, and the elliptic spring 32
One end of the ferrule 17 may be locked in the recess of the base end surface of the ferrule 17, and the other end may be locked in the base end inner surface 26 of the housing 10.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the ferrule is
Engagement portions 35 are provided at both ends of the base end of 17, and both tip ends of a leaf spring 36 curved in a hanger shape are engaged with the engagement portion 35 to be integrated with the ferrule 17, and the center side of the leaf spring 36. The locking portion 37 may be locked to the inner surface 26 of the base end of the housing 10.

Further, in the above embodiment, the first elastic engaging claws 14 are provided on the upper wall 11 and the lower wall 12 side of the housing 10, and the second elastic engaging claws 16 are provided on the side wall side of the housing 10. By reversing this, the second elastic engaging claws 16 may be provided on the upper and lower walls 11 and 12 side, and the first elastic engaging claws 14 may be provided on the side wall.

Further, in the operation of the above embodiment, the case where the unit connector units are connected to each other has been described, but the unit connector units may be connected to the adapter, and the connection partner is not limited.

[0022]

According to the present invention, an engagement holding portion for holding and holding a ferrule in a housing for housing the ferrule,
Since the connection engagement portion for connecting the connector is integrally formed, the device configuration is very simple, the number of parts constituting the unit connector unit is significantly reduced, and the unit connector unit can be manufactured and assembled easily. Workability is dramatically improved and the cost of the device can be significantly reduced.

Further, by simply pushing the unit connector units face to face with each other, the connection engaging portions are engaged with each other to achieve the connector connection, and also when the connection is released, the unit connector unit is released. Since the engagement of the connection engagement portion can be released only by applying a force in the pulling-out direction, the work of attaching / detaching the unit connector unit is very easy, and is very convenient in handling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a unit connector unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a unit connector unit of the embodiment in a half cross-sectional state.

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective explanatory view of a ferrule forming the unit connector unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a connection state between the unit connector units in the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the connection between the unit connector units in a state of a half section.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of another embodiment in which a spring holding groove for holding a pressing spring is provided on the ferrule side.

FIG. 8 is a detailed explanatory view of a spring holding groove portion of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view of another embodiment in which an elliptic spring is fitted as a pushing spring on the base end side of the ferrule and arranged.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment in which an elliptic spring is inserted as a pushing spring into the multi-core optical fiber core wire on the base end side of the ferrule.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of another embodiment using a leaf spring as a pressing spring.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a unit connector unit that the applicant previously made a prototype.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 multi-core optical fiber core wire 10 housing 13 plate-like arm 14 first elastic engaging claw 15 side wall arm 16 second elastic engaging claw 17 ferrule 18 engaging part

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshihiko Ota 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Atsushi Yamakawa 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor, Mito Matsumoto 1-1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A ferrule for accommodating and fixing an optical fiber of a multi-core optical fiber is slidably accommodated in a housing, and the ferrule is biased in a connecting direction between an inner wall surface of the housing and the ferrule. In a unit connector unit in which a pressing member is interposed, an engaging portion is provided on the outer surface of the ferrule, and the housing is elastically engaged with the engaging portion to retain and hold the ferrule. A unit connector unit comprising: a holding portion; and a connection engagement portion that performs connector connection by elastic engagement.