JP3000342B2 - Optical connector adapter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical connector adapter for optically connecting a pair of optical connector plugs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The prior art is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-323.
An optical connector adapter described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 607 can be mentioned, which will be described below.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 9, an optical connector adapter includes a front shell 11 and the front shell 1.
1 and a rear shell 12 fastened so as to be connectable and separable. The rear shell 12 is attached to a panel 13 of the device. A first optical connector plug 16 is connected to the front shell 11 outside the panel 13 with reference to the panel 13 of the device. A second optical connector plug 17 is connected to the rear shell 12 inside the panel 13.

[0004] The front shell 11 has a cylindrical portion. A front flange 18 is formed on the cylindrical portion of the front shell 11 on the outside in the radial direction. The rear shell 12 has a cylindrical portion. A front flange 18 of the front shell 11 is provided on the cylindrical portion of the rear shell 12.
The rear flange 19 is formed so as to oppose the front end.
The front shell 11 has a cylindrical portion arranged coaxially with the front shell 11.

[0005] An alignment sleeve 21 is provided inside the rear shell 12. Inside the alignment sleeve 21,
The ferrules 20 are held in alignment. The alignment sleeve 21 is such that the front shell 11 is
When being fastened to the inside, the outer peripheral surface thereof is covered and held in the axial direction by the holding member 22. The holding member 22
It is attached to the front shell 11. Further, inside the front shell 11, the alignment sleeve 21 is inserted into a cylindrical portion 24 extending in the axial direction on the side opposite to the holding member 22. In the rear shell 12, an end surface of a rear flange 19 orthogonal to the axial direction is connected to an end surface of the front flange 18 so as to cover the cylindrical portion 24. The rear flange 19 is fixed by fastening the rear shell 12 to the panel 13 with screws (not shown).

In the optical connector adapter, one end surface 23 of the ferrule 20 is arranged in the alignment sleeve 21.
Is brought into contact with the end face of the ferrule 25 of the first optical connector plug 16 for optical connection.

Further, a lock lever 31 is provided on the front shell 11. The lock lever 31 is a pair of the side walls 1 of the front flange 18 facing each other.
8a each have a pair of lock lever plates 31a, 31b.
Is provided. These lock lever plates 31a, 3
1 b is a pair of opposed side walls 18 of the front shell 11.
a is rotatably supported by a rotating shaft 32 provided for each of the a. Therefore, the lock lever 31 is attached to the front shell 11 so as to be rotatable along a circular orbit between the front and rear shells 11 and 12. Further, between the one ends of the lock lever plates 31a and 31b, these lock lever plates 31a and 31b are
An operation member 34 for rotating around the fulcrum 2 is connected. The rotation shaft 3 is provided on the lock lever plates 31a and 31b.
When the center is 2, a notch-shaped engaging portion 35 is formed on the side opposite to the operation member 34. Further, the rear shell 12 is provided with a protruding engagement receiving portion 36 which engages with the engagement portion 35 of the lock lever plates 31a, 31b on each of a pair of opposed side walls 19a of the rear flange 19.

Further, an elastic member 37 is provided on the lock lever 31. The elastic member 37 is provided between the rotation shaft 32 and the operation member 34 and between the pair of lock lever plates 31.
a and 31b. As shown in FIG. 7, the rear flange 19 is provided with an engagement projection 39a which abuts on the elastic member 37 when the lock lever 31 is rotated along a circular orbit. When the lock lever 31 is engaged with the engagement receiving portion 36, the elastic member 37
The lock lever 31 is configured to be kept in a locked state over a. The elastic member 37 has, for example, a shape like a pipe or a round bar, and is a resilient member.

Next, the fastening of the optical connector adapter will be described below.

When one end of the rear shell 12 is inserted and fitted into the front shell 11 and the lock lever 31 is rotated clockwise on the paper as shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, The engagement portion 35 of the lock lever 31 engages with the engagement receiving portion 36 of the rear shell 12, and the front shell 11
And the rear shell 12 is locked. On this occasion,
The elastic member 37 elastically climbs over the engagement protrusion 39a,
The locked state is maintained. Thus, the elastic member 3
Since the free movement of the lock lever 31 on the circular orbit is restricted by the overriding of the engagement protrusion 39a by the 7, the lock can be held in a stable state.

In such an optical connector adapter, first and second optical connector plugs 16 and 17 are fitted from the inside and outside of the device, respectively, and the coupling nuts 16a and 17a are connected to the front shell 11 and the front shell 11, respectively. When the ferrule 20 is screwed into a screw on the outer peripheral portion of the rear shell 12, the ferrule 20 is abutted in the alignment sleeve 21, and an optical connection is made.
Then, from such a state, when the coupling nut 16a of the optical connector plug 16 is rotated counterclockwise to remove the optical connector plug 16, and the lock lever 31 is rotated counterclockwise to release the lock, The rear shell 12 can be detached from the front shell 11. At this time, since the end face 23 of the ferrule 20 is exposed, the end face 23 can be easily cleaned.

However, as shown in FIG. 9, the conventional optical connector adapter composed of the front shell 11 and the rear shell 12 has one key receiving groove 26 provided in one of the rear shells 12 for positioning in the rotational direction. The key receiving groove 26 is applicable to a flat polished product and a convex spherical polished product because the width dimension and the tolerance of the rotation direction positioning key of one of the optical connector plugs are applied to the standard maximum dimension. However, it could not be used for an obliquely convex spherical polished product.

In addition, when the dimensions are set for an oblique convex spherical abrasive product, a flat abrasive product and a convex spherical abrasive product cannot be inserted.

[0014]

In the conventional optical connector adapter, the front shell can be detached from the rear shell in a short time, so that the optical connector adapter fitted to the device and the optical connector fitted inside the device are provided. There are advantages in that the ferrule end face of the plug can be easily cleaned and the lock between the front shell and the rear shell can be held in a stable state. However, the conventional optical connector adapter has the following disadvantages.

The plug (ferrule) of the optical connector is roughly classified into a plug whose front end is polished to a flat surface (including a convex spherical surface) and a plug whose ferrule is obliquely polished. As a representative of the former, FC connector or FC-PC (PHYSICAL CONTAC
T) There is a connector, FC-APC as a representative of the latter
(ANGLED PHYSICAL CONTACT)
There is a connector. After that, the flat polishing connector
The C connector and the obliquely polished connector are collectively called the APC connector.

When the APC connector is mounted inside the housing, the APC connector inside the housing may be damaged by connecting the PC connector without knowing it, and the measuring instrument may become unusable.

When changing from a PC connector to an APC connector according to a user's request, it is necessary to replace both the plug and the rear shell inside the housing.

Both rear shells need to be stocked to accommodate PC and APC connectors.

As a problem in connection, the key width and the key groove width of the two are different. Therefore, PC
When trying to connect the connector and the APC connector, there are some combinations that do not work well, and even with the combinations that can be connected, the original optical performance cannot be obtained.

Due to the difference in the shape of the end face, the PC connector and A
Connecting to a PC connector may damage the fiber end face. Normally, a rear shell is used inside a housing and a front shell is used outside. However, the type of connector cannot be discriminated just by a user looking from the outside.

As described above, the PC connector and the APC connector need to be used clearly distinguished from each other, and can be easily replaced according to a user's request.

The present invention is directed to improving the disadvantages of the above-mentioned conventional optical connector adapter. In an optical connector adapter used for a JIS C 5970 F01 type single-core optical fiber connector or the like of an optical component, for example, , P used for flat polished products and convex spherical polished products
C shell (PHYSICAL CONTACT SHE)
LL) Width and tolerance of the rotation direction positioning key and APC shell (ANGLED
Since the width dimension and the tolerance of the rotation direction positioning key of the PHYSICAL CONTACT SHELL are different from each other, the two types of shells can be shared without error.

[0023]

The present invention employs the following means to solve the above-mentioned problems.

(1) A rear shell for connecting the second optical connector plug, and fastened removably to the rear shell,
In addition, in the optical connector adapter having the second optical connector plug and a front shell for connecting the first optical connector plug for optical connection, the key width provided for at least one of the two types of front shells is adapted. Thus, an optical connector adapter in which the number of key receiving grooves corresponding to the types of front shells is provided in the rear shell so that at least two types of front shells can be shared.

(2) The light according to (1), wherein a hole is provided in the surface of only the rear shell or one of the front shells, a pin is embedded in the hole, and a hole is provided in only one of the front shell or the rear shell where a pin can be inserted. Connector adapter.

(3) The optical connector adapter according to the above (1), wherein a colored seal is attached to each surface of the rear shell and the front shell for identification.

(4) A rear shell for connecting the second optical connector plug, and fastened to the rear shell so as to be connectable and separable,
In addition, in an optical connector adapter having a second optical connector plug and a front shell for optically connecting the first optical connector plug, the front shell can be coupled to a plurality of types of optical connector plugs having different coupling portions. An optical connector adapter capable of fastening different types of optical connector plugs having different joint portions by preparing the above-mentioned ones.

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. However, description of many items in one embodiment of the present invention, which is the same as in the related art, is omitted.

In FIG. 1, the rear shell 1 is provided with a first key receiving groove 1a and a second key receiving groove 1b. The first key receiving groove 1a and the second key receiving groove 1b are parts for inserting respective rotation direction positioning keys (not shown) of different types of optical connector plugs, and the width dimension of each rotation direction positioning key. And different tolerances.

First, as shown in FIG.
Attach rear shell 1 to 0. A second optical connector plug 9 is connected to the rear shell 1 inside the panel 10.

A ferrule 5 is held at the center of the rear shell 1 and a hole 2 is provided at the lower center. If the rear shell 1 is for APCs that are rarely used,
Embed pin 3 in When the second front shell 7 is for APC, a hole (not shown) into which the pin 3 can be inserted is provided in the second front shell 7, so that the second front shell 7 can be fastened to the rear shell 1. However, when the second front shell 7 is for a PC, the second front shell 7 is fastened to the rear shell 1 because the second front shell 7 is not provided with a hole through which the pin 3 can be inserted. Is prevented.

When the rear shell 1 is for APC, a colored seal 4 is attached to the hole 2 as an identification mark, and the seal 4 is also attached to the second front shell 7 that can be fastened to the rear shell 1. . Seal 4 is for PC and AP
It plays the role of calling attention to properly use it for C.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, either the first front shell 6 or the second front shell 7 which fits the rear shell 1 is fastened.

Subsequently, the first optical connector plug 8 is
The optical connection is completed by connecting to the front shell 6 or the second front shell 7 in conformity with the respective key grooves 6a or 7a.

[0035]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, two key receiving grooves are provided in the rear shell so as to match the installation angle and width of the key grooves of the two types of front shells. It is convenient because two types of front shells can be shared, and furthermore, damage to the ferrule end face due to incorrect fastening of the front shell can be prevented.

Further, according to the present invention, since the connector used inside the housing can be easily determined, it is possible to prevent an accident that the wrong connector is connected and the internal connector is damaged.

Further, according to the present invention, the stock amount of the rear shell and the remodeling cost can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, a PC connector, A
With the PC connector, various types of connectors (FC, SC, DIN, etc.) can be supported simply by replacing the front shell.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a first state during assembly of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a perspective view of a seal affixed to a hole in a rear shell and a second front shell. is there.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second state during assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a first state during assembly of a conventional optical connector adapter.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second state during assembly of the conventional optical connector adapter.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the optical connector adapter of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the optical connector adapter of FIG. 5 with the optical connector plug removed.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the optical connector adapter of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a conventional optical connector adapter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 rear shell 1a first key receiving groove 1b second key receiving groove 2 hole 3 pin 4 seal 5 ferrule 6 first front shell 6a key groove 7 second front shell 7a key groove 8 first optical connector plug 9 second light Connector plug 10 panel

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Junkichi Jono 5-10-27 Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo Anritsu Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroshi Komazawa 5-10-27 Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo Anritsu (56) References JP-A-63-8614 (JP, A) JP-A-62-87911 (JP, A) JP-A-4-323607 (JP, A) U) Hikaru 4-88685 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/36-6/40

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rear shell for connecting a second optical connector plug, and a front shell fastened to the rear shell so as to be connectable and separable, and for connecting a first optical connector plug optically connected to the second optical connector plug. In the optical connector adapter having at least two types of front shells, at least two types of key receiving grooves corresponding to the types of front shells are provided in the rear shell so as to match key widths provided at one location of at least two types of front shells. An optical connector adapter characterized in that the front shell can be shared. 2. A hole is provided in a surface of only the rear shell or one of the front shells, a pin is embedded in the hole, and a hole is provided in only one of the front shells or the rear shell where a pin can be inserted. Optical connector adapter as described. 3. The optical connector adapter according to claim 1, wherein a seal is attached to each surface of the rear shell and the front shell for identification and display. 4. A rear shell for connecting a second optical connector plug, and a front shell for connecting and detachably fastening to the rear shell and connecting a first optical connector plug for optically connecting the second optical connector plug. By preparing an optical connector adapter having a front shell capable of being coupled to a plurality of types of optical connector plugs having different coupling portions, different optical connector plugs having different coupling portions can be fastened. An optical connector adapter, comprising: