JPH03167509A - Optical repeating adapter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the optical repeating adapter easy to assemble and capable of aligning with high precision by forming the recessed and projecting part concentric with an elastic sleeve storage hole and having a diameter larger than that of the hole on the surfaces of a couple of housings opposed to the wall. CONSTITUTION:The uppermost cylinder 20a of one housing 12a has a projecting part 25a on the side end face of the wall, the second cylinder has a recessed part 26a, the third cylinder has a recessed part, the fourth cylinder has a projecting part, and the fifth cylinder has a recessed part. The uppermost cylinder 20b of the other housing 12b has a recessed part and the second cylinder has a projecting part. In this case, the recessed and projecting part of both housings are engaged with one another, hence the direction is inevitably determined, and the housings are easily and accurately assembled without need for the judgement of an operator. A couple of housings 12a and 12b are accurately engaged vertically and horizontally, and an error in assembling is obviated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an optical connector for interconnecting optical fibers, and more specifically, a pair of optical connectors facing each other connected to the ends of optical fibers to be connected. The present invention relates to an optical relay adapter that interconnects optical connector plugs.

[Prior art] An optical adapter consisting of a pair of flanged housings that floatingly hold an elastic sleeve that fits into the ferrule of an optical connector plug and holds the ferrule in alignment is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-27807. It is disclosed in the reference. This publication discloses, as a prior art, a structure in which an elastic sleeve 1 for aligning and holding ferrules is supported floatingly by a pair of flanged housings 2, as shown in Figure 7. Although this m-type type is easier to assemble, it relies on the outer diameter of the flange to align the pair of housings 2, 2, which causes misalignment of the elastic sleeve capacity hole 3. There was a problem in that the floating amount of the elastic sleeve 1 decreased, and the connection loss characteristics of the optical fiber became unstable when a ferrule (not shown) was inserted.

An adapter invented to solve this problem is shown in FIG. 8 of the above-mentioned publication.

That is, this adapter is provided in a pair of housings 5, 5 concentrically with the elastic sleeve receiving holes 7, 7, and
Positioning holes 8, 8 with larger inner diameters are formed on the flange side, and a C-shaped pipe 9 is fitted across both of these holes 8, 8, thereby aligning both housings 5.5. It has a structure like this.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, although the adapter of the invention disclosed in the above-mentioned publication has better centering accuracy than the conventional adapter described above, it has a large number of parts, especially in multi-pole connectors. However, there were problems that needed to be solved, such as increased costs and decreased workability.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and provides an optical relay adapter that is easy to assemble and can be aligned with high accuracy in the same way as the conventional example described above, without increasing the number of parts. With the goal.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the present invention, a pair of housings are coupled by abutting opposing wall portions against each other, and an elastic sleeve extending through both walls of the coupled housings is provided with a free movement. In an optical relay adapter for interconnecting ferrules of a pair of optical connector plugs via the elastic sleeve, the elastic sleeve receiving hole and It is characterized by forming at least a pair of mutually fitting concavo-convex portions that are concentric and have a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the accommodation hole.

[Operation] A pair of concave and convex portions facing each other and having a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the elastic sleeve accommodating hole are formed on the opposing surfaces of the walls of the pair of housings, so that other structural parts can be By simply fitting the concave and convex portions of the opposing walls of the housings into each other, both housings can be aligned with high precision, and can be assembled easily and inexpensively.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an optical relay adapter 11 of the present invention that interconnects a pair of optical connector plugs l (0, 102).

The optical relay adapter 11 includes a pair of housings 1 having hoods 15a, 15b and walls 13a, 13b, respectively.
2a and 12b, and are connected to each other by abutting opposing surfaces 14a and 14b (see FIG. 3) of the wall portions 13a and 13b. In addition, each housing 12a, 12b
A pair of flange portions 16a, l6a (16b, 16b
).

As shown in FIG. 5, a convex part (beat) 18 for ultrasonic welding is provided on the facing surfaces 1'7a and 17a of the flange part 16a of one housing 12a, and the two housings are connected via this beat 18. 12a and 12b are integrally coupled to each other. In other words, the flange portion ↓6a, 16b
When the facing surfaces 17a and 17b of the two are butted against each other and ultrasonic welding is performed in this state, the beat 18 is melted and both the flanges 16a and 16b are fixed.

The flange portions 16a and 16b have grooves 19a for panel mounting.
, 19b are formed, and the adapter l1- can be attached to a panel (not shown) with screws, for example, via the grooves 19a, 19b. Further, each housing 12a, 12b has a wall portion 13a, 13b.
A plurality of cylindrical bodies 20a extending into the hoods 15a, 15b from
, 20b. Both cylindrical bodies 20a, 20b have elastic sleeve receiving holes 21a, 2lb having the same inner diameter, and receive half portions of the metallic elastic sleeve 30 in the receiving holes 21a, 2lb, respectively. Each accommodation hole 21a, 2l
b has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the elastic sleeve 30, so that the elastic sleeve 30 can freely move within each accommodation hole 21a, 2lb. In addition, each cylindrical body 20a, 2
A shoulder portion 22a extending in the radial direction is provided at the hood side end of 0b.
22b is formed and receives the end surface of the elastic sleeve 30,
The axial movement of the elastic sleeve 30 is restricted. The end openings 23a, 23b of the cylinder formed by the shoulders 22a, 22b are larger than the inner diameter of the elastic sleeve 3o disposed in the receiving holes 2la, 2lb. Therefore, the optical connector plugs 101, 102
The ferrules 103 and 104 fit into the elastic sleeve 30 through the openings 23a and 23b as shown in FIG.
The elastic sleeve 30 holds them in alignment.

In this embodiment, each of the housings 12a and 12b has five cylindrical bodies 20a and 20b, respectively, as shown in FIG.
has. The uppermost cylinder and the fourth cylinder from the top have the same shape, but differ from the second, third, and fifth cylinders of the same shape at the wall side end. It has a shape. That is, the uppermost cylinder 20a of one housing 12a has a protrusion 25a on its wall side end surface, the second cylinder has a recess 26a, and then the third cylinder has a concave part 26a. The cylindrical body also has a recess 26a,
The fourth cylindrical body has a convex portion 25a, and the fifth cylindrical body has a concave portion 26a. The uppermost cylindrical body 20b of the other housing 12b facing this has a concave portion 25b on its wall side end surface, the second cylindrical body has a convex portion 26b, and then the third cylindrical body has a convex portion 26b. Similarly, the fourth cylinder has a convex portion 26b, the fourth cylinder has a concave portion 25b, and the fifth cylinder has a convex portion 26b. In this way, the pair of housings 12a, 12b are provided with vertical and horizontal directionality, thereby preventing errors in the combination direction during assembly. In other words, when the two parts are fitted in a concave-convex manner, the directionality is inevitably determined, and the construction is such that the operator can easily and correctly assemble the parts without having to judge the combination direction during assembly. In addition, the convex portion 2
5a is concentric with the accommodation hole 21a and has a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the accommodation hole 21a, and the recess 26a is also concentric with the accommodation hole 21a.
It is formed to be concentric with 1a and to have a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the accommodation hole 21a.

On the other hand, the concave portion 25b and the convex portion 26b of the other housing 12b are also formed concentrically with the accommodation hole 2lb in the same manner as described above.

In this embodiment having such a structure, in addition to the effect of preventing the wrong direction of the housing during assembly as described above, the housing holes 21a, 2lb and the uneven portion can be concentrically arranged easily with high precision. Since it can be machined, it has the effect of making it possible to achieve high-precision center alignment with a simple assembly process of simply fitting the concave and convex portions of a pair of housings together.

In addition, in FIG. 2, a pair of arms 27a, 27 have shoulder portions 28a, 28b extending from the walls 13a, 13b of the housings 12a, ↓2b into the hoods 15a, 15b.
b is a locking member for holding and fixing the optical connector plug 102 to the adapter 11 in cooperation with a latch 105 (see FIG. 1) provided on the optical connector plug {01, 102. Further, holes 29a and 29b provided in the wall portions 13a and 13b are holes for cutting out the shoulder portions 28a and 28b.

To assemble the adapter 11 of the present invention, first, half of the elastic sleeve 30 is inserted into each receiving hole 2lb of the cylinder 20b with the housing 12b facing down. Next, the accommodation hole 21a of the cylindrical body 20a of the other housing 12a
While the other half of the elastic sleeve 30 is received therein, the wall portions thereof are overlapped with the wall portions of one of the housings, and the concave and convex portions on the surface facing the wall portions are fitted. After this, ultrasonic waves are applied from the side of the housing 12a having the bead 18 by a predetermined device, and both flange parts 1 are bonded by ultrasonic welding.
6a and 16b are welded together. In this state, each elastic sleeve 30 is held movably within the pair of accommodation holes 21a and 2lb.

In the above embodiment, the elastic sleeve 30 is first inserted into the housing 12b side, but when forming the beat 18 on the housing 12b side, ultrasonic waves may be applied from the housing 12b side. So,
It is preferable to first insert the elastic sleeve into the other housing 12a side, since this improves work efficiency.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to center the cylindrical body housing the elastic sleeve by simply bringing the opposing walls of a pair of housings into contact with each other. It has the advantage that it requires fewer points and can be done at low cost.

In addition, since the joint surface of the cylinder is formed in an uneven manner and is joined at a different position from the wall joint surface, it is possible to prevent intruders from outside, such as dust, from entering the accommodation hole.

In addition, a special arrangement of concavities and convexities is formed on the end faces of the walls of both housings, giving them vertical and horizontal directionality, so that when assembling both housings, simply fitting the convexities and convexities allows the housings to be assembled in the correct direction easily and easily. It has excellent effects such as being able to assemble accurately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an optical relay adapter according to the present invention, showing the state before it is assembled with a pair of optical connector plugs, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 1 and 2 in FIG. figure,
FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main parts of the optical relay adapter of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is an exploded sectional view of the optical relay adapter of the present invention;
6 is a front view of the optical relay adapter of the present invention showing the surface mating with the optical connector plug, and FIG. 7 and FIG. FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a conventional optical relay adapter. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Optical relay adapter, 12a, 12b... Housing, 13a, 13b... Wall part, 16a, 16b... Flange part, 18... Convex part for ultrasonic welding 21a, 21b... - Accommodation hole, 25a, 25b... Convex part, 25a, 25b... Concave part, 30... Elastic sleeve, 101, 102... Optical connector plug, 103, 10
4... Ferrule

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A pair of housings that are joined by abutting their opposing walls against each other, and an elastic sleeve that is freely accommodated in an elastic sleeve that extends through both walls of the joined housings. an optical relay adapter for interconnecting ferrules of a pair of optical connector plugs via the elastic sleeve, the elastic sleeve receiving hole being concentric with and accommodating on the opposing wall surfaces of the pair of housings; 1. An optical relay adapter comprising at least a pair of mutually fitting concave and convex portions having a diameter larger than the inner diameter of the hole. 2. The one housing has a plurality of recesses on its wall-opposed surface, and the other housing has a plurality of protrusions on its wall-opposed surface that fit into the recesses. The optical relay adapter according to item 1. 3. The one housing has at least one concave portion and one convex portion on the surface facing the wall, and the other housing fits into the concave portion and the convex portion, respectively, on the surface facing the wall. The optical relay adapter according to claim 1, having a convex portion and a concave portion. 4. The pair of housings have flange portions facing each other on extensions of their walls, and the flange portion of one of the housings is provided with a convex portion for ultrasonic welding on its opposing surface. The optical relay adapter according to claim 1, characterized in that: