JPH09133813A - Optical fiber connection unit storage unit and optical fiber connection unit storage structure - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A connector of a single-fiber optical fiber or a multi-fiber optical fiber tape used for constructing a subscriber optical communication network, especially an MT connector, does not require excessive force, and the connection characteristics of the optical fiber However, there was no means to store it tightly. SOLUTION: Optical fibers 42a and 42b are connectors 4
A plurality of sets of connection parts connected by 0 are housed in a housing 35, the housing 35 is made of an elastically deformable material, and each connector 40 is a partition plate provided in the housing 35. 36 and is supported on the connector 40.
The optical fibers 42a and 42b extending from are sandwiched by slits 37a and 37b provided in the same housing 35.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber connection unit storage unit and an optical fiber connection unit storage structure used for constructing a subscriber optical communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, as a subscriber optical communication network, an optical communication network using optical fibers such as a plurality of single-core lines or a plurality of multi-core tape lines has been constructed. Among them, a multi-core optical fiber tape is often used, in which a plurality of optical fibers having four or more fibers are arranged in a horizontal row and the tape is formed by joining the optical fibers from the upper and lower surfaces with a plastic film.
In the subscriber optical communication network, it is often necessary to change the connection including branching, so that the optical fiber is connected by a connector. In addition, in general, in order to prepare for future branching, connection change, or failure of connection work, an extra length of the optical fiber is provided in the connection portion, for example, about 1 m on each side. These connectors of the optical connection part and the optical fiber or the optical fiber tape of the extra length are stored in a container called a closure.

FIG. 8 shows, as an example, a pin-fitting type connector (called an MT connector) for connecting four-core optical fiber tapes. In this figure, the MT connector 1
The fibers output from the optical fiber tapes 2a and 2b on both sides are abutted and connected at the center of the connector. That is, the optical fibers ejected from the optical fiber tapes 2a and 2b are inserted into the fine holes formed in the ferrules 3a and 3b on both sides, fixed with an adhesive, and the end face 5 is polished, and then the positioning pin 4 is inserted. And both ferrules 3
A and 3b are fitted together, and the tips of the optical fibers on both sides are butted. Then, both ferrules are clamped from outside by clips 6 to connect the optical fibers. After the connection, the connector and the optical fiber tape as extra lengths on both sides of the connector are housed in the closure.

FIGS. 9, 10 (a) and 10 (b) are views showing a state in which a conventional optical fiber connecting portion is housed in a plastic sheet 13 inside a closure 10. This figure shows, as an example, one and the other single-core optical fibers 12a, 12
2b is connected by two separate connectors 15a and 15b, and is housed in the folded plastic sheet 13 together with the extra length portion 16.
The optical fibers 12a and 12b separated from the optical cables 11a and 11b in which the single-core fibers are focused are the connectors 15
a, 15b, and the connectors 15a, 1
5b and respective optical fiber extra lengths 16a, 16b
The two are stored together in the folded sheet 13. As shown in FIG. 10, the plastic sheet 13 has an upper folded portion 18 and a lower folded portion 19, and accommodates an optical fiber connecting portion therebetween. As shown in FIG. 9, a large number of the bent sheets 13 are radially provided so that a large number of optical fiber connection portions can be individually accommodated. In this way, the optical connecting part housing structure containing a large number of optical fiber connecting parts is enclosed in an airtight closure.

[0005]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional optical fiber connecting portion housing structure, both the connector and the extra length portion of the optical fiber are housed in the folded plastic sheet. Therefore, for example, in the case of a connecting portion of an MT connector to which four-core optical fiber tapes are connected, it is necessary to accommodate a pair of MT connectors and an optical fiber connecting portion composed of an extra length portion of the optical fiber tape in a sheet at the same time. However, it is difficult to store in a narrow seat. Even if it is stored, when branching or changing the connection of the optical fiber, select the sheet that contains the required connector in the closure in which the optical fiber is intricate, and select the connector and the spare sheet from the folded sheet. It is necessary to remove the connector and reconnect it after taking out the long part, re-arranging the extra part of the fiber tape, and making it possible to identify the optical fiber at the connection point, so it takes a long time to change the connection. There was a problem of cost. In addition, there is no space in the plastic sheet, and there is a problem that an accident occurs in which the clip that holds the ferrule of the connector is pressed from both sides by the force from the outside and comes off.

The operation of branching or connection change begins with the connector which is the connection point and the identification of the optical fibers extending from the connector to both sides. Therefore, the connectors should be arranged as close as possible, arranged and housed, and the connectors necessary for connection and the optical fibers extending from the connectors can be easily identified.
In addition, if the connection portion can be easily taken out, it is considered that the work such as connection change can be completed in a short time. The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and is a connector of a cable or a multi-core optical fiber tape, which is composed of a single-core optical fiber used for constructing a subscriber line, and particularly M
The T connector is tightly housed, and for example, the connector and the optical fiber necessary for the connection change can be quickly identified and taken out as needed, and as a result, the connection change work can be completed in a short time and An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber connection part storage unit and an optical fiber connection part storage structure that can reliably secure the connection state of optical fibers without applying an excessive force to the fiber connection part.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of sets of connecting parts, in which one optical fiber and the other optical fiber are connected by a connector, are housed in a housing. The body is made of an elastically deformable material, at least one surface of which is open, and a plurality of rows of partition plates protruding toward the open surface are formed on the housing wall portion facing the one surface. Along with both side walls of these partition plates, slits are formed in the vicinity of both sides of each partition plate, and each connector is supported on each partition plate, and One and the other optical fibers extending from the connector are held between the slits.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of the optical fiber connecting portion accommodating units according to the first aspect are stacked and held in multiple stages, and the plurality of optical fiber connecting portion accommodating units are accommodated in the closure. The extra length portion of the optical fiber extending from the optical fiber storage unit is disposed in the closure.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an optical fiber tape splicing part housing structure according to the present invention.
In this figure, reference numeral 20 is a closure, 22, 22, ...
.. is an optical fiber tape connecting portion storage unit, and 28 is an extra length portion of the optical fiber tape. In the closure 20, the optical fiber tape connection unit storage units 22, 22 ,.
.. and the extra length portion 28 of the optical fiber tape are stored.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an optical fiber tape connection section storage unit (hereinafter referred to as a storage unit) 22. In this figure, reference numeral 35 is an optical fiber tape connecting portion storage housing (hereinafter referred to as storage housing) 40 is a connector,
42a and 42b are one and the other optical fiber tapes connected by a connector. Connection part housing 35
A partition plate 36 and a slit 37 are provided in the. The connector 40 is held on the lower wall 45 of the housing 35 and each partition plate 36 with the clip 41 thereof facing upward. The one and the other optical fiber tapes 42a and 42b connected to the connector 40 are sandwiched in slits 37 provided on both side walls 46 and 47 of the housing 35. The connector 40 is the MT connector shown in FIG. 8 for connecting the conventionally used four-core optical fiber tape.

As described above, by holding the connector 40 and the optical fiber tapes 42a and 42b extending on both sides thereof, the connector 40 and the optical fiber tapes 42a and 42b are closely arranged in parallel and are flat. It is located in the Here, the height of the space for accommodating each connector 40 of the accommodating housing 35 is made larger than the thickness of the connector 40 including the clip 41, and each connector 40 is accommodated with the clip 41 facing up. Therefore, no external force is applied to the clip 41.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of the housing 35. As shown in this figure, the storage housing 35 includes a rectangular main wall portion 43 and an upper wall 4 formed on an outer peripheral portion of the main wall portion 43.
4, a lower wall 45, a right side wall 46, and a left side wall 47, one surface facing the main wall portion 43 is open, and the main wall 43 has four partition plates 36 protruding to the open surface. It is set up. In addition, the left and right side walls 46 of the open surface of the storage housing 35,
Slits 37 a and 37 b are formed in the vicinity of the upper surfaces of the partition plate 36 and the lower wall 45 of 47. Further, the upper wall 44 and the lower wall 45 are provided with pins 38 and pin holes 39 for joining with other housings. Storage case 35
The respective parts are manufactured integrally by using an elastically deformable material such as rubber.

As shown in FIG. 4, the two storage units 22 are stacked by using the pins 38 and the pin holes 39 of the storage housing 35 to fit them together. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, two stacked storage units 22 are set as one set, and two sets are installed on the storage unit holding base 26. When the storage units 22 are stacked, 10 MT connectors to which the four optical fiber tapes are connected are stored. The optical fiber tapes 42a and 42b extending from the storage units 22 to both sides are the extra length portions shown in FIG.
It is bent, half-turned, and arranged along the inner surface of the closure 20.

Next, with respect to the optical fiber tape connecting portion housing structure, work for removing the optical fiber tape connecting portion from the housing unit 22 or attaching the optical fiber tape connecting portion to the housing 35 will be described.

First, in order to remove the MT connector in which the four optical fiber tapes 42a and 42b are connected to both sides from the storage unit 22, as shown in FIG.
The lower wall 45 is held and the upper wall 44 is pushed in the direction opposite to the direction in which the partition plate 36 projects. Since the housing 35 is made of an elastically deformable material, it is curved to the back as shown in this figure. As a result, the slits 37a and 37b are opened, respectively, and the optical fiber tapes 42a and 42b held between the slits 37a and 37b are changed to the slits 37a and 37b.
It is supported only by the bottom surface of. For this reason,
Each connector 40 has an optical fiber tape 42a, 4
It can be easily taken out from the storage unit 22 together with 2b.

Similarly, when the housing 35 is curved to the back and the slit 37 is opened, the MT connector 4 is provided.
While supporting the optical fiber tapes 42a and 42b extending to both sides of 0, the connector 40 and the optical fiber tape connecting portion can be easily attached to the housing case 35.

In the above-mentioned optical fiber tape splicing portion accommodating structure, the accommodating unit 22 includes the optical fiber tape 42.
A large number of connectors 40 to which a and 42b are connected are compactly and planarly positioned and stored. Therefore, the connector 40 and the optical fiber tapes 42a and 42b can be easily identified, and the work such as connection change can be completed in a short time. Further, according to the above configuration, since the connecting portion of the optical fiber tape, that is, the connector 40 is supported in the divided space of the housing 35, it is difficult to receive an external force and the connected state of the optical fiber tape is kept for a long time. Can be reliably ensured over. Further, since the extra length portion 28 pulled out from the storage unit 22 can be arranged in a wide space portion in the closure 20, it can be easily identified and pulled out together with the connector 40 during work such as connection change. Workability can be improved.

The method of stacking the storage units 22 is not limited to the method using the pins 38 and the pin holes 39 described above. For example, FIG. 6 shows an example in which the storage units 22 are stacked using a shelf provided with storage holes. In this example, the storage unit 22 includes a bottom shelf 50 and an upper shelf 51.
They are housed in the storage holes 52 and 53 provided in, and are stacked in two stages. The upper shelf 51 is supported by four columns 55 provided on the bottom shelf. Bottom shelf 5
The storage hole provided at 0 is a blind hole. And FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example in which the storage unit 22 is supported by a clamp 60 in a two-tiered manner. Further, although the above embodiment has been described with respect to the connecting portion of the four-fiber optical fiber tape, the present invention may also be applied to the connecting portion of the multi-core and single-core optical fibers.

[0019]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. According to the optical fiber connecting portion storage unit of claim 1, since the connector to which the optical fiber or the optical fiber tape is connected is compactly stored in the storage housing and is planarly stored, The connector and the optical fiber or the optical fiber tape can be easily identified. In addition, the connected optical fiber or optical fiber tape and connector can be easily attached to and removed from the storage unit. The workability of can be improved. Further, since each connector is supported in the divided space in the housing, it is difficult to receive an external force and the connection state of the optical fiber or the optical fiber tape can be surely secured for a long period of time. .

According to the optical fiber connecting portion storage structure of the second aspect, the storage units are stacked in a plurality of stages, and a plurality of sets of the stacked storage units are used. Therefore, in constructing a subscriber optical communication network. A large number of necessary connections can be stored compactly and easily. Also,
The extra length of the optical fiber or optical fiber tape is organized and held in the closure space behind the storage unit, so the extra length can be easily taken out together with the connection part, and can be used for transmission of other fibers. Operations such as branching or connection change can be completed in a short time without affecting.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a configuration of a housing structure of an optical fiber tape connecting portion shown as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the configuration of an optical fiber tape splicing section storage unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a storage housing that stores an optical fiber tape connecting portion.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of storage units stacked in two stages.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the housing.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a method of stacking storage units in two stages.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a method of stacking storage units in two stages.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventionally used connector (MT connector) to which four-core optical fiber tapes are connected.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional housing structure of an optical fiber connection portion.

FIG. 10 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a conventional optical fiber connection portion is housed in a plastic sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 ... Closure, 22 ... Connection unit storage unit, 28 ...
Extra length of optical fiber tape, 35 ... Connection part housing, 3
6 ... Partition plate, 37a ... Slit, 37b ... Slit, 4
0 ... Connector, 42a ... One optical fiber tape, 4
2b ... other optical fiber tape

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Yokosuka 1440 Rokuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Fujikura Ltd. Sakura Factory (72) Inventor Mikio Tsutsumi 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation Telephone Company (72) Inventor Shinji Nagasawa 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of sets of connecting portions in which one optical fiber (42a) and the other optical fiber (42b) are connected by a connector (40) are housed in a housing (35), and The housing is made of an elastically deformable material, and at least one surface of the housing is open, and a plurality of partition plates (36) projecting toward the open surface are provided on a wall portion facing the one surface. Slits (37a, 37b) are formed near both sides of each partition plate on both side walls located on both sides of these partition plates, respectively, and the respective connectors are respectively arranged on the partition plate. An optical fiber connection part accommodating unit (22), characterized in that one and the other optical fibers that are supported and extend from the connector are sandwiched by the slits. 2. A plurality of optical fiber connection section storage units according to claim 1 are stacked and held in multiple stages, and the plurality of optical fiber connection section storage units are stored and arranged in a closure (20), An optical fiber splice storage structure, characterized in that an extra length (28) of the optical fiber extending from the fiber storage unit is arranged in the closure.