JPH09281358A - Optical connector adapter - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] Two types of front shells are shared without error for a rear shell. A rear shell 1 attached to a panel of a device 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 respectively formed by a first front shell 6 (for a flat polished product and a convex spherical polished product) and a second front shell 7, respectively.
It is a portion provided so as to fit with each rotation direction positioning key groove (for example, for an obliquely convex spherical surface-polished product), and is selectively used depending on the width of each rotation direction positioning key. A second optical connector plug is connected to the rear shell 1 inside the panel, and a first front shell 6 or a second front shell 7 that is fitted outside the panel is fastened. Subsequently, the first optical connector plug is connected to the fastened front shell, and the optical connection is completed.

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 As a conventional technique, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-323
The optical connector adapter described in Japanese Patent 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 a front shell 1.
1 and a rear shell 12 that is fastened so that it can be coupled and separated. The rear shell 12 is attached to the panel 13 of the device. A first optical connector plug 16 is connected to the front shell 11 on the outside of the panel 13 of the device with reference to the panel 13. A second optical connector plug 17 is connected to the rear shell 12 inside the panel 13.

The front shell 11 has a cylindrical portion. A front flange 18 is formed on the tubular portion of the front shell 11 on the radially outer side. The rear shell 12 has a tubular portion. The cylindrical portion of the rear shell 12 has a front flange 18 of the front shell 11.
A rear flange 19 is formed so as to face the.
Further, the front shell 11 has a tubular portion coaxially arranged with the front shell 11.

An alignment sleeve 21 is provided inside the rear shell 12. Inside the alignment sleeve 21,
The ferrules 20 are aligned and held. Further, in the alignment sleeve 21, the front shell 11 and the rear shell 12 are arranged.
When fastened, the outer peripheral surface is axially covered and held by the holding member 22 inside. 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 tubular portion 24 that extends in the axial direction on the side opposite to the holding member 22. In the rear shell 12, the end surface of the rear flange 19 which is orthogonal to the axial direction is butted against the end surface of the front flange 18 so as to cover the tubular portion 24 and is connected. The rear flange 19 is fixed to the panel 13 by tightening the rear shell 12 with screws (not shown).

By the way, in the optical connector adapter, the one end surface 23 of the ferrule 20 is arranged in the alignment sleeve 21.
Is abutted against the end face of the ferrule 25 of the first optical connector plug 16 for optical connection.

Further, the front shell 11 is provided with a lock lever 31. The lock lever 31 is a pair of side walls 1 of the front flange 18 that face each other.
8a, a pair of lock lever plates 31a, 31b
Is provided. These lock lever plates 31a, 3
1b is a pair of opposing side walls 18 of the front shell 11.
It is rotatably supported by a rotary shaft 32 provided on each of a. Therefore, the lock lever 31 is attached to the front shell 11 so as to be rotatable between the front and rear shells 11 and 12 along a circular path. The lock lever plates 31a and 31b are provided between the ends of the lock lever plates 31a and 31b.
An operation member 34 for rotating about 2 as a fulcrum is connected. The rotating shaft 3 is attached to the lock lever plates 31a and 31b.
When 2 is the center, 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 protrusion-shaped engagement receiving portions 36 that engage with the engaging portions 35 of the lock lever plates 31a and 31b on the pair of side walls 19a that face each other on the rear flange 19.

Further, the lock lever 31 is provided with an elastic member 37. The elastic member 37 is provided between the rotating shaft 32 and the operating member 34 and in the pair of lock lever plates 31.
It is connected between a and 31b. As shown in FIG. 7, the rear flange 19 is provided with an engagement protrusion 39a that abuts the elastic member 37 when the lock lever 31 is rotated along a circular orbit. When the lock lever 31 engages with the engagement receiving portion 36, the elastic member 37 engages with the engagement protrusion 39.
The lock state of the lock lever 31 is maintained by overcoming a. The elastic member 37 has a shape such as a pipe or a round bar and is an elastic 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 in the front shell 11 and the lock lever 31 is rotated clockwise on the paper surface as shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 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 fitted state of the rear shell 12 is locked. On this occasion,
The elastic member 37 elastically rides over the engaging protrusion 39a,
The locked state is retained. In this way, the elastic member 3
Since 7 rides over the engaging protrusion 39a, the free movement of the lock lever 31 on the circular orbit is limited, so that the lock can be held in a stable state.

First and second optical connector plugs 16 and 17 are fitted to the optical connector adapter 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 the screw on the outer peripheral portion of the rear shell 12, the ferrule 20 is abutted in the alignment sleeve 21, and optical connection is made.
Then, from such a state, 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 separated from the front shell 11. At this time, since the end surface 23 of the ferrule 20 is exposed, the end surface 23 can be easily cleaned.

However, as shown in FIG. 9, in the conventional optical connector adapter constituted by the front shell 11 and the rear shell 12, the key receiving groove 26 for positioning in the rotational direction provided in one rear shell 12 is one. This 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 optical connector plug apply the standard maximum dimension. However, it could not be used for an obliquely convex spherical surface-polished product.

Further, when the size is set for the obliquely convex spherical surface-polished product, it is not possible to insert the flat surface-polished product and the convex spherical surface-polished product.

[0014]

In the conventional optical connector adapter, since the front shell can be removed from the rear shell in a short time, the optical connector adapter attached to the device and the optical connector fitted inside the device can be removed. There are advantages that the ferrule end surface of the plug can be easily cleaned and that the lock between the front shell and the rear shell can be held in a stable state. However, on the other hand, the conventional optical connector adapter has the following disadvantages.

The plugs (ferrules) of the optical connector are roughly classified into those whose tip is polished to a flat surface (including a convex spherical surface) and those which are obliquely polished. As a representative of the former, FC connector or FC-PC (PHYSICAL CONTAC
T) connector, FC-APC as a representative of the latter
(ANGLED PHYSICAL CONTACT)
There is a connector. After that, the flat polishing connectors are collectively P
It is called a C connector, and the obliquely polished connectors are collectively called an APC connector.

When the APC connector is mounted inside the housing, the PC connector may be connected without knowing the damage to the APC connector inside the housing, and the measuring instrument may become unusable.

When the PC connector is changed to the APC connector in response to a user's request, it is necessary to replace both the plug inside the housing and the rear shell.

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

As a problem in connection, the key width and the key groove width of the both are different. Therefore, PC
When connecting the connector and the APC connector, there is a combination that does not work well, and even if they can be connected, the original optical performance cannot be obtained.

Due to the difference in end face shape, it is
When connecting with a PC connector, the fiber end face may be damaged. Normally, a rear shell is used on the inside of the housing and a front shell is used on the outside, but the user cannot determine the type of the connector only by looking from the outside.

As described above, it is necessary that the PC connector and the APC connector are clearly distinguished from each other and used, and that they can be easily replaced according to the user's request.

Therefore, the present invention is intended to improve the demerits of the above-mentioned conventional optical connector adapter. In the optical connector adapter used for the optical component JIS C 5970 F01 type single-core optical fiber connector or the like, for example, , P used for flat surface polishing products and convex spherical surface polishing 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 rotational direction positioning key of the PHYSICAL CONTACT SHELL) are different, it is possible to share two kinds of shells without error.

[0023]

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

(1) A rear shell to which the second optical connector plug is connected and a rear shell which is coupled and separably fastened,
Also, in an optical connector adapter having a second optical connector plug and a front shell for connecting the first optical connector plug for optical connection, the key width provided in at least one of the two types of front shells is adapted. As described above, an optical connector adapter in which at least two types of front shells can be shared by providing the rear shell with the number of key receiving grooves corresponding to the types of front shells.

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

(3) The optical connector adapter according to (1) above, in which colored seals are attached to the surfaces of the rear shell and the front shell for identification.

(4) A rear shell to which the second optical connector plug is connected, and a rear shell, which is fastened so as to be connectable and separable,
Also, in an optical connector adapter having a second optical connector plug and a front shell for connecting the first optical connector plug for optical connection, it is possible to connect the front shell to a plurality of types of optical connector plugs having different connecting portion shapes. An optical connector adapter that enables the fastening of different types of optical connector plugs with different joint shapes by preparing the above.

[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 the embodiment of the present invention similar to the conventional technique will be 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 portions for inserting respective rotational direction positioning keys (not shown) of different types of optical connector plugs, and the width dimension of each rotational direction positioning key. And different tolerances are used accordingly.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the panel 1 of the device.
Attach the 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 center of the lower part. If the rear shell 1 is for an APC that is rarely used, hole 2
Embed pin 3 in. When the second front shell 7 is for APC, the second front shell 7 can be fastened to the rear shell 1 because the second front shell 7 is provided with a hole (not shown) into which the pin 3 can be inserted. However, when the second front shell 7 is for a PC, it has no hole into which the pin 3 can be inserted, so that the second front shell 7 is fastened to the rear shell 1 by being blocked by the pin 3. 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 suitable for the rear shell 1 is fastened.

Then, the first optical connector plug 8 is attached to the first
The front shell 6 or the second front shell 7 is fitted and connected to the respective keyways 6a or 7a, and the optical connection is completed.

[0035]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the rear shell is provided with the two key receiving grooves so as to match the installation angles and the widths of the key grooves of the two kinds of front shells. It is convenient because two types of front shells can be shared, and furthermore, it is possible to prevent damage to the ferrule end surface due to incorrect fastening of the front shells.

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

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the stock quantity and the modification cost of the rear shell.

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

[Brief description of 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 attached 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 of 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 showing a second state during assembly of the conventional optical connector adapter.

6 is a cross-sectional view of the optical connector adapter of FIG.

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

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

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

[Description of reference numerals] 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 optical connector plug 10 Panel

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Junkichi Shirono Minami Azabu 5-1027 Minato-ku, Tokyo Anritsu Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Komazawa 5-1027 Minami-Azabu Minato-ku, Tokyo Anritsu Within the corporation

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A rear shell for connecting a second optical connector plug, and a front shell for connecting and disconnecting to the rear shell, a first optical connector plug for optical connection with a second optical connector plug. In the optical connector adapter having the above, the rear shell is provided with a number of key receiving grooves corresponding to the type of the front shell so as to match the key width provided at one position of at least two types of the front shell, and at least two types are provided. An optical connector adapter that can be shared with the front shell. 2. 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 into which the pin can be inserted is provided in only one of the front shells or the rear shell. The optical connector adapter 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. 4. A rear shell for connecting a second optical connector plug, and a front shell for connecting to the rear shell, a first optical connector plug for connecting the second optical connector plug and a second optical connector plug for optical connection. By preparing an optical connector adapter that has a front shell that can be coupled to a plurality of types of optical connector plugs having different coupling portions, it is possible to fasten different optical connector plugs having different coupling portions. An optical connector adapter characterized by: