JPH0196609A - Automatic optical fiber inserting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve workability and the characteristics of an optical connector by detecting insertion force in the entire range of an insertion stage while inserting an optical fiber at a specified speed into a ferrule and by controlling the insertion force to prevent the excess insertion force from being exerted on the optical fiber at the time of inserting the optical fiber into the ferrule. CONSTITUTION:The optical fiber 1 from which the coating is removed for a prescribed length is inserted at the prescribed speed into the ferrule 3 and the axial force acted on the ferrule 3 is detected by an axial force sensor 15 from just before the front end of the optical fiber comes into contact with the inlet of the precision fine hole 4 of the ferrule 3. The insertion operation is carried out in the range where the preset insertion force (set arbitrarily in respective positions) is not exceeded. The insertion operation is stopped and the device is so actuated as to restart the insertion operation or to stop the same when the set insertion force is exceeded. The breakage of the optical fiber by the excessive insertion force is thereby prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically inserting an optical fiber from which the coating has been removed into a ferrule having a precision pore for positioning the optical fiber in the assembly of an optical connector.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention is an apparatus for automatically inserting an optical fiber with the coating removed into a ferrule having precision pores for positioning the optical fiber. This is an automatic optical fiber insertion device that can insert optical fibers while detecting their axial force.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when assembling an optical connector, the insertion of an optical fiber into a ferrule was performed manually as shown in FIG.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, since the clearance between the inner diameter of the precision pore 4 of the ferrule 3 and the outer diameter of the optical fiber 1 is as small as 1 to 2 μm, the insertion process itself requires considerable skill, and the slight insertion force generated at the entrance of the pore is extremely small. (10g or less) must be inserted with the tip of a finger. If excessive insertion force is applied, the optical fiber is fragile and will easily break, leaving fragments remaining in the pores, making subsequent insertion difficult. In addition, loss of contact in an optical connector depends on the positioning accuracy of the optical fiber within the ferrule (axis misalignment within the ferrule), so it is necessary to select a ferrule that has precision pores with as small a clearance as possible relative to the outer diameter of the optical fiber. be.

Therefore, in conventional manual operations, it is extremely difficult to insert the optical fiber with a slight clearance of 1 μm or less, and in many cases, the tip of the optical fiber hits the pore entrance 6 before being inserted into the precision pore 4. breakage due to bending of the optical fiber due to excessive insertion force after insertion into the pore (see Figure 4).
bl (x mark in C1), etc., and the clearance limit is 1 μm or more.

As described above, in conventional manual insertion work, the optical fiber often breaks during insertion, and it is necessary to remove the optical fiber fragments inside the ferrule and redo it, making assembly work difficult. This has been a problem since it has been difficult to improve the characteristics (connection loss) of the optical connector itself.

[Means for solving problems]

The purpose of the present invention is to reduce the workability associated with conventional manual insertion.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems in improving the characteristics of optical connectors, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic optical fiber insertion device that automates the insertion operation. An optical fiber insertion device for an optical connector that inserts an optical fiber from which the coating has been removed into the pore of a ferrule includes a first clamper that clamps the optical fiber and is movable in the axial direction of the optical fiber, and a motor that drives the clamper. , a position detecting means for detecting the position of the first clamper, and a first clamper disposed above the first clamper to clamp the optical fiber on the same axis as the first clamper and move together with the first clamper. a ferrule fixing part installed below the clamped fiber to hold the ferrule in alignment with the axis of the fiber;
an axial force detection means for detecting the pressing force of the fiber when the fiber is inserted into the ferrule; and an axial force setting means connected to each of the axial force detection means, the motor, and the position detection means; The controller detects the axial force exerted by the optical fiber on the ferrule between predetermined moving positions of the optical fiber, and controls the moving speed and amount of the first clamper so that the set axial force is not exceeded, thereby controlling the ferrule. It is characterized by inserting a fiber into.

[Effect]

Since the apparatus of the present invention is constructed as described above, an optical fiber whose coating has been removed for a predetermined length is inserted into the ferrule at a predetermined speed, and the optical fiber is inserted into the ferrule immediately before the tip of the optical fiber contacts the entrance of the precision pore of the ferrule. It detects the applied axial force and performs the insertion operation within a range that does not exceed the preset insertion force (set arbitrarily for each position), and if the set insertion force is exceeded, the insertion operation is stopped. Since the reinsertion operation is performed or canceled, it is possible to prevent the optical fiber from being broken due to excessive insertion force that often occurs in conventional manual insertion operations.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the automatic optical fiber insertion device of the present invention. A fixed clamper 20 is a clamper for clamping a predetermined position of the outer sheath 2 of the optical fiber 1. A fixed clamper guide member 23, a fixed clamper slider 22 It is supported so as to be movable in the axial direction, and the distal end portion is placed on the insertion clamper IO. The insertion clamper 10 is a clamper for clamping the jacket portion 2 to a predetermined length including the optical fiber 1 from which the coating has been removed, and is supported movably in the fiber axial direction by an insertion clamper guide member 12 and an insertion clamper slider 11. There is. The motor 13 is a stamping motor that moves the insertion clamper slider at a predetermined speed using a feed screw or the like provided on its shaft, or a driving motor such as a DC servo motor.The 0 position sensor mounting member 28 is mounted on the base plate. Upper and lower limit position sensors 24 and 25 for setting the upper and lower limit positions of the insertion clamper 10 are installed on the mounting member 28, respectively. The holding part 21 is fixed to the slider 11 of the insertion clamper, presses the fixed clamper 20 whose end part is placed on the insertion clamper 10 onto the insertion clamper, and moves the fixed clamper 20 integrally with the insertion clamper 10 to the ferrule 3 side. move it. The ferrule fixing part 14 supports and fixes the ferrule 3 coaxially with the optical fiber 1, and is mounted on the axial force sensor 15. The axial force sensor 15 detects the insertion force 16 applied to the ferrule 3 when the optical fiber is inserted. The base plate 17 includes a fixed clamp guide member 23 and an insertion clamp guide member 12, respectively.
, motor 13, position sensor mounting part 28, axial force sensor 15
is fixed. The controller 18 is connected to the upper and lower limit position sensors 24, 25, the axial force sensor 15, and the motor 13, and drives and controls the movement of the insertion clamper 10 based on the signals from each of the sensors. The upper limit stopper 26 is lowered on the upper part of the fixed clamper guide member 23 in correspondence with the detection position of the upper limit position sensor 24, and
Regulate the upper limit of 2. The opening/closing wire 27 is for opening and closing the insertion clamper 10 by a separate drive unit (not shown).

Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

First, a fixed clamper 20 whose upper limit position is set at a predetermined position of the outer sheath of the optical fiber whose sheath has been removed in a predetermined length is used.
The insertion clamper 10 is clamped to the clamp and is opened in advance.
Close and clamp the optical fiber to be inserted. In addition, the fixed part 14 has a zero-order motor 13 for attaching the ferrule.
The optical fiber 1 is inserted at a constant speed (high speed) using the feed screw 24 and the fixed clamper 10.20 is lowered to a position (δ-δ
. ), the insertion speed is changed to a predetermined insertion speed (fine speed), and an axial force control routine that incorporates the signal from the axial force sensor 15 is started. This axial force control routine is performed at each insertion stage shown in FIG. 2 according to the control flow shown in FIG. 3.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2(a), after the tip of the optical fiber comes into contact with the entrance of the pore 4 of the ferrule 3, as shown in FIG.
) in the first stage (δ-δ.~δl) until just before the sheath end 2a hits the ferrule end, the axial force (Pa, Pb, Pc) detected by the axial force sensor 15 is If the set axial force value 1'+ax is exceeded, the motor is temporarily stopped, and either a retry (return to the upper limit point and reinsert) or insertion is interrupted, and if PllaXl is not exceeded, insertion is continued. When δ-δ1 is reached, insert the clamper l
O is opened larger than the outer diameter of the ferrule 3 to avoid contact between the ferrule 3 and the clamper lO, and insertion is continued with the fiber clamped to the fixed clamp. δ〉δ
In the range 8 (second stage), when the axial force value (Pd) generated when the jacket end 2a butts against the entrance 6 of the pore 4 reaches the preset axial force value Pmaxl, the motor 13 is turned off. After stopping the insertion, the operator releases the fixed clamper 20 and removes the inserted ferrule and fiber from the device.
．． 20 is returned to the position where the upper limit sensor 24 turns ON to prepare for the next insertion operation.

In the above axial force control routine, the return-to-origin operation is performed by controller 1.
8' and the insertion speed,
Insertion position (δ., δI) for axial force control, axial force setting value (
Insertion conditions such as Pmax++Pmaxz), failure display 1 if the set axial force is exceeded in the first stage, whether retry is possible,
All the displays etc. when the insertion is done normally are displayed on controller 1.
Do it in 8.

The above setting axis Pmay should be given by calculating the optical fiber buckling load at Figure 2+al, which has the highest probability of breakage in the insertion process, and Pmag should be set to an axial force equivalent to conventional manual insertion. Bye.

Further, the position δ1 that separates the first stage and the second stage is set at a position where the lower surface of the insertion clamper 10 does not come into contact with the ferrule, and the position signal δ is used to drive the stepping motor 13.
The number of pulses may be set by counting from the start, or may be set by a displacement sensor that measures the displacement of the slider 11 provided separately.

□ Also, P min in FIG. 3 is an axial force setting value for determining the presence or absence of a fiber, and this may be a value equivalent to the detection accuracy of the axial force sensor.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, when inserting an optical fiber into a ferrule, the device of the present invention can detect the insertion force over the entire range of the insertion process while inserting it at a constant speed, and can control so that excessive insertion force is not applied to the optical fiber. In addition to being able to insert a fragile optical fiber without breaking it, it is also possible to safely insert it even when the clearance between the precision pore of the ferrule and the optical fiber is as small as 1 μm or less. Therefore, there is an advantage that failures in the insertion operation are significantly reduced, contributing to improved workability and improved characteristics of the optical connector.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the automatic optical fiber insertion device of the present invention, Figs. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the insertion force control method of the device of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a method for controlling the insertion force of the device of the present invention. It is an explanatory view of the process of inserting an optical fiber into a ferrule. l... Optical fiber 2 with the coating removed... Optical fiber jacket 3... Ferrule 4... Precision pore 5... Ferrule jacket insertion part 6... Pore population part 10... - Insertion clamper 11...Guide slider 12...Guide member 13...Stepping motor, 13-1 Feed screw 1
4... Ferrule fixing part 15... Axial force sensor 16... Insertion force 17... Base plate 18... Controller 20... Fixed clamper 21... Holding part 22... Guide slider 23...Guide member 24...Upper limit sensor 25...Lower limit sensor 26...Upper limit stopper 27...Opening/closing wire 28...Sensor mounting member or higher

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim] An optical fiber insertion device for an optical connector that inserts an optical fiber with a coating removed into a ferrule having a precise pore for optical fiber positioning, which clamps the optical fiber and is movable in the axial direction of the optical fiber. a first clamper; a motor for driving the clamper; a position detection means for detecting the position of the first clamper; a second clamper that clamps the ferrule and moves together with the first clamper; a ferrule fixing part that is installed below the clamped fiber to hold the ferrule in alignment with the axis of the fiber; an axial force detecting means for detecting a pressing force by the fiber when the fiber is inserted; a controller connected to the axial force detecting means, the motor, and the position detecting means, and having an axial force setting means; The system detects the axial force exerted by the optical fiber on the ferrule between predetermined moving positions of the optical fiber, and controls the moving speed and amount of movement of the first clamper so as not to exceed the set axial force to move the fiber to the ferrule. An optical fiber automatic insertion device characterized by inserting.