JPH09236708A - Optical branch module - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Problem] It was difficult to improve the mounting density in view of installation and removal work. It has been difficult to carry out work such as connection switching without affecting optical communication in a live state. SOLUTION: An optical connector 25 for branch connection is supported at one end in a protruding state, and an optical fiber 8j and optical parts 9a, 9b, 9 such as a coupler connected to the optical fiber 8j are internally provided.
a thin plate-shaped base 21 for accommodating c, and the optical fibers 8a, 8
b is connected to the optical fiber 8j so as to switchably connect the optical fiber 8j, and a rotation moving part 22 which is rotatably supported by a rotating means 27 in a direction in which the other end of the base part 21 appears and disappears. An optical branching module 20 is provided which is characterized by being provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical branch module for inserting test light into an optical fiber for communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an optical fiber network, for example, in order to branch and connect an optical cable to an optical fiber core by connecting an optical connector, an optical wiring rack is used which terminates a large number of internal and external optical fibers to form a large group. It In particular, as an optical wiring rack used for a subscriber transmission line, an FTM (Fib
er Termination Module) is used. 4 and 5 are views showing a conventional optical wiring rack applied to FTM, in which reference numeral 1 is a frame and 2 is a frame.
Is a terminal board, 3 is an optical connector, and 4 is an optical branching module.

[0003] The frame 1 is formed in a shelf shape divided into a plurality of steps at equal intervals by horizontally arranged partition plates 5, and a plurality of steps for accommodating the optical branching module 4 are formed. . A terminal plate 2 that substantially covers the opening is fixed to the same side opening of each stage of the frame 1.
The terminal board 2 has a hole 6 for mounting the optical connector 3.
Are arranged side by side, and two SC type optical connectors 3 are arranged and fixed in the hole 6. The optical connector 3 has a plurality of SC type terminals (not shown) to which the intra-station optical fiber core wire 7 is connected on the outside, and a plurality of SC type terminals (not shown) to which the outside optical fiber core wire is connected on the inside. It is arranged at a position corresponding to the terminal for the optical fiber core wire 7.

The basic structure of the optical branching module 4 is shown in FIG. 8 below. As shown in FIG. 8, in the optical branching module 4, the optical coupler 9, the optical filter 4d, and the optical fiber 4 are provided.
Optical components such as the optical connector 10 for switching and connecting c are stored. To test and manage the optical line, first
The optical branching module that accommodates the core wire to be tested is selected by the core wire selection device 4a, and the test light (light pulse) sent from the optical pulse test device 4b is used as the measurement target via the optical coupler 9. Is transmitted to the optical fiber 4c outside the station, and the backscattered light generated in the optical fiber 4c is received by the light receiving section of the optical pulse test apparatus 4b via the optical coupler 9, and then the received backscattered light is received. By analyzing the waveform of the light, the loss abnormality of the optical line is monitored.

A conventional 4-core branching module will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The optical branching module is a thin-plate package as a whole and can be opened and closed by an opening / closing lid (not shown). On the rear surface side (left side of FIGS. 6 and 7) of the optical branching module 4, a four-core optical fiber tape 8a led out from an external optical cable (termination cable) K
Then, one 8-core optical fiber tape 8b derived from the core selection device is introduced. In the optical branching module 4,
Four fiber type optical couplers 9 are housed, and the optical fiber tape 8b on the side of the optical fiber selecting device is connected to the optical fiber tape on the side of the optical coupler 9 by the 8-core MT connector 10.

Next, the optical fiber tape 8a on the outside optical cable (termination cable) side is connected to the optical fiber tape (not shown) on the optical coupler 9 side by the 4-core MT connector 10. On the other hand, one 4-core optical fiber tape led out from the station inner side port of the optical coupler 9 is led out to the outside of the package as an optical cord 8w, and further, in the multi-core single-core branching device F fixed to the side plate. It is branched to the single-core optical fiber 8y. The tip of each branched single-core optical fiber 8y is SC
And is connected to an SC type optical adapter 3 fixed to the terminal plate 2 of the frame 1.

[0007] About 50 optical branching modules 4 are provided in each stage of the frame 1 with a width of, for example, 13.5 mm. Inside the optical branch module 4, an optical cord 8w, an optical coupler 9 connected to the optical cord 8w,
The MT connector 10 (Mecha) that optically connects the optical fiber tapes 8a and 8b and the optical cord 8w so that the connection can be switched.
and a physically transferable). A suspending member 12 for suspending from a suspending rail 11 erected above each step of the frame 1 is attached to the upper side when the optical branching module 4 is stored.

[0008]

By the way, in the case of the optical branching module 4 as described above, the number of parts is large, and it is sufficient for each stage in view of the demand for an increase in the number of core wires to be accommodated and a higher packaging density. Since the space is not secured, the work of mounting the optical components such as the optical connector 3 has to be performed in a narrow space, and the workability is extremely poor. Further, even when a specific one optical branching module 4 is replaced, it is necessary to remove the optical branching module 4 in the vicinity of the optical branching module 4 to secure a space where an operator can reach. Work has become difficult as the density has increased.

That is, when the optical fiber switching connection system is used to switch the MT connector 10 housed in the optical branching module 4 when switching the cores, as shown in FIG. 7, the corresponding optical branching module is used. 4 is pulled out from the frame 1 and placed on the shelf, the inside of the pulled out optical branching module 4 is opened, and the MT connector 1
0 is pulled out, but when the MT connector 10 in the optical branching module 4 is pulled out, the optical components such as the optical coupler 9 and the filter (not shown) connected to the optical cord 8w and the like are also pulled out together. In the line state, it was difficult to work without affecting the optical communication.

In the above-mentioned optical wiring rack, there is a demand for further improvement in packaging density as the number of accommodated core wires increases. However, the space between the optical branching modules for pulling out the optical branching module 4 and the MT Since it is necessary to secure a work place for switching the connection with the connector 10, there is a limit to the improvement of the mounting density.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and it is possible to reduce the work space for pulling out the optical branching module and to improve the mounting density, and to switch the connection. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical branching module that can reduce the influence on optical communication during work as much as possible.

[0012]

In the optical branching module of the present invention, an optical connector for branching connection is supported at one end in a protruding state, and an optical fiber such as an optical fiber and an optical coupler connected to the optical fiber is internally provided. A thin plate-shaped base for accommodating parts and a switching connector for optically connecting the multi-fiber optical fiber to the optical fiber so that the connection can be switched are internally provided, and can be freely rotated in a direction in which the other end of the base is protruded and retracted by a rotating means. A means for solving the above-mentioned problems is provided with a supported rotational movement unit.

The operation of the solving means is as follows.
According to the optical branching module of the present invention, the optical components such as the switching optical connector and the optical coupler are integrally installed and taken out at a predetermined position together with the branching optical connector. Since the optical branch module in which the connection between the optical connector for branch connection and the optical fiber is completed is installed at a predetermined position, the installation work is easy. Further, by pulling out the rotation moving portion with respect to the base portion supported at the fixed position, the switching work of the switching optical connector can be performed without moving the base portion. Since the storage space for the optical fiber can be sufficiently secured inside, the number of storage cores of the optical fiber can be increased.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 20 in the figure is an optical branching module of the present embodiment. The optical branching module 20 of this embodiment is applied to FTM. In the figure, the same components as those in FIGS. 4 to 7 are designated by the same reference numerals to simplify the description.

The optical branching module 20 is a package formed of a thin plate material such as resin in a thin plate shape as a whole, and a base portion 21 supported at a fixed position on the frame 1.
And a rotary moving portion 22 provided so as to be retractable at the rear side of the base portion 21 (lower left of FIG. 1, left side of FIG. 2, left side of FIG. 3). The optical branching module 20 is arranged in a fixed position in the frame 1 along a vertical plane parallel to the front-back direction of the frame 1 (the horizontal direction in FIG. 4, the depth direction in FIG. 5). At the upper part of the rear end (the other end) of the light branching module 20, there is provided a resin stopper 20a which, when inserted from the rear side of the frame 1, abuts on an abutting portion (not shown) of the frame 1 and positions it in the front-rear direction. It is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the base portion 21 is a generally thin plate-shaped package that constitutes the majority of the optical branching module 20, and is provided on one side surface (one end) as a supporting means for the frame 1. , Optical branching module 20
A suspending member 23 for supporting the in a suspended state at a fixed position in the frame 1 is attached. The suspending member 23 is formed in a shape that slidably fits to the suspending rail 11 provided above each step of the frame 1, and supports the optical branching module 20 in a detachable manner with respect to the frame 1. is there.

A well-known SC type optical adapter 2 as an optical connector for branch connection to the in-station device side is provided at the end of the base portion 21 facing the front side of the frame 1 when supported by the frame 1.
5 is fixed. This SC type optical adapter 25 has four connecting terminals for a single-core fiber having a built-in positioning ring sleeve, and has four ends at the end of the base 21 in the longitudinal direction of the end (upper and lower in the figure). Two units are continuously installed along the direction). Further, the SC type optical adapter 25 is connected to the SC type plug 7a which terminates the intra-station optical fiber core wire 7 from the front side of the frame 1 and terminates a single-core optical fiber 8k formed by branching an optical fiber tape 8j. Plug 8p
Are connected from the rear surface side of the frame 1 to form the SC type optical connector 24.

Inside the base portion 21, a substrate waveguide type optical coupler 9a, a filter 9b, a fusion splicing portion 9c, and a plurality of optical fiber tapes having four cores or eight cores for connecting these optical components. And 8j are stored. The extra length of the optical fiber tape 8j is housed in a circular extra length processing member 9d and a plate-shaped extra length processing member 9e that are formed to project in the base 21. The plate-shaped extra length processing member 9
Reference numeral e denotes an arc-shaped projection provided on the inner wall of the base portion 21, and a plurality of the projections are continuously provided along the longitudinal direction of the optical branching module 20. The base 21 is provided with a retracting tool 8c, which is introduced via the rotation moving section 22 and fixes the optical fiber tape 8j, on the rear side (left side in FIG. 2, left side in FIG. 3). The pulling tool 8c supports a load such as pulling of the optical fiber tape 8j due to the extra length drawing at the time of switching work, and prevents external force from acting on the optical parts such as the optical coupler 9a in the base 21. There is.

The rotation moving portion 22 is a casing having a thin plate shape as viewed from the outside, and is equipped with an MT connector 10 as a switching connector for switchingably connecting the optical fiber tapes 8a and 8b to the optical fiber tape 8j. There is. The rotation moving portion 22 has an extension portion around a rotation shaft 27 as a rotation means provided in an extension portion 26 protruding to the rear side of the base portion 21 (lower left in FIG. 1, left side in FIG. 2, left side in FIG. 3). It is rotatable in a plane along 26. In addition, the rotation moving portion 22 housed in the extension portion 26 is provided with the stopper 20.
A lock portion 22a provided in the vicinity of a restricts and releases the rearward protrusion. The optical fiber tapes 8a and 8b are coded and are fixed to the rotary moving portion 22 by the cord retainer 8d so that a load such as pulling does not act on the MT connector 10. The rotation moving part 22 is adapted to rotate while sliding substantially along the extending part 26.

The extending portion 26 is formed by extending one face plate of the base portion 21 to the rear side. The optical fiber tape 8j wired to the extending portion 26 functions as a drawing extra length 8l for allowing the rotation of the rotation moving portion 22, and is externally protected by a rectangular tube (not shown). Curved surplus length processing plates 22b for maintaining the curving radius of the extra drawing length 8l are provided at both front and rear ends of the extending portion 26.

According to the optical branching module 20, the SC
Connection between the optical adapter 25 and the optical fiber tape 8j,
After the optical components such as the optical coupler 9a, the filter 9b, and the fusion splicing portion 9c have been stored, they are inserted into a predetermined position of the frame 1 and stored. At this time, the SC type optical adapter 25 is directed to the front side of the frame 1, and the hanging member 23 is slidably fitted to the hanging rail 11 while the optical branching module 2 is being fitted.
Insert 0 into the front side of frame 1. When the stopper 20a comes into contact with the abutting portion of the frame 1 and the tip is inserted into a not-shown stopper hole of the frame 1, the stopper 20a is further pushed to expand the diameter of the stopper 20a and the frame 1. The branch module 20 is temporarily fixed. At this time, the optical branching module 20 is positioned in the front-back direction of the frame 1, and the tip position of the optical branching module 20 is guided by the suspension rail 11, and the SC optical adapter 25 is inserted into the hole 6 of the terminal board 2 and the frame 1 is inserted. Is projected to the front side of. After the SC type optical adapter 25 is projected, the SC type optical connector 24 is connected to the SC type optical adapter 25 by connecting the plug 7a of the intra-station optical fiber core wire 7.

In the completed FTM, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Switching work of the T connector 10 is performed. Rotation moving part 2
In the drawing of 2, the rotation moving part 22 can be drawn out by manually releasing the lock part 22a,
The lock portion 22a is held and pulled backward. Further, when storing the pulled out rotation moving portion 22, after storing the rotation moving portion 22 in the extending portion 26, the lock portion 22
A is operated to bring it into a pull-out restricted state. When exchanging or maintaining the optical components in the base 21, the entire optical branching module 20 is pulled out from the frame 1. At this time, by pulling out the rotation moving unit 22 to the rear side of the optical branching module 20, it can be used for pulling out the target optical branching module 20.

According to the optical branching module 20 of the present embodiment, a sufficient space for accommodating the extra length of the optical fiber tapes 8a and 8b can be secured inside, and the four-core optical fiber on the side of the termination cable K is provided. Since two tapes 8a and two 8-core optical fiber tapes 8b on the side of the optical fiber selecting device are accommodated, respectively, the FTM is compared to the conventional optical branching module.
The number of storage cords can be doubled without changing the size of. Further, since the substrate waveguide type optical coupler is applied as the optical coupler 9a to reduce the volume as compared with the conventional fiber type optical coupler, the optical fiber tapes 8a, 8a are provided.
The storage amount of the extra length b can be increased.

Further, by rotating the rotary moving part 22 about the rotary shaft 27 and pulling it out of the frame 1, the MT connector 10 can be pulled out without affecting the surrounding optical branching module 20, and the pulled out rotation can be achieved. Since the moving part 22 can be used for pulling out the entire optical branching module 20, the MT connector 10 can be pulled out easily. Moreover, even if the interval of the array of the optical branching modules 20 in the frame 1 is shortened, the optical branching modules 2
Since 0 can be pulled out, the mounting density of the optical branching modules 20 on the frame 1 can be further increased.

At the time of switching the MT connector 10,
By rotating the rotary moving unit 22, the MT connector 10
Only the optical coupler 9a, the filter 9b, and the fusion splicing portion 9c, which are pulled out to the outside of the frame 1 and are arranged in the base 21,
Since the optical components such as are not affected by the movement of the rotary movement unit 22, the workability of the drawing is improved, and the disconnection and the disturbance of the optical signal due to the drawing of the MT connector 10 can be prevented. It is possible to reduce the influence of communication associated with the switching work of 10.

[0026]

As described above, according to the optical branching module of the present invention, the optical connector for branching connection is supported at one end in a protruding state, and the optical fiber and the optical fiber connected to the optical fiber are provided inside. A thin plate-shaped base for accommodating optical parts such as a coupler, and a switching connector for optically connecting a multi-core optical fiber to the optical fiber so that the connection can be switched. The optical fiber on the termination cable side and the optical fiber on the core wire selecting device side are provided with a rotation moving portion rotatably supported on the optical fiber and a sufficient space for accommodating the extra length of the optical fiber. Since the number of storage cores is increased, the storage density of optical fibers can be improved.

By pulling out the rotary moving unit to the outside of the frame, the switching connector can be pulled out without affecting the surrounding optical branching module, and the pulled rotary moving unit can be used to pull out the entire optical branching module. The operation of pulling out the optical branching module can be facilitated, and the optical branching module can be pulled out even if the interval between the optical branching modules in the frame is shortened, so that the installation density of the optical branching module with respect to the frame can be further increased.

During the switching work of the switching connector, only the switching connector is pulled out to the outside of the frame by rotating the rotary moving part, and the optical parts in the base are not affected by the movement of the rotary moving part. The workability of pulling out is improved, and it is possible to prevent the disconnection and the disturbance of the optical signal due to the pulling out of the switching connector, and it is possible to reduce the influence of communication accompanying the switching work of the switching connector.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical branching module of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the optical branching module of the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the operation of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an optical wiring rack.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing an optical wiring rack.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a conventional optical branching module.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional optical branching module,
It is a side view which shows the connection switching in MT connector.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a basic configuration of an optical branching module.

[Explanation of symbols]

7 ... Optical fiber core wire (intra-station optical fiber core wire), 8 ... Multi-core optical fiber (optical fiber tape), 8a ... Multi-core optical fiber (optical fiber tape), 8b ... Multi-core optical fiber (optical fiber tape), 8j ... Optical fiber (optical fiber tape), 9a ... Optical coupler, 9b ... Optical component (filter), 9
c ... Optical component (fusion connection part), 10 ... Switching connector (M
T connector), 20 ... Optical branching module, 21 ... Base,
22 ... Rotational moving part, 23 ... Supporting means (hanging member),
24 ... Optical connector for branch connection (SC type optical connector), 2
7 ... Rotating means (rotating shaft).

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shigenori Goto 1440 Rokuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture Fujikura Co., Ltd.Sakura Plant (72) Hideyuki Hosoya, 1440 Rokuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture Fujikura Sakura Plant, Ltd. (72) Inventor Ryuji Mima 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Masato Kuroiwa 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Naoki Nakao 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Takashi Ebihara 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An optical branching module (20) for branching and connecting a multi-core optical fiber (8a, 8b) to an optical fiber core wire (7) by optical connector connection, wherein an optical connector for branching connection is provided at one end. A thin plate-shaped base (21) for supporting the optical fiber (8) in a projecting state and accommodating the optical fiber (8j) and optical parts (9a, 9b, 9c) such as an optical coupler connected to the optical fiber. , A switching connector (10) for optically connecting a multi-core optical fiber to the optical fiber so as to be switchable is installed, and is rotatably supported by a rotating means (27) in a direction in which the other end of the base is projected and retracted. An optical branching module comprising: a rotation moving part (22).