JPH10227948A - Optical connector plug - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical connector plug which can align optical fibers protruding from a tip end portion of the optical connector plug with high accuracy and is suitable for a narrow pitch. SOLUTION: A rear end point (in a fitting direction) of a holding portion of an optical fiber wire 6a by a V groove 2 of a substrate 1 and a V groove 4 of the substrate 3 correspondingly provided near a tip of the optical fiber wire 6a. A
(The point) and the front end point (point B) in the fitting direction of the bonded portion of the optical fiber 6a in the V groove 2 of the substrate 1 in the fitting direction, the deflection of the optical fiber 6a occurs. A pair of optical fibers 6,
In the optical connector of the type in which the optical fiber 6 is directly connected, the tip surfaces of the pair of optical fiber 6a are brought into close contact with each other by the load generated by the bending of the optical fiber 6a. As a result, it is possible to realize a connection between the pair of optical fibers 6 and 6 with a small connection loss and a small amount of reflected return light.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of an optical connector plug applicable to an optical fiber having a narrow pitch of about 0.25 mm.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional optical multi-core connector will be described with reference to FIG.

An optical multi-core connector includes a pair of plugs 21 and
1 'is fitted to the adapter 30.

In the plug 21, an optical fiber 2
An optical fiber 22 having 2a is fixed to a fixed substrate 23, and fitting arms 24 are fixed to both sides of the fixed substrate 23. The fitting arm 24 has a recess 25 on the outside, a protrusion 26 near the inner front end, and a guide protrusion 27 on the rear end on the outside. A V-shaped groove substrate 28 into which the optical fiber 22a fits is fixed to the fixed substrate 23. Further, the optical fiber 22a, the optical fiber 22
And a plate 29 covering the V-shaped groove substrate 28 is fixed.

[0005] In the adapter 30, a microferrule fixing substrate 34 is fixed to the center of the surface of the substrate 31. The V-groove substrate 32 in which the micro ferrule 35 fits is fixed to the micro ferrule fixing substrate 34, and the bending alignment members 38 arranged on both sides of the micro ferrule 35 are fixed. On both sides of the micro ferrule fixing substrate 34, a convex portion 33 is provided at the center,
Leaf springs 37 are attached to both sides of the protrusion 33, and L-shaped grooves 36 are provided near both ends. Further, the substrate 31
Guide pieces 39 are provided in the vicinity of the four corners of the surface.

[0006] The plug 21 is fitted to the adapter 30 as follows. The plug 21 is lowered to the upper surface of the substrate 31 in the direction of the two-dot chain line. Thereafter, when the plug 21 is pushed to the left, the projections 26, 26 are disengaged from the L-shaped grooves 36, 36, and the fitting arms 24, 24 become L-shaped grooves 36, 36.
The guide projections 27, 27 are guided by the guide pieces 39, 39. When the tips of the fitting arms 24, 24 hit the projections 33, 33, the plug 21 stops. At this time, the optical fiber 22a is inserted into the micro ferrule 35, and the tips of the leaf springs 37
5 and 25 are engaged.

[0007] When the plug 21 'is fitted to the adapter 30 similarly to the plug 21, the connection of the optical multi-core connector is completed.

[0008]

In the plug of the conventional optical multi-core connector, the distance from the fixing portion of the optical fiber to the tip of the optical fiber is extremely long. There is a disadvantage that the tip is displaced from a desired direction, and particularly in the case of a narrow pitch of about 0.25 mm, there is a great problem.

Therefore, the present invention improves the drawbacks of the conventional optical multi-core connector plug, and enables the optical fibers protruding from the tip of the optical connector plug to be aligned with high precision, which is suitable for a narrow pitch. An optical connector plug is proposed.

[0010]

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

(1) A V-groove provided on the first substrate and a corresponding V-groove of the second substrate provided near the tip of the optical fiber corresponding to the V-groove provided at the rear end of the holding portion of the optical fiber in the fitting direction. An optical connector plug that causes the optical fiber to bend between the front ends in the fitting direction of the fixing portion of the optical fiber in the V-groove of the first substrate.

(2) When the optical fiber is bent by fitting, the optical fiber contacts the side wall of the V-groove of the second substrate, and the center of the optical fiber is inside the surface of the second substrate. The optical connector plug according to (1), wherein the optical connector plug is held in a state of

(3) When the optical fiber is straight before fitting, the optical fiber contacts the side wall of the V-groove of the first substrate, and the center of the optical fiber is the surface of the second substrate. The optical connector plug according to (1), which is held in a more inner state.

(4) In the vicinity of the fixing portion of the optical fiber,
The optical connector plug according to (1), wherein a slit is formed in a direction perpendicular to the V groove of the first substrate.

(5) The optical connector plug according to (1), wherein a taper is formed on a rear end side of the V-groove of the second substrate in a fitting direction.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire optical connector plug before fitting, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a distal end portion. The optical connector plug includes a substrate 1 having a plurality of (ten) V-grooves 2 processed at a pitch of 0.25 mm in parallel with the fitting axis, and an equal number of substrates processed at the same pitch facing the substrate 1. V
A substrate 3 having a groove 4, a holder 5 for holding the substrate 1,
Substrate 1 at rear end of optical connector plug (opposite side of mating side)
Of the substrates 1 and 3 at the front end.
It is composed of an optical fiber 6 sandwiched in a region formed by the grooves 2 and 4.

The V-grooves 2 and 4 of the substrates 1 and 3 are processed by a precision processing technique with a precision on the order of microns to correspond to a narrow pitch (0.25 mm). Glass, zirconia, silicon, or the like is used as a material for the substrates 1 and 3.
The substrate 1 and the substrate 3 are fixed by inserting a cylindrical pin 9 processed with high precision into positioning V-grooves 7 and 8 provided at two places on both sides of the substrate 1 and then bonding. Perform with agent.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the substrate 10 can be integrally formed in advance by a precision molding technique.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where the optical fiber 6a is fixed to the V groove 2 of the substrate 1 at the rear end of the optical connector plug. The optical fiber 6a is fixed by the adhesive 11 along the side wall of the V groove 2. Further, the substrate 1 is provided with a slit 12 for retracting an excess of the adhesive 11 in a direction perpendicular to the V-groove 2.
Since the optical fiber 6 has linearity, the front end of the optical connector plug is also along the side wall of the V-groove 2, and the optical fiber 6 a protruding from the front end of the substrate 1.
Has a small amount of protrusion, so that it is accurately aligned in the same manner as the pitch accuracy of the V-groove 2, and the height direction of the optical fiber 6a (the direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 1) is also accurate. Is aligned with

FIGS. 5 to 7 show a front view, a top view, and a sectional view of the optical connector plug, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the optical fiber 6a has been bent in the optical connector plug at the time of fitting (the adapter is not shown). FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing the state. FIG. 10 and FIG. 10 are perspective views showing a state in which the optical fiber 6a is sandwiched between the V groove 2 of the substrate 1 and the V groove 4 of the substrate 3 in the above state.

At the time of fitting, the optical fiber 6a receives a load from its tip and is pushed in the direction of the fitting axis, causing deflection in the optical connector plug. Due to the load generated by this bending, the tips of the pair of optical fiber strands 6a, 6a are brought into close contact with each other. The portion of the optical fiber 6a where deflection occurs will be described below.

8 to 10, in the V-groove 2 of the substrate 1 and the V-groove 4 of the substrate 3 corresponding to the V-groove 4 of the substrate 3 provided near the tip of the optical fiber 6a. A rear end point in the fitting direction (point A in FIGS. 8 to 10) and a front end point in the fitting direction of the optical fiber 6a in the V groove 2 of the substrate 1 (point B in FIGS. 8 and 9). In between,
The bending of the optical fiber 6a occurs. A taper 4a is provided at the entrance of the V-groove 4 to prevent the optical fiber 6a from being damaged by the corner of the V-groove 4 and to make it easy to bend.

In the optical connector of the type in which the pair of optical fibers 6 and 6 are directly connected, the load generated by the deflection of the optical fiber 6a causes the pair of optical fibers 6a and 6 to be connected.
Adhesion between the end surfaces of 6a is performed. As a result, it is possible to realize a connection between the pair of optical fibers 6 and 6 with a small connection loss and a small amount of reflected return light.

The load generated due to the bending of the optical fiber differs depending on the mounting conditions at point A and point B. At the point B, the optical fiber 6a is bonded and fixed to the V-groove 2 of the substrate 1, so that the fixed end condition is satisfied. At the point A, the optical fiber 6a is held on the side wall of the V-groove 4 of the substrate 3, and the center of the optical fiber 6a is located inside the surface of the substrate 3 (on the vertex side of the V-groove 4). By doing so, the fixed end condition is realized. (If one is the condition of the fixed end and the other is the condition of the support end, the load generated by the bending is halved.) Therefore, the pair of optical fiber wires 6a and 6
The load required for closely adhering the respective end surfaces of a can be obtained by the deflection of the optical fiber 6a.

The load required to bring the tip surfaces of the pair of optical fiber wires into close contact with each other is the processing state, angle,
It is determined by the taper diameter.

A multimode optical fiber (50/125,
Core / clad), angle 0.2 degree, tape diameter 80
When connecting a pair of optical fiber wires processed in μm, a load of about 0.3 N is required under the worst conditions.
(These angles and taper diameters are near the limit of the current processing technology.) The above description is illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B.

When the length between the points A and B is set to 10 mm, the load generated by the bending of the optical fiber is 0.34 N when both are fixed-end conditions, one is the fixed-end condition and the other is the other. Is 0.17N when is the supporting end condition. Although it is possible to increase the load by shortening between points A and B, in the case of an optical multi-core connector of the connection type using the deflection of the optical fiber, the bending of the optical fiber is It is extremely difficult to increase the load due to an increase in connection loss due to breakage or bending.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following advantages.

(1) Since the optical fiber is fixed along the side wall of the V-groove of the substrate, the dispersion of the optical fiber protruding from the tip of the optical connector plug is small, and high-precision alignment becomes possible. An optical connector plug suitable for a narrow pitch can be realized.

(2) At the time of fitting, since the bending direction of the optical fiber is perpendicular to the fitting axis, there is no interference between adjacent optical fibers, so that the connection of the optical connector is stabilized.

(3) A load required for contact between the tip surfaces of a pair of optical fibers can be generated by a simple structure of two fixed end conditions by V-grooves respectively provided on two substrates.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a distal end portion according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a distal end portion in a modified example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which an optical fiber core wire is bonded and fixed to a V groove of a substrate at a rear end portion in a fitting direction according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a top view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the optical fiber is bent in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the optical fiber is bent in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state in which an optical fiber is held between V-grooves of two substrates in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the distal end portion of the optical fiber,
(A) shows the angle, diameter and taper diameter, and (b) shows the connection state under the worst conditions.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a conventional optical multi-core connector before fitting.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 V groove 3 Substrate 4 V groove 4a Taper 5 Holder 6 Optical fiber 6a Optical fiber strand 7 Positioning V groove 8 Positioning V groove 9 Pin 10 Substrate 11 Adhesive 12 Slit

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuo Usui Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation 3-2-1-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Ando 3-192-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Telephone Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A V-groove provided in a first substrate and a corresponding V-groove of a second substrate provided in the vicinity of a tip of an optical fiber at a rear end point of a holding portion of the optical fiber in a fitting direction. An optical connector plug, wherein the optical fiber bends between a front end point in a fitting direction of a fixing portion of the optical fiber in a V groove of the first substrate. 2. When the optical fiber is bent by fitting, the optical fiber comes into contact with the side wall of the V-groove of the second substrate, and the center of the optical fiber is located inside the surface of the second substrate. 2. The optical connector plug according to claim 1, wherein the optical connector plug is held in a state as follows. 3. When the optical fiber is straight before fitting, the optical fiber contacts the side wall of the V-groove of the first substrate, and the center of the optical fiber is higher than the surface of the second substrate. 2. The optical connector plug according to claim 1, wherein the optical connector plug is held inside. 4. The optical connector plug according to claim 1, wherein a slit is formed near the fixing portion of the optical fiber in a direction perpendicular to the V groove of the first substrate. 5. The optical connector plug according to claim 1, wherein a taper is formed at a rear end side of the V-groove of the second substrate in a fitting direction.