JPH08211250A - Optical connector adapter - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Object] An object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector adapter which is highly accurate and can be miniaturized. A first housing 25 having first plug insertion openings 24a to 24d for coupling with a first plug 22 according to the present invention, and a second housing 25 for engaging with the first housing.
The housing 26 and a second plug insertion port 29 that is housed in the second housing and is coupled to the second plug 23.
a and 29b, the first housing is fitted to the second housing before being engaged with the second housing, and the first housing is fitted to the first housing after being engaged with the second housing. Floating part 27
In the optical connector adapter including a and 27b,
By arranging a plurality of floating portions having a plurality of second plug insertion ports in parallel in the second housing, it is possible to reduce the size with high accuracy.

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, and more particularly to an optical connector adapter for connecting optical fibers used in an optical communication system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is important to apply a multi-fiber optical connector in a field where a single-fiber optical connector is currently used for connection between devices and transmission equipment in a station, in order to achieve high density. It is considered. Here, as an optical connector adapter generally used conventionally, 199
It is disclosed in C-205 in the Autumn Meeting of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers of 1992, and its configuration is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 1 is a so-called back panel type optical connector, and the optical connector 1 includes a first plug 3 provided at the tip of a first optical fiber 2 and the first plug 3. A first housing 5 having a first plug insertion port 4 for coupling with the third housing 3, a second housing 6 for fitting with the first housing 5, and a second housing provided at the tip of the second optical fiber 7. Floating part 10 housed in plug 8 and second housing 6 and having a second plug insertion opening 9 for coupling with second plug 8.
It is mainly composed of and. The first housing 5 is mounted on the printed circuit board A, the second housing 6 is fixed to the back panel B, and the adapter C is the first and the second.
It is composed of housings 5 and 6 and a floating portion 10.

The floating portion 10 engages with the inner wall surface of the second housing 6 before the first housing 5 and the second housing 6 are engaged with each other. Then, in the state after the first housing 5 and the second housing 6 are engaged with each other, the floating portion 10 is locked with the first housing 5. When the first housing 5 and the second housing 6 are engaged with each other, the floating portion 10 reliably causes the first plug 3 to have a displacement of about 1 mm in the vertical and horizontal directions and about 2 mm in the insertion direction. And the second plug 8 can be aligned with each other. In addition, JP-A-3
-172806 also discloses a floating part having the above-mentioned function.

[0005]

However, since the conventional optical connector adapter is constructed as described above, the following problems exist.

That is, since the above-mentioned optical connector 1 is provided with one second plug insertion port 9 corresponding to one floating portion 10, optical parallel transmission corresponding to high-speed and large-capacity in an exchange or the like. In order to achieve the above, a plurality of adapters shown in FIG. 7 are used side by side. In this case, a floating space is required for each optical connector 1, and as a result, there is a problem that the parallel mounting density of the optical connectors 1 cannot be increased so much.

On the other hand, in order to simply increase the density of the optical connectors 1, it is most efficient to arrange all the optical connectors 1 in one floating portion 10 at once.
In this case, the floating portion 10 and the first housing 5
Is required to have the accuracy required for fitting the optical connectors 1 to each other. This accuracy becomes stricter in proportion to the number of optical connectors 1, and it becomes difficult to match the two groups of optical connectors 1 facing each other in high density as a whole due to warping or the like in inexpensive plastic molding.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical connector adapter which is highly accurate and can be miniaturized.

[0009]

An optical connector adapter according to the present invention includes a first housing having a first plug insertion opening for coupling with a first plug and a second housing for engaging with the first housing. A housing and a second plug insertion port that is accommodated in the second housing and is coupled to the second plug, and is fitted to the second housing before the first housing is engaged with the second housing. Then, in the optical connector adapter having a floating part that fits into the first housing after the first housing is engaged with the second housing, the floating part having a plurality of second plug insertion ports is It is a configuration in which a plurality of two housings are arranged side by side.

More specifically, the number of the second plug insertion openings provided in each floating portion is a multiple of two.

[0011]

In the optical connector adapter according to the present invention, the first plug is inserted into the first plug insertion opening of the first housing, and the first plug is fixed to the first housing in a juxtaposed state. Further, after the floating parts are fitted in the second housing in parallel, the second plug is inserted into the second plug insertion port of the floating part, and the second plug is fixed to the floating part in parallel. In this state, by engaging the first housing and the second housing, the floating portion fits into the first housing, and at the same time,
The optical coupling between the first plug and the second plug is completed. In this case, since a plurality of floating portions are arranged in parallel in one second housing, a large-capacity optical parallelism can be achieved with a simple structure simply by inserting a plurality of second plugs into a plurality of second plug insertion ports. Enable communication.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of an optical connector adapter according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 20 is a so-called back panel type optical connector, and this optical connector 20 is composed of a resin adapter 21 and first and second plugs 22 and 23. . The first plug 22 is
The second plug 23 is provided at the tip of the first optical fiber (not shown), and the second plug 23 is provided at the tip of the second optical fiber (not shown). In addition, the adapter 21 includes the four first plugs 22.
Plug insertion ports 24a to 2 for mounting the respective plugs
4d, a first housing 25, a second housing 26 for engaging with the first housing 25, and two floating portions 2 housed in the second housing 26.
7a and 27b and a back housing 28 that has openings 28a and 28b and that sandwiches the back panel B in cooperation with the second housing 26.

The main body 30 having a rectangular cross section of the one floating portion 27a is provided with second plug insertion ports 29a and 29b for mounting the two second plugs 23,
The second plug insertion ports 29a and 29b are separated by a partition wall 31. Also, at both ends of the main body 30,
A pair of elastic locking pieces 3 having locking projections 32a and 33a
2, 33 are provided. The locking convex portion 32a of the one locking piece 32 is engaged with the riding portion 34 provided on the side wall 26a of the second housing 26, and the locking convex portion 33a of the other locking piece 33 is the second convex portion 32a. It engages with a riding portion 36 provided on the central wall 35 of the housing 26. Therefore, the floating portion 27a is provided with the locking protrusion 32 of the pair of locking pieces 32, 33.
By the cooperation of a, 33a and the riding portions 34, 36, the second
It is fixed to the housing 26.

The other floating portion 27b also has the same structure as that of the floating 27a described above, and the same components are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In the floating portion 27b, the engaging protrusion 32a of the engaging piece 32 is provided on the center wall 35, and the engaging portion 37 is provided.
The engaging protrusion 33a of the engaging piece 33 engages with the riding portion 38 provided on the side wall 26b of the second housing 26. Therefore, the floating portion 27b is fixed to the second housing 26 by the cooperation of the locking protrusions 32a and 33a of the pair of locking pieces 32 and 33 and the riding portions 37 and 38.

Further, at the positions corresponding to the second plug insertion openings 29a and 29b, the floating portions 27a and 2 are provided.
The main body 30 of 7b includes a pair of upper and lower plug locking claws 40, 4
1 is provided. In addition, the first housing 25,
At positions corresponding to the respective first plug insertion openings 24a to 24d,
A plug locking claw (not shown) is provided.

The first housing 25 is the second housing 2
It is provided with two connecting bodies 42 and 43 which engage with the floating portions 27a and 27b accommodated in the No. 6 connector. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, one of the connecting bodies 42 has support pieces 45 a to 4 that are inserted into the second housing 26.
5d is provided, and each of the support pieces 45a to 45d supports four corner portions 44a to 44d (see FIG. 3) formed in the upper and lower portions of the main body 30 of the floating portion 27a. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, in the connect body 42, elastic tongue pieces 46 and 47 that fit with the floating portion 27a are provided between the support pieces 45a and 45b and between the support pieces 45c and 45d. ing.

A fitting projection 5 is provided at the tip of each tongue piece 46, 47.
0 and 51 are provided, and the fitting protrusions 50 and 51 are provided in the main body 3
The fitting recesses 48 and 49 (see FIG. 4) provided in the upper and lower portions of 0 are fitted. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, pressing portions 60 and 61 are provided at positions where the support pieces 45a and 45c and the support pieces 45b and 45d are connected to each other. Therefore, the support piece 45 is provided in the second housing 26.
By inserting a to 45d, the pressing portions 60, 61
Keep pushing the locking projections 32a, 33a of the pair of locking pieces 32, 33 in the insertion direction (direction of arrow D),
The engagement between 33a and the riding portions 37 and 38 can be released.

Here, the other connecting body 43 also has the same structure as that of the connecting body 42 described above, and the same components are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

A first housing 25 is fixed to the end of the printed circuit board A. Also, back panel B
Is sandwiched between the second housing 26 and the back housing 28, and the second housing 26 is inserted through the plurality of pins 53.
The second housing 26 is fixed to the back panel B by connecting the back housing 28 with the back housing 28.

Next, the assembling of the first housing 25, the second housing 26 and the floating portions 27a and 27b will be described.

First, the floating portions 27a and 27b are inserted into the second housing 26. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the riding portions 34, 36 and the pair of locking pieces 32,
One floating portion 27 a is fixed to the second housing 26 by the engagement with the locking protrusions 32 a and 33 a of 33. Further, the riding portions 37, 38 and the pair of locking pieces 32,
The other floating portion 27 b is fixed to the second housing 26 by the engagement of the locking protrusions 32 a and 33 a of the 33. Then, the first housing 25 and the second housing 2
When engaging with 6, each connecting body 42, 43
The support pieces 45a to 45d of are inserted into the second housing 26. As a result, the floating portions 27a, 27
b is supported by the support pieces 45a to 45d, and the fitting concave portions 48, 49 of the floating portions 27a, 27b and the fitting convex portions 50, 51 of the tongue pieces 46, 47 of the first housing 25 are fitted to each other.

Then, each floating portion 27a, 27
While the fitting state between b and the first housing 25 is maintained, the first housing 25 is further pushed in the direction of the arrow D, whereby the pressing portions 60 and 61 of the connecting bodies 42 and 43 engage the floating portions 27a and 27b. Stop projections 32a, 33a
Press. As a result, the engagement protrusions 32a and 33a of the floating portion 27a are disengaged from the riding portions 34 and 36, and the engagement protrusions 32a and 32a of the floating portion 27b are released.
33a and the riding portions 37 and 38 are disengaged, and the floating portions 27a and 27b maintain the fitted state with the first housing 25, and are inserted in the second housing 26 in the insertion direction (arrow D direction). ) And in the opposite direction. By using such floating portions 27a and 27b, the first plug 22 and the second plug 23 can be optically coupled with high accuracy.

Next, another embodiment of the optical connector adapter of the present invention will be described. It should be noted that the same or equivalent components as those of the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The resin adapter 70 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a first housing 71 and a second housing 72 and 8.
The floating parts 73a to 73h and the back housing 74 are included. As shown in FIG. 5, each of the floating portions 73a to 73h is housed in one integrally formed second housing 72 and has the same shape. In addition, the second plug insertion ports 29a and 29b are provided in the floating portions 73a to 73h.
Are provided respectively. In addition, each body 30 of each floating portion 73a to 73h has a pair of locking pieces 32,
33 are provided respectively. And each locking piece 3
By using 2, 33, each floating part 7
3a to 73h are fixed in parallel in the second housing 72. The back housing 74 has openings 75a to 7 for inserting the second plug 23 (see FIG. 1).
5h is provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the first housing 71 is provided with eight connecting bodies 81 to 88. Each of the connecting bodies 81 to 88 is provided with support pieces 45a to 45d inserted into the second housing 72. In each connect body 81-88,
Between the support pieces 45a and 45b and the support piece 45
Between the c and 45d, the floating portions 73a-7
Elastic tongues 46 and 47 that fit with 3h are provided.
At the tip of each tongue piece 46, 47, each floating portion 73
Fitting protrusions 50 and 51 for fitting into fitting recesses 48 and 49 (see FIG. 5) provided in the upper and lower portions of each main body 30 of a to 73h are provided.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned two embodiments, and each floating part has a multiple of two, for example, two.
It is also possible to form the second plug insertion holes such as four pieces, four pieces, and six pieces. Further, the number of floating parts accommodated in the second housing is arbitrary as long as it is two or more.

[0028]

The optical connector adapter according to the present invention comprises:
Since it is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, by arranging a plurality of floating portions having a plurality of second plug insertion openings side by side in the second housing, even when the adapter is made of an inexpensive resin, the size can be reduced with high accuracy. The adapter can be enabled. In addition, the second provided in each floating portion
By making the number of plug insertion ports a multiple of two, it is particularly suitable when using a plug that performs transmission and reception in pairs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of an adapter of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the first housing of the adapter of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway front view showing a second housing and a floating portion of the adapter of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of the second housing and the floating portion used in the adapter of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a first part fitted to the floating part shown in FIG.
It is a top view which shows a housing.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional optical connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

21, 70 ... Adapter, 22 ... First plug, 23 ... Second
Plugs 24a to 24d ... First plug insertion port, 25, 7
1 ... 1st housing, 26, 72 ... 2nd housing, 2
7a, 27b, 73a-73h ... Floating part, 2
9a, 29b ... Second plug insertion port.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first housing having a first plug insertion opening for coupling with a first plug, a second housing for engaging with the first housing, and a second housing housed in the second housing. The second housing has a second plug insertion port for coupling with two plugs, and is fitted to the second housing in a state before the first housing is engaged with the second housing, and the first housing is the second housing. An optical connector adapter having a floating part that fits into the first housing after being engaged with the housing, wherein the floating part having a plurality of the second plug insertion ports is provided in the second housing. An optical connector adapter characterized by arranging a plurality of them in parallel. 2. The optical connector adapter according to claim 1, wherein the number of the second plug insertion openings provided in each of the floating portions is a multiple of two.