阅读说明：本技术 光连接部件 (Optical connecting component ) 是由 金内靖臣 于 2019-08-23 设计创作，主要内容包括：光连接部件(1)具有：光纤(10)；第一固定部件,其固定该光纤(10)的一端部；以及第二固定部件,其具有能够弯曲的骨干(41)、在该骨干(41)的一端侧抓持所述第一固定部件的抓持部(42)、以及在所述骨干(41)的另一端侧将所述光纤(10)固定于所述骨干(41)的光纤固定部。(The optical connection component (1) comprises: an optical fiber (10); a first fixing member for fixing one end of the optical fiber (10); and a second fixing member having a bendable stem (41), a grip (42) for gripping the first fixing member on one end side of the stem (41), and a fiber fixing portion for fixing the optical fiber (10) to the stem (41) on the other end side of the stem (41).)

1. An optical connecting member, comprising:

an optical fiber;

a first fixing member that fixes one end portion of the optical fiber; and

and a second fixing member having a backbone that can be bent, a grip portion that grips the first fixing member on one end side of the backbone, and a fiber fixing portion that fixes the optical fiber to the backbone on the other end side of the backbone.

2. The optical connecting component of claim 1,

the backbone is curved and the optical fiber is curved along the backbone.

3. The optical connection component according to claim 1 or 2,

the first fixing member has a hole through which the one end portion of the optical fiber passes.

4. The optical connection component according to claim 1 or 2,

the first fixing member includes 2 plate-like members that clamp the one end portion of the optical fiber.

5. The optical connection component according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the optical fiber fixing part is a clamping member provided on the stem and clamping the optical fiber.

6. The optical connection component according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the optical fiber fixing part is an adhesive for adhering the optical fiber to the backbone.

7. The optical connection component according to any one of claims 1 to 6,

the second fixing member is made of a steel material capable of plastic deformation.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an optical connection component. The priority of japanese patent application No. 2018-158778, which was filed on 8/27/2018, is claimed in the present application and is incorporated into the present specification in its entirety by reference thereto in accordance with the contents thereof.

Background

As an optical module is miniaturized, there is a demand for a lower height optical connection component in order to reduce the height of an optical fiber from a substrate when one end of the optical fiber is vertically connected to the substrate on which an optical element such as a light emitting element, a light receiving element, and an optical circuit is mounted. In order to reduce the height of the optical connecting member, it is necessary to bend the vicinity of the distal end of the optical fiber with a small radius. In view of the above, patent document 1 discloses an optical path conversion member in which a plurality of positioning grooves are formed in an aligned row on an upper surface of a base substrate having a curved leading end surface smoothly continuing from a flat upper surface, and a cover member having a surface along the upper surface of the base substrate for pressing an optical fiber accommodated in the positioning groove of the base substrate is provided on the optical path conversion member. Patent document 2 discloses an optical connector in which a bent hole is opened in a connector body, and an optical fiber is inserted through the hole and fixed, thereby bending the optical fiber.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2008-52028

Patent document 2: japanese patent laid-open No. 2007-156006

Disclosure of Invention

An optical connection component according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: an optical fiber; a first fixing member that fixes one end portion of the optical fiber; and a second fixing member having a bendable backbone (backbone), a grip portion for gripping the first fixing member at one end of the backbone, and a fiber fixing portion for fixing the optical fiber to the backbone at the other end of the backbone.

Drawings

FIG. 1A is a front view showing an example of an optical fiber core included in an optical connecting member of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a side view showing the optical fiber core wire of FIG. 1A.

Fig. 2A is a front view showing an example of the first fixing member included in the optical connecting member of the present invention in a state where an optical fiber is fixed.

Fig. 2B is a plan view showing the first fixing member of fig. 2A in a state where an optical fiber is fixed.

Fig. 2C is a front view showing another example of the first fixing member included in the optical connecting member of the present invention in a state where the optical fiber is fixed.

Fig. 2D is a plan view showing another example of the first fixing member of fig. 2C in a state where the optical fiber is fixed.

Fig. 3A is a perspective view showing an example of the second fixing member of the optical connecting member of the present invention.

Fig. 3B is a front view of the second fixing member shown in fig. 3A.

Fig. 3C is a side view of the second fixing member shown in fig. 3A.

Fig. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which the first fixing member is mounted on the second fixing member of fig. 3A in a state in which the second fixing member is not bent.

Fig. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which the first fixing member is mounted on the second fixing member of fig. 3A in a state in which the second fixing member is bent.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing another example of the second fixing member of the optical connecting member of the present invention.

Detailed Description

[ problems to be solved by the invention ]

The optical path conversion member disclosed in patent document 1 or the optical connector disclosed in patent document 2 requires a substrate having a predetermined curved surface or a connector body having a curved hole to bend the optical fiber to a desired radius and angle, and when the curvature of the optical fiber is changed, the substrate and the connector body need to be changed. The invention provides an optical connecting component capable of bending and holding an optical fiber with arbitrary curvature, without a substrate with a predetermined curved surface or a connector component with a bending hole.

[ description of embodiments of the invention ]

First, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

(1) An optical connection component according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: an optical fiber; a first fixing member that fixes one end portion of the optical fiber; and a second fixing member having a bendable backbone (backbone), a grip portion for gripping the first fixing member at one end of the backbone, and a fiber fixing portion for fixing the optical fiber to the backbone at the other end of the backbone.

According to this configuration, the optical connecting member capable of bending and holding the optical fiber at an arbitrary curvature can be obtained by bending the backbone of the second fixing member, and a substrate having a predetermined curved surface or a member having a curved hole is not required.

(2) May be the backbone bends, the optical fiber being bent along the backbone. According to this configuration, the optical connecting member can be obtained by mounting the first fixing member on the second fixing member in which the stem is bent in advance to have an arbitrary curvature and shape and fixing the optical fiber along the stem.

(3) The first fixing member may have a hole through which the one end portion of the optical fiber passes, and (4) the first fixing member may include 2 plate-like members that clamp the one end portion of the optical fiber. According to this configuration, a plurality of configurations can be selected as the first fixing member.

(5) The optical fiber fixing part may be a clamp member provided on the stem and clamping the optical fiber, and (6) the optical fiber fixing part may be an adhesive agent that bonds the optical fiber to the stem. According to this configuration, various methods can be adopted as a method of fixing the optical fiber via the backbone of the second fixing member. (7) The second fixing member may be made of a steel material that can be plastically deformed. According to this configuration, the second fixing member can be easily manufactured by punching and bending.

[ details of embodiments of the present invention ]

Preferred embodiments of the optical connecting member according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals are used in different drawings to designate the same components, and the description thereof may be omitted. The present invention is not limited to the examples of the embodiments, and includes all modifications within the scope of the features described in the claims and the equivalent scope. In addition, as long as a plurality of embodiments can be combined, the present invention includes a mode in which arbitrary embodiments are combined.

(embodiment 1)

Fig. 1A and 1B are a front view and a side view, respectively, showing an example of an optical fiber used in the connecting member of the present invention. Fig. 2A and 2B are a front view and a side view, respectively, showing an example of the first fixing member included in the optical connecting member according to the present invention in a state where the optical fiber is fixed. The optical fiber 10 has: at least 1 core 11 made of silica glass; a cladding 12 provided around the core 11 and having a refractive index lower than that of the core 11; and a resin coating layer 14 covering the periphery of the cladding layer 12. The core 11 and the cladding 12 made of glass constitute a glass fiber 13.

As shown in fig. 2A and 2B, for example, one end portions of 4 optical fibers 10 are fixed to the first fixing member 20. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the cladding 14 at one end of the optical fiber 10 is removed to expose the cladding 12 of the glass fiber 13, and the exposed glass fiber 13 is fixed to the first fixing member 20. The first fixing member 20 is a member for aligning the optical fibers 10, and is a glass capillary member having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and having pores 21. The inner diameter of the pores 21 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the glass fiber 13, and when the glass fiber 13 is inserted into and inserted through the pores 21, the glass fiber 13 is loosely fitted and positioned so as to be movable forward and backward. The first fixing member 20 and the glass fiber 13 are fixed by filling an adhesive into the gap between the fine hole 21 and the glass fiber 13 by capillary action.

Fig. 2C and 2D are a front view and a side view, respectively, showing another example of the first fixing member included in the optical connecting member of the present invention in a state where the optical fiber is fixed. The first fixing member 30 is composed of a V-groove substrate 31 made of glass and a flat substrate 32 made of the same glass. The V-groove substrate 31 has, for example, 4V-grooves 33 arranged in parallel, and each V-groove 33 has a size that allows the glass fiber 13 to be placed thereon. The flat substrate 32 is a flat surface having a size covering each V-groove 33 of the V-groove substrate 31. The glass fibers 13 are placed on the respective V-grooves 33 of the V-groove substrate 31, and the flat substrate 32 is used as a cover. The flat substrate 32 is fixed to the V-groove substrate 31 together with the glass fibers 13 by an adhesive. The first fixing member 30 including the V-groove substrate 31 and the flat substrate 32 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, similarly to the first fixing member 20.

The optical fibers 10 fixed to the first fixing members 20 and 30 may be 1 or a plurality of optical fibers other than 4, or may be optical fiber ribbon-shaped core wires obtained by ribbonizing a plurality of optical fibers 10 arranged in parallel with each other with a common coating layer. The optical fiber 10 may be an optical fiber having a single core or a plurality of cores. The first fixing members 20 and 30 to which the optical fiber 10 is fixed have their distal ends polished together with the glass fiber 13 and are fixed to an optical element mounting substrate, not shown, by an adhesive, for example. The material of the first fixing members 20 and 30 is preferably glass in terms of matching the thermal expansion coefficient with the glass fiber 13, but may be resin.

Further, when the optical fiber 10 is fixed to the first fixing members 20 and 30, the glass fiber 13 is exposed and fixed to the first fixing members 20 and 30, but may be fixed in a state where the coating layer 14 is provided. Therefore, in the present invention, the term "optical fiber" refers to a structure in which a glass fiber is provided with a coating layer, but includes a structure in which a glass fiber is exposed by removing a part of the coating layer. In the present embodiment, the first fixing members 20 and 30 are provided on one end side of the optical fiber 10, but the first fixing members 20 and 30 may be attached to the other end side of the optical fiber 10 to polish the distal end portion.

Fig. 3A is a perspective view showing an example 40 of the second fixing member of the optical connecting member of the present invention. Fig. 3B is a plan view of the second fixing member 40, and fig. 3C is a side view of the second fixing member 40. The second fixing member 40 is a member for bending the optical fiber 10 to an arbitrary curvature, and is mounted on one end side of the first fixing member 20 (or the first fixing member 30. the first fixing member 20 will be described as an example) to which the optical fiber 10 is fixed, and fixes the optical fiber 10 itself on the other end side.

As shown in fig. 3A, the second fixing member 40 includes: a backbone (backbone)41 extending in the X-axis direction and being bendable; a grip 42 provided at one end of the stem 41; and a fiber clamping piece 43 as a fiber fixing part provided on the other end side of the stem 41. The second fixing member 40 is made of a steel material that can be plastically deformed, such as stainless steel, and is obtained by punching and bending 1 stainless steel plate, for example. The thickness of the second fixing member 40 is preferably 0.2mm or more in view of predetermined strength and workability.

The grip 42 has a bottom 42A, 2 side walls 42B, and 2 top sides 42C, and has a substantially rectangular shape in YZ cross section, the bottom 42A being continuous with the stem 41 and parallel to the stem 41, the 2 side walls 42B extending vertically from the bottom 42A at predetermined intervals, and the 2 top sides 42C being continuous with the 2 side walls 42B and facing the bottom 42A. The upper side portion 42C is bent to function as a leaf spring so that the bottom side portion 42A and the upper side portion 42C elastically hold the first fixing member 20 from the Z-axis direction when the rectangular parallelepiped first fixing member 20 is mounted on the grip portion 42. When the first fixing member 20 is mounted, the stem 41 and the bottom edge 42A are adjusted in height so that the optical fiber 10 is positioned above the stem 41. In the present embodiment, the first fixing member 20 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape is elastically held from the Z-axis direction when the first fixing member 20 is mounted on the grip portion 42, but the first fixing member 20 may be elastically held from the Y-axis direction by deforming 2 side wall portions 42B.

The backbone 41 bends the optical fiber 10 by making the optical fiber 10 extend in the longitudinal direction (X-axis direction). The other end of the stem 41 opposite to the grip 42 serves as an optical fiber fixing portion for fixing the optical fiber 10. In the present embodiment, in order to fix the optical fiber 10, a fiber clip 43 punched out integrally with the stem 41 and bent in the Z-axis direction is provided at the other end portion of the stem 41. The purpose of fixing the optical fiber 10 to the stem 41 by the optical fiber fixing portion is to bend the optical fiber 10 along the stem 41 when the stem 41 is bent. In addition to the optical fiber clamping pieces 43, for example, a clamping member formed separately from the stem 41 or an adhesive may be used to fix the optical fiber 10 to the other end of the stem 41.

Next, a method of manufacturing an optical connecting member using the first fixing member 20 and the second fixing member 40 will be described. Fig. 4A is a cross-sectional view showing an example of mounting the first fixing member on the second fixing member in a state where the second fixing member is not bent, and fig. 4B is a cross-sectional view showing an example of mounting the first fixing member on the second fixing member in a state where the second fixing member is bent. In fig. 4A, 4B, the optical fiber 10 and the first fixing member 20 depict a cross section at the line 4A-4A of fig. 2D. The first fixing member 20 to which the optical fiber 10 is fixed is inserted into the second fixing member 40 from the X-axis direction negative side, and the optical fiber 10 is fixed along the stem 41 while the first fixing member 20 is fixed by the grip 42 of the second fixing member 40. Next, the optical fiber clip 43 provided at the other end of the stem 41 is bent toward the stem 41, and the optical fiber 10 is fixed to the other end of the stem 41. As described above, as a method of fixing the optical fiber 10 to the other end side of the stem 41, a separate clamping member or an adhesive may be used.

Next, as shown in fig. 4B, an external force is applied in the normal direction of the stem 41, and the stem 41 is deformed into a desired arc shape to form a bent portion 44, thereby obtaining the optical connecting member 1. In this case, for example, it is preferable to bend the stem 41 by pressing the rod tool 50 with the stem 41 along the arc portion of the rod tool 50 using the rod tool 50 having an arc portion with a predetermined curvature. Since the optical fiber 10 is fixed to the stem 41 by the first fixing member 20 and the optical fiber fixing portion, an optical connection member in which a part of the optical fiber 10 having a desired circular arc shape is bent can be manufactured. Further, the backbone 41 may be formed in an S-shape or the like by applying an external force a plurality of times within the length in the longitudinal direction and providing a plurality of bent portions. As described above, in the present embodiment, since the stem 41 can be bent into a desired shape, a substrate having a predetermined curved surface or a member having a bent hole is not required.

(embodiment 2)

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing another example of the second fixing member of the optical connecting member of the present invention. In embodiment 1, the stem 41 of the second fixing member 40 is formed linearly, and the bent portion is formed after the optical fiber 10 is fixed, but in the present embodiment, the second fixing member 40 having the bent portion 44 formed at the stem 41 with a predetermined curvature is used. In the present embodiment, first, the first fixing member 20 on which the optical fiber 10 is mounted on the grip 42 provided at one end of the second fixing member 40. Next, the optical fiber 10 is bent along the bent portion 44 of the stem 41, and the optical fiber 10 is fixed to the stem 41 by the fiber clamping piece 43 at the other end portion of the stem 41. In addition, instead of the optical fiber clamping pieces 43, separate clamping members or adhesives may be used to fix the optical fiber 10 to the stem 41. In the present embodiment, since the stem 41 of the second fixing member 40 can be bent into a desired shape, a substrate having a predetermined curved surface or a member having a bent hole is not required, and an optical connecting member having the stem 41 bent into a desired shape can be easily obtained.

Description of the reference numerals

1 … an optical connection means, and,

10 … an optical fiber, wherein the optical fiber is,

11 … the core of the optical fiber,

12 … in the form of a clad layer,

13 … a glass fiber, wherein the glass fiber is a glass fiber,

14 … a coating layer, wherein the coating layer is,

20. 30 … a first securing member for securing the device to a vehicle,

21 … the pores of the porous ceramic body,

31 … V-shaped groove substrate,

a flat base plate of 32 … is provided,

33 … a V-shaped groove, wherein,

40 … a second securing member is provided,

41 … backbone (backbone),

42 … a gripping portion, which is,

42a … at the bottom edge portion thereof,

42B … side wall portions of the base,

42C … on the upper edge portion thereof,

43 … a clip of optical fibers,

the curved portion of the 44 … is,

50 … Bar clip.