A fiber optic clamp for a gapless fiber array

Abstract

This invention discloses a fiber optic array clamp for a gapless fiber array, characterized by comprising a base, a fiber optic plate, a pre-aligned fiber optic slot plate, fiber optic connectors, and a limiting slot plate. The upper surface of the base has a fiber optic entry slot, a first slot, a second slot, and a fiber optic array opening connected sequentially. The pre-aligned fiber optic slot plate, which is clamped in the first slot, includes an upper plate and a lower plate. The upper surface of the lower plate has a groove in the middle. The fiber optic plate, which is clamped in the second slot, includes an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate. The lower surface of the upper guide plate has a first guide groove, and the upper surface of the lower guide plate has a second guide groove. The right ends of both the first and second guide grooves are the same width as the grooves, and their width gradually narrows from the middle to the left end. The second guide groove and the first guide groove are staggered. This invention utilizes the groove of the pre-aligned fiber optic slot plate and the first and second guide grooves on the fiber optic plate to automatically transform one row of optical fibers into two rows of staggered optical fibers, greatly improving production efficiency and reducing the cost of adhesive tape bonding used in existing technologies.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of fiber optic array assembly technology, and in particular to a fiber optic array clamp without spacing. Background Technology

[0002] Fiber optic arrays (FAs) utilize V-grooves to mount a single fiber, a bundle of fibers, or a fiber ribbon onto an array substrate. The bare fiber portion, with its coating removed, is placed in the V-groove, then pressed using clamps and bonded with adhesive. Currently, pre-arrangement of fibers before FA assembly without spacing relies on operators using adhesive tape to glue two rows of staggered, evenly distributed fibers, resulting in low production efficiency and poor fiber arrangement quality. Summary of the Invention

[0003] To address the problems of low production efficiency and poor arrangement quality in existing non-pitched fiber array (FA) pre-fiber assemblies which rely on manual adhesive tape for pre-arrangement, this invention provides a fiber assembly fixture for non-pitched fiber arrays. This fixture utilizes grooves in a pre-arrangement slotted plate and first and second guide slots on the fiber assembly plate to automatically arrange multiple rows of fibers from the fiber connector into a single row, passing through the grooves and then through the first and second guide slots to automatically form two rows of staggered fiber arrangement. This significantly improves production efficiency and the quality of the staggered arrangement, while reducing the cost of adhesive tape used in existing technologies and lowering the labor intensity of operators.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution:

[0005] A fiber optic array clamp for a non-pitched fiber array is characterized by comprising a base, a fiber optic plate, a pre-fiber optic slot plate, a fiber optic connector, and a limiting slot plate. The base has a fiber optic entry slot, a first slot, a second slot, and a fiber optic outlet connected sequentially from right to left on its upper surface. A limiting slot plate is provided within the fiber optic entry slot, and a fiber optic connector is secured within the limiting slot plate for introducing the fiber optic cable into the clamp. The pre-fiber optic slot plate is secured within the first slot and includes an upper plate and a lower plate, which are detachably and fixedly connected. A groove is provided in the middle of the upper surface of the lower plate, the depth of which only allows one row of fiber optics to pass through, and the width S1 matching the number of fiber optics in one row. The upper plate is a flat plate. The fiber optic plate is secured within the second slot and includes an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate, which are detachably and fixedly connected.

[0006] The upper guide plate has a first guide groove on its lower plane. The first guide groove includes several longitudinally evenly distributed 60° V-shaped grooves that penetrate the left and right end faces. The bottom edge of the V-shaped groove slopes downward from right to left with an inclination angle of 1:650-680. The V-shaped groove includes a first straight segment on the right, an arc transition segment, and a second straight segment on the left. The length ratio of the first straight segment, the arc transition segment, and the second straight segment is 25-30:29-32:6-8. The arc transition segments of the several V-shaped grooves in the first guide groove are symmetrical in shape. The position of the first straight segment of the first guide groove corresponds to the position of the groove, and the width... The width of the first guide groove is consistent with the width of the groove S1. The width of the second straight section of the first guide groove is set to 1 / 2 of the width of the groove S1. The upper right end of the two side walls of the V-shaped groove is set as an inclined first slope with a slope of 1:70-77 and a length L1 of 8-10 mm. The upper left end of the two side walls of the V-shaped groove is set as an inclined second slope with a slope of 1:90-95 and a length L2 of 22-30 mm. The upper end of the two side walls of the first straight section of the V-shaped groove starts from the left end of the first slope and bevels, so that the upper end of the V-shaped groove forms a large V-shaped groove with an included angle α of 115-125°.

[0007] The lower guide plate has a second guide groove on its upper surface. The second guide groove is completely identical to the first guide groove. The V-shaped grooves of the second guide groove and the V-shaped grooves of the first guide groove are staggered, so that after a row of optical fibers coming out of the groove passes through the fiber board, two rows are formed with staggered arrangement and the distance between the two rows of optical fibers is 0.125mm.

[0008] The fiber routing slot is connected to the fiber array assembly fixture and is used for subsequent assembly of two rows of staggered fiber optic cables.

[0009] As a further improvement to this technology, the right end face of the first inclined plane has a chamfer angle β of 60–65°.

[0010] As a further improvement to this technology, a first permanent magnet is embedded at each of the four corners of the lower plane of the upper guide plate, and four second permanent magnets corresponding to the positions of the first permanent magnets and attracting each other are embedded on the upper plane of the lower guide plate. The upper guide plate and the lower guide plate are fixedly connected by the attraction of the first permanent magnets and the second permanent magnets.

[0011] As a further improvement to this technology, both the first permanent magnet and the second permanent magnet are designed in an I-shape.

[0012] As a further improvement to this technology, the upper guide plate is provided with first positioning pin holes on both the front and rear sides in the middle. The lower end of the first positioning pin hole is provided with a 90° tapered enlarged hole. The lower guide plate is provided with second positioning pin holes at positions corresponding to the first positioning pin holes. Positioning pins are provided in the first positioning pin holes and the corresponding second positioning pin holes to position the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate.

[0013] As a further improvement to this technology, threaded through holes are provided at the four corners of the upper guide plate. The threaded through holes are located inside the first permanent magnet. An adjusting bolt is provided in the threaded through hole. The end of the adjusting bolt rests on the flat surface of the lower guide plate. By rotating the adjusting bolt, the gap between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate can be finely adjusted to ensure that the optical fiber passes through smoothly.

[0014] As a further improvement to this technology, a third permanent magnet is embedded at each of the four corners of the lower plane of the upper plate, and a fourth permanent magnet is embedded on the upper plane of the lower plate, corresponding to and attracting the four third permanent magnets. The upper plate and the lower plate are fixedly connected by the attraction of the third permanent magnets and the fourth permanent magnets.

[0015] As a further improvement to this technology, the upper and lower guide plates are preferably made of transparent acrylic material.

[0016] As a further improvement to this technology, the bottom surface of the second slot is provided with a square through groove, and the front and rear side walls are provided with through opening grooves.

[0017] As a further improvement to this technology, the right side of the base is provided with two symmetrical circular through holes, which penetrate the front and rear side walls of the fiber optic inlet slot, forming a first arc groove on each of the front and rear side walls of the fiber optic inlet slot. A guide rod is inserted into the first arc groove and the corresponding circular through hole. The upper surface of the limiting slot plate is provided with a third slot for engaging the fiber optic connector. The front and rear sides of the limiting slot plate are provided with a second arc groove that cooperates with the guide rod, allowing the limiting slot plate to slide along the guide rod for adjusting the installation position of the fiber optic connector.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: 1. By using the groove of the pre-arranged fiber tray and the first and second guide slots on the fiber tray, multiple rows of optical fibers coming out of the optical fiber connector are automatically arranged into one row and pass through the groove. Then, through the first and second guide slots, they are automatically transformed into two rows of staggered optical fiber arrays with a spacing of 0.125mm between the two rows of optical fibers. This greatly improves production efficiency and the quality of staggered arrangement, while reducing the cost of adhesive tape used in the prior art and lowering the labor intensity of operation; 2. The upper and lower guide plates and the upper and lower plates are all attracted by permanent magnets, which can be disassembled and assembled at will without inserting optical fibers. The optical fibers are simply clipped into the groove and the second guide slot, and then the upper guide plate and the upper plate are attracted to the lower guide plate and the lower plate by magnetic attraction. The first guide slot and the second guide slot are matched to fix the optical fibers into two rows of staggered arrangement. The structure is simple, the operation is convenient, and the production efficiency is further improved; 3. The upper guide plate is provided with a fine adjustment bolt, which can finely adjust the gap between the upper and lower guide plates so that the optical fibers can pass through smoothly. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the base structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a right view of the base in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the bottom structure of the upper guide plate in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 5 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of AA, BB, and CC;

[0024] Figure 6 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the middle DD;

[0025] Figure 7 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the middle EE;

[0026] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the guide plate structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the upper plate structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the lower plate structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the limiting groove plate structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] In the diagram: 1. Base; 101. Fiber optic cable entry slot; 102. First slot; 103. Second slot; 104. Fiber optic cable tray opening; 105. Opening slot; 106. Square through slot; 107. First arc-shaped groove; 108. Circular through hole; 2. Fiber optic cable tray; 21. Upper guide plate; 2101. First guide slot; 2101-1. First straight section; 2101-2. Arc-shaped transition section; 2101-3. Second straight section; 2101-4. First inclined surface; 2101-5. Second inclined surface; 2102. 2103 First positioning pin hole, 22 threaded through hole, 22 lower guide plate, 2201 second guide groove, 2202 second positioning pin hole, 23 first permanent magnet, 24 second permanent magnet, 25 positioning pin, 26 adjusting bolt, 3 pre-fiber tray plate, 31 upper plate, 32 lower plate, 3201 groove, 33 third permanent magnet, 34 fourth permanent magnet, 4 optical fiber, 5 optical fiber connector, 6 limiting groove plate, 601 third slot, 602 second arc groove, 7 guide rod. Implementation

[0031] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0032] like Figures 1 to 5 As shown, the embodiment of the present invention includes a base 1, a fiber optic board 2, a pre-fiber optic slot 3, an optical fiber connector 5, and a limiting slot 6. The upper surface of the base 1 is provided with an optical fiber entry slot 101, a first slot 102, a second slot 103, and a fiber optic outlet 104 connected sequentially from right to left. The fiber optic entry slot 101 is provided with a limiting slot 6, and the optical fiber connector 5 is clamped in the limiting slot 6 for introducing the optical fiber into the fiber optic clamp. The pre-fiber optic slot 3 is clamped in the first slot 102 and includes an upper plate 31 and a lower plate 32. The upper plate 31 and the lower plate 32 are detachably and fixedly connected. The upper surface of the lower plate 32 is provided with a groove 3201 in the middle. The depth of the groove 3201 only allows one row of optical fibers to pass through, and the width S1 matches the number of optical fibers in one row. The upper plate 31 is a flat plate. The fiber optic board 2 is clamped in the second slot 103 and includes an upper guide plate 21 and a lower guide plate 22. The upper guide plate 21 and the lower guide plate 22 are detachably and fixedly connected.

[0033] The upper guide plate 21 has a first guide groove 2101 on its lower plane. The first guide groove 2101 includes 20 longitudinally evenly distributed 60° V-shaped grooves that penetrate the left and right end faces. The bottom edge of the V-shaped groove slopes downward from right to left with an inclination of 1:650. The V-shaped groove includes a first straight segment 2101-1 on the right, an arc transition segment 2101-2, and a second straight segment 2101-3 on the left. The length ratio of the first straight segment 2101-1, the arc transition segment 2101-2, and the second straight segment 2101-3 is 30:29:6. The arc transition segments 2101-2 of the 20 V-shaped grooves in the first guide groove 2101 are symmetrical in shape. The position of the first straight segment 2101-1 of the first guide groove 2101 is relative to the groove 32. The width of the first guide groove 2101 is 1 / 2 of the width of the groove 3201, corresponding to position 01. The upper right end of the two side walls of the V-shaped groove is set as an inclined first slope 2101-4, the slope of the first slope 2101-4 is set as 1:77, and the length L1 is 5mm. The upper left end of the two side walls of the V-shaped groove is set as an inclined second slope 2101-5, the slope of the second slope 2101-5 is set as 1:92, and the length L2 is 26mm. The upper end of the two side walls of the first straight section 2101 of the V-shaped groove starts from the left end of the first slope 2101-4 and bevels, so that the upper end of this section of the V-shaped groove forms a large V-shaped groove with an included angle α of 122°.

[0034] The upper surface of the lower guide plate 22 is provided with a second guide groove 2201, which is completely consistent with the first guide groove 2101. The V-shaped groove of the second guide groove 2201 and the V-shaped groove of the first guide groove 2101 are staggered, so that after a row of optical fibers coming out of the groove 3201 passes through the fiber optic plate 2, two rows are formed with staggered arrangement, and the spacing between the two rows of optical fibers is 0.125mm (the diameter of the optical fiber is 0.25mm).

[0035] The fiber optic slot 104 is connected to the fiber optic array assembly fixture (not shown in the figure) for subsequent assembly of two rows of staggered fiber optic cables.

[0036] Preferably, the right end face of the first inclined plane 2101-4 has a chamfer angle β = 63°.

[0037] Preferably, the upper guide plate 21 has four corners on the lower plane of each of the four corners of each of the four corners of each of the four corners of the upper plane of the lower guide plate 22, and four second permanent magnets 24 that correspond to the positions of the first permanent magnets 23 and are attracted to each other are embedded on the upper plane of the lower guide plate 22. The upper guide plate 21 and the lower guide plate 22 are fixedly connected by the attraction of the first permanent magnets 23 and the second permanent magnets 24.

[0038] Preferably, the upper guide plate 21 has a first positioning pin hole 2102 on both the front and rear sides of the middle. The lower end of the first positioning pin hole 2102 has a 90° tapered enlarged hole. The lower guide plate 22 has a second positioning pin hole 2202 at the corresponding position of the first positioning pin hole 2102. The first positioning pin hole 2102 and the corresponding second positioning pin hole 2202 are provided with positioning pins 25 to position the upper guide plate 21 and the lower guide plate 22.

[0039] Preferably, threaded through holes 2103 are provided at the four corners of the upper guide plate 21. The threaded through holes 2103 are located inside the first permanent magnet 23. An adjusting bolt 26 is provided in the threaded through hole 2103. The end of the adjusting bolt 26 rests on the upper plane of the lower guide plate 22. By rotating the adjusting bolt 26, the gap between the upper guide plate 21 and the lower guide plate 22 can be finely adjusted to ensure that the optical fiber passes through smoothly.

[0040] As a preferred embodiment, a third permanent magnet 33 is embedded at each of the four corners of the lower plane of the upper plate 31, and a fourth permanent magnet 34 is embedded on the upper plane of the lower plate 32, corresponding to and attracting the four third permanent magnets 33. The upper plate 31 and the lower plate 32 are fixedly connected by the attraction of the third permanent magnets 33 and the fourth permanent magnets 34.

[0041] Preferably, the first permanent magnet 23, the second permanent magnet 24, the third permanent magnet 33 and the fourth permanent magnet 34 are all designed in an I-shape.

[0042] As a preferred option, the upper guide plate 21 and the lower guide plate 22 are preferably made of transparent acrylic material.

[0043] Preferably, the bottom surface of the second slot 103 is provided with a square through slot 106, and the front and rear side walls are provided with through slots 105.

[0044] Preferably, the right side of the base 1 has two symmetrical circular through holes 108, which penetrate the front and rear side walls of the fiber optic inlet slot 101, forming a first arc groove 107 on both the front and rear side walls of the fiber optic inlet slot 101. A guide rod 7 is inserted into the first arc groove 107 and the corresponding circular through hole 108. The upper surface of the limiting slot plate 6 has a third slot 601 for engaging the fiber optic connector 5. The front and rear sides of the limiting slot plate 6 have second arc grooves 602 that cooperate with the guide rod 7, allowing the limiting slot plate 6 to slide along the guide rod 7 to adjust the installation position of the fiber optic connector 5.

[0045] The working principle of this invention is as follows: The optical fiber 4 emerging from the optical fiber connector 5 passes through the groove 3201 in the middle of the pre-arranged fiber tray 3, arranging multiple optical fibers into a row. This row of optical fibers then passes through the gap formed by the first guide groove 2101 and the second guide groove 2201 inside the fiber tray 2. Because the width of the first guide groove 2101 and the second guide groove 2201 gradually narrows from the middle, the inserted optical fibers are automatically staggered into two rows. They are then discharged from the fiber tray opening 104 and enter the optical fiber array assembly fixture connected to the fiber tray opening 104. The optical fibers passing through this invention can be automatically staggered, and the spacing between the two rows of optical fibers is 0.125mm. The operation is simple, convenient, and quick, greatly improving production efficiency and saving the cost of manual adhesive tape bonding. Furthermore, the quality of the automatically staggered fiber arrangement is far superior to that of manual arrangement, saving time for subsequent optical fiber array assembly. This invention is worthy of widespread application.

[0046] The above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make several improvements and substitutions without departing from the technical principles of the present invention, and these improvements and substitutions should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array, characterized in that: The device includes a base, a fiber optic tray, a pre-fiber optic tray plate, an optical fiber connector, and a limiting tray plate. The base has an optical fiber entry slot, a first slot, a second slot, and a fiber optic tray opening connected sequentially from right to left on its upper surface. A limiting tray plate is located within the optical fiber entry slot, and an optical fiber connector is secured within the limiting tray plate for introducing optical fibers into the fiber optic tray. The pre-fiber optic tray plate is secured within the first slot and includes an upper plate and a lower plate, which are detachably and fixedly connected. A groove is located in the middle of the upper surface of the lower plate, the depth of which only allows one row of optical fibers to pass through, and the width S1 matches the number of optical fibers in one row. The upper plate is a flat plate. The fiber optic tray plate is secured within the second slot and includes an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate, which are detachably and fixedly connected. The upper guide plate has a first guide groove on its lower plane. The first guide groove includes several longitudinally distributed 60° V-shaped grooves that penetrate the left and right end faces. The bottom edge of the V-shaped groove slopes downward from right to left with an inclination angle of 1:650-680. The V-shaped groove includes a first straight segment on the right, an arc transition segment, and a second straight segment on the left. The length ratio of the first straight segment, the arc transition segment, and the second straight segment is 25-30:29-32:6-8. The arc transition segments of the several V-shaped grooves in the first guide groove are symmetrical in shape. The position of the first straight segment of the first guide groove corresponds to the position of the groove. The width is consistent with the groove width. The width of the second straight section of the first guide groove is set to 1 / 2 of the groove width S1. The upper right end of the two side walls of the V-shaped groove is set as an inclined first slope with a slope of 1:70-77 and a length L1 of 8-10 mm. The upper left end of the two side walls of the V-shaped groove is set as an inclined second slope with a slope of 1:90-95 and a length L2 of 22-30 mm. The upper end of the two side walls of the first straight section of the V-shaped groove starts from the left end of the first slope and bevels, so that the upper end of this section of the V-shaped groove forms a large V-shaped groove with an included angle α of 115-125°. The lower guide plate has a second guide groove on its upper surface. The second guide groove is completely identical to the first guide groove. The V-shaped grooves of the second guide groove and the V-shaped grooves of the first guide groove are staggered, so that after a row of optical fibers coming out of the groove passes through the fiber board, two rows are formed with staggered arrangement and the distance between the two rows of optical fibers is 0.125mm. The fiber routing slot is connected to the fiber array assembly fixture and is used for subsequent assembly of two rows of staggered fiber optic cables.

2. The fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The right end face of the first inclined plane has a slope angle β of 60 to 65°.

3. The fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper guide plate has four first permanent magnets embedded at the four corners of its lower surface, and the lower guide plate has four second permanent magnets embedded on its upper surface that correspond to the positions of the first permanent magnets and are attracted to each other. The upper guide plate and the lower guide plate are fixedly connected by the attraction of the first permanent magnets and the second permanent magnets.

4. The fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array according to claim 3, characterized in that: Both the first permanent magnet and the second permanent magnet are designed in an I-shape.

5. The fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper guide plate is provided with first positioning pin holes on both the front and rear sides of the middle. The lower end of the first positioning pin hole is provided with a 90° tapered enlarged hole. The lower guide plate is provided with second positioning pin holes at positions corresponding to the first positioning pin holes. Positioning pins are provided in the first positioning pin holes and the corresponding second positioning pin holes to position the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate.

6. The fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array according to claim 3, characterized in that: The upper guide plate has threaded through holes at each of its four corners. These threaded through holes are located inside the first permanent magnet. An adjusting bolt is installed inside each threaded through hole. The end of the adjusting bolt rests on the flat surface of the lower guide plate. Rotating the adjusting bolt can finely adjust the gap between the upper and lower guide plates to ensure that the optical fiber passes through smoothly.

7. The fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper plate has a third permanent magnet embedded at each of the four corners of the lower plane, and the lower plate has a fourth permanent magnet embedded on the upper plane, which corresponds to and is attracted to the four third permanent magnets. The upper plate and the lower plate are fixedly connected by the attraction of the third permanent magnets and the fourth permanent magnets.

8. The fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper and lower guide plates are preferably made of transparent acrylic material.

9. The fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second slot has a square through groove on the bottom surface and through openings on the front and rear side walls.

10. The fiber optic clamp for a pitchless fiber optic array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The base has two symmetrical circular through holes on its right side, which penetrate the front and rear side walls of the fiber optic inlet slot, forming a first arc groove on each side wall. A guide rod is inserted into the first arc groove and the corresponding circular through hole. The upper surface of the limiting slot plate has a third slot for engaging the fiber optic connector. The front and rear sides of the limiting slot plate have second arc grooves that cooperate with the guide rod, allowing the limiting slot plate to slide along the guide rod for adjusting the installation position of the fiber optic connector.

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