Optical fiber connector

Abstract

The invention provides an optical fiber connector, which is used for solving the technical problems that the optical fiber is damaged or even burnt due to laser leakage caused by improper optical fiber assembly and optical fiber deviation in the existing optical fiber connector, and the problem that the optical fiber cannot be normally transmitted due to the fact that the end face of the optical fiber is easily abraded, bumped and polluted. And even a coupling mirror or a protective mirror of the equipment is damaged by the laser. According to the optical fiber connector, a plurality of clamping pins are arranged on the outer side wall of the large-diameter end of a handle, an annular fixing ring is arranged on the end face of one end of a flange, and clamping grooves matched with the clamping pins in a one-to-one correspondence mode are formed in the side wall of the annular fixing ring; according to the clamping type optical fiber connector, the clamping type connection between the connector and the flange is achieved through the cooperation of the inserting core, the connecting rod, the spring and the fastening screw, the clamping type connection is achieved in a spring passive locking mode, the connection reliability is greatly improved, meanwhile, burrs or thread slipping at the connecting position of the connector and the flange is avoided, and the assembly precision of optical fibers is effectively guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to optical fiber transmission technology, and particularly to an optical fiber connector. Background Art

[0002] The optical fiber connector is a precision-designed ferrule mechanical structure for precisely aligning and connecting the end face of an optical fiber with the laser output port. In order to ensure low insertion loss and reliable connection performance of the laser when the laser emitted by the laser device is transmitted into the surgical optical fiber, the optical fiber connector usually needs to achieve high-precision optical fiber connection and assembly.

[0003] Currently, existing optical fiber connectors usually adopt threaded connection, such as the SMA905 optical fiber connector. Since the machining accuracy of the threaded connection of the optical fiber connector is usually low, and with the increase in the number of insertions and extractions of the ferrule and the flange, burrs or thread slipping are likely to occur at the threaded connection, resulting in improper optical fiber assembly. At the same time, the SMA905 optical fiber connector is front-end guided, and the size of its guide hole is fixed. When the optical fiber is inserted into the guide hole, the optical fiber is fixed by gluing. When the bonding is uneven, the optical fiber will deviate to a certain extent. Improper optical fiber assembly and optical fiber position deviation will both cause the outgoing laser in the coupling module and the optical fiber to be unable to be highly coaxial, and further cause the outgoing laser to be unable to accurately focus on the end face of the optical fiber on the connector, resulting in laser leakage; when the laser power is high, the leaked laser incident on other positions of the connector will cause the connector to heat up, and further cause the adhesive for bonding the optical fiber to burn, thereby damaging or even burning the optical fiber.

[0004] In addition, the end face of the optical fiber must be flush with the end face of the ferrule. During the installation process of the ferrule and the flange, the end face of the optical fiber is prone to wear, bruising and contamination, which makes the laser unable to be transmitted normally, and even causes the laser to damage the coupling mirror or the protective mirror of the device. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the technical problems existing in the existing optical fiber connectors, such as improper optical fiber assembly, laser leakage caused by optical fiber deviation, thereby damaging or even burning the optical fiber, and the technical problems of easy wear, bruising and contamination of the optical fiber end face, resulting in abnormal laser transmission, and even laser damage to the coupling mirror or the protective mirror of the device, and to provide a new type of optical fiber connector.

[0006] In order to achieve the above purpose, the technical solution provided by the present invention is as follows:

[0007] An optical fiber connector includes a flange and a connector. The flange is used to connect with an external coupling module, and the laser beam is coupled through the coupling module and focused on the end face of the optical fiber to be connected; the special feature is that the connector includes a ferrule, a handle, a connecting rod, a spring and a fastening screw;

[0008] The ferrule includes a large-diameter end of the ferrule and a small-diameter end of the ferrule fixedly connected to one end face of the large-diameter end of the ferrule;

[0009] The handle includes a large-diameter end of the handle and a small-diameter end of the handle fixedly connected to one end face of the large-diameter end of the handle; a first through hole extending axially is provided on the large-diameter end of the handle; a second through hole coaxially communicating with the first through hole is provided on the small-diameter end of the handle, and a ring of protrusions is circumferentially arranged on the inner side wall of the small-diameter end of the handle;

[0010] The aperture of the first through hole and the outer diameter of the large-diameter end of the ferrule are both larger than the aperture of the second through hole; a clearance fit is provided between the outer side wall of the large-diameter end of the ferrule and the inner side wall of the first through hole;

[0011] One end of the connecting rod is threadedly connected to the large-diameter end of the ferrule, and the other end sequentially passes through the first through hole and the second through hole and is threadedly connected to the screw rod of the fastening screw; the spring is sleeved on the outer side wall of the connecting rod and is located between the protrusion and the large-diameter end of the handle;

[0012] Optical fiber through holes that are sequentially coaxially communicated are provided on the small-diameter end of the ferrule, the large-diameter end of the ferrule, the connecting rod, and the fastening screw;

[0013] At least two pins are provided on the outer side wall of the large-diameter end of the handle; an annular fixing ring is provided on one end face of the flange, and card slots corresponding to and adapted to the pins are provided on the side wall of the annular fixing ring.

[0014] Further, a first external thread is provided on the side wall of the screw rod of the fastening screw;

[0015] A first internal thread adapted to the first external thread is provided on the inner side wall of the connecting rod on the side facing the fastening screw;

[0016] The front end of the screw rod of the fastening screw is a conical section, and N axially extending shrinkage slots are circumferentially provided on the side wall of the conical section. A corresponding conical hole is provided at the position where the connecting rod is connected to the screw rod for clamping and fixing the optical fiber when the screw rod of the fastening screw is threadedly tightened with the connecting rod, N≥2.

[0017] Further, a groove is provided at the end of the small-diameter end of the ferrule.

[0018] Further, the outer end and the inner end of the card slot are in arc transition.

[0019] Further, the large-diameter end of the handle and the small-diameter end of the handle are connected by an arc transition section.

[0020] Further, a second external thread is provided on the outer side wall of the connecting rod on the side facing the large-diameter end of the ferrule;

[0021] On the inner wall of one side corresponding to the large-diameter end of the ferrule, a second internal thread adapted to the second external thread is provided.

[0022] Further, the protrusion is located inside the small-diameter end of the handle, away from the large-diameter end of the handle. A receiving groove is provided on the outer side of the protrusion for receiving the screw head of the fastening screw.

[0023] Further, N = 4.

[0024] Further, a plurality of the retaining pins are uniformly arranged on the outer side wall of the large-diameter end of the handle.

[0025] The beneficial effects of the present invention compared with the prior art are as follows:

[0026] 1. An optical fiber connector provided by the present invention is provided with a plurality of retaining pins on the outer side wall of the large-diameter end of the handle. An annular fixing ring is provided on one end face of the flange. A slot corresponding to and adapted to each retaining pin is provided on the side wall of the annular fixing ring for realizing the snap connection between the joint and the flange through the cooperation of the ferrule, the connecting rod, the spring and the fastening screw. The snap connection is realized by the passive locking method of the spring, which greatly improves the connection reliability; at the same time, the present invention replaces the traditional threaded connection with a snap connection, which is convenient and simple to install, can quickly assemble the joint and the flange in place, and at the same time avoids burrs or thread slipping at the connection between the joint and the flange, effectively ensuring the assembly accuracy of the optical fiber.

[0027] 2. An optical fiber connector provided by the present invention, the front end of the screw rod of the fastening screw is provided with a tapered section. N axially extending shrinkage slots are circumferentially provided on the side wall of the tapered section. A corresponding tapered hole is provided at the position where the connecting rod is connected to the screw rod for clamping and fixing the optical fiber when the screw rod and the connecting rod are screwed together by thread. Compared with the traditional method of fixing the optical fiber by gluing, the present invention uses the method of tightening by thread to fix the optical fiber, which not only avoids the problem of optical fiber deviation caused by uneven gluing, but also can withstand high-power laser transmission. Even if laser leakage occurs, it will not cause the combustion phenomenon caused by the adhesive, improving the safety performance of the optical fiber connector and the optical fiber.

[0028] 3. An optical fiber connector provided by the present invention, a groove is provided at the end of the small-diameter end of the ferrule so that the optical fiber end face is between the end face of the small-diameter end of the ferrule and the bottom surface of the groove. Compared with the traditional design in which the optical fiber end face is flush with the ferrule end face, the present invention avoids the situations of end face wear, collision damage and pollution that may occur during the assembly of the small-diameter end of the ferrule and the flange, thereby reducing the probability of danger of laser damaging the coupling mirror or the protection mirror of the equipment.

[0029] 4. An optical fiber connector provided by the present invention guides the optical fiber through the optical fiber through-hole at the small-diameter end of the ferrule at the front end, and realizes optical fiber guiding by tightening the thread of the fastening screw at the rear end. Not only is the guiding distance relatively long, but also the coaxial setting of the emitted laser and the optical fiber can be ensured to the greatest extent by tightening the thread at the rear end.

[0030] 5. For an optical fiber connector provided by the present invention, when replacing optical fibers with different core diameters, only the fastening screws with different optical fiber through-holes need to be replaced, without replacing the entire optical fiber connector. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of an optical fiber connector of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of an optical fiber connector of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a handle in an embodiment of an optical fiber connector of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the cooperation between the ferrule and the handle in an embodiment of an optical fiber connector of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of the cooperation between the ferrule and the connecting piece in an embodiment of an optical fiber connector of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a fastening screw in an embodiment of an optical fiber connector.

[0037] The specific reference numerals are as follows:

[0038] 1 - flange, 11 - annular fixing ring, 12 - clamping groove;

[0039] 2 - connector, 21 - ferrule, 211 - large-diameter end of the ferrule, 212 - small-diameter end of the ferrule, 213 - groove, 22 - handle, 221 - large-diameter end of the handle, 222 - small-diameter end of the handle, 223 - first through-hole, 224 - second through-hole, 225 - protrusion, 226 - retaining pin, 227 - transition section, 23 - connecting rod, 24 - spring, 25 - fastening screw, 251 - shrinkage seam; 3 - optical fiber. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0040] To make the advantages and features of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0041] As Figure 1 . Figure 2As shown, an optical fiber connector includes a flange 1 and a connector 2. The flange 1 is used to connect with an external coupling module. The laser beam emitted by the laser device first enters the coupling module, and the laser beam after being coupled and adjusted by the coupling module is focused on the end face of the optical fiber 3 fixed by the connector 2.

[0042] The connector 2 includes a ferrule 21, a handle 22, a connecting rod 23, a spring 24, and a fastening screw 25. The ferrule 21 includes a large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule and a small-diameter end 212 of the ferrule fixedly connected to one end face of the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule. As Figure 3 shown, the handle 22 includes a large-diameter end 221 of the handle and a small-diameter end 222 of the handle fixedly connected to one end face of the large-diameter end 221 of the handle. As Figure 4 shown, the large-diameter end 221 of the handle and the small-diameter end 222 of the handle are connected by an arc transition section 227. A first through hole 223 extending axially is provided on the large-diameter end 221 of the handle, a second through hole 224 coaxially communicating with the first through hole 223 is provided on the small-diameter end 222 of the handle, and a ring of protrusions 225 is circumferentially provided on the inner side wall of the small-diameter end 222 of the handle. In this embodiment, the protrusions 225 are located on the inner side of the small-diameter end 222 of the handle away from the large-diameter end 221 of the handle, and a receiving groove is provided on the outer side of the protrusions 225 for receiving the screw head of the fastening screw 25.

[0043] The aperture of the first through hole 223 and the outer diameter of the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule are both larger than the aperture of the second through hole 224; there is a clearance fit between the outer side wall of the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule and the inner side wall of the first through hole 223.

[0044] As Figure 5 shown, a second external thread is provided on the outer side wall of the connecting rod 23 on the side facing the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule, and a second internal thread adapted to the second external thread is provided on the inner side wall of the corresponding side of the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule for threadedly connecting one end of the connecting rod 23 to the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule. A first external thread is provided on the outer side wall of the screw rod of the fastening screw 25, and a first internal thread adapted to the first external thread is provided on the inner side wall of the connecting rod 23 on the side facing the fastening screw 25; the other end of the connecting rod 23 passes through the first through hole 223 and the second through hole 224 in sequence and is threadedly connected to the screw rod of the fastening screw 25. Preferably, as Figure 6 shown, the front end of the screw rod of the fastening screw 25 is a tapered section, and N axially extending shrinkage slots 251 are circumferentially provided on the side wall of the tapered section. A corresponding tapered hole is provided at the position where the connecting rod 23 is connected to the screw rod for clamping and fixing the optical fiber 3 when the screw rod is threadedly tightened with the connecting rod 23, and N≥2. Compared with the traditional method of fixing the optical fiber 3 by gluing, this setting method not only avoids the problem of optical fiber deviation caused by uneven gluing, but also avoids the combustion phenomenon caused by the low melting point of the glue when laser leaks, effectively protecting the optical fiber 3. In this embodiment, the number of shrinkage slots 251 is 4.

[0045] The spring 24 is sleeved on the outer side wall of the connecting rod 23 and is located between the protrusion 225 and the large-diameter end 221 of the handle; at this time, the screw rod of the fastening screw 25 is connected to the connecting rod 23, and the screw head is restricted on the side of the protrusion 225 facing the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule, so as to axially limit the connecting parts of the ferrule 21, the connecting rod 23 and the spring 24 through the cooperation of the fastening screw 25 and the protrusion 225.

[0046] Optical fiber through holes that are coaxially connected in sequence are formed in the small-diameter end 212 of the ferrule, the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule, the connecting rod 23, and the fastening screw 25. After the optical fiber 3 passes through the optical fiber through holes in the fastening screw 25 and the connecting rod 23 in sequence, it is inserted into the optical fiber through holes in the large-diameter end 211 and the small-diameter end 212 of the ferrule. Preferably, a groove 213 is formed at the end of the small-diameter end 212 of the ferrule, so that the end face of the optical fiber 3 is located between the end face of the small-diameter end 212 of the ferrule and the bottom surface of the groove 213, avoiding situations such as end face wear, bruising, and contamination that may occur during the assembly of the small-diameter end 212 of the ferrule and the flange 1.

[0047] Two retaining pins 226 are arranged on the outer side wall of the large-diameter end 221 of the handle, and an annular fixing ring 11 is arranged on one end face of the flange 1. A card slot 12 corresponding to and adapted to each retaining pin 226 is formed on the side wall of the annular fixing ring 11, so as to realize the snap connection between the joint 2 and the flange 1 through the cooperation of the ferrule 21, the connecting rod 23, the spring 24, and the fastening screw 25. In the present invention, the snap connection is used to replace the traditional threaded connection, which can effectively avoid burrs or thread slippage at the connection between the joint 2 and the flange 1, and effectively ensure the assembly accuracy of the optical fiber 3. Preferably, the outer end and the inner end of the card slot in this embodiment are in arc transition.

[0048] For the optical fiber connector of the present invention, when replacing the optical fiber 3 with different core diameters, only the fastening screw 25 with different optical fiber through holes needs to be replaced, and there is no need to replace the entire optical fiber connector. At the same time, when the core diameter of the replaced optical fiber 3 changes greatly, only the fastening screw 25 and the small-diameter end 212 of the ferrule need to be replaced. Since the optical fiber through holes on the connecting rod 23 and the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule do not guide the optical fiber 3, the diameter of the corresponding optical fiber through holes can be designed to be slightly larger in the early stage of design.

[0049] An installation and connection method for an optical fiber connector of the present invention is as follows:

[0050] Step 1, threadedly connect one end of the connecting rod 23 to the large-diameter end 211 of the ferrule 21;

[0051] Step 2, sleeve the spring 24 on the outer side wall of the connecting rod 23;

[0052] Step 3: Insert one end of the connecting rod 23 sleeved with the spring 24 into the small-diameter end 222 of the handle 22 through the large-diameter end 221 of the handle, so that the spring in the connecting member of the ferrule 21, the connecting rod 23 and the spring 24 is restricted between the protrusion 225 and the large-diameter end 221 of the handle, and make the connecting rod 23 pre-connect with the screw rod of the fastening screw 25 after passing through the hole corresponding to the protrusion 225;

[0053] Step 4: Pass the optical fiber 3 through the optical fiber through-holes on the fastening screw 25 and the connecting rod 23 in sequence, and then insert it into the optical fiber through-holes of the large-diameter end 211 and the small-diameter end 212 of the ferrule. When the end face of the optical fiber is between the end face of the small-diameter end 212 of the ferrule and the bottom surface of the groove 213, tighten the fastening screw 25;

[0054] Step 5: Make the pin 226 on the outer side wall of the large-diameter end 221 of the handle cooperate with the card slot 12 on the side wall of the annular fixing ring 11 to realize the snap connection between the joint 2 and the flange 1.

[0055] As mentioned above, it is only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, rather than limiting it. For those of ordinary professional skills in the art, the specific technical solution recorded in the above embodiments can be modified, or some of the technical features can be equivalently replaced. These modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solution deviate from the scope of the technical solution protected by the present invention.

Claims

1. An optical fiber connector, comprising a flange (1) and a connector (2), wherein the flange (1) is used to connect with an external coupling module, and the laser beam is focused on the end face of the optical fiber (3) to be connected after being coupled by the coupling module; characterized in that: The connector (2) includes a ferrule (21), a handle (22), a connecting rod (23), a spring (24) and a fastening screw (25); The ferrule (21) includes a large-diameter end (211) of the ferrule and a small-diameter end (212) of the ferrule fixedly connected to one end face of the large-diameter end (211) of the ferrule; The handle (22) includes a large-diameter end (221) of the handle and a small-diameter end (222) of the handle fixedly connected to one end face of the large-diameter end (221) of the handle; a first through hole (223) extending axially is formed on the large-diameter end (221) of the handle; a second through hole (224) coaxially communicating with the first through hole (223) is formed on the small-diameter end (222) of the handle, and a ring of protrusions (225) is circumferentially arranged on the inner side wall of the small-diameter end (222) of the handle; The aperture of the first through hole (223) and the outer diameter of the large-diameter end (211) of the ferrule are both larger than the aperture of the second through hole (224); a clearance fit is provided between the outer side wall of the large-diameter end (211) of the ferrule and the inner side wall of the first through hole (223); One end of the connecting rod (23) is connected to the large-diameter end (211) of the ferrule, and the other end sequentially passes through the first through hole (223) and the second through hole (224) and is threadedly connected to the screw rod of the fastening screw (25); the spring (24) is sleeved on the outer side wall of the connecting rod (23) and is located between the protrusion (225) and the large-diameter end (221) of the handle; A coaxially communicating optical fiber through hole is formed on the small-diameter end (212) of the ferrule, the large-diameter end (211) of the ferrule, the connecting rod (23) and the fastening screw (25); At least two retaining pins (226) are provided on the outer side wall of the large-diameter end (221) of the handle; a ring-shaped fixing ring (11) is provided on one end face of the flange (1), and a card slot (12) corresponding to and adapted to each retaining pin (226) is formed on the side wall of the ring-shaped fixing ring (11).

2. The optical fiber connector according to claim 1, characterized in that: A first external thread is provided on the outer side wall of the screw rod of the fastening screw (25); A first internal thread adapted to the first external thread is provided on the inner side wall of the connecting rod (23) on the side facing the fastening screw (25); The front end of the screw rod of the fastening screw (25) is a tapered section, and N axially extending shrinkage slots (251) are circumferentially formed on the side wall of the tapered section. A corresponding tapered hole is formed at the position where the connecting rod (23) is connected to the screw rod, so as to realize the clamping and fixing of the optical fiber (3) when the screw rod and the connecting rod (23) are threadedly tightened, and N≥2.

3. The optical fiber connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A groove (213) is formed at the end of the small-diameter end (212) of the ferrule.

4. The optical fiber connector according to claim 3, characterized in that: The outer end and the inner end of the card slot (12) are in arc transition.

5. An optical fiber connector according to claim 4, characterized in that: The large-diameter end (221) of the handle is connected to the small-diameter end (222) of the handle through an arc transition section (227).

6. An optical fiber connector according to claim 5, characterized in that: A second external thread is provided on the outer side wall of the connecting rod (23) on the side facing the large-diameter end (211) of the ferrule; A second internal thread adapted to the second external thread is provided on the inner side wall of the large-diameter end (211) of the ferrule on the corresponding side.

7. An optical fiber connector according to claim 6, characterized in that: The protrusion (225) is located inside the small-diameter end (222) of the handle away from the large-diameter end (221) of the handle, and a receiving groove is provided on the outer side of the protrusion (225) for receiving the screw head of the fastening screw (25).

8. An optical fiber connector according to claim 7, characterized in that: N＝4。 9. An optical fiber connector according to claim 8, characterized in that: A plurality of the pins (226) are circumferentially arranged on the outer side wall of the large-diameter end (221) of the handle.

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