Ferrule Void Portion Suppresses Resin Shrinkage Bending
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ferrule molding techniques suffer from resin shrinkage-induced bending of fiber retaining holes, leading to positional shifts of optical fibers and increased optical connection losses, and require additional components or work for regulation, which increases production costs and man-hours.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a void portion around the fiber retaining holes, aligned with the constant diameter portions, to balance and reduce shrinkage stress during resin solidification, thereby suppressing bending and positional shifts, without the need for additional components or work.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a regulator is disposed between pin rows during molding to prevent bending, then fiber retaining hole positioning accuracy is improved, but device complexity and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful regulator component is completely removed from the mold structure. Instead of using a separate regulator to prevent bending, the patent extracts this function and integrates it into the mold cavity design itself, where the cavity shape naturally prevents resin shrinkage-induced bending during solidification.
Solution Approach 2:
The bending prevention function is merged with the mold cavity structure. The cavity is designed with specific geometric features that inherently counteract resin shrinkage forces, combining the support function with the forming function in a single integrated structure rather than using separate components.
2Manufacturing precision
If additional work is performed to cut projecting portions after molding, then fiber insertion precision is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The mold cavity is designed in advance with features that prevent the formation of problematic projecting portions during molding. By preliminary designing the cavity geometry to match the desired fiber insertion requirements, the need for subsequent cutting or additional work is eliminated entirely.
3Ease of manufacture
If the mold structure is simplified without regulators, then production cost decreases, but fiber retaining hole bending increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mold cavity design incorporates local geometric features specifically at critical regions where resin shrinkage occurs. These localized cavity modifications create differential support zones that counteract shrinkage forces precisely where needed, maintaining hole straightness without requiring a complex overall mold structure or additional regulators.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The void portion effectively reduces resin-induced bending of fiber retaining holes, minimizing optical connection losses and production costs by eliminating the need for separate regulators or additional work during fiber insertion.
Implementation Method 1
shrinkage stress applied to a constant diameter region of each of the retaining hole forming pins in a plane perpendicular to the first direction
Data Source
AI summary
A ferrule for retaining a plurality of optical fibers includes a front end surface; a rear end surface; a plurality of fiber retaining holes; an accommodation hole; and a void portion. The fiber retaining holes each extend from the front end surface toward the rear end surface along a first direction. The accommodation hole is connected to the plurality of fiber retaining holes. The void portion is provided in a region around the plurality of fiber retaining holes. The fiber retaining holes include constant diameter portions extending from the front end surface along the first direction. The void portion is provided along the constant diameter portions, and is aligned with the constant diameter portions in a plane perpendicular to the first direction. A minimum value of a width in the plane of the void portion differs from an inner diameter of the constant diameter portion.