CN114325960A

CN114325960A - Optical fiber expanded beam connector

Info

Publication number: CN114325960A
Application number: CN202111571985.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李虎; 陈惠钦; 马永会
Original assignee: Shanghai Aerospace Science and Industry Appliance Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Aerospace Science and Industry Appliance Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-21
Filing date: 2021-12-21
Publication date: 2022-04-12

Abstract

The invention discloses an optical fiber beam expanding connector which comprises a plug shell assembly, wherein a beam expanding assembly is arranged in a cavity of the plug shell assembly and comprises a first collimator, a ceramic sleeve is sleeved outside the first collimator, and a protective tube is sleeved outside the ceramic sleeve; the socket connector comprises a socket shell, a second collimator is axially movably arranged in a cavity of the socket shell, when the plug connector and the socket connector are connected in an inserting mode, the socket shell is inserted into the cavity of the plug shell, the inner diameter of the cavity of the socket shell is matched with the outer diameter of the protective tube, and the first collimator is attached to the end face of the second collimator. The invention provides an optical fiber beam expanding connector which adopts a steel ball unlocking structure, can realize quick plugging and unplugging, and is reliable and durable.

Description

Optical fiber expanded beam connector

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of connectors, in particular to an optical fiber expanded beam connector.

Background

Along with the popularization of the application of optical links, the application environment of the optical fiber connector is higher and higher, the conventional optical fiber connector is connected by threads, the connection mode is not stable enough, and the phenomenon that the connection part is loosened is easy to occur; in addition, the collimator in the expanded beam connector is usually fixed on the inner wall of the connector housing by glue, and the collimator has no space capable of floating, which requires that the positions of the collimators at the two ends of the connector are very accurate, otherwise, the transmission of optical fiber signals is affected.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on the technical problems in the prior art, the invention provides an optical fiber expanded beam connector which adopts a steel ball unlocking structure, can realize quick plugging and unplugging, and is reliable and durable.

An optical fiber beam expanding connector comprises a plug connector and a socket connector, wherein the plug connector comprises a plug shell assembly, a beam expanding assembly is arranged in a cavity of the plug shell assembly, the beam expanding assembly comprises a first collimator, a ceramic sleeve is sleeved outside the first collimator, and a protective tube is sleeved outside the ceramic sleeve; the socket connector comprises a socket shell, a second collimator is axially movably arranged in a cavity of the socket shell, when the plug connector and the socket connector are connected in an inserting mode, the socket shell is inserted into the cavity of the plug shell, the inner diameter of the cavity of the socket shell is matched with the outer diameter of the protective tube, and the first collimator is attached to the end face of the second collimator.

Preferably, an inner baffle table is arranged at one end of the inner wall of the seat shell along the radial direction, one end, far away from the inner baffle table, of the seat shell is in threaded connection with the socket tail sleeve, a limiting boss is arranged at the middle part of the second collimator along the radial direction, one end face of the limiting boss is attached to the inner baffle table, a second spring is arranged between the other end face of the limiting boss and the socket tail sleeve, and the second spring is in a compressed state so as to fix the second collimator in the cavity of the seat shell.

Preferably, the plug housing assembly comprises a head housing, an outer wall of which is axially movably provided with a lock sleeve.

Preferably, the inner wall of the lock sleeve is provided with a movable groove in a radial direction, the outer wall of the head housing includes a narrow portion and a wide portion, one end of the movable groove is located at the wide portion, and the other end of the movable groove is located at the narrow portion, the inner diameter of the movable groove is larger than the outer diameter of the wide portion, and the outer diameter of the wide portion is larger than the outer diameter of the narrow portion.

Preferably, a first key groove is axially formed in one end part of the narrow part far away from the wide part, a positioning hole is formed in one end part of the lock sleeve far away from the wide part, a positioning screw is arranged in the positioning hole, and the positioning screw can move in the first key groove; one end of the first key groove, which is far away from the wide part, is provided with a stop block.

Preferably, a first spring is arranged in a cavity formed by the movable slot and the narrow part.

Preferably, the inner wall of the wide part of the head shell is symmetrically provided with a steel ball and a guide boss, the steel ball is movably connected with the head shell, the outer wall of one end, far away from the socket tail sleeve, of the seat shell is symmetrically provided with a steel ball clamping hole and a second key groove, the steel ball is matched with the steel ball clamping hole, and the guide boss is matched with the second key groove.

Preferably, the middle part of the outer wall of the socket shell is provided with an outer baffle table along the radial direction, and one side wall of the outer baffle table, which is far away from the socket tail sleeve, is provided with a rubber pad.

Preferably, one end of the head shell, which is far away from the wide part, is in threaded connection with a plug tail sleeve, and an opening gasket is arranged between the plug tail sleeve and the beam expanding assembly.

Preferably, an O-ring is provided between the head housing and the protection tube.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

the invention provides an optical fiber expanded beam connector, wherein the connector adopts a ball unlocking structure, a ball is designed at a plug end, riveting is not required to be turned over, the reliability of the connector is greatly improved, the overall structure of the connector is smaller than that of a standard single-core FC structure, the installation space is saved by 80%, and the optical fiber expanded beam connector is convenient for customers to use. The second spring is arranged in the socket connector, and the second spring is always in a compression state, so that the second collimator is guaranteed to have floatability, and when the plug connector is in butt joint with the socket connector, the first collimator and the second collimator can be in accurate butt joint.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a plug connector;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of the plug housing assembly;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a receptacle connector;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a second collimator.

In the figure: 1-plug connector, 11-plug housing assembly, 111-plug housing, 1111-narrow portion, 1112-wide portion, 1113-steel ball placing hole, 112-lock sleeve, 1121-movable groove, 1122-positioning hole, 113-first spring, 114-steel ball, 115-guide boss, 116-first key groove, 117-positioning screw, 118-stop block, 12-beam expanding assembly, 121-protective tube, 122-ceramic sleeve, 123-first collimator, 13-plug tail sleeve, 14-O-shaped ring, 15-open washer, 2-socket connector, 21-socket housing, 211-outer baffle table, 212-inner baffle table, 213-steel ball clamping hole, 214-second key groove, 22-socket tail sleeve, 23-second spring, 24-a second collimator, 241-a limiting boss and 25-a rubber pad.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be further illustrated with reference to the following specific examples.

Referring to fig. 1-4, an optical fiber expanded beam connector includes a plug connector 1 and a receptacle connector 2, the plug connector 1 includes a plug housing assembly 11, a beam expanding assembly 12 is disposed in a cavity of the plug housing assembly 11, the beam expanding assembly 12 includes a first collimator 123, a ceramic sleeve 122 is sleeved outside the first collimator 123, and a protection tube 121 is sleeved outside the ceramic sleeve 122; the socket connector 2 comprises a socket shell 21, a second collimator 24 is axially and movably arranged in a cavity of the socket shell 21, when the plug connector 1 and the socket connector 2 are plugged, the socket shell 21 is inserted into the cavity of the plug shell assembly 11, the inner diameter of the cavity of the socket shell 21 is matched with the outer diameter of the protective tube 121, the second collimator 24 is inserted into the ceramic sleeve 122, and the end faces of the first collimator 123 and the second collimator 24 are attached to each other. The ceramic sleeve 122 and the sheath 121 support the interface of the first collimator 123 and the second collimator 24.

An inner baffle 212 is arranged at one end part of the inner wall of the seat shell 21 along the radial direction, one end of the seat shell 21 far away from the inner baffle 212 is connected with the socket tail sleeve 22 in a threaded mode, a limiting boss 241 is arranged at the middle part of the second collimator 24 along the radial direction, one end face of the limiting boss 241 is attached to the inner baffle 212, a second spring 23 is arranged between the other end face of the limiting boss 241 and the socket tail sleeve 22, and the second spring 23 is in a compressed state so that the second collimator 24 is fixed in the cavity of the seat shell 21. The second spring 23 is compressed to ensure that the second collimator 24 has floatability, so that the first collimator 123 and the second collimator 24 can be precisely butted when the plug connector 1 and the socket connector 2 are butted.

An outer baffle 211 is radially arranged at the middle part of the outer wall of the seat shell 21, and a rubber pad 25 is arranged on one side wall of the outer baffle 211, which is far away from the socket tail sleeve 22. The rubber pad 25 ensures the sealing property of the plug connector 1 and the receptacle connector 2 after being plugged.

The plug housing assembly 11 includes a head housing 111, and an outer wall of the head housing 111 is axially movably provided with a lock sleeve 112. The inner wall of the lock sleeve 112 is provided with a movable groove 1121 in the radial direction, the outer wall of the head housing 111 includes a narrow portion 1111 and a wide portion 1112, one end of the movable groove 1121 is located at the wide portion 1112, the other end is located at the narrow portion 1111, the inner diameter of the movable groove 1121 is larger than the outer diameter of the wide portion 1112, and the outer diameter of the wide portion 1112 is larger than the outer diameter of the narrow portion 1111.

A first key groove 116 is axially formed in one end, away from the wide portion 1112, of the narrow portion 1111, a positioning hole 1122 is formed in one end, away from the wide portion 1112, of the lock sleeve 112, and a positioning screw 117 is arranged in the positioning hole 1122 and can move in the first key groove 116; the end of the first keyway 116 remote from the wide portion 1112 is provided with a stop 118. The stopper 118 defines the relative position of the lock sleeve 112 and the head housing 111, and the first spring 113 is disposed in the cavity formed by the movable slot 1121 and the narrow portion 1111.

The inner wall of the wide part 1112 of the head shell 111 is symmetrically provided with a steel ball 114 and a guide boss 115, the steel ball 114 is movably connected with the head shell 111, the head shell 111 is provided with a trumpet-shaped steel ball placing hole 1113, the diameter of the small opening of the steel ball placing hole 1113 is smaller than that of the steel ball 114, and the diameter of the large opening of the steel ball placing hole 1113 is larger than that of the steel ball 114. The outer wall of one end of the seat shell 21 far away from the socket tail sleeve 22 is symmetrically provided with a steel ball clamping hole 213 and a second key groove 214, the steel ball 114 is matched with the steel ball clamping hole 213, and the guide boss 115 is matched with the second key groove 214. The second key slot 214 provided in the socket housing 21 and the guide boss 115 provided in the head housing 111 cooperate to ensure accurate mating of the connectors.

An O-shaped ring 14 is arranged between the head shell 111 and the protective tube 121, so that the sealing performance of the butt joint interface of the seat shell 21 and the beam expanding assembly 12 can be ensured; in addition, the O-ring 14 may act as a stop for the beam expanding assembly 12. The end of head housing 111 distal from wide portion 1112 is threadably engaged with plug tail sleeve 13, and split washer 15 is disposed between plug tail sleeve 13 and beam expanding assembly 12. The split washer 15 has one end thereof closely attached to the grommet 121 and the first collimator 123 and the other end thereof closely attached to the plug tail sleeve 13, and the O-ring 14 and the split washer 15 ensure that the beam expanding assembly 12 does not move axially in the plug connector 1.

Principle of operation

When the plug connector 1 and the receptacle connector 2 are plugged, the side wall of the lock sleeve 112, which is not provided with the movable slot 1121, is located at the steel ball placing hole 1113, and part of the ball body of the steel ball 114 can be pushed into the steel ball clamping hole 213 of the seat shell 21, so that the locking between the head shell 111 and the seat shell 21 is realized; the first spring 113 is always in a compressed state, ensuring the locking force of the connector.

When unlocking, the lock sleeve 112 is moved towards the direction of the wide part 1112 of the head housing 111, and the clearance between the movable groove 1121 and the wide part 1112 provides a space for withdrawing the steel ball 114, so that the seat housing 21 can be pulled out from the head housing 111; the positioning screw 117 is movably connected with the first key slot 116 of the head housing 111 through the positioning hole 1122, so that the head housing 111 and the lock sleeve 112 are ensured not to relatively rotate along the radial direction, and the lock sleeve 112 can axially move relative to the head housing 111, thereby not only ensuring that the steel ball 114 does not fall off, but also enabling the steel ball 114 to fall back into the lock sleeve 112, and realizing two states of locking and unlocking the plug connector 1 and the socket connector 2.

The above description is only for the preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art should be considered to be within the technical scope of the present invention, and the technical solutions and the inventive concepts thereof according to the present invention should be equivalent or changed within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An optical fiber expanded beam connector comprises a plug connector (1) and a socket connector (2), and is characterized in that the plug connector (1) comprises a plug shell assembly (11), a beam expanding assembly (12) is arranged in a cavity of the plug shell assembly (11), the beam expanding assembly (12) comprises a first collimator (123), a ceramic sleeve (122) is sleeved outside the first collimator (123), and a protective tube (121) is sleeved outside the ceramic sleeve (122); socket connector (2) are including seat shell (21), but be equipped with second collimater (24) axially movable in the cavity of seat shell (21), work as when plug connector (1) and socket connector (2) are pegged graft, seat shell (21) are inserted in the cavity of plug shell subassembly (11), the internal diameter of seat shell (21) cavity with the external diameter phase-match of pillar (121), first collimater (123) with the terminal surface of second collimater (24) is laminated mutually.

2. The expanded beam connector according to claim 1, wherein an inner stop (212) is radially disposed at one end of the inner wall of the housing (21), an end of the housing (21) away from the inner stop (212) is screwed to the socket tail sleeve (22), a position-limiting boss (241) is radially disposed at the middle of the second collimator (24), one end surface of the position-limiting boss (241) abuts against the inner stop (212), a second spring (23) is disposed between the other end surface of the position-limiting boss and the socket tail sleeve (22), and the second spring (23) is under compression so as to fix the second collimator (24) in the cavity of the housing (21).

3. The fiber expanded beam connector of claim 2, wherein said plug housing assembly (11) includes a header housing (111), an outer wall of said header housing (111) being axially movably provided with a locking collar (112).

4. The expanded beam connector according to claim 3, wherein the inner wall of said lock sleeve (112) is provided with a movable groove (1121) in a radial direction, the outer wall of said head housing (111) includes a narrow portion (1111) and a wide portion (1112), said movable groove (1121) has one end located at said wide portion (1112) and the other end located at said narrow portion (1111), said movable groove (1121) has an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of said wide portion (1112), and said wide portion (1112) has an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of said narrow portion (1111).

5. The expanded beam connector according to claim 4, wherein the end of the narrow portion (1111) away from the wide portion (1112) is axially provided with a first key slot (116), the end of the lock sleeve (112) away from the wide portion (1112) is provided with a positioning hole (1122), a positioning screw (117) is provided in the positioning hole (1122), and the positioning screw (117) is movable in the first key slot (116); a stop (118) is arranged at one end of the first key groove (116) far away from the wide part (1112).

6. The fiber expanded beam connector of claim 5, wherein a first spring (113) is disposed in a cavity formed by said movable slot (1121) and said narrow portion (1111).

7. The expanded beam connector according to claim 6, wherein the inner wall of the wide portion (1112) of the head housing (111) is symmetrically provided with a steel ball (114) and a guiding boss (115), the steel ball (114) is movably connected with the head housing (111), the outer wall of one end of the seat housing (21) far away from the socket tail sleeve (22) is symmetrically provided with a steel ball locking hole (213) and a second key slot (214), the steel ball (114) is matched with the steel ball locking hole (213), and the guiding boss (115) is matched with the second key slot (214).

8. The expanded beam connector according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the seat housing (21) has an outer abutment (211) radially at a middle portion of an outer wall thereof, and a rubber pad (25) is provided on a side wall of the outer abutment (211) remote from the socket boot (22).

9. The fiber expanded beam connector of any one of claims 4-7, wherein an end of said header housing (111) distal from said wide portion (1112) is threadably engaged by a plug tail sleeve (13), and wherein an open gasket (15) is disposed between said plug tail sleeve (13) and said expanded beam assembly (12).

10. The fiber expanded beam connector according to any one of claims 3-7, wherein an O-ring (14) is disposed between said head housing (111) and said grommet (121).