Optical connector cleaner

An optical connector cleaner includes a cloth for cleaning a ferrule end surface, a casing for protecting the cloth provided with a portion for inspecting a ferrule end surface, a guide member arranged in the casing and formed with a plurality of various-shaped holes into which a ferrule can be inserted and moved therealong, and a unit of moving guide member, by which it is possible not only to accommodate and clean various shapes of the ferrule end surfaces, but also to inspect the cleaned ferrule end surface at optical connector junction job sites or in the manufacturing process thereof.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an optical connector cleaner for cleaning 
a ferrule end surface; and more particularly, to an optical connector 
cleaner utilized at optical connector junction job sites or in the 
manufacturing process thereof. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Conventionally, optical connectors of various types have been used to 
facilitate connection or disconnection of optical fibers. For instance, in 
the case of a single fiber connector, an optical fiber is bonded at the 
center of a cylindrical rod called a cylindrical ferrule; the cylindrical 
ferrule is inserted into a precisely-formed cylindrical hollow portion of 
an alignment sleeve of the connector, so that two opposing ferrule end 
surfaces can be butted and connected to each other for the alignment of 
two opposite fibers. Further, in the case of a multifiber connector, a 
plurality of fibers are arranged in predetermined positions and bonded to 
a resin cubic body called as a cubic ferrule; and then two cubic ferrules 
are engaged with each other via two guide pins and two small-diameter 
guide holes so that two opposing ferrule end surfaces of a plurality of 
arranged fibers are butted and connected to each other for the alignment 
of two opposite fibers, respectively. 
The optical connector is widely used, particularly, in the optical 
communication field, because the optical connector is provided with 
excellent connection characteristics. However, since two opposite end 
surfaces of the optical fibers are directly connected to each other in the 
optical connector, the connection characteristics are markedly 
deteriorated in case the ferrule end surfaces are contaminated by 
contaminants such as dust or oil. Therefore, it is indispensable to clean 
the ferrule end surfaces before the ferrules are connected to each other. 
FIG. 1 shows an optical fiber connector 1 and a ferrule 2 attached to the 
plug body la of the optical fiber connector 1 and FIG. 2 illustrates a 
conventional optical connector cleaner 10 for cleaning an end surface of 
the ferrule 2. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the optical connector cleaner 10, which is disclosed in 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,528 issued to Kazunori Kanayama, etc., includes a 
casing 11, a reel lever 20, a guide member 30 and a slidable cover 40. The 
guide member 30 is provided with two pairs of holes 31, 32 in such a way 
that the ferrule 2 attached to the plug body la of the optical connector 1 
is allowed to be inserted thereinto and moved therealong. 
FIG. 3 shows a state of the optical connector cleaner before use in more 
detail, wherein a supply reel 50, a take-up reel 60, a first and a second 
guide rollers 65a, 65b and a flat elastic member 70 are arranged and a 
cleaning cloth 80 is enclosed within the casing 11, respectively. 
The supply reel 50, the take-up reel 60 and the pair of guide rollers 65a, 
65b are rotatably supported by the casing 11 via their corresponding 
shafts (not shown), respectively. Further, the supply reel 50 is formed 
with a pair of supply reel ratchet wheels 51 (only one shown) between 
which the cleaning cloth 80 is wound, and the take-up reel 60 is formed 
with a pair of take-up reel ratchet wheels 61 (only one shown) between 
which the cleaning cloth 80 is wound. 
The flat elastic member 70 is disposed under the cleaning cloth 80 in such 
a way that the flat elastic member 70 can apply an elastic pressure to the 
ferrule end surface to be cleaned when the ferrule end surface is pushed 
against the cleaning cloth 80. 
The reel lever 20 is pivotally attached at the center of the take-up reel 
ratchet wheels 61, in such a way that the lever 20 can rotate 
independently from the ratchet wheels 61. The reel lever 20 is provided 
with a take-up reel drive pawl 21 engaged with one of teeth on one of the 
take-up reel ratchet wheels 61 and a slidable cover moving pin 22. 
The guide member 30 is sandwitched between the slidable cover 40 and a 
cleaning cloth 80. 
The slidable cover 40 is slidably disposed on the upper surface of the 
casing 11 and formed with an inwardly extending pin guide plate 41 in 
which an open slot 42 is formed so as to be engaged with the slidable 
cover moving pin 22. Further, between the two pairs of the ratchet wheels 
51, 61 is pivotally disposed a bifurcated pawl 90 for preventing reverse 
rotational motion of each of the supply and take-up reel ratchet wheels 51 
and 61. 
The tape-shaped cleaning cloth 80 wound around the supply reel 50 is guided 
via the first guide roller 65a, passing between the guide member 30 and 
the elastic member 70, guided via the second guide roller 65b, and then 
wound around the take-up reel 60. 
Under these conditions, the slidable cover 40 covers the holes 31, 32 of 
the guide member 30, and the reel lever 20 is positioned roughly 
vertically. When the reel lever 20 is pivoted about the center of the 
ratchet wheels 61 counterclockwise CCW as indicated with the arrow, the 
take-up reel drive pawl 21 rotates the take-up reel ratchet wheels 61, so 
that the cleaning cloth 80 is shifted by predetermined stroke between the 
guide member 30 and the elastic member 70. At the same time, since the 
slidable cover 40 is moved along an opening (not shown) formed at the 
front surface of the casing 11, the guide member 30 is exposed; that is, 
the cleaning cloth 80 is exposed, as shown in FIG. 4. 
Thereafter, the ferrule 2 of the optical connector 1 is inserted into one 
of the holes 31, 32 of the guide member 30 so that the ferrule end surface 
is brought into pressure contact with the cleaning cloth 80 on the elastic 
member 70. In cleaning operation, the ferrule 2 is cleaned by rotating it 
through the hole 31 or by moving it along the hole 32. 
Further, after the ferrule end surface has been cleaned, the reel lever 20 
resumes the original position as shown in FIG. 3. In this case, the drive 
pawl 21 is moved back to the original position by passing over several 
teeth of the take-up ratchet wheels 61 clockwise, while the reverse motion 
of the two pairs of the ratchet wheels 51 and 61 are prevented by the 
bifurcated pawl 90, leaving them in the rotated position. 
However, in such an optical connector cleaner, since the number or the 
shape of the holes of the guide member are limited, they can not 
accommodate various shapes of the ferrule end surfaces. In addition, after 
cleaning the ferrule end surface, there is no way to check a cleaning 
degree thereof. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an optical 
connector cleaning capable of accommodating various shapes of the ferrule 
end surface. 
Another object of the present invention to provide an optical connector 
cleaning capable of inspecting the cleaned ferrule end surface at junction 
job sites or in the manufacturing process thereof. 
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided 
an optical connector cleaner for cleaning a ferrule end surface of an 
optical connector, which comprises: a cloth for cleaning the ferrule end 
surface, a casing for protecting the cleaning cloth, the casing being 
formed with an opening, a guide member provided with a plurality of 
various-shaped holes into which the ferrule can be inserted and moved 
therealong in contact with part of the surface of the cleaning cloth, the 
guide member being rotatably arranged at the casing in such a way that a 
part thereof is allowed to be exposed through the opening of the casing 
and the cloth is permitted exposed through the holes thereof, and an unit 
for moving the guide member. 
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is 
provided an optical connector cleaner for cleaning a ferrule end surface 
of an optical connector, which comprises: a cloth for cleaning the ferrule 
end surface, a casing for protecting the cleaning cloth, the casing being 
formed with at least one hole into which the ferrule can be inserted and 
moved therealong in contact with part of the surface of the cleaning cloth 
and a portion for inspecting the ferrule end surface, and devices for 
shifting the cleaning cloth exposed through the hole for cloth renewing, 
after the ferrule end surface has been rubbed with the cleaning cloth 
along the hole formed in the casing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
It should be noted that like parts appearing in FIGS. 1 to 7 are 
represented by like reference numerals so that descriptions concerning 
these parts are not repeated for the sake of simplicity. 
Referring to FIG. 5, the inventive optical connector cleaner 100 includes a 
casing 110, a portion 120 for inspecting the ferrule end surface, a 
belt-type guide member 130 and a unit 140 for moving the guide member 130. 
The casing 110 having a substantially rectangular shape is formed with an 
inspection window 111 on its front surface and a through hole 112 on its 
right surface, respectively. The casing 110 is further formed with a side 
opening 113 on its left surface so that an outer circumferential portion 
of a main gear 141, which will be described in detail later (see FIG. 7), 
can be exposed therethrough and therefore rotated manually by the user. On 
the other hand, the casing 110 includes four rollers 114 for guiding the 
cleaning cloth 80, each of the rollers 114 being positioned at respective 
corner thereof. 
The inspection portion 120 having a lens 121 and a mirror 122 is provided 
at one corner of the casing 110 so as to inspect the ferrule end surface 
after cleaning it. In detail, the lens 121 is provided in the casing 110 
so as to magnify the ferrule end surface inserted into the through hole 
112 and also the mirror 122 is provided in the casing 110 so as to reflect 
the magnified image of the ferrule end surface toward the inspection 
window 111. 
As shown in FIG. 6, the belt-type guide member 130 made of a soft material 
such as rubber and arranged in the casing 110 is formed with a plurality 
of various-shaped holes 131 into which the ferrule 2 attached to the plug 
body 1a of the optical connector 1 can be inserted and moved therealong in 
contact with part of one surface of the cleaning cloth 80; and two chains 
of grooves 132a, 132b formed on the upper and the lower end sides thereof, 
respectively. Further, it is possible that the holes for guiding the 
ferrule end surface may be directly formed in the front surface of the 
casing. 
With reference to FIG. 7, the guide member moving unit 140, which includes 
an external force transferring element, e.g., a main gear 141, a first and 
a second interconnected gears 142a, 142b and a pair of relocating gears 
143a, 143b, are provided at another corner of the casing 110. 
The main gear 141 is partially exposed through the side opening 113 of the 
casing 110 so as to be rotated by the user and is united with the first 
interconnected gear 142a coaxially mounted thereto. The second 
interconnected gear 142b is engaged with the first interconnected gear 
142a and is united with the upper relocating gear 143a coaxially mounted 
thereunder to transfer the rotational force from the main gear 141 
thereto. The lower relocating gear 143b is coaxially connected with the 
upper relocating gear 143a through a shaft(not shown) fixed to the casing 
110 so as to rotate together with it. Furthermore, each of the relocating 
gears 143a, 143b is provided with a plurality of teeth 144 along the 
circumferential surface thereof in such a way that each tooth 144 is 
allowed to be inserted into the corresponding groove of the guide member 
130. Note that the relocating gear shaft rotates independently from the 
roller 114 for guiding the cleaning cloth 80. 
In such an arrangement, when the main gear 141 is rotated by the user, its 
rotational force is transferred to the relocating gears 143a, 143b via the 
first and the second interconnected gears 142a, 142b. At the same time, 
the teeth 144 of the relocating gears 143a, 143b are allowed to be 
sequentially inserted into and freed from the matching grooves 132a, 132b 
of the guide member 130, respectively, making temporal contact 
therebetween to move the guide member 130. In order to improve the 
traveling of the guide member 130, it is preferable that the casing 110 be 
provided with a guide wall 115. When a hole is selected from the holes 131 
of the guide member 130, the main gear 141 is stopped by the user. 
In such an optical connector cleaner, it is possible not only to 
accommodate various shapes of the ferrule end surfaces, but also to 
inspect the cleaned ferrule end surface at optical connector junction job 
sites or in the manufacturing process thereof. 
While the present invention has been described with respect to certain 
preferred embodiments only, other modifications and variations may be made 
without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in 
the following claims.