Patent Publication Number: US-2021181438-A1

Title: Optical fiber connection component

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     This application is a continuation of PCT application No. PCT/JP19/033052, which was filed on Aug. 23, 2019 based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-158779 filed on Aug. 27, 2018, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to an optical fiber connection component. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     As an optical module is miniaturized, when one end portion of an optical fiber is vertically and oppositely spliced to a circuit board on which an optical element such as a light emitting element, a light receiving element, and an optical circuit is mounted, it is required to reduce a height of an optical fiber connection component so as to keep a height of the optical fiber from the circuit board low. In order to reduce the height of the optical fiber connection component, it is necessary to bend a vicinity of a tip of the optical fiber with a small radius. Therefore, Patent Literature 1 discloses an optical connector in which the optical fiber is curved by forming a curved hole in a connector body and by inserting and fixing the optical fiber in the hole. 
     CITATION LIST 
     Patent Literature 
     Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2007-156006 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     An optical fiber connection component according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: an optical fiber; a first fixing member to which one end portion of the optical fiber is fixed; and a second fixing member that includes either one or both of an outer peripheral wall and an inner peripheral wall having a curvature along which the optical fiber is aligned and being adhered to the optical fiber  10  with the adhesive and a positioning portion for positioning the first fixing member at one end of the second fixing member. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a front view illustrating an example of an optical fiber provided in an optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1B  is a side view illustrating the optical fiber of  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2A  is a front view illustrating an example of a first fixing member provided in the optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure in a state where the optical fiber is fixed thereto. 
         FIG. 2B  is a plan view illustrating the first fixing member of  FIG. 2A  in the state where the optical fiber is fixed thereto. 
         FIG. 2C  is a front view illustrating another example of the first fixing member provided in the optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure in a state where the optical fiber is fixed thereto. 
         FIG. 2D  is a plan view illustrating the first fixing member of  FIG. 2C  in the state where the optical fiber is fixed thereto. 
         FIG. 3A  is a perspective view illustrating an example of a second fixing member provided in the optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3B  is a side view of the second fixing member illustrated in  FIG. 3A . 
         FIG. 3C  is a diagram illustrating an example in which the first fixing member is mounted on the second fixing member illustrated in  FIG. 3A . 
         FIG. 4A  is a perspective view illustrating another example of the second fixing member provided in the optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4B  is a side view of the second fixing member illustrated in  FIG. 4A . 
         FIG. 4C  is a diagram illustrating an example in which the first fixing member is mounted on the second fixing member illustrated in  FIG. 4A . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Technical Problem 
     The optical connector disclosed in Patent Literature 1 has a possibility that the optical fiber may be broken when the optical fiber whose coating is stripped is inserted into the curved hole. The present disclosure provides an easy-to-assemble optical fiber connection component for bending the optical fiber without requiring a connector member including the curved hole. 
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE 
     First, embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described. 
     (1) An optical fiber connection component according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: an optical fiber; a first fixing member to which one end portion of the optical fiber is fixed; and a second fixing member that includes either one or both of an outer peripheral wall and an inner peripheral wall having a curvature along which the optical fiber is aligned and being adhered to the optical fiber with the adhesive and a positioning portion for positioning the first fixing member at one end of the second fixing member. 
     According to the above-described configuration, the optical fiber adheres along either one or both of the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall of the second fixing member, thereby making it possible to obtain an easy-to-assemble optical fiber connection component for bending the optical fiber without requiring a connector member including a curved hole. 
     (2) It is desirable that the second fixing member includes a side wall from which either one or both of the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall vertically protrudes and having an open surface on a side opposite to the side wall with a wall surface of either one or both of the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall interposed therebetween. According to the above-described configuration, it becomes easy to mount the first fixing member on which the optical fiber is mounted on the second fixing member, thereby reducing a possibility of damaging the optical fiber when the optical fiber is bent. 
     (3) It is desirable that the positioning portion at the one end portion includes: a positioning surface parallel to the optical fiber a positioning surface perpendicular thereto; and a tapered surface connected to the positioning surface perpendicular thereto. According to the above-described configuration, when the first fixing member on which the optical fiber is mounted is mounted on the second fixing member, there is no possibility that a part of the optical fiber coming out of the first fixing member is damaged by contacting the positioning portion of the second fixing member. 
     (4) The first fixing member may include a hole through which the optical fiber penetrates, and (5) the first fixing member may include two plate-shaped members that sandwich the one end portion of the optical fiber. According to the above-described configuration, the first fixing member can be selected from a plurality of configurations. 
     Details of Embodiments of the Present Disclosure 
     Hereinafter, a desirable embodiment according to an optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, since a configuration denoted by the same reference sign even in a different drawing is regarded as the same configuration, the description thereof may be omitted. The present invention is not limited to examples in these embodiments, and includes all the modifications within the scope of matters described in the scope of the claims and within the scope equivalent thereto. As long as a combination of a plurality of embodiments can be performed, the present invention includes a combination of any embodiments. 
     First Embodiment 
       FIGS. 1A and 1B  are a front view and a side view illustrating an example of an optical fiber provided in an optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure, respectively.  FIGS. 2A and 2B  are a front view and a side view illustrating an example of a first fixing member provided in the optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure in a state where the optical fiber is fixed thereto, respectively. An optical fiber  10  includes: at least one core  11  made of quartz glass; a clad  12  that is provided around a periphery of the core  11  and has a refractive index lower than that of the core  11 : and a resin coating layer  14  covering a periphery of the clad  12 . The glass core  11  and the clad  12  form a glass fiber  13 . 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 2A and 2B , for example, one end portions of four optical fibers  10  are fixed to a first fixing member  20 . In the embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 1B , the coating layer  14  at one end portion of the optical fiber  10  is stripped, the clad  12  of the glass fiber  13  is exposed, and the exposed glass fiber  13  is fixed to the first fixing member  20 . The first fixing member  20  is a member for aligning the optical fibers  10 , and is an approximately rectangular parallelepiped glass capillary member including pores  21 . An inner diameter of the pore  21  is slightly larger than an outer diameter of the glass fiber  13 , and when the glass fiber  13  is inserted into the pore  21 , the glass fiber  13  is loosely fitted and positioned so as to be movable back and forth. The first fixing member  20  and the glass fiber  13  are fixed to each other by filling a gap between the pore  21  and the glass fiber  13  with an adhesive by using a capillary phenomenon. 
       FIGS. 2C and 2D  are a front view and a side view illustrating another example of the first fixing member provided in the optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure to which the optical fiber is fixed in a state where the optical fiber is fixed thereto, respectively. A first fixing member  30  is formed of a V-groove circuit board  31  made of glass and a flat circuit board  32  also made of glass. The V-groove circuit board  31  includes, for example, four V-grooves  33  arranged in parallel, and each V-groove  33  has a size in which the glass fiber  13  can be placed. The flat circuit board  32  has a size that covers the respective V-grooves  33  of the V-groove circuit board  31  and has a flat shape. The glass fiber  13  is placed on each V-groove  33  of the V-groove circuit board  31 , and is covered with the flat circuit board  32 . The flat circuit board  32  is fixed to the V-groove circuit board  31  together with the glass fiber  13  with an adhesive. The first fixing member  30  including the V-groove circuit board  31  and the flat circuit board  32  has an approximately rectangular parallelepiped shape which is similar to that of the first fixing member  20 . 
     The optical fiber  10  fixed to the first fixing members  20  and  30  may be one or a plurality of optical fibers other than four, and may be an optical fiber ribbon formed by taping a plurality of optical fibers  10  arranged in parallel with a common coating. The optical fiber  10  may include a single core or a plurality of cores. Tips of the first fixing members  20  and  30  to which the optical fiber  10  is fixed are polished together with the glass fiber  13 , and are fixed to a circuit board on which an optical element is mounted, which is not illustrated, by, for example, an adhesive. Materials of the first fixing members  20  and  30  are desirably glass from a viewpoint of matching a coefficient of thermal expansion with the glass fiber  13 , and may be resin. 
     When the optical fiber  10  is fixed to the first fixing members  20  and  30 , the glass fiber  13  is exposed and fixed to the first fixing members  20  and  30 , and may be fixed thereto in a state where the coating layer  14  is provided thereon. Therefore, in the present disclosure, the term “optical fiber” indicates an optical fiber in which the coating layer is provided on the glass fiber, and also includes an optical fiber in which the coating layer is partially stripped and the glass fiber is exposed. In the embodiment, the first fixing members  20  and  30  are provided on one end side of the optical fiber  10 , and the above-described first fixing members  20  and  30  may be also mounted on the other end side of the optical fiber  10  and a tip thereof may be polished. 
       FIG. 3A  is a perspective view illustrating an example  40  of the second fixing member provided in the optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure, and  FIG. 3B  is a side view of the second fixing member  40 .  FIG. 3C  is a diagram illustrating an example in which the first fixing member is mounted on the second fixing member  40 . The second fixing member  40  is a member for bending the optical fiber  10 , the first fixing member  20  to which the optical fiber  10  is fixed (alternatively, the first fixing member  30  may be used. Hereinafter, the first fixing member  20  will be described as an example.) is positioned on one end side thereof, and the optical fiber  10  is bent along an inner peripheral surface of an outer peripheral wall  42  provided in the second fixing member  40 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3A , the second fixing member  40  includes a side wall  41  having a circular arc shape on a YZ plane, and the outer peripheral wall  42  that has a circular arc shape and protrudes from the side wall  41  in a vertical direction (X-axis direction). A thickness of the outer peripheral wall  42  in the X-axis direction is such that the optical fiber  10  does not come off therefrom when the first fixing member  20 , which will be described later, is mounted. A positioning portion  43  for positioning the first fixing member  20  is provided at one end of the second fixing member  40 . 
     In the embodiment, the positioning portion  43  includes a positioning protrusion  46  protruding from one end portion of the side wall  41  of the second fixing member  40 , and an end portion of the outer peripheral wall  42  facing the positioning protrusion  46 . More specifically, the positioning portion  43  includes a positioning surface  44 A parallel to an XZ plane at the end portion of the outer peripheral wall  42 , a positioning surface  44 B parallel to an XY plane, a positioning surface  44 A′ parallel to the XZ plane of the positioning protrusion  46 , a positioning surface  44 B′ parallel to the XY plane, and the side wall  41 . A distance between the positioning surface  44 A of the outer peripheral wall  42  and the positioning surface  44 A′ of the positioning protrusion  46  is equal to a width of two surfaces parallel to parallel surfaces of the optical fiber  10  of the first fixing member  20 . Here, the positioning surfaces  44 A and  44 A′ parallel to the XZ plane are positioning surfaces parallel to the optical fiber  10 , and the positioning surfaces  44 B and  44 B′ parallel to the XY plane are positioning surfaces perpendicular to the optical fiber  10 . 
     The second fixing member  40  has an open surface on the side opposite to the side wall  41  with a wall surface of the outer peripheral wall  42  interposed therebetween. Therefore, when the first fixing member  20  to which the optical fiber  10  is fixed is positioned at the positioning portion  43  of the second fixing member  40 , the first fixing member  20  is aligned so that the parallel surfaces of the optical fiber  10  fixed to the first fixing member  20  are parallel to the XZ plane, and the first fixing member  20  is inserted into the positioning portion  43  of the second fixing member  40  from an open surface side (positive side in the X-axis direction). Next, the first fixing member  20  is inserted until the first fixing member  20  abuts on the side wall  41 . 
     As a result, the two surfaces parallel to the parallel surfaces of the optical fiber  10  of the rectangular parallelepiped first fixing member  20  are positioned by the positioning surface  44 A of the outer peripheral wall  42  and the positioning surface  44 A′ of the positioning protrusion  46 . A surface into which the optical fiber  10  of the first fixing member  20  is inserted is positioned by the positioning surface  44 B of the outer peripheral wall  42  and the positioning surface  44 B′ of the positioning protrusion  46 . One surface perpendicular to the parallel surfaces of the optical fiber  10  of the first fixing member  20  is positioned by the side wall  41 . At that time, as illustrated in  FIG. 3C , the optical fiber  10  is bent along the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall  42 . In this state, the first fixing member  20 , the positioning portion  43 , and the optical fiber  10 , and the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall  42  are fixed by using an adhesive which is not illustrated, thereby obtaining an optical fiber connection component  1 . The adhesive can be supplied from the open surface side of the second fixing member  40 . 
     A material of the second fixing member  40  may be any one of glass, metal, and resin as long as the outer peripheral wall  42  and the positioning portion  43  can be molded to be integrated with each other by cutting and molding. As illustrated in  FIG. 3B , it is desirable that the positioning surface  44 B of the outer peripheral wall  42  and the positioning surface  44 B′ of the positioning protrusion  46  respectively include tapered surfaces  45  and  45 ′. As a result, when the first fixing member  20  is positioned at the second fixing member  40  and the optical fiber  10  is bent, it is possible to prevent the first fixing member  20  from deviating from the positioning portion  43 , and to prevent the coating layer  14  of the optical fiber  10  and the glass fiber  13  inside the coating fiber  10  from being damaged by contacting the positioning portion  43 . The tapered surfaces  45  and  45 ′ are respectively connected to the positioning surfaces  44 B and  44 B′ perpendicular to the optical fiber  10 . 
     Second Embodiment 
       FIG. 4A  is a perspective view illustrating another example  50  of the second fixing member provided in the optical fiber connection component of the present disclosure, and  FIG. 4B  is a side view of the second fixing member  50 .  FIG. 4C  is a diagram illustrating an example in which the first fixing member is mounted on the second fixing member  50 . The second fixing member  50  is a member for bending the optical fiber  10 , the first fixing member  20  (or the first fixing member  30 ) to which the optical fiber  10  is fixed is positioned on one end side thereof, and the optical fiber  10  is bent along an outer peripheral surface of an inner peripheral wall  52  provided in the second fixing member  50 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4A , the second fixing member  50  includes a side wall  51  having a circular arc shape on the YZ plane and the inner peripheral wall  52  that has a circular arc shape and protrudes from the side wall  51  in the vertical direction (X-axis direction). A thickness of the inner peripheral wall  52  in the X-axis direction is such that the optical fiber  10  can be placed when the first fixing member  20 , which will be described later, is mounted. A positioning portion  53  for positioning the first fixing member  20  is provided at one end of the second fixing member  50 . 
     In the embodiment, the positioning portion  53  includes a positioning protrusion  56  protruding from one end portion of the side wall  51  of the second fixing member  50 , and an end portion of the inner peripheral wall  52  facing the positioning protrusion  56 . More specifically, the positioning portion  53  includes a positioning surface  54 A parallel to the XZ plane at the end portion of the inner peripheral wall  52 , a positioning surface  54 B parallel to the XY plane, a positioning surface  54 A′ parallel to the XZ plane of the positioning protrusion  56 , a positioning surface  54 B′ parallel to the XY plane, and the side wall  51 . A distance between the positioning surface  54 A of the inner peripheral wall  52  and the positioning surface  54 A′ of the positioning protrusion  56  is equal to a width of two surfaces parallel to the parallel surfaces of the optical fiber  10  of the first fixing member  20 . Here, the positioning surfaces  54 A and  54 A′ parallel to the XZ plane are positioning surfaces parallel to the optical fiber  10 , and the positioning surfaces  54 B and  54 B′ parallel to the XY plane are positioning surfaces perpendicular to the optical fiber  10 . 
     The second fixing member  50  has an open surface on the side opposite to the side wall  51  with a wall surface of the inner peripheral wall  52  interposed therebetween. Therefore, when the first fixing member  20  to which the optical fiber  10  is fixed is positioned at the positioning portion  53  of the second fixing member  50 , the first fixing member  20  is aligned so that the parallel surfaces of the optical fiber  10  fixed to the first fixing member  20  are parallel to the XZ plane, and the first fixing member  20  is inserted into the positioning portion  53  of the second fixing member  50  from an open surface side (positive side in the X-axis direction). Next, the first fixing member  20  is inserted until the first fixing member  20  abuts on the side wall  51 . 
     As a result, the two surfaces parallel to the parallel surfaces of the optical fiber  10  of the rectangular parallelepiped first fixing member  20  are positioned by the positioning surface  54 A of the inner peripheral wall  52  and the positioning surface  54 A′ of the positioning protrusion  56 . A surface into which the optical fiber  10  of the first fixing member  20  is inserted is positioned by the positioning surface  54 B of the inner peripheral wall  52  and the positioning surface  54 B′ of the positioning protrusion  56 . One surface perpendicular to the parallel surfaces of the optical fiber  10  of the first fixing member  20  is positioned by the side wall  51 . In the embodiment, in this state, first, the first fixing member  20  and the positioning portion  53  are fixed to each other with an adhesive. Next, as illustrated in  FIG. 4C , the optical fiber  10  is bent along the outer peripheral surface of the inner peripheral wall  52 . After that, the optical fiber  10  is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the inner peripheral wall  52  with an adhesive, thereby obtaining the optical fiber connection component  1 . The adhesive can be supplied by using the open surface of the second fixing member  50 . 
     A material of the second fixing member  50  may be any one of glass, metal, and resin as long as the inner peripheral wall  52  and the positioning portion  53  can be molded to be integrated with each other by cutting and molding, in the same manner as that of the second fixing member  40  of the first embodiment. As illustrated in  FIG. 4B , it is desirable that the positioning surface  54 B of the inner peripheral wall  52  and the positioning surface  54 B′ of the positioning protrusion  56  respectively include tapered surfaces  55  and  55 ′. As a result, when the first fixing member  20  is positioned at the second fixing member  50  and the optical fiber  10  is bent, it is possible to prevent the first fixing member  20  from deviating from the positioning portion  53 , and to prevent the optical fiber  10  from being damaged by contacting the positioning portion  53 . The tapered surfaces  55  and  55 ′ are respectively connected to the positioning surfaces  54 B and  54 B′ perpendicular to the optical fiber  10 . 
     Third Embodiment 
     In the embodiment, the second fixing member includes both the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall. Although an illustration is omitted, this embodiment has a structure including the outer peripheral wall  42  of the second fixing member  40  in the first embodiment and the inner peripheral wall  52  of the second fixing member  50  in the second embodiment. The positioning portion for positioning the first fixing member  20  is provided at the end portion of the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall. A gap is provided between the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall and the outer peripheral surface of the inner peripheral wall, and the optical fiber  10  is inserted into the gap. The gap may be designed to have approximately the same size as a diameter of the optical fiber  10 , and the optical fiber  10  may be interposed between the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall in structure. The gap may be designed to be larger than the diameter of the optical fiber, and the optical fiber  10  may be fixed in the gap between the outer peripheral wall and the inner peripheral wall by filling an adhesive from the open surface. 
     As described above, in each embodiment, the positioning portion is formed to be integrated with the end portion of the outer peripheral wall or the inner peripheral wall, and may be provided separately from the outer peripheral wall or the inner peripheral wall. 
     REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 
     
         
         
           
               1 : optical fiber connection component 
               10 : optical fiber 
               11 : core 
               12 : clad 
               13 : glass fiber 
               14 : coating layer 
               20 ,  30 : first fixing member 
               21 : pore 
               31 : V-groove circuit board 
               32 : flat circuit board 
               33 : V-groove 
               40 : second fixing member 
               41 : side wall 
               42 : outer peripheral wall 
               43 : positioning portion 
               44 A,  44 A′,  44 B,  44 B′: positioning surface 
               45 ,  45 ′: tapered surface 
               46 : positioning protrusion 
               50 : second fixing member 
               51 : side wall 
               52 : inner peripheral wall 
               53 : positioning portion 
               54 A,  54 A′,  54 B,  54 B′: positioning surface 
               55 ,  55 ′: tapered surface 
               56 : positioning protrusion