JP2013125209A - Optical connector adapter, optical connector sub-assembly, and optical connector assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

An optical fiber connector with a lens having a ferrule with a lens that is biased toward a ferrule on the other side with a predetermined pressing force, and toward the ferrule with a lens on the other side with a pressing force larger than the predetermined pressing force. Provided are an optical connector adapter, an optical connector subassembly, and an optical connector assembly that can be interconnected with an optical fiber connector having a biased ferrule.
An end portion of a ferrule with a lens on the side of a ferrule with a lens is abutted on the optical connector adapter with a pressing force larger than a predetermined pressing force. A contact portion 17 is provided. The ferrule 43 stops at the contact portion 17, and the lens-equipped ferrule 23 is abutted against the stopped ferrule 43. The optical connector subassembly 30 includes an optical connector adapter 10 and an optical fiber connector 20 with a lens fitted to the optical connector adapter 10.
[Selection] Figure 5

Description

  The present invention provides an optical fiber connector with a lens having a ferrule with a lens that is biased toward a ferrule on the other side with a predetermined pressing force, and a ferrule with a lens on the other side with a pressing force larger than the predetermined pressing force. The present invention relates to an optical connector adapter that interconnects an optical fiber connector having a ferrule biased toward the optical connector, an optical connector subassembly including the optical connector adapter, and an optical connector assembly.

An optical fiber cable having an optical fiber is used for high-speed communication and data communication, and a pair of optical fiber connectors are provided at the ends of the opposing optical fiber cables. The pair of optical fiber connectors are interconnected via an adapter.
Here, the mode field diameter (MFD) of the optical fiber on one side is different from the mode field diameter of the optical fiber on the other side, the effective areas of the optical fibers are different, or the compositions of the optical fibers are different. May be different.

Conventionally, as a hybrid type expanded beam fiber connector for interconnecting this kind of different optical fibers, for example, the one shown in FIG. 8 is known (see Patent Document 1).
The hybrid type expanded beam fiber connector 100 shown in FIG. 8 interconnects a pair of different types of optical fibers 121 and 141, and includes a first optical fiber 120 with a lens and an optical fiber 140 with a second lens. I have. The first optical fiber 120 with a lens is provided with a convex lens 122 at the tip of the optical fiber 121 and is supported by the first ferrule 110. On the other hand, the second optical fiber 140 with a lens is provided with a convex lens 142 at the tip of the optical fiber 141 and is supported by the second ferrule 130. The first optical fiber 120 with a lens is optically coupled to the second optical fiber 140 with a lens, but is spatially separated from the optical fiber 140 with a second lens.

The first optical fiber 120 with a lens expands the light beam that travels in the first optical fiber 120 with a lens, and outputs the light beam as parallel light. The other second optical fiber 140 with a lens receives the output light beam so that the optical beam travels from the first optical fiber 120 with a lens to the optical fiber 140 with a second lens. The second optical fiber 140 with a lens focuses the received light beam.
As described above, according to the hybrid type expanded beam fiber connector 100, different types of optical fibers are used, for example, when the mode field diameter (MFD) of one optical fiber is different from the mode field diameter of the other optical fiber. Can be interconnected.

JP 2004-534271 A

Incidentally, in recent years, for example, there is a demand for interconnecting different types of optical fiber connectors schematically shown in FIG. This is because it is desired to ensure compatibility of the optical fiber connector with a lens with an optical fiber connector that has already been widely used.
In FIG. 9, an optical fiber connector with a lens (not shown) having a ferrule 203 with a lens for supporting a large number (only one is shown in FIG. 9) on one side (left side in FIG. 9). Is arranged. A concave portion 203a is formed on the front end surface of the lens-equipped ferrule 203, and a lens portion 204 protrudes from the bottom of the concave portion 203a at a position aligned with each optical fiber 205. The front end surface of each optical fiber 205 is separated from the lens unit 204 by a predetermined distance. The optical fiber connector with a lens is originally interconnected with the same type of optical fiber connector with a lens. At the time of the interconnection, the tips of the ferrules with lenses 203 are pressed against each other with a predetermined pressing force (for example, about 3N). ). In the interconnection of the ferrules with lenses 203, the predetermined pressing force is applied to the ferrules with lenses 203 by a spring (not shown) provided behind the ferrules with lenses 203. For this reason, it is not necessary to deform | transform the ferrule 203 with a lens.

  In FIG. 9, an optical fiber connector (not shown) having ferrules 201 for supporting a large number (only one is shown in FIG. 9) of optical fibers 202 is arranged on the other side (right side in FIG. 9). Has been. The tip surface of each optical fiber 202 is flush with the tip surface of the ferrule 201. This optical fiber connector is called, for example, an MPO type optical fiber connector, and an MT ferrule is used as the ferrule 201. This optical fiber connector is originally interconnected with the same type of optical fiber connector (MPO type optical fiber connector), and the tips of the ferrules 201 are brought into physical contact with each other at the time of mutual connection. Then, the physical contact is performed by applying a pressing force (for example, about 10 N) larger than a predetermined pressing force to a ferrule 201 by a spring (not shown) provided behind the ferrule 201, and the optical fiber 202 and the ferrule. This is achieved by deforming the vicinity of the tip of 201.

  And in the interconnection of the different types of optical fiber connectors schematically shown in FIG. 9, the front end surface of the ferrule 203 with lens of the optical fiber connector with lens and the front end surface of the ferrule 201 of the optical fiber connector are brought into contact with each other. Then, the light beam 206 output from the optical fiber 205 of the optical fiber connector with lens is expanded by the ferrule 203 with lens and focused by the lens unit 204. The beam diameter of the focused light beam 206 is the same as the mode field diameter (MFD) of the optical fiber 202 on the ferrule 201 side at the contact end surface between the ferrule 203 with a lens and the ferrule 201.

  However, in the hybrid type expanded beam fiber connector 100 shown in FIG. 8, different types of optical fiber connectors as schematically shown in FIG. 9 cannot be interconnected. That is, in the hybrid type expanded beam fiber connector 100, the optical fiber connector with the lens having the ferrule 203 with the lens and the optical fiber connector having the ferrule 201 cannot be interconnected. In the case of the hybrid type expanded beam fiber connector 100 shown in FIG. 8, specific different types of light such as when the mode field diameter (MFD) of one optical fiber and the mode field diameter of the other optical fiber are different. It only allows fiber interconnection.

  On the other hand, in the case of mutual connection between different types of optical fiber connectors as schematically shown in FIG. 9, the lens-equipped ferrule 203 side is provided with a predetermined pressing force (for example, by a spring provided behind the lens-equipped ferrule 203). 3N) is given to the ferrule 203 with a lens. On the other hand, the ferrule 201 side of the optical fiber connector applies a pressing force (for example, about 10 N) larger than the predetermined pressing force to the ferrule 201 by a spring provided behind the ferrule 201. Therefore, even if different types of optical fiber connectors are interconnected without any ingenuity, the pressing force on the ferrule 201 side is strong and the pressing force cannot be balanced.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide an optical fiber connector with a lens having a ferrule with a lens that is biased toward a ferrule on the other side with a predetermined pressing force, An optical connector adapter capable of interconnecting an optical fiber connector having a ferrule biased toward a ferrule with a lens on the other side with a pressing force larger than the predetermined pressing force, and an optical device including the optical connector adapter To provide a connector subassembly and an optical connector assembly.

  To achieve the above object, an optical connector adapter according to claim 1 of the present invention is an optical connector adapter for interconnecting a pair of optical fiber connectors, and one of the pair of optical fiber connectors is: An optical fiber connector with a lens having a ferrule with a lens that supports an optical fiber, and the other of the pair of optical fiber connectors is an optical fiber connector having a ferrule that supports an optical fiber, and the light with a lens A fiber connector is fitted and locked from one end side of the optical connector adapter, the ferrule with a lens is urged toward a ferrule on the other side with a predetermined pressing force, and the optical fiber connector is connected to the optical connector adapter. Are fitted and locked from the other end of the ferrule, and the ferrule has the predetermined pressing force. Urged toward the ferrule with a lens on the other side with a larger pressing force, and urged toward the ferrule with a lens on the other side with a pressing force larger than the predetermined pressing force on the optical connector adapter. A ferrule is provided with an abutting portion with which an end of the ferrule with a lens abuts, the ferrule stops at the abutting portion, and the ferrule with a lens is abutted against the stopped ferrule. Yes.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an optical connector subassembly includes the optical connector adapter according to the first aspect and the optical fiber connector with a lens fitted to the optical connector adapter. Yes.
Furthermore, an optical connector assembly according to claim 3 of the present invention is the optical connector subassembly according to claim 2, and the optical fiber connector fitted to the optical connector adapter of the optical connector subassembly. It is characterized by consisting of.
An optical connector assembly according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the optical connector assembly according to the third aspect, wherein the optical fiber connector has a guide pin, and the optical fiber connector with a lens is the guide. A guide pin receiving hole for receiving the pin is provided.

  According to the optical connector adapter, the optical connector subassembly including the optical connector adapter, and the optical connector assembly according to the present invention, the optical connector adapter is larger than a predetermined pressing force that biases the ferrule with a lens. An abutting portion is provided on which the end of the ferrule with lens on the ferrule urged toward the ferrule with lens by the pressing force abuts. Then, the ferrule stops at the contact portion, and the ferrule with a lens is abutted against the stopped ferrule. For this reason, the ferrule and the ferrule with a lens contact each other in a state where the predetermined pressing force is applied. Therefore, the pressing force on the ferrule side and the ferrule side with a lens can be balanced. For this reason, an optical fiber connector with a lens having a ferrule with a lens that is biased toward a ferrule on the other side with a predetermined pressing force, and toward the ferrule with a lens on the other side with a pressing force larger than the predetermined pressing force. An optical connector adapter capable of interconnecting an optical fiber connector having a ferrule biased by the optical connector, an optical connector subassembly including the optical connector adapter, and an optical connector assembly can be provided.

It is a perspective view of the optical connector assembly which concerns on this invention, and has shown the state which the other party optical fiber connector fitted. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the optical connector assembly shown in FIG. 1 with the other party optical fiber connector. It is a perspective view of the optical connector assembly of the state cut | disconnected along the 3-3 line in FIG. It is sectional drawing of the state cut | disconnected along line 4-4 in FIG. It is sectional drawing of the state cut | disconnected along line 5-5 in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the ferrule contact end surface vicinity in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the ferrule contact end surface vicinity in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the conventional hybrid type | mold extended beam fiber connector which mutually connects different types of optical fibers. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example which mutually connects different types of optical fiber connectors.

Embodiments of an optical connector adapter, an optical connector subassembly, and an optical connector assembly according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2, an optical connector adapter 10 interconnects an optical fiber connector 20 with a lens and an optical fiber connector 40. Then, the optical fiber connector with lens 20 is fitted and locked from one end side (right end side in FIG. 1) of the optical connector adapter 10. On the other hand, the optical fiber connector 40 is fitted and locked from the other end side of the optical connector adapter 10. The optical connector subassembly 30 according to the present invention is constituted by the optical connector adapter 10 and the optical fiber connector with lens 20 fitted to the optical adapter connector 10. The optical connector subassembly 30 and the optical fiber connector 40 fitted to the optical connector adapter 10 of the optical connector subassembly 30 constitute an optical connector assembly.

  Here, the optical fiber connector with lens 20 includes a connector housing 21 having a ferrule receiving cavity 22 therein, as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the ferrule receiving cavity 22 opens on the front surface of the connector housing 21 (left surface in FIGS. 3 to 5) and extends toward the rear of the connector housing 21. A ferrule 23 with a lens is provided in the ferrule receiving cavity 22 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. The lens-equipped ferrule 23 is integrally formed of a translucent resin. As shown in FIG. 4, the ferrule 23 with a lens supports many optical fibers 51 of the optical fiber cable 50. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, a concave portion 23 a is formed on the front surface of the ferrule 23 with a lens, and a plurality of lens portions 23 b are arranged at positions aligned with the optical fibers 51 on the bottom of the concave portion 23 a. Protrusions are formed. The position of the front end of each optical fiber 51 is set at a position that is a predetermined distance away from each lens portion 23b.

  Then, in the ferrule receiving cavity 22 of the connector housing 21, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, a ferrule 23 with a lens is directed toward a counterpart ferrule 43 described later with a predetermined pressing force (for example, about 3N). An urging spring member 24 is provided. The spring member 24 is composed of a compression spring disposed on the rear side of the ferrule 23 with a lens on the side opposite to the ferrule 43 on the other side in the ferrule receiving cavity 22.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a pair of lock protrusions 21 a are formed on both side surfaces of the connector housing 21 so as to protrude. These lock protrusions 21a are formed in lock openings 13 (to be described later) of the optical connector adapter 10 when the optical fiber connector 20 with a lens is fitted from one end side (right end side, rear side in FIG. 1) of the optical connector adapter 10. Locked.

  On the other hand, the optical fiber connector 40 includes a connector housing 41 having a ferrule receiving cavity 42 therein, as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ferrule receiving cavity 42 opens to the front surface of the connector housing 41 (the right surface in FIGS. 4 and 5) and extends toward the rear of the connector housing 41. A ferrule 43 is provided in the ferrule receiving cavity 42 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the ferrule 43 supports a large number of optical fibers 51 of the optical fiber cable 50. The front end face of each optical fiber 51 is flush with the front end face of the ferrule 43. The optical fiber connector 40 is called, for example, an MPO type optical fiber connector, and an MT ferrule is used as the ferrule 43. A guide member 45 having a plurality of guide pins 44 is fixed to the rear side of the ferrule 43. Each guide pin 44 penetrates the ferrule 43 and protrudes from the front end surface of the ferrule 43.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the ferrule receiving cavity 42 of the connector housing 41 is provided with a lens on the other side with a pressing force (for example, about 10 N) larger than the predetermined pressing force described above. A spring member 46 that biases toward the ferrule 23 is provided. The spring member 46 is formed of a compression spring disposed on the rear side of the guide member 45 on the opposite side of the ferrule 23 with a lens on the other side in the ferrule receiving cavity 42.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a pair of lock protrusions 41 a are formed on both side surfaces of the connector housing 41 so as to protrude. These lock protrusions 41a are engaged with a lock arm 16 (to be described later) of the optical connector adapter 10 when the optical fiber connector 40 is fitted from the other end side (left end side, rear side in FIG. 1). Is done.
The optical connector adapter 10 includes a first adapter 11 into which the optical fiber connector with lens 20 is fitted, and a second adapter 14 into which the optical fiber connector 40 is fitted. The front surface of the first adapter 11 (left surface in FIGS. 4 and 5) and the front surface of the second adapter 14 (right surface in FIGS. 4 and 5) are fixed to each other by thermal welding or the like.

  The first adapter 11 includes an adapter body 11a having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a substantially rectangular tube-shaped protrusion 11b extending rearward from a substantially central portion in the vertical direction of the rear surface of the adapter body 11a. The first adapter 11 is formed by molding a synthetic resin. And the optical fiber connector receiving hole 12 has penetrated from the front surface of the adapter main-body part 11a to the rear surface of the protrusion part 11b. The optical fiber connector with lens 20 is inserted (fitted) into the optical fiber connector receiving hole 12 from the rear side of the first adapter 11. A pair of locking openings 13 are formed on both side walls of the protruding portion 11b to engage with a pair of locking protrusions 21a formed on the optical fiber connector with lens 20.

  Moreover, the 2nd adapter 14 is fixed to the adapter main-body part 11a of the 1st adapter 11, and the substantially rectangular-shaped adapter board | substrate part 14a and the substantially square extended back from the up-down direction approximate center part of the rear surface of the adapter board | substrate part 14a. And a cylindrical protrusion 14b. The second adapter 14 is formed by molding a synthetic resin. And the optical fiber connector receiving hole 15 has penetrated from the front surface of the adapter board | substrate part 14a to the rear surface of the protrusion part 14b. The optical fiber connector 40 is inserted (fitted) into the optical fiber connector receiving hole 15 from the rear side of the second adapter 14. A pair of lock arms 16 that lock a pair of lock protrusions 41a formed on the optical fiber connector 40 are formed on both side walls of the protrusion 14b. Each lock arm 16 is composed of an elastic lock arm that extends rearwardly from the adapter substrate portion 14a in a cantilever shape. At the tip of each lock arm 16, there is provided a protrusion 16a that engages the rear side of the lock protrusion 41a to prevent the optical fiber connector 40 from being detached when each lock arm 16 locks the lock protrusion 41a. .

  Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, and 7, the front end portion of the ferrule 43 (the end portion on the side of the ferrule 23 with a lens) is in contact with the front surface portion of the adapter main body 11 a of the first adapter 11. A contact portion 17 is provided. Here, the ferrule 43 is urged toward the other lens-equipped ferrule 23 with a pressing force larger than a predetermined pressing force. As shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of abutting portions 17 are provided in two rows in the upper and lower rows at a predetermined pitch so that each protrudes into the optical fiber connector receiving hole 12. The contact portions 17 do not hinder the movement of the ferrule 23 with a lens toward the ferrule 43 side. The front surface of each contact portion 17 is flush with the front surface of the adapter main body 11a and flush with the ferrule contact end surface.

Next, a method of interconnecting the optical fiber connector with lens 20 and the optical fiber connector 40 via the optical connector adapter 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
When interconnecting the optical fiber connector with lens 20 and the optical fiber connector 40, the optical fiber connector 40 is first fitted into the optical connector adapter 10, and then the optical fiber connector with lens 20 is connected to the optical connector adapter 10. There is a method of fitting to the vice versa and vice versa.

First, a method of first fitting the optical fiber connector 40 to the optical connector adapter 10 and then fitting the optical fiber connector with lens 20 to the optical connector adapter 10 will be described.
The optical fiber connector 40 is inserted into the optical fiber connector receiving hole 15 of the second adapter 14 from the rear side of the second adapter 14. Then, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the protrusion 16a of each lock arm 16 engages the rear side of the lock protrusion 41a to prevent the optical fiber connector 40 from coming off. As a result, the optical fiber connector 40 is locked to the second adapter 14. The pair of lock arms 16 is prevented from being displaced outward by an outer shell portion 41 b provided in the connector housing 41.

  In the locked state of the optical fiber connector 40, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the ferrule 43 is pressed against the other side by a pressing force (for example, about 10 N) larger than the predetermined pressing force of the spring member 46 described above. It is urged toward the ferrule 23 with a lens. Then, the end portion (front end portion) of the ferrule 43 on the side of the ferrule with lens 23 comes into contact with a plurality of contact portions 17 provided in the first adapter 11 and stops.

  Next, the optical fiber connector with lens 20 is inserted into the optical fiber connector receiving hole 12 of the first adapter 11 from the rear side of the first adapter 11. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the pair of lock protrusions 21 a provided on the connector housing 21 engage with the pair of lock openings 13, and the optical fiber connector with lens 20 is locked to the first adapter 11. The mating guide pin 44 enters the guide pin receiving hole 25 formed in the ferrule 23 with a lens.

In the locked state of the optical fiber connector with lens 20, the ferrule with lens 23 is urged toward the ferrule 43 on the other side by the predetermined pressing force (for example, about 3N) of the spring member 24. The end (front end) on the ferrule 43 side of the ferrule 23 with lens abuts (buts against) the end (front end) on the ferrule 23 side with lens of the ferrule 43 stopped at the ferrule contact end face. .
Thereby, the optical fiber connector 20 with a lens and the optical fiber connector 40 are mutually connected.

A method for fitting the optical fiber connector with lens 20 to the optical connector adapter 10 first and then fitting the optical fiber connector 40 to the optical connector adapter 10 will also be described.
The optical fiber connector with lens 20 is inserted into the optical fiber connector receiving hole 12 of the first adapter 11 from the rear side of the first adapter 11. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the pair of lock protrusions 21 a provided on the connector housing 21 engage with the pair of lock openings 13, and the optical fiber connector with lens 20 is locked to the first adapter 11.

  In the locked state of the optical fiber connector with lens 20, the ferrule with lens 23 is urged toward the ferrule 43 on the other side by the predetermined pressing force (for example, about 3N) of the spring member 24 described above. Thereby, the end part (front end part) of the ferrule 23 with a lens on the side of the counterpart ferrule 43 projects further forward than the ferrule contact end face described above.

  Next, the optical fiber connector 40 is inserted into the optical fiber connector receiving hole 15 of the second adapter 14 from the rear side of the second adapter 14. Then, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the protrusion 16a of each lock arm 16 engages the rear side of the lock protrusion 41a to prevent the optical fiber connector 40 from coming off. As a result, the optical fiber connector 40 is locked to the second adapter 14. The pair of lock arms 16 is prevented from being displaced outward by an outer shell portion 41 b provided in the connector housing 41. Each guide pin 44 enters the guide pin receiving hole 25 formed in the ferrule 23 with a lens on the other side.

In the locked state of the optical fiber connector 40, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the ferrule 43 is pressed against the other side by a pressing force (for example, about 10 N) larger than the predetermined pressing force of the spring member 46 described above. It is urged toward the ferrule 23 with a lens. And the edge part (front-end part) of the ferrule 43 side with a lens of the ferrule 43 presses the front-end part of the ferrule 23 with a lens protruded from the ferrule ferrule contact end surface, and is provided with the some adapter provided in the 1st adapter 11 Contact the contact portion 17.
Thereby, the optical fiber connector 20 with a lens and the optical fiber connector 40 are mutually connected.

  Here, in a state where the optical fiber connector with lens 20 and the optical fiber connector 40 are connected to each other, the front end portion of the ferrule with lens 23 is in contact with the front end portion of the ferrule 43 stopped at the ferrule contact end surface. . At this time, the ferrule 43 is biased forward by the spring member 46 with a pressing force larger than the predetermined pressing force described above. However, the front end portion of the ferrule 43 is in contact with the contact portion 17 and stopped. For this reason, the ferrule 43 and the ferrule 23 with a lens contact | abut in the state which applied the predetermined pressing force (small pressing force) mentioned above mutually. Accordingly, the pressing force on the ferrule 43 side and the lens-equipped ferrule 23 side can be balanced.

For this reason, the optical fiber connector 20 with a lens having the ferrule 23 with a lens that is urged toward the counterpart ferrule 43 with a predetermined pressing force, and the lens with the counterpart side with a pressing force larger than the predetermined pressing force. An optical fiber connector 40 having a ferrule 43 biased toward the ferrule 23 can be interconnected.
When the contact portion is not provided, when the optical fiber connectors having different pressing forces are fitted, the contact surfaces of the optical fiber connectors are pressed toward the optical fiber connector having a weak pressing force. This may cause excessive buckling of the optical fiber in the optical fiber connector with a weak pressing force. Excessive buckling not only reduces the reliability of the fit, but also accelerates the degradation of the optical fiber. By using the contact portion, these problems can be prevented.

  In a state where the optical fiber connector with lens 20 and the optical fiber connector 40 are interconnected, the light beam output from the optical fiber 51 of the optical fiber connector with lens 20 is temporarily expanded by the ferrule with lens 23. Then, the light beam is refracted by the lens portion 23 b and converges at the position of the contact end surface between the ferrule 23 with a lens and the ferrule 43 through the space of the concave portion 23 a. The beam diameter of the focused light beam is the same as the mode field diameter (MFD) of the optical fiber 51 on the ferrule 43 side. The optical fiber 51 on the ferrule 43 side receives the light beam. The light beam output from the optical fiber 51 on the ferrule 43 side is received by the optical fiber 51 of the lens-attached optical fiber connector 20 with the reverse action.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention has been described, this invention is not limited to this, A various change and improvement can be performed.
For example, the contact portion 17 is provided on the front surface portion of the adapter main body portion 11a of the first adapter 11, and the front surface of the contact portion 17 is not necessarily flush with the front surface of the adapter main body portion 11a. The contact portion 17 may be provided at any position of the optical connector adapter 10 as long as the end portion of the ferrule 43 on the side of the ferrule with lens 23 contacts.
Moreover, although the optical connector adapter 10 is comprised by two bodies, the 1st adapter 11 and the 2nd adapter 14, it may be comprised integrally or may be comprised by three or more bodies.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Optical connector adapter 17 Contact part 20 Optical fiber connector with lens 23 Ferrule with lens 25 Guide pin receiving hole 30 Optical connector subassembly 40 Optical fiber connector 43 Ferrule 44 Guide pin 51 Optical fiber

Claims (4)

An optical connector adapter for interconnecting a pair of optical fiber connectors,
One of the pair of optical fiber connectors is configured with a lens-equipped optical fiber connector having a lens-equipped ferrule that supports the optical fiber, and the other of the pair of optical fiber connectors is a ferrule that supports the optical fiber. Comprising an optical fiber connector having
The optical fiber connector with a lens is fitted and locked from one end side of the optical connector adapter, and the ferrule with a lens is urged toward a mating ferrule with a predetermined pressing force,
The optical fiber connector is fitted and locked from the other end side of the optical connector adapter, and the ferrule is biased toward the mating lens-equipped ferrule with a pressing force larger than the predetermined pressing force,
The optical connector adapter is provided with an abutting portion on which the end of the ferrule with a lens comes into contact with the ferrule biased toward the other lens with a pressing force larger than the predetermined pressing force,
The optical connector adapter, wherein the ferrule stops at the abutting portion, and the ferrule with a lens is abutted against the stopped ferrule.   2. The optical connector subassembly according to claim 1, comprising the optical connector adapter according to claim 1 and the optical fiber connector with a lens fitted to the optical connector adapter.   An optical connector assembly comprising: the optical connector subassembly according to claim 2; and the optical fiber connector fitted into the optical connector adapter of the optical connector subassembly. The optical fiber connector has a guide pin,
4. The optical connector assembly according to claim 3, wherein the optical fiber connector with a lens has a guide pin receiving hole for receiving the guide pin.

Images