JPH11231146A - Optical fiber protective cap - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] An optical fiber can be easily stored and stored, and can be easily taken out. To take out a desired optical fiber from an optical fiber storage / storage state, connectors at both ends of the optical fiber are covered by a single protective cap, and the optical connector is formed as a whole in an annular shape. Therefore, compared with the conventional technology, the unnecessary optical fiber connector 12 does not become entangled with the optical fiber 1 to be taken out, and the entanglement of the optical fibers can be prevented. As a result, the desired optical fiber 1 can be easily taken out, so that not only the storage and storage of the optical fiber 1 becomes easy, but also the taking out of the state becomes easy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a protective cap to be attached to connectors provided at both ends of an optical fiber cable, and more particularly to a method of storing and storing an optical fiber and removing the optical fiber from the stored and stored state. The present invention relates to a protective cap suitable for carrying out the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an optical fiber, connectors are respectively connected to both ends of a cable, and caps for protecting the connection portions are individually attached to the ends of the connectors. . When such optical fibers with caps attached to the connectors at both ends are not used, the optical fibers should be stored and stored in a state where a plurality of these optical fibers are bundled or wound in a circular shape. There are many.

[0003]

However, when a plurality of optical fibers are collectively stored and stored,
If one of the desired optical fibers is to be taken out of them, the following problem arises. For example, when a plurality of optical fibers are bundled, an optical fiber to be taken out and another unnecessary optical fiber are entangled with each other, and there is a problem that a desired one cannot be easily taken out. this is,
In particular, if there are thicker connectors at both ends of an elongated linear cable, other unnecessary optical fiber cables or connectors will be entangled or hooked on the optical fiber cable or connector to be taken out, and if you try to pull it forcibly, the cable The core may be damaged. On the other hand, when the optical fiber is wound in a circular shape and stored, not only the same occurs as described above, but also the optical fiber cable may have a winding habit and impair the usability during use.

An object of the present invention is to provide a protective cap for an optical fiber capable of easily taking out the optical fiber in order to improve the convenience of storing, storing and reusing the optical fiber. It is another object of the present invention to provide a protective cap for an optical fiber that can easily store and store the optical fiber.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in the optical fiber protective cap according to the present invention, the distal ends of connectors provided at both ends of the optical fiber cable are inserted, and each of the connectors is inserted into each connector. It is characterized by being applied collectively. Further, in the optical fiber protective cap of the present invention, a hanging hook is provided.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view when a protective cap is mounted.

Before describing the protective cap of the embodiment, an optical fiber to which the embodiment is applied will be described.
The optical fiber 10 has a cable 11 as shown in FIG.
Boots 13 are provided at both ends of the
2 are provided. The connector 12 is formed of resin or metal, or formed by combining a resin component and a metal component. There are various types, and in this example, both ends of the cable 11 are SC types. A kind of thing is used.

In this embodiment, one protective cap 1 having a shape as shown in FIG. 1 is formed, and the protective cap 1 is collectively attached to both connectors 12 and 12 of the optical fiber 10 as shown in FIG. I have.

That is, the protective cap 1 has a main body 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape as shown in FIG. 1, and has two insertion portions 3 and 3 arranged in a longitudinal direction on one end surface thereof.
Each of the insertion portions 3 is formed in a square pillar groove shape so that each of the connectors 12 can be inserted, and is partitioned by a partition wall 4 so that the connectors 12 do not rub against each other and are damaged. This protective cap 1
2, the protective cap 1 is collectively attached to the connectors 12 and 12 by its own elastic restoring force when the distal ends of the connectors 12 and 12 are inserted into the insertion portion 3 as shown in FIG. is there.

Therefore, the main body 2 of the protective cap 1 is relatively flexible and elastically resilient, such as butyl rubber, for example, in order to be easily attached to the connector 12, and has appropriate durability. The outer peripheral corner portion is formed in a tapered shape or a rounded shape so that the fiber cable 11 or the like is hardly caught.

Since the protective cap 1 of the embodiment has the above-described structure, the connectors 12 and 12 of the optical fiber 10 are inserted into the insertion portions 3 and 3 of the protective cap 1 in order to store and store the optical fiber. The connector 1
A plurality of optical fibers 10 are collectively stored and stored in this state.

Then, when trying to take out the desired optical fiber 10 from the stored state, as described above, the connectors 12 at both ends of the optical fiber 10 are both covered by one protective cap 1, and the entire optical fiber 10 is As compared with the prior art in which both caps are individually provided with caps, unnecessary optical fiber connectors 12 do not become entangled with the optical fiber 10 to be taken out. The entanglement of the fibers can be prevented. As a result, the desired optical fiber 1
Can be easily taken out, so that not only the storage and storage of the optical fiber 1 can be easily performed, but also the optical fiber 1 can be easily removed from the storage and storage state.

As described above, the optical fiber 10 is formed in an arc shape by being covered with one protective cap 1 as described above, so that the folded portion of the cable 11 is reliably located at only one place, and Of the cable can be minimized, and the cable can be prevented from being curled as in the prior art, and the deterioration in usability can be suppressed. Further, since the outer peripheral corner portion of the protective cap 1 is formed rounded,
From that point, it is possible to enhance prevention of catching with another optical fiber.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
This embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in that a hook 5 for hanging is provided on the main body 2 of the protective cap 1.

That is, the hook 5 has a hook-like shape and is integrally protruded from the other end surface of the main body 2 having two insertion portions 3 provided on one end surface. When the protective cap 1 is attached to both connectors 12 of the optical fiber 10, the hook 5 of the protective cap 1 is hooked on a hanging device (not shown) to store and store the optical fiber 10 in a suspended state. .

As described above, the optical fibers 10 are suspended by the hooks 5 provided integrally with the protective cap 1, and even if a plurality of the optical fibers 10 are suspended by the same suspending device, each optical fiber 10 has an annular shape. Since the optical fiber is suspended in the state of, the optical fiber to be taken out can be prevented from being entangled with another optical fiber. In addition, since the protective cap 1 attached to both connectors 12 is suspended, the protective cap 1 is
There is no fear of being entangled with the cable 11 or the protective cap, and the removal from the storage / storage state is further facilitated.

In addition, in this embodiment, when the optical fiber 10 is hung by the hook 5, the cable 11 of the optical fiber has an arc shape, and the folded portion of the cable 11 is surely located at only one lower portion. In addition, the curl of the optical fiber can be minimized, the curl of the cable can be prevented as in the conventional technology, and the deterioration of usability can be suppressed, and the optical fiber can be more easily taken out. Becomes

In the above-described embodiments, an example is shown in which both of the connectors 12 of the optical fiber cable 11 are of the SC type. However, the protective cap insertion portion is adapted to accommodate other types of connectors. 3 can be easily changed. For example, in the case of an optical fiber provided with FC type connectors 12 'at both ends as shown in FIG. 4, it is applied by forming two cylindrical groove shaped insertion portions 3a as shown in FIG. 5 (a). be able to. Further, in the case of an optical fiber for a conversion cable having an SC type connector 12 and an FC type connector 12 ', as shown in FIG. And the insertion portion 3b of the optical fiber 1 can be used.
This can be easily dealt with by providing an insertion portion having a size corresponding to the shape of the connector provided in the connector.

When the optical fiber 10 is attached, the protective cap may be dropped on the substrate by mistake. In this case, the protective cap is insulated from the viewpoint of preventing the substrate from short-circuiting. Molding with a synthetic resin having properties is practically more useful.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the distal ends of the connectors provided at both ends of the optical fiber are inserted and attached to the respective connectors collectively. Unnecessary optical fiber connectors and the like do not become entangled with the optical fiber to be entangled, and the entanglement of the optical fibers can be prevented. As a result, the desired optical fiber can be easily taken out, and the storage and storage of the optical fiber can be easily performed. In addition to this, there is an effect that it can be easily taken out of the storage state.

In addition, a hanging hook is projected from a surface of the protective cap different from the insertion portion so that the optical fiber can be hung and stored by the protective cap. There is also an effect that it is possible to prevent the cable from being curled and to prevent the usability from being deteriorated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical fiber protective cap according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory sectional view showing a state in which a protective cap is attached to an optical fiber connector.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory sectional view of a main part showing another example of the optical fiber protective cap of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an FC type connector.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing still another example of the optical fiber protective cap.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Protective cap, 2 ... Main body, 3, 3a, 3b ... Insertion part, 5 ... Hook, 10 ... Optical fiber, 11 ... Cable,
12, 12 '... connector.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A protective cap for an optical fiber, wherein the distal ends of connectors provided at both ends of a cable of an optical fiber are respectively inserted and collectively attached to each connector. 2. The optical fiber protective cap according to claim 1, further comprising a hanging hook.