JPS59129815A - Method and device for assembling sleeve inside of photoelectric element - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To raise stability and reliability of a product by extruding uniformly an adhesive agent from a thin gap-shaped feed port, sticking it to the circumference of the side wall of a photoelectric element, and subsequently, executing automatically the optical centering by an XY fine adjusting devide. CONSTITUTION:A sleeve 1 is held by being pushed into a sleeve attaching and detaching device 13 consisting of plural movable pawls which are provided on the tip of a sleeve arm 12 and placed radially. The sleeve arm 12 is fitted to a support 14, and a rotation and an up-and-down movement of the arm 12 are executed in accordance with work procedures by an arm driving device equipped in the support. Accordingly, when the sleeve 1 is installed to the sleeve attaching and detaching device 13 of the sleeve arm 12, and for instance, the arm 12 is rotated counterclockwise by 90 degrees from the installed position, the sleeve 1 is positioned right above a photoelectric element 3 installed in a cavity of the center of an upper plate 16 of a supporting base 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for assembling a photoelectric element to be mounted in a sleeve.

Optical connectors that removably connect photoelectric elements to optical fibers are widely used in optical communication systems. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of such an optical connector. In the optical connector shown in FIG. 1, a photoelectric element such as a light emitting element or a light receiving element 3 is connected to a sleeve 1 in a recess 2 of the sleeve 1 with an adhesive 4 to connect the optical center of the photoelectric element 3, that is, a light emitting center or a light receiving center. The optical fiber 9 of the plug 7 is fixed in a position that corresponds precisely to the optical fiber 9. On the other hand, an optical cable 10 is introduced into the plug 7, and an optical fiber 9 is arranged at the axis of the plug. Taper part 8 of plug 7
is formed so that the inclination is the same as that of the tapered portion 5 of the sleeve 1, and when the plug 7 and the sleeve 1 are fitted, their axes are aligned. 6 and 11 are flanges that engage with the connector housing. As shown in FIG. 1, in the optical connector, it is important that the optical center of the photoelectric element mounted in the recess 2 of the sleeve 1 and the optical axis of the optical fiber 9 of the plug 7 coincide. Although it is relatively easy to align the plug 7 and the optical fiber 9, it is difficult to align the photoelectric element 3 and the sleeve 1. Conventionally, the photoelectric element 3 is inserted into the recess 2 of the sleeve 1 by applying adhesive to the side wall of the photoelectric element 3.
For example, if it is a light-emitting element, fit the alignment plug into the sleeve, move the photoelectric element within the recess of the sleeve to the position where the light-receiving current of the light-receiving element provided at the other end of the plug reaches the maximum, and then They had to find the bonding position by hand, solidify the adhesive, and attach the photoelectric element to the sleeve. The work of attaching a photoelectric element to such a sleeve is complicated;
It took a lot of time to assemble the sleeve, leading to a rise in product costs. Moreover, the problem of variations in the precision of the products could not be avoided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for assembling a photoelectric element within a sleeve, in which the photoelectric element is automatically mounted at an optimal position within the sleeve. .

The method for assembling a photoelectric element in a sleeve according to the present invention includes the steps of: adhering the adhesive to the side wall of the photoelectric element through an adhesive supply port that uniformly supplies the adhesive to the side wall of the photoelectric element; and preventing the adhesive from solidifying. While fitting the photoelectric element into the recess of the sleeve, the adhesive is evenly applied to the gap between the inner wall of the recess of the sleeve and the side wall of the photoelectric element, and the adhesive is applied between the optical center of the photoelectric element and the sleeve. A position detection output determined by the relative positional relationship between the optical positioning device and the above-mentioned photoelectric element is inputted to the control device so that the precision of the plug to be fitted matches, and the XY position fine adjustment device is operated by the nuclear control device, and the above-mentioned The optical center of the photoelectric element is made to coincide with the axial center ζ of the plug fitted into the sleeve.

Furthermore, the apparatus for assembling a photoelectric element in a sleeve according to the present invention includes:
The tip is equipped with an XY position fine adjustment device that selectively moves the support base that holds the photoelectric element in the X and Y directions, and a sleeve attaching/detaching device that detachably holds the sleeve on which the photoelectric element is attached, allowing you to select rotation or vertical movement. an adhesive reservoir at the tip, which is equipped with an adhesive supply port for uniformly supplying adhesive to the side wall of the photoelectric element;
an adhesive reservoir arm that can selectively rotate and move up and down; an arm drive device that drives the sleeve arm and the adhesive reservoir arm to sequentially rotate, move up and down, etc. according to a work procedure; and the photoelectric element. an optical positioning device for aligning the optical center of the photoelectric element so that it coincides with the axis of the plug fitted into the sleeve while the adhesive interposed between the sleeves is not solidified; , a control device that operates the XY position fine adjustment device so as to align the photoelectric device based on position information of the photoelectric device obtained from the optical positioning device and the photoelectric device; and a control device that aligns the photoelectric device with the control device. The adhesive is characterized by comprising an ultraviolet irradiation device that irradiates the adhesive with ultraviolet rays to solidify it when the adhesive is exposed to ultraviolet rays.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an apparatus for assembling a photoelectric device in a sleeve according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the sleeve 1 is pushed into and held by a sleeve attachment/detachment device 13, which consists of a plurality of radially arranged movable claws provided at the tip of a sleeve arm 12. The sleeve arm 12 is attached to a column 14, and an arm drive device installed in the column rotates and moves the arm 12 up and down in accordance with the work procedure. Therefore, 1 sleeve 1 and sleeve arm 1
For example, when the arm 12 is attached to the sleeve attaching/detaching device 13 of No. 2 and rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from the attached position, the light 1 installed in the recess at the center of the upper plate 16 of the support base 15 will be removed.
A sleeve 1 is positioned directly above the resistor 3. The adhesive has a hollow cylindrical shape as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, perpendicular to the sleeve arm 12, and has an adhesive reservoir 17 at its tip with two flat adhesive supply ports 18 at its lower end. A drug reservoir arm 12' is attached to the support column 14, and an arm drive device installed in the support column 14 rotates and moves the arm 12' up and down in accordance with the work procedure. FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the adhesive reservoir portion for explaining the state in which adhesive is applied to the photoelectric element 3, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the portion shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the adhesive reservoir 17 has a double cylindrical shape, and a supply port 18 having an opening formed by a parallel flat plate is provided at the lower end thereof. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an opening in the side wall of the photoelectric element 3 is surrounded by a supply port 18 formed of a parallel plate, and the adhesive is supplied to the photoelectric element 3 from the parallel plate-shaped supply port 18. An appropriate amount of adhesive is uniformly adhered around the side wall by supplying air through the air supply pipe 19. The arm 12' is then pulled straight up and then rotated so that it can be removed from the position of the photoelectric element 3. The adhesive reservoir arm 12 is attached to the support column 14 while maintaining a position separated by 90 degrees from the sleeve arm 12, and can be rotated freely and moved up and down independently by an arm drive device.

The support stand 15 is attached to the XY position fine adjustment device 20, and the XY position fine adjustment device 20 is attached to the main column 2 upright on the base 21.
It is fixed at 2. A medical table 23 is attached to the main column 22, and an X-direction moving table 24 that slides on the upper end of the protruding table 23 is moved in the X-axis direction by a drive motor 25 fixed to the protruding table 23 and a screw 26 rotated by the drive motor 25. do. The Y-direction moving table 27 slides on the upper end of the X-direction moving table 24 and moves in the Y-axis direction by a drive motor (not shown) fixed to the X-direction moving table 24 and a screw 29 that is rotated by this. do.

Further, an ultraviolet irradiation device 30 is provided on the upper plate 16 of the support base 15 and projects toward the photoelectric element 3 .

Further, an optical positioning device 31 is attached to the main column 22 so as to be vertically movable. Optical positioning device [31
A plug 32 that fits into the sleeve 1 is attached to the lower end of the sleeve. The optical positioning device 31 is supported by arms 37 and 38 on a sliding table 35 driven by a drive motor 33 fixed to the main column 22 and a screw 34 which is rotated by this motor. The sliding table 35 is moved up and down on a rail 36 provided on the main column 22.

The optical positioning device 31 condenses the light incident from the plug 32 at the lower end with a lens system 39, forms an image of the incident light on the light receiving plate 40, and detects the distance from the center 0 of the light receiving plate 39 to the imaged point. It is possible to detect positional shifts in the X and Y directions. The detected amount of positional deviation in the X and Y directions is input to the control device 43 through conductive wires 41 and 42. The control device 43 drives the X-direction and Y-direction drive motors of the XY fine adjustment device 20 in the direction to eliminate the positional deviation in response to the positional deviation detection input in the XY directions, and adjusts the position of the light emitting element 3, which is the light source of the incident light. It is configured so that the image forming point of the incident light can be controlled to coincide with zero. Note that 44 is an output conductor that is input from the control device 43 to the drive motor 25.

Next, a method of assembling a photoelectric element in a sleeve according to the present invention will be explained. First, the photoelectric element 3 is placed on the upper plate 1 of the support base 15.
Attach it to the recess in the center of 6.

Next, the adhesive reservoir arm 12 is rotated and stopped at a position where the center of the adhesive reservoir 17 at the tip of the arm 12 is directly above the photoelectric element 3. Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the arm 12 is gently lowered vertically and stopped at a position where the slot-like supply port 18 at the lower end of the adhesive reservoir faces the side wall of the photoelectric element 3. Then, pressurized air is fed into the pipe 19 to the adhesive reservoir 17, and a desired amount of adhesive is deposited on the side wall of the photoelectric element through the narrow supply port 18, and the supply of the adhesive is stopped. Then, the arm 12' is pulled up directly above, and the arm 12' is rotated and returned to the standby position. The arm 12 also rotates in accordance with the rotation of the arm 12, and when the arm 12' comes to the standby position, the arm 12 is directly above the photoelectric element 3. The sleeve 1 is installed in advance between a plurality of movable claws of a sleeve attachment/detachment device 13 at the tip of the sleeve arm 12. Therefore arm 1
2, the sleeve 1 is brought directly above the photoelectric element 3. Then, the arm 12 is gently lowered. At this time, the sleeve 1 is lowered onto the photoelectric element 3, and the adhesive 4 attached to the side wall of the photoelectric element is uniformly applied between the inner walls of the recess 2 of the sleeve 1. As shown in FIG. 5, the descent is stopped at the position where the sleeve 1 is properly fitted onto the photoelectric element 1, and the gap j between the inner wall of the notch 2 of the sleeve 1 and the side wall of the photoelectric element 3 is such that the photoelectric element 3 This is important for optically proper attachment to the sleeve 1.

Generally, in an optical connector, the maximum amount of optical coupling must be obtained between a plug to which an optical fiber is attached and a sleeve to which a photoelectric element is attached. For this purpose, the optical axis of the plug and the optical center of the photoelectric element of the sleeve, that is, the light emitting center or light receiving center, must coincide.

In the method of assembling a photoelectric element in a sleeve according to the present invention, the optical axis of the connector and the optical center of the photoelectric element of the sleeve are automatically aligned as follows.

When the sleeve l is attached to the photoelectric element 3, the optical positioning device 31 shown in FIG.
is lowered, and the plug 32 is fitted into the sleeve 1 as shown in FIG. When the photoelectric element 3 is a light emitting element, the photoelectric element 3 emits light, and the emitted light passes through the plug 32 and is imaged on the light receiving plate 40 by the optical system 39. Light receiving plate 4
The positional deviation of the imaged point from the center 0 in the X and Y directions is detected, and the detected amount is input to the control device 43 through conducting wires 41 and 42. Based on these inputs, the control device 43 drives the X and Y direction drive motors 25 and 28 of the XY position fine adjustment device 20, and positions the photoelectric element 3 so that the imaging point on the light receiving plate 40 comes to the zero point. Control.

If the photoelectric element 3 is a light receiving element, the light emitting element provided at the center O of the light receiving plate 40 of the optical positioning device 30 emits light, and this light is passed through the optical system 39 of the optical positioning device 31 to the light receiving element. 3. The output of the light-receiving element is input to a control device 43, and the control device 43 controls the position of the light-receiving element 3 within the recess of the sleeve so that the amount of light received is maximized.

Photoelectric element 3 inside the sleeve as explained above.
When the maximum optical coupling position is determined, ultraviolet rays are irradiated toward the adhesive 4 from the ultraviolet ray irradiation device 3o attached to the support base 15, and the irradiated portion of the adhesive, which is an ultraviolet curable adhesive, is immediately cured.

The optical positioning device 31 is then pulled up vertically,
Subsequently, the sleeve arm +2 is also pulled up. At this time, the sleeve 1 is held by the sleeve attachment/detachment device 13 and pulled up with the photoelectric element 3 fixed thereon. Note that when the photoelectric element 3 is installed on the support stand 15, the lead wire of the photoelectric element 3 is connected to the electric circuit, but the structure is such that it can be easily separated from the electric circuit when the sleeve is pulled up. The sleeve arm 12 is then rotated and returned to the reserved position, and as shown in FIG.
The pieces are separated, dropped, collected at the desired location, and left for the adhesive to dry.

According to the method and device for assembling a photoelectric element in a sleeve according to the present invention, the adhesive is uniformly extruded from the narrow supply port around the side wall of the photoelectric element to prevent adhesion, and then the recess of the sleeve is fitted. The adhesive is evenly distributed in the gap between the side wall of the photoelectric element and the groove of the sleeve, and then the optical center height is automatically adjusted using an optical positioning device and an XY fine adjustment device. The adhesive is strong, and there are no accidents where the optical connector goes crazy or comes loose when attaching or detaching it, increasing product stability and reliability and significantly improving quality. According to the present invention, centering is performed automatically, so instead of the conventional centering which required a lot of time and effort, centering can be performed quickly and accurately, resulting in high precision and less variation. It is now possible to obtain excellent optical connectors.

Also, since UV instant adhesive is used as the adhesive, the work is quick and easy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of an optical connector, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a device illustrating the method of assembling a photoelectric element in a sleeve according to the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the device shown in Fig. 2, in which adhesive is applied. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the portion shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the relationship between the adhesive reservoir and the photoelectric element to explain the process of attaching the sleeve to the photoelectric element. A cross-sectional view, FIG. 6, is a cross-sectional view showing optical positioning. In the figure, 1 is the sleeve, 2 is the recess of the sleeve, 3 is the photoelectric element, 4 is the adhesive, 12 is the arm for the sleeve, 12 is the arm for the adhesive reservoir, 13 is the sleeve attaching/detaching device, 14 is the column, and 15 is the support. 16 is the upper plate, 17 is the adhesive reservoir, 18 is the supply port, 19 is the pipe, 20 is the XY position fine adjustment device, 21 is the base, 22 is the upper liquid, 24 is the X direction moving table, 25 is the X direction Drive motor, 26 is a screw, 27 is a Y-direction moving table, 29 is a screw, 30 is an ultraviolet irradiation device, 31 is an optical positioning device, 32 is a plug, 33 is a motor, 34 is a screw, 35 is a sliding table, 36 is a rail, 37 and 38 are arms, 39 is a lens system, 40 is a light receiving plate, 41, 42, and 44 are conductive wires, 43 is a control device, 45 is a drive plate, and 48 is a lever. Patent applicant Agent: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
Patent Attorney Mitsuishi Shibu (and 1 other person) Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Adhering the adhesive to the side wall of the photoelectric element by an adhesive supply port that uniformly supplies the adhesive to the side wall of the photoelectric element, and applying the adhesive to the recessed part of the sleeve before the adhesive hardens. While fitting the photoelectric element, the adhesive is evenly applied to the gap between the inner wall of the recessed part of the sleeve and the side wall of the photoelectric element, and the optical center of the photoelectric element and the axis of the plug fitted into the sleeve are Position information determined by the relative positional relationship between the optical positioning device and the photoelectric element is inputted to the control device so that the
A method for assembling a photoelectric element in a sleeve, comprising driving a position fine adjustment device to align the optical center of the photoelectric element with the axial center of a plug fitted into the sleeve. (2) The tip is equipped with an XY position fine adjustment device that selectively moves the support base that holds the photoelectric element in the X and Y directions, and a sleeve attachment/detachment device that removably holds the sleeve on which the photoelectric element is attached. Equipped with a sleeve arm that can be selectively moved and an adhesive reservoir at the tip with an adhesive supply port that uniformly supplies adhesive to the side wall of the photoelectric element, it can be rotated, rotated, and moved up and down. an arm drive device that drives the sleeve arm and the adhesive reservoir arm to sequentially rotate, move vertically, etc. according to the work procedure; an optical positioning device for aligning the optical center of the photoelectric element so that it coincides with the axis of the plug to be fitted into the sleeve while the adhesive interposed in the photoelectric element is not solidified; a control device that operates the XY position fine adjustment device so as to align the photoelectric device based on the positional information of the photoelectric device obtained from the positioning device and the photoelectric device, and when the photoelectric device is aligned by the control device; ,
Patented sleeve assembly device comprising an ultraviolet irradiation device that irradiates adhesive with ultraviolet rays to solidify it.