EP0657247A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Manufacturing optical fiber assembly with polished end-face
Assignee: Totoku Electric Co Ltd
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Filing: 1994-12-12
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2014-12-12
Abstract
Abstract The end face of an optical fiber assembly consisting of an optical fiber s and a ferrule f is polished to form a conical surface with oblique faces Fp1 and Fp2 such that, central axis Ap of said conical surface makes an inclination of 8° with respect to the optical axis L of said optical fiber s, top Ft of said conical surface coincides with the optical axis L of said optical fiber s, and has a taper angle of 2°. Thereafter, said optical fiber assembly is further polished to form an oblique convex spherical surface at the end face such that, central axis of said oblique convex spherical surface makes an inclination of 8° with respect to the optical axis L of said optical fiber s. Due to this, insertion loss and light reflected back to the source is stabilized and minimized.
Inventors
- 👤 Kazuhiko Terao
- 👤 Hidetoku Iida
- 👤 Takeyasu Nakayama
- 👤 Toshiya Kubo
- 👤 Jiro Horigome
- 👤 Yoshihiro Matsuoka
- 👤 Nobutoshi Takeda
- 👤 Tohru Mizuhashi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 14:18
CPC Classifications
B; B24; B24B; B24B19/00; B24B19/22; B24B19/226; G; G02; G02B; G02B6/00; G02B6/24; G02B6/36; G02B6/38; G02B6/3807; G02B6/381; G02B6/3818; G02B6/3822; G02B6/3833; G02B6/3863
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
138 words
A method for manufacturing an optical fiber assembly with polished end face, wherein; said optical fiber assembly consisting of an optical fiber [s] and a ferrule [f] is polished to form a conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] at the end face such that, central axis [Ap] of said conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] makes an inclination of ϑ° with respect to the optical axis [L] of said optical fiber [s], top [Ft] of said conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] coincides with the optical axis [L] of said optical fiber [s], and has a taper angle of α°, said optical fiber [s] assembly is further polished to form a convex spherical surface [q] at the end face such that, central axis [As] of said convex spherical surface [q] makes an inclination of ϑ° with respect to the optical axis [L] of said optical fiber [s].
Claim 2
Independent Claim
142 words
A method for manufacturing an optical fiber assembly with polished end face, wherein; a ferrule [f] having an insertion hole is polished to form a conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] at the end face such that, central axis [Ap] of said conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] makes an inclination of ϑ° with respect to the axis of said insertion hole, top of said conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] coincides with the axis of said insertion hole, and has a taper angle of α°, an optical fiber [s] then inserted into said insertion hole of the ferrule [f] to form an optical fiber assembly, said optical fiber assembly is then polished to form a convex spherical surface [q] at the end face such that, central axis [As] of said convex spherical surface [q] makes an inclination of ϑ° with respect to the optical axis [L] of said optical fiber[s].
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method for manufacturing an optical fiber assembly with polished end face according to claim 1 or 2, wherein; said inclination ϑ° is at least 8° and not more than 12°.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method for manufacturing an optical fiber assembly with polished end face according to claim 1 or 2, wherein; said angle α° is at least 1.5° and not more than 3°.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
140 words
End face polishing apparatus, comprising; a rotatable polishing disc [509] having a horizontal polishing surface, a spindle [5] rotatable around an axis of rotation which makes an angle of α° with respect to a line [V] vertically erected on said polishing surface, said spindle [5] retaining a ferrule [f] having an insertion hole or an optical fiber assembly consisting of an optical fiber [s] and a ferrule [f] wherein axis of said insertion hole or optical axis [L] of said optical fiber [s] makes an inclination of ϑ° with respect to said axis of rotation, a shifting means [300] that can bring into contact the ferrule [f] or the optical fiber assembly retained by said spindle [s] with said polishing surface or alienate the ferrule [f] or the optical fiber assembly retained by said spindle [5] from said polishing surface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
128 words
End face polishing apparatus according to claim 5, comprising; a rotatable polishing disc [509] having a concave polishing surface or an elastic abrasive disc mounted polishing surface, a spindle [6] rotatable around an axis of rotation which coincides with a line [V] vertically erected on said polishing surface at the polishing point, said spindle [6] retaining an optical fiber assembly consisting of an optical fiber [s] and a ferrule [f] wherein optical axis [L] of said optical fiber [s] makes an inclination of ϑ° with respect to said axis of rotation, a shifting means [300] that can bring into contact the optical fiber assembly retained by said spindle [6] with said polishing surface or alienate the optical fiber assembly retained by said spindle [6] from said polishing surface.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
34 words
The end face polishing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, comprising; a rotation reverse means which prevents the twisting of the optical fiber cable [sk] by reversing the rotation of the spindle [5,6].
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
60 words
The end face polishing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein; said rotation reverse means reverses the rotation of the spindle [5,6] in synchronization with a change in the orientation of the ferrule [f] or the optical fiber assembly consisting of an optical fiber [s] and a ferrule [f] with respect to the direction of rotation of the polishing disc [509].
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
62 words
The end face polishing apparatus according to any of the claims 5 to 8, comprising; a shaking means [200] which shakes the ferrule [f] or the optical fiber assembly consisting of an optical fiber [s] and a ferrule [f] to relocate the polishing point on the polishing surface and thus preventing a localized wear of the polishing surface at the polishing point.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
27 words
The end face polishing apparatus according to any of the claims 5 to 9, wherein; said inclination ϑ° is at least 8° and not more than 12°.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
27 words
The end face polishing apparatus according to any of the claims 5 to 10, wherein; said angle α° is at least 1.5° and not more than 3°.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
145 words
A method for examining the end point of end-face polishing process of the optical fiber, wherein; while said optical fiber assembly consisting of an optical fiber [s] and a ferrule [f] is being polished to form a conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] at the end face such that, central axis [Ap] of said conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] makes an inclination of ϑ° with respect to the optical axis [L] of said optical fiber [s], top [Ft] of said conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] coincides with the optical axis [L] of said optical fiber [s], and has a taper angle of α°, a laser beam is passed through the non-polishing end of the optical fiber and the coincidence of the top [Ft] of said conical surface [Fp1,Fp2] with the optical axis [L] of said optical fiber [s] is examined by detecting any change in the light reflected at the polishing end.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
105 words
The end face polishing apparatus [1000] according to any of the claims 5 to 11, comprising; a laser beam passing means [1503] for passing a laser beam through the other end of the optical fiber [s] during oblique conical surface polishing of one end, a reflected light detecting means [1504] for detecting any change in the light reflected at the polishing end of said optical fiber [s], and thus enabling an examination of the coincidence of the top [Ft] of said conical surface with the optical axis [L] of said optical fiber [s] by detecting any change in the light reflected at the polishing end.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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