Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Kabushiki Kaisha Sankyo Seiki Seisakusho

Tadao Saitoh

Junji Watanabe

Akira Nagayama

Kazuo Matsunaga

Kunihiko Sasakura

Kazuharu Saito

Takashi Yoshizawa

Sigemitu Oguchi

An automatic assembly and inspection system for optical connectors is provided, which is highly reliable and which can produce economical and highly-effective optical cords or cables with optical connectors. The automatic assembly and inspection system for optical connectors comprises a pallet for installing an optical cord; a transfer mechanism for transferring the pallet; modules for performing various processes for assembling an optical connector with the optical cord installed on the pallet which is transferred by the transfer mechanism, said various processes including one or more of the processes such as required-length cutting, pre-processing, cleaning, insertion, curing, polishing, polished surface inspection, final assembling, optical performance evaluation, and stamping, and each of the modules having a common combining mechanism and a common communication means with respect to the transfer mechanism; and a system controller for performing supervised control for the transfer mechanism and the modules based on parameters which indicate specifications for assembly and inspection of the optical connector.

Automatic assembly and inspection system for optical connector

A constant range polishing apparatus for polishing an end face of an optical fiber connector ferrule. The apparatus comprises a polishing plate adapted to be rotated about a polishing plate axis for polishing the end face of the connector ferrule. The polishing plate includes a disc-shaped substrate having a circular surface including an outer ring area, an inner ring area disposed radially inwardly with respect to the outer ring area, and an inner portion disposed radially inwardly with respect to the inner ring area. The polishing plate further includes a ring grinding wheel disposed on the outer ring area for forming an adhesive removing ring area; a first elastic film polisher disposed in a region defined by the inner ring area and at a distance from the surface of the substrate, the first elastic film polisher forming a rough polishing ring area; and a second elastic film polisher disposed in a region defined by the inner portion and at a distance from the surface of the substrate, the second elastic film polisher forming a final polishing ring area. The apparatus further includes: a chuck for holding the connector ferrule at a position opposite the polishing plate, the chuck being rotatable about an axis of the connector ferrule; a mounting substrate disposed for rotatably supporting the chuck; and a drive means for positioning the polishing plate and the mounting substrate relative to one another.

Polishing plate for optical fiber connector ferrule end face and

In a method and apparatus for forming a curved surface, a polishing plate consisting of a film-like elastic member is supported at two positions, i.e., central and peripheral portions thereof, and is rotated while two cylinders having different heights and diameters are urged upward against portions between the central and peripheral portions of the polishing plate, and an object to be processed is urged downward against a surface formed between the two cylinders while the object is rotated, thereby forming a curved surface.

Method and apparatus for forming curved surface

Apparatus for processing an end face of an optical fiber connector includes a rotatable index shaft mounted on a frame. A plurality of rotatable chucks are mounted on the index shaft so as to hold optical fiber connectors, respectively. In accordance with the rotation of the index shaft, the chucks can be moved sequentially from one index position to another so as to grind and finish the optical fiber connector. A rotatable drive gear is disposed coaxially with the index shaft. A driven gear is fixedly mounted on each chuck. A pair of first and second intermediate gears are connected to the drive and driven gears, respectively. A clutch is interposed between the pair of intermediate gears and normally connecting them together to transmit the rotation of the drive gear to the driven gear to rotate each chuck. A clutch disengagement device is provided for disengaging the clutch to disconnect the two intermediate gears when each chuck is indexed to a position where the optical fiber connector is attached to and detached from the chuck.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Tadao Saitoh