The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 20, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 03, 2000
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An apparatus and method are provided for polishing end faces of optical connector ferrules, wherein control is performed to achieve uniform pressure of each ferrule with respect to a polishing plate of the apparatus, there by improving the precision of polishing the ferrule end faces. A polishing apparatus ( ) for polishing end faces of ferrules to a convex spherical shape comprises a polishing plate ( ), a polishing apparatus main unit ( ) capable of freely moving the polishing plate ( ) in the XY plane while rotating it, a cylinder block mechanism ( ) with a plurality of pressure-applying mechanisms ( ) arranged in a ring, and a height adjustment mechanism ( ) of the cylinder block mechanism, the pressure-applying mechanism ( ), having a piston shaft ( ) which is pushed outward in a direction perpendicular to the polishing plate ( ) by an air cylinder ( ), the ferrule ( ) being mounted to the end part of the pressure-applying mechanism ( ) via a ferrule holding plate ( ). Each of the ferrules ( ) has imparted to it an appropriate pressure by an air cylinder ( ) thereby pressing it up against the polishing plate ( ), so that the proper polishing is achieved even if the overall lengths of the ferrules ( ) are different. By selecting the polishing grit material used, it is possible to simplify the polishing process.