Integrated equipment for processing fiber optic ferrule

This application is a continuation of PCT International Application No. PCT/IB2016/055540, filed on Sep. 16, 2016, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Chinese Patent Application No. 201510589430.6, filed on Sep. 16, 2015.

The present invention relates to an integrated equipment and, more particularly, to an integrated equipment for processing a fiber optic ferrule.

A fiber optic connector generally comprises a housing and a fiber optic ferrule mounted in the housing. The fiber optic ferrule has a ferrule and an optical fiber inserted into a bore of the ferrule. A front end of the optical fiber protrudes from a front end face of the ferrule by a predetermined distance. The optical fiber is fixed in the bore of the ferrule by an adhesive filled in the bore of the ferrule.

After the optical fiber is fixed in the bore of the ferrule, the front end face of the fiber optic ferrule is processed. The processing of the front end face of the fiber optic ferrule generally includes polishing the front end face of the fiber optic ferrule, cleaning the polished fiber optic ferrule to remove the polishing powder from the fiber optic ferrule, drying the cleaned fiber optic ferrule, and wiping the front end face of the dried fiber optic ferrule to remove dust from the front end face of the fiber optic ferrule. The processing of the fiber optic ferrule is generally performed manually and is therefore inefficient. Furthermore, the fiber optic ferrule is easily damaged during manual processing.

An integrated equipment for processing a plurality of fiber optic ferrules comprises a polishing system, a ferrule cleaning system, a drying system, a wiping system, and a robot system. The polishing system polishes a plurality of front end faces of the plurality of fiber optic ferrules mounted on a carrier. The ferrule cleaning system cleans the carrier and the fiber optic ferrules on the carrier after the fiber optic ferrules have been polished. The drying system dries the carrier and the fiber optic ferrules on the carrier after the carrier and the fiber optic ferrules have been cleaned. The wiping system wipes the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules on the carrier after the carrier and the fiber optic ferrules have been dried. The robot system transfers the carrier to the polishing system, the ferrule cleaning system, the drying system, and the wiping system.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an integrated equipment according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a polishing film loading system of the integrated equipment; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a robot system of the integrated equipment.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

An integrated equipment according to an embodiment is shown in FIG. 1 . The integrated equipment includes a polishing system 400 , a ferrule cleaning system 500 , a drying system 700 , a wiping system 800 , and a robot system 100 .

The polishing system 400 is configured to polish front end faces of a plurality of fiber optic ferrules 21 mounted on a carrier 20 shown in FIG. 1 . The carrier 20 is mounted with the plurality of fiber optic ferrules 21 . The integrated equipment processes the plurality of fiber optic ferrules 21 on the carrier 20 in a batch, increasing the processing efficiency.

The ferrule cleaning system 500 is configured to clean the carrier 20 and the polished fiber optic ferrules 21 on the carrier 20 . The drying system 700 is configured to dry the cleaned carrier 20 and the cleaned fiber optic ferrules 21 on the carrier 20 . The wiping system 800 is configured to wipe the front end faces of the dried fiber optic ferrules 21 on the carrier 20 . The robot system 100 is configured to transfer the carrier 20 to the polishing system 400 , the ferrule cleaning system 500 , the drying system 700 , and the wiping system 800 .

The integrated equipment, as shown in FIG. 1 , further comprises a carrier loading system 200 adapted to load and store a plurality of carriers 20 . The carrier loading system 200 comprises a carrier support table 210 on which the carriers 20 are adapted to be loaded and stored. The robot system 100 is adapted to pick up the carrier 20 from the carrier loading system 200 and transfer the picked carrier 20 to the polishing system 400 .

The integrated equipment, as shown in FIG. 1 , further comprises a polishing film loading system 300 adapted to load and store a plurality of polishing films 30 . The robot system 100 is adapted to pick up the polishing film 30 from the polishing film loading system 300 and transfer the picked polishing film 30 to the polishing system 400 .

The integrated equipment, as shown in FIG. 1 , further comprises a polishing film cleaning system 600 adapted to clean the used polishing film 30 . The robot system 100 is adapted to transfer the used polishing film 30 from the polishing system 400 to the polishing film cleaning system 600 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , the carrier loading system 200 , the polishing film loading system 300 , the polishing system 400 , the ferrule cleaning system 500 , the polishing film cleaning system 600 , the drying system 700 , and the wiping system 800 are arranged in a circle around the robot system 100 . This orientation greatly reduce the moving distance of the robot system 100 during transferring the carrier 20 or the polishing film 30 , further improving the processing efficiency of the fiber optic ferrules 21 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , in a counterclockwise direction, the carrier loading system 200 is located near the polishing film loading system 300 , the polishing film loading system 300 is located near the wiping system 800 , the wiping system 800 is located near the polishing system 400 , the polishing system 400 is located near the polishing film cleaning system 600 , the polishing film cleaning system 600 is located near the ferrule cleaning system 500 , the ferrule cleaning system 500 is located near the drying system 700 , and the drying system 700 is located near the carrier loading system 200 . By arranging the above systems in the specific respective positions along the circle, the working process of the integrated equipment is optimized, further improving the processing efficiency of the fiber optic ferrules 21 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , the robot system 100 , the carrier loading system 200 , the polishing film loading system 300 , the polishing system 400 , the ferrule cleaning system 500 , the polishing film cleaning system 600 , the drying system 700 , and the wiping system 800 are mounted on a common support base 10 .

The polishing system 400 , as shown in FIG. 1 , comprises a polishing film installation plate, a carrier holder 430 , and a driving mechanism 410 . The polishing films 30 are installed on the polishing film installation plate. The carrier holder 430 is adapted to hold the carriers 20 and press the carriers 20 on the polishing films 30 . The driving mechanism 410 is adapted to drive the polishing film installation plate to move fore and aft relative to the carrier holder 430 . The polishing films 30 installed on the polishing film installation plate move fore and aft with the polishing film installation plate, so as to polish the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 mounted on the carrier 20 .

The polishing system 400 further comprises a position sensor 420 shown in FIG. 1 adapted to detect the positions of the polishing film installation plate and the polishing film 30 . The robot system 100 is adapted to pick up and place the polishing film 30 under the guide of the position sensor 420 . The polishing system 400 further comprises a liquid spray head 440 shown in FIG. 1 adapted to spray a working fluid to the polishing films 30 during polishing the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 , so as to cool and lubricate the polishing films 30 and the fiber optic ferrules 21 . The polishing system 400 further comprises a gas spray head adapted to spray a gas to the polishing films 30 after polishing the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 , so as to dry the polishing films 30 .

The polishing film loading system 300 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , comprises a polishing film installation table 310 on which the polishing films 30 are loaded and stored. The polishing film installation table 310 is adapted to load and store different types of polishing films 30 . The polishing film installation table 310 comprises a plurality of polishing film installation regions A, B, C, D, E each corresponding to a different type of polishing film 30 . A slot 31 is formed in each type of polishing film 30 , a pin 311 to be fitted in the slot 31 is provided on each of the polishing film installation regions A, B, C, D, E. The pin 311 on one of the polishing film installation regions A, B, C, D, E is configured to mate with only the slot 31 of the type of polishing film 30 corresponding to the one region, so that the type of polishing film 30 is not capable of being installed on the polishing film installation region not corresponding the type of polishing film 30 . That is, the type of polishing film 30 is only capable of being installed on the one region corresponding the type of polishing film 30 .

A sensor 312 , as shown in FIG. 2 , is provided under each of the polishing film installation regions A, B, C, D, E and is configured to detect whether the polishing film 30 is installed on the polishing film installation region in position.

The robot system 100 , as shown in FIG. 3 , comprises a multi-freedom robot, a carrier gripper 120 mounted on the robot and adapted to grip the carrier 20 , and a polishing film gripper 130 mounted on the robot and adapted to grip the polishing film 30 . The robot system 100 further comprises a carrier sensor 121 adapted to detect whether the carrier gripper 120 grips the carrier 20 and a polishing film sensor 131 adapted to detect whether the polishing film gripper 130 grips the polishing film 30 . The carrier gripper 120 , as shown in FIG. 3 , has a positioning pin 122 adapted to be inserted into a positioning hole formed in the carrier 20 , so as to prevent the carrier 20 from being moved.

The ferrule cleaning system 500 comprises a ferrule cleaning box in which a cleaning liquid for cleaning the fiber optic ferrules 21 is contained, a carrier moving and holding device adapted to move the carrier 20 into the ferrule cleaning box and hold the carrier 20 in the ferrule cleaning box, and an ultrasonic generator mounted in the ferrule cleaning box and adapted to emit an ultrasonic wave into the cleaning liquid. The ferrule cleaning system 500 cleans the carrier 20 and the fiber optic ferrules 21 on the carrier 20 immersed in the cleaning liquid contained in the ferrule cleaning box.

The polishing film cleaning system 600 comprises a polishing film cleaning box, a polishing film moving and holding unit adapted to move the polishing films 30 into the polishing film cleaning box and hold the polishing films 30 in the polishing film cleaning box, a cleaning liquid spray head adapted to spray a cleaning liquid to the polishing films 30 held in the polishing film cleaning box, and a rolling brush unit adapted to brush the polishing films 30 while spraying the cleaning liquid to the polishing films 30 .

The drying system 700 comprises a drying box, a carrier moving and holding unit adapted to move the carrier 20 into the drying box and hold the carrier 20 in the drying box, and a high pressure jet device mounted on the drying box and adapted to spray a high pressure gas to the carrier 20 held in the drying box. The drying system 700 dries the carrier 20 and the fiber optic ferrules 21 on the carrier 20 .

The wiping system 800 comprises a support table, a wiping belt conveying unit adapted to convey a wiping belt onto the support table, a carrier holding device adapted to hold the carrier 20 , a carrier pressing device adapted to press the carrier 20 on the support table, so that the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 on the carrier 20 are in direct contact with the wiping belt on the support table, and an installation base on which the support table is fixed. The carrier holding device and the carrier pressing device are slidably mounted on the installation base, so that the carrier 20 pressed on the support table is movable fore and aft relative to the support table, so as to wipe the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 on the carrier 20 with the wiping belt.

The processing of the fiber optic ferrules 21 using the integrated equipment will now be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 1-3 .

First, the robot system 100 picks up the polishing film 30 from the polishing film loading system 300 and transfers the picked polishing film 30 to the polishing system 400 .

Then, the robot system 100 picks up the carrier 20 from the carrier loading system 200 and transfer the picked carrier 20 to the polishing system 400 .

Then, the polishing system 400 polished the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 mounted on the carrier 20 using the polishing films 30 .

Then, the robot system 100 transfers the carrier 20 from the polishing system 400 to the ferrule cleaning system 500 after the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 mounted on the carrier 20 have been polished.

Then, the ferrule cleaning system 500 cleans the carrier 20 and the fiber optic ferrules 21 mounted on the carrier 20 , so as to clean off the polishing powder from the carrier 20 and the fiber optic ferrules 21 .

Then, the robot system 100 transfers the carrier 20 from the ferrule cleaning system 500 to the drying system 700 .

Then, the drying system 700 dries the carrier 20 and the fiber optic ferrules 21 mounted on the carrier 20 .

Then, the robot system 100 transfers the carrier 20 from the drying system 700 to the wiping system 800 .

Lastly, the wiping system 800 wipes the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 mounted on the carrier 20 , so as to wipe off the dust from the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 .

If the polishing films 30 used in the polishing system 400 have become very dirty and cannot effectively polish the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 21 , i.e. if too much polishing powder is attached thereon, the dirty polishing films 30 are replaced with unused clean polishing films 30 . The used dirty polishing films 30 are cleaned. In this embodiment, the above processing of the fiber optic ferrules 21 further comprises the steps of:

transferring the used dirty polishing films 30 from the polishing system 400 to the polishing film cleaning system 600 using the robot system 100 , so as to clean the used dirty polishing films 30 ; and

transferring the cleaned polishing films 30 from the polishing film cleaning system 600 to the polishing system 400 or the polishing film loading system 300 using the robot system 100 .