The present invention relates to a wiping system and, more particularly, to a wiping system adapted to wipe a front end face of 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.
A wiping system comprises a support table, a conveying unit configured to convey a wiping belt onto the support table, a carrier holding device configured to hold a carrier on which a plurality of fiber optic ferrules are mounted, a carrier pressing device configured to press the carrier on the support table with a plurality of front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules in direct contact with the wiping belt, and a first base on which the support table is mounted. The carrier holding device and the carrier pressing device are slidably mounted on the first base. The carrier pressed on the support table is movable back and forth relative to the support table in a first horizontal direction while the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules remain in direct contact with the wiping belt.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
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.
A wiping system according to an embodiment is shown in
As shown in
The conveying unit, as shown in
The driver 111 is fixedly mounted on the first base 101, as shown in
The conveying unit comprises a damper 121, shown in
The carrier holding device, as shown in
The carrier pressing device, as shown in
The carrier holding device and the carrier pressing device are slidably mounted on the first base 101, so that the carrier 10 pressed on the support table 210 is movable back and forth relative to the support table 210 in a first horizontal direction. As shown in
In an embodiment, the wiping system further comprises a driving mechanism adapted to drive the first sliding block 142 to slide along the first rail 141. In various embodiment, the driving mechanism may be a gas cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or a linear actuator. When the carrier 10 is driven to move back and forth relative to the support table 210 in the first horizontal direction, the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 11 are wiped by the wiping belt 400 carried on the support table 210, cleaning off the dust and contamination from the front end faces of the fiber optic ferrules 11.
The driven shaft 120 and the damper 121 are slidably mounted on the second base 102 as shown in
The wiping system further comprises a deviation correcting device configured to prevent the conveyed wiping belt 400 from being deviated from a predetermined position in the second horizontal direction. The deviation correcting device, as shown in
The wiping system, as shown in
The wiping system comprises a cleaning liquid injection device configured to spray a cleaning liquid (for example, alcohol) onto the wiping belt 400 on the support table 210.
The cleaning liquid injection device comprises, as shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015 1 0589615 | Sep 2015 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation of PCT International Application No. PCT/IB2016/055548, filed on Sep. 16, 2016, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Chinese Patent Application No. 201510589615.7, filed on Sep. 16, 2015.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6179689 | Ohno et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
20150362680 | Nakane | Dec 2015 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2002350679 | May 2001 | JP |
2003175448 | Jun 2003 | JP |
2002066895 | Mar 2005 | JP |
Entry |
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PCT Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, or the Declaration, International Search Report and Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority, dated Dec. 1, 2016, 12 pages. |
Abstract of JP2002066895, dated Mar. 2, 2005, 15 pages. |
Abstract of JP2002350679, dated May 23, 2001, 10 pages. |
Abstract of JP2003175448, dated Jun. 24, 2003, 7 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20180257111 A1 | Sep 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/IB2016/055548 | Sep 2016 | US |
Child | 15975274 | US |