U.S. patent application number 15/434749 was filed with the patent office on 2017-06-08 for polishing apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.. The applicant listed for this patent is TE Connectivity Corporation, Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.. Invention is credited to Lvhai Hu, Yun Liu, Roberto Francisco-Yi Lu, Liming Xin, Dandan Zhang.
Application Number | 20170157738 15/434749 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54151328 |
Filed Date | 2017-06-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170157738 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Xin; Liming ; et
al. |
June 8, 2017 |
Polishing Apparatus
Abstract
A polishing apparatus is disclosed. The polishing apparatus has
a base, a carrier, an elevating mechanism, a pressing mechanism,
and a polishing mechanism. The carrier has a plurality of work
pieces disposed thereon. The elevating mechanism is mounted on the
base and has a pair of positioning plates. The carrier is disposed
on the pair of positioning plates. The pressing mechanism is
mounted on the base and has a pair of pressing heads each including
an arc-shaped protrusion respectively pressing each of a pair of
opposite ends of the carrier against the pair of positioning
plates. The polishing mechanism is mounted on the base and polishes
the plurality of work pieces.
Inventors: |
Xin; Liming; (Shanghai,
CN) ; Hu; Lvhai; (Shanghai, CN) ; Liu;
Yun; (Shanghai, CN) ; Zhang; Dandan;
(Shanghai, CN) ; Lu; Roberto Francisco-Yi;
(Shanghai, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.
TE Connectivity Corporation |
Shanghai
Berwyn |
PA |
CN
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co.
Ltd.
Shanghai
PA
TE Connectivity Corporation
Berwyn
|
Family ID: |
54151328 |
Appl. No.: |
15/434749 |
Filed: |
February 16, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
PCT/IB2015/055666 |
Jul 27, 2015 |
|
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|
15434749 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B24B 19/226 20130101;
B24B 41/06 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B24B 41/06 20060101
B24B041/06; B24B 19/22 20060101 B24B019/22 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 18, 2014 |
CN |
201410406116.5 |
Claims
1. A polishing apparatus, comprising: a base; a carrier having a
plurality of work pieces disposed thereon; an elevating mechanism
mounted on the base and having a pair of positioning plates, the
carrier disposed on the pair of positioning plates; a pressing
mechanism mounted on the base and having a pair of pressing heads
each including an arc-shaped protrusion respectively pressing each
of a pair of opposite ends of the carrier against the pair of
positioning plates; and a polishing mechanism mounted on the base
and polishing the plurality of work pieces.
2. The polishing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the arc-shaped
protrusion is hemisphere-shaped or hemicylinder-shaped.
3. The polishing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of
work pieces are a plurality of fiber optic ferrule assemblies each
having a ferrule and an optical fiber fixed within an internal hole
of the ferrule.
4. The polishing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the plurality of
fiber optic ferrule assemblies are disposed within a plurality of
positioning slots in the carrier.
5. The polishing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the polishing
mechanism polishes an end surface of each of the plurality of fiber
optic ferrule assemblies.
6. The polishing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the elevating
mechanism has a pair of vertical support plates oppositely mounted
on the base, a pair of vertical slide rails disposed on the pair of
vertical support plates, a pair of slide blocks slidably mated with
the pair of vertical slide rails, a connection beam connecting the
pair of slide blocks and the pair of positioning plates, and a
first drive mounted on one of the pair of vertical support plates
driving the pair of slide blocks to move along the pair of vertical
slide rails.
7. The polishing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first drive is a
linear actuator.
8. The polishing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first drive is
an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or an electrical
actuator.
9. The polishing apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the pair of
positioning plates has a positioning pin extending vertically
upward.
10. The polishing apparatus of claim 9, wherein each of the pair of
opposite ends of the carrier has a positioning passageway, each
positioning pin fitted in one positioning passageway.
11. The polishing apparatus of claim 10, wherein each positioning
pin is fitted in one positioning passageway with a gap disposed
between the positioning pin and the positioning passageway.
12. The polishing apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the
positioning plates has a horizontal extending portion, the
positioning pin is disposed on an end of the horizontal extending
portion and each of the pair of opposite ends of the carrier is
disposed on one horizontal extending portion.
13. The polishing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the polishing
mechanism has a horizontal support plate disposed below the pair of
positioning plates and a polishing film disposed on the horizontal
support plate, the polishing mechanism reciprocatingly moving to
polish the end surface of each of the plurality of fiber optic
ferrule assemblies.
14. The polishing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the pressing
mechanism has a pair of second drives mounted on the pair of
vertical support plates, the pair of second drives driving the pair
of pressing heads.
15. The polishing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the pressing
mechanism has an elastic buffer, the pair of second drives pressing
and deforming the elastic buffer to press the pair of pressing
heads against the carrier.
16. The polishing apparatus of claim 15, wherein the pair of
pressing heads each have an upper body portion and a lower body
portion separate from the upper body portion, the elastic buffer
disposed in the upper body portion and the lower body portion.
17. The polishing apparatus of claim 16, wherein the pair of
pressing heads each have a pair of guide rods disposed in the upper
body portion and the lower body portion guiding vertical motion of
the upper body portion with respect to the lower body portion.
18. The polishing apparatus of claim 14, wherein each of the second
drives has a horizontal pressing plate disposed on an end, an upper
end surface of each pressing head is attached to one horizontal
pressing plate.
19. The polishing apparatus of claim 18, wherein the pair of
pressing heads are formed of an elastic material.
20. The polishing apparatus of claim 14, wherein each of the pair
of second drives is a linear actuator.
21. The polishing apparatus of claim 20, wherein each of the pair
of second drives is an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or an
electrical actuator.
22. The polishing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the pair of
vertical slide rails, the pair of slide blocks, and the first drive
are mounted on a pair of outer sides of the pair of vertical
support plates.
23. The polishing apparatus of claim 22, wherein the pair of second
drives are mounted on a pair of inner sides of the pair of vertical
support plates.
24. The polishing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carrier is
rectangular.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of PCT International
Application No. PCT/IB2015/055666, filed on Jul. 27, 2015, which
claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119 to Chinese Patent
Application No. 201410406116.5, filed on Aug. 18, 2014.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus, and
more particularly, to a polishing apparatus for polishing fiber
optic ferrule assemblies.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Known fiber optic ferrule assemblies generally comprise a
ferrule and an optical fiber inserted into an internal hole of the
ferrule. The optical fiber can be fixed within the internal hole of
the ferrule by adhesive. After fixing the optical fiber within the
internal hole of the ferrule, a front end surface of the whole
fiber optic ferrule assembly must be ground and polished precisely
so as to achieve predetermined optical performance.
[0004] In the prior art, to polish the front end surface of the
fiber optic ferrule assembly, a plurality of fiber optic ferrule
assemblies are clamped and fixed on a carrier. Then, a pressing
mechanism presses a pressing head so as to press the carrier
against a positioning component. The carrier is generally formed as
circle-shaped or square-shaped, and the pressing head presses the
carrier at a central portion thereof. However, pressing centrally
is only adapted to a circle-shaped or square-shaped carrier, but
not a rectangle-shaped carrier. As compared to the circle-shaped or
square-shaped carrier, a rectangle-shaped carrier may carry much
more fiber optic ferrule assemblies at once so as to improve the
efficiency of polishing.
[0005] When the end surface of the fiber optic ferrule assembly is
ground by a polishing mechanism, the posture of the carrier will
change slightly. However, in prior art, the pressing head generally
has a flat bottom and thus is not adapted to the change of posture
of the carrier, such that the pressing force applied on the carrier
is not always perpendicular to the surface of the carrier, thereby
affecting the polish accuracy of the fiber optic ferrule assembly.
Furthermore, in prior art, the pressing mechanism is not provided
with an elastic buffer. Thus, when the carrier is pressed, it is
possible that the pressing force exerted on the carrier is suddenly
increased from zero to a predetermined value, which will impact the
carrier and affect the polish accuracy of the fiber optic ferrule
assembly.
SUMMARY
[0006] A polishing apparatus according to the invention has a base,
a carrier, an elevating mechanism, a pressing mechanism, and a
polishing mechanism. The carrier has a plurality of work pieces
disposed thereon. The elevating mechanism is mounted on the base
and has a pair of positioning plates. The carrier is disposed on
the pair of positioning plates. The pressing mechanism is mounted
on the base and has a pair of pressing heads each including an
arc-shaped protrusion respectively pressing each of a pair of
opposite ends of the carrier against the pair of positioning
plates. The polishing mechanism is mounted on the base and polishes
the plurality of work pieces.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The invention will now be described by way of example with
reference to the accompanying figures, of which:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a polishing apparatus
according to the invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the polishing apparatus of
FIG. 1;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a pressing head of another
polishing apparatus according to the invention; and
[0011] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the pressing head of FIG.
3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)
[0012] 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.
[0013] A polishing apparatus according to the invention, as shown
in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises a base 10, a carrier 400, an elevating
mechanism 100, a pressing mechanism 200, 300, and a polishing
mechanism 20.
[0014] The elevating mechanism 100, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is
mounted on the base 10 and has a pair of positioning plates 115 for
installing and positioning the carrier 400 thereon. The carrier 400
is constructed to carry work pieces 500 to be polished thereon. The
carrier 400, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, has a substantial
rectangle profile or any other proper profile.
[0015] The elevating mechanism 100, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, also
comprises a pair of vertical support plates 110, 120 oppositely
mounted on the base 10, a pair of vertical slide rails 111 provided
on the support plates 110, 120, respectively, a pair of slide
blocks 112 slidably mated with the vertical slide rails 111,
respectively, a connection beam 114 connecting the pair of slide
blocks 112 and the pair of positioning plates 115 so as to
simultaneously move the slide blocks 112 and the positioning plates
115, and a first drive 130 mounted on one of the vertical support
plates 110, 120 so as to drive the slide blocks 112 to move up and
down along the vertical slide rails 111, respectively.
[0016] As shown in FIG. 1, the slide block 112 is connected to the
connection beam 114 by a connection plate 113. The vertical slide
rails 111, the slide blocks 112 and the first drive 130 are mounted
on outer sides of the vertical support plates 110, 120,
respectively. The second drives 210, 220 are mounted on inner sides
of the vertical support plates 110, 120, respectively. In an
embodiment, the first drive 130 is a linear actuator, for example,
an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder or an electrical
actuator.
[0017] The pressing mechanism 200, 300, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
comprises a pair of second drives 210, 220 mounted on the pair of
vertical support plates 110, 120 and driving a pair of pressing
heads 310, 320, respectively, so as to press the pair of pressing
heads 310, 320 against the surface of the carrier 400. Horizontal
pressing plates 230 are disposed on actuation ends of the second
drives 210, 220 and upper end surfaces of the pressing heads 310,
320 are attached to the horizontal pressing plates 230,
respectively. The second drives 210, 220 each are a linear
actuator, for example, an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder or an
electrical actuator.
[0018] The polishing mechanism 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
comprises a horizontal support plate disposed below the positioning
plates 115 and a polishing film placed on the horizontal support
plate and reciprocatingly moving along with the horizontal support
plate.
[0019] The work pieces 500 to be polished are fiber optic ferrule
assemblies 500. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the fiber optic ferrule
assemblies 500 comprises a ferrule 501 and an optical fiber 502
fixed within an internal hole of the ferrule 501.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, the carrier 400 is positioned on the
positioning plates 115 in the manner of pin-hole mating; each of
the pair of positioning plates 115 has a positioning pin 115a
extending vertically upward, and each of both ends of the carrier
400 is formed with a positioning passageway 400a. The positioning
pin 115a of the positioning plate 115 is fitted into the respective
positioning passageway 400a of the carrier 400. Each of the
positioning plates 115 has a horizontal extending portion 115b at
an end of which the positioning pin 115a is located, and both ends
of the carrier 400 are placed on the horizontal extending portions
115b of the pair of positioning plates 115.
[0021] The pressing mechanism 200, 300 is mounted on the base 10
and the pair of pressing heads 310, 320 press both ends of the
carrier 400 against the pair of positioning plates 115. The
pressing heads 310, 320 each have an arc-shaped protrusion 310a,
320a, as shown in FIG. 2, for directly contacting a surface of the
carrier 400 to directly press the surface of the carrier 400. The
arc-shaped protrusions 310a, 320a each may be formed as
hemisphere-shaped or hemicylinder-shaped.
[0022] A plurality of positioning slots are formed in the carrier
400 and the plurality of fiber optic ferrule assemblies 500 are
clamped and positioned within the plurality of positioning slots of
the carrier 400. The polishing mechanism 20 is mounted on the base
10 and constructed to polish end surfaces of the fiber optic
ferrule assemblies 500 mounted on the carrier 400. The polishing
mechanism 20 reciprocatingly moves so as to polish the end surfaces
of the fiber optic ferrule assemblies 500.
[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, there is a small gap between the
positioning pin 115a and the positioning passageway 400a. In this
way, when the end surfaces of the fiber optic ferrule assemblies
500 are ground, the posture of the carrier 400 is permitted to
change slightly. The arc-shaped protrusions 310a, 320a, meanwhile,
ensure that a pressing force exerted on the carrier 400 is always
perpendicular to a surface of the carrier 400.
[0024] In order to ensure that the pressing force exerted on the
carrier 400 is gradually and smoothly increased from zero to a
predetermined value, the pressing heads 310, 320 are made of
elastic materials. In this way, when the pressing heads 310, 320
are pressed downward, it will be deformed elastically gradually,
such that the pressing force exerted on the carrier 400 is
gradually and smoothly increased from zero to a predetermined
value, rather than impact the carrier 400.
[0025] When the polishing film of the polishing mechanism 20 needs
to be replaced, the first drive 130 moves the pair of slide blocks
112 upward along with the pair of positioning plates 115 so as to
raise the carrier 400 mounted on the pair of positioning plates
115, thereby replacing the polishing film below the carrier 400.
After replacing the polishing film, the first drive 130 moves the
pair of slide blocks 112 downward along with the pair of
positioning plates 115 so as to lower the carrier 400 mounted on
the pair of positioning plates 115 until reach a predetermined
position.
[0026] A pressing head 310', 320' of the polishing apparatus 200,
300 according to another embodiment of the invention is shown in
FIG. 3. The pressing head 310', 320' also comprises an elastic
buffer 240. The pressing heads 310' and 320', as shown in FIGS. 3
and 4, each have an upper body portion 311 and a lower body portion
312 separated from the upper body portion 311. Receiving grooves,
in which the elastic buffer 240 is received, are formed on the
upper body portion 311 and the lower body portion 312,
respectively. Guiding holes are formed in the upper body portion
311 and the lower body portion 312, respectively, and guide rods
250 are inserted into guiding holes such that during pressing of
the elastic buffer 240, the upper body portion 310 is guided to
move in the vertical direction with respect to the lower body
portion 320. The lower body portion 312 of the pressing heads 310'
or 320' has an arc-shaped protrusion 312a for directly contacting a
surface of the carrier 400 to directly press the surface of the
carrier 400. The arc-shaped protrusion 312a may be formed as
hemisphere-shaped or hemicylinder-shaped. The second drives 210,
220 press and deform the elastic buffer 240, as shown in FIGS. 3
and 4, through which the pressing heads 310', 320' are pressed
against the surface of the carrier 400, such that the pressing
force exerted on the carrier 400 is gradually increased from zero
to a predetermined value.
[0027] Advantageously, in the polishing apparatus according to the
present invention, the pressing heads 310, 320 each have an
arc-shaped protrusion 310a, 320a directly pressed against a surface
of the carrier 400, thus, the pressing force exerted on the carrier
400 is always perpendicular to the surface of the carrier 400.
Furthermore, the pressing mechanism 200, 300 further comprises an
elastic buffer 240 so that the pressing force exerted on the
carrier 400 does not suddenly increase from zero to a predetermined
value, avoiding a disadvantageous impact on the carrier 400.
* * * * *