Methods of and apparatus for polishing an end portion of a terminated lightguide fiber

摘要

An apparatus (20) is provided for polishing an end of a plug-terminated lightguide fiber so that when it is disposed together with another plug-terminated fiber within a biconical sleeve (38), there is precise end separation of opposing end portions of the fibers. The apparatus includes a holder (40) in which is disposed a plug (30) with an encapsulated end portion (31) of the fiber (23) extending from the plug. A housing (80) receives the holder and causes the plug to be seated in engagement with an insert (96) in a base (81) with the encapsulated end portion extending beyond a reference plane (94) of the base. The base includes non-wearing pads (86-86) spaced about an outer surface thereof. The holder is caused to apply to the plug a force which is equal to that which the plug will experience when mounted in the biconical sleeve. As the base is moved in an oscillatory manner in a bed of polishing slurry, the encapsulated end portion of the fiber is polished so that an end face thereof is a predetermined distance (D2) from a peripheral boundary (39) of the plug. This insures that the encapsulated end portion of the fiber will be spaced precisely with respect to that of an opposing plug when mounted in a biconical sleeve.