JP2013205501A - Optical fiber ribbon and optical fiber cable including optical fiber ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber ribbon for which splitting work is simplified and reduced in the case of splitting work for single-core units as well as that for double-core units, and an optical fiber cable including the optical fiber ribbon.SOLUTION: With respect to an optical fiber ribbon 30, a sheath 32 is provided in a lengthwise direction of optical fiber strands 31, and concave portions 36 are provided in the lengthwise direction in positions of the sheath 32 corresponding to boundaries between adjacent optical fiber strands 31, and cut parts 38 are intermittently formed in the lengthwise direction in concave portions 36 located between adjacent sub-units 37 each of which comprises two adjacent optical fiber strands 31.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber ribbon and an optical fiber cable including the optical fiber ribbon.

  As an optical fiber ribbon, a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel, and the periphery thereof is integrally or partially covered with a jacket or the like to form a tape. When laying the optical fiber strands in each household, the worker takes out the optical fiber strands from the optical fiber ribbon cores in units of single fibers, or removes the optical fiber strands in units of 2 cores and then sends the light to each household. Work to lay fiber strands. An operation of taking out the optical fiber from the optical fiber ribbon (hereinafter also referred to as a division operation) may be performed at a site where the working environment is not maintained.

  For this reason, various devices have been devised so that the optical fiber can be easily divided from the optical fiber ribbon into a single fiber or a unit of two fibers. For example, as this type of optical fiber ribbon, an optical fiber ribbon that is a subunit in which two optical fibers are arranged in parallel and are integrally covered with a first coating layer is first prepared. Furthermore, a so-called two-layer structure is known in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are arranged in parallel and integrally covered with a second coating layer (outer coating) (see Patent Document 1). ).

  In addition, a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel, and the periphery of the plurality of optical fiber strands is integrally covered with a jacket, and this jacket is in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber strand. It is known that a recess is formed in accordance with a recess between the optical fiber strands adjacent to the outer jacket, as well as being provided around the entire circumference (see Patent Document 2).

  In addition, a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel, and the periphery of the plurality of optical fiber strands is intermittently covered along the longitudinal direction with a tape material, thereby, a portion not covered Also known is an optical fiber that is taken out by the method (see Patent Document 3).

JP 2007-148270 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-206048 Japanese Patent No. 4049154

  During the work of laying the optical fiber strands in each household, there are cases where the optical fiber tape core is branched in the middle portion, not in the longitudinal direction, in two-fiber units or even in single-core units. Such division work may be performed at a site where the work environment is not maintained, and it is desirable that the number of work steps is as small as possible.

However, in Patent Document 1, in order to take out the optical fiber strand from the optical fiber ribbon in units of a single core, the first coating layer is first removed by rubbing with a tool and divided into units of two cores. It was necessary to rub the second coating layer with a tool. That is, the work procedure is required at least twice.
In addition, when an operator rubs the second coating layer with a tool, the optical fiber strand may be bent or a side pressure may be applied to the optical fiber strand. If so, transmission loss increases and communication failure occurs.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, it is possible to divide an optical fiber strand from a fiber optic tape core into a single core unit with a tool in a single work procedure, but in order to take out in a unit of two cores, there is a part. Must first be separated into single cores, and then the operator must pick up the separated optical fiber strands in units of two cores and perform a split operation in which the cores are split into units of two cores along the longitudinal direction. The work efficiency was bad.

  Moreover, in patent document 3, each optical fiber strand is a single core state in the part which is not coat | covered with a tape material, and when trying to divide | segment into every 2 cores from 4 cores, an operator mistakenly sets a single core. It was necessary to pinch the optical fiber in units of 2 cores while paying considerable attention so as not to divide the unit, and the work efficiency was poor.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber ribbon and an optical fiber ribbon that are less likely to cause communication failure and can be simplified and shortened during a single-fiber or two-fiber split operation. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber cable.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an optical fiber table core wire according to the present invention integrally covers four or more even-numbered optical fiber strands arranged in parallel and the periphery of the optical fiber strands. An optical fiber ribbon having an outer sheath, wherein the outer sheath is provided along a longitudinal direction of the optical fiber, and the outer sheath corresponds to a boundary between the adjacent optical fibers. The concave portion or the step portion is provided between the adjacent subunits when a concave portion or a step portion is provided at a position along the longitudinal direction and two adjacent optical fiber strands are formed as one subunit. At least one of them is characterized in that the cut portion is intermittently formed along the longitudinal direction.

  The optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention is preferably formed so that the cut portion penetrates in the thickness direction.

  An optical fiber cable according to the present invention includes a laminated body in which a plurality of the optical fiber ribbons are laminated, a slot rod, a tension member integrally provided at the center of the slot rod, and the tension. A plurality of slot grooves spirally provided on the outer peripheral surface of the member, and the slot grooves are provided so that the spiral direction is reversed at a predetermined periodic interval along the longitudinal direction, and the laminated body is provided in the slot grooves. Each is housed.

  According to the present invention, when dividing a single core or a unit of two cores, it is possible to easily divide in one process, so that the division work can be simplified and shortened.

It is sectional drawing which shows 1st Embodiment of the optical fiber cable which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the SZ slot type slot rod shown in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view of the optical fiber ribbon shown in FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of the optical fiber tape cable core shown in FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of the optical fiber tape core wire shown in FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the state by which the optical fiber tape core wire shown in FIG. 3 was divided | segmented. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows 2nd Embodiment of the optical fiber ribbon based on this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the state by which the optical fiber tape core wire shown in FIG. 7 was divided | segmented. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows 3rd Embodiment of the optical fiber ribbon based on this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the state by which the optical fiber tape core wire shown in FIG. 9 was divided | segmented. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows 4th Embodiment of the optical fiber ribbon based on this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the state by which the optical fiber tape core wire shown in FIG. 11 was divided | segmented.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
First, a first embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, the upper surface in the drawing may be referred to as the front surface and the lower surface as the back surface.

  The optical fiber cable 10 of the present embodiment includes a slot rod 20, a tension member 11 integrally provided at the center of the slot rod 20, and a plurality of spiral fibers on the outer peripheral surface 20 a of the slot rod 20 (5 in the present embodiment). Book slot slot 21 provided. Each slot groove 21 accommodates a laminated body 22 in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons 30 of this embodiment are laminated. In such a state, in the optical fiber cable 10, the outer peripheral surface 20a of the slot rod 20 is covered with the upper winding tape 12, and the sheath 13 is integrally attached to the outermost layer.

  The optical fiber cable 10 is a type of cable called an SZ type slot cable. As shown in FIG. 2, the slot groove 21 provided on the outer peripheral surface 20a of the slot rod 20 is provided with the twist direction (spiral direction) reversed at a constant period L1. As shown in FIG. 1, in the optical fiber cable 10 using such an SZ type slot rod 20, the optical fiber tape core wire 30 is cut without cutting the slot rod 20 by removing the sheath 13 and the upper winding tape 12. Can be easily taken out in a loose state. For this reason, the workability of branching is improved.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the optical fiber tape core wire 30 of the present embodiment has four or more and even (in this embodiment, four) optical fiber strands 31 arranged in parallel. The surroundings of the optical fiber strands 31 arranged in the above are integrally and covered with the jacket 32 over the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber strands 31.
In this embodiment, the optical fiber strands 31 are in contact with each other, that is, the optical fiber strands 31 are not separated by the jacket 32.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the optical fiber 31 includes a glass fiber 33 composed of a core 33 a and a clad 33 b, a protective coating 34 covering the outer periphery of the glass fiber 33, and an outer periphery of the protective coating 34. And a colored coating 35 colored so as to be distinguishable between the optical fiber strands. As the glass fiber 33, a glass fiber having any curvature distribution such as a glass fiber composed of a core and a clad of a plurality of layers can be used. Further, the optical fiber 31 may be an optical fiber that is covered with the protective coating 34 on the outer periphery of the glass fiber 33 and does not have the colored coating 35.

  In the optical fiber ribbon 30 of the present embodiment, an ultraviolet curable resin is used as the jacket 32 that integrally covers the outer periphery of the four optical fiber strands 31 arranged in parallel. As the jacket 32 other than the ultraviolet curable resin, a thermoplastic resin, a thermosetting resin, or the like can be used as appropriate.

  In addition, at the position of the jacket 32 corresponding to the boundary between the adjacent optical fiber strands 31, there are concave portions 36 on both the front and back surfaces (that is, a total of six locations on the front surface and three back surfaces in this embodiment). It is provided along the longitudinal direction of the fiber strand 31. The concave portion 36 of the outer jacket 32 is used as a mark and a planned dividing line when the outer sheath 32 is removed from the optical fiber ribbon 30 by rubbing with a tool to divide the optical fiber 31 in single-core units. The

  Further, when two adjacent optical fiber strands 31 are used as one subunit 37, a recess 36 located between the adjacent subunits 37 (in this embodiment, counting from the left in FIGS. 3 to 5). Cut portions 38 are intermittently formed along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber 31 in the recess 36) located between the second and third optical fiber 31. The cut portion 38 is formed so as to penetrate in the thickness direction.

  Since the cut portion 38 is formed, the operator picks and wraps the outer jacket 32 with fingers of both hands, and as shown in FIG. 31 can be divided. Since the concave portion 36 is formed at the position of the outer jacket 32 corresponding to the boundary between the optical fiber strands 31, there is an appropriate catch on the finger, which makes it easy to grip when cracking. At this time, in this embodiment, since the optical fiber strands 31 (second and third optical fiber strands 31 counted from the left in FIG. 6) are in contact with each other at the division location, the division is counted from the left after the division. The opposing portions of the second and third optical fiber strands 31 are exposed from the jacket 32. In the present embodiment, it is also possible to divide by inserting a pin-like tool into the notch 38 and sliding it in the longitudinal direction.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the length L2 in the longitudinal direction of the cut portion 38 is set to 40 mm or more, and the intermittent interval L3 is set to 30 mm or less. Accordingly, the optical fiber ribbon 30 can be reliably divided even in a narrow space, and the cut portion 38 of the optical fiber ribbon 30 can be easily visually confirmed when picked with a finger. This is considered that the general finger width is 20 mm, that is, by setting the range in such a range, even if an arbitrary place in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon 30 is picked, it is about once. The notch 38 can be found at

  Moreover, it is preferable to form the cut part 38 in at least one place within 30 cm in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon 30. This is an interval considering that the general length in the longitudinal direction of the closure in which the optical fiber cable 10 is accommodated in a state where the sheath 13 is peeled off from the upper winding tape 12 or the outermost layer is about 50 cm. That is, according to this configuration, the portion of the optical fiber cable 10 that is accommodated in the closure has at least one cut portion 38.

  As described above, according to the optical fiber ribbon 30 of the present embodiment configured as described above, the jacket 32 is provided along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber 31, and the boundary between the adjacent optical fibers 31. A recess 36 is provided along the longitudinal direction at the position of the outer jacket 32 corresponding to the above. Furthermore, when two adjacent optical fiber strands 31 are combined into one subunit 37, a cut portion 38 is intermittently formed in the recess 36 located between the adjacent subunits 37 along the longitudinal direction. Yes. For this reason, when splitting in units of two cores, the operator easily grips the outer cover 32 with the fingers of both hands and splits the core without easily twisting or bending the optical fiber 31. Can be divided into units. Further, when dividing the single-core unit, the outer cover 32 can be easily peeled from the concave portion 36 by using, for example, a tool as a boundary of the concave portion 36 and divided into single-core units. it can. As described above, when the single core or the two-core unit is divided, it is possible to easily and surely divide in one step, and the working efficiency can be improved.

  Furthermore, since the outer jacket 32 does not need to have a multilayer structure, the width and thickness of the optical fiber ribbon 30 can be reduced.

  Moreover, according to the optical fiber cable 10 of the present embodiment, the slot groove 21 is provided in a spiral shape that is reversed by applying the optical fiber tape core 3 of the present embodiment as the optical fiber tape core. The work efficiency in laying a so-called SZ type optical fiber cable can be improved.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG.7 and FIG.8, 2nd Embodiment of the optical fiber strand based on this invention is described. Note that portions that are the same as or equivalent to those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof is omitted or simplified.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the jacket 42 covers the four optical fiber strands 31 so that the adjacent optical fiber strands 31 are not in contact with each other in the cut portion 38. That is, the outer jacket 42 is provided between the subunits 37 so that the subunits 37 are separated from each other by the outer jacket 42 at a predetermined interval.
The optical fiber strands 31 in the subunit 37 are in contact with each other as in the first embodiment.

  Since the notch 38 is formed, the operator picks and wraps the outer jacket 32 with fingers of both hands, and as shown in FIG. Can be divided. At this time, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the outer cover 42 after the division is also thicker at the divided portions. For this reason, even after the jacket 42 is divided, the entire periphery of the subunit 37 is covered with a predetermined thickness.

  According to the optical fiber ribbon 40 of the present embodiment configured as described above, each subunit 37 is entirely covered with the jacket 42 with a predetermined thickness even after being divided in units of two fibers. Therefore, the optical fiber 31 can be reliably protected from an external impact or the like.

(Third embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG.9 and FIG.10, 3rd Embodiment of the optical fiber strand based on this invention is described.
Note that portions that are the same as or equivalent to those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof is omitted or simplified.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the recess 56 is provided only on one of the front and back surfaces of the jacket 52 (the front surface in this embodiment), and the other surface of the jacket 52 is It is formed in a flat shape.

  Thus, even if it is the structure which provides the recessed part 56 only in one side of the front and back of the optical fiber tape core wire 50, the outer cover 52 is rubbed and removed from the recessed part 56 of one side with a tool, and it becomes a single core unit. Can be divided. In addition, since the cut portion 38 is formed, when the operator grasps the outer cover 32 with fingers of both hands and breaks it, as shown in FIG. Line 31 can be split.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG.11 and FIG.12, 4th Embodiment of the optical fiber strand based on this invention is described.
Note that portions that are the same as or equivalent to those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof is omitted or simplified.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.11 and FIG.12, the enlarged diameter part 62a which diameter-expands compared with another part is provided in the both sides of the jacket 62. As shown in FIG. For this reason, no recess is provided in the periphery of the two enlarged diameter portions 62 a of the outer cover 62. Instead, the stepped portions 66 extend along the longitudinal direction on both sides of the outer cover 62 due to the presence of the two enlarged diameter portions 62 a. Will be provided. In this embodiment, the step part 66 is provided in a total of four places, two places on the front surface and two places on the back surface. The outer cover 62 is removed by rubbing with a tool using the step portion 66 as a mark, so that it is possible to divide the outer cover 62 into single-core units without providing a new recess in the peripheral portion.
A recess 36 is provided between the subunits 37 at each of the front and back surfaces. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the optical fiber ribbon 60 of this embodiment configured as described above, since the outer diameter 62 is provided in the outer sheath 62, the gripping property of the optical fiber ribbon 60 is improved. The step portion 66 is grasped with an operator's finger or the like and the outer cover 62 is torn, so that the cut portion 38 provided in the recess 36 can be used as a starting point to divide into two core units as shown in FIG. it can.

The optical fiber ribbon and the optical fiber cable of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and appropriate modifications and improvements can be made.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the SZ type optical fiber cable 10 in which the twist direction of the slot groove 21 is reversed has been described. However, an S type or Z type slot rod in which the slot groove 21 is twisted in one direction is used. It is also possible to use it. It can also be used for cables other than the slot type.
Moreover, a slit etc. can also be included as one aspect | mode of the notch part 38. FIG.
Further, in the above-described optical fiber ribbons 30, 40, 50, and 60, the four-fiber ribbons have been described, but the number of cores is not limited to this. For example, the same can be applied to 8 cores, 12 cores, and the like.

  10: optical fiber cable, 11: tension member, 12: top wound tape, 13: sheath, 20: slot rod, 20a: outer peripheral surface, 21: slot groove, 22: laminate, 30, 40, 50, 60: light Fiber tape core wire, 31: optical fiber, 32, 42, 52, 62: jacket, 33: glass fiber, 33a: core, 33b: clad, 34: protective coating, 35: colored coating, 36, 56: Concave part, 37: subunit, 38: notch part, 62a: enlarged diameter part

Claims (3)

An optical fiber ribbon having four or more even-numbered optical fiber strands arranged in parallel and a jacket that integrally covers the periphery of the optical fiber strand,
The jacket is provided over the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber;
At the position of the jacket corresponding to the boundary between the adjacent optical fiber strands, a recess or step is provided along the longitudinal direction,
When two adjacent optical fiber strands are combined into one subunit, at least one of the concave portion or the stepped portion located between the adjacent subunits has a cut portion along the longitudinal direction. An optical fiber ribbon that is formed intermittently.   The optical fiber tape core wire according to claim 1, wherein the cut portion is formed to penetrate in the thickness direction. A laminate in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons according to claim 1 or 2 are laminated,
A slot rod,
A tension member integrally provided at the center of the slot rod;
A plurality of slot grooves provided spirally on the outer peripheral surface of the tension member,
The slot groove is provided such that the spiral direction is reversed at a predetermined periodic interval along the longitudinal direction,
The optical fiber cable, wherein the laminated bodies are respectively accommodated in the slot grooves.

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