JP2000292664A - Manufacture of coated optical fiber tape, and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for manufacturing a coated optical fiber tape excellent in a surface property. SOLUTION: A coated optical fiber tape is manufactured using an apparatus provided with an aligning means 5 for aligning parallelly plural optical fibers 2 fed continuously to be formed into a flat shape, a coating means 6 for coating in a lump a circumference of the optical fibers 2 in the condition that the plural optical fibers 2 are aligned in the flat shape, an aligning face changing means 8 arranged just in a front side of the coating means 6 to make a plane formed by aligning the plural optical fibers 2 consistent with a direction applied with gravity, and a curing means 7 for curing a coating resin.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon, in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel in a plane and the periphery thereof is collectively covered.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art To cope with higher densities and higher speeds of optical communication, multi-core optical fiber cables in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are converged are used. One of such multi-core optical fiber cables is an optical fiber ribbon. As shown in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 3, the optical fiber ribbon 1 has a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) optical fiber wires 2 arranged in a plane and the periphery thereof is an ultraviolet curing type. The resin is collectively coated with a coating resin 3 made of a resin. As shown in FIG. 4, the optical fiber ribbon 1 normally sends out a plurality of (four in the example in the figure) optical fiber wires 2 continuously and guides the guide rollers 5 through the fiber guide 4. The guide rollers 5 are arranged in parallel at equal intervals in a plane, and then the coating dies 6 are inserted into the guide rollers 5 to collectively coat the periphery thereof with a coating resin made of an ultraviolet curable resin. It is manufactured through a series of steps of irradiating ultraviolet rays with a curing lamp 7 to cure the coating resin.

[0003]

By the way, the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 is a top view as viewed from the near side of the drawing with respect to the plane in which four optical fiber wires 2 run in parallel. That is,
The optical fiber 2 is aligned in a row on a plane parallel to the ground by a guide roller 5 and introduced into the coating die 6 (hereinafter, the surface formed by arranging the optical fiber is arranged). Called "alignment plane.") On the other hand, in the coating die 6, a coating resin is applied in a planar shape so as to cover the entire alignment surface of the optical fiber 2. As a result, the coating resin is subjected to the action of gravity before being cured, so that minute unevenness is generated on the plane. And the ultraviolet curing lamp 7
In, the coating resin is cured while leaving this unevenness,
These irregularities also remain on the flat portion 1a (see FIG. 3) of the obtained optical fiber ribbon 1.

In general, a large number of optical fiber ribbons 1 are laminated in a slot groove to form a cable. Micro-bending occurs at the time of twisting, and transmission loss increases. In particular, in recent years, the number of laminated optical fiber ribbons 1 per slot has been increased, and accordingly, the thickness of the optical fiber ribbon 1 has also become thinner. The impact is even greater.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a technique for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon having excellent surface properties.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are collectively covered with a covering resin in a state where a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel in a plane. Then, in the method of manufacturing the optical fiber ribbon by curing the coating resin, the coating resin in a state where the plane formed by aligning the plurality of optical fiber strands coincides with the direction in which gravity acts. A method for producing an optical fiber ribbon, comprising applying a coating, maintaining the aligned state, and sending the coated resin to a curing furnace to cure the coating resin. In addition, in order to achieve the same object, the present invention provides a method in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel in a plane and the periphery thereof is collectively coated with a coating resin, and then the coating resin is coated. An apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon by curing, comprising: an aligning means for aligning a plurality of optical fiber strands which are continuously sent out in a plane in parallel; and a plurality of optical fiber strands. A coating means for collectively covering the periphery of the optical fiber in a state in which the optical fibers are aligned in a plane, and a plane arranged immediately before the coating means and in which a plurality of optical fibers are aligned. An apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon, comprising: an alignment surface changing unit for matching a direction in which gravity acts; and a curing unit for curing a coating resin.

According to the present invention, the optical fiber strands are collectively coated with the coating resin in a state where they are aligned with the direction in which gravity acts, and are sent to a curing furnace while maintaining the state. Unevenness due to gravity does not occur on the coated flat surface of the uncured coating resin before curing as in the related art, and an optical fiber ribbon with excellent surface properties can be obtained.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an example of an apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is FIG.
, And is a top view as viewed from the near side of the drawing. FIG. 2A is a side view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged front view showing an example of a fiber rotation guide which is an alignment surface changing means used in the present invention. FIG.

As shown in the figure, the present manufacturing apparatus is an aligning means for aligning a plurality of (four in the example in the figure) optical fiber strands 2 which are continuously sent out in parallel in a plane. A guide roller 5, a coating die 6 which is a coating means for coating the periphery of the plurality of optical fiber strands 2 in a state of being aligned in a plane, and an optical fiber disposed immediately before the coating die 6; The apparatus includes a fiber rotation guide 8 as an alignment surface changing unit for aligning the alignment surface of the strands 2 with a direction in which gravity acts, and an ultraviolet curing lamp 7 as a curing unit for curing the coating resin.

In the above-mentioned manufacturing apparatus, each optical fiber 2 is continuously sent out in parallel with the paper surface, that is, the ground, and sent to the guide roller 5 through the fiber guide 4 to be on the surface parallel to the ground. In line. The guide roller 5 is, for example, a rotatable cylindrical member. On its surface, grooves having a width slightly larger than the diameter of the optical fiber 2 are provided at regular intervals corresponding to the number of the optical fiber 2. Is formed.

Next, the optical fiber 2 is rotated by the fiber rotation guide 8 by 90 ° about the alignment surface of the optical fiber 2 with the running direction of the optical fiber 2 as the center axis. The fiber rotation guide 8 is formed of a disk having an insertion hole for the optical fiber 2 as shown in FIG. 2B, for example. By this rotation, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), the optical fiber 2 is sent to the coating die 6 while being aligned in a vertical line with the ground.

The optical fiber 2 is sent to the coating die 6 in this vertical arrangement. Coating dies 6
Is provided with an insertion hole through which the optical fiber 2 can be inserted in the above-mentioned vertical arrangement state, and a resin supply path for coating which communicates with the insertion hole. Collectively covered with resin.

Next, the optical fiber 2 coated with the ultraviolet curing resin is sent to the ultraviolet curing lamp 7 as it is. During this transfer, unevenness due to the action of gravity occurred on the coating plane in the prior art. However, in the present invention, the coating plane was perpendicular to the ground, and no gravity was applied. There is no unevenness in the flat part.

In the above description, strictly speaking, the ultraviolet curable resin flows down to form a tapered cross-sectional shape whose thickness gradually increases toward the lower end. Shape. However, the microbending is performed by the flat portion 1a of the optical fiber ribbon 1 (FIG.
), And the effect of the thickness change is practically negligible.

Then, it is sent to an ultraviolet curing lamp 7 while maintaining the surface properties of the coating flat portion as described above, and the coating resin is cured by the irradiation of ultraviolet light, whereby the optical fiber ribbon 1 is completed. The obtained optical fiber ribbon 1 is
The surface properties are remarkably improved as compared with the prior art.

In the above, manufacturing conditions such as the running speed of the optical fiber 2, the type of UV-curable resin, coating conditions and curing conditions are the same as those in the prior art. Goods can be used. Accordingly, it is possible to manufacture the optical fiber ribbon 1 having excellent flatness without a large cost burden. In addition, the type (layer configuration, outer diameter, etc.) of the optical fiber 2 is not critical.

[0017]

The present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the following examples. Four optical fiber strands were collectively coated with an ultraviolet curable resin according to the present invention and a conventional method to produce an optical fiber ribbon. Then, a sample having a length of 5 cm was cut out from each optical fiber tape core wire, and the surface roughness was measured over a length of 1 cm for each using a contact type surface roughness meter. The measurement results are shown in FIG. 4 (according to the invention) and FIG. 5 (according to the prior art). From a comparison between the two figures, it can be seen that the optical fiber ribbon manufactured according to the present invention has extremely high flatness.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the alignment surface of the optical fiber is aligned with the direction of gravity and coated with the coating resin at a time, and then sent out to the curing furnace while maintaining that state, the conventional method is used until curing. Irregularities due to gravity do not occur on the coated flat surface of the uncured coating resin, and an optical fiber ribbon having excellent surface properties can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing an example of an apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged front view of a fiber rotation guide (8).

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an optical fiber ribbon.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing the configuration of a conventional optical fiber ribbon manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the measured surface roughness of the optical fiber ribbon manufactured according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the surface roughness of an optical fiber ribbon manufactured according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: optical fiber tape core wire 2: optical fiber wire 3: coating resin 4: fiber guide 5: guide roller (alignment means) 6: coating die (coating means) 7: ultraviolet curing lamp (curing means) 8: fiber Rotation guide (alignment surface changing means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber ribbon is manufactured by coating a plurality of optical fiber strands in a state of being arranged in parallel in a plane and surrounding thereof with a coating resin, and then curing the coating resin. In a method, a coating resin is applied in a state where a plane formed by aligning a plurality of optical fibers is aligned with a direction in which gravity acts, and the coated resin is sent to a curing furnace while maintaining the aligned state, and the coating is performed. A method for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon, comprising curing a resin for use. 2. A plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel in a plane and the periphery thereof is collectively coated with a coating resin, and then the coating resin is cured to produce an optical fiber tape. An aligning means for aligning a plurality of optical fiber strands which are continuously sent out in parallel in a plane, and a plurality of optical fiber strands in a state where the plurality of optical fiber strands are aligned in a plane. A coating means for covering the periphery of the optical fiber at once, and a coating means arranged immediately before the coating means for aligning a plane formed by aligning the plurality of optical fiber wires with a direction in which gravity acts. An apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon, comprising: an alignment surface changing unit; and a curing unit for curing a coating resin.