JP2002311313A - Tape-like optical cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve problems that it is difficult to make a tape-like optical cable into a desired size/shape and that coated fiber units is likely to be separated during handling it. SOLUTION: The tape-like optical cable is provided with a plurality of coated fiber units 11a and 11b arrayed in parallel to each other in a horizontally arranged state and a unit batch coating part 12 correctively coating these units 11a and 11b and has a nearly fixed thickness. The units 11a and 11b have a plurality of optical fibers 13 arrayed in parallel to each other in a horizontally arranged state and fiber batch coating parts 14a and 14b correctively coating these optical fibers 13. Each optical fibers 13 includes an optical fibers 13c consisting of a core part 13i for transmitting light and a clad part 13o surrounding this core part 13i and a protection coating part 13p covering this optical fibers 13s. The thickness of the units 11a and 11b adjacent to each other are different.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape-shaped optical cable having a plurality of core units arranged side by side and in parallel with each other, and which can be separated for each core unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A tape-shaped optical cable used in an optical communication network or the like includes a plurality of core units arranged side by side and in parallel with each other, and a coupling resin portion for connecting the core units to each other. A plurality of optical fibers, each of which is arranged side by side and parallel to each other,
And a collective fiber coating portion for collectively covering these optical fibers. Along with the laying and wiring work of such a tape-shaped optical cable, by tearing the joining resin portion along the extending direction of the core unit at the end portion, or by peeling this joining resin portion,
In some cases, terminal processing for separating individual core units into pieces is performed. For this reason, various measures for facilitating the terminal processing of the tape-shaped optical cable have been proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
It has been proposed in, for example, 326720 and JP-A-2000-111771.

[0003] In the tape-shaped optical cable disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-326720, the thickness of the unit collectively covering portion as a coupling resin portion covering the two core units collectively is determined by changing the thickness of one end side of the tape-like optical cable to that of the tape-like optical cable. By making it different from the other end side on the opposite side and repeatedly bending one core unit with respect to the other core unit along the extending direction of the core unit, the curing shrinkage strain is relatively large. This facilitates the tearing of the end surface side, that is, the thinner unit collective covering portion, so that the two core units can be separated.

The tape-shaped optical cable disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-111771 is a so-called edge bonding type cable, in which a joining resin is interposed between two adjacent core units, and this joining is performed. Two core units are arranged in parallel with each other in an exposed state via a resin for use. Therefore, by gripping the two core units and tearing the joining resin along the extending direction of the core units, the individual core units can be separated.

[0005]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention
The conventional tape-shaped optical cable disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 20 is
Since it is necessary to embed two core units in an offset state with respect to the center of the unit collective covering part, the unit collective covering of the one end side of the tape-shaped optical cable and the other end side opposite to it is performed at the time of manufacture. It is difficult to arbitrarily adjust the thickness of the portion, and a tape-shaped optical cable having a desired size and shape cannot be easily obtained.

[0006] In the edge bonding type tape-shaped optical cable disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-111771, etc., since each core unit is exposed,
Although the terminal treatment of tearing the joining resin apart to separate them can be performed relatively easily, the easiness is adversely affected, and the joining resin may be peeled off during handling of the tape-shaped optical cable. There is a possibility that individual core units may be separated by receiving external force.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape-type optical cable having the same degree of separation as an edge-bonded tape-type optical cable.

[0008]

A tape-like optical cable according to the present invention comprises a plurality of core units arranged side by side and in parallel with each other, and a unit collectively covering portion covering these core units collectively. A tape-like optical cable having a substantially constant thickness, wherein the core unit includes a plurality of optical fibers arranged side by side and in parallel with each other, and a collective fiber covering portion covering these optical fibers collectively. Each of the optical fibers includes an optical fiber element consisting of a core part for transmitting light and a cladding part surrounding the core part, and a protective coating part covering the optical fiber element, and is adjacent to each other. The thickness of the core units is different from each other.

According to the present invention, since the thicknesses of the adjacent core units are different from each other, the thickness of the unit collectively covering portion covering the individual core units differs between the adjacent core units. Has become. When a shearing force is applied to the unit collective covering portion of the tape-shaped optical cable along these boundaries to separate the individual core units separately, stress concentration due to this occurs between the adjacent core units, Neighboring core units are separated from each other from these boundary portions and are separated.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the tape-shaped optical cable according to the present invention, the thickness of one of the core units adjacent to each other may be substantially the same as the outer diameter of the optical fiber.
The thickness of the other core unit must be greater than the thickness of one core unit.

[0011] Adjacent core units may be in contact with each other via the respective fiber batch coating portions.

Each of the optical fibers may further include a colored coating covering the protective coating, and the colors of the colored coatings may be different from each other.

[0013] It may have two core units.

The unit collective covering portion and the fiber collective covering portion can each be formed of an ultraviolet curing resin.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a tape-shaped optical cable according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, but is described in the claims. All changes and modifications embraced by the concepts of the invention described are possible and, of course, applicable to other techniques belonging to the spirit of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a sectional structure of a tape-shaped optical cable according to this embodiment. That is, the tape-shaped optical cable 10 according to the present embodiment includes two core units 11a and 11b arranged side by side and in parallel with each other, and these core units 11a and 11b (hereinafter, these are collectively abbreviated as 11). (In some cases) are collectively covered with the unit collective covering portion 12, and the unit collective covering portion 12 is formed of an ultraviolet curable resin or the like. The thickness of the unit collective covering portion 12 is substantially constant, that is, the distance between one end surface 12F of the unit collective covering portion 12 extending along the arrangement direction of the core unit 11 and the other end surface 12R on the opposite side is equal to the core wire. It is almost constant along the arrangement direction of the units 11,
In this embodiment, it is set to 340 μm.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional structure of the tape-shaped optical cable 10 in a state where the core unit 11 is normally separated. That is, the tape-shaped optical cable 10 according to this embodiment is
It is necessary that the unit collective covering portion 12 be broken along the longitudinal direction of the tape-shaped optical cable 10 with the adjacent core unit 11 as a boundary.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-26673, the tear strength of the unit collective covering portion 12 by the trouser tearing method specified in JIS K7128 is higher than 9800 N / m (0.10 kgf / mm). If the size is large, it is difficult to cause a crack generated by a tapping operation for forming a first crack in the unit collective covering portion 12 in the longitudinal direction of the tape-shaped optical cable 10, and conversely, 980N
If it is smaller than / kg (0.01 kgf / mm), unexpected cracks may be generated in the unit collective covering section 12 during handling of the tape-shaped optical cable 10. The tear strength of the part 12 is 9
It is preferably in the range of 80 to 9800 N / m. Also, the tear strength of the unit collective covering portion 12 by the right-angled tearing method specified in JIS K7128 is 294 kN / m.
If it is larger than (3.0 kgf / mm), the above-mentioned tapping work becomes difficult. Conversely, if it is smaller than 9.8 kN / m (0.1 kgf / mm), it is expected during handling of the tape-shaped optical cable 10. Since there is a possibility that undesired cracks may be generated in the unit collective covering portion 12, the tear strength of the unit collective covering portion 12 in the right-angled tearing method is preferably in the range of 9.8 to 294 kN / m.

Each of the optical fiber units 11 has a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) optical fibers 13 arranged side by side and in parallel with each other, and a substantially rectangular cross-sectional profile covering these optical fibers 13 collectively. Batch covering section 14 having
a, 14b.
a and 14b (these are sometimes collectively abbreviated as 14) are also formed of an ultraviolet curable resin. Further, each optical fiber 13 has a core portion 13i involved in light transmission and a cladding portion 13o surrounding the core portion 13i.
Optical fiber 13s, a protective coating 13p covering the optical fiber 13s, and a protective coating 13p.
and a colored coating portion 13c that further covers p, and the protective coating portion 13p and the colored coating portion 13c can also be formed of an ultraviolet curable resin. Since the colored covering portion 13c in the present embodiment is for identifying or specifying the individual optical fibers 13 in the core unit 11, when such a necessity is not required, the colored covering portion 13c is not formed. May be. These core units 11
Are in a surface contact state via the respective fiber collective covering portions 14, but it is also possible to set the abutting portions to have a semicircular cross-sectional contour shape to make a line contact state. Furthermore, the unit collectively covering portion 12 may be interposed between two core units 11 adjacent to each other.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-232102, when the yield point stress of the unit collective covering portion 12 is larger than 9.8 MPa (1.0 kg / mm ² ), the fiber collective covering portion 14 There is a possibility that the individual optical fibers 13 constituting the core unit 11 may be separated from the respective core units 11 due to damage, and conversely, 2.9 MPa
If it is smaller than (0.30 kg / mm ² ), the tape-shaped optical cable 10 will be plastically deformed during handling and bend, resulting in impaired workability during laying work and wiring work. The yield point stress of the coating 12 is preferably in the range of 2.9 to 9.8 MPa. In addition, the Young's modulus of the unit collective covering section 12 is 490 MPa.
If it exceeds (50 kg / mm ² ), the optical transmission loss of the tape-shaped optical cable 10 will increase, and its fluctuation and bit error will occur. Conversely, if it is less than 98 MPa (10 kg / mm ² ), the unit will be covered at once. When the tape-shaped optical cable 10 is pulled out of the storage state in which the tape-shaped optical cable 10 is wrapped around, the unit batch-coating portions 12 overlapping with each other stick together, and the unit batch-coating portion 12 and the fiber batch-coating portion overlap. Since there is a possibility that interfacial peeling may occur between the unit batch 14 and the unit batch covering unit 12, the Young's modulus is 98%.
It is preferably in the range of ４490 MPa.

Unit batch covering section 12 and core unit 1
As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-197767, when the adhesion force is greater than 98 N / m (100 g / cm), the core unit 11 is In some cases, the fiber collective covering portion 14 may be torn at the time of division, and conversely 0.98 N /
When the diameter is smaller than m (1 g / cm), in the high-temperature and high-humidity atmosphere or in the state of immersion in hot water, partial separation occurs at the interface between the unit collective coating section 12 and the fiber collective coating section 14, and water drops accumulate there. In order to cause an increase in optical transmission loss of the tape-shaped optical cable 10, the adhesion between the unit collective covering portion 12 and the collective fiber covering portion 14 is 0.98 to 98 N /.
It is preferably in the range of m.

One core unit 11 in the present embodiment
The thickness of “a” is 260 μm, which is set to be substantially the same as the outer diameter of the colored coating portion 13c of the optical fiber 13, but the one core unit 11a is so filled that the colored coating portion 13c is completely buried. The thickness may be set slightly larger than the outer diameter of the optical fiber 13. The thickness of the other core unit 11b needs to be sufficiently thicker than the thickness of the one core unit 11a, and is set to 330 μm in this embodiment. Therefore, in this embodiment, one of the core units 11
The thickness of the portion of the unit collective covering portion 12 that covers
m, and the thickness of the part of the unit collective covering portion 12 that covers the other core unit 11b is 5 μm. As described above, by making the thicknesses of the two core units 11 different, the thickness of the unit collective covering portion 12 that covers the thicker core unit 11b becomes very thin, so that the hardening of this portion is promoted and the relative Brittle, and cracks are likely to occur due to loads such as bending force and shear force. Moreover, since the core unit 11 is covered with the unit collective covering unit 12, even if some external force is applied during handling of the tape-shaped optical cable 10, the two core units 11 are unexpectedly separated. Such defects can be suppressed.

The tape-shaped optical cable 10 having a plurality of core units 11 having different thicknesses can be formed, for example, by adjusting the size and shape of the exit hole of a forming die for forming the fiber batch coating portion 14. Kaihei 2000
It can be manufactured using a well-known method disclosed in US Pat.

In any of the core units 11, it is preferable that the collective fiber coating portion 14 be transparent or translucent so that the colored coating portion 13 c of the optical fiber 13 can be visually recognized through the collective fiber coating portion 14.

When the thickness of the core unit 11 in the above-described tape-shaped optical cable 10 is changed to verify the individual separability, the separation tool 1 shown in FIG.
Is used to separate the two core units 11 over a length of 1 m at the end of the tape-shaped optical cable 10, except when the two core units 11 are normally separated as shown in FIG. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, it is effective to determine whether separation has occurred in the middle of one core unit 11a. In this case, the thinner the core unit 11a and the thicker the core unit 11b, the more reliably the normal core unit 11 can be separated.

The separation tool 1 has a pair of cutters 4, 5 having shear blades 2, 3 facing each other, and a cutter holder 6 for slidably holding the cutters 4, 5, respectively. The tape-shaped optical cable 10 is inserted into the gap formed between the cutters 4 and 5, and these cutters 4 and 5 are inserted.
Is pushed into the tape-shaped optical cable 10 side, and when the normal separation is performed, the tape-shaped optical cable 10 is sheared from the central portion by the shearing blades 2 and 3.

Incidentally, during the production and handling of such a tape-shaped optical cable 10, the tape-shaped optical cable 1
It is important to understand the resistance of the tape-shaped optical cable 10 to such a twist, since the 0 may be twisted and the core unit 11 may be separated. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-166808 discloses a torsion test device used for such a purpose, and it is also possible to inspect the torsion characteristics of the above-described tape-shaped optical cable 10 using this torsion test device. It is. Specifically, a tape-shaped optical cable 10 having a length of 500 mm was prepared, and 200,50,
A twist of 30 mm pitch is given, and it is determined whether or not the core unit 11 is separated by the breakage of the unit collectively covering portion 12. If the core unit 11 is not separated in a state where the twist pitch is set to 30 mm, it can be said that the torsion resistance is sufficient.

In the above-described embodiment, the tape-shaped optical cable 10 having two core units 11 has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a tape-shaped optical cable having three or more core units arranged side by side. Similarly, each core unit 11 is provided with two or more optical fibers 13.
And there is no problem even if these core units 11 have different numbers of optical fibers.

[0029]

According to the tape-shaped optical cable of the present invention,
Since the thicknesses of the adjacent core units are different from each other, the thickness of the unit collective covering portion that covers these core units differs between the adjacent core units, and as a result, the tape-shaped optical cable extends along these boundaries. When a shearing force is applied to the unit collective covering portion, the stress concentration acts on these boundary portions and can be surely separated therefrom. Moreover, since the plurality of core units are covered by the unit collective covering portion, it is possible to prevent an accident in which the core unit is accidentally separated during handling of the tape-shaped optical cable.

When the thickness of one of the core units adjacent to each other is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the optical fiber, the difference from the thickness of the other core unit can be increased.
When a shear force is applied to the unit covering portion of the tape-like optical cable along these boundary portions, a larger stress concentration acts on these boundary portions, so that adjacent core units are more reliably separated from these boundary portions. Can be separated.

When the adjacent core units are brought into contact with each other via the respective fiber collective covering portions, since the unit collective covering portions do not intervene between them, along the boundary portions thereof. By applying a shearing force to the unit collective covering portion of the tape-shaped optical cable, adjacent core units can be easily separated from these boundary portions.

Each of the optical fibers further includes a colored coating covering the protective coating, and when the colors of the colored coatings are different from each other, the individual optical fibers constituting the separated core unit are separated. It can be easily identified based on the color of the colored coating.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an embodiment of a tape-shaped optical cable according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state where the tape-shaped optical cable shown in FIG. 1 is separated.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of a jig for dividing the tape-shaped optical cable shown in FIG. 1 together with the tape-shaped optical cable.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a case where separation of a tape-shaped optical cable is not performed normally.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Tape optical cable 11a, 11b Core unit 12 Unit collective covering part 12F One end surface of unit collective covering part 12R Other end surface of unit collective covering part 13 Optical fiber 13i Core part 13o Cladding part 13s Optical fiber strand 13p Protective covering part 13c Color coating part 14a, 14b Fiber collective coating part

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] May 7, 2001 (2001.5.7)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0018

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-26673, the tear strength of the unit collective covering portion 12 by the trouser tearing method specified in JIS K7128 is from 980 N / m ( 0.10 kgf / mm). Is also large,
It becomes difficult to cause a crack generated by an opening operation to make a first crack in the unit collective covering portion 12 in the longitudinal direction of the tape-shaped optical cable 10, and conversely, to 98 N / m
If it is smaller than 0.01 kgf / mm, unexpected cracks may be generated in the unit collective covering portion 12 during handling of the tape-shaped optical cable 10. Therefore, the unit collective covering portion 12 by the trouser tearing method may be used. the tear strength, 9 8
It is preferably in the range of ~ 98 0N / m. Also, JI
The tear strength of the unit collective covering portion 12 by the right-angled tearing method specified in SK7128 is 29 . 4kN / m (3.0kgf
/ mm), the above-mentioned tapping work becomes difficult. Conversely, if it is smaller than 0.98 kN / m (0.1 kgf / mm), unexpected cracks may occur during handling of the tape-shaped optical cable 10. May occur in the unit collective covering section 12, so that the unit collective covering section 12 by the right-angle tearing method may be used.
Has a tear strength of 0.98 to 29 . It is preferably in the range of 4 kN / m.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A tape-shaped optical cable having a substantially constant thickness, comprising a plurality of core units arranged side by side and in parallel with each other, and a unit collective covering portion covering the core units collectively. The core unit has a plurality of optical fibers arranged side by side and arranged in parallel with each other, and a fiber collective covering portion covering these optical fibers collectively, and each of the optical fibers transmits light. And an optical fiber consisting of a cladding surrounding the core, and a protective coating covering the optical fiber, wherein the thicknesses of the adjacent core units are different from each other. Characteristic tape-shaped optical cable. 2. The tape-like optical cable according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of one of the core units adjacent to each other is substantially the same as the outer diameter of the optical fiber. 3. The tape-like optical cable according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent core units are in contact with each other via the respective fiber collective covering portions. 4. The optical fiber according to claim 1, wherein each of the optical fibers further includes a colored coating covering the protective coating, and the colors of the colored coatings are different from each other. The tape-shaped optical cable according to any one of the above.