JP2003177267A - Device and method for arraying optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and method for arraying optical fibers in which a plurality of optical fibers can be properly arrayed in a prescribed order, efficiently on positioning grooves, through an easy operation. <P>SOLUTION: The optical fiber arraying device is equipped with a base 10, a guide groove member 20 having guide grooves 21a, 21b, and a positioning part 30 having a positioning groove 31. Supported on the guide grooves 21a, 21b, the optical fibers 50 are arrayed parallel to the depth direction of the guide grooves 21a, 21b. The guide groove member 20 is rotated between the supporting position where the optical fibers 50 are supported on the guide grooves 21a, 21b and the positioning position where the optical fibers 50 supported on the guide grooves 21a, 21b are positioned on the positioning groove 31. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber alignment device and an optical fiber alignment method, and more particularly to an inspection device and a plurality of optical fibers for receiving optical power emitted from a plurality of single-core or multi-core tape type optical fibers. The present invention relates to an optical fiber aligning device and an optical fiber aligning method which are used together with a coupling device that couples each other or an optical fiber and a waveguide terminal or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional optical fiber aligning device, there is a multi-fiber optical fiber aligning mechanism disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-275462. This is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to (D). This multi-fiber optical fiber aligning mechanism has an optical fiber guide 101 and an optical fiber aligning member 103 having an inclined surface 102.

According to this, first, as shown in FIG. 5A, by moving the optical fiber guide 101 in the direction of the arrow, for example, the optical fiber 104 at one end of the multi-fiber optical fiber tape is positioned in a predetermined manner. Position in the groove 105. Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, the optical fiber alignment member 103 having the inclined surface 102 is raised in the direction of the arrow to separate each optical fiber 104 from the positioning groove 105. Optical fiber guide 1 on 102
It is brought closer to the 01 side and becomes an aligned state with no gap.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, when the optical fiber aligning member 103 is lowered in the direction of the arrow, the optical fibers 104 are lowered in the aligned state with no gap, and the optical fiber guide 101 side is lowered. The items are sequentially accommodated in the positioning groove 105 (FIG. 5D). As described above, all the optical fibers 104 are automatically accommodated in the positioning groove 105.

Further, as an optical fiber aligning method for forming a plurality of optical fiber core wires in close contact in parallel to form a tape, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-203839. This method will be described with reference to FIG. On the flat upper surface 112 of the substrate glass band 111, a small glass plate 113 slightly narrower than the width of the target tape-shaped fiber bundle and glass blocks 114 and 115 on both sides of the small glass plate 113 are arranged.

Small glass plate 113 and glass block 11
A required number of ends of the optical fibers 117 are inserted into the space 116 formed by 4, 115. While pressing the glass blocks 114 and 115 in the direction of arrow C, the small glass plate 113 is pressed in the direction of arrow B to align the optical fibers 117 on the upper surface 112 of the glass band 111 in a row so that they are aligned with each other. Let it harden. As described above, the fiber 117 is formed into a tape shape.

[0007]

In the conventional multi-fiber optical fiber alignment mechanism described above, the optical fiber 104 can be positioned at a predetermined position in the positioning groove 105 using the optical fiber guide 101 and the inclined surface 102 as guides. However, in order to use these guides, it is necessary that the optical fibers 104 are integrated in a tape shape, and for the purpose of aligning a plurality of single-wire optical fibers in a tape shape, the optical fibers 104 are arranged on the guide. It is difficult to fit the predetermined positions of the positioning grooves 105 in order because the 104 are scattered.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional method in which a plurality of optical fiber core wires are closely attached and arranged in parallel in the form of a tape, the plurality of single-line optical fibers 117 can be arranged in a tape form. It is necessary to sequentially insert between 114.115 and the small glass plate 118.
In this work, as the number of optical fibers increases, the previously inserted optical fibers 117 become an obstacle, and the insertion space becomes smaller, which makes the work difficult.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and regardless of whether it is a multi-core tape-shaped optical fiber or a single-fiber optical fiber, a plurality of optical fibers can be easily and efficiently operated. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber aligning device and an optical fiber aligning method capable of aligning correctly on a positioning groove in a predetermined order.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, in an optical fiber aligning device according to claim 1 of the present invention, a plurality of positioning grooves arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval are provided. A base portion having positioning portions for positioning the optical fibers along these positioning grooves respectively, and a guide groove, and a support position at which the plurality of optical fibers are supported in the guide grooves, and the support position. A guide groove member that is attached to the base portion so as to be rotatable between a positioning position where the optical fiber supported by the guide groove is positioned in the positioning groove, and the guide groove is A plurality of optical fibers are supported on the guide groove member, the guide grooves are formed so that these optical fibers are arranged in parallel in the depth direction of the guide groove. .

By rotating the guide groove member after supporting the optical fiber in the guide groove, the optical fibers can be easily aligned in the positioning portion.

In the optical fiber aligning device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the width of the guide groove is X and the diameter of the optical fiber is Y.
In this case, the guide groove member is formed so as to satisfy Y <X <2 · Y.

The order of the optical fibers supported in the guide groove does not change. By rotating the guide groove member with respect to the base member, the optical fibers can be aligned at the positioning portion while maintaining the order.

In the optical fiber aligning device according to a third aspect of the present invention, the guide groove member includes a first guide groove and a second guide groove, and the positioning portion guides supporting the optical fiber. When the groove member is located at the positioning position, the portion of the optical fiber extending between the first guide groove and the second guide groove is arranged to be positioned in the positioning groove. There is.

In the positioning portion, when the guide groove member supporting the optical fiber is positioned at the positioning position, the portion of the optical fiber extending between the first guide groove and the second guide groove is positioned in the positioning groove. . As a result, both sides of this portion of the optical fiber are supported, so that the optical fiber can be prevented from separating from the positioning portion.

In the optical fiber aligning device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the width of the first guide groove is X1, the width of the second guide groove is X2, and the diameter of the optical fiber with the coating removed is Y1. When the diameter of the optical fiber covered with the coating is Y2, the guide groove member is formed so as to satisfy Y1 <X1 <Y2 Y2 <X2 <2 · Y2.

By supporting the portion where the coating is peeled off by the first guide groove and supporting the portion covered by the coating by the second guide groove, even for an optical fiber whose coating is partially peeled off. Can be paralleled with high accuracy. Thereby, when the optical fiber is positioned in the positioning groove, it can be positioned with high accuracy.

In the optical fiber aligning apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the positioning section further has a holding means for holding the optical fiber positioned in the positioning section, and the positioning section has the base section. It is characterized in that it is configured to be removable.

Thus, the optical fiber can be carried while being aligned.

In the optical fiber aligning device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the positioning section is arranged so that when the guide groove member is at the positioning position and the optical fibers arranged in parallel are held by the holding means. It is characterized in that it is configured to be removable from the base portion in the parallel direction.

When removing the positioning portion, it is necessary to release the support of the optical fiber by the guide groove. As a means for releasing the support, a special mechanism or the like for expanding the guide groove can be considered, but if the structure of claim 6 is used, such a mechanism is not required.

In the optical fiber aligning device according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the width of the guide groove on the opening side is wider than that on the bottom side.

It is possible to easily insert the optical fiber into the guide groove.

In the optical fiber aligning device according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the guide groove member has two plate members facing each other, and the guide groove is formed between these plate members. It is characterized by that.

The optical fiber aligning apparatus according to claim 9 of the present invention is an optical fiber aligning method for aligning a plurality of optical fibers in parallel with a positioning groove, wherein a plurality of optical fibers are provided in a guide groove slightly wider than the diameter of the optical fiber. The step of sequentially inserting the optical fibers, and the step of relatively overlapping the guide groove and the positioning groove and positioning a plurality of optical fibers supported by the guide groove in the positioning groove. I am trying.

It is possible to efficiently align a plurality of optical fibers correctly on the positioning groove in a predetermined order by a simple process.

[0027]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An optical fiber aligning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical fiber aligning device. A guide groove member 20 having a first guide groove 21a and a second guide groove 21b for supporting the optical fiber 50 is rotatably attached to the base portion 10 via a hinge 20a. . The guide groove member 20 has two plate members 22a and 22b facing each other. First and second
Guide grooves 21a, 21b of the plate material 22a, 22
It is formed between b. Part of the plate members 22a and 22b is cut out. As a result, the first guide groove 21a
Having a first guide groove portion 23a and a second guide groove 2
The second guide groove portion 23b having 1b is formed so as to face each other.

A plurality of optical fibers 50 are connected to the guide grooves 21a,
When the optical fiber 50 is supported by the guide groove 21b, the optical fiber 50 is sequentially inserted into the guide grooves 21a and 21b in a predetermined order so that the optical fiber 50 extends along the longitudinal direction of the guide grooves 21a and 21b. The guide grooves 21a and 21b are formed such that the optical fibers 50 are juxtaposed in the depth direction of the guide grooves 21a and 21b when a plurality of optical fibers 50 are supported by the guide grooves 21a and 21b. When a part of the plurality of optical fibers 50 is supported by the first guide groove 21a and the other part is supported by the second guide groove 21b, the first guide groove 21a and the second guide groove 21a
The portions of the optical fibers 50 extending between the guide grooves 21b of the optical fibers are arranged in parallel. Such an optical fiber 50
Is performed regardless of whether the optical fiber is a multi-core tape-shaped optical fiber or a single-fiber optical fiber.

In order to prevent the order of the optical fibers 50 from being changed in the guide grooves 21a and 21b, the guide groove member 20 has a width of the guide grooves 21a and 21b of X and a diameter of the optical fiber 50 of Y. , Preferably Y <X <2 ·
Y, more preferably Y <X <1.5 · Y, and further preferably Y <X <1.1 · Y.

The widths of the guide grooves 21a and 21b will be described in more detail. The coating is stripped off at one end of the optical fiber 50. The portion of the optical fiber 50 covered with the coating is supported by the first guide groove 21a, and the second guide groove 2
In 1b, the part of the optical fiber 50 with the coating removed is supported. Assuming that the width of the first guide groove 21a is X1, the width of the second guide groove 21b is X2, the diameter of the optical fiber covered with the coating is Y1, and the diameter of the optical fiber with the coating removed is Y2, The groove member 20 is preferably Y1 <X1 <Y
2 and Y2 <X2 <2 · Y2, more preferably Y2 <X
2 <1.5 · Y2, more preferably Y2 <X2 <1.
It is formed so as to satisfy 1 · Y2. By supporting the part where the coating is peeled off by the first guide groove 21a and supporting the part covered by the coating by the second guide groove 21b, it is high even for an optical fiber whose part of the coating is peeled off. Can be paralleled with precision. This ensures a high degree of accuracy in positioning the optical fiber 50 in the positioning groove described below.

In order to facilitate the insertion of the optical fiber 50, the width of the guide grooves 21a and 21b on the opening side is made wider than that on the bottom side. That is, the taper 24 is formed on the plate members 22a and 22b facing the openings of the guide grooves 21a and 21b.
a and 24b are formed.

The optical fiber alignment device is an optical fiber holder 30 which can be detachably attached to the base portion 10.
have. The optical fiber holder 30 is used as a positioning unit that positions and holds a plurality of optical fibers 50 in parallel at predetermined intervals. In the base portion 10,
Holder attachment part 1 to which the optical fiber holder 30 is attached
1 is provided. The holder mounting portion 11 has a holder 3
Magnet 12 for detachably attaching 0 and holder 3
A positioning block 13 for positioning 0 at a predetermined position is provided.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the optical fiber holder 30. A plurality of positioning grooves 31 for positioning the individual optical fibers 50 are provided on a surface 31a on one side of the upper surface of the holder 30 when viewed in the longitudinal direction. Positioning groove 31
Extend in the longitudinal direction of the holder 30 and are juxtaposed at predetermined intervals. In the present embodiment, the positioning groove 31 has a V-shaped cross section, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be U-shaped.

The central portion of the upper surface of the holder 30 in the longitudinal direction, the surface 3
Base planes 32 and 33 are provided on the other side of 1a, respectively. The base plane 32 is continuous with the surface 31a via a step having a radius approximately equal to the radius of the optical fiber 50 covered with the coating. The base plane 32 and the surface 31a are integrally formed of quartz glass. A portion of the optical fiber 50 where the coating is peeled off can be placed on the positioning groove 31, and a portion where the coating is covered on the base planes 32 and 33 can be placed. The base plane 33 is separate from the positioning groove 31 and the base plane 32, and is formed of a rubber sheet having elasticity.

The optical fiber holder 30 has a positioning groove 3
1 and the base plate 33 so as to cover the clamp plate 3 respectively.
4, 35 are attached via hinges 34a, 35a. Rubber sheets 34b and 35b having elasticity are arranged on the clamp plates 34 and 35, respectively. Each part of the optical fiber 50 has the positioning groove 3 as described above.
1, and the clamp plates 34 and 35 cover the optical fiber 50 when placed on the base planes 32 and 33. At this time, the rubber sheets 34b and 35b come into contact with the respective portions of the optical fiber 50. As a result, the clamp plate 35 holds the optical fiber 50 on the base plane 33, and the cores of the optical fiber 50 are positioned along the positioning groove 31 on the surface 31a. The clamp plate 35 is used as a holding means.

An optical fiber alignment method using the optical fiber alignment apparatus of this embodiment will be described. First, the optical fiber holder 30 is attached to the holder attachment portion 11 (FIG. 1). At this time, the position is determined by the positioning block 13. The clamp plates 34 and 35 are opened.

Next, the guide groove member 20 is attached to the holder mounting portion 1
1 is located at a support position away from the base 1 (in the present embodiment, the support position is the base portion 10 and the guide groove member 2 as shown in FIG. 1).
Position where 0 is orthogonal). At this supporting position, the optical fiber 50 is supported by the guide grooves 21a and 21b as described above. At this time, the boundary between the portion where the coating is peeled off and the portion where the coating is covered is defined by the first guide groove 21a and the second guide groove 2a.
Located between 1b.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the optical fiber aligning device. As shown in FIG. 3, the guide grooves 21a and 21b and the positioning groove 31 are relatively overlapped. That is, the guide groove member 2
0 is rotated from the support position P1 in the direction of arrow T to be positioned at the positioning position P2 facing the base portion 10. The optical fiber holder 30 extends between the first guide groove portion 23a and the second guide groove portion 23b when the guide groove member 20 is located at the positioning position P2.
Is arranged so that the part of the is opposed to the holder 30.
This ensures that this part of the optical fiber 50 is pressed against the holder 30. When the guide groove member 20 is located at the positioning position P2, the optical fiber 50 extends in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber holder 30, that is, the direction along the positioning groove 31 (FIG. 2). The core of the optical fiber 50 is placed on the positioning groove 31, the boundary between the core and the coating is placed on the base plane 32, and the coating is placed on the base plane 33.

At this point, the optical fiber 50 supported by the guide grooves 21a and 21b and the positioning groove 31 are in a state where their positions are substantially aligned with each other. As described above, the portion where the coating is peeled off is supported by the first guide groove 21a and the portion covered by the coating is supported by the second guide groove 21b with high accuracy, so that the core is positioned in the positioning groove 31. It is closer. The clamp plate 35 is closed, and temporary clamping, that is, holding is performed on the base plane 33. In this state, the optical fiber 50 is finely adjusted in the positioning groove 31, the optical fiber 50 is positioned in each positioning groove 31, and then the clamp plate 34 is closed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the optical fiber holder 30 is moved in the direction in which the optical fibers 50 are arranged in parallel (the direction of arrow S) so that the optical fiber 50 can be removed from the guide grooves 21a and 21b. Remove from. Accordingly, the optical fiber 50 can be carried while being aligned. When removing the positioning portion, it is necessary to release the support of the optical fiber by the guide groove. As a means for releasing the support, a special mechanism or the like for expanding the guide groove can be considered, but such a mechanism is not necessary if the configuration of the present embodiment is used. After removing, cut the end face of the optical fiber 50 with an optical fiber cutting machine (not shown),
It is held in a state of being aligned at predetermined intervals.

The optical fibers 50 thus aligned in the optical fiber holder 30 are attached to the holder 30 and inspected, for example, in an inspection device (not shown) for measuring the output of the optical fiber 50.

In the optical fiber aligning apparatus and the optical fiber aligning method according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above in detail, a plurality of optical fibers can be efficiently placed on the positioning groove by an easy work. It is possible to align correctly in a predetermined order.

Naturally, each structure of the embodiment of the present invention can be modified and changed in various ways.

In this embodiment, when the optical fiber 50 is supported by the guide groove member 20, the guide groove member 20 is
Although it stands upright with respect to the base portion 10, the turning angle can be set to another angle such as 45 degrees in order to obtain the effect of improving workability.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a tip positioning portion 40 for aligning the positions of the tips of the optical fibers, a wedge 41 for inserting the optical fibers 50 into the guide grooves 21a and 21b from the opening side as shown by arrows, and the like. You may add. In this case, the effect of facilitating the fine adjustment performed when positioning the optical fiber 50 in the positioning groove 31 is obtained.

Further, in the present embodiment, the optical fiber 50
The optical fiber 50 is aligned with the detachable optical fiber holder 30 in consideration of the use in the inspection apparatus of 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Even another conventional optical fiber holder can be applied as long as it has a groove or the like for supporting the optical fiber 50 at a predetermined position. Further, it goes without saying that the optical fiber alignment method can be easily applied to an optical connector or the like instead of the optical fiber holder 30. In the case where the optical connector or the like is semi-permanently held, an adhesive fixing step may be added after the step of aligning the optical fiber 50 to the optical connector component or the like, as in the case of the optical fiber holder 30.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications and applications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0048]

As is clear from the above description,
In the optical fiber aligning device and the optical fiber aligning method according to the present invention, a plurality of optical fibers can be efficiently placed on the positioning groove by an easy operation regardless of the multi-core tape-shaped optical fiber and the single-fiber optical fiber. , It is possible to align correctly in a predetermined order.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical fiber alignment device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an optical fiber holder of the optical fiber alignment device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the optical fiber alignment device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a modification of the optical fiber aligning device shown in FIG.

5A to 5D are views showing the configuration and operation of a conventional optical fiber aligning device of the related art.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how optical fibers are aligned by a conventional optical fiber alignment method.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Base part 20 Guide groove member 21a First guide groove 21b Second guide groove 22a, 22b Plate material 23a First guide groove portion 23b Second guide groove portion 30 Optical fiber holder (positioning part) 31 Positioning groove 34, 35 Clamp plate (holding means) 50 optical fiber P1 support position P2 Positioning position

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A positioning part comprising a plurality of positioning grooves arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval, and wherein a plurality of optical fibers are respectively positioned along these positioning grooves,
A base portion having a guide groove, and a support position where a plurality of optical fibers are supported in the guide groove, and an optical fiber which is separated from the support position and is supported by the guide groove is positioned in the positioning groove. A guide groove member that is rotatably attached to the base portion between the guide groove and a plurality of optical fibers supported by the guide groove,
An optical fiber aligning device comprising: a guide groove member formed such that these optical fibers are arranged in parallel in the depth direction of the guide groove. 2. When the width of the guide groove is X and the diameter of the optical fiber is Y, the guide groove member is formed so as to satisfy Y <X <2 · Y. Item 1. The optical fiber aligning device according to item 1. 3. The guide groove member is provided with a first guide groove and a second guide groove, and the positioning section is configured to: when the guide groove member supporting an optical fiber is located at the positioning position, The optical fiber alignment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the portion of the optical fiber extending between the first guide groove and the second guide groove is arranged so as to be positioned in the positioning groove. apparatus. 4. The width of the first guide groove is X1, the width of the second guide groove is X2, the diameter of the optical fiber whose coating is peeled off is Y1, and the diameter of the optical fiber covered with the coating is Y2. The optical fiber alignment device according to claim 3, wherein the guide groove member is formed so as to satisfy Y1 <X1 <Y2 Y2 <X2 <2 · Y2. 5. The positioning unit further includes a holding unit that holds the optical fiber positioned by the positioning unit, and the positioning unit is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the base unit. The optical fiber aligning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The positioning section is configured to be removable from the base section in the direction parallel to the optical fibers when the guide groove member is at the positioning position and the aligned optical fibers are held by the holding means. The optical fiber aligning device according to claim 5, wherein: 7. The optical fiber aligning device according to claim 1, wherein the width of the guide groove on the opening side is wider than that on the bottom side. 8. The guide groove members are opposed to each other.
The optical fiber aligning device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the optical fiber aligning device has one plate member and the guide groove is formed between the plate members. 9. An optical fiber alignment method for arranging a plurality of optical fibers in parallel with a positioning groove, the step of sequentially inserting the plurality of optical fibers into a guide groove that is slightly wider than the diameter of the optical fiber; The groove and the positioning groove are relatively overlapped,
Positioning a plurality of optical fibers supported by the guide groove in the positioning groove, and a method of aligning optical fibers.