JP2003177268A - Optical fiber holding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber holding device that efficiently holds a plurality of optical fibers through easy handling and that enables the ends of the optical fibers to be precisely arrayed after they are held. <P>SOLUTION: The optical fiber holding device has a holding groove 20 provided on the base 10 for the purpose of storing a plurality of optical fibers 80. On one end of the holding groove 20, there is provided a positioning part 30 having a plurality of positioning grooves 31 arrayed in parallel at prescribed internal. The optical fibers stored in the holding groove 20 are each positioned along the positioning grooves 31. On the base 10, there are provided a first holding member which pressurizes, to the holding groove 20, the portion of the optical fibers 80 stored in the holding groove 20 and a second holding member which pressurizes, to the positioning grooves 31, the portion of the optical fibers 80 positioned in the positioning grooves 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 holding device for temporarily aligning and holding a plurality of optical fibers at predetermined intervals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional optical fiber holding device, there is one shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-83366. This will be described with reference to FIG. That is, the conventional optical fiber holding device 101 has a base 102.
A holding groove 103 for holding the optical fiber 107 is provided in the. In addition, the base 102 has a clamping direction,
A plurality of clamp lids 104 that can swing in the direction of releasing the clamps are provided. The tip of each clamp lid 104 is configured to be magnetically attached to the magnet 105 embedded in the base portion 102. Further, the surface 106 of each clamp lid 104 that comes into contact with the optical fiber 107 is flat.

The optical fiber 107 is placed in the holding groove 103, and the clamp lid 104 is swung in the clamping direction to bring the optical fiber 107 into a clamped state. The clamped optical fiber 107 is subjected to end treatments such as coating removal and cutting, and is attached to the fusion splicing device, other coupling device or inspection device together with the optical fiber holding device 101. Thus, the optical fiber holding device 101 is used as a temporary holding means for the optical fiber 107.

[0004]

The above-mentioned conventional optical fiber holding device 101 is used to hold one single-core or multi-core optical fiber, and is used for fixing a plurality of optical fibers. Is difficult to handle. Also,
Normally, when the coating is stripped off, the optical fiber is in a straight state due to the hardness of the core, but when the coating is attached, it is liable to bend or bend during winding, etc. Has become. The conventional optical fiber holding device 101 is configured to support the coating portion of the optical fiber, and due to the bending or bending, the position of the end is not stable and it is difficult to secure the position accuracy. For this reason, it is difficult to deal with the case where an attempt is made to use a plurality of optical fibers for a purpose in which they must be accurately aligned at a predetermined interval.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to efficiently hold a plurality of optical fibers by easy handling, and the end of the optical fiber after holding the optical fibers has a predetermined length. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber holding device that can be accurately aligned at intervals.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in an optical fiber holding device according to claim 1 of the present invention, a holding groove for accommodating a plurality of optical fibers and one end side of the holding groove are adjacent to each other. Positioning in which the plurality of optical fibers housed in the holding groove are positioned along these positioning grooves, respectively. And a first holding member for pressing the portion of the optical fiber housed in the holding groove into the holding groove, and the portion of the optical fiber positioned in the positioning groove as the positioning groove. And a second holding member for pressing.

By holding the optical fibers in the holding groove and the positioning groove by the first and second holding members, it becomes possible to carry the optical fibers arranged in a predetermined interval.
Further, with respect to the optical fibers in the holding groove and the positioning groove, first, the first holding member is held in the holding groove, and then the position of the optical fiber is adjusted so as to be positioned in the positioning groove
After that, the second holding member can serve as a samurai at the positioning portion. Therefore, the optical fibers can be aligned and held with high accuracy.

In the optical fiber holding device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the first holding member has two clamp plates that press the optical fiber with different pressing forces.

Of the two clamp plates having different pressing forces, the clamp plate having the weaker pressing force holds the optical fibers, so that the position of the optical fiber at the positioning portion can be easily adjusted. By holding the clamp plate with a strong pressing force after the adjustment, the optical fibers can be carried while being stably aligned and held.

In the optical fiber holding device according to a third aspect of the present invention, elastic members are provided at portions of the second holding member and the two clamp plates that press the optical fibers, and the two clamps are provided. The elastic members of the plate are characterized by being formed of different materials.

In the optical fiber holding device according to claim 4 of the present invention, at least one of the second holding member and the two clamp plates is rotatably attached to the base portion. It has a feature.

In the optical fiber holding device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, an elastic member made of sponge is provided on the bottom of the holding groove on one end side, and the bottom of the holding groove on the other end side is provided. An elastic member made of rubber is provided, and one of the two clamp plates is provided with an elastic member made of sponge. The clamp plate is an optical fiber housed at one end side of the holding groove. And an elastic member made of rubber is provided on the other of the two clamp plates, and the clamp plate presses the portion of the optical fiber housed in the other end of the holding groove, The second holding member is provided with an elastic member made of rubber, and the second holding member presses the portion of the optical fiber positioned in the positioning groove.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An optical fiber holding device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The optical fiber holding device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical fiber holding device. An optical fiber 80 whose coating is stripped in advance is prepared. Base 10
Is provided with a holding groove 20 for accommodating the covered portions 81 of the plurality of optical fibers 80. A positioning portion 30 having a plurality of positioning grooves 31 is provided adjacent to one end of the holding groove 20. The cores 82 of the plurality of optical fibers 80 housed in the holding groove 20 are positioned in the positioning groove 31 along the positioning grooves 31, respectively.

A sponge sheet made of, for example, press sponge is fixed to the first base plane 21 which is the bottom on one end side of the holding groove 20. A rubber sheet made of, for example, fluororubber is fixed to the second base plane 22 which is the bottom on the other end side of the holding groove 20. The sponge sheet and the rubber sheet are used as elastic members. The first base plane 21 and the upper surface 30a of the positioning portion 30 are continuous via a step.

Clamp plates 41 and 42 are rotatably attached to the base 10 via hinges 41a and 42a. The clamp plates 41 and 42 are used as a first holding member. The clamp plate 41 rotates between a pressing position that presses the coating portion 81 of the optical fiber 80 placed on the first base plane 21 and a release position that is separated from the holding position. Similarly, the clamp plate 42 can take a pressing position for pressing the covering portion 81 on the second base plane 22 and a releasing position. A sponge sheet 41b and a rubber sheet 42b, which are used as elastic members, are fixed to the respective portions of the clamp plates 41 and 42 that press the covering portion 81. The pressing force of the clamp plate 41 is smaller than the pressing force of the clamp plate 42.

The optical fiber holding device has a clamp lid 40 which is attachable to and detachable from the base 10. Clamp lid 40 is second
It is used as a holding member for. Rotatable claws 40a are provided on both sides of the clamp lid 40. A rubber sheet 40b used as an elastic member is fixed to the lower surface of the clamp lid 40. Claws 40 on the base 10
A notch 11 with which a is engaged is provided. When engaged, the clamp lid 40 covers the positioning portion 30, and the rubber sheet 40b is positioned in the positioning groove 31 and the core wire 82 is positioned.
Press.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line C2-C2 of FIG. The positioning groove 31 has a V-shaped cross section. As described above, the first base plane 21 and the upper surface 30a of the positioning portion 30 are continuous with each other through the step having the height H. The height H of the step is set to a size such that the covering portion 81 contacts the first base plane 21 when the core wire 82 is installed in the positioning groove 31. Thereby, when the optical fiber 80 is held by the optical fiber holding device, the optical fiber 80 is not bent and unnecessary stress is not generated.

Next, the operation of the optical fiber holding device will be described. First, a predetermined number of optical fibers 80 are stored in the holding groove 20. At this time, the boundary between the core wire 82 and the covering portion 81 is placed on the first base plane 21.

Next, the clamp plate 41 is placed in the pressing position, and the covering portion 81 is held with a comparatively weak holding force. At this time, the covering portions 81 are arranged in parallel.

Next, the positioning portion 30 adjusts the position of the core wire 82. As a result, the core wires 82 are positioned in the corresponding positioning grooves 31 so that the core wires 82 are juxtaposed in the same order as the covering portion 81. Since the pressing force of the clamp plate 41 is relatively weak, it is easy to adjust the position of the core wire 82.

Next, the clamp lid 40 is covered with the positioning groove 31, and the claw 40a is engaged with the notch 11. At this point, the core wire 82 is positioned in the corresponding positioning groove 31. Thereby, the core wires 82 are accurately aligned at a predetermined interval.

Next, after holding the covering portion 81 by the clamp plate 42, the clamp plate 41 is once moved to the release position, and the covering portion 81 is held again by the clamp plate 41.
As a result, the optical fibers 80 are kept aligned. You can carry it in this state. By such an operation of the clamp plates 41 and 42, it is possible to hold the optical fiber 80 in a state in which stress that may cause positional displacement after holding and deterioration of transmission that occurs in the optical fiber 80 is released.

The held optical fiber 80 is subjected to end treatment such as cutting, and is attached to a fusion splicing device, other coupling device or inspection device together with the optical fiber holding device. As described above, the optical fiber holding device has the optical fiber 80.
Can be used as a temporary storage.

Naturally, each structure of the embodiment of the present invention can be variously modified and changed. For example, in the present embodiment, a sponge sheet or a rubber sheet is selected and used as the elastic member of the clamp lid 40 and the clamp plates 41, 42, but another material having elasticity to generate an appropriate pressing force may be used instead. Is possible.

Although the clamp lid 40 provided with the rotatable tab 40a is used in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. A modified example of the clamp lid will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a modified example of the clamp lid.
The clamp lid 50 of this modification has a substantially U-shape. The clamp lid 50 has an upper surface portion 51 that covers the positioning portion 30 and a side surface portion 52 that covers the side surface of the base portion 10. A tab 52a is provided at one end of the side surface portion 52. An elastic member 51a is fixed to the lower surface of the upper surface portion 51. The core wire 82 is positioned in the positioning groove 31, and one end of the base portion 10 on the positioning portion 30 side is attached to the upper surface portion 51 and the side surface portion 52.
When the positioning portion 30 is slid and inserted into the space surrounded by, the positioning portion 30 is covered with the elastic member 51a. At this time, claw 5
2a fits into a notch 12 provided on the side surface of the base portion 10. As a result, the core wire 82 is held by the clamp lid 50.

By using such a clamp lid 50, the rotating mechanism provided in the clamp lid 40 becomes unnecessary, and the structure is simplified. The clamp plates 41 and 42 may have the same structure as the clamp lid 50.

Further, in this embodiment, two clamp plates 4 for holding the optical fiber 80 in the holding groove 20 are held.
1, 42 are used, but one or three or more may be used.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is needless to say that various modifications and applications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0029]

As is clear from the above description,
In the optical fiber holding device according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently hold a plurality of optical fibers by easy handling, and the held optical fiber ends can be accurately aligned at predetermined intervals. Is.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line C2-C2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a modified example of the clamp lid.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a conventional optical fiber holding device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 base 20 retaining groove 21 First ground plane 22 Second ground plane 30 Positioning part 31 Positioning groove 40 Clamp lid (second holding member) 40b Rubber sheet (elastic member) 41, 42 Clamp plate (first holding member) 41b Sponge sheet (elastic member) 42b Rubber sheet (elastic member) 50 Clamp lid (second holding member) 51a Elastic member 80 optical fiber 81 Cover 82 core wire

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A holding groove for accommodating a plurality of optical fibers,
It is provided adjacent to one end side of the holding groove and has a plurality of positioning grooves arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval, and a plurality of optical fibers housed in the holding groove respectively position them. A base portion provided with a positioning portion that is positioned along the groove, a first holding member that presses a portion of the optical fiber housed in the holding groove into the holding groove, and a positioning portion that is positioned in the positioning groove An optical fiber holding device comprising: a second holding member that presses a portion of the optical fiber into the positioning groove. 2. The optical fiber holding device according to claim 1, wherein the first holding member has two clamp plates that press the optical fiber with different pressing forces. 3. An elastic member is provided in a portion of the second holding member and the two clamp plates that presses the optical fiber, and the elastic members of the two clamp plates are formed of different materials. The optical fiber holding device according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The light according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the second holding member and the two clamp plates is rotatably attached to the base portion. Fiber holding device. 5. An elastic member made of sponge is provided on the bottom of one end of the holding groove, and an elastic member made of rubber is provided on the other end of the holding groove. An elastic member made of sponge is provided on one of the two clamp plates, and the clamp plate presses a portion of the optical fiber housed on one end side of the holding groove, An elastic member made of rubber is provided on the other side, and this clamp plate presses a portion of the optical fiber housed in the other end side of the holding groove, and the second holding member is made of rubber. 5. The optical fiber holding device according to claim 2, wherein the elastic member is provided, and the second holding member presses a portion of the optical fiber positioned in the positioning groove.