JP2003240965A - Method for obliquely polishing end face of optical fiber and tool for oblique polishing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for obliquely polishing the end face of an optical fiber without a softened section in which stains, scars, or the like on the end face of the fiber are eliminated in obliquely polishing the end face of the optical fiber, and a finished product has good appearance, and to provide a tool for polishing. <P>SOLUTION: The UV (ultraviolet ray) film of a UV film-covered optical fiber is formed by coating a UV-curing resin on the outer periphery of the optical fiber. In addition, secondary curing by means of a UV light source is applied to the UV film of the UV film-covered optical fiber to have hardness causing no chips in the course of a polishing process. After that, the end face of the optical fiber is polished to have an arbitrary oblique angle of 0 to <90 degrees. <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 a method for polishing an end face of an optical fiber and a polishing jig. More specifically, by obliquely polishing the end surface of the optical fiber, the light passing through the fiber is reflected by the cut surface, and the oblique polishing method for the end surface of the optical fiber that can go out of the fiber at an angle and It relates to a polishing jig.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of a conventional method of obliquely polishing an end face of an optical fiber, first, a coating of an optical fiber to be processed is peeled by using a hot stripper or the like to expose the optical fiber (bare fiber). An adhesive, for example a UV adhesive, is then injected into the sleeve (glass capillary), the bare fiber is inserted and the UV adhesive is cured with UV light.
Next, the sleeve in which the bare fiber has been inserted and cured is attached to an oblique polishing jig, and the end face of the sleeve and the bare fiber are simultaneously obliquely polished. Then, when the polishing is completed, the UV adhesive is dissolved in a solvent. By doing so, an optical fiber with an angled end face can be manufactured.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned oblique polishing method for the end face of the optical fiber, the UV adhesive is adhered to the bare fiber and then the UV light is irradiated to cure the adhesive. There was a softened part that was not sufficiently hardened. Therefore, there is a problem in that, when obliquely polished, the softened portion becomes dirty or scratched on the end face of the fiber, the appearance of the finished product is poor, and the product is not a product. When using UV adhesive, UV
Since there is a curing time, there is a problem that it takes man hours.

The present invention has been made in order to solve various problems of the above-mentioned prior art. There is no softened portion, and when the end face of an optical fiber is obliquely polished, the end face of the fiber is not contaminated or scratched. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for obliquely polishing an end face of an optical fiber and a polishing jig that have a good appearance of a finished product.

[0005]

As a first aspect of the present invention, according to the present invention, the end face of a resin film-coated optical fiber in which a resin capable of secondary curing is coated on the outer periphery of the optical fiber is more than 0 degrees above 90 degrees. A method of polishing to a desired oblique angle of less than a degree, the resin coating of the resin coated optical fiber,
There is provided an oblique polishing method for an end face of an optical fiber, which is characterized in that the end face of the optical fiber is polished after second hardening is performed to a hardness that does not cause chipping during the polishing process. In the oblique polishing method for the optical fiber end surface of the first aspect, since there is no softened portion during oblique polishing, the end surface of the fiber does not become dirty or scratched, and the finished product has a good appearance and good characteristics. can get. Further, since no UV adhesive is used, no UV curing time is required, and the number of steps is reduced. It should be noted that, although it is limited to a desired oblique angle of more than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees, it goes without saying that the invention can be applied to the case of 0 degrees.

As a second aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a desired oblique angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 ° over the end face of a resin film-coated optical fiber in which a coating of a resin capable of secondary curing is applied to the outer periphery of the optical fiber. A method of polishing to an angle, wherein the resin film of the optical fiber with the resin film is secondarily cured to a hardness that does not cause chipping during the polishing process to form a resin film secondary cured optical fiber. A sleeve insertion step of inserting the resin-coated secondary curing optical fiber into a sleeve; a collet chuck insertion step of inserting the sleeve into a collet chuck; and a desired collet chuck exceeding 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees. A base mounting step for mounting on a base that can be mounted at a slanting angle; and a sleeve of a collet chuck mounted on the base and a resin coating secondary curing optical fiber An end face polishing step of polishing the end face at a desired oblique angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 °; and removing the collet chuck from the base, and an end face at an arbitrary oblique angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 ° from the sleeve. Finished product of obliquely polished optical fiber: optical fiber pulling-out step of pulling out the polished resin film second-cured optical fiber; In the method of obliquely polishing the end face of the optical fiber, the method is as follows. In the method for obliquely polishing the end face of the optical fiber according to the second aspect, the oblique polishing of the end face of the optical fiber can be efficiently performed by using the above steps. Further, the same action and effect as the oblique polishing method of the first aspect can be obtained.

As a third aspect, the present invention resides in an oblique polishing method for an end face of an optical fiber, wherein the resin film is a UV (ultraviolet) curing resin film. In the oblique polishing method for the end face of the optical fiber according to the third aspect, a UV (ultraviolet) curable resin film can be preferably used as the resin film.

As a fourth aspect, the present invention is a polishing jig used in the method for polishing an end face of an optical fiber according to the first, second or third aspect, wherein a resin film secondary cured optical fiber is inserted. Sleeve, a collet chuck capable of holding the sleeve, and a base on which the collet chuck can be mounted while being inclined at a desired oblique angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 °. A jig for oblique polishing of an end face of an optical fiber is characterized in that the sleeve and the end face of the resin coating secondary cured optical fiber can be end face polished at a desired oblique angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 ° at the same time. The oblique polishing jig of the fourth aspect can be suitably used for the polishing method of the optical fiber end face described in the first, second or third aspect.

As a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the sleeve, the outer diameter of the resin film secondary curing optical fiber is 0 to 10 from the outer diameter.
It is a jig for oblique polishing, which has a hole with a large μm. In the oblique polishing jig of the fifth aspect, the secondary cured optical fiber can be preferably inserted and held in the hole of the sleeve.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The contents of the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. The present invention is not limited to this. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an optical fiber with a resin coating (optical fiber with a UV coating) and an obliquely polished optical fiber. FIG. 1 (a) shows an optical fiber with a resin coating (also showing a secondary curing optical fiber).
Cross-sectional view of the same, (b) is a front view of the obliquely polished optical fiber,
Further, FIG. 6C is a sectional view of the portion aa in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which the secondary curing optical fiber is inserted into the sleeve and the sleeve is further inserted into the collet chuck. 3 is a schematic view showing an example of an oblique polishing jig in which the collet chuck of FIG. 2 is mounted on a base. Further, FIG. 4 is a chart showing an example of the oblique polishing method of the present invention. In these figures, 1 is a core, 2 is a clad, 3 is a bare fiber, 4 is a resin film (UV film),
4'is a secondary cured resin film (secondary cured UV film), 5 is an optical fiber with a resin film (optical fiber with a UV film),
5'is a resin coating secondary curing optical fiber (UV coating secondary curing optical fiber), 6 is an oblique polishing optical fiber, 7 is a sleeve, 7a is a sleeve hole, 8 is a collet chuck, 9 is a base, 10 is oblique polishing Jig, g is a sleeve positioning guide, h is a collet chuck positioning key, i is a split, and j is a screw.

First Embodiment As a first example of the method for obliquely polishing the end face of the optical fiber, a method for obliquely polishing the end face of the optical fiber at 45 degrees will be described. First, the UV optical fiber 5 to be the object to be polished is prepared. As shown in FIG. 1A, for example, the UV optical fiber 5 has a core 1 at the center and a bare fiber 3 having a cladding 2 on the outer periphery thereof and a water-soluble UV coating 4 applied to the outer periphery thereof. Is. The diameter of the core 1 is, for example, 10 μm.
m, the diameter of the clad 2 (bare fiber 3) is 125 μ, for example.
m, and the diameter of the UV optical fiber 5 is, for example, 250 μm. Next, UV is applied to the water-soluble UV coating 4 of the UV optical fiber 5.
UV irradiation is performed to secondarily cure the UV coating 4 to a hardness that does not cause chipping during the polishing process to form a secondary curing UV coating 4 '.
The film is a secondary curing optical fiber 5 '. The irradiation time of the UV light is, for example, 2 minutes. Next, the secondary curing optical fiber 5 ′ is inserted into the sleeve 7 having an inner diameter of 250 μm, and then the sleeve 7 is attached to the collet chuck 8 as shown in FIG.
To insert. Next, as shown in FIG.
The collet chuck 8 is mounted by aligning the positioning key h of the collet chuck with the base 9 which is inclined at an angle. Next, the sleeve 7 and the secondary curing optical fiber 5'are simultaneously obliquely polished. After the oblique polishing is completed, the collet chuck 8 is removed from the base 9, the sleeve 7 is then removed from the collet chuck 8, and then the secondary cured optical fiber 5 ′ obliquely polished to 45 degrees from the sleeve 7 is pulled out. Then 45
Secondary curing UV of secondary curing optical fiber 5'which was obliquely polished
The film 4'is chemically exfoliated by applying ultrasonic waves using warm water to obtain a finished product (obliquely polished optical fiber) 6 of a 45 degree fiber as shown in FIG. 1 (b). The rotary table (not shown) used for polishing was a commonly used rotary table. The sleeve 7 is made of glass,
The collet chuck 8 includes a sleeve positioning guide g, a collet chuck positioning key h, a split i, and a screw j.
Etc., the sleeve 7 can be held and attached to the base 9 accurately. The sleeve hole 7a has a diameter 5 μm larger than the outer diameter of the UV optical fiber 5.

-Second Embodiment- An oblique polishing method for an end face of an optical fiber according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to the chart of FIG. First, in the resin film secondary curing step f1, the resin film of the resin coated optical fiber is secondarily cured to a hardness that does not cause chipping during the polishing step to obtain a resin film secondary cured optical fiber. Next, in the sleeve insertion step f2, the resin coating secondary cured optical fiber is inserted into the sleeve. Next, as a collet chuck insertion step f3, the sleeve is inserted into the collet chuck. Next, in a base mounting step f4, the collet chuck is mounted on a base that can be mounted at a desired oblique angle of more than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees. Next, in the end face polishing step f5, the sleeve of the collet chuck attached to the base and the end face of the resin coating secondary cured optical fiber are simultaneously polished. Next, the optical fiber drawing step f6
As the above, the collet chuck is removed from the base, the sleeve is removed from the collet chuck, and then the optical fiber whose end face is polished at an arbitrary oblique angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 ° is pulled out from the sleeve. Next, in the resin film peeling step f7, the resin film of the optical fiber whose end surface has been polished is chemically peeled to obtain a finished product of the obliquely polished optical fiber.

[0013]

According to the method of obliquely polishing the end face of an optical fiber and the jig for oblique polishing of the present invention, since there is no softened portion at the time of oblique polishing, the end face of the fiber does not become dirty or scratched.
The finished product had a good appearance, and an obliquely polished optical fiber product with good characteristics was obtained. Further, since no UV adhesive is used, UV curing time is not required, which reduces the number of steps and improves work efficiency. Therefore, the present invention is extremely effective in contributing to the industry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of an optical fiber with a resin coating (optical fiber with a UV coating) and an obliquely polished optical fiber. FIG. 1 (a) shows an optical fiber with a resin coating (also showing a secondary curing optical fiber). A sectional view, the same figure (b) is a front view of the obliquely polished optical fiber, and the same figure (c) is a sectional view of aa section of the same figure (b).

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which a secondary curing optical fiber is inserted into a sleeve and the sleeve is further inserted into a collet chuck.

3 is a schematic view showing an example of an oblique polishing jig in which the collet chuck of FIG. 2 is mounted on a base.

FIG. 4 is a chart showing an example of the oblique polishing method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 core 2 clad 3 bare fiber 4 resin coating (UV coating) 4'secondary curing resin coating (secondary curing UV coating) 5 optical fiber with resin coating (optical fiber with UV coating) 5'resin coating secondary curing optical fiber (UV film secondary curing optical fiber) 6 oblique polishing optical fiber 7 sleeve 7a sleeve hole 8 collet chuck 9 base 10 oblique polishing jig g sleeve positioning guide h collet chuck positioning key i split j screw

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H038 AA21 CA22                 2H050 AC87                 3C049 AA02 AB04 CA01 CB02

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method for polishing an end face of a resin film-coated optical fiber, in which a resin capable of secondary curing is applied to the outer periphery of the optical fiber, to a desired oblique angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 °. A method for obliquely polishing an end face of an optical fiber, characterized in that the end face of the optical fiber is polished after the resin coat of the resin coated optical fiber is secondarily cured to a hardness that does not cause chipping during the polishing step. . 2. A method of polishing an end surface of a resin film-coated optical fiber, in which a resin capable of secondary curing is applied to the outer periphery of the optical fiber, to a desired oblique angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 °. Then, the resin film of the optical fiber with the resin film is secondarily cured to a hardness that does not cause chipping during the polishing process to obtain a resin film secondary cured optical fiber. A sleeve inserting step of inserting the next curing optical fiber into the sleeve; a collet chuck inserting step of inserting the sleeve into a collet chuck; and a step of mounting the collet chuck at a desired oblique angle of more than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees. The base mounting step of mounting on the base is possible; and the sleeve of the collet chuck mounted on the base and the end face of the resin-coated secondary curing optical fiber exceed 0 degrees at the same time. End face polishing process of the end face polished to a desired oblique angle less than 90 degrees;
And an optical fiber drawing step of removing the collet chuck from the base and pulling out the resin-coated secondary cured optical fiber whose end surface is polished from the sleeve at an arbitrary angle of more than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees; A resin film peeling step of peeling a resin film of a film second-cured optical fiber; and a diagonally polished optical fiber end face, which is a finished product of an obliquely polished optical fiber. 3. A method for obliquely polishing an end face of an optical fiber, wherein the resin film according to claim 1 or 2 is a UV (ultraviolet) curing resin film. 4. A polishing jig used in the method for obliquely polishing an end face of an optical fiber according to claim 1, 2, or 3.
A sleeve into which the resin-coated secondary curing optical fiber can be inserted, a collet chuck capable of holding the sleeve, and the collet chuck that is attached at a desired oblique angle of more than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees. Of the optical fiber end surface, wherein the end surface of the sleeve and the resin film secondary cured optical fiber can be simultaneously polished to a desired oblique angle of more than 0 degree and less than 90 degrees. Diagonal polishing jig. 5. The jig for oblique polishing according to claim 4, wherein the sleeve has a hole larger by 0 to 10 μm than the outer diameter of the resin coating secondary cured optical fiber.