JP2003241038A - Coated optical fiber of optical fiber tape - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coated optical fiber of an optical fiber tape which can be separated intermediately by facilitating the separation of a single coated optical fiber. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of single coated optical fiber 3 each formed by coating an optical fiber 7 with coating layers 9 and 13 are arrayed in parallel. The plurality of single coated optical fiber 3 are fixed with an adhesion layer 5, and the adhesion layer 5 can easily be broken to facilitate single-core separation. The signal coated optical fibers 3 have a rectangular external shape and hence the plurality of single coated optical fiber 3 are easily arranged in a ribbon shape in parallel and securely fixed with a thin adhesion layer 5, so that their breakage is made easy. <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 ribbon, and more particularly, to an optical fiber ribbon which allows easy separation of a plurality of single optical fibers constituting the optical fiber ribbon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, referring to FIG. 3, an optical fiber ribbon 101 has a plurality of optical fiber single fibers 103 arranged in parallel and a coating layer 105 made of a resin formed around the optical fibers. It is manufactured integrally as a tape.

In order to separate the optical fiber single core wire 103 from the optical fiber tape core wire 101 obtained as described above, tools 107 and 109 for single core separation as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 are used. , 111 are used.

Referring to FIG. 4 (A), the tool 107 is of a type in which the optical fiber single-core wire 103 is separated by a shearing force. The tool 107 includes, for example, a male-female outer blade 113 and an inner blade 115, and the four-fiber optical fiber ribbon 1
The second and third cores 103B and 103C of 01 to the first and fourth cores 103A and 103D are the tools 107.
The coating layer 10 by the shearing force of the outer blade 113 and the inner blade 115 of
5 is broken and easily separated into four cores as shown in FIG. 4 (B).

Referring to FIG. 5, a tool 109 is for separating the optical fiber single core wire 103 by a planer method. The coating layer 105 of the optical fiber ribbon 101 is cut off by the planer 117 of the tool 109, and the optical fiber single-fiber 103 such as a colored fiber is separated from the coating layer 105.

Referring to FIGS. 6 (A) and 6 (B), the tool 111 inserts a blade 119 between a plurality of optical fiber single core wires 103 of the optical fiber tape core wire 101 to break the coating layer 105. It is a method of separating single cores.

[0007]

By the way, in the conventional optical fiber tape core wire 101, when the optical fiber tape core wire 101 is single-core separated using the shearing type separation tool 107, the optical fiber tape core wire 101 is the outer cutter 113 of the tool 107. And inner blade 115
Therefore, there is a problem that the optical fiber ribbon 101 is cut if it is set by mistake.

When a single core is separated by using the planer separation tool 109, when the covering layer 105 is scraped by the planer 117, a tear reaches the single core 103 of the optical fiber, so that the strength of the single core 103 is increased. However, there was a problem in that

When the tool 111 of the type in which the blade 119 is inserted is used for single-center separation, the blade 119 of the tool 111 is prone to deterioration. Further, if the optical fiber ribbon 101 is mistakenly set between the blades 119 of the tool 111, the single optical fiber 103 is cut.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to make it possible to easily separate an optical fiber single-core wire and to realize an intermediate separation, which has been impossible in the past. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber ribbon core wire which can prevent the breakage of the wire.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention comprises:
A plurality of optical fiber single-core wires formed by coating an optical fiber with a resin coating layer are arranged in parallel, and the plurality of optical fiber single-core wires are fixed by an adhesive layer. It is a thing.

Therefore, since the plurality of optical fiber single-core wires are fixed by the thin adhesive layer, the above-mentioned adhesive layer can be easily broken and the single-core separation is easy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the optical fiber ribbon according to the first aspect, the coating layer of the single optical fiber has a Young's modulus higher than that of the adhesive layer. It is characterized by.

Therefore, since the Young's modulus of the coating layer of the single optical fiber is higher than the Young's modulus of the resin of the adhesive layer, the coating layer of the single optical fiber is not broken when the single optical fiber is separated. The adhesive layer is surely ruptured and separated into single cores.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the optical fiber ribbon according to the second aspect, the Young's modulus of the coating layer of the single optical fiber is the Young's modulus of the resin of the adhesive layer. It is characterized in that it is 10 to 200 times.

Therefore, when the coating layer of the optical fiber single-core wire is a resin having a Young's modulus 10 to 200 times that of the adhesive layer, the coating layer of the optical fiber single-core wire is not broken and the adhesive layer is surely formed. It is desirable in that it breaks.

An optical fiber ribbon according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the optical fiber ribbon according to the first, second or third aspect, wherein the coating layer of the single optical fiber has a rectangular outer shape. It is characterized by being present.

Therefore, since the outer shape of the optical fiber single-core wire is rectangular, it becomes easy to arrange a plurality of optical fiber single-core wires in parallel in a tape shape, and a stable state even with a thin adhesive layer. Fixed by.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, an optical fiber ribbon 1 according to the present embodiment has a plurality of single optical fiber strands 3 arranged in parallel. The periphery is covered with a thin adhesive layer 5 made of resin and fixed in a tape shape. In addition, the number of the optical fiber single-core wires 3 forming the optical fiber tape core wire 1 can be an arbitrary number of 2 or more. In this embodiment, it is a 4-fiber ribbon.

The above-mentioned optical fiber single-core wire 3 is not particularly limited, and may be an optical fiber single-core wire 3 whose cross-sectional outer shape is simply circular. However, in this embodiment, the optical fiber 7 is covered with the coating layer 9. , For example, an optical fiber colored core 11 having an outer diameter of 250 μm, which is coated with an ultraviolet curable resin (UV resin)
The outermost coating layer 13 is further recoated with UV resin in a rectangular shape on the outside of the optical fiber colored core wire 11.

The adhesive layer 5 is applied so that the groove portion 15 between the four rectangular optical fiber single-core wires 3 is filled, and the four optical fiber single-core wires 3 as a whole are four-core tape. It is fixed in a shape.

Since the optical fiber single-core wire 3 has a rectangular outer peripheral shape as described above, it becomes easy to arrange a plurality of optical fiber single-core wires 3 in a tape shape in parallel and thin. Even with the adhesive layer 5, the plurality of single-fiber optical fibers 3 are fixed in a stable state.

Further, the fact that the adhesive layer 5 is not simply buried in the groove 15 but is applied so as to thinly coat the entire circumference of the plurality of single-fiber optical fibers 3 as described above, Although it is desirable in that the plurality of optical fiber single-core wires 3 are more firmly fixed, the entire periphery of the plurality of optical fiber single-core wires 3 may not be covered with the adhesive layer 5.

Further, the outermost coating layer 1 of the optical fiber single-core wire 3
The UV resin used as 3 has a high Young's modulus, and the adhesive layer 5 is preferably a UV resin having a low Young's modulus. That is, since the outermost coating layer 13 of the optical fiber single-core wire 3 is higher than the Young's modulus of the resin of the adhesive layer 5, the outermost coating layer 13 of the optical fiber single-core wire 3 is separated when the optical fiber single-core wire 3 is separated. The adhesive layer 5 is surely broken without being broken, and the single core is separated.

For example, as a guide, the Young's modulus of the UV resin used for the outermost coating layer 13 of the single optical fiber 3 is 10 to 200 of the Young's modulus of the UV resin used for the adhesive layer 5.
It is desirable that the number of times is about twice from the viewpoint that the adhesive layer 5 is surely broken without breaking the covering layer 9 and the outermost covering layer 13 of the single optical fiber 3.

The above rectangular optical fiber single-core wire 3 is used.
The optical fiber ribbon 1 can be manufactured in tandem (inline).

In the optical fiber ribbon 1 having the above-described structure, the thin adhesive layer 5 can be easily broken, so that the single optical fiber 3 can be easily separated. Enables intermediate separation, which was not possible in the past.
It is possible to prevent rupture mistakes.

With reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, a comparative test on the single-fiber separability between the optical fiber ribbon 1 of this embodiment and the conventional optical fiber ribbon 17 will be described. went.

In this comparative test, the optical fiber ribbons 1 and 1 of this embodiment and the conventional ones are used.
For 7 as well, the number of separation tests was 100 (n = 100). With the conventional optical fiber tape core wire 17, it was impossible to perform the intermediate separation without using a separation tool. Therefore, in this comparative test, as shown in FIGS. 2 (A) and 2 (B), A separation tool 1 of a type that inserts a blade into any of the above optical fiber ribbons 1 and 17
9,21 were used. However, for the optical fiber ribbon 1 of this embodiment, a separation test is performed using an improved separation tool 19 having a shorter blade length as shown in FIG. 2 (A). I was broken.

The improved separation tool 19 cannot separate the conventional optical fiber tape core wire 17 into a single core. This is because the coating layer of the conventional optical fiber ribbon 17 cannot be destroyed due to the insufficient blade length. That is, it is shown that the optical fiber tape core wire 1 of the embodiment of the present invention can be easily separated from the core wire as compared with the conventional one. Further, regarding the improved separation tool 19, there is an advantage that the durability of the blade is improved because the blade length is short and the adhesive layer 5 of the optical fiber ribbon 1 is easily broken.

As a result of the above-mentioned separation test, the number of times the separation has failed in the separation test of 100 times in each of the tape core wires 1 and 17 is 8 in the conventional optical fiber tape core wire 17, In the optical fiber ribbon 1 of this embodiment, the number was 0 (zero). Therefore, it is shown that the optical fiber ribbon core wire 1 of this embodiment is excellent in the stability of the single core separation.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be implemented in other modes by making appropriate changes.

[0034]

As can be understood from the above description of the embodiments of the invention, according to the invention of claim 1, since a plurality of optical fiber single-core wires are fixed by a thin adhesive layer, they are bonded. Since the layers can be easily broken, the single core can be easily separated.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the Young's modulus of the coating layer of the single optical fiber is set higher than the Young's modulus of the resin of the adhesive layer, so that the single optical fiber is separated when the single optical fiber is separated. The adhesive layer can be reliably broken and the single core can be separated without breaking the coating layer of the single-core wire.

According to the invention of claim 3, since the coating layer of the optical fiber single-core wire is a resin having a Young's modulus of 10 to 200 times that of the adhesive layer, the coating layer of the optical fiber single-core wire is not broken. The adhesive layer can be reliably broken.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the optical fiber single-core wire has a rectangular outer shape, a plurality of optical fiber single-core wires can be easily arranged in parallel in a tape shape, and Even with a thin adhesive layer, a plurality of single-fiber optical fibers can be fixed to each other in a stable state.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a cross-sectional view of an optical fiber ribbon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention and a single-core separation test in a conventional optical fiber ribbon, and FIG. 2A is a state explanatory view of a test of the ribbon of this embodiment,
(B) is a state explanatory view of a conventional tape core wire test.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional optical fiber ribbon.

4A and 4B show a single fiber separation in a conventional optical fiber ribbon, in which FIG. 4A is an explanatory view of a separation state using a shearing type separation tool, and FIG. 4B is a separated optical fiber single fiber; FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a single-fiber separation in a conventional optical fiber tape core wire, and is an explanatory view of a separation state using a planer separation tool.

FIG. 6 shows a single fiber separation in a conventional optical fiber ribbon, (A) is a separation state explanatory view using a blade-insertion type separation tool, and (B) is a V in (A).
It is an enlarged view of the I section.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Optical fiber tape 3 optical fiber single core wire 5 Adhesive layer 7 optical fiber 9 coating layer 11 Optical fiber colored core 13 Outermost coating layer 15 Groove 17 optical fiber ribbon (conventional) 19 Separation tools (improved) 21 Separation Tool

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Takeshi Shimichi             1440 Rokuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture Fujikura Ltd.             Sakura office F-term (reference) 2H001 BB15 BB18 BB27 DD23 KK17                       KK22 PP01

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of optical fiber single-core wires formed by coating an optical fiber with a resin coating layer are arranged in parallel, and the plurality of optical fiber single-core wires are fixed by an adhesive layer. An optical fiber tape core wire characterized by the above. 2. The optical fiber ribbon according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer of the single optical fiber has a Young's modulus higher than that of the resin of the adhesive layer. 3. The optical fiber ribbon according to claim 2, wherein the coating layer of the optical fiber single core has a Young's modulus of 10 to 200 times that of the resin of the adhesive layer. 4. The optical fiber ribbon according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer of the single optical fiber has a rectangular outer shape.