JP2003315644A - Apparatus and method for manufacturing slot type cable - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method for manufacturing a slot type cable constituted by securely and stably storing an optical fiber or its aggregate in slots on the outer circumferential surface of a spacer. <P>SOLUTION: A cord member 13 which is given a specified tension and always in slide contact with the outer circumferential surface of the spacer 1 is wound around the spacer 1 right upstream from a die 11 in a spacer moving direction and coated optical fiber ribbons 6, 6,..., are guided so that they are pressed in slots 5, 5,..., with the cord member 13. This cord member 13 forms a virtual die which is held to the same diameter as the external diameter of the spacer 1 by varying following up variation in tolerance of the external diameter of the spacer 1 to restrict deviation of the coated optical fiber ribbons 6, 6,..., from the slots 5, 5,..., when the spacer 1 enters the original die 11 together with the coated optical fiber ribbons 6, 6,.... <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method of a slot type cable in which an optical fiber or an assembly thereof is housed in a slot on an outer peripheral surface of a spacer, and more particularly, an optical fiber or an assembly thereof is used as a slot. It belongs to the technical field related to measures to ensure stable and stable drops.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of slot type cable has a grooved spacer formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof so that one or more slots (concave grooves) are formed so as to extend in the longitudinal direction. An optical fiber or a tape core wire as an assembly thereof is housed, and for example, a housing in which a plurality of tape core wires are stacked and housed in a slot is known as a high-density optical fiber cable.

There are two types of slots of the spacer, spiral type and SZ type. The spiral type slot is formed in a spiral shape on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer, while in the SZ type, the slot is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer. It is formed in a curved shape that alternately curves on both sides in the circumferential direction along the length direction.

In order to accommodate, for example, a tape core wire in the slot of such a spacer, the spacer is unrolled from a drum (bobbin) and wound on another drum to move in the length direction, and a plurality of aligned sheets are arranged. The optical fiber tape core wire is moved so as to follow the moving spacer, and when these tape core wires are assembled, the tape core wire is dropped from around the spacer along the slot to be housed.

At this time, for example, in order to prevent the centering of the tape core wire with respect to the spacer, the deviation of the spacer, and the deviation of the tape core wire from the slot, the spacer is inserted into the assembly portion (drop-in portion) of the spacer and the tape core wire. A possible die is provided, and a spacer is moved together with the tape core wire in the die.

[0006]

However, in practice, the outer diameter of the spacer has a tolerance (for example, ± 0.2 mm).
Therefore, in consideration of this tolerance, it is necessary to make the inner diameter of the die slightly larger (for example, 0.2 mm) than the outer diameter of the spacer. Therefore, a gap is created between the inner peripheral surface of the spacer near the slot and the inner surface of the die, and if the gap is larger than the thickness of the tape core wire, when the tape core wire rises inside the slot for some reason. , The tape core wire deviates from the slot and enters between the outer peripheral surface of the spacer other than the slot and the inner peripheral surface of the die, and as a result, it is difficult to reliably and stably drop the tape core wire into the slot. The problem arises.
This problem becomes particularly noticeable in the SZ type slot.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to improve the structure when the tape core wire or the like is dropped into the slot on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer by a die as described above. At the position immediately before entering the die, make sure that the tape core wire, etc. does not deviate from the slot on the outer peripheral surface of the die so that the tape core wire, etc. can be reliably dropped into the slot even if there is a tolerance in the outer diameter of the spacer. To do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the invention of claim 1, there is provided a die having a slot having an outer peripheral surface through which a spacer can be inserted, and the spacer is an optical fiber core wire or an assembly thereof. Along with moving in the length direction while being inserted into the die, the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof is dropped into the slot of the spacer to accommodate the optical fiber core wire, and a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a slot type cable is targeted. Is.

A guide means is provided which is always in sliding contact with the spacer outer peripheral surface immediately upstream of the die in the spacer moving direction and which guides the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof so as to be pressed into the slot. .

According to the above construction, the guide means is provided so as to be always in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the spacer immediately upstream of the spacer in the spacer moving direction. Even if there is a tolerance in the diameter, the diameter changes in accordance with the change in the tolerance and a virtual die that is kept at the same diameter as the outer diameter of the spacer is formed. When entering together with the fiber core wire or the assembly thereof, the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof is pressed into the slot of the spacer by the virtual die or guiding means, and the deviation from the slot is restricted. With this, even if there is a tolerance in the outer diameter of the spacer, the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof is surely dropped into the slot in the die,
A high quality slot type cable can be stably manufactured.

In the invention of claim 2, the guide means is a cord member wound around the spacer at least once and given a predetermined tension. This makes it possible to embody the preferred embodiment of the guiding means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the slot is formed in a spiral shape on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer.
Further, in the invention of claim 4, the slot is formed in a curved shape which is alternately curved on both sides in the circumferential direction along the spacer length direction on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer. According to the configurations of these inventions, it is possible to obtain an optimum spacer that effectively exhibits the effects of the invention. In particular, according to the structure of the invention of claim 4, since the slot on the outer periphery of the spacer is curved in a meandering shape along the length direction of the spacer, the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof for the slot can be formed only by a die. Although stable and reliable dropping is difficult, it is possible to reliably drop the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof into the slot due to the deviation regulation effect of the guide means (string member).

A fifth aspect of the present invention is an invention of a method for manufacturing a slot type cable. In the present invention, a spacer having a slot on an outer peripheral surface is inserted in a die together with an optical fiber core wire or an assembly thereof in a longitudinal direction. While moving to
As a manufacturing method for manufacturing a slot type cable by dropping an optical fiber core wire or an aggregate thereof into a slot of a spacer to accommodate the guide wire, a guide means that is always in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the spacer immediately upstream of the die in the spacer moving direction. The optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof is guided so as to be pressed into the slot. Also in this invention, the same operational effect as that of the above-mentioned invention of claim 1 can be obtained.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1 and 2 show an essential part of an apparatus for manufacturing a slotted cable A according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the slot type cable A is provided with a spacer 1 made of, for example, polyethylene resin in which a tension member 2 is inserted and integrated in the central portion, and the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1 has a rectangular cross section or the like. A plurality of slots (5 rows in the illustrated example) formed by the groove of
5, ... Are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. As shown in FIG. 1, each of the slots 5 is formed in a spiral shape on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1 so as to be curved in one of the circumferential directions toward the spacer length direction, and is a spiral type.

In each slot 5, a plurality of (5 in the example shown in FIG. 3) tape core wires 6, 6, ... (Assemblies of optical fiber core wires) are opened from the bottom of the slot 5 toward the opening side. Are stacked and housed. As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 4, each tape core wire 6 has a plurality (four in the illustrated example) of optical fiber core wires 6a, 6a, ... Integrated into a tape shape.

A tape 8 is wound on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1.
Are wound around the slots 5 while accommodating a plurality of tape core wires 6, 6, ...
It is covered with.

In order to manufacture such a slot type cable A, although not shown, for example, the spacer 1 wound around the spacer feeding drum is unwound from the drum and wound up by the cable winding drum. While moving the spacer 1 between both drums in the length direction at a predetermined speed, the multi-layered tape core wires 6, 6, ... The tape winding of the tape 8 and the subsequent coating of the wrap sheath 9 are continuously performed.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a metal die 11 through which the spacer 1 can be inserted is disposed between the spacer feeding drum and the cable winding drum. , The spacer 1 from the spacer feeding drum is moved toward the cable winding drum through the die 11, and the aligned plurality of tape core wires 6, 6, ... Follow the moving spacer 1. Are moved in the same direction, and these tape core wires 6, 6, ... Are gathered in the die 11 and dropped from around the spacer 1 along the slots 5, 5 ,.

In order to allow the spacer 1 to be inserted into the die 11, the inner diameter of the die 11 takes into consideration the tolerance of the outer diameter of the spacer 1 (for example, ± 0.2 mm), and the nominal outer diameter of the spacer 1 is taken into consideration. Slightly less than (eg 0.2m
m) Large diameter.

The feature of the present invention resides in that the tape core wires 6, 6, ... Are dropped and accommodated in the slots 5 of the spacer 1 as described above. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, on the upstream side (the left side in FIG. 1) of the spacer 11 in the spacer moving direction, a substantially circular cross section having a predetermined diameter (for example, 1 mm) made of, for example, nylon resin as guide means. The string member 13 having a shape is arranged and fixed so as not to follow the spacer 1 so as to be immovable, and the string member 13 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1 immediately upstream of the spacer 11 in the spacer moving direction, specifically, the slot 5 thereof.
1 around the spacer 1 so that it will always be in sliding contact with other parts.
It is wound once (it may be wound once or more). Then, one end of the cord member 13 is fixed by being tied to a fixed body (not shown), and the other end is connected with a weight (not shown) having a predetermined weight (for example, 1 kg). A predetermined tension is applied to the string member 13 by its own weight,
The cord member 13 guides the tape core wires 6, 6, ... Which are about to enter the die 11 together with the spacer 1 so as to be pressed into each slot 5 of the spacer 1.

Therefore, in the above-described embodiment, when the slot type cable A is manufactured, the spacer 1 fed from the spacer feeding drum moves through the die 11 toward the cable winding drum and is aligned. A plurality of tape core wires 6, 6, ... Move in the same direction so as to follow the spacer 1, and these tape core wires 6, 6.
6 are assembled in the die 11 and dropped from around the spacer 1 along the respective slots 5 to be housed.

At this time, the cord member 13 is wound around the spacer 1 immediately upstream of the die 11 in the spacer moving direction in a single winding state so as to always be in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1. Since tension is applied by the weight, the string member 13 that is in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1
Has a function of a virtual die in which even if the outer diameter of the spacer 1 has a tolerance, the diameter changes in accordance with the change in the tolerance and the diameter is always kept the same as the outer diameter of the spacer 1. .
Therefore, when the spacer 1 that has passed through the cord member 13 enters the original die 11 together with the tape core wires 6, 6, ..., The tape core wires 6, 6 ,. Thus, the spacer 1 is pressed into each slot 5 and is prevented from deviating from the slot 5. Therefore, even if the outer diameter of the spacer 1 has a tolerance,
Tape cores 6, 6, ...
Therefore, the slot type cable A having high quality and high reliability can be stably manufactured.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
(Note that the same portions as those in FIGS. 1 to 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted), and the first embodiment
Then, a spiral type slot 5 on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1
The present invention is applied to the case of manufacturing the slot type cable A having the SZ type slot 5, while the present invention is applied to the case of manufacturing the slot type cable A having the SZ type slot 5.

That is, in this embodiment, each slot 5 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1 in a curved shape that alternately curves on both sides in the circumferential direction along the spacer length direction (the cross-sectional shape thereof). Is the same as in FIG. 3). Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore, this embodiment can also achieve the same effects as the first embodiment.

In particular, in this embodiment, since each slot 5 is curved in a meandering shape in the circumferential direction alternately along the spacer length direction on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1, only the die 11 is different from the first embodiment. Then, it becomes difficult to surely drop the tape core wires 6, 6, ... into the respective slots 5.
The tape core wires 6, 6, ... Can be reliably dropped into the slot 5 due to the above-described deviation regulation effect of the string member 13.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the string member 13 is used as the guide means, but other than this, a tape member may be used as long as it does not damage the tape core wire 6.

In each of the above embodiments, the slot type cable A in which the tape core wires 6, 6, ... Are housed in the slots 5 on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer 1 is manufactured. Optical fiber core in slot 5 on the surface,
Alternatively, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to the case of manufacturing a slot type cable in which an optical fiber core wire assembly other than the tape core wire 6 is housed.

[0028]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1 or 5, while moving the spacer having the slot on the outer peripheral surface along the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof in the die along the length direction. In the case of manufacturing a slot type cable, the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof is dropped into a slot of a spacer to accommodate a guide means which is always in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the spacer on the upstream side in the spacer moving direction. The guide means is used to press the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof into the slot, so that a virtual die that is changed to follow the change in the tolerance of the spacer outer diameter and is held at the same diameter as the spacer outer diameter can be obtained. When the spacer is formed by the guide means and the spacer enters the original die together with the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof, the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof is It can restrict the departing from the lot,
It is possible to reliably drop the optical fiber core wire or the aggregate thereof into the slot with a die and stably manufacture a high quality slot type cable.

According to the invention of claim 2, the guide means is a cord member wound around the spacer at least once and given a predetermined tension, thereby embodying a preferable embodiment of the guide means. be able to.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the slot is formed in a spiral shape on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer. Further, in the invention of claim 4, the slot is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer in a curved shape alternately curved on both sides in the circumferential direction along the spacer length direction. According to these inventions, an optimum spacer can be obtained in which the effects of the above invention are effectively exhibited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of a slot type cable manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a slot type cable.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a tape core wire.

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

A slot type cable 1 spacer 5 slots 6 tape core wire 11 dice 13 String member (guide means)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber core is provided with a die through which a spacer having a slot on its outer peripheral surface can be inserted, and the spacer is moved along with the optical fiber core wire or an assembly thereof in the die in the length direction. A manufacturing device for manufacturing a slot type cable by dropping a wire or an assembly thereof into a slot of a spacer and storing the same, wherein the die is constantly in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the spacer immediately upstream of the spacer moving direction. An apparatus for manufacturing a slot type cable, comprising guide means for guiding the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof so as to be pressed into the slot. 2. The slot type cable manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide means is a cord member wound around the spacer at least once and given a predetermined tension. Manufacturing equipment. 3. The slot type cable manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slot is formed in a spiral shape on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer. 4. The apparatus for manufacturing a slot type cable according to claim 1, wherein the slot is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the spacer in a curved shape that alternately curves on both sides in the circumferential direction along the spacer length direction. An apparatus for manufacturing a slot type cable, which is characterized in that 5. The optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof is dropped into the slot of the spacer while the spacer having a slot on the outer peripheral surface is moved in the length direction while being inserted into the die together with the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof. Is a manufacturing method for manufacturing a slotted cable by housing the optical fiber core wire or the assembly thereof in a slot by guide means that is always in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surface of the spacer immediately upstream of the spacer in the spacer moving direction. A method for manufacturing a slot type cable, characterized in that the guide is performed so as to press the inside.