JP2004163688A - Method and apparatus for removing optical fiber coating - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently and securely remove a remaining coating being a portion of the outer coating of an optical fiber tape from the outside of a optical fiber separated from the optical fiber tape. <P>SOLUTION: In this optical fiber coating removing method, an optical fiber 31 with the coating which has the remaining coating 4b stuck outside the optical fiber 32 is stored in a groove part 16 of a grooved member 12 for restricting fiber rotation. Then a removing blade 13 is pressed against the remaining coating 4b and moved along the length direction of the optical fiber 31 to remove the remaining coating 4b or the sticking force of the remaining coating 4b is reduced. An optical fiber coating removing apparatus using the method is also presented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical fiber coating removing method and an optical fiber coating removing apparatus for removing an external coating of an optical fiber such as a multi-core optical fiber tape.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, optical fiber tapes that have been widely used as multi-core optical fibers are optical fibers, such as optical fiber wires or optical fiber core wires, arranged side by side and in parallel and formed into a tape by collectively resin coating. For example, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, a soft ultraviolet curable resin is formed on the outer periphery of an optical fiber 1 made of quartz glass (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “bare optical fiber”) 1. A plurality of optical fibers 3 having a configuration in which a primary layer 2a, a secondary layer 2b made of a hard resin is provided on the outer periphery thereof, and a colored layer 2c is provided on the outer periphery thereof are arranged side by side in parallel, and the outer periphery is made of an ultraviolet curable resin. What is formed by applying an exterior coating (collective coating layer) 4 is widely used.
[0003]
The optical fiber tape 5 as illustrated in FIG. 5 usually has a so-called “single-core separability” for removing only the outer coating 4 near the tip of the optical fiber 3 and separating and terminating the optical fibers 3 respectively. And a so-called "collective removal property" in which the protective coating layer 2 (constituted by the above-described primary layer 2a, secondary layer 2b, and coloring layer 2c) and the outer coating 4 can be simultaneously removed from the bare optical fiber 1. Have. For example, when the optical fiber 3 in the optical fiber tape 5 is connected to another optical fiber, inserted into an optical connector, or the like, first, the outer coating 4 of the terminal of the optical fiber tape 5 is removed to remove the optical fiber. In general, the bare optical fiber is exposed by exposing the optical fiber 3 and separating the fiber into a single core. Further, the protective coating layer 2 at the tip of each optical fiber 3 is removed to expose the bare optical fiber. Is removed, the optical fiber 3 can be separated into a single fiber (single-fiber separation property), and if the protective coating layer 2 at the tip of the optical fiber 3 is removed, the bare optical fiber 1 can be exposed (lump-removability).
[0004]
As a method of removing the outer coating 4 of the end of the optical fiber tape 5 to expose the optical fiber 3 (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a “coat removing method”), for example, the outer coating 4 is cut with a cutting blade or the like. A method of cutting each optical fiber 3 with a coating material (part of the outer coating 4; remaining coating) attached is known (the split state is shown in FIG. 6). In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, after the division is completed, the optical fiber 3 is exposed by removing the outer coating remaining on the outside of each optical fiber 3 with a finger by an operator.
As shown in FIG. 7, a coating removing device 7 having a pair of cutting blades 6 for cutting the exterior coating 4 is used, and the pair of cutting blades 6 of the coating removing device 7 are attached to both sides of the thickness of the optical fiber tape 5. , The cutting position of the pair of cutting blades 6 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber tape 5 by moving the coating removing device 7 and / or the optical fiber tape 5. Then, there is also a method in which the outer coating 4 is removed by the cutting blade 6 along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber tape 5. In this case, when removal of the outer coating 4 from the end of the optical fiber tape 5 is completed, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the plurality of optical fibers 3 The heart is exposed, and the single core can be easily separated. Even in this coating removing method, the operation of removing the coating material (part of the outer coating; hereinafter, also referred to as a residual coating) remaining outside each optical fiber 3 after the single-core separation from the optical fiber 3 has conventionally been a work. It is performed by stripping work with the fingers of the person.
In addition, as a coating removal method and a coating removal device of a conventional example, for example, the following Patent Documents 1 and 2 are given.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-61-7806
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-8-292327
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the coating removing method as described above, for example, when inserting a single-branched optical fiber 3 into an optical connector or when connecting optical fibers to each other, a single-fiber optical fiber 3 is taken into consideration in order to secure the positioning accuracy of the optical fiber. It is necessary to cleanly remove the remaining coating outside the optical fiber 3 after the separation. However, as described above, since the removal of the residual coating has conventionally relied on the manual operation of an operator, there have been complaints that it takes time and the workability is poor. Further, in such a manual removing operation, the residual coating is easily left unremoved, resulting in a problem such as poor connection.
[0007]
Further, of the plurality of optical fibers 3 arranged side by side on the optical fiber tape 5, the optical fibers 3 other than both ends arranged side by side (in FIG. 5, the reference numerals 3b and 3c of the four optical fibers 3, 6 and FIG. 8 (b). The remaining coating (see reference numeral 4a on this remaining coating) after the single-fiber branching is limited, and the remaining coating is manually applied. Can be easily removed. In particular, as illustrated in FIG. 7, when the outer coating 4 is removed by a pair of cutting blades 6 by scraping along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber tape 5, the remaining coating 4 a does not remain or remains. Is very small, and can often be easily removed with fingers. However, as for the optical fibers 3 located at both ends in a horizontal line (in FIG. 5, those denoted by reference numerals 3a and 3d among the four optical fibers 3), the optical fibers 3 The outer coating at the width direction end (the end in the cross-section longitudinal direction) of the tape 5 remains in a ridge shape as a remaining coating (the remaining coating is denoted by reference numeral 4b). The residual coating 4b is attached over almost half of the outer circumference of the optical fiber 3, and has a higher adhesive force to the optical fiber 3 than the residual coating 4a of the optical fibers 3b and 3c other than the two side-by-side ends. There was a problem that it took time and effort.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has the thickest portion having the largest thickness on one side of an optical fiber, such as an outer coating remaining on one side of the optical fiber when the coating is removed, and adheres to the optical fiber. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber coating removing method and an optical fiber coating removing apparatus capable of efficiently removing the exterior coating.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has the following configurations as solving means.
In the present invention, a plurality of optical fibers are arranged side by side, and the optical fiber of the tape-shaped multi-core optical fiber which is collectively coated with the outer coating is cut into a single core, and the remaining coating which is a part of the outer coating is formed. The coated optical fiber having a flat cross section remaining on one side or opposite sides of the optical fiber is supported by posture maintaining means so as not to rotate, and a removing blade for removing the residual coating from the optical fiber is provided with the remaining coating. By moving the removal blade and / or the coated optical fiber along the longitudinal direction of the coated optical fiber while keeping the removal blade pressed against the remaining coating. An optical fiber coating removing method is provided, wherein the residual coating is removed from the optical fiber by a blade.
Further, the present invention provides a posture maintaining means for holding the coated optical fiber having a flat cross section in which a coating material is present on one side of the optical fiber so as not to rotate, and a removing blade for removing the residual coating from the optical fiber. The removal blade is moved by moving the removal blade and / or the coated optical fiber along the longitudinal direction of the coated optical fiber while keeping the removal blade pressed against the remaining coating. Wherein the residual coating is removed from the optical fiber.
In the optical fiber coating removing method and the optical fiber coating removing apparatus of the present invention, the posture maintaining means is a grooved member having a groove having a groove width substantially matching a thickness direction dimension of the coated optical fiber, It is also possible to adopt a configuration that can regulate the rotation of the coated optical fiber housed in the groove by aligning the thickness dimension in the width direction.
As the removal blade, a configuration provided separately from the attitude maintaining means can be adopted, but a configuration integrated with the attitude maintenance means, for example, the removal blade also functions as a removal blade on the depth side of the groove of the grooved member. A configuration in which a portion is formed can also be adopted.
[0010]
In the present invention, the pair of removal blades is moved along the longitudinal direction of the coated optical fiber while maintaining the state where the coated optical fiber is sandwiched, so that the coated optical fiber is drawn. In the present invention, "removal" of the residual coating refers to separating and removing the residual coating from the optical fiber by squeezing the coated optical fiber with a pair of removing blades, and attaching the residual coating to the optical fiber. This includes reducing the force of attachment so that the finger can be easily removed with a finger, or slightly lifting up from an optical fiber so that the finger can be easily removed with a finger.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, an example of the coating removing apparatus according to the present invention will be described.
FIG. 5 shows an optical fiber coating removing method (hereinafter, may be abbreviated as “coating removing method”) and an optical fiber coating removing apparatus (hereinafter, may be abbreviated as “coating removing apparatus”). The optical fiber 3, which is located at both ends in the width direction of the optical fiber tape 5, among the optical fibers 3 which are obtained by removing the sheath 4 at the tip of the exemplified optical fiber tape 5 by the coating removing device shown in FIG. That is, this example is applied to the removal of the remaining coating 4b (coating material) outside the optical fiber 3a or the optical fiber 3d illustrated in FIG. 8B. That is, in this embodiment, the optical fiber tape 5 will be described as an example of the multi-core optical fiber, and the optical fibers 3a and 3d before the removal of the remaining coating 4b will be described as the coated optical fibers. In the drawings, the same parts as those in FIGS. 5 to 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description will be omitted.
In this embodiment, when the optical fibers 3a and 3d (here, the optical fibers with a part of the outer sheath attached) can be described without particular distinction, the "optical fiber 31" or the "coated optical fiber 31" is used. ". As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 8B, the optical fiber 31 has a coating material (here, a residual material) on one side of the optical fiber itself (hereinafter, also referred to as “optical fiber 32”) which is an optical fiber core or the like. This is a coated optical fiber having a flat cross section to which the coating 4b) is attached. In this embodiment, a single-core optical fiber having a diameter of 250 μm is used as the optical fiber 32.
[0012]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a coating removing device, which includes a base 11, a grooved member 12 fixed to stand on the base 11, and a pair of removing blades 13 and 14. ing. One of the pair of removal blades 13 and 14 is fixed on the base 11 in the vicinity of the grooved member 12. The other removal blade 14 is disposed to face the removal blade 13, and the moving mechanism 15 can change the separation distance from the removal blade 13. Opening and closing between 13 and 14 is performed.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 2, the grooved member 12 has a slit-shaped groove 16 for accommodating the optical fiber 31. The groove 16 is formed in a shape cut toward the base 11 from an opening 16 a formed at the tip of the grooved member 12 protruding from the base 11. The groove 16 penetrates the grooved member 12 in the thickness direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 1 and the depth direction in FIG. 2), and the optical fiber 31 accommodated in the groove 16 is The grooved member 12 is housed and arranged so as to penetrate in the thickness direction. The opening 16 a is a portion formed by expanding the groove 16 into a tapered shape near the tip of the grooved member 12 protruding from the base 11. The opening 16 a is formed from the tip of the grooved member 12 projecting from the base 11. This facilitates storage of the optical fiber 31 in the groove 16.
[0014]
The groove width d of the groove 16, that is, the distance d (excluding the opening 16 a) between the left and right inner walls of the groove 16 in FIG. 2 substantially coincides with the thickness direction T of the coated optical fiber 31. (Slightly larger than the dimension T in the thickness direction). As described with reference to FIG. 7, the thickness T of the optical fiber 31 after removing the outer coating 4 on both sides of the thickness of the optical fiber tape 5 with the pair of cutting blades 6 as described with reference to FIG. The dimension T0 in the thickness direction of the optical fiber tape 5 (see FIG. 7A) is smaller than the dimension W in the width direction of the optical fiber 31 (see FIG. 2). The groove width d of the groove 16 is smaller than the width dimension W of the optical fiber 31, and the optical fiber 31 is configured such that its thickness direction (direction of the thickness direction T) is the depth direction of the groove 16 (FIG. 2 up and down (in the direction from the opening 16a of the groove 16 toward the base 11), the groove 16 can be inserted into the groove 16. However, in the direction in which the width direction is aligned with the depth direction of the groove 16, the groove 16 can be inserted. Can not be stored. That is, the optical fiber 31 is housed in the groove 16 in such a direction that the residual coating 4b is located on the depth side (the base 11 side) or the opening 16a side of the groove 16 with respect to the groove 16. The grooved member 12 holds the optical fiber 31 in the groove 16 so as not to rotate, and stores the optical fiber 31 in a direction in which the width direction of the coated optical fiber 31 and the depth direction of the groove 16 are substantially aligned. Function.
In this embodiment, the grooved member 12 is specifically in the form of a thin plate, and the walls of the slit-shaped groove 16 on both sides in the groove width d direction support the optical fiber 31 so as to sandwich the optical fiber 31 from both sides. The structure restricts the rotation of the fiber 31.
[0015]
The above-described thickness direction of the grooved member 16 is a direction orthogonal to the depth direction of the groove portion 16 and the direction of the groove width d (left and right in FIG. 2). Further, in this embodiment, the groove 16 of the grooved member 16 is formed to have such a size that the optical fiber 31 can be stably housed without rattling. However, the pair of removal blades 13 and 14 holding the optical fiber 31 therebetween. Of the groove 16 (groove) as long as it does not interfere with the operation of removing the remaining coating 4b by moving the optical fiber 31 relative to the optical fiber 31 along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber 31 (described in detail later). The width d and the like can be set to a size that allows the optical fiber 31 to be accommodated with some backlash.
[0016]
The pair of removal blades 13, 14 are housed in the groove 16, and hold the coated optical fiber 31 held in the depth direction of the groove 16 so as to match the width direction thereof, on both sides in the direction along the depth direction of the groove 16. It is designed to be clamped from.
Specifically, the pair of removal blades 13 and 14 are thin plate-shaped, and the removal blade 13 on the side fixed to the base 11 is an end on one side in the thickness direction of the grooved member 12 (the left side in FIG. 1). It is located near the part. The removal blade 13 has a direction in which the cutting edge 13a extends so as to be orthogonal to the thickness direction of the grooved member 12, in other words, in the groove width direction of the groove 16 of the grooved member 12 (left and right in FIG. 2). When the optical fiber 31 accommodated in the groove 16 is pushed into the depth direction of the groove 16, the optical fiber 31 is pushed from the groove 16 to the outside of the grooved member 12 (here, the optical fiber 31). The portion protruding to the side of the removing blade 13) can be pressed against the cutting edge 13a of the removing blade 13.
On the other hand, the removing blade 14 is moved by the moving mechanism 15 in the direction along the depth direction of the groove 16 so as to open and close between the removing blade 13 on the base 11 side. The optical fiber 31 can be sandwiched between the removing blade 13 and the removing blade 13 by approaching the removing blade 13. When the optical fiber 31 is sandwiched between the pair of removal blades 13 and 14, the removal blade 14 also has a blade edge 14a extending in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the grooved member 12 (the groove portion of the grooved member 12). The direction of the removal blade 14 when separated from the removal blade 13 is not particularly limited.
[0017]
In the present invention, the pair of removal blades 13 and 14 that sandwich the optical fiber 31 is not limited to a configuration in which one is fixed to the base 11 and the other is movable by the moving mechanism 15. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which is moved by a moving mechanism. In other words, in the present invention, the pair of removing blades is configured to insert the optical fiber 31 whose width direction is matched with the depth direction of the groove by inserting the grooved member into the groove, on both sides in the direction along the depth direction of the groove. The number of removal blades movably supported by the moving mechanism can be appropriately changed, and various configurations can be adopted.
[0018]
In addition, the grooved member 12 (detailed here indicates a position where the optical fiber 31 is sandwiched by approaching the removal blades) where the optical fiber 31 is sandwiched by causing the pair of removal blades to approach each other. Although the distance from the groove 16) can be set as appropriate, the holding is realized while maintaining the attitude (direction) of the optical fiber 31 whose width direction coincides with the depth direction of the groove 16 stably. In view of this, it is desirable that the holding position be as close to the grooved member 12 as possible.
In this embodiment, the groove bottom 16b, which is the innermost surface in the depth direction of the groove 16 of the grooved member 12, and the tip of the cutting edge 13a of the removing blade 13 on the base 11 side are substantially on the same straight line. However, when the coated optical fiber 31 is sandwiched by the pair of removing blades 13 and 14, the coated optical fiber 31 is given an unnecessary curvature or the like, so that the pair of removing blades is disposed. There is no particular limitation as long as the blades 13 and 14 are slid along the longitudinal direction of the coated optical fiber 31 so as not to hinder the coating of the coated optical fiber 31. Further, the groove may penetrate the grooved member and have no groove bottom surface.
[0019]
The cutting edges 13a and 14a of the respective removing blades 13 and 14 are not sharp, and the remaining coating 4b outside the optical fiber 31 and the light are removed by the force when the optical fiber 31 is sandwiched between the pair of removing blades 13 and 14. The protection coating layer of the portion of the optical fiber itself (optical fiber 32) of the fiber 31 is not cut.
The cutting edges 13a and 14a of the removing blades 13 and 14 illustrated in FIG. 1 are protrusions formed by thinly forming the tips of the removing blades 13 and 14, but are not sharp blades, and are provided between the pair of removing blades 13 and 14. The force at the time of sandwiching the optical fiber 31 does not cut into the remaining coating 4 b outside the optical fiber 31 or the protective coating layer of the optical fiber 32 of the coated optical fiber 31.
[0020]
The specific shapes of the removal blades 13 and 14 are not limited to those illustrated in FIG. 1 and various types can be adopted.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a specific shape of the removing blade.
The removal blade 17 shown in FIG. 3A has a protruding cutting edge 17a that forms a convex curved surface at the tip. With this removal blade 17, there is no fear that the convex curved surface of the blade tip 17a will damage the optical fiber 32 of the coated optical fiber (here, a single optical fiber core).
The removal blade 18 shown in FIG. 3B has a concave curved portion 18a formed at the tip. The removal blade 18 is, for example, accommodated in the concave portion 18a of the optical fiber 31 of the coated optical fiber 31 and is employed as a removal blade pressed against the optical fiber 32. Thus, the coated optical fiber 31 (particularly, the remaining coating 4b) can be firmly pressed, and the effect of removing the remaining coating 4b using the coating removing device 10 (described later) can be improved.
Note that the pair of removal blades sandwiching the optical fiber 31 does not necessarily need to adopt the same blade edge shape, and may be a combination of removal blades having different blade edge shapes.
[0021]
Next, an embodiment of the coating removing method according to the present invention will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 7, after removing the outer coating 4 on both sides of the thickness of the optical fiber tape 5 using a coating removing device 7 having a pair of cutting blades 6 for cutting the outer coating 4, Up to the point where the plurality of optical fibers 3 (single core) of the optical fiber (optical fiber tape 5) are separated into single cores is also described in the section of the prior art, and thus will not be described in detail here.
Next, the optical fibers 31 (the optical fibers 3a and 3d with the remaining coatings) positioned at the ends of the side-by-side arrangement are selected from the single-branched optical fibers 3, and one by one according to the present invention. The remaining coating 4b is removed using the coating removing device 10.
[0022]
Hereinafter, the operation of removing the remaining coating 4b from the optical fiber 31 using the coating removing device 10 will be described.
First, the optical fiber 31 for removing the residual coating 4b is inserted into the groove 16 of the grooved member 12 of the coating removing device 10. As shown in FIG. 2, at this time, the posture of the optical fiber 31 in which the width direction coincides with the depth direction of the groove portion 16, that is, the remaining coating 4 b is in the depth direction depth side of the groove portion 16 or the opening portion 16 a side. (FIG. 2 and the like show an example directed toward the depth side in the depth direction). Thereby, the rotation of the optical fiber 31 in the groove 16 is regulated by the relationship between the groove width d of the groove 16 and the dimension T in the thickness direction of the optical fiber 31 which substantially coincides with the groove width d, and the storage state can be stabilized.
[0023]
When the optical fiber 31 is stored in the groove 16, the optical fiber tape 5 continuous with the optical fiber 31 is sandwiched between the pair of removing blades 13 and 14 via the grooved member 12 (in FIG. 1). , The removal blade 14 is located on the opposite side to the position shown by the imaginary line). Further, the tip end side of the optical fiber 31 protruding from the multi-core optical fiber (optical fiber tape 5) is positioned with respect to the grooved member 12 on the side of the clamping position where the pair of removal blades 13 and 14 clamp the optical fiber 31. 1, a position where it can be sandwiched between the pair of removing blades 13 and 14, that is, in the coating removing device 10 illustrated in FIG. To be placed.
[0024]
Next, the removing blades 13 and 14 are moved closer to each other by moving the removing blades by the moving mechanism 15, and the optical fiber 31 is moved in the direction along the depth direction of the groove 16 of the grooved member 12 at the clamping position. It is sandwiched between a pair of removal blades 13 and 14 from both sides. When the clamping is completed, the optical fiber 31 is pulled while maintaining the clamping state, and is moved to the side opposite to the pair of removal blades 13 and 14 for clamping the optical fiber 31 via the grooved member 12, The optical fiber 31 is pulled out from the removal blades 13 and 14. In other words, the movement of the optical fiber 31 causes the positions of the pair of removal blades 13 and 14 that sandwich the optical fiber 31 to relatively move along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber 31.
In a case where the entire device including the moving mechanism 15 can be easily moved, such as when the coating removing device is configured as a small tool, the holding state of the optical fiber 31 by the removing blades 13 and 14 is changed. While maintaining this, the coating removing device 10 is moved toward the leading end side of the optical fiber 31 protruding from the multi-core optical fiber (optical fiber tape 5), or the movement of the optical fiber 31 is combined, and Thus, it is also possible to realize that the positions of the pair of removing blades 13 and 14 for holding the same are relatively moved along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber 31.
[0025]
As described above, the removal blades 13 and 14 do not cut into the remaining coating 4b of the optical fiber 31 or the protective coating layer of the optical fiber 32. By moving the positions of the pair of removal blades 13 and 14 for holding the optical fiber 31 relatively along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber 31, the coated optical fiber 31 is made to be strong. As a result, the remaining coating 4b is separated and removed from the optical fiber 32 by peeling it off, the adhesion of the remaining coating to the optical fiber is reduced so that the remaining coating can be easily removed by a finger, or slightly lifted from the optical fiber. To be easily removed by hand.
As shown in FIG. 4, near the boundary between the outer sheath 4 and the remaining sheath 4 b of the multi-core optical fiber (optical fiber tape 5), the removal blade extends the remaining sheath 4 b along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber 31. By applying a force in a direction of relatively moving (shifting), it is possible to forcibly separate the remaining coating 4b by tearing it off with respect to the outer coating 4 of the multi-core optical fiber. In this case, the remaining coating 4b is cut off between the pair of removing blades 13 and 14 holding the optical fiber 31 and the outer coating 4 of the multi-core optical fiber so as to tear off the outer coating 4. The optical fiber 32 is removed continuously by the removal blade 13 moving along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber 31 while being pressed against the residual coating 4b. Line) can be easily obtained.
Also, for example, when the concave curved surface 18a of the removing blade 18 having the concave curved portion 18a as illustrated in FIG. 3B is used to slide on the optical fiber 32 of the coated optical fiber 31, the optical fiber 32 The coating material remaining on the side surface of can be removed neatly.
[0026]
As described above, according to the coating removing method and the coating removing apparatus according to the present invention, the pair of removing blades 13 and 14 that sandwich the coated optical fiber 31 are moved in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber 31 with respect to the optical fiber 31. , The remaining coating 4b of the coated optical fiber 31 can be easily removed. Further, since the pair of removal blades 13 and 14 that sandwich the optical fiber 31 are not cut into the remaining coating 4b or the like, there is an advantage that the optical fiber 32 of the coated optical fiber 31 is not damaged.
[0027]
In the above-described embodiment, an example is described in which the optical fibers 3a and 3d (the optical fibers with the remaining coating) separated from the optical fiber tape are applied as the coated optical fibers. The present invention can be applied to the removal of the remaining coating on the optical fibers other than the ends of the side by side array in the tape. Further, as the coated optical fiber according to the present invention, an optical fiber formed in a single core from the beginning is also applicable. Further, the coated optical fiber is not limited to an optical fiber having an outer coating such as a residual coating outside the optical fiber core wire, and an optical fiber wire is used instead of the optical fiber core wire. Etc. can also be adopted.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the outer coating 4 on both sides of the thickness of the optical fiber tape is removed by scraping with a cutting blade of the coating removing device, and the remaining coating from the single-core separated optical fiber is removed. Although the removal is described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the remaining coating from an optical fiber (not limited to the optical fiber) cut into single fibers by a cutting blade with the outer coating of the optical fiber tape attached. Can also be applied to the removal of In this case, the groove width of the groove portion of the grooved member is set to be equal to or slightly wider than this in accordance with the thickness of the optical fiber tape.
Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the removal of the residual coating from the optical fiber separated from the multi-core optical fiber by a single fiber, for example, an optical fiber obtained by separating a plurality of fibers from a multi-core optical fiber such as an optical fiber tape. It is also applicable to the removal of the residual coating from such as.
The attitude maintaining means is not limited to the grooved member, and various configurations can be adopted.
In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the coated optical fiber is sandwiched by the pair of removal blades is exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the removal blade and the pusher in which the removal blade presses the coated optical fiber are used. A configuration in which the coated optical fiber is sandwiched between the pressure receiving member that receives the pressure and the pressure receiving member can also be adopted. Therefore, in the present invention, at least one removal blade may be used. The pressure receiving member may be, for example, a portion forming the inner surface at the deepest part in the depth direction of the groove of the grooved member.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the residual coating of the coated optical fiber can be efficiently and neatly cleaned by the removal blade that relatively moves along the longitudinal direction of the coated optical fiber while maintaining the pressing against the remaining coating. Therefore, removal workability and work efficiency can be improved as compared with manual removal by an operator. In this way, inconveniences such as poor connection of the optical fiber due to unremoved coating can be effectively prevented.
In addition, if the configuration is such that the coated optical fiber having a flat cross section is housed in the groove of the grooved member and the rotation thereof is regulated (a constant posture is maintained) and the removal blade is pressed against the coated optical fiber, Can be reliably pressed against the residual coating, and even if the removal blade moves long along the longitudinal direction of the coated optical fiber, the direction in which the removing blade is pressed against the coated optical fiber is suitable for removing the coating. Condition can be stably maintained, and removal workability can be maintained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a coating removing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing the vicinity of a groove of a grooved member of the coating removing apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing another embodiment of the removing blade applied to the coating removing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which a part of the remaining coating of the coated optical fiber is removed by the coating removing device of FIG. 1;
FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating an example of the structure of an optical fiber tape.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state where a single core is separated without removing an outer coating of the optical fiber tape.
FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a coating removing device that scrapes and removes an exterior coating from both sides of the thickness of the optical fiber tape.
8 (a) is a perspective view showing the optical fiber tape after the exterior coating has been scraped and removed by using the coating removing apparatus of FIG. 7, and FIG. 8 (b) is a perspective view of each light of the optical fiber tape of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where a fiber core is separated into single fibers.
[Explanation of symbols]
3, 3a to 3d: optical fiber, 4: exterior coating, 4b: residual coating, 5: multi-core optical fiber, 10: optical fiber coating removing device, 12: posture maintaining means, grooved member, 13, 14: removing blade , 16: groove portion, 17, 18: removal blade, 31: coated optical fiber, 32: optical fiber, W: width dimension of the coated optical fiber, T: thickness dimension of the coated optical fiber, d: groove width.

Claims (3)

A plurality of optical fibers (3, 3a to 3d) are arranged side by side, and the optical fiber of the tape-shaped multi-core optical fiber (5), which is collectively covered with the outer coating (4), is cut into a single core;
Posture maintaining means (12) for keeping the flat coated optical fiber (31) in which the remaining coating (4b), which is a part of the outer coating, remaining on one side or opposite sides of the optical fiber so as not to rotate; And the removal blade (13, 14, 17, 18) for removing the remaining coating from the optical fiber is pushed into the remaining coating,
By moving the removal blade and / or the coated optical fiber along the longitudinal direction of the coated optical fiber while keeping the removal blade pressed against the remaining coating, the removal blade causes the optical fiber to move. Removing the residual coating from the optical fiber coating. A posture maintaining means (12) for holding a coated optical fiber (31) having a flat cross section in which a coating material (4b) is present on one side of the optical fibers (3, 3a to 3d, 32) so as not to rotate; A removing blade (13, 14, 17, 18) for removing the residual coating from the optical fiber;
By moving the removal blade and / or the coated optical fiber along the longitudinal direction of the coated optical fiber while keeping the removal blade pressed against the remaining coating, the removal blade causes the optical fiber to move. An optical fiber coating removing device (10), characterized in that the residual coating can be removed from the device. The posture maintaining means is a grooved member (12) having a groove portion (16) having a groove width (d) substantially matching the thickness direction dimension (T) of the coated optical fiber, and is provided in the direction of the groove width. 3. The optical fiber coating removing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rotation of the coated optical fiber accommodated in the groove portion can be regulated by aligning the thickness direction dimensions.

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