JP2005172916A - Optical fiber array - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber array which has an excellent handling property, unnecessitates an excessive storage space and is capable of reducing a bending loss due to fiber arrangement. <P>SOLUTION: The optical fiber array is provided with a V-groove substrate 29 on one surface side of which a large number of V-grooves of positioning a plurality of optical fibers in a parallel state are disposed, a cover 30 which is attached on the V-grooves and coated optical fiber tapes 21 made by covering a plurality of the optical fibers 27 of which the top end part deprived of clad is held between the V-groove substrate and the cover. Therein, an optical fiber sheet 31 which is adhered and fixed to a terrace part 29A of the V-groove substrate is interposed between a plurality of bare optical fibers 27 fixed to the V-grooves and the coated optical fiber tapes 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber array used in the field of optical communications such as WDM (wavelength multiplexing) and optical switches.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional optical fiber array. This optical fiber array 20 includes a V-groove substrate 24 provided with a large number of V-grooves for positioning a plurality of optical fibers in parallel, a lid 25 attached in contact with the opening side of the V-groove, An optical fiber tape core wire 21 in which a coating removal portion of the tip portion covers a plurality of optical fibers sandwiched between the V-groove substrate and the lid, and a connection provided at the other end of the optical fiber tape core wire 21 And a connector 22 for use.

Conventionally, as a method of manufacturing an optical fiber array, a method of manufacturing an optical fiber array by sandwiching an optical fiber between an optical fiber fixing member having a V-groove for positioning an optical fiber and a pressing lid and applying an adhesive is proposed. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
JP 2000-338354 A

  As the type of the current optical fiber array, a half pitch array having a pitch of 127 μm in which the pitch intervals of the optical fiber cores are filled is becoming mainstream. However, in the harp pitch array, as shown in FIG. 2, two optical fiber ribbons 21A and 21B are overlapped and arranged every other core, so that the individual cords are arranged in each tape. In FIG. 2, each of the optical fiber ribbons 21A and 21B is configured by collectively covering eight optical fiber single fibers (total of 16 optical fibers 1 to 16) in a tape form with a taped material. ing. When an optical fiber array is formed using these two optical fiber ribbons 21A and 21B, for example, the rightmost core of the first optical fiber ribbon 21A is the first, and the second optical fiber ribbon No. 2 is the rightmost core of 21B, No. 3 is the second core from the right of the first optical fiber ribbon 21A, and 4 is the second core from the right of the second optical fiber ribbon 21B. Since the cords are used alternately like No., it was necessary to consider the arrangement of the cords of the connector connection destination.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, there is a method of providing a conversion unit 23 of the dedicated optical fiber core 21 in the middle of the optical fiber core 21 and rearranging the core array correctly in order. There is a problem that an accommodation space for the conversion unit 23 is required, and the provision of such a conversion unit 23 causes extra work for processing the conversion unit.

  Further, when the optical fiber ribbon 21 is used, when the number of the cores in the array is increased as shown in FIG. 4, the optical fiber bare wire in the terrace portion 26 is formed by the resin layer of the tape covering portion as the distance from the center in the width direction increases. There is a possibility that the wire 27 is bent forcibly and bending loss occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an optical fiber array that is excellent in handleability, eliminates the need for an extra storage space, and can reduce bending loss due to the arrangement of the core wires by incorporating the conversion unit inside the optical fiber array. With the goal.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a V-groove substrate in which a plurality of V-grooves for positioning a plurality of optical fibers in a parallel state are provided on one side, a lid attached on the V-groove, An optical fiber array comprising a plurality of optical fibers coated with a plurality of optical fibers sandwiched between the V-groove substrate and the lid, and a plurality of optical fiber arrays fixed to the V-groove. An optical fiber array, wherein an optical fiber sheet bonded and fixed to a terrace portion other than the V groove on one surface side of the V groove substrate is interposed between an optical fiber and an optical fiber ribbon. provide.

  In the optical fiber array of the present invention, it is preferable that the arrangement of the optical fibers is converted so that the optical fiber array can be easily arranged in the optical fiber array.

  In the optical fiber array of the present invention, it is preferable that the taped material is peeled off and single core wires separated from each other are arranged in a terrace portion.

  In the optical fiber array of the present invention, it is preferable that an optical fiber sheet is extended to the rear side of the terrace portion to constitute a stress relaxation portion that relaxes bending stress.

According to the present invention, an optical fiber bonded and fixed to a terrace portion other than the V-groove on one surface side of the V-groove substrate between a plurality of optical fibers fixed to the V-groove and the optical fiber ribbon. Since the configuration is such that the sheet is interposed, and the arrangement of the cores can be performed on the optical fiber sheet, the arrangement of the connector and the arrangement of the optical fiber array can be made the same, handling becomes easy, and erroneous connection occurs. Can be difficult.
In addition, since a special rearrangement mechanism for rearranging the optical fiber wire numbers is not required, space saving can be achieved, and the labor of rearrangement can be saved in the field construction.
In addition, since the optical fiber sheet can have a role of buffering against bending, the bending resistance can be improved compared to the case where the optical fiber ribbon is fixed to the terrace, and the transmission loss due to bending is reduced. Can be made.
Moreover, by separating the optical fiber from a single core, it can be fixed without excessive bending of the optical fiber, and loss due to excessive bending during wiring can be eliminated.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an optical fiber array of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 5 is a front view showing an embodiment of the optical fiber array of the present invention. This optical fiber array 28 has a plurality of V grooves for positioning a plurality of optical fibers (bare optical fibers 27) in parallel. Are provided on one surface side, a lid 30 mounted on the V-groove, and a plurality of bare optical fibers in which a coating removal portion at the tip is sandwiched between the V-groove substrate 29 and the lid 30. 27 between the plurality of bare optical fibers 27 fixed to the V-groove and the optical fiber tape core 21 except for the V-groove of the V-groove substrate 29. The optical fiber sheet 31 bonded and fixed to the terrace portion 29A, which is a flat surface portion, is interposed.

  The V-groove substrate 29 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape in this example, and a large number of V-grooves are provided in parallel on the one surface side along the longitudinal direction. The V-groove substrate 29 is made of quartz glass, silicon substrate, or the like, and the V-groove is formed by mechanical polishing or etching. A portion other than the V-groove portion on the one surface side of the V-groove substrate 29 is a planar terrace portion 29A.

  Various types of optical fibers can be used as the bare optical fiber 27 according to the purpose of connection of the optical fiber array. For example, a silica-based single mode optical fiber, a multimode optical fiber, and a stress-applied polarization maintaining type. An optical fiber or the like is used, and an all-resin or partially resin-made optical fiber can also be used. Further, the diameter of the bare optical fiber 27 is not limited. These bare optical fibers 27 are made in a state in which the coating of the respective end portions of the optical fiber ribbon or the single optical fibers is removed to expose the clad, and are sandwiched between the V groove and the lid 30. Bonded and fixed.

  The lid 30 only needs to hold the optical fiber bare wire 27 arranged and positioned in the V-groove from above, and the material and shape thereof are not particularly limited. In the case where an ultraviolet curable adhesive is used when the optical fiber bare wire 27 is bonded and fixed to the V-groove, it is preferable to use quartz glass or the like having good ultraviolet transmittance as the lid 30.

  The optical fiber sheet 31 is obtained by heat-sealing each sheet with a plurality of optical fiber cores sandwiched between a plurality of synthetic resin sheets, and forming the sheet. The number, size, material, and the like of the optical fiber sheet 31 are appropriately selected according to the number, size, and the like of the optical fiber array 28. As the sheet material, polyimide resin, polypropylene resin, fluororesin, or the like is used.

  In this example, the arrangement of the optical fiber sheet 31 is such that a large number of optical fiber single-core wires 32 are led out from the optical fiber array 28 side, and the leading ends of these optical fiber bare wires 27 are V-grooves. The substrate 29 is bonded and fixed to the V-groove. These single core wires 32 of the optical fiber sheet 31 are covered with a taped material in the sheet, and are led out from the rear side as an optical fiber tape core wire 21. In addition, the arrangement | positioning of the core wire of this optical fiber sheet 31 is only an example, and another core wire arrangement | sequence method can also be applied. For example, a connector may be provided on the rear side of the optical fiber sheet 31 so that the connector is connected to the tip of the optical fiber ribbon 21, or the single fibers of the optical fiber sheet 31 and the optical fiber ribbon 21 are fused together. It can also be connected.

  A large number of optical fiber single core wires 32 led out from the optical fiber sheet 31 to the V-groove substrate 29 are bonded and fixed on the terrace portion 29A of the V-groove substrate 29 in a state in which no bending loss occurs, It is desirable that the bare optical fiber 27 from which is removed is also fixed on the terrace portion 29A. A part of the optical fiber sheet 31 is also bonded and fixed on the terrace portion 29A.

  A portion extending rearward from the terrace portion 29A of the optical fiber sheet 31 is a stress relaxation portion that relaxes bending stress. FIG. 6 shows a state in which bending stress is applied to the stress relaxation portion. When bending stress acts on the stress relaxation portion, the optical fiber sheet 31 is bent, but it is possible to prevent local strong bending from occurring in the optical fiber single core wire 32 due to the stress relaxation effect of the sheet material.

In this optical fiber array 28, a plurality of bare optical fibers 27 and optical fiber ribbons 21 fixed to a V-groove are bonded via an optical fiber sheet 31 bonded and fixed to a terrace portion 29A of a V-groove substrate 29. With this configuration, the connector arrangement and the optical fiber array arrangement can be made the same, handling becomes easy, and erroneous connection is less likely to occur.
In addition, since a special rearrangement mechanism for rearranging the optical fiber wire numbers is not required, space saving can be achieved, and the labor of rearrangement can be saved in the field construction.
Further, since the optical fiber sheet 31 can have a role of buffering against bending, the bending resistance can be improved as compared with the case where the optical fiber tape core wire 21 is fixed to the terrace portion 29A, and transmission by bending is performed. Loss can be reduced.
Moreover, by separating the optical fiber from a single core, it can be fixed without excessive bending of the optical fiber, and loss due to excessive bending during wiring can be eliminated.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the conventional optical fiber array. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the wiring system of the optical fiber tape core wire in the conventional optical fiber array. It is a block diagram which shows another example of the conventional optical fiber array. It is a top view which shows the arrangement state of the optical fiber tape core wire in the conventional optical fiber array. It is a front view of the optical fiber array of the present invention. It is a front view explaining the stress relaxation function in the optical fiber array of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

20, 28 ... Optical fiber array, 21 ... Optical fiber ribbon, 22 ... Connector, 23 ... Conversion part, 24, 29 ... V-groove substrate, 25, 30 ... Cover, 26, 29A ... Terrace part, 27 ... Optical fiber (Bare optical fiber), 31... Optical fiber sheet, 32.

Claims (4)

A V-groove substrate in which a large number of V-grooves for positioning a plurality of optical fibers in a parallel state are provided on one surface side, a lid attached on the V-groove, and a coating removal portion at the tip portion of the V-groove substrate and the lid An optical fiber array comprising an optical fiber ribbon coated with a plurality of optical fibers sandwiched between
An optical fiber sheet bonded and fixed to a terrace portion other than the V groove on one surface side of the V groove substrate is interposed between a plurality of optical fibers fixed to the V groove and the optical fiber ribbon. An optical fiber array characterized by the above.   2. The optical fiber array according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement of the optical fibers is converted so as to be easily arranged in the optical fiber array inside the optical fiber sheet.   The optical fiber array according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the taped material is peeled off and single core wires separated from each other are arranged in a terrace portion. The optical fiber array according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an optical fiber sheet is extended to the rear side of the terrace portion to constitute a stress relaxation portion that relaxes bending stress.

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