JP2006047390A - Optical fiber cable and method for taking out coated optical fiber ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber cable from which a coated optical fiber ribbon can be taken out without being damaged, and also to provide a method for taking out the coated optical fiber ribbon. <P>SOLUTION: The optical fiber cable 1 is composed of a plurality of coated optical fiber ribbons 2, a pair of tension bodies 3, and a jacket 4. The tension body 3 is arranged on both sides of the coated optical fiber ribbon 2 in a manner holding it in-between in the array direction of the optical fibers 2a. The jacket 4 covers the coated optical fiber ribbons 2 and the tension bodies 3 all together. In the part corresponding to each tension body 3 on the outer circumferential face of the jacket 4, there is provided a marking line 5 indicating the arranged position of the respective tension body 3. With a notch made along the marking line 5, and with the jacket 4 torn using this notch as a starting point in the laminated direction of the coated optical fiber ribbons 2, the coated optical fiber ribbons 2 can be taken out easily without making efforts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber cable used in the field of optical information communication and the like, and a method for taking out a tape core wire in the optical fiber cable.

Conventionally, an optical fiber unit (optical fiber cable) having a circular cross section is used in, for example, an ABF (Air Brown Fiber) method. As one type of such an optical fiber cable, as described in Patent Document 1, for example, a plurality of optical fibers and lip cords covered with a primary coating and a secondary coating are known.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-201923

  By the way, as another kind of optical fiber cable having a circular cross section, for example, an optical fiber cable in which an optical fiber ribbon having a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel is collectively covered can be considered.

  As a method of taking out the optical fiber ribbon from such an optical fiber cable, a method of cutting the outer skin of the optical fiber cable using a tool such as a cutter and then tearing the outer skin using the cut as a trigger can be considered. . However, in such an optical fiber cable, there is a possibility that the optical fiber tape core wire may be damaged by making too deep cuts. Further, when a cut is made in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the optical fiber ribbons, the outer skin is torn while being pulled in the arrangement direction of the optical fibers. At this time, since a force is particularly applied to the short side portion of the optical fiber ribbon, the coating of the edge portion of the optical fiber ribbon may be peeled off, and the optical fiber ribbon may be damaged. is there.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber cable and a tape core wire extraction method that can be taken out without damaging the optical fiber tape core wire disposed inside.

  An optical fiber cable of the present invention includes an optical fiber tape core wire in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in parallel and covered together, an optical fiber tape core wire extending in the axial direction of the optical fiber, and in the optical fiber array direction. Each of the strength members on the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin is provided with a pair of strength members disposed so as to sandwich the optical fiber ribbon and the outer skin having a circular cross section that covers the optical fiber ribbon and the tension member collectively. Marking stripes that extend in the axial direction of the optical fiber and indicate the positions of the respective tensile strength members are respectively provided at portions corresponding to the above.

  In such an optical fiber cable, when taking out the optical fiber ribbon, first, a cut is made in the outer skin along the mark stripe formed on the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin. Then, starting from the cut, the outer skin is cut in a direction perpendicular to the optical fiber arrangement direction, and the optical fiber ribbon is removed from the outer skin. At this time, since the position of the strength member is clearly known by the mark muscle, it is possible to always make a cut at the position of the strength member in the outer skin. For this reason, for example, even when the cutter blade is inserted deeply when cutting the outer skin with a cutter, the cutter blade only touches the strength member and does not reach the optical fiber ribbon. In addition, since the mark muscle is provided in the optical fiber arrangement direction corresponding to the tensile strength body, when tearing the outer skin starting from the incision made along the mark muscle, the outer fiber is arranged as an optical fiber tape core. It will be pulled in a direction perpendicular to the direction. Since the force applied at the time of pulling is distributed to the upper and lower surfaces of the optical fiber ribbon, peeling of the coating on the edge portion of the optical fiber ribbon is less likely to occur. Therefore, it can be taken out from the optical fiber cable of the present invention without damaging the inner optical fiber ribbon.

  In the optical fiber cable of the present invention, it is preferable that the mark stripe is formed in a concave shape at a portion corresponding to the strength member on the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin. As a result, the cutter or the like can be easily placed along the mark line.

  In the optical fiber cable of the present invention, it is also preferable that the mark stripe is a colored line in a portion corresponding to the strength member on the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin. Thereby, when making an incision in the outer skin, the mark muscle can be easily found.

  Further, in the optical fiber cable of the present invention, the thickness of the outer skin between the strength member and the mark muscle is 0.2 mm or less, and the thickness of the outer skin between the strength body and the optical fiber ribbon is 0. It is also preferable that it is 2 mm or less. If constituted in this way, the skin can be easily torn by hand only by making a shallow cut in the skin.

  In addition, the method for taking out the core fiber of the present invention includes a first step of cutting the outer skin along the above-mentioned mark fibers of the optical fiber cable, and tearing the outer skin from the notch in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the optical fibers. And a second step of taking out the fiber tape core wire.

  By taking out the optical fiber ribbon from the above optical fiber cable in this way, for example, the cutter blade does not hit the optical fiber ribbon when the outer skin is cut. Moreover, it is prevented that the coating of the edge part in the optical fiber ribbon is peeled off when the outer skin is torn. Therefore, it can be taken out without damaging the optical fiber ribbon.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the optical fiber tape core wire from being cut or the coating resin of the optical fiber tape core wire from being peeled when the optical fiber tape core wire disposed inside is taken out. Thereby, it becomes possible to take out the optical fiber ribbon without damaging it.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an optical fiber cable according to the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical fiber cable according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical fiber cable 1 includes an optical fiber ribbon 2, a strength member 3, and an outer skin 4.

  The optical fiber ribbon 2 is formed by arranging a plurality (four in this case) of optical fibers 2a in parallel and collectively covering with a tape material 2b. For the tape material 2b, for example, a material such as an ultraviolet curable resin is used. In the present embodiment, a plurality (three in this case) of such optical fiber ribbons 2 are laminated.

  A pair of strength members 3 are arranged on both sides of the optical fiber ribbon 2 in the arrangement direction X of the optical fibers 2a so as to sandwich the optical fiber ribbon 2. The strength member 3 extends in the axial direction Y of the optical fiber 2a. An adhesive layer (not shown) is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the strength member 3. The strength member 3 has a diameter D3 of about 0.4 mm, for example.

  The optical fiber ribbon 2 and the strength member 3 are collectively covered with an outer skin 4. A cross section of the outer skin 4 (a cross section perpendicular to the axial direction Y of the optical fiber) is substantially circular. The outer skin 4 is made of a resin material such as PP, HDPE, or LDPE.

  Markers 5 are provided at positions corresponding to the strength members 3 on the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin 4. The mark stripe 5 is formed in a concave shape and extends in the axial direction Y of the optical fiber. By forming the mark strip 5 in a concave shape in this way, it becomes easy to place a tool such as a cutter along the mark strip 5. The mark stripe 5 has, for example, a width W5 of about 0.2 to 0.4 mm and a depth D5 of about 0.15 to 0.25 mm.

  The thickness T1 of the outer skin 4 between the strength members 3 and the recessed portions of the mark bars 5 in the arrangement direction X of the optical fibers 2a is preferably 0.2 mm or less. The thickness T2 of the outer skin 4 between the strength member 3 and the optical fiber ribbon 2 in the arrangement direction X of the optical fibers 2a is also preferably 0.2 mm or less. If the thicknesses T1 and T2 of the outer skin 4 are made thin as described above, it is possible to easily tear the outer skin 4 by hand simply by making a shallow notch in the mark muscle 5.

  Next, a method for taking out the optical fiber ribbon 2 from the above-described optical fiber cable 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, a cut 6 is made in the outer skin 4 with a tool such as a cutter or a nipper (see FIG. 2). The cuts 6 are made along the two mark bars 5 from the end face of the optical fiber cable 1. For example, the depth D6 of the cut 6 may be about 0.15 mm, and the length L6 of the cut 6 may be about 10 mm.

  Next, a finger is put into the notch 6, and the outer skin 4 is pulled in the direction (arrow A and B direction) perpendicular to the stacking direction of the optical fiber ribbon 2, that is, the arrangement direction X of the optical fibers 2a (FIG. 3). Then, with the notch 6 as a starting point, the outer skin 4 is torn along the mark stripe 5 in the stacking direction of the optical fiber ribbon 2. Then, when the outer skin 4 is torn, the optical fiber ribbon 2 and the tensile body 3 in the optical fiber cable 1 are exposed.

  In this way, by providing the mark bars 5 for representing the position of the strength member 3 on the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin 4, the position of the strength member 3 can be known only from the appearance of the optical fiber cable 1. For this reason, it is possible to always make the cuts 6 on both sides of the strength member 3 in the outer skin 4, and avoid making the cuts 6 in the thick portion of the outer fiber 4 in the stacking direction of the optical fiber ribbon 2. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cutter blade from being inserted into the optical fiber ribbon 2. When tearing the outer skin 4 starting from the notch 6 made along the mark stripe 5, the outer skin 4 is pulled in the stacking direction of the optical fiber ribbon 2 as described above. Since the force applied at the time of pulling is dispersed on the upper and lower surfaces of the laminated optical fiber ribbon 2, it is possible to prevent the tape material 2 b from peeling off the optical fiber ribbon 2. As a result, the required length of the optical fiber ribbon 2 can be easily and easily removed without damaging it.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the optical fiber cable according to the present invention. In the drawing, the same reference numerals are given to the same or equivalent members as those of the above-described embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the optical fiber cable 10 of the present embodiment includes the optical fiber ribbon 2 and the tensile body 3 described above, and an outer skin 14 having a circular cross section that collectively covers them.

  Marking bars 15 extending in the axial direction Y of the optical fiber 2a are provided at portions of the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin 14 corresponding to the strength members 3. Whereas the mark stripe 15 shown in FIG. 1 is concave, the mark stripe 15 in the present embodiment is a colored line (color band). The marker stripe 15 is shown in a color that makes the arrangement position of the strength member 3 clear. The mark stripe 15 may be formed by, for example, directly coloring the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin 14 or by attaching a colored tape to the outer skin 14. Further, the thickness T3 of the outer skin 14 between the mark stripes 15 and the strength members 3 in the arrangement direction X of the optical fibers 2a is preferably 0.2 mm or less.

  The method of taking out the optical fiber ribbon 2 from such an optical fiber cable 10 is the same as the method of taking out the optical fiber ribbon 2 from the optical fiber cable 1 shown in FIG. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, the optical fiber ribbon 2 can be easily taken out without causing any damage to the optical fiber ribbon 2.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

  For example, the optical fiber cable according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which four optical fibers are arranged in parallel and collectively covered with three optical fiber tape cores, but are included in the optical fiber tape cores. The number of optical fibers and the number of optical fiber ribbons are not limited to this. For example, the optical fiber ribbon may have only one sheet.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical fiber cable according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the method of taking out an optical fiber tape core wire from an optical fiber cable. It is a figure which shows the method of taking out an optical fiber tape core wire from an optical fiber cable. It is a perspective view which shows other embodiment of the optical fiber cable concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical fiber cable, 2 ... Optical fiber ribbon, 2a ... Optical fiber, 3 ... Strength body, 4 ... Outer skin, 5 ... Marking stripe, 6 ... Incision, 10 ... Optical fiber cable, 14 ... Outer skin, 15 ... Mark muscle.

Claims (5)

An optical fiber ribbon cored with a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel and covered;
A pair of strength members that extend in the axial direction of the optical fiber and are disposed so as to sandwich the optical fiber ribbon on both sides of the optical fiber ribbon in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber;
A sheath having a circular cross section that collectively covers the optical fiber ribbon and the tensile body,
An optical fiber cable characterized in that a marker line extending in the axial direction of the optical fiber is provided at a portion corresponding to each of the strength members on the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin. .   The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein the mark stripe is formed in a concave shape at a portion corresponding to the strength member on the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin.   The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein the mark stripe is a colored line at a portion corresponding to the strength member on the outer peripheral surface of the outer skin.   The thickness of the outer skin between the strength member and the mark muscle is 0.2 mm or less, and the thickness of the outer skin between the strength body and the optical fiber ribbon is 0.2 mm or less. The optical fiber cable according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A first step of cutting the outer skin along the mark bars of the optical fiber cable according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
And a second step of tearing the outer skin from the cut in a direction perpendicular to the optical fiber arrangement direction and taking out the optical fiber ribbon.

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