JP2006047867A - Auxiliary tool for optical fiber holder and splicing method of optical fiber using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an auxiliary tool of an optical fiber holder that can reduce a processing cost for straightening of optical fibers in connecting them each other and that can improve productivity through the reduction of the processing process. <P>SOLUTION: In a fusion splicing device 101 for interconnecting optical fibers 71, the auxiliary tool 110 is attached displaceably to optical fiber holders 5A, 5B for the purpose of aligning at least one optical fiber 71 with the other 71, wherein the optical fibers are projecting from the groove 51 of the holders 5A, 5B for arranging optical fibers 71. The auxiliary tool 110 is designed to correct the tip end position of the optical fibers 71 through relative displacement from the holder main body 53, thereby removing the bending tendency of the optical fibers 71. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is applied to, for example, a fusion splicing device for interconnecting optical fibers, and an auxiliary jig for an optical fiber holder that corrects the bending of the tip of an optical fiber held by the optical fiber holder, and the auxiliary jig It is related with the connection method of the used optical fiber.

  As one method for connecting optical fibers, fusion splicing is performed. This connection method includes the following three steps. The first step is a step of removing the coating on the tip of the optical fiber using a coating removing device called a stripper (remover). The second step is a step of cutting the exposed optical fiber with an optical fiber cutting device so as to have a predetermined length. The third step is a step in which the ends of the optical fibers are brought into contact with each other by a fusion splicing device and fusion spliced.

In the fusion splicing device, each optical fiber to be fused is held by optical fiber holders 1 and 2 as shown in FIG. 8, and at least one optical fiber holder is moved in the axial direction of the optical fiber to face each other. The tip portions of the optical fibers 3 and 4 to be matched are abutted.
Each of the optical fibers 3 and 4 is formed by stripping the coatings 32 and 42 on the front end side of the optical fiber strands 31 and 41 over a certain length with a stripper.

Each optical fiber holder 1, 2 has a holder main body 12, 22 in which grooves 11, 21 for positioning the optical fiber strands 31, 41 are formed, and a clamp member 13, 23 covering the upper surface of the holder main body 12, 22. I have.
The clamp members 13 and 23 are hinge-coupled to the holder main bodies 12 and 22 so as to be openable and closable, and when closed (in the state shown in FIG. 8), the optical fiber elements inserted into the grooves 11 and 21 are inserted. By pressing the wires 31 and 41 into the grooves 11 and 21, the optical fiber strands 31 and 41 are positioned and fixed.

  By the way, if the end portions of the optical fiber strands 31 and 41 are bent, etc., when the optical fiber strands 31 and 41 are mounted in the grooves 11 and 21 of the holder main bodies 12 and 22, the optical fiber strands are attached. 31 and 41, even if the proximal ends of the optical fiber strands 31 and 41 are properly fitted in the grooves 11 and 21, the distal ends of the optical fiber strands 31 and 41 do not fit in the grooves 11 and 21, and a part of the optical fiber strands 31 and 41 is detached. There is a possibility that the fibers 3 and 4 cannot be aligned with each other.

  Therefore, in order to remove the bending wrinkles at the tip ends of the optical fiber strands 31 and 41 attached to the optical fiber holders 1 and 2, a heating means for heating the optical fiber over a predetermined length, and a heating area by the heating means A scraping device having a fixed chuck and a moving chuck for gripping the optical fiber on both sides and a tension applying means for applying a predetermined tension to the optical fiber by moving the moving chuck away from the fixed chuck has been proposed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP-A 63-296010

However, the scraping device as described in Patent Document 1 is expensive because of its complicated structure, and there is a problem in that the processing cost when the optical fibers are fusion-spliced is increased.
Further, since the scraping device itself is considerably large, for example, it cannot be incorporated into the optical fiber holder of the fusion splicing device. Therefore, a process for transferring the optical fiber that has been subjected to the crimping process in the scoring device installed at a location different from the fusion splicing device to the fusion splicing device is required. As a result of the increase in the number of transfer processes, it has been difficult to improve productivity due to an increase in the number of processing steps.

  An object of the present invention is to be able to cope with a bending flaw of an optical fiber to be spliced with a simple structure, and to reduce the processing cost for fraying, and for example, an optical fiber holder of a fusion splicing apparatus. With the optical fiber held in place, it is possible to scrape the optical fiber, reducing the transfer process when the optical fibers are fusion-bonded to each other, and improving the productivity by reducing the processing steps. To provide an auxiliary jig for an optical fiber holder that can be improved and a method for connecting an optical fiber using the auxiliary jig.

  In order to achieve the above object, an auxiliary jig for an optical fiber holder according to claim 1 of the present invention is a light for disposing an optical fiber in a groove of a holder body in a fusion splicing device for interconnecting optical fibers. In order to align at least one optical fiber protruding from the groove of the fiber holder with the other optical fiber, the optical fiber is mounted on the holder body so as to be displaceable.

The auxiliary jig for the optical fiber holder according to claim 1 is preferably configured such that the tip end portion of the optical fiber protruding from the optical fiber holder is the width of the optical fiber holder as described in claim 2. A horizontal position restricting portion that restricts the position in the width direction of the distal end portion of the optical fiber, and a vertical position restricting portion that restricts the vertical position of the distal end portion of the optical fiber strand. With
The position of the tip end portion of the optical fiber may be corrected by relative displacement with respect to the holder body.

  Further, the auxiliary jig of the optical fiber holder is detachably mounted on the optical fiber holder as described in claim 3, or is combined and integrated with the optical fiber holder as described in claim 4. It can be.

  And, as a method for connecting optical fibers to interconnect optical fibers, as described in claim 5, the coating portion at the tip of the optical fiber strand from which the coating is removed and the optical fiber is exposed is an optical fiber holder 5. The auxiliary device according to claim 1, wherein a procedure for arranging the optical fiber strand in the groove of the optical fiber holder so as to protrude from the tip of the optical fiber and a bending of one optical fiber protruding from the groove are provided. It may be characterized by comprising a procedure of correcting with a jig and aligning with the other optical fiber and a procedure of fusing and aligning the aligned optical fibers.

The auxiliary jig of the optical fiber holder of the present invention is fusion-spliced by correcting the position of the tip of the optical fiber held by the optical fiber holder by relative displacement of the fusion splicer with respect to the optical fiber holder. Compares with conventional scissors that have heating means and tension applying means, because it is a simple structural member that does not require heating means or tension applying means, and is inexpensive. It can manufacture and can reduce the processing cost with respect to wrinkling.
The auxiliary jig of the optical fiber holder of the present invention is attached to the optical fiber holder of the fusion splicing device in advance, and is used for bending or folding with respect to the optical fiber held by the optical fiber holder. It does not require the trouble of transferring the optical fiber to a location different from the fusion splicing device or returning it to the fusion splicing device from another location after the scoring processing. .
Therefore, it is possible to reduce the transfer processing step when the optical fibers are fusion-spliced, and to improve productivity by reducing the processing step.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an optical fiber holder auxiliary jig and an optical fiber connecting method using the auxiliary jig according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of an embodiment of a fusion splicing device equipped with an auxiliary jig for an optical fiber holder according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an auxiliary jig for the optical fiber holder shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view, FIG. 3 is a view as seen from an arrow A in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged view as seen from an arrow B direction in FIG.

  The fusion splicing apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 1 discharges the optical fiber tape core wires 7, which are multi-core optical fiber strands held by the optical fiber holders 5 A and 5 B arranged opposite to each other, from the discharge electrodes 9 and 9. The auxiliary jig 110 according to the present invention is mounted on each of the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B.

The optical fiber ribbon 7 is formed by joining a plurality of optical fibers 71 in a tape shape with a coating 73. Before holding the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B on the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B, the coating 73 on the tip side is made a predetermined length in advance. The tip part exposed in the state which each optical fiber 71 isolate | separated by peeling over is formed.
And the part covered with the coating | cover 73 in the position close | similar to the front-end | tip part of the optical fiber tape core wire 7 is hold | maintained to each optical fiber holder 5A, 5B.

The optical fiber holders 5A and 5B include a holder main body 53 in which a groove 51 for positioning the optical fiber ribbon 7 is formed, and a clamp member 55 that covers the upper surface of the holder main body 53, and the movable stage 50 shown in FIG. Placed on top. In FIG. 1, the holder main body 53 and the clamp member 55 constituting the optical fiber holder 5B shown on the left side of the drawing are omitted.
The groove 51 formed in the holder main body 53 has a rectangular cross-sectional shape that can accommodate the optical fiber ribbon 7. As shown in FIG. 4, the groove width w <b> 1 of the groove 51 is set larger than the width w <b> 2 of the optical fiber ribbon 7.

The clamp member 55 is hinged to the holder main body 53 so as to be openable and closable. When the clamp member 55 is closed (in the state shown in FIGS. 2 and 3), the optical fiber ribbon 7 inserted into the groove 51 is used. Is pressed to the bottom side of the groove 51 to position and fix each optical fiber ribbon 7.
At least one of the pair of optical fiber holders 5A and 5B is provided so as to be movable in the axial direction of the optical fiber ribbon 7 held by the movable stage 50, and the distal ends of the opposed optical fiber ribbons 7 protrude. The movement operation is performed so as to match.

In the case of the present embodiment, the auxiliary jig 110 includes a substrate portion 111 placed on the upper surface of the clamp member 55 of the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B, and an optical fiber tape core wire held by the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B. The width of the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B is the width of the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B, the substrate extending portion 112 extending from the distal end of the substrate portion 111 along the axial direction of the optical fibers 7 and the optical fiber tape core 7 protruding from the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B. A horizontal position restricting portion 113 that restricts the position in the width direction of the front end portion of the optical fiber ribbon 7 and a vertical position that restricts the position in the vertical direction of the front end portion of the optical fiber tape 7. The clamping member 5 is gripped by the restricting portion 115, the handle 116 that is gripped when the auxiliary jig 110 is relatively displaced on the holder main body 53, or is attached to or detached from the holder main body 53. And a magnet (not shown) to be attracted and fixed to the upper surface of the optical fiber tape, and as will be described in detail later, the optical fiber tape is relatively displaced (swinged) mainly in the horizontal direction with respect to the holder body 53. The position of the tip of the core 7 is corrected. The vertical position of the tip of the optical fiber ribbon 7 is regulated by the vertical position regulating unit 115 by fixing the auxiliary jig 110 on the clamp member 55.
As described above, the auxiliary jig 110 is detachably attached to the clamp member 55 by adsorption with a magnet.

In the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the horizontal position restricting portion 113 sandwiches the optical fiber tape core wire 7 between a pair of arm portions 113a and 113b depending from the tip of the substrate extending portion 112. Thus, the separation distance L1 between the pair of arm portions 113a and 113b is set to be larger than the width w1 of the groove 51.
The auxiliary jig 110 is magnetically attracted to the clamp member 55 so as to be able to move a predetermined amount along the width direction of the optical fiber 71, and when moved in the width direction as indicated by an arrow F in FIG. By pressing one of the pair of arm portions 113a and 113b sandwiching the coating 73 against one side of the optical fiber ribbon 7, the tip of the optical fiber ribbon 7 is pressed in the width direction, and the groove 51 is pressed. The optical fiber ribbon 7 that has come off is returned into the groove 51.

  The vertical position restricting portion 115 is in contact with the upper surface of the optical fiber ribbon 7 sandwiched between the pair of arms 113a and 113b, and regulates the height position of the optical fiber ribbon 7. 115 a and a jig height adjusting portion 115 b that contacts the upper surface of the holder main body 53 and sets the height position of the auxiliary jig 110 with respect to the holder main body 53.

When the above-mentioned auxiliary jig 110 is used to fuse and connect the optical fiber ribbons 7, the following procedure may be used.
First, an end treatment for removing the coating 73 at the tip of each optical fiber ribbon 7 to expose the optical fiber 71 is performed, and the coating at the tip of the optical fiber ribbon 7 after the end treatment is applied to the optical fiber. The optical fiber ribbons 7 are arranged in the grooves 51 of the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B so as to protrude toward the distal ends of the holders 5A and 5B.
Next, the bending of at least one of the optical fibers 71 protruding from the groove 51 is corrected using the auxiliary jig 110 attached to the optical fiber holders 5 </ b> A and 5 </ b> B to align with the other optical fiber 71.
Next, alignment is completed, and the optical fibers 71 whose ends are butted are fused together by the discharge of the discharge electrodes 9 and 9 to be interconnected.

  The auxiliary jig 110 of the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B described above is the tip of the optical fiber 71 held by the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B due to the relative displacement of the fusion splicing device 101 with respect to the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B. By correcting the position of the portion, the optical fiber 71 to be spliced and connected is subjected to scoring against bending wrinkles and creases. Compared with a conventional scoring device having heating means and tension applying means, the heating means and Since it is a structural member that does not require a tension applying means and has a simple structure, it can be manufactured at a low cost, and the processing cost for scraping can be reduced.

Further, the auxiliary jig 110 is attached to the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B of the fusion splicing device 101 in advance, and is bent against the optical fiber 71 held by the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B. For scissoring, the optical fiber 71 is transferred to a location different from the fusion splicing device 101, or the splicing device from another location after scoring processing. No need to return to 101.
Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the transfer processing step when the optical fibers 71 are fusion-spliced together, and to improve productivity by reducing the processing step.

In the above embodiment, the auxiliary jig 110 is provided in each of the pair of optical fiber holders 5A and 5B provided in the fusion splicing device 101. However, the auxiliary jig 110 is provided only in one of the optical fiber holders. Even if equipped, the optical fiber ribbons 7 can be aligned with each other.
However, when the auxiliary jig 110 is provided in each of the pair of optical fiber holders 5A and 5B, the positions of the tip ends of both optical fiber ribbons 7 can be individually adjusted, so that the alignment ability is improved. .

  In addition, the auxiliary jig 110 of the present embodiment is detachably fixed to the optical fiber holders 5A and 5B by adsorption with a magnet. However, the light can be displaced by a predetermined amount using an elastic locking projection or a connecting pin. It is good also as an integral equipment form which is couple | bonded with fiber holder 5A, 5B and is not detachable with respect to optical fiber holder 5A, 5B.

In the above-described embodiment, the case of the multi-fiber optical fiber ribbon 7 is shown as the optical fiber holder 5 to be fusion-spliced.
However, the auxiliary jig of the present invention can also be applied to scraping when fusion-connecting single optical fiber strands.

5 to 7 show an auxiliary jig 130 used for scraping the single-core optical fiber 120 when the single-fiber optical fibers 120 are fusion-bonded to each other.
The auxiliary jig 130 is detachably attached to the optical fiber holder 140 that holds the optical fiber 120 by adsorption with a magnet.

  The single-core optical fiber 120 is attached to the optical fiber holder 140 after stripping the coating 121 on the distal end side and performing an end treatment for exposing the optical fiber 122.

  The optical fiber holder 140 has a V-shaped cross-sectional structure in which a groove 145 formed in the holder main body 143 to accommodate the single-fiber optical fiber 120 is accommodated. The configuration of the optical fiber holder 140 other than the groove 145 may be the same as that of the multi-core auxiliary jig 110. The same reference numerals are given to the same configurations as in FIGS.

  Note that the auxiliary jig 130 has the same configuration as the auxiliary jig 110 shown in the previous embodiment, and common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

It is an expansion perspective view of the important section of one embodiment of the fusion splicing device carrying the auxiliary jig of the optical fiber holder concerning the present invention. It is a top view of the auxiliary jig of the optical fiber holder shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a view as seen from an arrow A in FIG. 2. It is an enlarged arrow view from the arrow B direction of FIG. It is a top view of 2nd Embodiment of the auxiliary jig | tool of the optical fiber holder which concerns on this invention. It is C arrow line view of FIG. It is an enlarged arrow view from the arrow D direction of FIG. In the conventional fusion splicing apparatus, it is a perspective view of the optical fiber holder which opposes and holds the optical fibers to be spliced together.

Explanation of symbols

5A, 5B Optical fiber holder 7 Optical fiber ribbon 9 Discharge electrode 51 Groove 53 Holder body 55 Clamp member 71 Optical fiber 73 Cover 101 Fusion splicer 110 Auxiliary jig 111 Substrate part 113 Horizontal position restriction part 115 Vertical position Restriction part 115a Element height restriction part 115b Jig height adjustment part 116 Handle 120 Optical fiber element 122 Optical fiber 130 Auxiliary jig 140 Optical fiber holder 143 Holder body

Claims (5)

  In the fusion splicing device for interconnecting optical fibers, in order to align at least one optical fiber projecting from the groove of the optical fiber holder that arranges the optical fiber in the groove of the holder body with the other optical fiber, An auxiliary jig for an optical fiber holder, wherein the auxiliary jig is displaceably attached to the holder body. The auxiliary jig sandwiches the tip end portion of the optical fiber strand protruding from the optical fiber holder from the width direction of the optical fiber holder, and regulates the position in the width direction of the tip portion of the optical fiber strand. A position restricting portion, and a vertical position restricting portion that restricts the position in the vertical direction of the tip of the optical fiber strand,
2. The auxiliary jig for an optical fiber holder according to claim 1, wherein the position of the tip of the optical fiber is corrected by relative displacement with respect to the holder body.   2. The optical fiber holder is formed separately from the optical fiber holder, and is attached to the optical fiber holder so as to be displaceable and detachable at least in the horizontal direction with respect to the optical fiber holder. Or the auxiliary jig of the optical fiber holder of 2.   The auxiliary of the optical fiber holder according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the optical fiber holder is provided integrally with the optical fiber holder so as to be displaceable in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction with respect to the optical fiber holder. jig.   A step of disposing the optical fiber in the groove of the optical fiber holder so that the optical fiber having the coating removed and exposing the optical fiber protrudes from the tip of the optical fiber holder; The bending of one of the optical fibers is corrected by using the auxiliary jig according to claim 1 to claim 4, the procedure for aligning with the other optical fiber, and the aligned optical fibers are fused together. An optical fiber connecting method comprising: a step of interconnecting the optical fibers.

Images