JP2006079120A - Method of retaining optical fiber and retaining apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of retaining an optical fiber having a small transmission loss of the optical fiber, reliable in a long term, and having sufficient retaining force, and to provide a retaining apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A material which is almost the same as the coating material of the optical fiber 20, for example, a UV ray setting resin 210, is formed into a shape having a projected part 21a so as to be easily retained, and coated at a position to be retained of the optical fiber 20, and a coating material 21 is formed by curing the UV ray setting resin 210 by irradiating with ultraviolet ray. The coating material 21 is almost the same as the coating material of the optical fiber 20, thus strong adhesive force is obtained between the optical fiber 20 and the coating material 21, no effect is given to the optical fiber 20 also in terms of a chemical affect, and long term reliability is obtained. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber retaining method and a retaining device.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of an optical submarine cable.

  The optical submarine cable shown in the figure includes an optical core 1, a steel wire 2 provided around the optical core 1, a copper tube 3 provided on the outer periphery of the steel wire 2, an optical core 1, a steel wire 2, and copper. It is comprised by the running water prevention compound 4 provided between the tubes 3, and the insulator 5 provided in the outermost layer.

  FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional example of an optical core used in the optical submarine cable shown in FIG.

  The optical core 1 for an optical submarine cable shown in FIG. 7 includes a center tension body 6, a plurality of optical fibers 7 arranged around the center tension body 6 in parallel or spirally with the center tension body 6, and the center tension body 6. It is comprised with the plastic filler 8 with which the clearance gap between the optical fibers 7 was filled so that it might become circular cross-sectional shape.

  In order to hold such an optical submarine cable in a predetermined position, the central tension body 6 of the optical core 1 is mechanically fixed at a predetermined position (coupling with a joint and a relay not shown).

  On the other hand, in order to cope with wavelength multiplexing of an optical transmission system, an optical fiber having a large mode and a low dispersion or low dispersion slope has been used unlike a conventional optical fiber. Since these optical fibers have complicated profiles, the conventional optical core structure tends to increase transmission loss.

  As a countermeasure against the transmission loss, a loose tube type optical core structure as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing another conventional example of an optical core used in the optical submarine cable shown in FIG.

  An optical core 9 shown in FIG. 8 includes an optical fiber 7 arranged in parallel or spiral, a jelly 10 filled around the optical fiber 7 so as to have a circular cross section, and a plastic provided on the outer periphery of the jelly 10. It consists of a tube 11.

  However, the loose tube type optical core 9 shown in FIG. 8 does not have the central tension body 6 like the optical core 1 shown in FIG. 7, and it is necessary to directly hold the optical fiber 7.

  On the other hand, FIG. 9A is a plan perspective view of an apparatus to which a conventional optical fiber holding method is applied, and FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 9A.

  In this method, the holding positions of the plurality of optical fibers 12 are formed in a tape shape with the adhesive 13, and the tape-shaped optical fibers 12 are inserted into the through holes of the shrinkable tube 15 containing the two shrinkable tube reinforcements 14. The shrinkable tube 15 is housed in the shrinkable tube fixing material 16 and the optical fiber 12 is retained by fixing the shrinkable tube fixing material 16. Reference numeral 17 denotes an adhesive applied in the through hole of the shrinkable tube 15.

図１０は引き留め装置の光ファイバに及ぼす引き留め力の概念図である。 In this method, it is considered that lateral pressure is applied by the shrinkable tube 15, the friction coefficient is increased by the adhesive 17, and the adhesive force of the adhesive 17 is used. The magnitude and direction of the retaining force F and the like in this retaining device are represented by FIG.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram of the retaining force exerted on the optical fiber of the retaining device.

However, the conventional example described above has the following problems.
(1) In the method of applying and holding the side pressure to the optical fiber, the transmission loss tends to increase due to the side pressure.
(2) The retention force depends on the coefficient of friction between the fixing material and the optical fiber, but since one is an optical fiber, it is difficult to obtain a large coefficient of friction, and long-term reliability can be achieved even if an adhesive is applied to increase the coefficient of friction. It is difficult to get sex.
(3) It is difficult to obtain long-term reliability of the adhesive strength of the adhesive.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and to provide an optical fiber holding method and a holding device that have a small optical fiber transmission loss, long-term reliability, and sufficient holding power.

  In order to achieve the above object, the optical fiber holding method of the present invention is a covering material made of substantially the same material as the covering material of the optical fiber so that the holding position of the optical fiber coated with the covering material has a convex portion. The covering material is fixed in the fixing material for retaining so that the concave portion formed in the groove portion of the fixing material and the convex portion of the covering material are fitted, and the fixing material is retained in a predetermined position. .

  In addition to the above configuration, the optical fiber holding method of the present invention preferably has a plurality of convex portions and concave portions.

  In addition to the above configuration, in the optical fiber holding method of the present invention, the coating material is preferably a UV curable resin.

  In order to achieve the above object, an optical fiber holding device of the present invention includes a coating material that covers a holding position of an optical fiber, a coating material that covers the coating material, and is made of substantially the same material as the coating material. And a fixing material having a concave portion for fitting the convex portion of the material.

  In addition to the above configuration, the optical fiber holding device of the present invention preferably has a plurality of convex portions and concave portions.

  In addition to the above configuration, in the optical fiber holding device of the present invention, the coating material is preferably a UV curable resin.

  The optical fiber coating material is almost the same as the coating material of the optical fiber, for example, UV curable resin is molded and coated in a shape with a convex part in the center so that it can be easily retained, and UV resin is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays. By doing so, a covering material is formed. Since this coating material is almost the same as the coating material for optical fibers, a high adhesive force can be obtained between the optical fiber and the coating material, and there is no influence on the optical fiber in terms of chemistry. Sex can be obtained.

  On the other hand, the fixing material does not hold the covering material with a lateral pressure, but a groove for accommodating the covering material is provided inside the fixing material, and the groove is formed on the convex portion of the covering material so that stress is applied in the shearing direction. By fitting, the tensile stress of the optical fiber becomes the shearing force of the convex portion of the covering material. As a result, the optical fiber can be retained with little increase in transmission loss.

  In short, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects are exhibited.

  It is possible to provide an optical fiber holding method and a holding device having a small optical fiber transmission loss, long-term reliability, and sufficient holding force.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of an optical fiber holding device according to the present invention.

  The optical fiber holding device shown in the figure is an optical fiber holding device for holding at least one optical fiber, and is made of substantially the same material as the coating material of the optical fiber 20 so as to cover the holding position of the optical fiber 20. And a fixing material 22 fixed so as to cover the covering material 21 and held in place. A two-dot chain line 23 indicates a shearing surface of the covering material 21.

  The covering material 21 is made of a UV curable resin 210 and has a convex portion 21a. The fixing member 22 has a groove 22a in which a concave portion 22b is formed so as to be fitted to the convex portion 21a.

  The optical fiber 20 is fastened by fixing the fixing member 22 at a predetermined position. This optical fiber retaining device eliminates an increase in the lateral pressure on the optical fiber 20, so that there is no increase in transmission loss and long-term reliability can be obtained.

  FIG. 2A to FIG. 2D are explanatory views showing an embodiment of the optical fiber holding method of the present invention. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

  In addition, since it is common to hold a plurality of optical fibers at the same time, the holding of a plurality of optical fibers will be described. However, this may be applied to a case where a single optical fiber is held.

  A plurality (four in the figure, but not limited) of the optical fibers 30 are arranged in parallel, and the UV curable resin 320 is thinly applied in accordance with the length La of the fixing material 31 to integrate the optical fibers 30 (FIG. 2 (a), (b)).

  A portion of the integrated optical fiber 30 to which the UV curable resin 320 is applied is disposed in the groove 31a of the fixing member 31 (FIG. 2C).

  The groove 31a and the recess 31b of the fixing material 31 are filled with a UV curable resin 320. By irradiating ultraviolet rays, the UV curable resin 320 is cured to form the coating material 32, and the optical fiber 30, the fixing material 31, and the coating material 32 are integrated to obtain an optical fiber retaining device (FIG. 2 (d)). .

  FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the optical fiber holding device of the present invention.

  The difference from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that there are a plurality of convex portions 33 a of the covering material 33 and concave portions 34 b formed in the groove portions 34 a of the fixing material 34.

  In this optical fiber holding device, four optical fibers 30 are fixed to a fixing member 34 in which three concave portions 34b are formed, and four optical fibers 30 integrated with a UV curable resin 330 are provided. After being accommodated in the fixing material 34, it is filled with a UV curable resin 330, irradiated with ultraviolet rays, cured, and fixed as a covering material 33.

  In this optical fiber holding device, since the number of the convex portions 33a and the concave portions 34b is formed at a plurality of locations (in the figure, it is not limited to three locations), concentration of stress on the optical fiber 30 is prevented, and further, Long-term reliability can be obtained without increasing transmission loss and transmission loss.

  FIG. 4A is a plan view showing another embodiment of the optical fiber holding device of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 4A.

  The difference from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that a plurality of optical fibers 30 and a tension body 35 are integrated with a UV curable resin 32.

  In this optical fiber holding device, a part of the plurality of optical fibers 30 and the tension body 35 are covered with the UV curable resin 32, the UV curable resin 32 is cured by irradiating with ultraviolet rays, and the end of the tension body 35 is fixed. By doing so, the optical fiber 30 is retained.

  Even in such an optical fiber holding device, no side pressure is applied to the optical fiber 30, so that transmission loss does not increase and long-term reliability can be obtained.

  Fig.5 (a) is a top view which shows one Example of the optical fiber holding | maintenance apparatus of this invention, FIG.5 (b) is the DD sectional view taken on the line of Fig.5 (a).

  In this optical fiber holding device, four optical fibers 30 are fixed to a fixing member 34 in which three concave portions 34b are formed, and the holding position is UV as in the optical fiber holding device shown in FIG. After the four optical fibers 30 integrated with the curable resin are accommodated in the fixing material 34, the UV curable resin 330 is filled, irradiated with ultraviolet rays, cured, and fixed as the covering material 33. Fixing pieces 36 having fixing holes are provided at the four corners of the fixing material 34. The surface of the fixing member 34 (upper side in FIG. 5B) is covered with a lid 37 and screwed.

  The optical fiber holding device may be fixed at a predetermined position by screwing the hole of the fixing piece 36.

  As described above, the optical fiber holding method and the holding apparatus according to the present invention can obtain a required holding force with almost no increase in transmission loss even with a mechanically weak optical fiber such as side pressure and bending. That is, since there is no increase in transmission loss and long-term reliability, it can be applied not only to the retention of optical fibers of wavelength-multiplexed optical submarine cables, but also to the retention of all optical fibers that are vulnerable to side pressure.

It is a top view which shows one Embodiment of the optical fiber holding | maintenance apparatus of this invention. (A)-(d) is explanatory drawing which shows one Embodiment of the optical fiber retention method of this invention. It is a top view which shows other embodiment of the optical fiber holding | maintenance apparatus of this invention. (A) is a top view which shows other embodiment of the optical fiber holding | maintenance apparatus of this invention, (b) is CC sectional view taken on the line of (a). (A) is a top view which shows one Example of the optical fiber holding | maintenance apparatus of this invention, (b) is the DD sectional view taken on the line of (a). It is sectional drawing which shows an example of an optical submarine cable. It is sectional drawing which shows the prior art example of the optical core used for the optical submarine cable shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the other conventional example of the optical core used for the optical submarine cable shown in FIG. (A) is a plane perspective view of the apparatus which applied the conventional optical fiber holding | maintenance method, (b) is the sectional view on the AA line of (a). It is a conceptual diagram of the retention force exerted on the optical fiber of the retention device.

Explanation of symbols

20 Optical fiber 21 Coating material 21a Convex part 22 Fixing material 22a Groove 22b Concave part 210 UV curing resin

Claims (6)

The holding position of the optical fiber coated with the coating material is covered with a coating material made of substantially the same material as the coating material of the optical fiber so as to have a convex portion, and the coating material is placed in the fixing material for holding. An optical fiber holding method comprising: fixing a concave portion formed in a groove portion of the fixing material and a convex portion of the covering material so as to be fitted, and holding the fixing material at a predetermined position. The optical fiber holding method according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of the convex portions and the concave portions. The optical fiber holding method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the coating material is a UV curable resin. A coating material that covers the holding position of the optical fiber, a coating material that covers the coating material and is made of substantially the same material as the coating material, and has a convex portion, and a concave portion for fitting the convex portion of the coating material. An optical fiber retaining device comprising a fixing member. The optical fiber retaining device according to claim 4, wherein there are a plurality of the convex portions and the concave portions. 6. The optical fiber holding device according to claim 4, wherein the covering material is a UV curable resin.

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