JP2006126376A - Optical fiber structural body, fan-out optical fiber structural body using the same, and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber structural body in which optical fibers can be branched at a desired position and with which a fan-out structure can be easily produced by using the structural body. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of optical fibers are arrayed and mounted on a two-dimensional plane. A plurality of coated optical fibers are coated together with a coating material comprising a single layer. A part of a bundle of coated optical fibers is held and relatively moved along the axial direction of the optical fiber to branch the optical fiber bundle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber structure in which optical fibers used for optical communication and optical information processing such as an optical circuit package and an optical circuit device are combined.

  The optical fiber structure is obtained by aligning optical fibers and fixing the optical fibers, and can be configured to be the smallest as the optical fiber wiring. As the optical fiber structure, an optical fiber ribbon is often used. Optical fiber ribbons are used to store optical fibers in a compact, high-density optical fiber cable, etc., and are also used for multi-fiber wiring of optical fibers between devices or within devices. ing.

  By the way, with the progress of opticalization of the communication line up to the current subscriber, it is necessary to branch the multi-fiber optical fiber ribbon and draw it to the subscriber. Therefore, in a state where a plurality of optical fiber ribbons (hereinafter referred to as primary tape cores) are arranged in parallel, the entire tape core is further integrated by a secondary coating, or the ends of the parallel primary tape cores are arranged. There has been proposed a split type optical fiber ribbon formed by applying a connecting resin layer having high peelability between the parts and integrating them (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). Such an optical fiber ribbon can be divided into individual optical fiber ribbons by dividing the resin layer between the ends of the primary tape.

  However, in this manufacturing method, it is necessary to produce through a process of manufacturing a primary tape core wire and a process of applying this using a connecting resin, resulting in poor production efficiency. Also, it is impossible to divide an arbitrary number of core wires and use them as wiring members as they are, and in order to produce optical fiber tape core wires corresponding to branch positions, various numbers of primary tape core wires are previously used. Since it is necessary to prepare, the cost increases. Furthermore, since the resin layer of the primary tape core wire and the connecting resin layer are different, the connecting resin layer is easily peeled off, and there is a possibility of contaminating the surrounding environment by fragments of the connecting resin layer separated at the time of division. there were.

In addition, there is an optical fiber fan-out cord in which an optical fiber is wired in advance so as to branch at an arbitrary position, and this is cabled. However, since the size of the cable sheath that protects the optical fiber is large, it takes up space and further light Since the flexibility is not good compared with the fiber ribbon, the workability is poor. Further, when the number of branches is large, the optical fibers are entangled with each other, the handling property is poor, and the optical fiber may be damaged.
JP 2002-341205 A JP 2002-174759 A

  The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above-described problems in the prior art. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber structure that can branch an optical fiber at an arbitrary position and that can be used to easily produce a fan-out structure.

  The optical fiber structure of the present invention is an optical fiber structure in which a plurality of optical fibers are aligned on the same plane, and the upper surface of the aligned optical fibers is coated with a single layer using a coating material. It is characterized by.

  The fan-out optical fiber structure of the present invention is an optical fiber structure in which a plurality of optical fibers are aligned in the same plane, and the upper surface of the aligned optical fibers is coated with a single layer using a coating material. It is characterized by using a conventional optical fiber structure.

  Furthermore, the manufacturing method of the optical fiber structure of the present invention includes a step of placing a plurality of optical fibers aligned on a two-dimensional plane, and a coating material consisting of a single layer on the plurality of optical fibers. It is characterized by having a step of coating, and a step of branching the bundle of optical fibers by grasping a part of the bundle of optical fiber core wires and relatively moving them so as to be split in the axial direction of the optical fiber.

  In addition, the method for manufacturing a fan-out optical fiber structure according to the present invention includes a step of placing a plurality of optical fibers aligned on a two-dimensional plane, and a coating material comprising a single layer on the plurality of optical fiber cores. And a step of branching the bundle of optical fibers by grasping a part of the bundle of optical fiber core wires and relatively moving them so as to be split in the axial direction of the optical fiber. Yes.

  The present invention is an optical fiber structure in which an optical fiber is covered with a single layer by a coating material, and can be easily branched to any length at various optical fiber positions. Therefore, by using this optical fiber structure, a branched fan-out type optical fiber structure can be easily manufactured, and the production efficiency is remarkably improved. Further, since it is composed of a single layer, the coating material has good adhesion, and no peeling of the coating material occurs, and the surrounding environment is not contaminated when the optical fiber is branched. Furthermore, it is possible to perform wiring with a minimum space by adopting a structure in which the optical fiber is covered with a single layer coating material provided on the upper surface thereof. In addition, a single layer here refers to coat | covering collectively by one coating process.

  The optical fiber structure of the present invention is a structure in which only the upper part of the optical fiber is covered with a coating material. Thus, since it is the structure which coat | covers only one side, since there are few materials between an optical fiber and an optical fiber, a coating material can be divided easily. In addition, by making the coating only on one side of the optical fiber, even when the optical fiber is bent, it becomes difficult to cause distortion between the material and the optical fiber, so that the flexibility is good and the handling property is good. It becomes.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the optical fiber structure of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, a four-fiber or eight-core optical fiber structure is shown, but the number of optical fiber cores is not limited at all.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of an optical fiber structure of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an optical fiber structure 1 is constituted by optical fibers 2 a to 2 d that are aligned without a gap, and the upper surface of the four optical fibers is covered with a coating layer 3 with a single layer. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of the fan-out optical fiber structure 4 in which a bundle of optical fibers 1 and / or optical fibers according to the present invention is branched. In FIG. 2, an optical fiber structure 1 has a structure in which a coating material coated with four optical fibers in the vicinity of the center is divided into two at the center and branches in two directions. FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the optical fiber structure of a portion AA ′ where the optical fiber of FIG. 2 is branched. According to FIG. 3, the four-fiber optical fiber is split into two fibers along the optical fibers 2b and 2c.

  4A to 4C are process diagrams illustrating an example of a method for manufacturing the optical fiber structure of FIG. In FIG. 4, four optical fiber cores 2a to 2d are arranged and placed on a substrate 5 having a two-dimensional plane, and a coating material 3 is applied to the two-dimensional plane of the substrate to obtain a desired optical fiber. The range is covered (FIG. 4A). Next, the coating material is cured. And an optical fiber structure is produced by peeling an optical fiber from the board | substrate 5 with the optical fibers 2a-2d being aligned (FIG.4 (b), FIG.4 (c)).

  FIG. 5 is a process diagram for explaining a method of manufacturing a fan-out optical fiber structure in which a bundle of optical fibers each having two cores is branched by tearing. From FIG. 5, the optical fibers 2a2b and 2c2d of the optical fiber structure 1 manufactured as shown in FIG. 4 are respectively gripped and relatively moved so as to be split in the axial direction of the optical fiber, and between 2a2b and 2c2d. By splitting the coating material (FIG. 5B), the fan-out optical fiber structure 4 in which the optical fiber bundle 2a2b and the optical fiber bundle 2c2d are branched is formed. The relative movement of the optical fibers when splitting may move so as to be separated from each other in the horizontal direction, or may move so as to be separated in the vertical direction.

  According to the manufacturing method of the present invention, with respect to the branching of the optical fiber, the both ends of the desired position where the end of the optical fiber bundle is desired to be branched are held so as to be split to the desired position in the axial direction of the optical fiber. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently move the optical fiber without using a separation tool in order to branch the optical fiber. In addition, since it is possible to branch without using tools such as blades, production equipment costs can be reduced and safety is improved. Further, the length of splitting can be freely set by adjusting the moving distance of the held optical fiber.

  Optical fiber branching means that one optical fiber bundle is divided into a plurality of bundles. A fan-out optical fiber structure is an optical fiber structure in which optical fibers are branched. Point to. The intervals between the optical fibers may be set as appropriate according to the specifications of the optical fiber structure to be manufactured. However, in order to easily branch the optical fibers uniformly, it is preferable to set them at a certain interval.

  The coating material for coating the optical fiber structure used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the manufacturing method of the present invention can be applied, but it is easily torn by gripping and pulling the ends. It is desirable that the material can be used, and the tear strength is 29 kgf / cm or less. When the tear strength is 29 kgf / cm or more, the tear resistance is increased, so that workability is poor, and it is necessary to tear by applying a great load, which may cause cracking or chipping of the coating material. More preferably 10 kgf / cm or less. The tear strength refers to a strength measured by performing a test in accordance with JIS K6250 (ordinary physical test method for vulcanized rubber and thermoplastic rubber) and JIS K6252 (tear test method for vulcanized rubber). That is, the test piece is a strength obtained by measuring the maximum tearing force when a plate-like cut-in-angle type test piece is used and the sample is pulled and the stress when the tear is expanded is measured.

  Moreover, it is desirable that the coating material for coating the optical fiber structure used in the present invention is a material that adheres well to the outermost coating material of the optical fiber core wire. Furthermore, it is preferable that the material has good flexibility in order to improve the handleability of the optical fiber structure. An example of a material suitable for the above conditions is a silicone rubber material. Silicone rubber has a low intermolecular attractive force of the Si—O bond, and therefore has a low tear strength and can be easily torn from the end. On the other hand, since it has rubber elasticity, it has excellent flexibility, and also has elongation and tensile strength, so it has high flexibility with respect to the movement of the bonded optical fiber, and it can tear at the middle part. Strong against it. That is, it can be easily branched from the end portion when manufactured, and by fixing the rear end portion, a fan-out optical fiber structure strong against tearing can be obtained in use. In addition, since the siloxane bond is excellent in heat resistance, it has excellent heat resistance retention, and has excellent adhesive strength even in high temperature and low temperature environments. Therefore, when used as a wiring member, no deterioration is observed even in a high temperature environment (up to 250 ° C.) or in a low temperature environment (up to −50 ° C.), and the optical fiber can be stably fixed. . Silicone rubber is excellent in electrical insulation, chemical resistance, weather resistance, and water resistance, and can be adhered to a wide range of materials by using a primer if necessary. Therefore, it can be adhered to, for example, a plastic fiber made of a fluororesin or a fiber whose cladding layer is coated with a fluororesin. Among silicone rubbers, it is preferable to use room temperature curable silicone rubber (RTV) in which a curing reaction proceeds at room temperature from the viewpoint of ease of use. More preferably, since the generation of by-products is small and the workability is good, addition reaction curing type, condensation reaction curing type, and all necessary components are filled in one sealed container such as a tube or cartridge. Thus, it is preferably a one-component type produced as a product.

  In the step of coating the two-dimensional plane with the coating material in the production method of the present invention, the coating material may be coated so that the coating of the coating material is formed with a desired thickness on the surface of the optical fiber core. The molding method is not limited at all. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, first, the coating material 3 is applied to the optical fiber cores 2a to 2d aligned on the two-dimensional plane of the substrate 5, and then the molding jig 6 is molded from the molding start position. The coating material 3 on the surface of the optical fiber is formed with a constant thickness by the bottom surface of the forming jig 6. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of optical fibers may be arranged side by side and a coating material may be applied, and then a part of them may be peeled off to produce an optical fiber structure. That is, a coating material is applied to a two-dimensional plane of a substrate on which a plurality of optical fibers are placed to coat the surface of the optical fiber core, and then a part of the optical fibers are peeled off from the two-dimensional plane to form an optical fiber structure. May be formed. Further, other optical fibers can be peeled off to produce other optical fiber structures.

  In the step of branching a bundle of a plurality of optical fiber cores in the present invention, the moving speed when the optical fiber is relatively moved so as to be split in the axial direction and the bundle of the optical fiber core wires and the other bundle are formed. The angle may be set so that the coating material is divided so that the shape of the coating material divided by the movement does not become non-uniform, and is not particularly limited. However, in order to make the covering shape uniform, it is preferable to keep the moving speed of the optical fiber being branched constant.

  In the fan-out optical fiber structure of the present invention, the structure in which the branching of the optical fiber is completed and a part that is not branched (hereinafter collectively referred to as an optical fiber branching terminal part) is stored and held is more than necessary. It can be prevented from branching. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the optical fiber branch end portion is wrapped with a sheet 7 having one adhesive layer on the optical fiber, and the optical fiber branch portion can be fixed by bonding and fixing. Also, the sheet 7 having two adhesive layers may be sandwiched and fixed as shown in FIG. 9, and at this time, one of the sheets may be cut into a large size and attached together. The excess portion 7a of the non-sheet can be attached to another apparatus with the optical fiber sandwiched therebetween, thereby fixing the position of the branch end portion in the apparatus. In addition, it is good to affix the release film which apply | coated the release material to the contact bonding layer of the surplus part 7a before installation.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, the bundles 2a2b and 2c2d of the optical fiber core wires are branched to divide the coating material to a desired position, and then the optical fiber is accommodated in the cavity of the tube-shaped member 8. There is a method of fixing a branch portion of an optical fiber by contracting a tubular member at a fiber branch position. The shape of the tubular member used at this time is not required to be damaged by contact with the optical fiber or other parts, and examples thereof include a circular shape and an elliptical shape. In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, a slit 8a may be inserted so that the optical fiber can be easily inserted into the cavity. Plastics, metals, rubber, and the like can be used as the constituent materials, and it is preferable to use materials that are as light as possible.

  As for the method of fixing the optical fiber and the member, the member may be contracted by the elastic force of rubber, or may be contracted by heat, ultraviolet rays, heating wire or the like. In order to store and protect the optical fiber core wires 2a to 2d that branch off as shown in FIG. When the resin is used, it can be molded freely, so that the shape can be designed and coated according to the specifications, and the production efficiency can be increased.

  FIG. 14 is a sectional view in the axial direction of the optical fiber 2 of the optical fiber structure 1 using the resin of the present invention. An optical fiber structure in which a coating material 3 is applied to the top surfaces of the aligned optical fibers 2, and a resin 9 is applied onto the coating material 3 at a position where the optical fiber 2 branches, and cured by various curing means. 1. Thus, by installing the resin 9 on the coating material 3, the movement of the optical fiber 2 can be stopped at the branch position when the optical fiber 2 is relatively moved during the branching step. Moreover, since the coating material 3 and the resin 9 can be installed in a chain, the production efficiency is good.

  The resin for storing and protecting the optical fiber core wire is not particularly limited as long as it has a higher tear strength than the coating material covering the optical fiber, but is not limited to rubber-like resin materials, thermosetting resins, ultraviolet rays. Examples thereof include curable resins such as curable resins and electron beam curable resins. More specifically, examples of the rubber-like resin material include silicone rubber, urethane rubber, fluorine rubber, acrylic rubber, ethylene-acrylic rubber, and chloroprene rubber. Moreover, in order to improve the handleability of the optical fiber structure, it is preferable to have flexibility. Examples of the curable resin having flexibility include an epoxy resin, an ultraviolet curable adhesive, and a silicone resin. Is mentioned. Further, the thermoplastic resin may be any one as long as it has flexibility, and examples thereof include resins constituting hot-melt adhesives such as polyvinyl acetate and ethyl methacrylate, and particularly hot-melt adhesives. The agent is effective for the present invention because it has no stickiness at room temperature and has characteristics such as no pollution, no toxicity and no fire hazard.

  The tube-shaped member and the resin are preferably transparent or semi-transparent so that they can be visually checked, so that the branching state of the optical fiber can be confirmed from the outside, and the branching state is checked for quality. It is possible to improve reliability. Further, the step of installing the tube-shaped member and the resin may be performed before or after branching of the optical fiber.

  There are no particular limitations on the number and position of the branching points of the optical fiber structure, and they may be designed freely according to the specifications. For example, in an eight-fiber optical fiber structure, the fan-out optical fiber structure 4 that branches at 2 to 4 as shown in FIG. 15 or the optical fiber core wires at certain intervals as shown in FIG. Examples thereof include a fan-out optical fiber structure 4 that branches for each desired number of core wires. This optical fiber structure may be branched at the time of installation, and can usually be handled in an aligned state as an integrated optical fiber, so that workability is good. The housing / holding member 10 for the optical fiber branch end portion may be any of the above-mentioned sheet with an adhesive layer, a tube-shaped member, resin, a shrinkable tube by heat, ultraviolet rays, or the like.

  The optical fiber core used in the present invention is not limited in any way, and may be appropriately selected according to its use. For example, an optical fiber core made of a material such as quartz or plastic may be a multimode, single fiber. It can be used regardless of the mode. The outer diameter and the optical fiber length are not limited at all. Further, the optical fiber may be cut to adjust the length of the branched optical fiber, and the optical fiber may be subjected to any processing such as correcting bending wrinkles or partially deforming the shape.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention, this invention is not limited to these.
<Example 1>
Four optical fiber cores 2a to 2d (product name: quartz single mode fiber, outer shape 0.25 mm, manufactured by Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.) having a length of 40 cm are aligned on the substrate 4 in parallel, and each optical fiber core 2a The part where the coating on both ends was not applied was fixed with adhesive tape 11 so that a constant tension was applied to ˜2d, and placed on a two-dimensional plane (FIG. 17A). Next, using the coating apparatus shown in FIG. 17, the room temperature curing silicone rubber resin (trade name: TSE392, tear strength 5 kgf / cm, Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) was applied.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 17, the above-described coating apparatus is provided with a flat plate 12 on which the substrate 4 on which the optical fiber cores 2a to 2d are placed, a drive motor 13 at one end, and a bearing 14 at the other end. A uniaxial control robot 16 having a ball screw shaft 15 is configured. The forming jig 6 has a width of 40 mm, a length of 30 mm, and a height of 40 mm, has a flat bottom surface, is provided in a movable unit 17 attached to the ball screw shaft 15, and is installed in a direction perpendicular to the substrate 4. It was a thing. Therefore, the movable unit 17 can move the forming jig 6 in the vertical and horizontal directions.

  Next, the movable unit 17 is moved so that the bottom surface of the forming jig is placed at a height of 0.1 mm from the surface of the four optical fiber cores, and the optical fiber cores 2a to 2d are moved at a moving speed of 50 mm / sec. The coating material 3 was molded by moving the molding jig 6 in the axial direction (FIG. 17B). Next, the molded coating material 3 was semi-cured at room temperature under a curing time of 30 minutes. Thereafter, one side of the optical fiber cores 2a to 2d is held and pulled upward (FIG. 17 (c)), and the optical fiber cores 2a to 2d are peeled off from the substrate 4 so as to be on the optical fiber core. The coating material was molded. Thereafter, the coating material 3 was completely cured by allowing to stand still at room temperature for 1 hour to obtain a four-core optical fiber structure 1 (FIG. 17D).

  Next, the optical fiber branch portion of the optical fiber structure 1 is inserted into a heat-shrinkable silicone rubber shrinkable tube (trade name: Sparon inner diameter 1.5 mm, manufactured by Nikkan Kogyo Co., Ltd.) 18 and heated for 5 minutes by a heater. The tube 18 was contracted by heating, and the branch end portion of the optical fiber was fixed (FIG. 17 (e)). Next, two ends of the end portion of the optical fiber structure 1 are gripped, moved relative to the axial direction of the optical fiber from the center, and the coating material is torn to the end of the shrinkable tube 18 to have a thickness of 0.4 mm and a width of A fan-out optical fiber structure of Example 1 was obtained that was branched by 1.1 mm up to 10 cm every two cores (FIG. 17 (f)).

  According to the fan-out optical fiber structure of the first embodiment, the optical fiber can be branched only by holding the bundle of optical fibers and relatively moving them so as to be split in the axial direction. It was shown that production equipment costs could be reduced and safety could be improved because production was possible without using tools such as separation tools. Also, by using an optical fiber structure in which the optical fiber is a single-sided structure consisting of a single layer and covered with a coating material, the optical fiber can be easily branched to a set position, and the coating material can be aligned along the optical fiber. Since no debris is generated when it is split, it can be used without polluting the surrounding environment and without post-processing such as cutting after branching.

<Example 2>
First, 8 optical fiber cores having a length of 30 cm are aligned, and a coating material is applied to the entire area of the optical fiber by a coating apparatus in the same manner as in Example 1, and this is ground for one hour at room temperature to cure the coating material. It was. Next, a band of 2 cm in the center of the optical fiber structure is covered with an ultraviolet curable resin so as to have a thickness of 2 mm, and an irradiation treatment with an irradiation intensity of 20 mW / cm ² is performed for 2 minutes using an ultraviolet irradiation device. The UV curable resin was cured. Thereafter, the optical fiber was peeled off from the substrate to form a coating material, and the coating material was completely cured in a room temperature environment. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15, after attaching a transparent resin for housing and protecting the optical fiber in the center, at the both ends of the optical fiber structure, two ends of one optical fiber are placed in the axial direction of the optical fiber. By relatively moving so as to split, the coating material is split in four directions, the ends of the other optical fiber are gripped by four and the optical fiber is moved in the opposite direction, and the coating material is moved to the optical fiber. The fan-out optical fiber structure of Example 2 was produced.

  According to the fan-out optical fiber structure of Example 2, a fan-out structure in which the branching position was switched in the middle of 4 to 2 could be produced. In addition, by using a resin that stores and holds the branch portion of the optical fiber, it can be easily manufactured in the same process as the optical fiber coating process, and the working efficiency is improved.

<Example 3>
Eight optical fiber cores having a length of 50 cm are aligned, and the whole is covered with a coating material in the same manner as in Example 1. As shown in FIG. An optical fiber is housed in a tube (length 2 cm) 9 and is shrunk by a heater to produce a fan-out optical fiber structure of Example 3 in which the optical fibers for every two fibers are branched at intervals of 5 cm. did.

  According to the fan-out optical fiber structure of the third embodiment, the fan-out structure in which the optical fiber cores branch every two fibers at regular intervals, and the light that can be distributed from the eight fibers to every two fibers. A fiber structure could be obtained.

It is a top view explaining the optical fiber structure of the present invention. It is a top view explaining the fan-out optical fiber structure of the present invention. It is a top view explaining sectional drawing of the fan-out optical fiber structure of this invention. It is process drawing explaining an example of the manufacturing method of the optical fiber structure of this invention. It is process drawing explaining the manufacturing method of the fan-out optical fiber structure of this invention. It is process drawing explaining the manufacturing method of the optical fiber structure of this invention. It is process drawing explaining the manufacturing method of the optical fiber structure of this invention. It is a top view explaining another example of the fan-out optical fiber structure of the present invention. It is a top view explaining another example of the fan-out optical fiber structure of the present invention. It is a top view explaining another example of the fan-out optical fiber structure of the present invention. It is a top view explaining another example of the fan-out optical fiber structure of the present invention. It is a top view explaining the tubular member used for the fan-out optical fiber structure of the present invention. It is a top view explaining the other fanout optical fiber structure of the present invention. It is sectional drawing seen from the optical fiber axial direction explaining the fan-out optical fiber structure of this invention. It is a top view explaining the other example and Example of the fan-out optical fiber structure of this invention. It is a top view explaining the other example and Example of the fan-out optical fiber structure of this invention. It is process drawing explaining another example and Example of the optical fiber structure of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical fiber structure, 2a-2d ... Optical fiber core wire, 3 ... Coating material,
4 ... Fan-out optical fiber structure, 5 ... Substrate, 6 ... Molding jig, 7 ... Sheet with adhesive layer,
7a ... sheet surplus part, 8 ... tubular member, 8a ... slit, 9 ... resin,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Storage / holding member of optical fiber branch termination | terminus part, 11 ... Adhesive tape, 12 ... Flat plate,
13 ... Driving motor, 14 ... Bearing, 15 ... Ball screw shaft, 16 ... Uniaxial control robot,
17 ... movable unit, 18 ... heat shrinkable tube.

Claims (19)

  An optical fiber structure in which a plurality of optical fibers are aligned in the same plane, wherein an upper surface of the aligned optical fibers is coated with a single layer using a coating material.   The optical fiber structure according to claim 1, wherein the coating material has a tear strength of 29 kgf / cm or less.   The optical fiber structure according to claim 1, wherein the coating material is silicone rubber.   The optical fiber structure according to claim 1, wherein the coating material is a room temperature curable silicone rubber.   A fan-out optical fiber structure, wherein the optical fiber structure according to claim 1 is used.   6. The fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 5, wherein the optical fiber branch terminal portion is bonded and fixed by a sheet-like member provided with an adhesive layer.   7. The fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 5, wherein the optical fiber branch end portion is sandwiched and fixed between two sheet-like members.   The fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 7, wherein one of the two sheet-like members is larger than the other sheet member.   The fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 5, wherein the optical fiber branch terminal portion is fixed by a tube-shaped member.   6. The fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 5, wherein the optical fiber branch terminal portion is fixed by a resin.   The fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 10, wherein a resin is provided on a surface of the coated coating material at the optical fiber branch end portion.   The fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 10, wherein the optical fiber branch terminal portion is fixed by hot melt resin.   The fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 5, wherein the optical fiber is branched at a plurality of positions.   A step of aligning and placing a plurality of optical fibers on a two-dimensional plane, a step of collectively coating a plurality of optical fibers with a single layer of coating material, and a part of a bundle of optical fibers A method of manufacturing an optical fiber structure, comprising: a step of branching a bundle of optical fibers by gripping and relatively moving the optical fibers so as to be split in the axial direction of the optical fibers.   A step of aligning and placing a plurality of optical fibers on a two-dimensional plane, a step of collectively coating a plurality of optical fibers with a single layer of coating material, and a part of a bundle of optical fibers A method of manufacturing a fan-out optical fiber structure, comprising the step of branching a bundle of optical fibers by gripping and relatively moving the optical fiber so as to be split in the axial direction of the optical fiber.   16. The method for manufacturing a fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 15, further comprising a step of wrapping and fixing with a sheet-like member provided with an adhesive layer at an optical fiber branch end portion.   16. The method of manufacturing a fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 15, further comprising a step of sandwiching and fixing the sheet-like member provided with two adhesive layers at the optical fiber branch end portion.   16. The method of manufacturing a fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 15, further comprising a step of providing a tube-shaped member at an optical fiber branching terminal portion, shrinking the tube-shaped member, and integrating with the optical fiber. .   16. The method of manufacturing a fan-out optical fiber structure according to claim 15, further comprising a step of applying a resin to the optical fiber branch end portion, curing the resin, and integrating the resin with the optical fiber.

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