JP2006267275A - Tool for separating coated optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need of increasing machining accuracy of a severing blade, and to greatly improve separation performance of a coated optical fiber ribbon (ribbon). <P>SOLUTION: A tool for separating coated optical fibers is equipped with a pair of base members 21, 22 which, clamping the ribbon 10 in the thickness direction through a groove 24, movably hold the ribbon 10 longitudinally along the groove 24, and a pair of severing blades 25, 26 which are arranged opposite to the pair of base members 21, 22 across the groove 24. Both severing blades 25, 26 are arranged, with the position shifted from each other, in the longitudinal direction of the ribbon 10 at the position facing the groove 24 of both the base members 21, 22, and are provided with a length that makes overlapping possible with each other in the thickness direction of the ribbon 10 in the groove 24. Both severing blades 25, 26 are shaped like a spear in the point. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber core wire separating tool, and more particularly to a tool for separating an optical fiber tape core wire into an arbitrary number of core wires.

  Conventionally, a plurality of optical fiber core wires are arranged in a plane and covered with a single optical fiber tape core wire, and both surfaces of the optical fiber tape core wires are separated between the number of core wires to be separated. An optical fiber core wire separation tool that separates an optical fiber from an optical fiber is known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  FIG. 5 is an overall perspective view of a conventional optical fiber core separating tool proposed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing the arrangement of the separating blade. In the examples of FIGS. 5 and 6, for convenience, the width direction, the longitudinal direction, and the thickness direction of the optical fiber ribbon 10 are referred to as an X direction, a Y direction, and a Z direction, respectively.

An optical fiber core separating tool 20 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a pair of (upper and lower) columnar base members that sandwich the optical fiber tape core 10 in the Z direction via a groove 24 and are movable in the Y direction. 21, 22, a pair of shafts 23, which form a fulcrum that rotatably supports the other ends of the base members 21, 22, and a pair disposed at positions facing each other across the groove 24 of the base members 21, 22. (A pair of upper and lower) separating blades 25 and 26. According to this configuration, by moving the optical fiber ribbon 10 in the Y direction in a state of being sandwiched in the groove 24, an optical fiber having a predetermined number of optical fibers can be obtained via the pair of separating blades 25 and 26. Separation into core wires is possible.
JP 2003-262769 A JP 2003-262737 A

  However, since the pair of separating blades 25 and 26 are arranged at the same position in both the X direction and the Y direction, the optical fiber tape core separating tool 20 of the conventional example has a pair of separating blades in consideration of the machining accuracy of the parts. 25 and 26 need to have a gap in the Z direction (see a1 in FIG. 6), and depending on the material of the taped material, it was difficult to separate them. Further, in order to reduce the gap a1 between the pair of separation blades 25 and 26 for the purpose of improving the separation performance, it is necessary to increase the processing accuracy. If the processing accuracy is increased, there is a disadvantage that costs increase.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such conventional circumstances, and it is not necessary to increase the processing accuracy of the separating blade, and an object thereof is to greatly improve the separating performance of the optical fiber ribbon.

  In order to achieve the above object, an optical fiber core separating tool according to the first aspect of the present invention sandwiches an optical fiber ribbon through a groove in the thickness direction, and the optical fiber tape core along the groove. An optical fiber core wire separation tool comprising: a pair of base members that hold a wire movably in a longitudinal direction thereof; and a pair of separation blades that are disposed to face the pair of base members with the groove interposed therebetween. Are separated from each other in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon at a position facing the groove of the pair of base members, and in the thickness direction of the optical fiber ribbon in the groove. It has a length that can be overlapped with each other, and its blade edge shape is formed in a bowl shape.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the optical fiber core separating tool according to the first aspect, the optical fiber tape core wire is a live optical fiber tape core wire.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the optical fiber core separating tool according to the first aspect, the pair of separating blades are arranged in one or more pairs depending on the number of the cores to be separated from the optical fiber ribbon. It is characterized by being.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the pair of separating blades are arranged so as to be shifted from each other in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon at the position facing the grooves of the pair of base members. It is possible to overlap each other in the thickness direction of the core wire, to greatly improve the separation performance, and to reduce the bending that occurs when the separation blade enters the optical fiber ribbon. In addition, since the lengths of the optical fiber ribbons can overlap each other in the thickness direction in the groove, the separation blades are arranged so as to be shifted from each other in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon, thereby improving the separation performance. Thus, high-precision processing for deepening the gap between the upper and lower separation blades is not necessary, and the cost can be reduced. In addition, since the shape of the cutting edge is formed in a bowl shape, the pair of separating blades can be overlapped with each other in the thickness direction of the optical fiber ribbon, and the separating performance can be greatly improved. The bending that occurs when entering the fiber ribbon can be reduced.

  According to invention of Claim 2, since the shape of the blade edge | tip of the upper and lower separation blades was made into a saddle shape, the bending which generate | occur | produces when a separation blade enters an optical fiber tape core wire can be made small. As a result, for the optical fiber tape in the live state, the occurrence of loss due to bending (optical loss, bending loss) when separating the optical fiber ribbon is inserted deep into the optical fiber ribbon. However, it can be lowered. This is because as the overlap amount of the pair of separating blades is increased, if the separating blade is inserted deeply into the optical fiber ribbon, the bending may be large and the loss during separation may be increased.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, one or more pairs of separating blades are arranged according to the number of cores to be separated from the optical fiber tape cores. The present invention can be applied to a fiber tape core and can provide a more versatile optical fiber core separation tool.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The best mode for carrying out the optical fiber core wire separating tool according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the main configuration of an optical fiber core separating tool according to the present embodiment. In addition, since the optical fiber core wire separation tool 20 shown in FIG. 1 is an application of the optical fiber core wire separation tool shown in FIG. 5 of the conventional example described above, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. The description will be simplified or omitted. Also in the following description, the width direction, the longitudinal direction, and the thickness direction of the optical fiber ribbon 10 are referred to as an X direction, a Y direction, and a Z direction, respectively, as described above.

  An optical fiber core separation tool 20 shown in FIG. 1 is a multi-fiber optical fiber ribbon 10 such as a 2-core, 4-core, 8-core, 16-core, or 32-core in the Z direction. A pair of columnar base members 21 and 22 that can be sandwiched and moved in the Y direction via the groove 24, a shaft that forms a fulcrum for rotatably supporting the base members 21 and 22, and grooves in the base members 21 and 22 And a pair of separating blades 25 and 26 disposed respectively at positions facing each other across 24.

  According to this configuration, the optical fiber ribbon 10 is sandwiched in the groove 24 and moved relatively in the Y direction so that a predetermined number of optical fibers are passed through the pair of separating blades 25 and 26. Separation into core wires is possible.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the pair of separating blades 25 and 26 in the present embodiment are disposed so that the center positions of the blade tips are shifted from each other by a predetermined distance (see b in FIG. 1) at different positions in the Y direction. As a result, there is no need to provide a gap in the Z direction between the pair of separating blades 25 and 26 in the groove 24 as in the conventional example, and the length (projection length) of the pair of separating blades 25 and 26 is predetermined in the Z direction. The lengths (see a2 in FIG. 1) can overlap each other.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the optical fiber ribbon 10 can be separated without gaps in the Z direction by the pair of separating blades 25 and 26 whose lengths overlap each other in the groove 24. The tape can be separated regardless of the material of the taped material, and as a result, the separation performance of the optical fiber ribbon 10 can be greatly improved. Moreover, since the highly accurate process for narrowing the clearance gap between the pair of separation blades 25 and 26 is not required for the purpose of improving the separation performance, the cost can be greatly reduced.

  In the above embodiment, the case where a pair of separation blades is arranged is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of pairs are arranged at predetermined intervals in the X direction according to the number of core wires to be separated. May be. In this case, the Y-direction positions of the pair of separation blades are shifted to different positions in the same manner as described above, and the Y-direction positions of the pairs of separation blades are also shifted to different positions. Good.

  Using the optical fiber core wire separation tool of the above embodiment, when separating the optical fiber tape core wire for a live optical fiber tape, the greater the amount of overlap between the pair of separation blades, If the separating blade is inserted deeply into the optical fiber ribbon, the bending of the optical fiber ribbon may increase, and the loss (optical loss, bending loss) during separation due to the bending may increase. The present embodiment is preferably implemented in such a case, and the cutting edge shape of the separating blade is different from the above embodiment, and the others are the same.

  2 to 4 illustrate the shape of the cutting edge of the separating blade used in the optical fiber core separating tool of the present embodiment as compared with the conventional blade shape. In addition, about the component similar to the said Example, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  2A shows the conventional blade-shaped separating blades 25 and 26, and FIG. 2B shows the vertical blade-shaped separating blades 25 and 26 used in the optical fiber core separating tool 20 of this embodiment. Shown respectively. As shown in FIG. 2A, the conventional blade-shaped separation blades 25 and 26 are formed so that the shape of the blade edge is conical or substantially conical. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2B, the scissors-shaped blades 25 and 26 are formed in a scissors shape. As used herein, the “saddle shape or saddle shape” means that, for example, when viewed in a cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the axial direction of the separating blades 25 and 26, it extends only in one direction and both end portions thereof are pointed in a tapered shape. Refers to the shape.

  3 (a) and 3 (b) illustrate the case where the conventional blade-shaped separation blades 25 and 26 shown in FIG. 2 (a) are used, and FIG. 3 (a) is a schematic sectional view in the X direction. FIG. 3B is a schematic plan view of the optical fiber ribbon 10 in the groove from the Z direction (only the lower separation blade 26 is shown in the figure). In this case, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the separation blade 26 generates a bend C1 that curves outwardly at both ends of the optical fiber ribbon 10 in the X direction. It is formed so as to be greatly curved outward in the X direction along the curvature of the circular cross section of the portion into which the 26 conical cutting edges are inserted.

  4 (a) and 4 (b), on the other hand, illustrate the case where the saddle-shaped separation blades 25 and 26 used in the optical fiber core wire separation tool 20 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 2 (b) are used. 4A is a schematic cross-sectional view in the X direction, and FIG. 4B is a schematic plan view of the optical fiber ribbon 10 in the groove from the Z direction (the lower separating blade in the figure). 26 only). In this case, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the separation blade 26 generates a bend C2 that curves outwardly at both ends of the optical fiber tape core wire 10 in the X direction. Since it is gently formed on the outer side in the X direction along the cross-sectional shape extending in one direction of the portion where the 26 scissors-shaped cutting edge is inserted, it is smaller than the bend C1 in FIG.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the shape of the cutting edges of the pair of separating blades 25 and 26 is formed in a bowl shape, so that as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). The bending that occurs when the pair of separating blades 25 and 26 enter the optical fiber ribbon 10 can be made smaller than the conventional blade shape. Thereby, when separating the optical fiber tape core wire 10 in the live line state, the mutual overlap amount of the pair of separation blades 25 and 26 is increased, and the separation blades 25 and 26 are made Z into the optical fiber tape core wire 10. Even if the optical fiber tape core wire 10 is bent deeply in the direction, since the bending of the optical fiber ribbon 10 is smaller than that in the case of the conventional blade shape, it is possible to reduce generation of loss during separation due to the bending.

  As described above, the present invention can be applied to an optical fiber core separation tool that separates an optical fiber ribbon into an arbitrary number of cores.

It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the optical fiber core wire separation tool which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. The optical fiber core wire separation tool according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. (A) is a perspective view of a conventional blade-shaped separation blade, and (b) is a perspective view of a vertical blade-shaped separation blade. is there. The optical fiber core wire separation tool which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention is demonstrated, (a) is a schematic sectional drawing of the X direction at the time of using the conventional blade-shaped separation blade, (b) is the case in that case It is a schematic plan view of the optical fiber ribbon as viewed from the Z direction. FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an optical fiber core wire separating tool according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view in the X direction when a vertical blade-shaped separating blade is used, and FIG. It is a schematic plan view of the optical fiber tape core wire seen from the Z direction. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the optical fiber core wire separation tool of a prior art example. It is a schematic sectional drawing explaining arrangement | positioning of the separation blade in the optical fiber core wire separation tool of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Optical fiber ribbon 20 Optical fiber core separation tool 21, 22 A pair of base member 23 Axis 24 Groove 25, 26 A pair of separation blade

Claims (3)

A pair of base members that sandwich the optical fiber ribbon through a groove in the thickness direction and hold the optical fiber ribbon along the groove so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction;
In an optical fiber core wire separation tool comprising a pair of separation blades disposed opposite to the pair of base members across the groove,
The pair of separating blades are arranged so as to be shifted from each other in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon at a position facing the groove of the pair of base members, and the thickness of the optical fiber tape is within the groove An optical fiber core separation tool having a length that can overlap each other in a direction and having a blade shape formed in a bowl shape.   The optical fiber core separation tool according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber ribbon is a live optical fiber ribbon.   The optical fiber core wire separation tool according to claim 1, wherein the pair of separating blades are arranged in one or a plurality according to the number of the core wires to be separated from the optical fiber tape core wire.

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