JP2006301339A - Clamping tool of optical fiber ribbon and its clamping method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clamping tool of an optical fiber ribbon capable of surely clamping and fixing the ribbon without causing adverse effect on the optical characteristic of optical fibers, and also to provide its clamping method. <P>SOLUTION: The clamping tool 10 of the optical fiber ribbon is used, for example, in separating optical fibers of the optical fiber ribbon. The tool is composed of closely oppositely arranged plates 11a, 11b and has a clamping part 11 for clamping the coated optical fiber ribbon 21, metallic plate members 13a, 13b arranged on nonopposing faces 12a, 12b of the clamping part 11, respectively, and a grip part 14 that is provided connectedly to each plate 11a, 11b of the clamping part 11 to actuate opening/closing of the clamping part 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gripping jig and a gripping method used when performing separation of a core of an optical fiber tape.

  Some optical cables contain optical fiber ribbons. These optical fiber ribbons are taken out as necessary, and the single optical fibers are separated, the optical fiber ribbons are interconnected, and are handled in a closure or device. Work such as going is done.

  When performing these operations, it is necessary to first grasp and fix the optical fiber ribbon, and a method of grasping and fixing by an operator's hand is common. In addition, there is a method of separating a single optical fiber from an optical fiber ribbon using a dedicated tool. In this method, too, the operator holds and fixes the optical fiber ribbon with one hand. The single fiber separation of the optical fiber ribbon is performed by the hand.

  Examples of prior art documents of the present invention include the following.

JP-A-5-210015

  By the way, when the optical fiber ribbon is gripped and fixed, if the optical fiber ribbon is bent less than 60 mm or an excessive lateral pressure is applied, the optical characteristics (such as transmission loss) of the optical fiber are adversely affected. coming out. For example, if the optical fiber ribbon is gripped with bare hands, the optical fiber ribbon may be bent with a small radius of curvature due to the roundness of the finger, or excessive lateral pressure may be applied due to finger pressure (pinch pressure with the finger). There is a problem that the optical characteristics of the optical fiber are adversely affected.

  Also, when separating the optical fiber single core from the optical fiber ribbon using a dedicated tool, the optical fiber tape core must be firmly held and fixed by hand. Slips or bends. As a result, there are problems that workability is deteriorated and optical characteristics are adversely affected.

  The object of the present invention created in view of the above circumstances is to provide a gripping jig for an optical fiber ribbon and a gripping method thereof that can be firmly gripped and fixed without adversely affecting the optical characteristics of the optical fiber. It is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the holding jig for an optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention is a holding jig used when performing an optical fiber tape core separation or the like,
It is composed of a plate material arranged in close proximity to each other, and a sandwiching portion that sandwiches the optical fiber ribbon,
A metal plate member provided on each non-facing surface of the sandwiched portion;
A knob that is provided in connection with each plate member of the pinch portion and opens and closes the pinch portion;
It is equipped with.

  Here, it is preferable that the sandwiching portion and the knob portion are made of a polymer material and are provided integrally with each other.

  The hardness of the polymer material is preferably A 100 or less.

  You may form the slot for assisting opening and closing of a clamping part in the boundary part of each board | plate material and knob part of a clamping part along the extension direction of a boundary part.

  You may form the guide groove at the time of pinching an optical fiber tape core wire in the opposing surface of each board | plate material of a clamping part.

A method of gripping optical fiber ribbons according to the present invention when performing optical fiber ribbon separation, etc.
It is composed of a plate material arranged in close proximity to and sandwiching the optical fiber ribbon,
A metal plate member provided on each non-facing surface of the sandwiched portion;
A knob that is provided in connection with each plate member of the pinch portion and opens and closes the pinch portion;
Using a gripping jig equipped with
After picking the grip part of the gripping jig with fingers, apply force in the direction in which the fingers approach each other, separate the plate materials, and open the sandwich part,
Place the optical fiber ribbon between the spaced plates,
Thereafter, the force is loosened to return the plate material to the original position and close the pinching portion, while pinching the pinching portion with a finger through the metal plate member, and the optical fiber tape core wire is pinched between the plate materials, and the metal plate member and plate material The optical fiber ribbon is pressed by the tip of the finger through the pin and gripped.

  The gripping jig according to the present invention exhibits an excellent effect that the optical fiber ribbon can be firmly gripped and fixed.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view of a holding jig for an optical fiber ribbon according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Here, FIG.1 (b) is a 1B direction arrow directional view of Fig.1 (a).

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the gripping jig 10 according to the present embodiment includes a sandwiching portion 11, metal plate members 13 a and 13 b, and a knob portion 14.

  The sandwiching portion 11 is composed of plate members 11a and 11b arranged in close proximity to each other, and an optical fiber tape core wire 21 is sandwiched between the plate members 11a and 11b (see FIG. 3). The gap size between the plate members 11a and 11b is formed to be smaller than the thickness of the optical fiber ribbon 21 (see the width in the left-right direction in FIG. 2).

  The metal plate members 13a and 13b are attached to the non-facing surfaces 12a and 12b of the sandwiching portion 11, respectively.

  The knob portion 14 is provided at right angles to the plate members 11a and 11b of the clip portion 11 and integrally therewith. In other words, the plate members 11a and 11b are arranged close to each other so as to stand upright on the flat knob 14.

  The sandwiching portion 11 and the knob portion 14 are made of a polymer material having a hardness of A100 or less, preferably A50 or less, and examples thereof include silicone rubber and natural rubber.

  Slots 16 for assisting the opening and closing of the sandwiching portions 11 are formed in the boundary portions 15 of the plate members 11a and 11b and the knob portions 14 in the extending direction of the boundary portions 15 (in the direction perpendicular to the drawing in FIG. 1A). Formed along. The size of the slot 16 is formed to be larger than the gap size between the plate members 11a and 11b. The cross-sectional shape of the slot 16 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a rectangular shape, a polygonal shape, a circular shape, and an elliptical shape. When opening and closing of the sandwiching portion 11 is easy, the slot 16 may not be provided.

  Here, the height of the plate members 11a and 11b (the length in the vertical direction in FIGS. 1A and 1B) is appropriately selected according to the size of the optical fiber ribbon core 21 to be sandwiched. Although not particularly limited, for example, at least 5 mm or more, preferably 5 to 15 mm. Further, the thickness of the plate members 11a and 11b (the width in the left-right direction in FIG. 1A) can be easily grasped and pressed down as described later, for example, 5 mm or less.

  The size of the knob portion 14 is not particularly limited as long as it can be picked only with a finger of one hand, and is, for example, a rectangular shape whose length and width are each 30 mm or less. In addition, the thickness of the knob 14 (the vertical length in FIGS. 1A and 1B) is such that the knob 14 can be easily bent (warped) as described later. For example, it is 3 mm or less. The term “finger” as used herein refers to a total of two or more of a thumb and at least one finger other than the thumb. For example, the thumb, the index finger, and the middle finger are three, the thumb and the middle finger are two, the thumb and the index finger are 2 etc. are mentioned.

  The shape and size of the metal plate members 13a and 13b are the same (or substantially the same) as the plate materials 11a and 11b. Further, the thickness of the metal plate members 13a and 13b (the width in the left-right direction in FIG. 1A) is equal to the picking force when the optical fiber ribbon 21 is gripped and pressed as will be described later. A thickness that can be dispersed in the optical fiber ribbon 21 is sufficient, for example, 1 mm or less. Examples of the constituent material of the metal plate members 13a and 13b include aluminum, an aluminum alloy, and stainless steel.

  Next, a method for holding the holding jig 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, the knob 14 of the gripping jig 10 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is placed on the finger D of one hand of the operator, preferably the abdomen of the finger D, as shown in FIG. While picking, a force F1 is applied in the direction in which the fingers D approach each other (the directions of arrows A1 and A2 in FIG. 2). Here, the knob | pick part 14 and the clamping part 11 are integrally molded, and are comprised by the polymeric material (rubber material) which has hardness with A100 or less and has flexibility. For this reason, the knob portion 14 is greatly curved toward the non-pinching portion side (left side in FIG. 2), and the plate members 11a and 11b are rotated and moved in the directions of arrows A3 and A4, respectively, around the slot 16. As a result, the plate members 11a and 11b are separated from each other, and the sandwiching portion 11 is opened. At this time, since the slot 16 is provided in the boundary portion 15 between each of the plate members 11a and 11b and the knob portion 14, the opening amount of the sandwiching portion 11 can be increased as compared with the case where the slot 16 is not provided. it can.

  Next, the optical fiber ribbon 21 grasped by, for example, a finger (not shown) of the operator's other hand is placed between the separated plate members 11a and 11b. Thereafter, the force F1 due to the abdomen of the finger D is loosened to reduce the curvature of the knob portion 14, and at the same time, the plate members 11a and 11b return to their original positions and the pinching portion 11 is closed. Here, the gripping jig 10 (the pinching portion 11 and the knob portion 14) is large enough to be handled only by the fingertip of the finger D. For this reason, even if it does not change the holding jig 10 by the finger D, it is pinched by the tip part of the finger D shown in FIG. 3 from the state where the knob 14 is held by the abdomen of the finger D shown in FIG. The state of picking the part 11 can be instantaneously (or almost instantaneously) transferred. As a result, a force F2 is applied in a direction in which the fingers D come close to each other by the tip of the finger D, and the pinching portion 11 is picked through the metal plate members 13a and 13b (over the metal plate members 13a and 13b). As a result, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (the finger D is omitted in FIG. 4), the optical fiber ribbon 21 is sandwiched and gripped by the sandwiching portion 11 of the gripping jig 10.

  At this time, even when the optical fiber tape core wire 21 is accidentally dropped onto the bottom of the pinch portion 11 and the pinch portion 11 is closed, the slot 16 is provided, so the optical fiber tape core wire 21 is provided. Is not sandwiched at all, and there is no possibility that the optical fiber ribbon 21 will be kinked or buckled. In this case, since the optical fiber ribbon 21 is in the slot 16, the optical fiber ribbon 21 can be easily taken out as it is.

  Here, the plate members 11a and 11b are made of a polymer material (rubber) having a buffer function and capable of preventing the optical fiber ribbon 21 from slipping and shifting. Therefore, when the force F2 is directly applied to the optical fiber ribbon 21 through the relatively soft plates 11a and 11b, a large local force generated due to the round shape of the finger D and the roundness of the finger D is generated. It will be transmitted directly to the line 21. As a result, there arises a problem that bending (small bending) with a small radius of curvature occurs in the optical fiber ribbon 21 or excessive side pressure is applied due to finger pressure (pinch pressure with a finger).

  For this reason, in the holding jig 10 according to the present embodiment, the metal plate members 13a and 13b are provided on the outer surfaces of the plate materials 11a and 11b, that is, the non-facing surfaces 12a and 12b of the sandwiching portion 11. As a result, the force F2 is applied to the optical fiber ribbon 21 through the plate members 11a and 11b through the hard metal plate members 13a and 13b. As a result, the force F2 is uniformly distributed over the entire surface of the plate members 11a and 11b, and a certain pressure P1 (= F2 / plate material area) acts on the optical fiber ribbon 21. Therefore, there is no possibility that the optical fiber ribbon 21 will be bent slightly or that an excessive lateral pressure due to finger pressure will be applied.

  Thus, by sandwiching the optical fiber ribbon 21 with the gripping jig 10, the plate members 11a and 11b having a buffering function are deformed along the shape of the optical fiber ribbon 21 and the plate members 11a and 11b in FIG. The portions 31 and 31 facing the optical fiber ribbon core wire 11b are bent. As a result, the periphery of the optical fiber ribbon 21 is completely surrounded by the plate materials 11a and 11b. Therefore, the optical fiber tape core wire 21 is firmly and gently pressed (pressed) by the gripping jig 10, and the gripping of the optical fiber tape core wire 21 is completed.

  Since the periphery of the optical fiber tape core 21 is completely surrounded by the plate materials 11a and 11b, a sufficient frictional force acts between the optical fiber tape core wire 21 and each of the plate materials 11a and 11b. Therefore, even if the optical fiber ribbon 21 is pulled in the longitudinal direction, there is no possibility that the position of the optical fiber ribbon 21 is shifted or the optical fiber ribbon 21 is not removed from the holding jig 10. At this time, the optical fiber ribbon 21 is firmly held by the holding jig 10, but since the holding force (restraint force) itself is relatively small, the optical fiber of each optical fiber of the optical fiber ribbon 21 is optical. There is no adverse effect on the properties.

  Moreover, since the operation | work of opening and closing the clamping part 11 of the holding jig 10 can be performed with the finger D of one hand, for example, three fingers (thumb, forefinger, middle finger), the handleability of the holding jig 10 is It is good.

  Further, when the optical fiber ribbon 21 is taken out from the gripping jig 10, as in the case of grasping the optical fiber ribbon 21, the knob 14 is pinched with the finger D to open the pinching portion 11. Thereby, the optical fiber ribbon 21 can be easily taken out.

  In the gripping jig 10 according to the present embodiment, the case where the plate members 11a and 11b are rectangular as illustrated in FIG. 1B has been described, but the present invention is not particularly limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), a modification of FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) is formed by obliquely forming the upper surfaces of the plate materials 51a and 51b, thereby forming a trapezoidal plate material. A gripping jig 50 having 51a and 51b may be used. By making the plate members 51a and 51b trapezoidal, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the optical fiber ribbon 21 can be sandwiched in an inclined state. Thereby, in a series of procedures for gripping the optical fiber ribbon 21 by the gripping jig 50, there is no possibility that the finger D gripping the knob 14 is in the way, and the workability of the gripping work is further improved.

  Further, in the gripping jig 10 according to the present embodiment, the case where the knob portion 14 is perpendicular to the respective plate materials 11a and 11b as shown in FIG. It is not limited. For example, the forming angle of the knob portion 14 and each of the plate members 11a and 11b may be an obtuse angle so that the planar view shape of the knob portion 14 in FIG. 1A is an inverted V shape and an inverted U shape.

  Furthermore, in the gripping jig 10 (or 50) according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1A (or FIG. 5A), the opposing surfaces of the plate members 11a and 11b are flat. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, guide grooves 65 may be formed on the opposing surfaces 62a and 62b of the plate members 11a and 11b. Further, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, guide grooves 75 may be formed on the opposing surfaces 72a and 72b of the plate members 51a and 51b. As described above, by forming the guide grooves 65 and 75, the optical fiber ribbon 21 can be arranged more accurately when the optical fiber ribbon 21 is arranged in the opened clip portion 11. Become.

  As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various other things are assumed.

It is a top view of the holding jig of the optical fiber tape cable core which concerns on suitable one embodiment of this invention. FIG.1 (b) is a 1B direction arrow directional view of Fig.1 (a). It is a figure which shows the state which picked the knob | pick part of the holding jig with a finger | toe and opened the pinching part. It is a figure which shows the state which picked the clamping part of the holding jig with the finger | toe, and hold | gripped the optical fiber ribbon. FIG. 4 is a four-direction arrow view of FIG. 3. It is a top view which shows the modification of the holding jig in Fig.1 (a) and FIG.1 (b). FIG.5 (b) is a 5B direction arrow directional view of Fig.5 (a). It is a top view which shows the other modification of the holding jig in FIG.1 (b). FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6B-6B in FIG. It is a top view which shows the other modification of the holding jig in FIG.5 (b). FIG.7 (b) is the 7B-7B sectional view taken on the line of Fig.7 (a).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Holding jig 11 Clamping part 11a, 11b Plate material 12a, 12b Non-opposing surface 13a, 13b Metal plate member 14 Knob part 21 Optical fiber tape core wire

Claims (6)

A gripping jig used when performing separation of the optical fiber ribbon, etc.
It is composed of a plate material arranged in close proximity to each other, and a sandwiching portion that sandwiches the optical fiber ribbon,
A metal plate member provided on each non-facing surface of the sandwiched portion;
A knob that is provided in connection with each plate member of the pinch portion and opens and closes the pinch portion;
An optical fiber tape core wire holding jig characterized by comprising:   The holding jig for an optical fiber tape core wire according to claim 1, wherein the pinching portion and the knob portion are made of a polymer material and are integrally provided.   The holding jig for an optical fiber ribbon according to claim 2, wherein the polymer material has a hardness of A100 or less.   The optical fiber tape core wire according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a slot for assisting the opening and closing of the sandwiching portion is formed along the extending direction of the boundary portion at a boundary portion between each plate member of the sandwiching portion and the knob portion. Gripping jig.   The optical fiber tape core wire holding jig according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a guide groove for sandwiching the optical fiber tape core wire is formed on an opposing surface of each plate member of the sandwiching portion. It is a gripping method when performing the separation of the optical fiber ribbons,
It is composed of a plate material arranged in close proximity to each other, and a sandwiching portion that sandwiches the optical fiber ribbon,
A metal plate member provided on each non-facing surface of the sandwiched portion;
A knob that is provided in connection with each plate member of the pinch portion and opens and closes the pinch portion;
Using a gripping jig equipped with
After pinching the gripping part of the gripping jig with a finger, apply force in the direction in which the fingers are close to each other, separate the plate members and open the pinching part,
An optical fiber ribbon is placed between the separated plates,
Thereafter, the force is loosened to return the plate material to the original position and close the pinching portion, while pinching the pinching portion with a finger through the metal plate member, pinching the optical fiber tape core wire between the plate materials, and the metal plate member and A method of gripping an optical fiber ribbon, wherein the optical fiber ribbon is pressed by pressing the tip of a finger through a plate material.

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