JP2009048818A - Composite cable - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a highly reliable composite cable having its optical-fiber array where a load is less likely to be applied. <P>SOLUTION: In the composite cable 1 configured such that an optical-fiber array 3 having a plurality of optical fibers 2 aligned in a row, and a plurality of electric wires 4 are collectively covered with a covering layer 5, the plurality of electric wires 4 are disposed on both the width-directional sides of the optical-fiber array 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a composite cable (photoelectric composite cable) in which an optical fiber array and an electric wire are combined, and more particularly to a composite cable in which the arrangement and structure of the optical fiber array when combined are devised.

  In recent years, the demand for large-capacity data transmission has increased due to an increase in storage capacity, an increase in computer processing speed, and an increase in definition of displays and cameras. Opticalization is already progressing in intercontinental and intercity communication systems that require large-capacity transmission.

  However, there is a growing demand for opticalization even between short-distance servers that have exchanged information by electricity until now, between the display and the computer itself, and some of them have been put into practical use. In device-to-device communication, not only data that requires large-capacity transmission, but also low-speed signal transmission used for device control, partial transmission of low-speed signals, and power transmission between devices For this reason, interconnects between devices using some electrical / optical composite cables are being considered.

  In addition, as the prior art document information related to the combined electric / optical cable, there is the following.

JP 2002-324433 A JP 2003-86028 A

  The optical fiber array does not bend in the direction in which the optical fibers are arranged, but in the case of a composite cable in which electrical wires and the optical fiber array are simply covered with the same jacket, the optical fiber array may be bent in the direction in which the optical fibers are arranged. There is.

  Further, when an external force is applied, for example, when the composite cable is stepped on, a load is also applied to the optical fiber array. At this time, since the optical fiber array is weaker than the electric cable, it may be broken.

  Furthermore, in a composite cable in which an electric wire and an optical fiber cable are collectively covered with the same jacket, a side pressure or the like is applied to the optical fiber during extrusion, and the designed structure may not be formed well.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable composite cable in which a load is not easily applied to an optical fiber array.

  The present invention was devised to achieve the above object, and the invention of claim 1 is such that an optical fiber array in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in a row and a plurality of electric wires are collectively covered with a coating layer. In the composite cable, the plurality of electric wires are arranged on both sides in the width direction of the optical fiber array.

  The invention according to claim 2 is a composite cable in which an optical fiber array in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in a row and a plurality of electric wires are collectively covered with a coating layer, wherein the plurality of electric wires are arranged in a row in the width direction. The optical fiber array is a composite cable arranged in parallel with the plurality of electric wires arranged in a line.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the composite cable according to the first or second aspect, wherein the covering layer has the same covering thickness in the thickness direction around the optical fiber array.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the composite cable according to claim 3, wherein the coating layer has a coating thickness in the thickness direction that is equal to the center of the optical fiber array only in a portion where the optical fiber array exists.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the composite cable according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the covering layer is thicker at both ends in the width direction than at the center.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the composite cable according to the fifth aspect, wherein both end portions of the covering layer have the same covering thickness in the thickness direction around the optical fiber array.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention is the composite cable according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the coating layer has an uneven shape along the longitudinal direction.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the composite cable according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a misalignment prevention plate for preventing misalignment of the optical fiber array is provided between the optical fiber array and the plurality of electric wires. is there.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a misalignment prevention coating portion for preventing misalignment of the optical fiber array is provided in the coating layer positioned between the optical fiber array and the plurality of electric wires. It is a composite cable in any one of -7.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the composite cable which can reduce the load to an optical fiber array is realizable.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a composite cable showing a preferred first embodiment of the present invention.

  The composite cable 1 according to the first embodiment is used to collectively transmit data, control signals, and power in inter-device communication.

  The composite cable 1 includes an optical fiber array 3 composed of a plurality of optical fibers 2 that transmit high-speed signals, a plurality of electric wires (electric signal lines) 4 that transmit low-speed signals and power, and a plurality of these optical fiber arrays 3 and a plurality of optical fibers. And a coating layer 5 formed around the electric wire 4.

  In the composite cable 1, an electric wire configured by arranging a plurality of electric wires 4 each made of a conductor 4 c and an insulator 4 d in a line along the width direction on both sides in the array direction (width direction) of the optical fiber array 3. Arrays (collection lines) 6 and 6 are arranged. The coating layer 5 is symmetrical in thickness on both the upper and lower sides with the optical fiber array 3 as the center.

  Here, the thicknesses are symmetrical on both the upper and lower sides with the optical fiber array 3 as the center. In the coating layer 5, (the surface of the optical fiber array 3 (in FIG. 1, in the width direction and the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber array 3). The thickness from the parallel upper surface) to the surface of the coating layer 5 (in FIG. 1, the thickness parallel to the width direction and the longitudinal direction of the coating layer 5), and the back surface of the optical fiber array 3 (in FIG. It means that the thickness from the lower surface parallel to the width direction and the longitudinal direction of the array 3 to the back surface of the coating layer 5 (in FIG. 1, the thickness from the lower surface parallel to the width direction and the longitudinal direction of the coating layer 5).

  In the first embodiment, as the composite cable 1, considering the use for communication between devices such as computer peripheral devices installed in a room and between servers and between servers, the number of electric wires 4 is six and four. An example in which one optical fiber array 3 composed of the optical fibers 2 will be described.

  More specifically, in the composite cable 1, when viewed in a cross section, two sets of the electric wire array 6, which is a set of three electric wires 4 around the optical fiber array 3, have a width across the optical fiber array 3. It is arranged so as to be aligned on both sides in the direction.

  Each electric wire 4 is formed by covering an outer periphery of a conductor with an insulator. As the optical fiber 2 constituting the optical fiber array 3, a single mode optical fiber or a multimode optical fiber is used. As the optical fiber array 3, these single mode optical fibers or multimode optical fibers may be simply arranged, or these may be further covered with a sheath.

  When the electric wire 4 and the optical fiber array 3 are arranged and covered with the covering layer 5, the composite cable 1 is obtained. The composite cable 1 is manufactured by an extrusion method or the like.

  Each electric wire 4 is an electric wire for transmitting an alternating current or direct current signal having a voltage of about 1.5 to 10 V and electric power. As a material for forming the coating layer 5, any of high, medium, low density, ultra-low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, and silicone rubber may be used. In particular, various polyethylenes are excellent in wear resistance, water resistance and weather resistance, are easy to be extrusion coated, and are suitable for production of long products. When the composite cable 1 is used indoors, polyvinyl chloride may be used as a material for forming the covering layer 5.

  The operation of the first embodiment will be described.

  In the composite cable 1, the electric wire arrays 6, 6 are arranged on both sides of the optical fiber array 3, so that the electric wire arrays 6, 6 are aligned with the electric wires 4 even if a bending force acts on the composite cable 1 in the width direction. It becomes resistance to bending in a given direction (width direction or left-right direction in FIG. 1) and does not bend in that direction.

  For this reason, the composite cable 1 does not bend in the direction (width direction) in which the optical fiber 2 is broken when the optical fiber array 3 is bent, the load on the optical fiber array 3 can be reduced, and the optical fiber array 3 is loaded. It is hard and reliable.

  In particular, the composite cable 1 includes a plurality of electric wires 4 and 6 arranged in a line in the width direction, and the optical fiber array 3 is arranged between the electric wires arrays 6 and 6. All of the electric wires 4 serve as the resistance described above, and the load applied to the optical fiber array 3 can be reduced with the simplest configuration.

  Further, as in the composite cable 21A according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2A, a plurality of electric wires 4 are arranged in a line in the width direction to form an electric wire array 26A, and in parallel with the electric wire array 26A. You may arrange | position the optical fiber array 3 so that it may become. At this time, in order to reduce the load on the optical fiber array 3, it is desirable that the width of the optical fiber array 3 is narrower than the width of the electric wire array 26A.

  Also with the composite cable 21A, the same effect as the composite cable 1 of FIG. 1 is obtained.

  As in the composite cable 21B shown in FIG. 2 (b), instead of each electrical wire array 6 of the composite cable 1 in FIG. 1, an aggregate stranded wire 26B formed by twisting a plurality of electrical wires 4 may be used. .

  Next, a third embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the composite cable 31A according to the third embodiment includes a surface of the coating layer 5 in the thickness direction from the optical fiber array 3 in addition to the configuration of the composite cable 21A shown in FIG. The coating layer 35A formed with a large thickness up to is used.

The coating layer 35A has the same coating layer thickness in the thickness direction with the optical fiber array 3 as the center.
That is, in the thickness direction of the coating layer 35A, the thickness from the center of the optical fiber array 3 to the surface of the coating layer 35A is equal to the thickness from the center of the optical fiber array 3 to the back surface of the coating layer 35A.

  In general, in a composite cable, when the thickness of the coating in the thickness direction around the optical fiber array 3 is not symmetric, it is bent in a direction (thickness direction) perpendicular to the width direction in which the optical fiber arrays 3 are arranged. In addition, the load applied to the optical fiber array 3 varies depending on the bending direction. More specifically, if the optical fiber array 3 is bent in such a direction as to be inside the center of the composite cable, the bending radius is reduced and the load on the optical fiber array 3 is increased.

  However, in the composite cable 31A, by using the coating layer 35A having the same coating thickness in the thickness direction with the optical fiber array 3 as the center, the optical fiber array 3 and the electric wires 4 are arranged in the direction (width direction). Even if the optical fiber array 3 is bent in the vertical direction (thickness direction), the load may be evenly applied to the optical fiber array 3 regardless of the bending direction.

  Further, the composite cable 31A is slightly thicker than the composite cable 21A of FIG. 2A because the thickness of the coating layer 35A in the thickness direction from the optical fiber array 3 is slightly larger. The load applied to the can be further reduced.

  As in the composite cable 31B shown in FIG. 3B, only the portion where the optical fiber array 3 exists may use the coating layer 35B having the same coating thickness on both sides in the thickness direction centering on the optical fiber array. .

  In the example of FIG. 3B, the coating layer 35 </ b> B has a protrusion 36 formed in a convex shape in a cross-sectional view at a portion located in the center in the width direction on the side where the optical fiber array 3 is provided. .

  Thereby, the composite cable 31B has an advantage that it is easy to bend in the thickness direction, and the cable size is smaller than that of the composite cable 31A of FIG.

  A fourth embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the composite cable 41 according to the fourth embodiment includes both ends 45s and 45s in the arrangement direction (width direction) of the optical fibers 2 in addition to the configuration of the composite cable 21A in FIG. A coating layer 45 thicker than the central portion is used. In the example of FIG. 4, each end 45 s is formed in an approximately elliptical shape when viewed in cross section. Furthermore, both end portions 45 s and 45 s of the coating layer 45 have the same coating thickness on both sides in the thickness direction with the optical fiber array 3 as the center.

  In the composite cable 41, by thickening the coating on both ends of the optical fiber array 3, even when a load is applied, such as when the composite cable 41 is stepped on from above, both ends that are thick portions instead of the optical fiber array 3 are used. The portions 45s and 45s are likely to be loaded. For this reason. In the composite cable 41, the load on the optical fiber array 3 that is weaker than the electric wire 4 is reduced, and the reliability of the cable is improved.

  Further, both end portions 45s and 45s, which are the thickened portions, are symmetric with respect to the optical fiber array 3 located at the center in the width direction, so that the composite cable 31A in FIG. 3A and the composite cable 31B in FIG. For the same reason, even if the optical fiber array 3 and the electric wires 4 are bent in the direction (width direction) and the direction perpendicular to the direction (thickness direction), the load is evenly distributed to the optical fiber array 3 regardless of the bending direction. Because it takes.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the composite cable 51 according to the fifth embodiment includes a composite cable 31A in FIG. 3 (a), a composite cable 31B in FIG. 3 (b), and a composite cable 41 in FIG. In addition to the configuration of each of the coating layers 35A, 35B, 45, a coating layer 55 configured by alternately repeating the concave and convex shape including the convex portions 55p and the concave portions 55d along the cable longitudinal direction is used.

  The uneven shape may be formed continuously over the entire length of the cable, or may be formed at a predetermined interval.

  In the composite cable 51, the coating layer 55 can reduce the difficulty of bending the cable due to the increased thickness of the coating.

  A sixth embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the composite cable 61A according to the sixth embodiment includes an optical fiber array 3 arranged at a predetermined interval in the thickness direction in addition to the configuration of the composite cable 21A in FIG. A misalignment prevention plate 62A for preventing misalignment of the optical fiber array 3 is provided between the electric wire arrays 26A.

  In FIG. 6 (a), both ends are bent in the optical fiber array 3 side with respect to the width direction, and are substantially U-shaped (U-shaped) in a cross-sectional view and wider than the width of the optical fiber array 3. A slip prevention plate 62A was used. A plate that is flat with respect to the width direction may be used as a displacement prevention plate.

  The material of the misalignment prevention plate 62A is not particularly limited, and may be a metal such as Al or Cu, or a plastic. Further, the displacement prevention plate 62A may be provided over the entire length of the cable, or may be provided at a predetermined interval.

  This misregistration prevention plate 62A may or may not be in contact with the optical fiber array 3 and / or the electric wire array 26A.

  In general, in a composite cable, when the optical fiber array 3 and the plurality of electric wires 4 are integrated, a coating layer 5 is further formed by extrusion coating. When the extrusion is performed, the position of the optical fiber array 3 is not stable, and the optical fiber array 3 may fall into a groove between adjacent electric wires 4 and be inclined.

  In the composite cable 61A, the position shift prevention plate 62A eliminates the drop into the groove of the optical fiber array 3 when the extrusion is performed, so that the problem that the optical fiber array 3 tilts can be solved. In particular, by using the U-shaped misalignment prevention plate 62A, the position of the optical fiber array 3 can be easily stabilized.

  Like the composite cable 61B shown in FIG. 6B, in addition to the configuration of the composite cable 1 shown in FIG. 1, the optical fiber array 3 and the electric wire arrays 6 and 6 arranged in a line in the width direction are positioned in parallel. A slip prevention plate 62B may be provided.

  The misregistration prevention plate 62B is erected from the horizontal portion 62h formed wider than the width from the side end of one electric wire array 6 to the side end of the other electric wire array 6, and the horizontal portion 62h. It comprises vertical portions 62v and 62v provided at a predetermined interval between the array 3 and the electric wire arrays 6 and 6.

  Finally, a seventh embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the composite cable 71 according to the seventh embodiment includes a misalignment prevention covering portion 75 on the portion facing the optical fiber array 3 in the electric wire array 26 </ b> A of the composite cable 21 </ b> A in FIG. 2. It is arranged.

  The misalignment prevention covering portion 75 includes a conductor 4c made of the same material as that of the electric wire 4 and an insulator 74 covering the conductor 4c. In the present embodiment, two conductors 4c arranged in parallel in the width direction are covered with an insulator 74 made of the same material as the insulator 4d of the electric wire 4, and this is matched with the cross-sectional shape of the optical fiber array 3, It was formed into a rectangular shape as viewed from above, thereby forming a misalignment prevention covering portion 75.

  In the composite cable 71, since the misalignment prevention covering portion 75 plays the same role as the misalignment prevention plate 62A of FIG. 6A, the problem that the optical fiber array 3 is inclined can be solved, and the position of the optical fiber array 3 is also changed. It becomes easier to stabilize.

It is a cross-sectional view of the composite cable showing a preferred first embodiment of the present invention. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a composite cable showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of a modification of the composite cable shown in FIG. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a composite cable showing a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of a modification thereof. It is a cross-sectional view of a composite cable showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view of the composite cable which shows the 5th Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view of a composite cable showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of a modification thereof. It is a cross-sectional view of the composite cable which shows the 7th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Composite cable 2 Optical fiber 3 Optical fiber array 4 Electric wire 5 Coating layer 6 Electric wire array

Claims (9)

  In a composite cable in which an optical fiber array in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in a row and a plurality of electric wires are collectively covered with a coating layer, the plurality of electric wires are arranged on both sides in the width direction of the optical fiber array. Composite cable characterized by   In a composite cable in which an optical fiber array in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in a row and a plurality of electric wires are collectively covered with a coating layer, the plurality of electric wires are arranged in a row in the width direction, and the optical fiber array Is a composite cable arranged in parallel with the plurality of electric wires arranged in a row.   The composite cable according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer has a coating thickness in the thickness direction equal to the optical fiber array.   4. The composite cable according to claim 3, wherein the covering layer has the same covering thickness in the thickness direction around the optical fiber array only in a portion where the optical fiber array exists.   The composite cable according to claim 1, wherein the covering layer has thicker end portions in the width direction than the center portion.   The composite cable according to claim 5, wherein both end portions of the covering layer have the same covering thickness in the thickness direction around the optical fiber array.   The composite cable according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer has an uneven shape along the longitudinal direction.   The composite cable according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a misalignment prevention plate for preventing misalignment of the optical fiber array is provided between the optical fiber array and the plurality of electric wires.   The position shift prevention coating | coated part which prevents the position shift of the said optical fiber array was provided in the said coating layer located between the said optical fiber array and these electric wires in any one of Claims 1-7. Composite cable.

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