JP2009162814A - Optical fiber wiring member - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means that eliminates trouble to reconnect an optical fiber which is cut, but not used or store a drawn out coated optical fiber tape in a closure, does not cause increase in transmission loss, and further reconnects a coated optical fiber tape at a time. <P>SOLUTION: Disclosed is an optical fiber wiring member including a tape portion having a plurality of optical fiber core wires coated together with a coating member, the optical fiber wiring member being characterized in having an optical fiber single core wire separation portion where at lest one of the plurality of optical fiber core wires exits from the tape portion to have a free end exposed and also having an imitation optical fiber core wire disposed downstream from the optical fiber single core wire separation portion at a position where the single-core separated optical fiber core wire should be present. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber wiring member for wiring (for withdrawal).

  A terminal box is a terminal block box installed on a pole that interconnects cable core wires of an overhead communication line. There are various types of terminal boxes for optical cables, cable televisions, and subscriber telephone lines. Among these, the terminal boxes for optical cables are called optical closures. There are also multiple types of optical closures, which are installed at feeder points connected from underground pipes to aerials, and used to connect or branch underground cables and overhead cables. "For connection point" for connecting or branching, "For wiring" for connecting to the optical lead-in wire (drop cable) at the subscriber's house, "Distribution" used when disassembling the wiring point with a smaller cable etc. There is "for point".

Here, the optical cable includes a single-core assembly type composed of a plurality of single-core wires and a tape core-wire assembly type in which a plurality of core wires (for example, two or four cores) are integrated. Among these, a typical work process for connecting one optical fiber of a general-purpose tape core-gathered optical cable to an optical lead-in wire of a subscriber's house will be described. First, many optical fiber tapes are used. A step of drawing one tape core from the slot type access cable in which the core is accommodated, a step of cutting the one tape core, and a plurality of optical fibers exposed as a result of the cutting into a single core And a step of connecting one optical fiber to an optical lead-in wire of a target subscriber's house by a fusion splicing method. As described above, when a single optical fiber is separated from an optical fiber ribbon, it is not easy to separate and remove individual optical fibers at an intermediate position. A method is employed in which any one core is taken out from the terminal and used.
JP2007-34078

  Here, the above-described work process has the following four problems. The first point is that other than the optical fiber connected to the optical lead-in line at the subscriber's home, other optical fibers that have been cut can no longer be used beyond the cut point, so the optical fiber can be reconnected to restore functionality. This is a hassle. Moreover, the length of the cut optical fiber ribbon may be insufficient. The second point is the troublesomeness of returning the pulled tape core wire to the closure again after the aforementioned fusion. The third point is that a force is applied when pulling out the optical fiber ribbon, but light leakage occurs due to a slight bending of the radius, and transmission loss increases. Furthermore, if the optical fiber core is cut and some of the single cores are connected to the optical lead-in, the remaining tape cores do not match the number of the other ends and cannot be reconnected together. Therefore, it has to be reconnected individually for each single-core wire, which requires a long working time and labor. Therefore, the present invention can eliminate the trouble of reconnecting the optical fiber that has been cut but not used, and storing the pulled tape core wire in the closure, and does not increase the transmission loss. An object of the present invention is to provide means capable of batch reconnection of optical fiber ribbons.

  According to the present invention (1), in the optical fiber wiring member having a tape portion in which a plurality of optical fiber cores are collectively covered with a covering member, at least one of the plurality of optical fiber cores is the tape. A position where an optical fiber single-fiber separation part that goes out from the part and exposes a free end, and where the single-fiber separated optical fiber core wire should exist downstream of the optical fiber single-fiber separation part An optical fiber wiring member is characterized in that an optical fiber core wire for imitation is disposed.

  The present invention (2) is the optical fiber wiring member of the invention (1), wherein the covering member is silicone rubber.

  The present invention (3) is the optical fiber wiring member of the invention (1) or (2), wherein a portion of the one optical fiber core wire exposed from the tape portion is protected by a protective member.

  The present invention (4) is the optical fiber wiring member according to the invention (3), wherein a portion of the one optical fiber core wire exposed from the tape portion is protected by a tube.

  The present invention (5) is any one of the inventions (1) to (4), wherein the one optical fiber core wire in the portion exposed from the tape portion has a larger diameter than the optical fiber core wire of the tape portion. One optical fiber wiring member.

  The present invention (6) is the optical fiber wiring member according to any one of the inventions (1) to (5), wherein a tear preventing member is provided on the tape portion.

  The present invention (7) is the optical fiber wiring member according to the invention (6), wherein the tear preventing member is a fusion sleeve.

  Here, definitions of terms in the claims and the specification will be explained. “Coating with a covering member” is not particularly limited as long as the plurality of optical fibers have one bundle (tape shape) as a result of coating a plurality of optical fiber cores. For example, a plurality of optical fiber cores may be partially coated such that only one side of a plurality of optical fiber core wires is coated or only between adjacent optical fiber core wires. Includes coverings.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

  Hereinafter, the best mode of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the best mode. In addition, it should be understood that the matters specifically described in one example can be applied to other examples as they are, unless otherwise specified.

(Structure of optical fiber wiring member)
The basic structure of the optical fiber wiring member according to the best mode is the same as a general-purpose optical fiber tape core, for example, a plurality of optical fiber cores in which an outer layer having an outer diameter of 0.25 mm is colored with an ultraviolet curable resin are arranged in parallel. In addition, a plurality of optical fiber core wires arranged in this way are collectively covered with a covering member (for example, a silicone resin or an ultraviolet curable resin) to form a jacket. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a tape portion T of an optical fiber wiring member 100 according to the example, in which 101a to d are optical fibers, and 102 is a covering member. In this best mode, the number of hearts is four, but the number is not limited as long as it is plural. Moreover, the outer diameter and raw material mentioned above are not limited similarly. Furthermore, the form which coat | covers only one side may be sufficient even if it does not coat | cover the whole several optical fiber core wire with a coating | coated member (silicone resin).

  Next, the characteristic structure of the best mode will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, in the optical fiber wiring member 100 in which four optical fiber cores are integrated, one optical fiber core 101a is connected to the end of the left tape portion T (optical fiber single-core separating portion C). And a free end 101a-1 having a predetermined length is formed. The length is not particularly limited, but is preferably 10 to 100 cm. And the free end 101a-1 of the said predetermined length is being fixed by the binding member 101a-2, after being put together in the winding shape. In this way, at the time of use, it is not necessary to cut the surplus length part, and it is possible to connect to the optical lead-in wire to be connected by simply untangling the free end 101a-1. On the other hand, at the starting end of the right tape portion T (downstream of the optical fiber single-core separating portion C), the optical fiber core wire 101a ′ for imitation is placed on the tape portion T at the position where the optical fiber core wire 101a was originally disposed. Introduced and integrated with other optical fiber cores. As a result, the optical fiber wiring member and other optical fiber wiring members can be reconnected together. When connection to the optical lead-in line becomes unnecessary due to cancellation or the like, the line can be restored by connecting the free end 101a-1 and the imitation 101a '. In FIG. 2, the imitation 101a ′ is configured to protrude from the right tape portion T. However, the imitation 101a ′ may be introduced from the beginning of the tape portion T to the tape portion T, for example, without protruding from the tape portion T. The tape portion T may be introduced from the middle. However, when the connection between the free end 101a-1 and the imitation 101a ′ is assumed when the connection to the optical lead-in line becomes unnecessary due to cancellation or the like, the imitation 101a ′ protrudes from the right tape portion T. Is preferred.

  Although the basic skeleton of the characteristic structure has been described above, the aspect of FIG. 2 is merely an example, and various modifications are assumed. First, the length of the optical fiber cores separated from each other, whether or not they are grouped, how to group them, etc. are not particularly limited. For example, in the case of grouping, in addition to the winding shape shown in FIG. The Ω shape shown can be mentioned.

  Next, instead of the bundling member 101a-2 that bundles the single-fiber separated optical fibers 101a-1, as shown in FIG. 4, the shape of the single-fiber separated optical fibers 101a-1 is maintained, The optical fiber core wire 101a-1 separated from the single core may be covered with a protective member (for example, a protective sheet with an adhesive) 101a-3 for protecting the exposed optical fiber core wire. In addition, an optical fiber having a large diameter can be used for the optical fiber core wire that is protected with a tube or a bobbin or separated from a single core. When the diameter is increased, the diameter is preferably Φ0.5 mm, Φ0.9 mm, Φ1.1 mm or the like. Also in the case of a tube, it is preferably Φ2.0 mm or less like the above three diameters. Here, the case where the protective member is a protective sheet will be described. The material of the protective sheet 101a-3 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene. Then, polyethylene terephthalate and polyimide are suitable. The thickness of the protective sheet is preferably 1 mm or less. As means for fixing the two protective sheets and the optical fiber, there are an adhesive, an adhesive, an adhesive tape, and the like, but it is preferable to use an adhesive to use the sheet repeatedly. The pressure-sensitive adhesive used may be any pressure-sensitive adhesive such as an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive or a silicone pressure-sensitive adhesive, and is particularly preferably one having excellent removability so that it can be used repeatedly. In use, the protective optical fibers 101a-1 separated from each other are exposed by peeling off the protective sheets 101a-3.

  Furthermore, when the optical fiber core wire is separated from the optical fiber wiring member as in the present invention, the tape portion of the optical fiber wiring member tends to tear from the single fiber separation point. Therefore, in order to prevent this, as shown in FIG. 5, the tape portion T at the upstream and downstream single fiber separation points and the root of the single fiber separated optical fiber core are integrally fixed. It is preferable to install the tear preventing member 103. At this time, it is preferable to use a general-purpose fusion sleeve as the tear preventing member 103. By using this fusion sleeve, the optical fiber wiring member according to the present invention can be fixed to a fusion sleeve holder in a general-purpose fusion tray. In FIG. 5, the tear preventing means integrated on the upstream side and the downstream side is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the tear preventing means can be provided on each of the upstream side and the downstream side (in the figure). dotted line). In this case, a metal tape, a hot melt resin, a cured resin, or the like is suitable as the tear preventing means.

  Furthermore, the above-described protective member for protecting the bare optical fiber and the tear prevention for integrally fixing the upstream and downstream tape portions and the single separated optical fiber core. You may comprise a member as one member. Here, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), the protection / tear prevention member 104-1 is configured to remove all of the optical fiber cores separated from the tape T at the upstream and downstream single fiber separation points. You may comprise so that it may coat | cover, or as shown in FIG.6 (b), you may comprise a protection and tear prevention member as the case member 104-2 which accommodates these. In the case of FIG. 6A, as the protection / tear prevention member 104-1, for example, the same structure and the same material as the above-described protection sheet 101a-3 can be used.

  Further, in the embodiment according to FIG. 2, one optical fiber core is separated from a single core, but a plurality of optical fiber cores are provided as long as at least one optical fiber core is not separated. The lines may be separated from each other.

(Usage of optical fiber ribbons for wiring)
Next, a method of using the optical fiber wiring member according to the best mode will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, one tape core is pulled out from a slot type access cable (not shown), and the one tape core is cut. Then, the upstream cut surface is positioned on the left side of FIG. 2 and the downstream cut surface is positioned on the right side of FIG. 2, and each is fused and connected to the tape portion T of the optical fiber wiring member of the present invention. Next, after the binding member 101a-2 shown in FIG. 2 is removed, the extra length 101a-1 is unwound. Then, the optical fiber core wire 101a is connected to the optical lead-in wire of the new subscriber's house by the fusion method.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below. In addition, this invention is not limited at all by this Example.

<Example 1>
In order to produce the optical fiber wiring member of the present invention, the coating apparatus shown in FIG. 7 was used. This coating apparatus is composed of a uniaxial control robot 10 and a material supply apparatus 20, and the uniaxial control robot has a substrate 11 on which an optical fiber core wire is placed, and a ball screw shaft 12 along the longitudinal direction. The other end is supported by a bearing 14, and a movable unit 15 is screwed into the ball screw. The movable unit has a needle 16 for supplying material. It is installed perpendicular to the stage surface. The needle is connected to the material supply device by a flexible rubber tube 17.

  In addition, the optical fiber core wire is moved manually with respect to the substrate, and an ultraviolet curable resin (manufactured by Viscotac PM-654 Osaka Organic Chemical Industry) is used as a coating material for fixing a portion other than the single-fiber separated optical fiber. A dispenser was used as a material supply device for supplying the liquid.

First, four optical fiber core wires having a length of 30 cm (silica single mode fiber outer diameter 0.25 mm, manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.) are aligned in parallel on a two-dimensional plane of the substrate, and one of the optical fibers (Fig. A) in the middle was gripped, separated from the other three at the center, and separated into single cores for wiring. The divided one was circulated and wrapped with tape. Next, another optical fiber core wire (B in the figure) was arranged at a position where a single-fiber separated optical fiber should be present to form four cores, which were aligned in parallel. In addition, these four optical fiber core wires were fixed with fixing members 21 at both ends. Then, the needle is fixed to the movable unit so that the tip is 0.1 mm from the surface of the optical fiber core wire, and the needle is moved to the coating start position 22 for covering the tape portion where the optical fibers are aligned, The center of the needle was adjusted to be the center of the four optical fiber core wires 23. And the coating material was apply | coated to the upper surface of an optical fiber core wire by moving a needle to the application completion position 24 to an optical fiber axial direction {FIG.7 (b) and (c)}. The applied coating material was subjected to ultraviolet irradiation treatment (irradiation intensity 20 mW / cm ² , 10 seconds) using an ultraviolet irradiation device.

  As described above, when the optical fiber wiring member is manufactured, the array is separated into single cores, the core wire is drawn out in advance, and instead the imitation fiber is wired from the end position of the single fiber separation, so that the connections on the input and output sides can be integrated. In this way, it was easy to handle a conventional tape core.

<Example 2>
An optical fiber wiring member was manufactured using the same manufacturing method as in Example 1 except that a thermosetting silicone rubber resin (manufactured by KE1800 Shin-Etsu Silicone) was used as a coating material for the optical fiber tape portion. In addition, hardening was performed by heating at 120 degree | times for 1 hour with a dryer.

  Since the optical fiber wiring member produced in this example uses silicone rubber as the coating material for the optical fiber tape portion, it can be bent well and the workability is good.

<Example 3>
The single core separation part was masked with a masking tape (Masking tape No. 720 manufactured by Nitto Denko Corporation), and the silicone rubber of Example 2 was coated on the fiber of the tape part. Strip the masking tape from the single-fiber separation section, pass the optical fiber from the single-core separation section through a fiber protection sleeve (Sumitomo Electric, protection sleeve FPS-5) made of a synthetic resin tube and has heat shrinkability, and pull the pulled fiber I put it out. Next, it heated for 1 minute with the heating apparatus, and fixed the optical fiber core wire of the optical fiber single core isolation | separation part. By using the optical fiber protective sleeve for fixing the optical fiber single-fiber separating portion as in this embodiment, the single-fiber separating portion can be easily protected with existing components.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a tape portion T of an optical fiber wiring member according to the best mode. FIG. 2 is an overview of the optical fiber wiring member according to the best mode. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another way of grouping optical fibers (single-ohms) separated from each other according to a modification of the best mode. FIG. 4 is a view showing an aspect having a protective member for a single-fiber separated optical fiber according to a modification of the best mode. FIG. 5 is a view showing an aspect having a tear preventing member for a single-fiber-isolated optical fiber according to a modification of the best mode. FIG. 6 is a view showing an aspect having a protective / tear-preventing member for a single-fiber separated optical fiber according to a modification of the best mode. FIG. 7 is a view showing an apparatus for producing the optical fiber wiring member according to the example.

Claims (7)

  In an optical fiber wiring member having a tape portion in which a plurality of optical fiber cores are collectively covered with a covering member, at least one optical fiber core wire out of the plurality of optical fiber core wires is free to come out of the tape portion. An optical fiber core wire having an optical fiber that is exposed at the position where the optical fiber core wire separated from the single optical fiber should exist downstream of the optical fiber single core separator. An optical fiber wiring member, wherein:   The optical fiber wiring member according to claim 1, wherein the covering member is silicone rubber.   The optical fiber wiring member according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a portion of the one optical fiber core wire exposed from the tape portion is protected by a protection member.   The optical fiber wiring member according to claim 3, wherein a portion of the one optical fiber core wire exposed from the tape portion is protected by a tube.   The optical fiber wiring member according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the one optical fiber core wire in a portion exposed from the tape portion has a diameter larger than that of the optical fiber core wire of the tape portion.   The optical fiber wiring member according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a tear preventing member is provided on the tape portion.   The optical fiber wiring member according to claim 6, wherein the tear preventing member is a fusion sleeve.

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