JP2010008852A - Optical fiber coating removing device and method of removing optical fiber coating - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber coating removing device which has a very simple structure and is made compact, is advantageous in terms of cost and superior in handling, and to provide a method of removing optical fiber coating. <P>SOLUTION: The optical fiber coating removing device 10 and the method of removing the optical fiber coat comprise: a heating part 14 which heats a coat part 91 of an optical fiber 90; blade members 15 and 16 which cut in the coat part 91; and first and second handling parts 11 and 13, which hold the optical fiber 90 in the vicinity of the heating part 14. The first handling part 11 is provided with an adsorbing member 12, which adsorbs the coat part 91 removed from the optical fiber 90 with blade members 15 and 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber coating removing apparatus and an optical fiber coating removing method used for removing a coating portion of an optical fiber.

  In recent years, the demand for high-speed data communication has increased due to the rapid spread of the Internet. The service of FTTH (Fiber To The Home) that installs an optical fiber to each home is expanding. It is expected that optical connectors for optical connection will be handled in general households. For example, the optical fiber cover connected to the optical communication device in the door is removed and the optical connector is attached. Then, it is conceivable to connect an optical communication device in the home to the FTTH network by inserting an optical connector into the optical connection adapter.

As an example of a conventional optical fiber coating removal apparatus and optical fiber coating removal method used in such applications, an optical fiber coating removal apparatus 100 as shown in FIG. 4 is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .
The optical fiber coating removal apparatus 100 includes a main body 101 and a pair of drive gears 104 and 105 that mesh with a heater unit 102 and a rack 103. Further, the upper lid 106 is provided with a pair of driven gears 107 and 108 driven by the drive gears 104 and 105, and a belt 109 spanned between the driven gears 107 and 108.

  In the optical fiber coating removal apparatus 100 disclosed in Patent Document 1, the optical fiber 120 is placed between the main body 101 and the upper lid 106. Next, the covering portion 121 of the optical fiber 120 is heated by the heater portion 102. Next, by bringing the upper lid 106 closer to the main body 101, the covering portion 121 is cut by the blade member 110 on the upper lid 106 side and the blade member 111 on the main body 101 side. Next, by pulling out the holder base 112 fixed to the rack 103, the drive gears 104 and 105 and the driven gears 107 and 108 rotate, respectively. Then, the covering portion 121 cut by the movement of the belt 109 is collected by the waste collecting portion 113 of the main body 101.

JP 2001-330737 A

  Normally, in communication infrastructure construction as described above, it is desirable to reduce the size and weight in consideration of safety and handling properties in order to cut the end of the optical fiber and remove the covering at high places such as utility poles. ing.

  However, the optical fiber coating removal apparatus 100 disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a rack 103, a gear operating mechanism including driving gears 104 and 105, driven gears 107 and 108, and a transport mechanism including a belt 109. For this reason, it is difficult to reduce the size because of a complicated structure, which is disadvantageous in terms of cost and inferior in handling properties.

On the other hand, in order to simplify the structure, a closed space is formed between the upper lid and the main body, an optical fiber is accommodated in the closed space, and the covering portion remaining in the closed space is sucked with a suction device. An optical fiber coating removing apparatus has been proposed.
However, this optical fiber coating removal apparatus also has a complicated structure due to the formation of a closed space and the need for a suction device, and thus the above problem has not been solved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the size of the optical fiber with an extremely simple structure, which is advantageous in terms of cost, and has excellent handling properties. It is to provide an apparatus and a method for removing an optical fiber coating.

An optical fiber coating removal apparatus according to the present invention that can solve the above-described problems is a heating unit that heats a coating part of an optical fiber, a blade member that cuts the coating part, and the optical fiber in the vicinity of the heating part. An optical fiber coating removing device comprising:
The fixing portion includes an adsorption member that adsorbs the covering portion removed from the optical fiber by the blade member.

According to the optical fiber coating removal apparatus configured in this way, the optical fiber is held in the vicinity of the heating unit by the fixing unit, and then the coating unit is heated by the heating unit. And a cutting | notch is made in a coating | coated part with a blade member. Thereafter, the covering portion cut by the adsorption member is adsorbed.
This eliminates the need for a gear operating mechanism, a transport mechanism, a closed space, a suction device, and the like as in the prior art, and has an extremely simple structure, which can be advantageous in terms of cost. In addition, since the operator can remove the coated portion of the optical fiber while holding the optical fiber coating removing apparatus with one finger, the handling property is excellent.

  In the optical fiber coating removal apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the suction member is formed in a sucker shape at a portion in contact with the coating portion.

  According to the optical fiber coating removing apparatus configured as described above, the portion of the suction member that contacts the coating portion is in the shape of a suction cup. The covering portion can be reliably adsorbed by the adsorbing force.

Further, the optical fiber coating removing method according to the present invention that can solve the above-mentioned problem is to hold the optical fiber in the vicinity of the heating unit and then heat the coating unit of the optical fiber to cut the coating unit. An optical fiber coating removing method for removing the coating portion after
The covering portion removed from the optical fiber is adsorbed and removed by an adsorbing member.

According to the optical fiber coating removal method configured in this way, the optical fiber is held in the vicinity of the heating unit by the fixing unit, and then the coating unit is heated by the heating unit. Then, the blade is cut into the covering portion, and the covering portion cut by the suction member is sucked.
Thereby, the operator can perform the operation of operating the fixing portion with one hand, and can easily remove the coating portion of the optical fiber.

  According to the optical fiber coating removal apparatus and the optical fiber coating removal method according to the present invention, the optical fiber coating removal apparatus can be downsized with an extremely simple structure, is advantageous in cost, and has excellent handling properties. And an optical fiber coating removal method.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 3 show an embodiment of an optical fiber coating removing apparatus and an optical fiber coating removing method according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 shows light to which an optical fiber coating removing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the optical fiber coating removing device before removing the coating portion, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the optical fiber coating removing device shown in FIG. 1 when removing the coating portion, and FIG. It is a subsequent longitudinal cross-sectional view.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an optical fiber coating removal apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first handling unit 11 equipped with an adsorption member 12, a second handling unit 13, a heater member 14, A pair of blade members 15 and 16 are provided. The optical fiber coating removing apparatus 10 is used at the time of a stripping operation for removing the coating portion 91 of the optical fiber 90 and exposing the optical fiber core 92 (see FIG. 2).

The optical fiber 90 applied to the optical fiber coating removal apparatus 10 of this embodiment is, for example, a multi-fiber tape type optical fiber. In this optical fiber 90, a tensile body (not shown) made of an aramid fiber or the like is vertically attached around a plurality of parallel optical fiber cores 92. And the coating | coated part 91, such as PVC, is formed in the circumference | surroundings.
To illustrate a specific configuration, the outer diameter of the optical fiber core 92 is 0.9 mm. The tensile body is a bundle of 5 bundles of 1140 denier aramid fiber bundles around the optical fiber core 92. The covering portion 91 is a PVC layer formed with an inner diameter of 1.2 mm and an outer diameter of 3.0 mm.

The first handling part 11 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape so as to be easily grasped with one hand using, for example, a hard resin material. The first handling unit 11 is provided with a coating waste storage unit 17 for storing the cut coating unit on the bottom surface on the second handling unit 13 side. Further, an insertion hole 18 for the adsorbing member penetrating from the upper surface to the bottom surface is formed. The insertion hole 18 has a large-diameter hole 19 at its upper end and communicates with the covering waste container 17 at its lower end.
In addition, the 1st handling part 11 is rotatably connected to the 2nd handling part 13 via a return spring etc. in the right end part in FIG. 1, for example.

The adsorbing member 12 is made of a relatively soft rubber material having flexibility, and is formed in a round bar shape slightly longer than the height of the first handling 11. The suction member 12 has a pressing portion 20 at the upper end and a suction portion 21 at the lower end. The suction portion 21 is formed in a hemispherical concave surface, that is, a suction cup shape.
Further, the suction member 12 is always urged to a position where the pressing portion 20 slightly protrudes from the upper surface of the first handling portion 11 by an urging means (not shown), for example.

  Similar to the first handling unit 11, the second handling unit 13 is made of, for example, a hard resin material and is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape so that it can be easily grasped with one hand. The second handling unit 13 is disposed so as to face the first handling unit 11.

Further, the second handling unit 13 has a heater member 14 disposed on the upper surface on the first handling unit 11 side. A planar optical fiber placement surface 22 including the heater member 14 is formed. The heater member 14 is electrically heated to a set temperature when a heater switch (not shown) is turned on.
The second handling unit 13 has a pair of guide plates 23 (not shown in FIG. 1 for guiding the first handling unit 11) on both sides. Yes.

  The first blade member 15 on the first handling portion side is fixed to the tip end portion of the first handling portion 11 with the blade facing the second handling portion 13. The protruding amount of the blade of the first blade member 15 is a length corresponding to substantially half of the outer diameter of the covering portion 91 of the optical fiber 90 when the first handling portion 11 is brought into contact with the second handling portion 13. Is set.

  The second blade member 16 on the second handling portion side is fixed to the tip portion of the second handling portion 13 facing the first blade member 15 with the blade facing the first handling portion 11. The protruding amount of the blade of the second blade member 16 is a length corresponding to substantially half of the outer diameter of the covering portion 91 of the optical fiber 90 when the first handling portion 11 is brought into contact with the second handling portion 13. Is set.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 1-3, the optical fiber coating removal method performed using the optical fiber coating removal apparatus 10 is demonstrated.
First, the first handling part 11 is opened from the second handling part 13. Next, the optical fiber 90 is placed on the optical fiber placement surface 22 of the second handling unit 13. Next, the heater switch is turned on to heat the heater member 14 to a set temperature. At this time, an end portion of the covering portion 91 to be removed, that is, a portion to be cut is placed on the second blade member 16.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2, both handling parts 11, 13 are gripped with one finger, and the first handling part 11 is closed so as to contact the second handling part 13. Accordingly, the coating 91 of the optical fiber 90 is cut from above by the first blade member 15 and from below by the second blade member 16. At this time, the optical fiber 90 is held on the heater member 14 as the first handling unit 11 is closed. Further, since the covering portion 91 is heated by the heater member 14, it is easily cut by the double blade members 15 and 16.

  Next, while holding both the handling parts 11 and 13 with one finger, the pressing part 20 of the adsorption member 12 is pushed down to enter the large diameter part 19 with a thumb or the like. Thereby, the adsorbing member 12 comes into contact with the cut coating waste 93 on the optical fiber placement surface 22 of the second handling unit 13. At this time, it is elastically deformed by itself and the inside of the suction part 21 is in a negative pressure state, and the suction part 21 sucks the coating waste 93.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the optical fiber 90 is pulled out in the left direction in FIG. 3 by pulling the optical fiber 90 with the other finger while holding both the handling parts 11 and 13 with one finger. go. Then, both handling parts 11 and 13 are opened, and the thumb is released from the pressed suction member 12. Thereby, the adsorption member 12 is pulled up while accommodating the covering waste 93 adsorbed by the adsorption member 12 in the covering waste accommodating portion 17.
Thereafter, the optical fiber 90 from which the covering portion 91 having a predetermined length has been removed is used for connection work such as indoor wiring, and the removed covering waste 93 is discarded after the connection work is completed.

As described above, according to the optical fiber coating removal apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the optical fiber 90 is held in the vicinity of the heater member 14 by the first handling unit 11 and the second handling unit 13. The Then, after the predetermined covering portion 91 is heated by the heater member 14, a cut is made at a predetermined position of the covering portion 91 by the double blade members 15 and 16. Thereafter, the cut covering waste 93 is adsorbed by the adsorbing member 12.
This eliminates the need for a conventional gear operating mechanism, transport mechanism, closed space, suction device, and the like, and an optical fiber coating removing device that has an extremely simple structure and is advantageous in terms of cost can be obtained. Further, since the worker can remove the covering portion 91 of the optical fiber 90 only by holding it with one hand, the handling property is excellent.

  Moreover, according to the optical fiber coating removal apparatus 10, the suction portion 21 that contacts the coating portion 91 of the suction member 12 is formed in a suction cup shape. Thereby, the coating waste 93 can be reliably adsorbed by the adsorbing force generated in the adsorbing member 12 simply by pressing the adsorbing member 12 against the covering portion 91.

Further, according to the optical fiber coating removing method according to the embodiment of the present invention, the optical fiber 90 is held in the vicinity of the heater member 14 by the first handling unit 11 and the second handling unit 13. Next, after a predetermined covering portion 91 is heated by the heater member 14, a cut is made at a predetermined position of the covering portion 91 by the double blade members 15 and 16. Next, the cut coating waste 93 is adsorbed by the adsorbing member 12.
Thereby, the operator can remove the coating | coated part 91 of the optical fiber 90 very easily in the state which grasped both the handlings 11 and 13 with one hand, and is excellent in handling property.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimension, numerical value, form, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

  For example, the optical fiber is not limited to the illustrated multi-core tape type optical fiber, but can be applied to a general single-core optical fiber. Therefore, if the optical fiber coating removal apparatus of the present invention is carried, it can be used for connecting plural types of optical fibers at the work site.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view before the coating | coated part removal of the optical fiber coating removal apparatus to which the optical fiber coating removal method which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is applied. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view at the time of the coating | coated part removal of the optical fiber coating removal apparatus of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view after the coating | coated part removal of the optical fiber coating removal apparatus of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the conventional optical fiber coating removal apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Optical fiber coating removal apparatus 11 1st handling part (fixed part)
12 adsorption member 13 2nd handling part (fixed part)
14 Heater member (heating part)
15 First blade member (blade member)
16 Second blade member (blade member)
17 Covering waste accommodating portion 18 Insertion hole 19 Large diameter hole 20 Pressing portion 21 Adsorption portion 90 Optical fiber 91 Covering portion 92 Optical fiber core wire 93 Covering waste

Claims (3)

A heating unit for heating the coating portion of the optical fiber;
A blade member for cutting the covering portion;
A fixing unit for holding the optical fiber in the vicinity of the heating unit;
An optical fiber coating removing apparatus comprising:
The said fixed part has an adsorption | suction member which adsorb | sucks the said coating | coated part removed from the said optical fiber with the said blade member, The optical fiber coating removal apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.   2. The optical fiber coating removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the suction member that contacts the coating portion is formed in a sucker shape. An optical fiber coating removing method for holding an optical fiber in the vicinity of a heating unit and then heating the coating portion of the optical fiber to cut the coating portion and then removing the coating portion.
An optical fiber coating removing method, wherein the coating portion removed from the optical fiber is removed by suction with an adsorption member.

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