JP2010181521A - Optical cable assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical cable assembly that is installed in harmony with an outer wall color of a building as well as being matched to indoor color tones, that has weatherability, and that is easy to take out optical elements. <P>SOLUTION: This is an optical cable assembly 11 for which a plurality of optical elements 13 having coated optical fibers covered with a jacket are bundled and covered in the entirety with a protective covering 17. The jacket of the optical elements 13 is formed with a non-black cover while the protective covering 17 is formed of two layers comprising a black coating layer for the inner layer and a non-black coating layer for the outer layer, wherein a spiral notch 18 is formed longitudinally along the coating layer of the outer layer. In addition, the spiral notch is also formed longitudinally along the coating layer of the inner layer. The spiral notch of the coating layer of the inner layer may be formed in a manner not superposed on the spiral notch of the coating layer of the outer layer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an aggregate optical cable that allows a plurality of optical fiber cables to be aggregated and drawn from an arbitrary position in the cable longitudinal direction.

  With the full-scale introduction of FTTH (Fiber To The Home) in recent years, there is a demand for easy installation of optical fiber in each house such as an apartment house. For this reason, a collective optical cable in which a plurality of optical fiber cables (also referred to as optical elements) are assembled is laid in advance in the collective housing so that the optical fibers can be drawn into and introduced into each house of the collective housing as needed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  As a collective optical cable for this purpose, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A, a plurality of optical fiber cables (hereinafter referred to as optical elements) 3 are twisted around the outer periphery of a strength member 2 (also referred to as a tension member). A collective optical cable 1a is known (see, for example, Patent Document 2). As the strength member 2 of the collective optical cable 1a, for example, one in which the outer periphery of a strength wire 2a such as a steel wire is covered with a resin coating 2b is used. The optical element 3 includes a tension member 5 (also referred to as a tensile body) disposed on both sides of one or several optical fiber cores 4 and is integrally covered with a jacket 6.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 4 (B), a plurality of optical elements 3 similar to the above are twisted together without using a tensile body or assembled without twisting together and stored in a protective covering 7. A collective optical cable 1b (see, for example, Patent Document 3) is also known. The protective cover 7 is formed with slits 8 along the longitudinal direction so that the internal optical element 3 can be easily taken out. There is also known an aggregate optical cable having a configuration in which a plurality of optical elements 3 are aggregated and bound using a spiral wire, a binding band or the like without covering with a protective covering 7 (for example, see Patent Document 4).

JP 2004-125914 A JP 10-333000 A JP 2008-129168 A JP 2008-287248 A

  The conventional optical element 3 for a collective optical cable described above is usually made of black with a jacket 6 mixed with weather-resistant carbon black or the like in order to prevent deterioration by ultraviolet rays for outdoor use. It is made of resin (for example, black polyethylene, black flame-retardant polyethylene). Further, in the collective optical cable in such a form that the optical element 3 is covered with the protective covering 7, the protective covering is formed of a black resin.

  When laying a collective optical cable in a collective housing, it is possible to lay the collective optical cable for optical wiring in advance in a common part of the indoor in a newly built condominium, so that it is not exposed from the outside. Can do. However, existing apartment houses are laid along outer walls such as under the eaves of buildings. When an FTTH subscription application is made, a predetermined optical element is taken out from the collective optical cable, and is drawn into the house from an air-conditioner duct or the like provided on the wall surface of each door and wired.

When laying an assembly optical cable in an existing apartment house as described above, the assembly optical cable is exposed outside the building, so that the color of the cable surface matches the color of the outer wall surface of the building. The optical element drawn into the room is required to match the color tone of the room. Furthermore, it is desired to have weather resistance against ultraviolet rays and to easily take out an optical element drawn into each door.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and is laid out so as to match the color of the outer wall of the building, can be adjusted to the color tone of the room, has weather resistance, and takes out the optical element. It is an object of the present invention to provide a collective optical cable that is easy to implement.

  The collective optical cable according to the present invention is a collective optical cable in which a plurality of optical elements whose optical fiber core wires are covered with an outer sheath are bundled and covered with a protective covering, and the outer sheath of the optical element is covered with a non-black coating. The protective coating is formed of two layers, a black coating layer on the inner layer and a non-black coating layer on the outer layer, and the outer coating layer is provided with a spiral cut along the longitudinal direction. is there. Also, a spiral cut is made along the longitudinal direction of the inner coating layer so that the spiral cut of the inner coating layer does not overlap with the spiral cut of the outer coating layer. Also good.

  Further, the optical cable branching and laying method according to the present invention is a method of branching and laying an optical element using the above-described aggregated optical cable. The optical element in the protective coating body is opened by opening a spiral cut in the protective coating body. Is taken out and branched.

  According to the present invention, since the color of the inner layer is black and weather resistance to ultraviolet rays, the color of the outer layer of the protective covering can be made to match the color of the outer wall of the building, In addition, the color of the outer cover of the optical element can be a bright color that matches the color tone of the room. Moreover, it becomes possible to open the spiral cut portion formed in the protective covering, take out the optical element from an arbitrary position, and easily draw it into each door.

It is a figure explaining the form which lays the collective optical cable of this invention in a collective housing. It is a figure explaining an example of the collective optical cable by this invention. It is a figure explaining the other example of the collective optical cable by this invention. It is a figure explaining the prior art.

  The laying form of the collective optical cable of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 10a is a drop optical cable, 10b is an optical splitter, 11 is a collective optical cable, 12 is a tension member, 13 is an optical element, 13a is an extraction optical element, 17 is a protective covering, and 18 is a spiral break.

  When an optical fiber is to be installed and installed in an existing apartment house H (for example, a set of eight houses), it is pulled down from the nearby trunk optical cable to the eaves of H of the apartment house using the drop optical cable 10a. The drop optical cable 10a has one to several cores, and optically branches to a plurality of optical elements in the collective optical cable 11 using an optical splitter 10b. The optical branching to the optical element 13 can be branched in various forms, for example, 1 × 8 optical branching for a single core drop optical cable, or 2 × 4 for a dual core drop optical cable. The light is branched.

  The collective optical cable 11 is formed by, for example, winding a plurality of optical elements 13 around the strength member 12 around the strength member 12 and covering the outer periphery with a protective covering 17. This collective optical cable 11 is laid so as to cross each door along the outer wall surface under the eaves of the existing apartment house H, and in response to an application for FTTH, one optical element 13a is taken out from the collective optical cable 11 and an air conditioner. It is drawn into the room through an opening h like a duct. The optical element 13a is taken out from the collective optical cable 11 so as to secure a sufficient length to be pulled into the door. When the length is insufficient, an optical fiber cable of the same type as the optical element is added.

  As the collective optical cable 11, the collective optical cable 11 a configured as shown in FIG. 2A according to the present invention can be used. In the collective optical cable 11a, as schematically shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of (for example, eight) optical elements 13 are spirally twisted on the outer periphery of the strength member 12, and the outside is covered with a protective covering member 17. Configured. The strength member 12 can be formed by, for example, covering the outer periphery of a steel wire (1.2 to 2.6 mmΦ) 12a with a resin coating 12b, or can be formed of high-tensile fiber reinforced plastic (FRP).

  The optical element 13 can use an indoor optical cable that does not have weather resistance as used for indoor optical wiring. For example, tension members 15 are arranged on both sides of the optical fiber core wire 14, and the outer sheath 16 integrally forms the optical element 13. It is formed in a covered shape. As the optical fiber 14, a glass fiber having a standard outer diameter of 0.125 mm and having a single layer or multiple layers and a protective coating having an outer diameter of 0.25 mm, 0.5 mm, or 0.9 mm is used. The tension member 15 is made of steel wire (about 0.4 mmΦ) or FRP (0.4 mm to 0.6 mmΦ). The jacket 16 is made of polyethylene or flame retardant polyethylene, has an outer shape of a rectangular shape with an outer shape of about 2 mm × 4 mm, and is provided with a notch for taking out the optical fiber core wire.

  The protective covering 17 is made of, for example, a resin such as polyethylene or flame retardant polyethylene, and is formed of two layers, an inner covering layer 17a and an outer covering layer 17b. The inner coating layer 17a is formed of a black coating layer containing carbon black or the like and having weather resistance, and is formed of a press-wound tape or formed by extrusion molding of a loose structure. In consideration of taking out the inner optical element 13, the inner coating layer 17a is preferably formed by winding with a black presser winding tape. In this case, for example, a black tape having a width of about 30 mm and a thickness of about 0.5 mm is wound by lap winding (1/5 lap winding) so that there is no gap. In addition, it is desirable that the edge portions of the tape have cuts that become the starting ends of the cuts at predetermined intervals.

  The outer coating layer 17b is formed of a non-black coating layer having a color other than black, and is provided in a loose state by tape winding or extrusion molding on the outer periphery of the black inner coating layer 17a. In the case of forming by tape winding, it is desirable to wind by close winding without overlapping or by open winding with a slight gap. In the case of forming by extrusion molding, the inner covering layer 17a is formed with a loose structure, and a spiral cut 18 is formed by forming a spiral cut. That is, the outer coating layer 17b is provided on the inner coating layer 17a in a spiral tube shape that can be expanded and contracted in the longitudinal direction.

  The covering material for the outer covering layer 17b is a non-black and the same color as the outer wall of an existing apartment house, or a color that matches. By forming the outer covering layer 17b with a non-black color (for example, gray, brick, brick, brown, ocher, white, cream, beige, etc.), the outer layer of the existing apartment house Even if it is laid out in an exposed form, the aesthetics of the building can be prevented from being impaired. As described above, since the weather resistance to ultraviolet rays and the like is imparted to the inner black coating layer 17a, it is not necessary to impart weather resistance to the outer coating layer 17b. For this reason, the degree of freedom of material selection for the non-black coating layer of the outer layer is large, and the cost is not high.

  In many cases, the optical element 13 drawn out from the collective optical cable 11a is introduced into the room and laid out in an exposed state. For this reason, when the outer cover 16 of the optical element 13 is black, it does not match the indoor color tone, and there is a possibility that the interior decoration state is impaired. Since the coating layer 17a of the inner layer of the protective coating 17 bears the weather resistance against ultraviolet rays or the like, the color of the outer cover 16 of the optical element 13 is a color (for example, cream) that matches the indoor color tone other than black. Color, white, beige, etc.).

  The collective optical cable 11c shown in FIG. 2 (B) has the configuration of the collective optical cable shown in FIG. 2 (A), and a plurality of optical elements 13 are gathered together by twisting each other without providing a tensile body at the center. Is covered with a protective covering 17. As in the example of FIG. 2A, the protective covering 17 is formed of two layers, an inner covering layer 17a and an outer non-black covering layer 17b, and the outer covering layer 17b has a spiral cut. The shape is filled with. The outer cover 16 of each optical element 13 is also formed of a non-black type. This collective optical cable 11b is suitable for laying in a place where no tensile tension is applied, and is easy to bend because of its low tensile strength, and can be used in a place with many bends.

  As described above, the weather resistance to ultraviolet rays is imparted to the inner covering layer 17a of the protective covering 17 of the collective optical cable so that the color of the outer covering layer 17b matches the color of the outer wall of the building. In addition, the color of the outer cover 16 of the optical element 13 can be a bright color that matches the color tone of the room. Since the outer coating layer 17b has a spiral shape that can expand and contract in the longitudinal direction, it is easy to bend and workability can be improved. Also, a gap is created by pushing open the spiral cut 18 by hand, the inner coating layer 17b is exposed from the gap, and the optical element 13 is cut or taken out by tearing the coating layer 17a. Can be made easier.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating another example of an aggregate optical cable that facilitates removal of an optical element. The collective optical cable 11c shown in FIG. 3 (A) has a plurality of optical elements 13 spirally wound around the outer periphery of the strength member 12, and the outer side thereof is a protective covering, as described in FIG. 2 (A). 17 is covered. The protective coating 17 is formed of two layers, an inner coating layer 17a and an outer coating layer 17b. The inner coating layer 17a is formed of a black coating layer, and a spiral cut is formed. 19 is formed. When the inner coating layer 17a is formed by tape winding, contact winding or open winding is used instead of lap winding.

  The outer coating layer 17b is formed of a non-black coating layer having a color other than black, as described in FIG. 2A, and is provided in a loose state on the outer periphery of the black inner coating layer 17a. And a spiral shape with spiral cuts. In this case, if the cut 19 of the inner coating layer 17a and the cut 18 of the outer coating layer 17b overlap, the cut may open at the bent portion or the like, and the internal optical element (non-weather resistance) may be exposed. Therefore, it is preferable that the spiral cut 18 of the outer coating layer 17b and the spiral cut 19 of the inner coating layer 17a are shifted in position so as not to overlap each other.

  The collective optical cable 11d shown in FIG. 3 (B) corresponds to FIG. 2 (B), and a plurality of optical elements 13 are gathered together by twisting each other without arranging a tensile body at the center, and the outside thereof is This is an example of covering with a protective covering 17. The protective coating 17 is formed of two layers, an inner coating layer 17a and an outer coating layer 17b. Like the example of FIG. 3A, the inner coating layer 17a is formed of a black coating layer, and has a spiral shape. A spiral cut 19 is formed by making a cut. Further, when the inner coating layer 17a is formed by tape winding, contact winding or open winding is used instead of overlapping winding.

  The outer coating layer 17b is formed of a non-black coating layer, and is formed of a non-black coating layer having a color other than black, as described with reference to FIG. It is provided in a loose state on the outer periphery of the coating layer 17a, and has a spiral shape with a spiral cut. The spiral cut 18 of the outer coating layer 17b and the spiral cut 19 of the inner coating layer 17a are arranged, for example, with the tape winding direction or the spiral cutting direction opposite to each other so as not to overlap each other. The position may be shifted.

  As described above, by providing spiral cuts in both the inner covering layer 17a and the outer covering layer 17b of the protective covering of the collective optical cable, it is more flexible than the one shown in FIG. Can do. Moreover, the gap is widened by manually pushing open the spiral cut 18 of the outer coating layer 17b, the inner coating layer 17a is exposed from the widened gap portion, and the spiral cut 19 of the coating layer 17a is formed. The optical element 13 can be cut or removed by pushing it open. According to this configuration, neither the inner coating layer 17a nor the outer coating layer 17b of the protective coating body need be cut or excised, and can be easily repaired. For this reason, workability | operativity can be improved further.

  The above-mentioned collective optical cables 11a to 11d are laid in advance on the outer wall surface such as under the eaves of an existing collective housing, and when an application for FTTH is applied, one optical element 13 is taken out from the collective optical cable. The optical element 13 is taken out, for example, by extending the spiral of the coating layer 17b of the outer layer of the protective coating at a position ahead of the position of the applicant's inlet (air conditioner duct or the like). Then, the inner covering layer 17a is exposed from the opened cut 18 and opened, or the spiral is extended to expose the inner optical element 13 from the cut 19 to cut a predetermined one optical element.

  Next, return to a position close to the applicant's entrance, expose a predetermined optical element in the same way, pull the end of the optical element that was cut earlier, and move it to the outside of the protective covering. Take out. The extracted optical element is drawn into the house from the applicant's drawing port and wired in the house. When the length of the optical element taken out is insufficient or insufficient, an indoor optical fiber cable having the same shape is connected and wired in the house. In addition, the optical element is removed from the cable by holding and fixing the optical element, repairing the protective covering, etc., if necessary, and wrapping the optical element exposed outside with a weather-resistant tape. It is desirable to suppress.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10a ... Drop optical cable, 10b ... Optical splitter, 11, 11a-11d ... Collective optical cable, 12 ... Strength member, 12a ... Steel wire, 12b ... Resin coating, 13 ... Optical element, 13a ... Drawer element, 14 ... Optical fiber core wire , 15 ... tension member, 16 ... outer coating, 17 ... protective coating, 17a ... inner coating layer, 17b ... outer coating layer, 18, 19 ... spiral cuts.

Claims (4)

A bundled optical cable in which a plurality of optical elements covered with an outer sheath of an optical fiber core wire are bundled and covered with a protective covering,
The outer cover of the optical element is formed of a non-black coating, and the protective coating is formed of two layers of a black coating layer on the inner layer and a non-black coating layer on the outer layer. Is a collective optical cable characterized by spiral cuts along the longitudinal direction.   2. The collective optical cable according to claim 1, wherein the inner cover layer is also provided with a spiral cut along the longitudinal direction.   3. The collective optical cable according to claim 2, wherein the spiral cut of the inner coating layer is formed so as not to overlap with the spiral cut of the outer coating layer.   A method of branching and laying an optical cable using the collective optical cable according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a spiral cut portion opened in the protective covering is opened, and an optical element in the protective covering is taken out and branched. An optical cable branch laying method characterized by:

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