JP2010266566A - Fusion splicing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fusion splicing machine that facilitates replacing a protection member in a short time, and suppresses cost of repair or the like to the minimum. <P>SOLUTION: The fusion splicing machine 101 for performing a fusion splicing of coated optical fibers 12 includes: an optical fiber observation mechanism 31 provided in a splicing machine body 101a, in which an image of a fused and spliced part A of the coated optical fibers 12 is captured; a protection glass 41 having a glass plate 46 disposed on an image capture face 33a which captures the image of the fused and spliced part A at the optical fiber observation mechanism 31. The protection glass 41 is detachably mounted on the splicing machine body 101a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fusion splicer for fusion splicing optical fiber core wires.

In a fusion splicer that fuses and connects optical fiber cores, the end surfaces of the optical fiber cores to be connected are positioned with high accuracy so that the fusion splices of the optical fiber cores are photographed and observed. Things have been done.
Such a fusion splicer includes an observation lens mechanism between a fusion splicing portion between optical fiber core wires, which are observation objects, and an image sensor. In this observation lens mechanism, a lens insertion opening is formed on the front side of the lens barrel, a lens group, a spacing ring, a protective glass, etc. are inserted into the lens barrel from the lens insertion opening, and a positioning screwing member is screwed in. The structure is fixed by tightening. In this observation lens mechanism, when the front end surface of the positioning screwing member is brought into contact with the reference surface on the fusion splicer side, the focus of the observation lens mechanism is aligned with the fusion splicing portion (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

JP 2000-221375 A

The protective glass of the fusion splicer is used for the purpose of protecting the lens and is exposed to the outside. For this reason, the protective glass is a component of the optical fiber core vaporized at a high temperature when the optical fiber cores are fusion-bonded, for example, a substance such as silica adheres to become dirty, or moisture in the air Corrodes the surface of the protective glass. Further, the protective glass exposed to the outside may be damaged.
As described above, dirt, corrosion, or scratches on the protective glass causes the image near the fusion spliced portion of the optical fiber core line to become fogged or deformed. Therefore, replacement of damaged protective glass is necessary for good observation.

However, in the observation lens mechanism, although the arrangement of the lens group, the interval ring, or the protective glass is arbitrary, these are all housed in the lens barrel and are held and fixed by the positioning screwing members.
Therefore, in order to replace the protective glass in the observation lens mechanism having the above structure, the fusion splicer is disassembled to remove the observation lens mechanism, and further, the positioning screw member for the observation lens mechanism is removed and disassembled. Then, replace it with a new protective glass and replace the screwing member for positioning if necessary.After that, adjust the position of the new protective glass and place it in contact with the reference surface of the fusion splicer. I had to.
As described above, the replacement of the protective glass requires an extremely complicated replacement operation, which requires time and labor and increases the repair costs required for the replacement.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a fusion splicer that can easily replace a protective member in a short time and can suppress costs such as repair costs as much as possible.

The fusion splicer of the present invention capable of solving the above-mentioned problems is a fusion splicer for fusion splicing optical fiber cores,
An observation mechanism that is provided inside the connection machine main body and captures an image of the fusion processing portion between the optical fiber cores;
A protective member having a transparent portion arranged in an image capturing portion that captures an image of the fusion processing portion in the observation mechanism;
The protective member is detachably attached to the connection machine main body.

  In the fusion splicer according to the present invention, it is preferable that the protective member is fixed to the upper surface of the splicer body by screwing.

  In the fusion splicer of the present invention, it is preferable that the transparent member of the protective member attached to the main body of the splicer is in close contact with the image capturing portion of the observation mechanism.

  According to the fusion splicer of the present invention, the protective member including the transparent portion disposed in the image capturing portion of the observation mechanism portion that captures the image of the fusion processing portion between the optical fiber cores is the splicer main body. It can be attached to and detached from. As a result, even when, for example, silica adheres to the transparent portion or is scratched at the fusion processing location at the time of fusion splicing, only the protective member can be replaced very easily and in a short time. Costs such as repair costs can be minimized.

It is an example of embodiment of the fusion splicer which concerns on this invention, and is the perspective view which looked at the fusion splicer from diagonally upward. It is the perspective view seen from diagonally upward which shows the internal structure of the fusion splicer of FIG. It is a side view which shows the internal structure of the fusion splicer of FIG.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of a fusion splicer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the fusion splicer as viewed obliquely from above.
A fusion splicer 101 shown in FIG. 1 is an apparatus for fusion splicing optical fiber cores 12 at a site where construction of optical fiber facilities is performed, for example.

  The fusion splicer 101 is provided with a fusion processing section 104 including a pair of holder mounting sections 103 to which the holder 21 holding the optical fiber core wire 12 is detachably attached. Then, by attaching the holders 21 to the holder attaching portions 103, the optical fiber core wires 12 held by the respective holders 21 are positioned at the fusion positions. Each holder mounting portion 103 is mounted with a symmetrical holder 21.

The fusion processing unit 104 includes a pair of V-groove members 109 for positioning the tip positions of the optical fiber core wires 12 extending from the holders 21 attached to the respective holder mounting portions 103, and a pair of V-groove members 109. And an electrode 113 for fusing the end face of the glass fiber 13 of the optical fiber core 12 that is abutted to each other by electric discharge.
And in the fusion process part 104, the optical fiber core wires 12 positioned in the fusion | melting position are heat-welded in the glass fiber 13 part, and are connected.

The V-groove member 109 for positioning the optical fiber core 12 is dimensioned to support and position the optical fiber cores 12 connected to each other in a straight line.
The holder mounting portion 103 may be mounted with the holder 21 in advance. In that case, the optical fiber core wire 12 subjected to the terminal processing is held in the holder 21 attached to the holder attaching portion 103.
The fusion processing unit 104 is opened and closed by an opening / closing cover (not shown).

Further, the fusion splicer 101 includes a heat shrinkage processing unit 116 that heats and shrinks a heat shrinkable tube placed on the outer periphery of the fusion splicing part between the optical fiber cores 12 with a heater. The heat shrink processing unit 116 includes a dedicated opening / closing cover 118 and is provided adjacent to the fusion processing unit 104. The heat shrink processing unit 116 is also provided with a holding unit 121 that can hold the optical fiber core wire 12. Then, by holding the optical fiber core wire 12 in the holding portion 121, the fusion splicing portion of the optical fiber core wire 12 is positioned and arranged in the heat shrinkage processing portion 116.
Further, the fusion splicer 101 is provided with an operation unit 119 for operating the fusion processing unit 104 and the heat shrinkage processing unit 116 and a display unit 120 for displaying an image of the fusion processing part A and the like.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fusion splicer 101 includes a pair of optical fiber observation mechanisms (observation mechanisms) 31 therein.
These optical fiber observation mechanisms 31 include an observation mechanism main body 32 and an observation lens unit 33 attached to the observation mechanism main body 32. This observation lens part 33 is extended toward the fusion process location A which fuses the end surface of the glass fiber 13 of the optical fiber core wires 12 by the electrode 113.

  The observation lens unit 33 has a lens group (not shown) built in the lens barrel 34, and the front end surface thereof is an image capturing surface (image capturing unit) 33a for capturing an image. The observation lens unit 33 forms an image taken from the image capturing surface 33a at the front end on an imaging element such as a CCD provided inside the observation mechanism main body 32.

  The observation mechanism main body 32 converts the image of the fusion processing portion A imaged on the image sensor into an electrical signal and outputs the electrical signal. In the fusion splicer 101, the image of the fusion processing portion A is displayed on the display unit 120 by the image signal from the observation mechanism main body 32.

Each optical fiber observation mechanism 31 includes a protective glass (protective member) 41. The protective glass 41 has a fixed plate portion 42 and a protective plate portion 43.
The fixed plate portion 42 is disposed on the upper surface of the splicer body 101a of the fusion splicer 101, and has a pair of insertion holes 42a penetrating the front and back.
The protection plate portion 43 extends obliquely downward from one end of the fixed plate portion 42. A window portion 45 is formed on the front end side of the protection plate portion 43, and a transparent glass plate (transparent portion) 46 is fitted into the window portion 45.

The protective glass 41 as described above is placed on the upper surface of the connection machine main body 101a with the fixing plate portion 42, passed through the screw 48 through the insertion hole 42a, and screwed into the screw hole formed in the connection machine main body 101a. It is attached to the connection machine main body 101a.
At this time, the glass plate 46 of the protective plate portion 43 extending obliquely downward is in close contact with the image capturing surface 33 a of the distal end surface of the observation lens portion 33.

When the optical fiber cores 12 are fused and connected by the electrode 113, a material such as silica, which is a component of the glass fiber 13 of the optical fiber core 12 vaporized at a high temperature, scatters at the fusion processing portion A. Then, when these substances adhere to the glass plate 46 of the protective glass 41, the glass plate 46 of the protective glass 41 may become dirty or corrode due to moisture in the air. Further, the protective glass 41 exposed to the outside may be damaged on the glass plate 46.
Such damage to the glass plate 46 of the protective glass 41 hinders observation of the fusion-bonded portion A of the optical fiber core wire 12, so that the damaged protective glass 41 needs to be replaced.

Next, the case where the protective glass 41 is replaced in the fusion splicer 101 will be described.
In order to replace the protective glass 41, first, the screw 48 that fixes the fixing plate portion 42 of the protective glass 41 to the connecting device main body 101a of the fusion splicer 101 is loosened to the connecting device main body 101a of the fixing plate portion 42. Release the fixed state. And in this state, the protective glass 41 is removed from the connection machine main body 101a.

Next, a new protective glass 41 is arranged so that the glass plate 46 of the protective plate portion 43 faces the image capturing surface 33a of the observation lens portion 33, and the fixed plate portion 42 is placed on the upper surface of the connection device main body 101a. Place.
In this state, the screw 48 is passed through the insertion hole 42a of the fixed plate portion 42 and screwed into the connecting machine main body 101a to be fixed.
In this way, the protective glass 41 is attached in a state where the glass plate 46 of the protective plate portion 43 is in close contact with the image capturing surface 33 a of the observation lens portion 33.

  As described above, according to the fusion splicer 101 according to the above-described embodiment, it is arranged on the image capturing surface 33a of the optical fiber observation mechanism 31 that captures the image of the fusion processing portion A between the optical fiber cores 12. A protective glass 41 having a glass plate 46 is detachable from the connection machine main body 101a. As a result, even when, for example, silica adheres to the glass plate 46 or is scratched at the fusion processing location A at the time of fusion splicing, only the protective glass 41 is replaced very easily and in a short time. It is possible to reduce costs such as repair costs as much as possible.

In particular, since the protective glass 41 is screwed and fixed to the upper surface of the connecting machine main body 101a, the protective glass 41 can be easily attached and detached above the connecting machine main body 101a.
And since the glass plate 46 of the protective glass 41 attached to the connection machine main body 101a is closely_contact | adhered to the image taking-in surface 33a of the optical fiber observation mechanism 31, it generate | occur | produced in the fusion process location A at the time of fusion | fusion connection, for example, Intrusion into the observation lens unit 34 such as silica can be reliably prevented and protected.
An urging member such as a spring that urges the glass plate 46 of the protective glass 41 against the image capturing surface 33 a of the observation lens unit 33 may be provided. If it does in this way, the adhesiveness of the glass plate 46 to the image taking-in surface 33a can be improved.

12: optical fiber core wire, 31: optical fiber observation mechanism (observation mechanism), 33a: image capture surface (image capture portion), 41: protective glass (protective member), 46: glass plate (transparent portion), 101 : Fusion splicer, 101a: splicer main body, A: fusion processing location

Claims (3)

A fusion splicer for fusion splicing optical fiber cores,
An observation mechanism that is provided inside the connection machine main body and captures an image of the fusion processing portion between the optical fiber cores;
A protective member having a transparent portion arranged in an image capturing portion that captures an image of the fusion processing portion in the observation mechanism;
The fusion splicer, wherein the protective member is detachably attached to the main body of the splicer. The fusion splicer according to claim 1,
The fusion splicer according to claim 1, wherein the protective member is screwed and fixed to the upper surface of the main body of the splicer. The fusion splicer according to claim 1 or 2,
The fusion splicer, wherein the protective member attached to the main body of the splicer has the transparent portion in close contact with the image capturing portion of the observation mechanism.

Images