JP2013097350A - Optical fiber unit and optical fiber cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber unit which has high discriminability in each optical fiber unit and high discriminability in each optical fiber tape core in the optical fiber unit.SOLUTION: The optical fiber unit is obtained by bundling a plurality of optical fiber tape cores 2A to 2E with two discrimination threads 3A, 3B. Markings 8 for respectively discriminating the optical fiber tape cores from each other are formed at a prescribed pitch P2 in a tape longitudinal direction. The two discrimination threads 3A, 3B are wound spirally around the peripheral surface of a core bundle of the plurality of combined optical fiber tape cores along a longitudinal direction while wound by reversing their winding directions, and at least one marking 8 or more are provided between one pitch P1 from an intersection at which the two discrimination threads cross to the next intersection.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber unit and an optical fiber cable in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are bundled with at least one identification thread.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of optical fiber cores are wound and integrated with two thread fibers, and the thread fibers are identified from the optical fiber core by a knot provided on the fiber fibers, and further A technique for distinguishing optical fiber units from each other by the color of the fiber is disclosed.

JP 2007-10919 A

  However, with the technology of Patent Document 1, it is difficult to identify optical fiber ribbons in an optical fiber unit even though they can be identified between optical fiber units.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber unit having good discrimination for each optical fiber unit and having good discrimination for each optical fiber ribbon in the optical fiber unit.

  The first invention is an optical fiber unit in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are bundled with two identification yarns, and each of the optical fiber ribbons is distinguished from each other. Markings are formed at a predetermined pitch in the longitudinal direction of the tape, and one of the identification yarns is spirally formed along the longitudinal direction of the peripheral surface of the bundle of optical fibers of the optical fiber ribbon. The other identification yarn is wound around the circumferential surface of the cord bundle along the longitudinal direction in a direction opposite to the winding direction of the one identification yarn. It is characterized in that at least one or more of the markings are provided in one pitch from the intersection where the identification yarn intersects to the next intersection.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical fiber unit in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are bundled with at least one identification yarn, and each of the optical fiber ribbons includes a pair of optical fiber ribbons. Different types of markings are formed at a predetermined pitch in the longitudinal direction of the tape, and the identification yarn is spirally formed on the circumferential surface of the bundle of optical fiber ribbons in the longitudinal direction. And at least one marking is provided between one pitch on which the identification yarn is spirally wound.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the optical fiber ribbon includes a plurality of optical fiber strands arranged in parallel, and the marking position provided on each optical fiber strand is in the tape longitudinal direction. It is characterized by being aligned at the same position.

  A fourth invention is the optical fiber cable according to any one of the first to third inventions, wherein a plurality of optical fiber units are covered with a sheath, and the color of the identification yarn wound around the optical fiber unit is changed. It is characterized in that it is different for each optical fiber unit.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to identify each optical fiber ribbon with different marking types. In particular, when an optical fiber cable in which a plurality of optical fiber units are covered with a sheath is branched after the middle, it is possible to identify each optical fiber unit by the color of the identification thread at the site where the sheath is peeled off. Since the marking always appears in one pitch between the intersections of the identification yarns of the book, it is possible to identify each optical fiber tape core wire by the difference in the type of marking.

  According to the second invention, as in the first invention, in the intermediate post-branching operation, the marking always appears in one pitch around which one identification yarn is wound. Each line can be identified.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the optical fiber unit of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where an arbitrary optical fiber ribbon is taken out from the optical fiber unit of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where optical fiber ribbons are separated from the optical fiber unit of FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the optical fiber ribbon constituting the optical fiber unit of FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 6A is a plan view of the optical fiber that constitutes the optical fiber ribbon of FIG. 4, FIG. 6B is an example of an enlarged cross-sectional view, and FIG. 6C is another view of the enlarged cross-sectional view. It is an example. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the types of markings provided on the optical fiber ribbon. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of an optical fiber cable in which a plurality of optical fiber units according to the first embodiment are covered with a sheath. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the optical fiber unit of the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the optical fiber unit 1 of the present embodiment has a structure in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons 2 (2A to 2E) are bundled with two identification yarns 3 (3A, 3B). It is said that. In this embodiment, five optical fiber ribbons 2A to 2E are bundled with two identification yarns 3A and 3B.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the optical fiber ribbon 2 is formed by arranging a plurality of optical fibers 4 (4 </ b> A to 4 </ b> D) in parallel and covering them with a tape forming material 5 made of an ultraviolet curable resin or the like. Is formed. As shown in FIG. 6, the optical fiber 4 includes a quartz glass fiber 6 provided at the center, a coating layer 7 formed by coating an ultraviolet curable resin around the quartz glass fiber 6, and a coating thereof The layer 7 is composed of a marking 8 provided at a predetermined pitch P in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber and a transparent colored layer 9 coated on the marking 8. The marking 8 may be formed in a ring shape around the entire circumference of the optical fiber strand 4 as shown in FIG. 6B, or alternatively, the marking 8 may be formed on the peripheral surface of the optical fiber strand 4 as shown in FIG. It may be formed in part.

  In the optical fiber ribbon 2, the positions of the markings 8 provided on each optical fiber 4 are aligned at the same position in the tape longitudinal direction. Therefore, each of the markings 8 is arranged on a straight line in the tape width direction. In this example, as the optical fiber ribbon 2, four optical fibers 4 are aligned in parallel and integrated with the tape forming material 5, but the adjacent optical fibers 4 are connected to each other by a connecting portion made of an ultraviolet curable resin. An optical fiber ribbon having a so-called intermittent structure that is intermittently coupled in the tape longitudinal direction and the tape width direction is also included in the present invention.

  The five optical fiber ribbons 2 (2A to 2E) are provided with different types of markings 8 for identifying the optical fiber ribbons 2 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 7 (A), there is one marking 8, in FIG. 7 (B) two markings 8, in FIG. 7 (C) three markings 8, in FIG. 7 (D) four markings 8 In FIG. 7E, the marking 8 is longer than the other markings. Different types of the markings 8 allow easy identification of each optical fiber ribbon 2 by visual observation.

  The five optical fiber ribbons 2 (2A to 2E) configured in this manner are stacked one above the other as shown in FIG. 1, and then bundled with two identification yarns 3 (3A, 3B). One identification yarn 3A is spirally wound around the circumferential surface of a bundle of optical fiber ribbons 2 of a bundle of optical fibers along the longitudinal direction thereof. The other identification thread 3B is spirally wound around the circumferential surface of the core wire bundle along its longitudinal direction in the direction opposite to the winding direction of the one identification thread 3A. One identification thread 3A is wound, for example, clockwise, and the other identification thread 3B is wound counterclockwise.

  Different colors are used for the identification yarn 3 for each optical fiber unit 1. The color difference of the identification yarn 3 makes it possible to identify each optical fiber unit 1. And in this embodiment, it is provided in all the optical fiber ribbons 2 (2A-2D) between the 1 intersection (bunching pitch P1) to the next intersection at the intersection where the two identification yarns 3A, 3B intersect. At least one marking 8 is provided. It is necessary to set the ring mark pitch P2 of the marking 8 so that at least one marking 8 always enters between the bunching pitch P1 of the identification yarn 3.

  In the optical fiber unit 1 configured as described above, the marking 8 provided on each of the optical fiber ribbons 2A to 2E is always provided between the bunching pitches P1 from the intersection of the two identification yarns 3A and 3B to the next intersection. Since it is provided, it is possible to identify which of the optical fiber ribbons 2A to 2E only by identifying the type of the marking 8. One marking 8 has the first optical fiber ribbon 2A, two markings 8 have the second optical fiber ribbon 2B, and three markings 8 have the third optical fiber ribbon 2C, marking 8 Are four optical fiber ribbons 2D, and those with long markings 8 are fifth optical fiber ribbons 2E.

  FIG. 8 shows an optical fiber cable 10 in which a plurality of the above-described optical fiber units 1 are covered with a sheath. The optical fiber cable 10 is a so-called slotless optical fiber cable composed of a cable part 11, a support line part 12, and a neck part 13 connecting them. The cable portion 11 is formed by covering five optical fiber units 1 (1A to 1E) with a sheath 15 with a plastic yarn 14 as a buffer material interposed therebetween.

  Like the two strength members 16, the cable portion 11 is provided with two tear strings 17 in the cable longitudinal direction so as to be embedded in the sheath 15. A support wire 18 is provided on the support wire portion 12 in the longitudinal direction of the cable and is covered with a sheath 15 so as to cover the periphery thereof. The neck portion 13 connects the cable portion 11 and the support wire portion 12.

  In the five optical fiber units 1A to 1E, the color of the identification yarn 3 is changed so that each unit can be identified. For example, the identification yarn 3 of the first optical fiber unit 1A is blue, the identification yarn 3 of the second optical fiber unit 1B is yellow, and the identification yarn 3 of the third optical fiber unit 1C is green. The identification yarn 3 of the optical fiber unit 1D is red, and the identification yarn 3 of the fifth optical fiber unit 1E is purple.

  In addition, the colors of the four optical fiber strands 4 (4A to 4D) of the optical fiber units 1A to 1E are different from each other in order to identify the optical fiber strands 4 from each other.

  When the optical fiber cable 10 having the structure described above is subjected to an intermediate post branching operation in which the sheath 15 is cut from the middle of the cable and the specific optical fiber 4 is taken out, the specific optical fiber units 1A to 1E are found depending on the color of the identification yarn 3. be able to. Then, in order to take out the specific optical fiber ribbons 2A to 2D from the specified optical fiber units 1A to 1E this time, the determination is made based on the type of the marking 8 provided on each of the optical fiber ribbons 2A to 2E.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the type of the marking 8 is easily determined by holding the specified optical fiber unit 1 in hand and separating the optical fiber ribbons 2 </ b> A to 2 </ b> D. And in order to take out specific optical fiber strand 4A-4D from the taken-out optical fiber tape core wire 2A-2D, it specifies with the coloring difference of the optical fiber strand 4. FIG.

  An optical fiber unit was manufactured under the following conditions, and the discriminability of the optical fiber ribbon was examined. A marking is intermittently applied in the longitudinal direction at a ring mark pitch of 100 mm on a 250 micron diameter optical fiber coating, and four optical fiber strands colored for identification are arranged from above, and the marking position is taped. An optical fiber ribbon was obtained by aligning at the same position in the longitudinal direction and coating with an ultraviolet curable resin. The four optical fiber ribbons were bundled every five using identification yarns to form an optical fiber unit. At this time, the bunching pitch P1 of the identification yarn was set to 150 mm.

  In the optical fiber unit obtained under the above conditions, one marking was always provided between one bunching pitch of the identification yarn. By this marking, the discriminability for each optical fiber ribbon was improved. In addition, when the marking pitch P2 is 150 mm and the bunching pitch P1 of the identification yarn is 100 mm, there is an optical fiber tape core wire in which no marking appears between one bunching pitch of the identification yarn, so that the identification becomes difficult.

By using similar colors for the tracer colors of the identification yarn and the optical fiber ribbon, for example, the first optical fiber unit can be recognized as a blue unit at a glance.
According to the optical fiber unit of this embodiment, the identification for each optical fiber unit can be achieved by the color difference of the identification yarn, and the identification for each optical fiber ribbon 2 can be achieved by the difference in the type of the marking 8. And the identification for every optical fiber 4 can be aimed at by the color difference of the colored layer 9. FIG. In particular, when the optical fiber cable 10 in which the plurality of optical fiber units 1A to 1E are covered with the sheath 15 is branched after the middle, the following from the intersection where the two identification yarns 3 exposed at the portion where the sheath 15 is torn is intersected. By providing the marking 8 between one pitch up to the intersection, it becomes possible to easily carry out the intermediate post branching operation.

[Second Embodiment]
The second embodiment is an example in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons 2 are bundled with one identification yarn 3. Description of parts common to the first embodiment bundled with two identification yarns 3 (3A, 3B) will be omitted, and only parts different from the optical fiber unit of the first embodiment will be described. To do.

  The optical fiber unit 100 of the second embodiment has a structure in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons 2 (2A to 2E) are bundled with a single identification yarn 3, and the identification yarn 3 is a light bundled together. It is set as the structure wound around the surrounding surface of the core wire bundle of the fiber tape core wire 2 along the longitudinal direction spirally. And at least 1 or more of the said marking 8 is provided between 1 pitch P1 in which the identification thread | yarn 3 is wound helically.

  According to the optical fiber unit 100 of the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the marking 8 always appears in one pitch P1 where one identification yarn 3 is wound in the intermediate post-branching operation. The optical fiber tape core 2 can be identified for each of the eight types.

  The present invention can be used for an optical fiber unit in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are bundled with at least one identification yarn.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,100 Optical fiber unit 2 (2A-2E) Optical fiber tape core wire 3 (3A, 3B) Identification thread 4 (4A-4D) Optical fiber strand 8 Marking 9 Colored layer 10 Optical fiber cable

Claims (4)

An optical fiber unit in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are bundled with two identification threads,
On the optical fiber ribbon, markings for identifying the optical fiber ribbons are formed at a predetermined pitch in the tape longitudinal direction,
One of the identification yarns is spirally wound along the longitudinal direction around the circumferential surface of the bundle of optical fiber ribbons, and the other identification yarn is wound around one of the identification yarns. It is configured to be wound around the circumferential surface of the bundle of core wires spirally along the longitudinal direction as a direction opposite to the direction,
An optical fiber unit, wherein at least one marking is provided in one pitch from an intersection point where the two identification yarns intersect each other to the next intersection point. An optical fiber unit in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are bundled with at least one identification thread,
In each of the optical fiber ribbons, different types of markings for identifying the optical fiber ribbons are formed at a predetermined pitch in the tape longitudinal direction,
The identification yarn is configured to be wound along the longitudinal direction in a spiral manner around the peripheral surface of the core bundle of the optical fiber ribbon bundled together.
An optical fiber unit, wherein at least one marking is provided between one pitch in which the identification yarn is wound spirally. The optical fiber unit according to claim 1 or 2,
The optical fiber ribbon includes a plurality of optical fiber strands arranged in parallel, and the marking positions provided on the optical fiber strands are aligned at the same position in the tape longitudinal direction. unit. An optical fiber cable in which a plurality of optical fiber units according to any one of claims 1 to 3 are covered with a sheath,
An optical fiber cable, wherein the color of the identification yarn wound around the optical fiber unit is different for each optical fiber unit.

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