JP2017026846A - Optical fiber unit and optical fiber cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical fiber unit and an optical fiber cable in which an optical fiber as a single core wire can be easily taken out without using a special tool or the like and that have favorable distinguishability between the units, during intermediate branching in a multi-fiber optical fiber cable.SOLUTION: An optical fiber unit 1 includes a plurality of aggregates 13 made of a coated optical fiber tape in which, of a plurality of paralleled optical fibers 11, the optical fibers 11 adjacent to each other are intermittently coupled at positions alternately different in a lengthwise direction. The plurality of aggregates 13 each are twisted together in a bundle shape and integrated with an integrating resin 14. The integrating resin 14 is subjected to coloring so as to be distinguishable and a shearing strength thereof is 0.1 MPa or more and 15 MPa or less.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber unit and an optical fiber cable.

As an optical fiber cable that bundles multiple optical fiber units into a unit of multiple optical fibers, a tape slot type cable in which the optical tape core wire is housed in the slot groove, and a loose tube type cable in which the optical fiber unit is inserted into a resin tube A slotless cable or the like is known.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an optical fiber unit bound with a bundle material. Patent Document 2 discloses an optical unit that stores an optical tape core wire in a cylindrical film formed by overlapping both end edges in a circumferential direction. Patent Document 3 discloses a slotless cable and a tape slot type cable in which a plurality of units each made of an optical tape core are bundled in a circular shape.

JP 2014-219530 A JP 2014-202895 A JP 2014-16530 A

At the time of intermediate branching in a multi-fiber optical fiber cable, in the tape slot type cable, a plurality of tapes pop out from the groove when the cable is disassembled.
On the other hand, a loose tube type cable can be distinguished by the color of the tube when the cable is disassembled, but generally a hard coating is used to protect the inner core wire, and special tools are used. Otherwise, there is a problem that the inner core cannot be taken out.
Further, the slotless type cable mainly uses an optical fiber unit bound with a bundle material, and a blade or the like is used when removing the bundle material, which may damage the optical fiber.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to easily take out a single-core optical fiber without using a special tool or the like at the time of intermediate branching in a multi-fiber optical fiber cable, and to achieve good inter-unit discrimination. It is to provide an optical fiber unit and an optical fiber cable.

An optical fiber unit according to an aspect of the present invention includes an optical tape core in which, in a plurality of parallel optical fibers, the adjacent optical fibers are intermittently connected at different positions in the longitudinal direction. Have multiple
A plurality of the optical tape cores are respectively twisted in a bundle and integrated by an integrated resin, and the integrated resin is colored so as to be distinguishable and has a shear strength of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa. It is.

The optical fiber cable according to one aspect of the present invention has a plurality of the optical fiber units, wherein the integrated resins are colored in different colors,
The plurality of optical fiber units are twisted together and covered with a jacket.

  According to the present invention, at the time of intermediate branching in a multi-core optical fiber cable, it is possible to easily take out a single-core optical fiber without using a special tool or the like, and to have good inter-unit discrimination. Can do.

It is an optical tape core wire used for the optical fiber unit of an embodiment, (a) is a top view of a longitudinal direction, and (b) is a sectional view of the state twisted together in the shape of a bundle. It is sectional drawing of the radial direction of the optical fiber unit which concerns on embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the radial direction of the optical fiber unit which concerns on the modification of embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the radial direction of the optical fiber cable which concerns on embodiment.

[Description of Embodiment of the Present Invention]
First, embodiments of the present invention will be listed and described.
The optical fiber unit according to the embodiment of the present invention,
(1) In a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel, the optical fibers adjacent to each other have a plurality of optical tape cores that are intermittently connected at different positions in the longitudinal direction;
A plurality of the optical tape cores are respectively twisted in a bundle and integrated by an integrated resin, and the integrated resin is colored so as to be distinguishable and has a shear strength of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa. It is.
In the optical fiber unit, a plurality of optical tape cores are integrated with an integrated resin having a shear strength of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa. Since an integrated resin with an appropriate range of shear strength is used, this optical fiber unit can be used for multi-core optical fiber cables. The optical fiber can be taken out. In addition, since the integrated resin of the optical fiber unit is colored so as to be identifiable, it has good inter-unit discrimination.

(2) In the optical fiber unit of (1), the integrated resin is a foamed resin.
Since the integrated resin is a foamed resin, the shear strength is reduced by the voids inside the foamed resin and can be easily torn by hand.

(3) In the optical fiber unit of (2), the foaming rate of the foamed resin is 20% or more and 80% or less.
Since the foaming rate of the foamed resin is 20% or more and 80% or less, it is possible to satisfy the good dismantling property and manufacturability of the optical fiber unit.

An optical fiber cable according to an embodiment of the present invention,
(4) having a plurality of the optical fiber units according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the integrated resins are colored in different colors;
The plurality of optical fiber units are twisted together and covered with a jacket.
The optical fiber cable has a plurality of optical fiber units in which a plurality of optical tape cores are integrated with an integrated resin having a shear strength of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa. Since an integral resin with an appropriate shear strength is used, it is possible to easily take out a single-core optical fiber from an optical fiber unit without using a special tool when the optical fiber cable is in an intermediate branch. it can. In addition, since the plurality of optical fiber units are colored in different colors, good inter-unit discrimination is achieved.

[Details of the embodiment of the present invention]
Specific examples of the optical fiber unit and the optical fiber cable according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In addition, this invention is not limited to these illustrations, is shown by the claim, and intends that all the changes within the meaning and range equivalent to a claim are included.

FIG. 1 shows an optical tape core wire 10 constituting the optical fiber unit of the present embodiment, wherein (a) is a top view in the longitudinal direction, and (b) is a cross-sectional view in a state of being twisted into a bundle.
As shown in FIG. 1 (a), an optical tape core wire 10 (for example, a 12-core optical tape core wire) is located at a position A where adjacent single-fiber optical fibers 11 are alternately different in the longitudinal direction. It is an intermittently bonded type that is intermittently connected, and can be easily deformed because a portion that becomes a single core wire is provided between the optical fibers 11. This optical fiber 11 is obtained by coating the periphery of a glass fiber 11a composed of a core and a clad with a resin 11b.
1A shows an example in which the adjacent optical fibers 11 are connected to each other by the connecting material 12 at the connection position A of the optical tape core wire 10. You may cut intermittently between fibers, and you may adhere | attach a single-fiber optical fiber intermittently with an adhesive agent.
Then, the optical tape core wire 10 shown in FIG. 1A is twisted into a bundle shape, and as shown in FIG. can do. In addition, the resin 11b of each coating | cover of the optical fiber 11 may be colored in a different color.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in the radial direction of the optical fiber unit 1 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the optical fiber unit 1 is formed by bundling a plurality (for example, four) of the aggregates 13 shown in FIG. It is a thing. In the example of FIG. 4, the optical fiber unit 1 has 48 (12 cores × 4) optical fibers 11.

Since the optical fiber unit 1 does not use a resin tube or a bundle material and is only covered with an integrated resin 14, a single-core optical fiber can be used without disassembling a special tool or blade. 11 can be taken out. However, when the shear strength of the integrated resin 14 is too high, it becomes difficult to tear by hand when the cable is disassembled.
The present inventors have found that if the integrated resin 14 has a shear strength of 15 MPa or less, it can be easily torn by hand. On the other hand, when the shear strength was less than 0.1 MPa, it was found that the integrated resin 14 was broken in the cable forming process. Therefore, in this embodiment, the shear strength of the integrated resin 14 constituting the optical fiber unit 1 is set to 0.1 MPa or more and 15 MPa or less.

The integrated resin 14 is preferably a foamed resin. For example, a polyolefin such as polyethylene to which 3 wt% or more of a foaming agent is added may be used. In place of polyolefin, polyurethane or polystyrene may be used. In such a foamed resin, when the foaming rate is lowered, the shear strength is lowered. Conversely, when the foaming rate is raised, the shear strength is increased.
When a foamed resin is used as the integrated resin 14, the foaming rate may be about 80% in order to obtain a shear strength of 15 MPa. On the other hand, in order to set the shear strength to 0.1 MPa, the foaming rate may be about 20%. In order to achieve a desired foaming ratio of the foamed resin that is the integrated resin 14, for example, the temperature may be adjusted when the optical fiber unit 1 is extruded.
The foaming rate is
Density of resin after extrusion (after foaming) / density of original material (pellet) × 100
Defined by

  Further, in this embodiment, when disassembling an optical fiber cable including a plurality of optical fiber units 1, in order to improve the distinguishability between the plurality of optical fiber units 1, a colored color batch of a predetermined color is previously integrated with an integrated resin. 14 to mix.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the radial direction of an optical fiber unit 1A according to a modification of the present embodiment. The plurality of aggregates 13 do not necessarily have to be entirely covered with the integrated resin 14 as in the optical fiber unit 1 of FIG. For example, like the optical fiber unit 1A of the modified example shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a radial cross-sectional view of the optical fiber cable 2 according to the embodiment.
The optical fiber cable 2 has a plurality of optical fiber units 1 colored in different colors. For example, the example shown in FIG. 4 includes seven optical fiber units 1-1 to 7 having different colors.
In the optical fiber cable 2, an outer sheath 3 such as polyethylene or PVC is formed on the outer periphery of these seven optical fiber units 1-1 to 7.
For example, a pair of strength members 4 are disposed in the outer jacket 3 at opposing positions sandwiching the center of the optical fiber cable 2 in a cross-sectional view. Furthermore, a pair of tear strings 5 are disposed in the outer jacket 3 at opposing positions sandwiching the center of the optical fiber cable 2 in a direction perpendicular to the direction connecting the pair of strength members 4 in a cross-sectional view. Yes.

  As described above, in the optical fiber unit 1 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of optical tape cores 10 are integrated by the integrated resin 14 having a shear strength of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa. Thus, since the integrated resin 14 having an appropriate range of shear strength is used, by using the optical fiber unit 1 for the multi-core optical fiber cable 2, a special tool or the like can be used at the time of intermediate branching. The single-core optical fiber 11 can be easily taken out. Further, since the integrated resin 14 of the optical fiber unit 1 is colored so as to be discernable, it has a good inter-unit discriminability.

  Further, by using the integrated resin 14 as the foamed resin, the shear strength is lowered by the voids inside the foamed resin, and it can be easily torn by hand. And the shear strength of the integrated resin 14 can be 0.1 MPa or more and 15 MPa or less by making the foaming rate of the foamed resin 20% or more and 80% or less. Thereby, the good dismantling property and manufacturability of the optical fiber unit 1 can be satisfied.

  The optical fiber cable 2 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of optical fiber units 1 in which a plurality of optical tape cores 10 are integrated with an integrated resin 14 having a shear strength of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa. Yes. Since an integrated resin having an appropriate shear strength is used, the single-core optical fiber 11 can be easily taken out of the optical fiber unit without using a special tool or the like when the optical fiber cable 2 is branched. be able to. Further, since the plurality of optical fiber units 1 are colored in different colors, good inter-unit discrimination is achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A, 1-1-7 Optical fiber unit 2 Optical fiber cable 3 Jacket | cover 4 Strength body 5 Tear string 10 Optical tape core wire 11 Optical fiber 11a Glass fiber 11b Resin 12 Connecting material 13 Assembly 14 Integrated resin

Claims (4)

In a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel, the optical fibers adjacent to each other have a plurality of optical tape cores that are intermittently connected at different positions in the longitudinal direction,
A plurality of the optical tape cores are respectively twisted in a bundle and integrated by an integrated resin, and the integrated resin is colored so as to be distinguishable and has a shear strength of 0.1 MPa to 15 MPa. Is,
Optical fiber unit.   The optical fiber unit according to claim 1, wherein the integrated resin is a foamed resin.   The optical fiber unit according to claim 2, wherein a foaming rate of the foamed resin is 20% or more and 80% or less. The plurality of optical fiber units according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the integrated resins are colored in different colors,
An optical fiber cable in which a plurality of the optical fiber units are twisted and covered with a jacket.

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