JP2023017384A - Intermittent adhesion type optical fiber tape core wire, optical fiber cable, and manufacturing method for intermittent adhesion type optical fiber tape core wire - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an intermittent adhesion type optical fiber tape core wire that is excellent in post-branching workability and fusion workability.SOLUTION: An optical fiber tape core wire 3 is adhered by adhesion parts 21 intermittently arranged with adjacent optical fiber strands 17a, 17b, ..., 17l at prescribed intervals in a longitudinal direction of the optical fiber tape core wire 3. The adhesion parts 21 of the adjacent optical fiber strands are arranged, for example, in a zigzag manner with respect to the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber tape core wire 3. In the optical fiber tape core wire 3 with a prescribed length, a length of the optical fiber strands themselves is not fixed. For example, if the adjacent optical fiber strands themselves are mutually adhered so as to be the same length in a case where the length of the adjacent optical fiber strands themselves is different, a slack by an excess length is formed in the optical fiber strand with a longer length, that is, the slack is formed in at least a part of the optical fiber strands.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbon in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel and intermittently bonded in the longitudinal direction.

As an optical fiber for high-speed transmission of a large amount of data, multiple optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel and adjoining optical fiber strands are glued together in order to facilitate storage and work in the cable. An optical fiber tape core wire is used. As the optical fiber ribbon, there is used one in which parallel optical fiber strands are fixed with resin over the entire length, and there is another in which the optical fiber strands are intermittently adhered to each other in the longitudinal direction. The intermittent bonding of optical fiber strands has the characteristics of improving concentration density, reducing transmission loss due to bending, and facilitating single-fiber construction.

Such an intermittent adhesive type optical fiber ribbon must be branched after being separated into individual optical fiber strands when used. As a method of separating into single optical fiber strands in this way, for example, there is a method of using a single-fiber separating tool consisting of a brush body in which a plurality of linear members are bundled (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-027200

By using the single-core separation tool of Patent Document 1, it is possible to break the adhesive portion between the optical fiber strands. Therefore, the intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbon can be separated.

However, even in the method of Patent Document 1, if the optical fiber strands are neatly aligned, the tip of the brush body is difficult to enter the gaps between the optical fiber strands, and the post-branching work is not necessarily easy.

On the other hand, when fusion splicing the optical fiber tape core wire, the optical fiber tape core wire is held by a holder, and the optical fiber bare wire exposed from the holder is inserted into the V groove formed in the holding portion of the fusion splicer. Each must be placed. However, if the optical fiber strands are not neatly aligned, it becomes difficult to arrange the optical fiber strands in the V-grooves. For this reason, it is desirable to align the optical fiber strands as neatly as possible in consideration of fusing workability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbon or the like which is excellent in post-branching workability and fusion splicing workability.

In order to achieve the above object, a first invention provides an optical fiber tape core wire in which three or more optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel, wherein the adjacent optical fiber strands extend in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber tape core wire. are intermittently bonded at bonding portions formed at predetermined intervals,
In optical fiber ribbons of a predetermined length, the lengths of the optical fiber strands are not constant, and the difference between the shortest length of the optical fiber strand and the longest length of the optical fiber strand is , 0.01% or more and less than 0.1% with respect to the length of the shortest optical fiber strand, and at least a part of the optical fiber strand is formed with slack. It is an optical fiber ribbon.

The shortest optical fiber strand may be arranged at the center in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands, and the longest optical fiber strand may be arranged at the outermost part in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands.

The optical fiber strands may be arranged so that the length of the optical fiber strands increases in order from the center to the outermost portion in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands.

It is desirable to consist of 12 or more optical fiber strands.

According to the first invention, since slack is formed between the optical fiber strands, the brush body is likely to enter between the optical fiber strands during the post-branching operation, thereby separating the optical fiber strands. is easy. In addition, since the difference between the length of the shortest optical fiber strand and the longest optical fiber strand is less than 0.1% with respect to the shortest optical fiber strand, Moreover, the optical fiber can be reliably arranged in the V-groove of the holding member.

In addition, by arranging the shortest optical fiber strand in the center in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands and arranging the longest optical fiber strand in the outermost part in the parallel direction, It is possible to facilitate the formation of slack therebetween. By doing so, the slack can be widened in the width direction, and the brush body can be easily inserted.

In addition, by arranging the optical fiber strands so that the length of the optical fiber strands increases in order from the center to the outermost part in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands, the slackness between all the adjacent optical fiber strands can be efficiently loosened. can be formed.

Such an effect is particularly effective for an intermittent adhesion type optical fiber ribbon composed of 12 or more optical fiber strands.

A second invention is an optical fiber cable using the intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbon according to the first invention, wherein a plurality of the intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbons are twisted together to form an optical fiber unit. a cable core formed by twisting a plurality of the optical fiber units to form a core portion, and a pressure winding member longitudinally wound around the outer circumference of the core portion; and arranged outside the cable core. and a jacket covering the cable core and the tension member.

According to the second invention, it is possible to obtain an optical fiber cable excellent in post-branching workability and fusion splicing workability.

A third aspect of the invention is the manufacture of an intermittent adhesion type optical fiber tape core wire in which three or more optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel, adhesive is applied at predetermined intervals, and adjacent optical fiber strands are connected to each other. In the method, a predetermined tension is applied to each of the optical fiber strands between the supply portion of the optical fiber strands and the winding portion of the optical fiber ribbon, and at least part of the light is A method for manufacturing an intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbon characterized by adjusting the tension of a fiber strand so as to be different from the tension of other optical fiber strands.

According to the third invention, it is possible to obtain an intermittent bonding type optical fiber ribbon that is excellent in post-branching workability and fusion-bonding workability.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbon or the like that is excellent in post-branching workability and fusion splicing workability.

Sectional drawing which shows the optical fiber cable 1. FIG. (a) is a plan view of the optical fiber ribbon 3, and (b) is a diagram showing a state in which the adhesive portion 21 of (a) is removed. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a tape cable core manufacturing apparatus 30; 4(a) and 4(b) are diagrams showing another optical fiber ribbon from which an adhesive portion 21 is removed; FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an optical fiber cable 1. FIG. The optical fiber cable 1 is a slotless cable that does not use slots, and is composed of a cable core 15, a tension member 9, a jacket 13, and the like.

The cable core 15 has a substantially circular outer shape, and has a core portion 4 composed of a plurality of optical fiber ribbons 3 and a pressure winding member 7 wound around the outer periphery of the core portion 4 . The core portion 4 is formed by twisting a plurality of optical fiber units 5 together. Further, the optical fiber unit 5 is formed by twisting a plurality of optical fiber ribbons 3 together. Details of the optical fiber ribbon 3 will be described later.

As described above, the pressing winding member 7 is wound around the outer periphery of the core portion 4 . The pressure winding member 7 is a tape-shaped member, a nonwoven fabric, or the like, and is arranged so as to collectively cover the outer periphery of the core portion 4 by, for example, vertical wrapping. That is, the longitudinal direction of the pressure winding member 7 substantially coincides with the axial direction of the optical fiber cable 1 , and the width direction of the pressure winding member 7 is aligned with the circumferential direction of the optical fiber cable 1 . Vertically wrapped. A presser winding string (not shown) or the like is wound around the outer circumference of the presser winding member 7 to suppress opening of the presser winding member 7 or the like.

Tension members 9 are provided on both sides of the cable core 15 in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cable core 15 . That is, a pair of tension members 9 are provided at positions facing each other with the cable core 15 interposed therebetween. Moreover, the tear string 11 is provided so as to face each other with the cable core 15 interposed therebetween in a direction substantially perpendicular to the facing direction of the tension member 9 .

A jacket 13 is provided around the outer circumference of the cable core 15 . The tension member 9 and tear string 11 are embedded in the jacket 13 . That is, the jacket 13 is provided so as to cover the cable core 15, the tension member 9, and the like. The external shape of the outer cover 13 is substantially circular. The jacket 13 is, for example, a polyolefin resin. Note that the arrangement and number of the tension members 9 and the tear cords 11 are not limited to the illustrated example.

Next, the optical fiber ribbon 3 will be described. FIG. 2(a) is a plan view of the optical fiber ribbon 3. FIG. The optical fiber tape core wire 3 is configured by adhering a plurality of optical fiber wires 17a, 17b, . . . , 17l in parallel. In the present invention, each single optical fiber core wire constituting the optical fiber tape core wire 3 is simply referred to as an optical fiber strand. The optical fiber strands 17a to 17l are, for example, bare optical fibers with an outer diameter of 0.125 mm and coated with a coating layer and a colored layer to have an outer diameter of 0.2 mm.

In this embodiment, an example in which the optical fiber tape core wire 3 is composed of 12 optical fiber strands 17a to 17l is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more optical fiber strands can be used. The number of optical fiber strands is not particularly limited as long as they are optical fiber tape core wires arranged in parallel. However, the present invention is particularly effective in the case of an optical fiber ribbon composed of 12 or more optical fiber strands.

Adjacent optical fiber strands 17a, 17b, . 21. The adhesive portions 21 adjacent to each other in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands are arranged at positions shifted with respect to the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon 3 .

That is, between the adjacent optical fiber wires 17a and 17b, between the optical fiber wires 17c and 17d, between the optical fiber wires 17e and 17f, between the optical fiber wires 17g and 17h, between the optical fiber wires 17i and 17j, and between the optical fiber wires 17i and 17j. The bonding positions (bonding portions 21) between the fiber strands 17k and 17l in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon 3 are substantially the same. Similarly, between adjacent optical fiber wires 17b and 17c, between optical fiber wires 17d and 17e, between optical fiber wires 17f and 17g, between optical fiber wires 17h and 17i, and between optical fiber wires 17j and 17k. , the bonding positions (bonding portions 21) with respect to the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon 3 are substantially the same. In addition, the adhesion position (adhesion portion 21) between the adjacent optical fiber wires 17a and 17b and the like and the adhesion position (adhesion portion 21) between the optical fiber wires 17b and 17c are offset by about half a pitch in the longitudinal direction. , for example, are arranged in a staggered manner.

In addition, the adhesive portions 21 of adjacent optical fiber strands in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon 3 are all formed at substantially the same pitch. Therefore, the arrangement of the optical fiber strands is not disturbed when laying the optical fiber ribbon 3 or the like.

In the optical fiber ribbon 3 having a predetermined length, the lengths of the optical fiber strands are not constant. In this way, when adjacent optical fiber strands have different lengths, if the ends are aligned and glued together so that they have the same length, the longer optical fiber strand will have the extra length. slack is formed. That is, slack is formed in at least a portion of the optical fiber strands.

FIG. 2(b) is a diagram showing a state in which the adhesive portion 21 is removed from the optical fiber ribbon 3 of a predetermined length (the optical fiber ribbon 3 of a predetermined length from the end portion). . As described above, the optical fiber strands 17a-17l are not the same length. In the illustrated example, the optical fiber strands are arranged so that the length of the optical fiber strands increases in order from the center to the outermost part in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands. That is, the shortest optical fiber strands 17f and 17g are arranged at the center in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands, and the longest optical fiber strands 17a and 17l are arranged at the outermost part in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands. .

At this time, the difference between the shortest optical fiber strands 17f and 17g (A in the figure) and the longest optical fiber strands 17a and 17l (B in the figure) is the shortest optical fiber strand 17f. , 0.01% or more and less than 0.1% with respect to the length of 17 g. If the length difference is too small, sufficient slack is not formed and the effects of the present invention are reduced.

Further, if the difference in length becomes too large, slackness becomes too large, which deteriorates the workability of setting the optical fiber ribbon to the fusion splicer during the fusion splicing operation. As described above, when fusion splicing optical fiber ribbons, the optical fiber ribbons are usually set in a holder, the holder is set in a fusion splicer, and each protruding tip of the holder is spliced. The tip of the optical fiber must be placed in a V-groove formed in the holder of the fusion splicer. At this time, if the slack is large, the optical fiber strands exposed from the holder are likely to become violent, making it difficult to arrange them in the V-groove. Therefore, it is desirable that the length difference is less than 0.1%.

Next, a method for manufacturing the intermittent adhesion type optical fiber ribbon 3 for connecting adjacent optical fiber strands will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the ribbon manufacturing apparatus 30. As shown in FIG. As described above, the number of optical fiber ribbons 3 is not particularly limited as long as three or more optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel. A case of manufacturing the optical fiber tape core wire 3 by integrating 17l into a tape shape will be described.

The tape fiber manufacturing device 30 mainly includes a supply drum 31, a resin coating device 37, a curing device 39, a tension detection device 41, a take-up device 43, a take-up drum 45, and the like. The optical fiber strands 17 a to 17 l are individually let out from the 12 supply drums 31 and arranged in parallel by the resin coating device 37 .

The resin coating device 37 includes a die 33 that maintains the running optical fiber wires 17a to 17l in parallel, and a discharge amount and amount of adhesive (connecting resin) when discharging from a discharge port formed in the die 33. and a resin supply control unit 35 for controlling ejection timing. In the resin coating device 37, the optical fiber strands 17a to 17l drawn out from the supply drum 31 are inserted through a die 33 and intermittently bonded between adjacent optical fiber strands at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction. agent is applied.

The optical fiber wires 17a to 17l to which the adhesive is applied by the resin applicator 37 pass through the curing device 39 while being closely aligned in parallel. In the curing device 39, the adhesive applied to the optical fiber strands 17a to 17l is cured by, for example, ultraviolet irradiation or heat.

The tension detector 41 is a sensor that measures the tension of the optical fiber ribbon 3 . Based on the result of measurement by the tension detector 41, for example, by controlling the delivery speed (brake) of the optical fiber strands 17a to 17l on the supply drum 31, a predetermined tension is applied to the optical fiber strands 17a to 17l. be able to.

The rotation speed of the take-up device 43 (capstan roller) is controlled by a control device. The traveling speed of the optical fiber ribbon 3 is adjusted by the rotation speed of the take-up device 43 . Further, the rotation speed of the take-up device 43 is input to the resin supply control unit 35 of the resin coating device 37 as a signal (running speed signal) indicating the running speed of the optical fiber ribbon 3 .

The optical fiber ribbon 3 is taken up at a predetermined line speed by the take-up device 43 and wound around the take-up drum 45 . The optical fiber tape cable core 3 is manufactured by the above.

A cable core 15 is formed using a plurality of intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbons 3 obtained in this manner, and tension members 9 and the like are arranged around the outer periphery of the cable core 15 to cover it with the jacket 13 . Thus, the optical fiber cable 1 can be obtained.

Here, as described above, a predetermined tension is applied to each optical fiber between the supply section of the optical fiber ribbon manufacturing apparatus 30 and the winding section of the optical fiber ribbon. Granted. At this time, by adjusting the delivery speed (brake) so that different tension is applied to each supply drum 31, the tension of the optical fiber wires 17a to 17l can be individually changed. That is, it is possible to adjust the tension of at least some of the optical fiber strands to be different from the tension of other optical fiber strands.

For example, taking the adjacent optical fiber wires 17a and 17b as an example, the tension of the optical fiber wire 17b is set to be greater than the tension of the optical fiber wire 17a. By applying tension, the optical fiber strands are slightly elongated according to the tension. Therefore, when the tension is released after the adhesive is applied and cured, the optical fiber strands 17a with relatively low tension are stretched. The length is slightly longer than the optical fiber strand 17b with relatively large tension.

Since the optical fiber strands 17a longer than the optical fiber strands 17b are adhered to the optical fiber strands 17b adjacent to each other at a predetermined interval with an adhesive, the excess length of the optical fiber strands 17a is the bonded portion. It becomes slack between 21 pairs. In this way, by changing the length of the optical fiber strands within the range of the optical fiber ribbon 3 having a predetermined length, the adjacent optical fiber strands can be separated at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction. Looseness can be formed between the bonded portions 21 that are formed.

For example, in order to make the length of the optical fiber strands gradually increase from the center to the outermost part in the width direction of the optical fiber ribbon (parallel direction of the optical fiber strands), from the center to the outermost part, The optical fiber may be taped while the tension of the optical fiber is gradually reduced. Note that the manufacturing method is not limited to the above method as long as it is possible to form slack between the adjacent optical fiber strands.

As described above, according to this embodiment, slack is formed between the adjacent optical fiber strands, so that the slack can form a gap between the optical fiber strands. For this reason, the tip of the brush body can easily enter between the optical fiber strands when the optical fiber strands are separated from each other, and the post-branching operation is facilitated.

In addition, since the difference between the length of the shortest optical fiber strand and the length of the longest optical fiber strand is less than 0.1% with respect to the length of the shortest optical fiber strand, slack increases. It is also easy to arrange each optical fiber strand in each V-groove when it is set in a fusion splicer.

In addition, by increasing the length of the optical fiber strands from the center toward the outside in the width direction (parallel direction of the optical fiber strands), slack is efficiently formed between the optical fiber strands. be able to. In addition, since it is easy to form slack toward the outside in the width direction, it is easy to insert the brush body.

In addition, when the number of optical fiber strands is 12 or more, it is usually difficult to separate the optical fiber strands collectively with a brush body. It can also be effectively applied to other optical fiber ribbons.

In the above-described embodiment, the length of the central optical fiber strands 17f and 17g in the width direction is the shortest, and the length of the outermost optical fiber strands 17a and 17l in the width direction is the longest. It is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the optical fiber strands are arranged so that the length of the optical fiber strands becomes shorter from the center to the outermost part in the width direction. The length may be the longest, and the length of the outermost optical fiber strands 17a and 17l in the width direction may be the shortest.

Also, as shown in FIG. 4B, adjacent optical fiber strands may be arranged so that their lengths alternate. Regarding the length difference between adjacent optical fiber strands, the difference between the length of the relatively short optical fiber strand and the length of the relatively long optical fiber strand is relatively short. It is desirable that it is 0.01% or more and less than 0.1% with respect to the length of the optical fiber.

In addition, instead of changing the lengths of all adjacent optical fiber strands (tension during manufacturing), at least some of the adjacent optical fiber strands have different lengths (tension during manufacturing). For example, slack can be formed in the relevant portion.

Various intermittent-bonded optical fiber ribbons were manufactured, and post-branching workability and fusion-bonding workability were evaluated. First, 12 optical fiber ribbons were prepared and cut into lengths of 30 cm. Both ends of the cut optical fiber tape core wire were fixed, and a brush body with thin bristles was pressed against the optical fiber tape core wire and slid in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber tape core wire to remove the adhesive portion.

The above operations were carried out on 100 samples, and the probability of separation of the adhesive portion in one operation (slide) (number of separated adhesive portions/total number of adhesive portions) was judged to be 70% or more.

In addition, the coating on the ends of the respective optical fiber tape core wires was removed with a fiber stripper (S218R-Plus manufactured by Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.), and the fiber end face was exposed with a fiber cutter (S326 manufactured by Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.). It was set in a multi-core optical fiber fusion splicer (S124M12 manufactured by Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.) for fusion splicing.

The case where the ends of the 12 optical fiber tape core wires after cutting the end face with the fiber cutter can be set in the V-groove of the fusion splicer in one step without spreading or crossing, is indicated as ○, and it takes two or more times. The case where it was set 50 times was set, and the probability of ◯ was set at 80% or more as a pass. Table 1 shows the results.

In each of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Example 1, as shown in FIG. 2, the length of the optical fiber is increased at a constant rate so that the length of the optical fiber becomes longer from the center in the width direction to the outside. is changed. The "length difference" in the table is (difference in length between the shortest optical fiber strand and the longest optical fiber strand) / (the length of the shortest optical fiber strand). length)×100%.

From the results, Examples 1 to 4, in which the difference in length was 0.01% or more and less than 0.1%, all had a post-branching property of 70% or more and passed. On the other hand, Conventional Comparative Example 1 with no slack had a post-branching property of 60%, which was unsatisfactory. In addition, Examples 1 to 4, in which the difference in length was 0.01% or more and less than 0.1%, all had welding workability of 80% or more and passed the test. On the other hand, Comparative Example 2, in which the difference in length was large, had a failure rate of 75% that could be set in one attempt. As described above, Examples 1 to 4, in which the difference in length was 0.01% or more and less than 0.1%, resulted in satisfying both the post-branching property and the fusing workability.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the technical scope of the present invention is not influenced by the above-described embodiments. It is obvious that a person skilled in the art can conceive various modifications or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. be understood to belong to

Reference Signs List 1 Optical fiber cable 3 Optical fiber tape core wire 4 Core part 5 Optical fiber unit 7 Presser winding member 9 Tension member 11 Tear string 13 ……Cable 15 ……Cable cores 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e, 17f, 17g, 17h, 17i, 17j, 17k, 17l ……Optical fiber 21 ……Adhesive portion 30 ………… Tape cord manufacturing device 31 Supply drum 33 Die 35 Resin supply control unit 37 Resin coating device 39 Curing device 41 Tension detection device 43 Take-up device 45……Take-up drum

Claims (6)

An optical fiber ribbon in which three or more optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel,
Adjacent optical fiber strands are intermittently bonded at bonding portions formed at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon,
In optical fiber ribbons of a predetermined length, the lengths of the optical fiber strands are not constant, and the difference between the shortest length of the optical fiber strand and the longest length of the optical fiber strand is , 0.01% or more and less than 0.1% with respect to the length of the shortest optical fiber strand, and at least a part of the optical fiber strand is formed with slack. Optical fiber tape cord. The shortest optical fiber strand is arranged at the center in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands, and the longest optical fiber strand is arranged at the outermost part in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands. 2. The intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbon according to claim 1. 3. The intermittently bonded optical fiber tape core according to claim 2, wherein the optical fiber strands are arranged so that the length of the optical fiber strands increases in order from the center to the outermost portion in the parallel direction of the optical fiber strands. line. 4. The intermittently bonded optical fiber ribbon according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising 12 or more optical fiber strands. An optical fiber cable using the intermittently bonded optical fiber tape core wire according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
an optical fiber unit is formed by twisting a plurality of the intermittently bonded optical fiber tape core wires,
A plurality of the optical fiber units are twisted together to form a core,
a cable core formed by longitudinally winding a pressure winding member around the outer periphery of the core;
a tension member arranged outside the cable core;
a jacket that covers the cable core and the tension member;
An optical fiber cable comprising: A method for manufacturing an intermittent adhesion type optical fiber tape core wire by arranging three or more optical fiber strands in parallel, applying adhesive at predetermined intervals, and connecting adjacent optical fiber strands,
Predetermined tension is applied to each of the optical fiber strands between the supply portion of the optical fiber strands and the winding portion of the optical fiber ribbon,
1. A method for manufacturing an intermittent adhesive optical fiber ribbon, characterized by adjusting the tension of at least some of the optical fiber strands so as to be different from the tension of other optical fiber strands.

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