JP2567881B2 - Optical fiber cable carrier - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention holds an optical fiber core wire placed on a fixed base at at least two places and moves it in a direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis. The present invention relates to an optical fiber core wire conveying device for sequentially conveying optical fiber core wires to a fusion splicing position, a reinforcing position and a discharge position.

[Prior art and its problems]

Optical fiber connection technology is indispensable in the construction of optical fiber cable lines, but with the recent introduction of optical fiber cables including subscribers, the number of cables has reached the super multicore and the number of connections has reached With the increase, it is desired to improve the efficiency of optical fiber connection.

As a method for connecting optical fibers, fusion splicing technology is generally used because of its excellent low loss and economy, but fusion splicing consists of terminal treatment, fusion splicing, and reinforcement steps. Therefore, conventionally, the optical fiber core wire is manually moved after each process, which has a drawback of lengthening the connection time.

Therefore, the present invention improves the work efficiency and speeds up and rationalizes the connection of the optical fiber cores by providing a carrier for the optical fiber cores that can automatically move the optical fiber cores to shorten the connection time. The purpose is to plan.

[Means for solving problems]

At least two optical fiber cores mounted on the fixed base
An optical fiber core transport device that sequentially transports an optical fiber core from a fusion splicing position to a reinforcement position and a discharge position by gripping it at a location and moving it in a direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis. A fiber gripping means for gripping the wire from a direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis and the conveying direction, a tension applying means for pulling the optical fiber core wire gripped by the fiber gripping means in the optical axis direction, and the optical fiber core wire serving as the optical axis. The fiber gripping means is configured so as to move the fiber gripping means so as to move in a substantially orthogonal horizontal direction, and the fiber gripping means interlocks with the opening of the chuck that holds the optical fiber core until the fusion splicing, The optical fiber core wire is held and held at the axially outer position, and the tension applying means applies tension by moving the holding means in the optical axis direction. And wherein the Rukoto.

[Action]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the interaction between the fiber gripping means, the tension applying means and the moving means improves the work efficiency and speeds up the optical fiber connection.
It can be rationalized.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of an optical fiber cable carrier according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description, the same elements will be denoted by the same reference symbols, without redundant description.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a carrier device for an optical fiber according to the present invention. This embodiment is basically a fiber gripping mechanism for gripping the optical fiber core, a tension applying mechanism for applying tension to the optical fiber core in the optical axis direction, and moving the optical fiber core in a horizontal direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis. It is composed of a moving mechanism.

The optical fiber core wire 1 is held by the fiber holding mechanisms 2, 2 as shown in FIG. Fiber gripping mechanism 2
Is an upper gripping member 2a fixed at a fixed position, and a lower gripping member 2b that is vertically movable and grips an optical fiber core wire,
The follower 2c fixed to the lower grip member 2b and the follower
It is composed of an end face cam 2d that displaces 2c in the vertical direction. The end face cam 2d is driven by a motor 2e, and this motor 2e
When is rotated, the lower grip member 2b moves up and down. Upper grip member 2a
The lower gripping member 2b and the lower gripping member 2b are, for example, rail-joined so that when the lower gripping member 2b is closed, the lower gripping member 2b does not collide with the mounted optical fiber core wire (FIG. 2 (f),
(See (g)). The portions of the upper gripping member 2a and the lower gripping member 2b that come into contact with the optical fiber core wire 1 are made of an elastic body such as rubber to prevent the optical fiber from being damaged. Further, the cam mechanism may be any one that can be displaced up and down, and may be, for example, a cylindrical cam or a front cam. Since the cylindrical cam is a positive cam, the reliability of the mechanism can be improved. If the front cam is used, the shaft of the motor 2e can be further installed in the optical axis direction, so that the device can be made compact. The fiber holding mechanism 2 is provided at two places, and the two fiber holding mechanisms 2 and 2 are always operated in the same phase. Further, since the two fiber gripping mechanisms are configured to be able to independently apply tension, the fiber gripping mechanisms 2 and 2 can be evenly distributed to the left and right with respect to the expected slack amount of the optical fiber core wire. By moving, it is easy to align the fusion splicing point of the optical fiber core with the reference position of the reinforcing portion.

The tension applying mechanism 3 includes a moving element 3a which is movable in a direction substantially parallel to the optical axis, a guide portion 3b which is rail-connected to the moving element 3a, and the moving element 3a which is attached in an inward direction substantially parallel to the optical axis. It is composed of a biasing compression coil spring 3c, a follower 3d fixed to the mover, and a plate cam 3e for displacing the follower 3d in the optical axis direction. The plate cam 3e is driven by a motor 3f, and when the motor 3f rotates, the mover 3a moves in the optical axis direction, and tension is applied to the optical fiber core wire 1. Since the optical fiber 1 is held in two places and pulled in both directions (optical axis direction), at least one of the optical fiber 1 is forcibly fixed so that the center part (connection point of the optical fiber) 1a is not extremely displaced. The optical fiber core wire 1 is tensioned by pulling only the amount and pulling the other.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the mover 3a of the tensioning mechanism 3 on the right side is displaced by the straight plate cam 3e and the optical fiber core wire 1 is forcibly moved to the right, but the mover of the tensioning mechanism 3 on the left side is moved. 3a is a compression coil spring 3c which applies tension to the left. The cam mechanism used for the right tension applying mechanism 3 for forcibly applying tension may be a positive cam. The use of the positive cam eliminates the need for the compression coil spring 3c, reducing the number of parts and facilitating the assembly of the device.

The moving mechanism 4 uses a rack 4a and a pinion 4b. The rack 4a is arranged in the horizontal direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis and is fixed to the mover 4c. The mover 4c
It is configured to be slidable on the guide rail 4d by rail coupling, and can be stopped at least at four positions of standby, fusion, reinforcement and discharge. Guide rail 4d
Is installed in a horizontal direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis, and the fiber gripping mechanism 2 and the tension applying mechanism 3 are attached to the moving element 4c, so that the moving element 4c is moved in the horizontal direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis. The optical fiber core wire 1 can be moved while tension is applied. The pinion 4b is a motor 5
And the power is transmitted to the rack 4a. In addition,
In this embodiment, one motor 5 drives the moving mechanisms on both sides, but a plurality of motors may be used in synchronization. For example, if you use two motors, one on the left and one on the right,
Each can be an independent device (right and left), which is a transportation and management advantage. The moving mechanism is not limited to this method, and a ball screw may be used.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, (a)-(d) shows the outward path, (e)-(h) shows the return path, (a) and (h) are the standby position, (b) and (g) are the fusion position, and ( c) and (f) are reinforcement positions, (d)
And (e) are the upper gripping member 2a and the lower gripping member at the discharge position.
It shows the state of 2b. In FIG. 2, the alternate long and short dash line A indicates the position before the optical fiber core wire is held, and the alternate long and short dash line B indicates the position after the optical fiber core wire is held. What is important here is that the claws of the gripping member are oriented in the direction in which the optical fiber is emitted, and therefore the vertical movement of the lower gripping member 2b allows the optical fiber to be grasped and emitted extremely easily. .

The lower gripping member 2b stands by at a position below the position before gripping the core wire (hereinafter referred to as "A position") (Fig. 2 (a)). Next, the lower gripping member 2b is raised to grip the optical fiber core wire 1 at the fusion-bonded position ((b) of the same figure). FIG. 3 shows this state from the front, in which FIG. 3A is just before gripping, FIG. 3B is after gripping, FIG. 3C is a state in which tension is applied, and FIG. 3D is reinforcement. Shows the state of. Chucks (hereinafter, referred to as “Z chucks”) 6, 6 that are movable in the optical axis direction are opened before the optical fiber core wire 1 is gripped (FIG. 3 (a)), and the optical fiber core wire 1 It enables transportation. After being gripped by the fiber gripping mechanism 2, the optical fiber core wire 1 is pulled in both directions (FIG. 3 (c)) so that the optical fiber core wire 1 can be reliably taken out even if it is fixed to the Z chuck. In this case, the amount of movement of the gripping member in the optical axis direction is detected by a sensor or the like in order to confirm whether the optical fiber is sufficiently connected without being cut. At the reinforcing position, the optical fiber core wire 1 is fed while being held as shown in FIG. 2 (c), and the reinforcing work as shown in FIG. 3 (d) is performed.

Next, the optical fiber core wire 1 is conveyed to the discharge position (second
As shown in FIG. 2D, the lower gripping member 2b is lowered and the optical fiber 1 is emitted (FIG. 2E). In this state, the gripping member returns to the reinforcing position ((f) in the figure), and the lower gripping member 2b rises. Therefore, the fiber gripping mechanism 2 can return to the initial standby position without hitting the optical fiber to be conveyed next (FIG. 9 (g)) (FIG. 8 (h)).

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above,
The optical fiber core wires can be automatically and sequentially conveyed to predetermined positions in a short time, and work efficiency can be improved. Therefore, the connection speed of the optical fiber core wire can be speeded up and rationalized, and the labor cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an optical fiber core wire conveying device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a process drawing for explaining the operation thereof, and FIG. 3 is a grasping state of the optical fiber core wire. FIG. 2 is a front view of the transport device of FIG. 1 seen from a direction orthogonal to the optical axis for showing. 1 ... Optical fiber core wire, 2 ... Fiber gripping mechanism, 3 ...
... tensioning mechanism, 4 ... moving mechanism, 5 ... motor, 6 ...
... Z chuck.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor, Michito Matsumoto, 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Within Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Masataka Shirai, 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (56) Reference JP 62-3208 (JP, A) JP 61-277570 (JP, A) JP 58-39924 (JP, A) JP 61- 61104 (JP, A) JP 61-62007 (JP, A) JP 62-87908 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An optical fiber core wire placed on a fixed base is grasped at at least two places and moved in a direction substantially orthogonal to an optical axis so as to change from a fusion splicing position to a reinforcing position and a discharging position. In an optical fiber core transport device for sequentially transporting the optical fiber cores, a fiber gripping means for gripping the optical fiber cores from a direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis and the transport direction, and a fiber gripping means gripping the optical fiber cores. A tension applying means for pulling the optical fiber core wire in the optical axis direction, and a moving means for moving the fiber gripping means so that the optical fiber core wire moves in a horizontal direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis. The fiber gripping means holds the optical fiber core at a position outside the chuck in the optical axis direction in conjunction with opening of the chuck that holds the optical fiber core until fusion splicing. The optical fiber core wire transporting device is characterized in that the tension applying means applies tension by moving the gripping means in the optical axis direction.