JP2664828B2 - Fixing device for optical fiber connection - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fixing device used at a connection portion of an optical fiber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the connection work of an optical fiber cable, an optical fiber is exposed from a terminal of the optical fiber cable in a state of a single core or a tape having a sufficient extra length, and the corresponding optical fibers are fused together. After the connection and the fusion spliced portion are protected by a reinforcing material, the extra length and the spliced portion are accommodated in a connection box for connection.

In the case where the extra length of the optical fiber and the connection portion are housed in the connection box, if the optical fiber is bent with a diameter smaller than the minimum bending radius, the optical transmission loss increases. It is necessary to accommodate the optical fiber with a radius as large as possible, and it is necessary to fix the optical fiber connecting portion in such a manner that the optical fiber connecting portion is not adversely affected by an increase in transmission loss and the optical fiber is not overloaded. However,
If the gripping force of the optical fiber connection part is too weak to move easily, the optical fiber may bend slightly near the root of the connection part, or a twisting or tensile force may be applied to the optical fiber. In addition, there is a possibility that transmission loss increases.

Conventionally, a fixing jig for an optical fiber connecting portion has
A connecting portion holder made of synthetic rubber according to the size of the reinforcing material has been used. FIG. 8A is a perspective view and FIG. 8B is a plan view. The holder 16 is provided with four grooves 17 so that four connection portions 5 of the single-core optical fiber 2 can be accommodated, and is formed of a synthetic rubber elastic body. The shape of the groove 17 is a cylindrical groove 17 for accommodating the optical fiber connection portion 5.
a portion and a slit 17b provided thereon,
The gripping force is made appropriate and the connecting portion is easily mounted.

[0005]

However, at present, with the increase in the number of optical fiber cables, the importance of an optical fiber cable using a tape core obtained by arranging a plurality of optical fibers into a tape is increasing. The tape cores are connected collectively, and the diameter of the reinforcing material for protecting the optical fiber connection portion is larger than that of the single core, and cannot be fixed by the conventional single core holder. Therefore, it is necessary to make a molded product of a new size, and there is a drawback that a single-core type and a tape type must be used properly. Further, from a structural point of view, the number of connecting portions does not always match the number at which the holder can fix the connecting portions, so that unused portions are wasted as they are, which is uneconomical in terms of cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, to be able to securely fix the optical fiber connection portion without adverse effects such as transmission loss, and to be able to cope with various sizes of reinforcing members. It is another object of the present invention to provide a fixing device for an optical fiber connecting portion in which the number of connecting portions to be fixed can be arbitrarily determined.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an optical fiber connecting portion fixing device according to the present invention is provided in a connection box.
In the optical fiber connecting portion fixing device for holding and fixing the optical fiber connecting portion on the tray of
Form a bracket-shaped holder member with a tongue piece for gripping
The holder member on the tray at least
As many as possible in the same direction.
Stands up so that the tongue can be expanded to form a holder
And align the holders in series along the optical fiber connection.
And press the optical fiber connection between the holder members.
When attaching and attaching, attach one side of the optical fiber
Contact the back of one holder member, and
With the tongue piece of the other holder and expand this tongue piece.
The holder is opened and mounted between the holder members to be gripped .

[0008]

[Action] holder, a plurality of holder members on the tray, supporting
Bracket-shaped section with holding back and tongue for grip
The holder member on the tray at least
As many as possible in the same direction.
Stands up so that the tongue can be expanded to form a holder
And align the holders in series along the optical fiber connection.
Constructed by that. Instrumentation wearing Then optical fiber connections between the holder member, one side of the optical fiber connection portion one
Abuts the back of the holder member of
Engage with the tongue of the holder and expand this tongue
It is mounted and gripped between both holder members. That is, one
Tongues of square of the holder member is expanded, pressing the optical fiber connection portion elastically pressed against the back portion of the other holder member. By the action of the tongue piece, the optical fiber connection portion is firmly held between the holder members even if the diameter thereof is different. The number of optical fiber connecting portions that can be gripped by the holder is, for example, one optical fiber connecting portion when there are two holder members,
In the case of three pieces, two pieces can be gripped. In this case, the diameters of the optical fiber connecting portions may be different, and the same holder can be used for single core and tape. The holder is
It is preferable that a plurality of the holding members are arranged so that the direction of the holding portion between the holder members coincides with the direction of the optical fiber connecting portion.

The holder member has, for example, a tongue piece having a cross section
It is composed of an elastic body that is expanded so as to be in parentheses ([).
(() And angle brackets (<) are also included.
However, it is not necessary to provide the tongue piece on all of the holder members.
It suffices to provide it on a holder member located at least in the middle of at least one side of the holder, and the other holder member on the other side can be fixed by a point, a surface, or a combination thereof (for example, a cross-shaped bracket (")"). ) .

Under the configuration in which the holder is provided on the tray capable of storing a plurality of sheets in the connection box, not only the reinforcing members of the optical fiber connecting portions of various dimensions can be fixed as described above, but also each tray can be fixed. Thus, the holder fixing portion can be divided, so that the number of trays can be adjusted to correspond to the number of fixed connection portions.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

In FIG. 1 (a), a single mode optical fiber 2 for a wavelength of 1.3 μm and coated with a UV resin having an outer diameter of 0.4 mm is connected to an optical fiber cable 1, 1 'containing 12 cores. The connection is made in a plastic connection box 3. In FIG. 1A, in a connection box 3, there is a tray 4 for storing an optical fiber connection portion 5 and a fiber surplus length 20 at the time of connection work. Tray 4 stored in junction box 3
1 depends on the number of cores of the optical fiber 2 and the structure of the optical fiber cable 1. In a structure in which two optical fibers 2 are inserted into the groove of the spacer 15 as shown in FIG. The optical fiber connection part 5 of two cores is fixedly accommodated in one tray 4, and the operation is performed with a total of six trays.

The tray 4 has a total length of about 180 mm and a width of about 10
0 mm, and the holder portion for holding and fixing the optical fiber connection portion 5 and the extra length 20 of the optical fiber are (perpendicular to the paper surface,
A side wall having a height of about 10 mm and a stopper (not shown) are provided so as not to protrude (in the horizontal direction). After all the core wires are connected, the six trays 4 are integrally fixed so as not to move due to vibration or the like.

The structure of the holder portion of the optical fiber connecting portion 5 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The holder portion of the optical fiber connecting portion 5 includes three holder members 6a, 6b and 6c each having a bracket shape in cross section.
It comprises a holder 7 which stands upright so that the directions of the brackets are in the same direction , thereby forming a holding portion for holding the optical fiber connecting portion 5 between the holder members 6a and 6b and between 6b and 6c. . 2A and 2B, two holder members 6a and 6b are representatively shown, and the orientation of the holder 7, that is, the optical fiber connecting portion 5 to be gripped by the holder members 6a, 6b and 6b. The direction is made to coincide with the direction of entry and exit of the optical fiber cables 1 and 1 '. Tray 4
The number of the holders 7 may be one, but here two holders 7 are linearly arranged along the directions of the optical fiber cables 1 and 1 '.

[0016] Each holder member 6, on both sides of the flat plate portion 8 as a back portion for supporting cross braces form, for example, cross-sectional hexagonal parentheses like
Elastically expandable tongue piece 9 provided integrally with ([))
Having. More precisely, as shown in FIG. 3, on both sides of the flat plate portion 8 having the length L2, the tongue pieces 9 having the length L1 at the angle θ are provided with the same width L3 and the same thickness L4 as the flat plate portion 8, and On one side edge (lower portion) of the flat plate portion 8, a fitting projection 10 detachably attached to the tray 4 is provided integrally. Each holder member 6
If the material is plastic, the structure is such that it can be easily manufactured by injection molding.

The three holder members 6a, 6b, 6c
Means that the direction of the parentheses is the same direction (for example, [[[)
, And the tongue piece is erected on the tray 4 so as to be able to expand , thereby forming one holder 7. The optical fiber connecting portion 5 is gripped by the holder 7 by being sandwiched between the holding portions between the holder members 6 and 6 as shown in FIG. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2B, the tongue piece 9 of one holder member 6 is deformed (expanded), and the elastic force of the tongue piece 9 when the tongue piece 9 is expanded causes the optical fiber connection part 5 to be deformed. It is pressed against the other holder and is held by the holder 7 with a predetermined holding force.

The force for holding the optical fiber connection portion 5 depends on the dimensions (L1, L2, L3, L3) of the tongue piece 9 of the holder member 6.
L4, θ) and the gap (L5) between the holder members 6a, 6b, 6c and the arrangement interval (L6) of the holder 7. In this embodiment, the connecting portions 5 having the outer diameters of 3.0 mm and 3.5 mm are used.
L1 = 4 mm, L2 = 5 mm,
L3 = 5mm, L4 = 4mm, L5 = 7mm, L6 = 30mm,
θ = 120 °.

A vibration test on the optical fiber cable connection box 3 using the above-described fixing device was performed in the x, y, and z directions in FIG. 3 in parallel with tray 4). Here, the test in the x and y directions is performed by a vertical vibration tester 13 shown in FIG. 6A, and the test in the z direction is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the test was performed using the fixture 14 in combination with the vibration tester 13. Conditions are amplitude ± 5mm, frequency 10Hz, 100
The test was performed in each case where the connection portion of the single-core optical fiber and the connection portion of the tape optical fiber were fixed. After the test, the connection box 3 is disassembled, and the reinforcing material of the optical fiber connection portion 5 is removed.
When the extra length of the optical fiber was examined, there was no problem. Thereafter, transmission loss was examined using a light source and a power meter, but no increase in transmission loss was observed as compared with the measurement result before the test.

[0020] In the above embodiment, when fixing the connection portion 5, one side of the reinforcement of the optical fiber connecting portion 5, it bears with a rear portion of the holder member 6, 6, lengthening the flat plate portion 8 Then, it may be fixed by one or three or more by extending between the two holders 7.

The cross-sectional shape of the holder members 6a, 6b, 6c is in the shape of square brackets ([) , but is merely a basic type, and is in the shape of angle brackets (FIG. 4A). ") ,
4 (b) semicircular such as shown in Figure, 4 semi-elliptical type, etc. may be such as (c), which is also included in the cross braces-like concept. In short, the spine supporting the reinforcing material of the optical fiber connection part 5
It is sufficient if there is a portion (flat portion 8) and a portion (tongue piece 9) that elastically presses. For the holder member 6a of the action only of the back portion for supporting the reinforcing material may be a combination of points or surfaces.

The holder members 6b and 6c whose tongue piece 9 comes into contact with the reinforcing material of the optical fiber connecting portion 5 are in contact with the reinforcing material of the tongue piece 9 in order to prevent the reinforcing material from coming off easily. 5A, a serrated portion 11 may be formed as shown in FIG. 5A, or a depression 12 may be formed as shown in FIG. 5B.

The holder member 6 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the tray 4 by the fitting projections 10, but to fix the reinforcing material of the optical fiber connecting portion 5 by the elastic force of the tongue piece portion 9. Then, it may be integrated with the tray 4 or the like serving as a base for storing the connection portion.

[0024]

As described above, according to the fixing device of the present invention, it is possible to securely fix the optical fiber connection portion without adversely affecting transmission loss and the like, and moreover, the same holder can be used to fix various optical fiber connection portions. It can correspond to the size of the reinforcing material.

Further, even in the case of an optical fiber cable having a different number of optical fiber connection portions, the number of trays may be increased or decreased in accordance with the number of the optical fiber connection portions. The part can be fixed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an outline of an embodiment of the present invention.
1A is a cross-sectional view showing a state where optical fibers are connected to each other in a connection box, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of an optical fiber cable to be connected.

FIG. 2 shows details of an embodiment of the present invention.
2A is a perspective view of a fixing portion of a connection portion on a tray in the connection box of FIG. 1A, and FIG. 2B is a plan view thereof.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a configuration of a holder member of a fixing portion, wherein FIG. 3A is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 3A is a front view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a modified embodiment of the holder member.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing still another modified embodiment of the holder member.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a test method according to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing parameters in the test of FIG.

8 (a) is a perspective view, and FIG. 8 (b) is a plan view, showing a configuration of a holder used conventionally.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical fiber cable 2 Optical fiber 3 Connection box 4 Tray 5 Optical fiber connection part 6a, 6b, 6c Holder member 7 Holder 8 Flat plate part 9 Tongue piece part 10 Protrusion for fitting 11 Serrated part 12 Depression 13 Vibration tester 14 Fixture 15 Spacer 16 Holder 17 Groove

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Susumu Uchida 4-3-8 Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan Inside Sancorsia Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuo Sugiyama 4-3-8, Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A 2-109304 (JP, U) JP-A 58-100306 (JP, U)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An optical fiber connecting portion fixing device for holding and fixing an optical fiber connecting portion on a tray in a connection box, wherein a supporting back portion and a tongue piece portion for holding are provided. Cross section with
A bracket-shaped holder member is formed to reduce the number of holder members.
Both on the tray so that the direction of the brackets is the same direction
So that the tongue can be expanded
Stand up to form a holder and connect this holder to optical fiber
And arranged in series along the
When installing by pressing the fiber connection section,
One side of the connecting portion abuts the back of one holder member,
The other side is engaged with the tongue piece of the other adjacent holder
At the same time, expand this tongue piece and attach it between the holder members.
A fixing device for an optical fiber connecting portion, wherein the fixing device is held.