JP2943789B1 - Optical fiber cutter - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the size of an optical fiber cutter and to improve the accuracy of a cutting mirror surface even when a plurality of bare fibers are used, so that the tip of a pillow hits all bare fibers at the same time. SOLUTION: A base 1 has two bare fiber clamps 3,
4 are fixed at fixed intervals in the axial direction of the bare fiber 8a, and the two lower members 3a, 4a are fixed.
a, a circular blade 5 that moves perpendicularly to the axial direction of the bare fiber is disposed via a slide guide provided between a fixed table 5a of the blade and the base 1, and is rotated by a rotating shaft 2a. The lower member 3 is attached to the lever 2 that moves in an arc shape with respect to the table.
a, 4a, the upper members 3b, 4b of the two bare fiber clamps are fixed at positions opposite to each other, and between the upper members 3b, 4b of the two bare fiber clamps, a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the lever 2. The movable pillow portion 6 is urged by a spring 6c in the upward direction of the lever 2 and is mounted on the lever 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber cutter which cuts a bare fiber of glass exposed by removing a coating of an optical fiber, and makes the cut end surface a mirror surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method of cutting a bare fiber made of glass to make the cut end surface a mirror surface, a bare fiber is slightly scratched with a blade and the bare fiber is bent so that the scratch is on the outside. As a result, the bare fiber is cut by cleavage to make the end face a mirror surface.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of an optical fiber cutter based on the prior art. FIG. 3 (A) is a front view, and FIG.
3B is a plan view, and FIG. 3C is a side view. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the vicinity of the cut portion. 3 and 4, reference numeral 21 denotes a base, 22 denotes a clamp lever, 22a denotes a rotation axis of the clamp lever, 22b denotes a covering clamp portion,
24 is a bare fiber clamp, 23a and 24a are lower members of the bare fiber clamp, 23b and 24b are upper members of the bare fiber clamp, 25 is a circular blade, 25a is a fixed table of the blade, 25b is a slide guide, and 26 is a pillow. Rotating lever,
26a is a rotation axis of a pillow rotating lever, 27 is a pillow, 28 is a bare fiber, and 29 is an optical fiber core.

In order to cut the bare fiber using this optical fiber cutter, first, the coating is removed at the end of the optical fiber core wire 29 to expose the bare fiber 28 made of glass and provided on the base 21. By placing the optical fiber core wire 29 on the guide groove and closing the clamp lever 22, the coated portion of the optical fiber core wire 29 is gripped by the coated clamp portion 22b, and two portions of the bare fiber 28 are gripped by the bare fiber clamps 23 and 24. Next, the circular blade 25 is moved along the slide guide 25b together with the blade fixing base 25a, and the blade 25 is rotated to scratch the lower surface of the bare fiber 28.

Subsequently, the tip of the pillow portion 27 is pressed against the side opposite to the scratch of the bare fiber 28 by operating the pillow portion rotation lever 26,
The bare fiber 28 is cut by a cleavage action by bending the bare fiber 28 with the scratch on the outside. When the cutting is completed, the pillow part rotating lever 26 is further pushed in, so that the clamp lever 22 is opened earlier than the pillow part rotating lever 26 by a cam mechanism (not shown), and then the pillow part rotating lever 26 is lifted with a finger. The optical fiber core 29 which has been opened and cut is taken out. The clamp lever 2
If the release of the second lever 2 is later than the release of the pillow rotation lever 26, the cut end of the bare fiber 28 may come into contact with the clamped lever 22 when the clamp lever 22 is released, thereby damaging the mirror surface obtained. As described above, the clamp lever 22 is opened earlier than the pillow section rotation lever 26.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a case of a single-core optical fiber core. However, a plurality of optical fiber cores provided with a coating on a glass fiber are arranged in parallel, and the periphery thereof is collectively coated to form a tape. The same type of optical fiber cutter is used in the case of a shaped tape. In the case of a tape core, since a plurality of bare fibers are arranged in parallel at equal intervals, the ends of the bare fiber clamp and the pillow are connected to each other as shown in FIG.
In the figure, the width in the vertical direction with respect to the paper surface is equal to or greater than the arrangement width of the plurality of bare fibers, and when the clamp lever 22 is closed, the plurality of bare fibers are grasped collectively, and the pillow section rotating lever 26 is used. Is closed, the tip of the pillow 27 can press a plurality of bare fibers 28 at once.

[0007]

In the case of the optical fiber cutter according to the prior art described above, the clamp lever and the pillow part rotating lever are separately provided and are large in size. In addition, since it is necessary to release the clamp lever before the pillow rotating lever, the pillow rotating lever is pushed in more strongly than the cutting position of the bare fiber, and the clamp lever is opened by the cam mechanism. Power is needed.

Further, in the case of a tape core having a plurality of bare fibers, there is the following problem. In the pillow rotating lever, as shown in FIG.
The pillow 27 protrudes in the vertical direction to Y ′ and is fixed.
The surface of the tip of the pillow to which the plurality of bare fibers hits is parallel to the axis YY ′ of the pillow rotation lever 26. Therefore, when the pillow section rotation lever 26 is rotated around the rotation axis 26a (the position of O), in the case of a tape core, FIG.
As shown in (B), since there are a plurality of bare fibers 28, the tip 27a of the pillow portion 27 does not hit them at the same time, and the hit position does not come directly above the bare fibers but shifts little by little.

[0009] If the position where the tip of the pillow hits is displaced in this way, when the bare fiber is cut, the mirror surface condition of the end face is likely to be uneven. If the position of the bare fiber before hitting is set to the position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 6B, the bare fiber will hit immediately above the bare fiber at the same time. However, it is difficult to precisely arrange the bare fiber at such a position.

Further, in the conventional optical fiber cutter, since the slide guide for moving the circular blade is located below the circular blade, the overall size is increased by the arrangement of the slide guide, and the optical fiber cutter becomes large. The present invention
By reducing the overall size of the optical fiber cutter and making the pillow hit the bare fiber at the same time even in the case of multiple bare fibers, the cut surface of the bare fiber should be a highly accurate mirror surface The present invention provides an optical fiber coupler capable of performing the following.

[0011]

According to the optical fiber cutter of the present invention, the lower member of two bare fiber clamps is fixed to the base at a constant distance in the axial direction of the bare fiber. A circular blade that moves perpendicular to the axis direction of the bare fiber is arranged between the lower members via a slide guide provided between the lower member and the base, and moves in an arc shape with respect to the base by the rotation axis. The upper member of the two bare fiber clamps is fixed to the lever to be opposed to the lower member, and between the upper members of the two bare fiber clamps, in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the lever. The movable pillow portion is mounted on the lever by being biased upward by the spring by a spring.

Then, the lever is rotated about a rotation axis so that the axial direction of the lever becomes horizontal, and the lever is pressed against the base, whereby the bare fiber is clamped by the upper member and the lower member of the two bare fiber clamps. By holding it in a straight line and moving the circular blade in the direction perpendicular to the direction of the bare fiber, the surface of the bare fiber is scratched, and the head of the pillow attached to the lever is pressed against the spring. By pressing the opposite surface of the bare fiber scratch at the pillow to cut the bare fiber, holding the bare fiber by the bare fiber clamp and pressing the bare fiber by the pillow simultaneously by releasing the pressing of the lever. It can be opened.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of an optical fiber cutter according to the present invention. FIG. 1 (A) is a side view, and FIG. 1 (B) is a sectional view taken along line XX '. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the lever, and FIGS.
FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view at each operation stage of the lever, and FIG. 2D is a side view. 1 and 2, 1 is a base,
1a is a tape core mounting groove, 1b is a lever fixing magnet, 1c
Is a slide guide groove, 1d is a pillow suction member, 2 is a lever, 2a is a rotating shaft, 2b is a lever suction member, 3, 4 is a bare fiber clamp, 3a and 4a are lower members of the bare fiber clamps 3, 4 and 3b. , 4b is an upper member of the bare fiber clamps 3, 4, 5 is a circular blade, 5a is a blade fixing base,
5b is a slide guide for moving the blade 5, 6 is a pillow, 6
a is the tip of the pillow, 6b is the head of the pillow, 6c is a spring, 6d
Denotes a pillow section fixing magnet, 7 denotes a tape core holding member, 8 denotes a tape core, and 8a denotes a bare fiber.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an example of an optical fiber cutter applied to a tape core having a plurality of bare fibers, and will be described accordingly. First, at the end of the tape core 8, the collective coating and the coating of each core are removed to expose a plurality of bare fibers 8 a. Then, the coated portion of the tape core 8 near the bare fiber exposed portion is gripped by the tape core holding member 7, and the tape core holding member 7 is mounted on the tape core mounting groove 1 a provided on the base 1. I do. At that time,
The bare fibers 8a are placed on the lower members 3a and 4a of the bare fiber clamps 3 and 4 such that the fiber axes are parallel to the paper surface of FIG. 1B and the arrangement direction is perpendicular to the paper surface. It is arranged and put on.

Next, by rotating the lever 2 about the rotation axis 2a to make the axis OO 'of the lever 2 horizontal, the upper members 3b, 4b of the bare fiber clamps 3, 4 are formed.
Is lowered, and the bare fiber 8a is gripped by the two bare fiber clamps 3 and 4. The upper and lower members 3b, 4b and 3a, 4a of the bare fiber clamp are made of a material such as hard rubber which does not damage the bare fiber 8a. Further, the lever 2 has a lever attracting member 2b fixed to the distal end thereof attracted to a lever fixing magnet 1b provided on the base 1 side, and the gripping state is maintained. Further, the lever fixing magnet 1b and the lever attracting member 2b
Are fixed to the base side and the lever side respectively in FIG. 2, but they may be mounted in reverse.

When the lever 2 is depressed, the position of the lever 2 is as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2D.
The bare fiber 8a hits the upper member 3a of the bare fiber clamp but does not hit the tip 6a of the pillow. The pillow portion 6 is mounted on the lever 2 by being urged upward by a spring 6c so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the axis OO 'direction of the lever 2. Pillow 6
The upper end has a head 6b and the lower end has a tip 6a.

The tip 6a of the pillow is a bare fiber 8
Since it directly hits a, it is formed of a material such as hard rubber which does not damage the bare fiber. Also, the tip 6a of the pillow part
May be any as long as it has an elongated tip surface in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the bare fiber. In the case of FIG. 1 (B), the tip 6a of the pillow is provided with a groove in the axial direction and the vertical direction of the bare fiber, and the tip 6a is divided into two parts. When moved, this is for the purpose of preventing collision and damage to each other, and does not particularly affect the function of pressing and cutting the bare fiber, and the groove may be omitted.

Next, the circular blade 5 is slid along the slide guide groove 1c by the slide guide 5b together with the fixed base 5a and moved to rotate the circular blade 5, so that the lower part of the surface of the bare fiber 8a is damaged. Attached. Since the plurality of bare fibers 8a are arranged in the moving direction of the blade 5, all the bare fibers are damaged by one slide movement. Further, by disposing the slide guide 5b and the slide guide groove 1c in the side direction of the circular blade 5, the size of the blade and the mechanism for moving the blade in the vertical direction can be reduced.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), the head 6b of the pillow portion 6 is pressed against the spring 6c so that the tip 6a of the pillow portion is pressed against the surface of the bare fiber 8a on the side opposite to the scratch. wear. In this case, the tip 6a of the pillow portion 6 is
Since the tip 6a descends in the direction perpendicular to the O 'direction, the tip 6a simultaneously contacts the surfaces of the plurality of bare fibers 8a and presses the bare fibers 8a. The pressing causes the bare fiber 8a to be bent with the scratch on the outside, and the bare fiber 8a is cut by the cleavage action, so that the cut end face is formed into a mirror surface.

By pressing the head portion 6b of the pillow portion, the pillow portion fixing magnet 6d fixed to the pillow portion 6 simultaneously descends and is attracted to the pillow portion attracting member 1d provided on the base 1 side. The lowered state of the part 6 is maintained. The pillow portion fixing magnet 6d and the pillow portion attracting member 1d are respectively attached to the lever side and the base side in FIG. 2, but they may be attached in reverse.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2C, when the lever 2 is flipped up with a finger to release the gripping state of the bare fiber clamps 3 and 4, the pillow portion fixing magnet 6d and the pillow portion attracting member 1d are released. At the same time, the pressing of the tip 6a of the pillow against the bare fiber 8a is released at the same time.
And the tape core holding member 7 holding it. Through the above process, the cutting of the bare fiber at the end of the tape core 8 is completed. The coated portion of the tape core wire is conveyed to the fusion splicing device while being held by the tape core gripping member, and is subjected to the next fusion splicing step.

In the above description, an example in which the optical fiber cutter according to the present invention is applied to a tape core is described. However, the present invention is also applicable to a case where the optical fiber core is a single core. In the case of a tape core wire, if the coated portion is held by the tape core wire holding member, it can be applied to the next fusion splicing process as it is, so even when placing the bare fiber on the optical fiber cutter, Although a tape core mounting groove is provided so that it can be mounted thereon, it is mounted thereon. However, in the case of a single core, such a transportable gripping member is not required. Therefore, when applying to a single core, a groove in which a coating portion of a single optical fiber core can be placed at a position corresponding to the tape core mounting groove of the optical fiber cutter, and a coating for pressing the coating portion from above. What is necessary is just to provide a holding lever and to hold | cover the coating part of an optical fiber core wire.

[0023]

According to the optical fiber cutter of the present invention, the pillow portion, which moves in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the lever, is mounted on the lever for gripping the bare fiber by urging it upward with a spring.
By pushing the head of the pillow, even if there are a plurality of bare fibers, the tip of the pillow can be simultaneously brought into contact with the bare pillow to hold the bare fibers. Therefore, the cut end surface of the bare fiber can be a mirror surface with good accuracy. In addition, since it is not necessary to separately provide a lever for moving the pillow, the optical fiber cutter can be downsized.

Further, since the pillow portion is mounted on the lever, it is possible to simultaneously release the holding of the bare fiber by the bare fiber clamp and the pressing of the bare fiber by the pillow portion by jumping up the lever. Thus, a large force is not required as compared with the conventional method in which the bare fiber clamp is opened first. Further, since the slide guide for moving the blade is disposed at the side surface of the blade, the overall height of the optical fiber cutter can be reduced, and the optical fiber cutter can be downsized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an optical fiber cutter according to the present invention, wherein (A) is a side view and (B) is a cross-sectional view along XX ′.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are cross-sectional views at respective operation stages of a lever, and FIG. 2D is a side view.

3A and 3B are views showing an example of an optical fiber cutter according to the related art, wherein FIG. 3A is a front view, FIG. 3B is a plan view, and FIG.
Is a side view.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a cut portion of a bare fiber of the optical fiber cutter.

FIG. 5 is a side view and a front view of a pillow rotating lever of a conventional optical fiber cutter.

6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating a state in which a pillow portion of a pillow portion rotation lever of a conventional optical fiber cutter contacts a bare fiber, wherein FIG. 6A is a sectional view of the bare fiber in an axial direction, and FIG. It is sectional drawing of an axial direction and a perpendicular direction of a bare fiber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Base 1a: Tape core wire mounting groove 1b: Lever fixing magnet 1c: Slide guide groove 1d: Pillow suction member 2: Lever 2a: Rotating shaft 2b: Lever suction member 3, 4: Bare fiber clamp 3a, 4a : Lower member 3b, 4b: Upper member 5: Blade 5a: Fixed table of blade 5b: Slide guide 6: Pillow 6a: Tip of pillow 6b: Head of pillow 6c: Spring 6d: Pillow fixed magnet 7: Tape cord holding member 8: Tape cord 8a: Bare fiber

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-82637 (JP, A) JP-A-59-160102 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02B 6/00 334

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bare fiber clamp for clamping a bare fiber at two points, a blade for scratching the surface of the bare fiber between the two bare fiber clamps, and a surface opposite to the wound of the damaged bare fiber. In a fiber optic cutter provided with a pillow portion for pressing, a lower member of two bare fiber clamps is fixed to the base at a constant interval in the axial direction of the bare fiber, and between the two lower members. A circular blade that moves perpendicular to the axis direction of the bare fiber is disposed via a slide guide provided between the bare fiber and the base. An upper member of two bare fiber clamps is fixed at a position facing the lower member, and a pillow portion movable between the upper members of the two bare fiber clamps in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the lever. But The lever is urged in the upward direction by the lever and is attached to the lever, and the lever is rotated around a rotation axis so that the axial direction of the lever is horizontal, and the lever is pressed against the base . Lever side and base
Pressing by magnet and adsorption member fixed to the table side respectively
The bare fiber is held straight by the upper member and the lower member of the two bare fiber clamps while keeping the bare state , and then the circular blade is moved by moving the circular blade in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the bare fiber. The surface of the fiber is scratched, and then the head of the pillow attached to the lever is pressed against the spring, so that the pillow presses the opposite surface of the bare fiber to cut the bare fiber. And on the pillow side and the base side
The pressed state is maintained by the fixed magnet and the attracting member
And release the pressing of the lever around the rotation axis of the lever.
By rotation, the two magnets are released simultaneously.
An optical fiber cutter wherein the holding of the bare fiber by the bare fiber clamp and the pressing of the bare fiber by the pillow are simultaneously released. 2. The light according to claim 1, wherein a slide guide for moving the circular blade in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the bare fiber is disposed on a side surface of the circular blade. Fiber cutter.