JP2985378B2 - Linear object suction device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for sucking a linear member used for, for example, a disconnection process in an optical fiber manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an optical fiber is manufactured by using a drawing machine, drawing an optical fiber from an optical fiber preform, coating the coated fiber, testing the tensile strength, and winding the fiber by a winding machine. taking it.

FIG. 5 shows a general optical fiber drawing machine. As shown in FIG. 1, an optical fiber drawing machine 10 includes a drawing furnace 12 for drawing an optical fiber preform 11 and an outer diameter measuring device 14 for measuring the outer diameter of the drawn optical fiber 13.
A coating portion 16 comprising a die 15a for coating and a curing furnace 15b on the outer periphery of the optical fiber 13;
The first and second capstan wheels 17 and 18 for testing the tensile strength and the screening section 22 including the first and second capstan belts 19 and 20 and the load roller 21, and the optical fiber 13 are wound. Take-up winder 2
3 is provided.

In the screening section 22, the first capstan wheel 17 and the second capstan wheel 1
The load roller 21 is used to apply tension to the optical fiber 13 between the load roller 2 and the load roller 2.
1 is not used, and the one corresponding to the second capstan wheel 18 is driven at a constant torque to generate a tension in the optical fiber 13 between the first capstan wheel 17 and the second capstan wheel 18. Tensile strength can also be tested.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the tensile strength test of the optical fiber is not always performed in the drawing step, and the optical fiber 13 manufactured in the drawing step is further provided with a screening unit 22. By using a coloring machine
Tensile strength tests are often performed simultaneously in the coloring step. Further, the tensile strength test may not be performed at all in the drawing step and the coloring step, and the tensile strength test may be performed by a dedicated tensile strength testing machine having a supply and a winding machine in the screening 22 part.

Incidentally, in the optical fiber manufacturing apparatus provided with the screening section 22 as described above, breakage always occurs at a fixed rate due to the presence of the low-strength portion in the glass. Therefore, it is necessary to temporarily stop the running of the optical fiber 13 every time the fiber is broken, and to remove the optical fiber 13 entangled with the capstan wheels 17, 18, and the like. Since this operation significantly reduces the productivity of the optical fiber manufacturing apparatus, methods for more efficient disconnection processing and production return than before have been proposed. Among them, a method of sucking and processing a broken optical fiber by a suction device is the most promising, and is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-204341.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional optical fiber suction device. As shown in the figure, the first capstan 30, so that the downstream pass line L ₀ coaxially in the vicinity of the conveying direction of the optical fiber 13 to be conveyed (shown in FIG. L), air hose 101 Suction nozzle 10 supplied with air
2 is detachably engaged with the holder 103.

Thus, such a suction nozzle 102 is provided near the exit of the first capstan 17 so as to be coaxial with the pass line L _0, and the optical fiber 13 is passed through the suction nozzle 102. By constantly supplying the compressed air G and keeping it in a blown state, for example, the optical fiber 1
Even when the wire 3 is disconnected, the optical fiber 13 can be reliably sucked.

[0009]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional optical fiber suction apparatus, it is necessary to pass the optical fiber 13 through the suction nozzle 102 in advance, and the optical fiber 13 is wound first. There is a problem that a tapping operation for leading to the picking machine 22 is required, and the tapping operation is troublesome and requires a long operation time. Especially,
In recent years, attempts have been made to automate the operation of tapping optical fibers using a machine.In that case, the end of the optical fiber is guided by a line guide, so that the suction nozzle can be divided into several types to pass the optical fiber. Ingenuity is required, and the device becomes complicated.

When the optical fiber 13 is being sucked when the optical fiber 13 is broken, the broken optical fiber scatters at a high speed from the outlet of the suction nozzle 102. Therefore, a fiber reservoir must be provided on the outlet side of the suction nozzle 102. However, in the conventional optical fiber suction device, since the suction nozzle 102 is located on the pass line of the optical fiber 13, it is difficult to provide a fiber reservoir here due to its structure. for that reason,
There is a problem in that the optical fiber scattered on the rollers of the optical fiber manufacturing apparatus or the worker is entangled, and the subsequent cleaning is troublesome.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and it is intended to improve the workability of a manufacturing operation by surely sucking a linear body such as an optical fiber which is broken when traveling at high speed. An object of the present invention is to provide a linear body suction device.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided a linear body suction apparatus for achieving the above object, which comprises: a capstan wheel on which a running linear body is wound and taken; Wherein the suction port of the suction nozzle is located within the moving range of the linear pass line that varies with the linear velocity.

[0013] Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a linear body suction device, wherein a suction nozzle is provided on a capstan wheel on which a running linear body is wound and picked up on a downstream side in the linear body transport direction. In the apparatus, the suction nozzle is disposed on a side of the pass line of the linear body, and a suction port of the suction nozzle is positioned orthogonal to the pass line.

[0014]

When a break occurs in a linear body running at high speed, the linear body fed from the capstan wheel is immediately sucked by the suction nozzle. At this time, the broken nozzle can be reliably sucked even if the linear speed of the linear member changes, because the suction nozzle is located within the range of moving the linear member's pass line. In addition, since the suction nozzle is located on the side of the pass line of the linear body, the operation of extracting the linear body becomes easy, and the broken linear body can be easily collected.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an apparatus for sucking a linear body according to an embodiment of the present invention. Note that members having the same functions as those in the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first capstan portion 31 of the wire drawing machine of the present embodiment includes a first capstan wheel 17 around which the drawn optical fiber 13 is wound and drawn. are composed of a roller 19a~19c for guiding the first capstan belt 19 to travel by the drive mechanism of the capstan wheel 17, pass line L ₁ of the optical fiber 13 is to be appropriately determined by these arrangements ing.

In the optical fiber suction device as a linear body according to the present embodiment, the suction nozzle is not disposed coaxially with the optical fiber pass line, and the optical fiber is not previously passed through the suction nozzle. An optical fiber running at high speed in this state can be reliably sucked.

[0019] That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first capstan 31, the suction nozzle 32 on the side of Pasuran L ₁ on the downstream side in the transport direction of the optical fiber 13 to be conveyed distribution described above Has been established. An air hose 33 connected to a compressed air source (not shown) is connected to an intermediate portion of the suction nozzle 32, and a waste fiber reservoir 34 is attached to a base end of the suction nozzle 32. Then, the suction port 35 of the tip portion of the suction nozzle 32 is positioned facing the direction perpendicular to the pass line L _1.

The suction nozzle 32 is a commonly used one. The compressed air entering the intermediate portion via the air hose 33 turns in the suction nozzle 32 in the circumferential direction and suddenly moves to the waste fiber reservoir 34 side. To be blown out. Therefore, a suction force for sucking the broken optical fiber 13 is generated in the suction port 35 by an ejector effect generated by the flow of the air.

Here, a test was conducted to investigate the success rate of suction of the broken optical fiber 13 with respect to the mounting position of the suction nozzle 32.

FIG. 3 shows the mounting positions of the respective suction nozzles for performing the linear body suction test based on the mounting positions of the suction nozzles, and FIG. 4 shows the pass lines of the linear bodies at different linear velocities.

First, a study was conducted to determine the optimum position for mounting the suction nozzle. As shown in FIG. 3, the one provided on the side of the pass line L ₁ of the suction nozzle 32 as above-described embodiment and the first embodiment, the pass line L ₀ of the suction nozzle 102 as in the prior art described above Comparative example 1, the one provided coaxially with the addition, to the one provided with the suction nozzle 32 on the lower side of the pass line L ₀ as in Comparative example 2 were tested for attraction success rate of the optical fiber 13 was broken respectively . As the test conditions, the hole diameter of the suction nozzle was 22 mm, and the compressed air pressure from the air hose 33 was 5 kg / cm ² .

Table 1 shows the test results.

[0025]

[Table 1]

As is evident from Table 1, the conventional comparative example 1 and the method of the embodiment 1 having the nozzles on the side provided reliable suction of the optical fiber even at a high linear velocity. However, in the method of Comparative Example 1, the waste fiber scattered around the pass line,
In particular, at a high linear velocity of 400 m / min or more, a huge amount of waste fiber accumulates in a short period of time, causing problems such as sticking to the rollers. For this reason, it has always been necessary for the operator to remove the waste fiber. On the other hand, Comparative Example 2 and Example 1
In the method (2), since all the waste fibers are accumulated in the fiber reservoir, the operation of removing the optical fiber only needs to dispose of the fiber reservoir after the suction is completed, and the workability is very good. In the waste fiber reservoir used in this test, a large amount of air had to escape outside while receiving the discharged optical fiber. A properly perforated cloth or plastic bag is acceptable.

Further, from the observation results in this test, it was determined that the reason why the suction rate from the side was higher than the success rate from below was due to the following reasons. That is, since an optical fiber mainly composed of quartz glass has a high rigidity unlike ordinary fibers, if a disconnection occurs, the optical fiber does not fall directly below the capstan wheel, and as shown in FIG. It is released as it becomes. The higher the linear velocity, the more the optical fiber is linearly emitted from the capstan wheel. Therefore, if the suction port of the suction nozzle is located immediately below the pass line, even if the suction nozzle is arranged near the pass line during normal running, the optical fiber will be separated from the suction nozzle at the time of disconnection, and the linear velocity will decrease. As the height increases, the distance between the suction nozzle and the optical fiber tends to increase, so that suction becomes very difficult. However, when the suction nozzle is located on the side of the pass line, the distance between the suction port and the pass line does not change as much as when it is placed directly below even if the optical fiber travel path is shifted, and even if it changes, the suction The optical fiber does not leave much from the suction nozzle because there is room for the width of the mouth diameter. Therefore, the optical fiber can be easily sucked even at a high speed.

From the above results, it is possible to arrange the suction nozzle at a position where the distance between the suction port of the suction nozzle and the optical fiber is sufficiently short and does not change with the linear velocity, that is, within the moving range of the pass line which changes with the linear velocity. For example, it has been clarified that the disconnected optical fiber can be sucked even if the suction nozzle is displaced from the aperture line. In the lateral arrangement, theoretically, the diameter of the suction nozzle is large, and the shorter the distance between the suction port and the pass line, the more reliably the optical fiber can be sucked in a wider linear velocity range.

Next, the relationship between the diameter of the suction nozzle and the suction success rate was examined. The suction nozzle diameter studied is
There are four types: 8, 22, 50, and 75 mm. These suction nozzles were arranged on the side of the pass line, the optical fiber was run at a linear speed of 20 to 800 m / min, and it was investigated whether the wire could be forcibly disconnected and suctioned reliably. The same general suction nozzle is used as above, and the air pressure is 5 kg / cm ^2.
Performed in

Table 2 shows the test results.

[0031]

[Table 2]

As is clear from Table 2, there is an optimum value for the diameter of the suction nozzle, and it has been found that the diameter between 22 and 50 mm can suck the optical fiber most reliably. The reason why the success rate decreases when the bore is too large is that the air pressure is constant at 5 kg / cm ² irrespective of the bore in this test. However, on the high linear velocity side, the amount of air for sucking the flowing optical fiber is not enough, and the success rate is low. Therefore, it is presumed that suction can be performed without any problem even with a large diameter by increasing the air pressure. However, considering the size and cost of the equipment itself, the merit of increasing the diameter more than necessary is considered to be small. On the small caliber side, the caliber 1
It has been found that the success rate clearly decreases when the distance is less than 0 mm. Therefore, it is desirable that the diameter of the suction nozzle in the embodiment is at least 10 mm or more, preferably 20 mm or more.

Finally, the relationship between the distance between the suction port of the suction nozzle and the pass line and the suction success rate was examined. The suction nozzle was arranged on the side of the path line as in Example 1, and the optical fiber was moved at a linear velocity of 20 to 50 in these arrangements as in Example 1 except that the distance from the pass line was varied between 5 and 50 mm. 80
The vehicle was run at 0 m / min, forcibly disconnected, and it was investigated whether suction was possible.

Table 3 shows the test results.

[0035]

[Table 3]

As is evident from Table 3, if the distance is 10 mm or less, the broken fiber can be sucked without any problem even at a linear speed of 800 m / min. The shorter this distance is, the higher the success rate is, but at the same time, the risk of damaging the optical fiber due to the running optical fiber coming into contact with the suction nozzle increases, so a distance of about 5 to 10 mm is practical. This is the optimal area.

[0037]

As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments, according to the linear body suction apparatus of the present invention, the suction nozzle is located within the moving range of the linear body pass line which changes depending on the linear velocity. Since the suction port is located, even if the linear velocity of the linear body changes, the broken linear body can be reliably sucked.

Further, since the suction nozzle is located on the side of the pass line of the linear body and the suction port thereof is positioned orthogonal to the pass line, the work of extracting the linear body can be performed easily and in a short time. In addition, it is possible to improve the workability of the linear body manufacturing operation, and it is possible to easily and surely collect the broken linear body by attaching a dust reservoir to the suction nozzle, thereby preventing scattering of the dust. As a result, the production speed is particularly high for an optical fiber and the like, and it can be effectively used for a breaking process of a drawing machine, a coloring machine, a rewinding machine, etc. in which the taping operation is automated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a linear body suction device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the linear body suction device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a linear body suction test depending on a mounting position of a suction nozzle.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of linear pass lines at different linear velocities.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a general optical fiber drawing machine.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a conventional optical fiber suction device.

[Explanation of symbols]

13 optical fiber (linear body) 17 first capstan wheel 18 second capstan wheel 31 capstan 32 the suction nozzle 33 air hose 34 scrap fiber reservoir 35 inlet L ₁ path line

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A linear body suction device provided with a suction nozzle on a capstan wheel on which a running linear body is wound and taken up on a downstream side in a direction in which the linear body is conveyed, the linear body changing according to a linear speed. Wherein the suction port of the suction nozzle is located within a moving range of the pass line. 2. A linear body suction device in which a suction nozzle is provided on a capstan wheel on which a running linear body is wound and taken up on a downstream side in a direction in which the linear body is transported, wherein the suction nozzle is connected to the linear body. Wherein the suction port of the suction nozzle is positioned orthogonal to the pass line. 3. The linear body suction device according to claim 2, wherein the inner diameter of the suction port of the suction nozzle is 10 mm or more. 4. The linear body suction device according to claim 2, wherein the distance between the suction port of the suction nozzle and the pass line of the linear body is within 10 mm.