JP3073609U - Cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner capable of easily distinguishing a used area and an unused area and pulling out a cleaning tape from a supply roller by an arbitrary length. A cleaning tape (20) having a cleaning surface (21) divided by lines (22, 23), a housing (11) having a window (12) exposing the cleaning surface (21), and a cleaning tape (20) rotatably mounted inside the housing (11). Is wound in a roll shape, the supply roller 14 is rotatably mounted inside the housing 11, and the take-up roller 15 for taking up the cleaning tape 20 pulled out from the supply roller 14 is rotated. And a roller rotating means 16 for drawing out the cleaning tape 20 from the supply roller 14 and winding the cleaning tape 20 around the winding roller 15.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

[Field to which the invention belongs]

 The present invention is a cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner suitable for cleaning the end face of an optical fiber.

[0002]

[Problems to be solved by prior art and invention]

 An optical fiber is a thin wire having a thickness of several hundred microns made of a light-transmitting material such as glass or plastic, and is used as a transmission line for optical communication for transmitting information to a distant place by transmitting light. Excellent transmission characteristics such as loss and wideband are required. The transmission characteristics depend on the geometric structure of the optical fiber (for example, cladding diameter, optical fiber end face smoothness, etc.), the optical structure (for example, refractive index distribution, etc.), and the material. Various inspections have been performed on the chemical and optical structures.

For example, when optical fibers are connected to each other or when the optical fiber is coupled to an optical element at a transmitting / receiving end, the end face of the optical fiber needs to be sufficiently smooth. An inspection is performed to determine whether the surface is perpendicular to the surface and is sufficiently polished (for this inspection, see, for example, JP-A-51-96340). This inspection is performed for each optical fiber. If it is found that cleaning of the end face of the optical fiber is insufficient or foreign matter is attached to the end face, the end face of the optical fiber is cleaned. You.

Such an optical fiber end face cleaning is performed manually for each optical fiber. Generally, a cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner 30 as shown in FIG. 2A is widely used. (Eg, US Pat. No. 5,511,528).

As shown in the figure, the optical fiber end face cleaner 30 described in US Pat. No. 5,117,528 has a tape supply roller 33 and a tape take-up roller 34 rotatably mounted in a housing 31, respectively. The cleaning tape 50 is taken up from the supply roller 33 to the take-up roller 34 by rotating the take-up roller 34. The winding of the cleaning tape 50 onto the winding roller 34 is performed by roller driving means. The roller driving means includes gears 35 and 36 integrally fixed to the supply and winding rollers 33 and 34, respectively. The lever arm 40 is provided so as to be freely rotatable independently of the winding roller 34 with respect to the rotation axis of the take-up roller 34, and is fixed to the lever arm 40 which is applied to the teeth of the gear 36 fixed to the take-up roller 34. In order to prevent the reverse rotation of the feed and take-up rollers 33, 34, the pawl 42 and a bifurcated pawl 44 fixed to the wall surface of the housing 31 are applied to the teeth of the respective gears 34, 36.

When the lever 41 of the lever arm 40 is tilted in the direction of the arrow along a guide slot 47 (see FIG. 2B) provided on the side wall of the housing 31, the pawl 42 fixed to the lever arm 40 becomes a gear. The cleaning tape 50 is pulled out from the supply roller 33 by rotating the 36 in the direction of the arrow, and is wound around the winding roller 34. At this time, the bifurcated pawl 44 for preventing the reverse rotation of the gears 35 and 36 passes over the teeth of the gears 35 and 36. On the other hand, the lever arm 40 is provided with a pin 43 projecting therefrom. The pin 43 is provided with a long slot 46 above and below a pin guide fixed to a cover 45 which can slide freely in the left and right direction along the upper surface of the housing 31. When the lever 41 is tilted in the direction of the arrow, the pin 43 moves up and down in the slot 46 and moves the pin guide to the left (the direction in which the lever 41 is tilted). The cover 45 is moved to the left, and the window 32 provided on the upper surface of the housing 31 opens.

The cleaning tape 50 is pulled out from the supply roller 33, is taken up by the take-up roller 34 via the guide rollers 37 and 38, and is cleaned from the window 32 provided on the upper surface of the housing 31. The surface 51 (see FIG. 2C) is exposed, and the end face of the optical fiber is cleaned with the cleaning surface 51 exposed from the window 32, as shown in FIG. The cleaning surface of the cleaning tape 50 used for cleaning is rotated coaxially with the take-up roller 34 in the direction of the arrow along the guide slot 47 shown in FIG. Then, the unused cleaning surface is exposed from the window 32 of the housing 31, and this cleaning surface is used for cleaning the end face of the next optical fiber.

[0008] However, in such a conventional optical fiber end face cleaner, as shown in FIG. 2, it is not possible to distinguish between a once-used cleaning surface area and an unused area. Doing so may damage or stain the end face of the optical fiber.

In addition, the length of the cleaning tape pulled out from the supply roller is limited to a length corresponding to an amount obtained by tilting the lever by an angle of about 90 degrees. As the amount of tape increases, the diameter of the tape roll on the take-up roller side increases, the length of the tape pulled out from the supply roller at one time increases, and even the portion not used for cleaning is wound on the take-up roller. It will be discarded, leaving unused cleaning tape.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner capable of easily distinguishing a used area from an unused area and extracting a cleaning tape from a supply roller by an arbitrary length. I do.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 A cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner of the present invention that solves the above-mentioned problems is a cleaning tape having a cleaning surface divided by a line, a housing having a window for exposing the cleaning surface of the cleaning tape, and a housing inside the housing. A supply roller that is rotatably mounted and has a cleaning tape wound around a roll, a take-up roller that is rotatably mounted inside the housing and takes up the cleaning tape drawn from the supply roller, and Roller rotating means for rotating the take-up roller, pulling out the cleaning tape from the supply roller, and winding the cleaning tape around the take-up roller. The roller rotating means preferably includes a disk fixed to the winding roller coaxially with the rotation axis of the winding roller, and a second means provided on a housing for exposing a part of a peripheral edge of the disk. Windows.

[0012]

[Embodiment of the invention]

 As shown in FIG. 1A, the cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner 10 of the present invention has cleaning surfaces divided by lines (indicated by reference numerals 22 and 23 in FIGS. 1B and 1C). A cleaning tape 20 (shown by reference numeral 21 in FIGS. 1B and 1C), a housing 11 having a window 12 for exposing a cleaning surface 21 of the cleaning tape 20, A supply roller 14 that is rotatably mounted and has a cleaning tape 20 wound in a roll shape, and a take-up roller that is rotatably mounted inside the housing 11 and takes up the cleaning tape 50 pulled out from the supply roller 14. The cleaning tape 50 is pulled out of the supply roller 14 by rotating the take-up roller 15 and the take-up roller 15, and the take-up roller Roller rotating means for winding the roller 15 around the roller 15.

Here, the roller rotating means includes a disk 16 fixed to the winding roller 15 coaxially with the rotation axis of the winding roller 15 and a housing 11 for exposing a part of the periphery of the disk 16. When the disk 16 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, the take-up roller 15 rotates together with the disk 16 and the cleaning tape 50 is pulled out of the supply roller 14 in the direction of the arrow. The guide roller 17 traverses the window 12 via a guide roller 17, and is taken up by a take-up roller 15 via a guide roller 18. The cleaning tape 50 is pulled out from the supply roller 14 by an amount corresponding to the rotation of the disk 16, and the cleaning tape 50 can be pulled out from the supply roller 14 by an arbitrary length by adjusting the amount of rotation of the disk 16. .

The cleaning surface of the cleaning tape 20 is sectioned by a line (including not only a solid line but also a dotted line) provided on the cleaning surface, and the shape of this region is not particularly limited. It is only necessary to divide the area so that it can be used without waste, and it is possible to divide the area into a shape such as a circle, a polygon, or a combination thereof by using a straight line, a curve, or a line combining them .

The area dividing line 22 (23) provided on the cleaning surface 21 is preferably narrower than the length of the window portion 12 (length across the left and right in the figure) as shown in FIG. At intervals, the cleaning tape 20 may be provided perpendicularly to the traveling direction of the cleaning tape 20, and as shown in FIG. May be further provided.

The lines 22 and 23 can be printed on the cleaning surface by a known printing technique, for example, a screen printing method.

The cleaning tape 20 used in the present invention is a woven sheet, a nonwoven sheet, a flocking sheet, a foam sheet, or the like, which is generally used for cleaning the surface of glass, plastic, or the like. Using a printing technique as described above, a line 22 and 23 are printed on the cleaning surface of the sheet on a sheet having abrasive grains adhered to the surface, and this is cut into a tape having a predetermined width. It is.

[0018]

[Effect of the invention]

 Since the present invention is configured as described above, the used area and the unused area can be easily distinguished, and the effect that the unused area is cleaned and the end face of the optical fiber is not damaged or stained can be obtained. Play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a side view of the inside of the cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner of the present invention viewed from the side, and FIGS. 1 (b) and (c) are each FIG. 1 (a).
2 is a plan view of the cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner of the present invention shown in FIG.

2 (a) is a side view of the inside of a conventional cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner viewed from the side, and FIG. 2 (b) is a conventional cassette tape type optical fiber shown in FIG. 2 (a). FIG. 2C is a side view of the end face cleaner, and FIG. 2C is a plan view of the conventional cassette tape type optical fiber end face cleaner shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Optical fiber end surface cleaner of this invention 11 ... Housing 12 ... Window part 13 ... Second window part 14 ... Supply roller 15 ... Winding roller 16 ... Disk 17, 18 Guide roller 20 Cleaning tape 21 Cleaning surface 22, 23 Line 30 Conventional optical fiber end face cleaner 31 Housing 32 Window 33 Supply Roller 34 ... Winding roller 35, 36 ... Gear 37, 38 ... Guide roller 40 ... Lever arm 41 ... Lever 42 ... Pawl 43 ... Pin 44 ... Bifurcated pawl 45 ... cover 46 ... slot 47 ... guide slot

Claims (2)

[Utility model registration claims] 1. An optical fiber end face cleaner of a cassette tape type, comprising: a cleaning tape having a cleaning surface sectioned by a line; a housing having a window for exposing the cleaning surface; and rotatably mounted inside the housing. A supply roller having the cleaning tape wound thereon in a roll shape, a take-up roller rotatably mounted inside the housing, and taking up the cleaning tape drawn from the supply roller, and the take-up roller A roller rotating means for rotating the cleaning tape from the supply roller and winding the cleaning tape around the winding roller. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said roller rotating means includes: a disk fixed to said winding roller coaxially with a rotation axis of said winding roller; 2. The optical fiber end face cleaner according to claim 1, comprising two windows.