JP3124401B2 - Clamp mechanism of optical fiber fusion 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 optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus for splicing optical fibers and connecting the optical fibers to each other at a reinforcing position for reinforcing a joint between the fused optical fibers. The present invention relates to a clamping mechanism of an optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a manually operated optical fiber fusion device,
As shown in FIG. 1, discharge of the electrodes 2 and 2 at a predetermined fusion position in the optical fiber fusion device main body 1 causes the optical fibers 3 and
After the three are fused and connected, the operator operates the optical fiber 3,
3 is moved to a predetermined reinforcing position, and a pair of clamp mechanisms 4,
The optical fibers 3 and 3 are clamped by 4, and a heat-shrinkable reinforcing member (not shown) is bonded to a connection portion (fused portion) 3a by a heater (not shown).

The conventional structure of the clamp mechanism 4 is as shown in FIG. FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the clamp mechanism 4 as viewed from the front side, and FIG. 2B is a partially cutaway side view.

As shown in FIG. 2, the clamp mechanism 4 comprises an upper clamp 5 and an under clamp 9, and the upper clamp 5 is rotatable about the shaft 8 at one end on the rear side of the apparatus body 1 with respect to the under clamp 9. That is, it is provided to be openable and closable. A clamp member 7 is provided in the upper clamp 5 for pressing against the optical fiber 3 on the under clamp 9 by the elastic force of the spring 6. At least a lower surface portion of the clamp member 7 which is in contact with the optical fiber 3 is formed of rubber or the like having a high friction coefficient. A magnet 10 is fixed to the front end of the under clamp 9, and at least a lower portion of the front end of the upper clamp 5 is made of a magnetic material such as an iron plate and is attracted to the magnet 10. Notches 5a for inserting the optical fibers 3 are formed in the left and right side plates of the upper clamp 5.

At the time of clamping, the upper clamp 5 is first opened by rotating clockwise in FIG.
At the position shown on the underclamp 9. Then, the upper clamp 5 is closed by rotating it counterclockwise. The upper clamp 5 is attracted to the magnet 10 and fixed to the under clamp 9. The elastic force of the spring 6 causes the clamp member 7 to vertically press downwardly press the optical fiber 3 on the under clamp 9 to clamp the optical fiber 3.

[0006]

By the way, the above-mentioned 2
When the optical fiber 3 is clamped at the reinforcing position by the two clamp mechanisms 4, it is necessary to clamp the optical fiber 3 between the clamp mechanisms 4 and 4 so that the optical fiber 3 does not sag. For this reason, the operator first clamps one side of the optical fiber 3 with one clamp mechanism 4, and then pulls the optical fiber 3 toward the other clamp mechanism 4 by hand while clamping the other side of the optical fiber with the clamp mechanism. It was clamped at 4.

However, at this time, the operator releases his / her hand from the optical fiber 3 before the other clamp is finished, or the pulling of the optical fiber 3 becomes weak, and the slack of the optical fiber 3 is completely removed. In some cases, the reinforcing member was bonded in a state where the reinforcing member was not in place, resulting in defective reinforcement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a structure for automatically removing slack of an optical fiber when clamping the optical fiber in a clamping mechanism of this type of optical fiber fusion splicer.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided, in accordance with the present invention, a clamp for an optical fiber fusion splicer for clamping an optical fiber at a reinforcing position of the optical fiber in the above optical fiber fusion splicer. In the mechanism, a clamp member that presses against the optical fiber at the time of clamping is provided rotatably,
A structure is employed in which the clamp member is rotated in accordance with the operation of pressing against the optical fiber, and the optical fiber is pulled in a direction away from the connection portion along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber.

[0010]

According to such a structure, the clamp member rotates in accordance with the operation of pressing the optical fiber against the optical fiber at the time of clamping, and moves the optical fiber away from the connection portion of the optical fiber along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber. Automatically removes the slack in the optical fiber.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 illustrates the structure and operation of an embodiment of the clamp mechanism of the optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. This clamp mechanism 4 is used as a left clamp mechanism in the optical fiber fusion splicer shown in FIG. 1, and the right clamp mechanism is the same as the conventional example in FIG. In FIG. 3, common or equivalent parts to those in FIG. 2 are denoted by common reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 3, the clamp mechanism 4 of the present embodiment also includes an upper clamp 5 and an under clamp 9,
The upper clamp 5 is attached to the device body 1 with respect to the under clamp 9.
Is provided at one end on the rear side so as to be rotatable (openable and closable) around the shaft 8 as a fulcrum. A magnet 10 is fixed to the front end of the under clamp 9, and at least the lower part of the front end of the upper clamp 5 is made of a magnetic material and is attracted to the magnet 10. Notches 5a for inserting the optical fiber 3 are provided in the left and right side plates of the upper clamp 5.
Are formed.

On the other hand, a clamp member 7 for pressing against the optical fiber 3 is provided in the upper clamp 5, but its structure is different from that of the conventional example. That is, the clamp member 7 is formed in a substantially F-shape when viewed from the front side of the apparatus, and is turned around the shaft 7a at the corner of the F-shape in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction in FIG. Movably provided, and a spring 6
Urged in the counterclockwise direction. At least a surface portion of the lower end of the clamp member 7 which is in contact with the optical fiber 3 is formed of rubber or the like having a high friction coefficient.

The underclamp 9 has an optical fiber 3
A second clamp member 11 is provided to be slidable in the left-right direction in FIG. 3A, and is urged rightward by a spring 12. At least the upper surface portion of the clamp member 11 which is in contact with the optical fiber 3 is also formed of rubber or the like having a high friction coefficient.

At the time of clamping, first, the right side of the optical fiber 3 is clamped by the conventional clamping mechanism 4 of FIG. 2, and then the upper clamp 5 is opened on the clamping member 11 of the under clamp 9 of the clamping mechanism 4 of the present embodiment. The left side of the optical fiber 3 is placed, and the upper clamp 5 is closed by rotating counterclockwise in FIG. 3B.

With this closing operation, the lower end of the clamp member 7 first comes into contact with the optical fiber 3, and is elastically pressed by the elastic force of the spring 6, and the optical fiber 3 is clamped by the clamp member 11. Further, by rotating the upper clamp 5 to close, the clamp member 7 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 3A against the bias of the spring 6, and the optical fiber 3 is clamped by the clamp member 11. The lower end of the clamp member 7 moves leftward, and pulls the optical fiber 3. The clamp member 11 follows the lower end of the clamp member 7 and moves leftward against the spring 12. In this state, the upper clamp 5
Is attracted to the magnet 10 and fixed to the under clamp 9. The spring 12 is a weak spring for returning the clamp member 11 to a fixed position at the time of releasing the clamp for opening the upper clamp 5, and does not hinder the clamping operation.

As described above, the clamp member 7 rotates along with the clamp operation to move the optical fiber 3 leftward in FIG.
That is, the optical fiber 3 is pulled in a direction away from the connection portion 3a along the length direction of the optical fiber 3 shown in FIG.
The slack of the optical fiber 3 between the four can be automatically removed, and the connection portion 3a can be satisfactorily reinforced. In addition, the operator does not need to pull the optical fiber 3 to remove the slack of the optical fiber 3 as in the related art when operating the clamp, so that the operation can be performed easily and efficiently.

It should be noted that a clamp mechanism symmetrical to the clamp mechanism 4 of the present embodiment may be configured so that the right side of the optical fiber 3 is clamped. In that case,
The left side of the optical fiber 3 may be clamped by the clamp mechanism of the present embodiment, or may be clamped by the conventional clamp mechanism.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in the clamping mechanism of the optical fiber fusion device for clamping the optical fiber at the reinforcing position of the optical fiber in the optical fiber fusion device, A clamp member that presses against the optical fiber is rotatably provided, and the clamp member rotates along with the operation of pressing against the optical fiber, and moves the optical fiber away from the connection portion along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber. Since the optical fiber is pulled, the slack of the optical fiber can be automatically removed by rotating the clamp member when the optical fiber is clamped, and the optical fiber can be satisfactorily reinforced. be able to. In addition, an excellent effect that the operator can easily and efficiently operate the optical fiber clamp can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an arrangement of a clamp mechanism in an optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view and a partially cutaway side view showing the structure of a conventional clamping mechanism as viewed from the front side.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view and a partially cutaway side view showing the structure of the clamp mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body of optical fiber fusion device 2 Electrode 3 Optical fiber 4 Clamp mechanism 5 Upper clamp 6,12 Spring 7,11 Clamp member 9 Under clamp 10 Magnet

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yutaka Mie 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hidehiko Koike 1-6-15 Sakuragaoka, Yono-shi, Saitama ) Inventor Kazuo Hokari 1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (56) References JP-A-62-50710 (JP, A) JP-A-3-233413 (JP, A) Opened 58-220114 (JP, A) Opened 64-64807 (JP, U) Opened 61-178236 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6 / 24-6/42

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A clamp mechanism for an optical fiber fusion device for clamping an optical fiber at a reinforcing position for reinforcing a connection portion between optical fibers fused in the optical fiber fusion device, wherein the clamp presses against the optical fiber at the time of clamping. The member is rotatably provided, and the clamp member is rotated in accordance with the operation of pressing against the optical fiber, and the optical fiber is pulled in a direction away from the connection portion along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber. A clamping mechanism for an optical fiber fusion splicer.