JP3131952B2 - Optical fiber fusion splicer - 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 having a self-diagnosis function for discharging and fusing at least one pair of optical fibers whose end faces are abutted to each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an optical fiber fusion splicer, a plurality of optical fibers are abutted against each other and fused by aerial discharge. The pre-maintenance data of the image processing system for imaging and the discharge system for fusing the optical fiber are collected beforehand, and these are compared with reference data (data at the time of product shipment) to diagnose the quality.

[0003] With respect to the motor drive mechanism, the driven object is moved by a motor for a certain section, and the motor drive amount and drive time at that time are manually measured by a stopwatch or the like. In the image processing system, an optical fiber is actually imaged, luminance data of an image in some vertical lines is taken, the calculation is performed by a control board, and the value is measured by a computer. Furthermore, regarding the discharge system, the discharge current value and the discharge state were visually observed.

[0004]

However, these data are obtained by an operator, and the quality is judged by the operator. For this reason, there is a problem that the data and the result of the pass / fail determination depend on the skill of the worker. Further, the data may be inaccurate, and the quality of the data may vary.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve the accuracy and easiness of collecting data at the time of maintenance and determining the acceptability based on the collected data.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an optical system for observing at least one pair of optical fibers whose end faces abut each other, and an image for analyzing a fiber image of the observed optical fibers. A processing system, a driving mechanism for driving the optical fiber observed by the image processing system with a motor, a driving amount measuring system for measuring a driving amount of the driving mechanism, a timer for measuring a driving time of the driving mechanism, and an optical fiber The discharge system for fusing the end of the fiber, the fiber images before and after the discharge obtained by the image processing system, the drive amount obtained by the drive amount measurement system, and the data for the drive time obtained by the timer were collected. A determination unit is provided for determining whether the image processing system, the driving mechanism, and the discharge system are good by comparing the data with the reference data.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the quality of the image processing system and the discharge electrodes is determined by comparing the fiber images before and during the discharge obtained by the image processing system with the reference data. Further, the quality of the motor drive mechanism is determined by comparing the drive amount of the motor obtained by the drive amount measurement system and the drive time at that time with reference data. Therefore, it is possible to uniformly determine the quality of the connection device without depending on the skill of the operator.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description, the same elements will be denoted by the same reference symbols, without redundant description.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a fusion splicing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The fusion splicing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a microscope 1 as an optical system, a CCD camera 2 as an image processing system, and a substrate (CCU substrate) 3 dedicated to image processing operation,
A first stage motor 4, a second stage motor 5 and a motor drive dedicated substrate 6 as a drive mechanism, a first encoder 7 and a second encoder 8 as an encoder for measuring a drive amount, a pair of discharge electrodes 9 and a discharge control as a discharge system. And a CPU board 11 as a determination means incorporating a timer.

[0010] The tape-shaped optical fiber 13 is held in a state where a part of the coating is removed and the exposed plurality of optical fiber cores 13 a are aligned by the V-groove substrate 14.
Since the pair of V-groove substrates 14 are arranged so that the V-groove extensions coincide with each other, the ends of the held pair of optical fibers 13a are in an accurate butted state.

A first stage motor 4 and a first encoder 7 are connected to the V-groove substrate 14 arranged on one side (right side in FIG. 1) via the same belt, and arranged on the other side (left side in FIG. 1). The second stage motor 5 and the second encoder 8 are connected to the V-groove substrate 14 via the same belt. Therefore, when moving the pair of V-groove substrates 14, the driving amount of the motor can be known from the number of rotations of the motor,
Thereby, the position of the optical fiber core 13a can be adjusted.

The microscope 1 is disposed obliquely 45 degrees downward with respect to the end face of the optical fiber 13a butted against each other, and a motor 15 and an encoder 16 are connected via the same belt as a driving mechanism. . further,
A mirror (not shown) that can be tilted by motor driving is disposed on the opposite side of the microscope 1 across the end of the optical fiber core 13a. Therefore, the arrangement state of the optical fibers can be accurately observed by so-called two-way observation.

The microscope 1 is equipped with a CCD camera 2, and a fiber image enlarged by the microscope 1 is formed on the CCD camera 2. Further, since the CCD camera 2 is connected to the substrate 3 dedicated to image processing operation provided with a frame memory, enlarged image brightness data of the end face of the fiber is taken in, for example, as 8-bit (256 gradation) data.

The discharge electrode 9 is an aligned optical fiber core 1
It is arranged along the alignment surface so as to sandwich the end face of 3a, and is connected to a discharge control substrate 10 having a built-in discharge circuit.
Therefore, the current value at the time of discharge can be changed, and the plurality of optical fiber cores 13 exposed from the tape-type optical fiber 13 can be changed.
a can be fusion-spliced collectively.

The above-mentioned motors 4, 5, 15 and encoders 7, 8, 16 are connected to a motor drive exclusive board 6,
The drive of the motors 4, 5, 15 is controlled. This motor drive dedicated board 6 is connected to the image processing calculation dedicated board 3,
The board 3 dedicated to image processing calculation is connected to the CPU board 11,
The image brightness data of the optical fiber core 13a obtained by the CCD camera 2, the presence or absence of driving of the motors 4, 5, 15 and the data on the driving amounts obtained by the encoders 7, 8, 16 are sent.

The CPU board 11 has the following functions. First, a drive signal is sent to the motor drive-dedicated board 6, the driven object is driven by the motors 4, 5, and 15 for a certain section, and the drive amounts of the motors 4, 5 and 15 are calculated by the encoders 7, 8 and 16. . This fixed section can be set by a limit sensor arranged in the range. Then, the presence / absence of movement of the driven object between the limit sensors and the amount of drive thereof can be detected, whereby it is possible to determine the presence / absence of failure of the motors 4, 5, and 15.

Second, the built-in timer measures the drive time during which the motors 4, 5, and 15 move the driven object for a predetermined section, and stores the calculated data in a memory on the board. By comparing this driving time with the reference data,
The presence / absence of a failure of the motors 4, 5, 15 can be determined from another viewpoint.

Thirdly, the image brightness data of the fiber image picked up by the CCD camera 2 is converted into a substrate 3 dedicated to image processing.
And stores it in a memory in the board. Since the core of the imaged optical fiber 13a is bright and the other portions are black, the quality of the image processing system can be determined by calculating the ratio and comparing the ratio with the reference data.

Fourth, image data of the discharge state is automatically collected by the CCD camera 2, and the quality of the discharge system is determined. In general, if the discharge becomes stronger, the width of light emission becomes wider, and if the discharge becomes weaker, the width becomes narrower. Therefore, by comparing captured image data with reference data, if these data are the same, it is good and the same. If not, it is determined to be defective.

The built-in TV monitor 17 is connected to the CPU board 11, and the result of the judgment is displayed on the screen (see FIG. 2), so that the defective portion can be specified.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, data necessary for diagnosis is automatically sent to the CPU board 11, and the quality of the fusion splicing device is determined by comparing these data with the reference data. Therefore, labor saving can be achieved, and quality judgment and data collection at the time of maintenance can be accurately and easily performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the specific structure of the optical system and image processing system, the number and type of optical fibers used, and the like vary depending on the fusion conditions, and do not limit the present invention.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is no variation among workers, and data can be automatically collected and self-diagnosis can be performed. Therefore, the accuracy of data and the reliability of the judgment result can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a determination result by the fusion splicing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Microscope, 2 ... CCD camera, 3 ... Substrate for image processing calculation, 4 ... First stage motor, 5 ... Second stage motor, 6 ... Exclusive board for motor drive, 7 ... First encoder, 8
... Second encoder, 9 ... Discharge electrode, 10 ... Discharge control board, 11 ... CPU board, 13 ... Tape optical fiber, 1
4 V-groove substrate, 15 motor, 16 encoder, 17
... Built-in TV monitor.

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/24-6/40

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An optical fiber fusion splicing device for discharging and fusing at least one pair of optical fibers whose end faces are abutted to each other, comprising: an optical system for observing the optical fibers; and a fiber image of the observed optical fibers. An image processing system to be analyzed, a driving mechanism for driving an optical fiber observed by the image processing system with a motor, a driving amount measuring system for measuring a driving amount by the driving mechanism, and measuring a driving time of the driving mechanism. A timer, a discharge system for fusing the end of the optical fiber,
Fiber images before and after discharge obtained by the image processing system,
By collecting data for the drive amount obtained by the drive amount measurement system and the drive time obtained by the timer, and comparing these data with reference data, the image processing system, the drive mechanism, and the discharge system An optical fiber fusion splicing device comprising a judgment unit for judging pass / fail.