JP3132187B2 - An apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber coupler or a fiber type optical waveguide having an optical fiber coupler. - 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 type coupler used for an optical communication system and a sensor system, and a method and an apparatus for aligning two or more optical fibers in parallel when manufacturing the same. When manufacturing an optical fiber coupler using an optical fiber group or a tape fiber in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel on the same plane, a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel on the same plane. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for aligning two or more optical fibers in an arrayed optical fiber group or a tape in parallel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In constructing an optical communication system or an optical data link network, an optical demultiplexer that distributes an optical signal from a light source at a desired ratio is important as a component. One of the optical demultiplexers is an optical fiber coupler, which is usually formed by heating and melting a plurality of optical fibers and fusing them, and stretching the fused portion under a constant tension. . Conventional examples of this optical fiber coupler are disclosed in JP-A-2-7007 and JP-A-2-700.
No. 9 publication.

In the above-mentioned fusion, it is necessary to align the glass portions of the optical fiber in close contact in parallel. For this purpose, a clamp mechanism is used. The accuracy of the alignment of the clamp is determined by the accuracy of the optical fiber coupler to be manufactured. Significantly affects characteristics.

A method and apparatus for aligning two or more optical fibers in parallel when an optical fiber coupler is manufactured using a tape is disclosed in JP-A-2-246 as a conventional example.
No. 07 and JP-A-63-205615.

[0005]

A conventional optical fiber coupler is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-7007.
Instead of using a group of optical fibers or a single optical fiber tape in which a single optical fiber is arranged in a plurality of rows so as to be parallel to each other on the same plane, a method of collecting and storing the manufactured products is adopted. Was trying to reduce the size of the product. However, although there are many merits of miniaturization,
In this case, it takes time and effort to manufacture the optical fiber coupler, and the method of storing the optical fiber coupler individually and storing it later is that in the case of an optical fiber coupler, the performance of the coupler changes when the tension of the portion forming the coupler fluctuates. Is very difficult to implement. Of course, it is faster and cheaper to make them all at once.

Although the method of manufacturing the optical fiber coupler disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-7009 is not clear from the published technology, in the present invention, an optical fiber coupler including the optical fiber coupler is manufactured. The present invention provides a method for aligning two or more optical fibers for use in parallel.

In a conventional method for aligning two or more optical fibers in manufacturing an optical fiber coupler, an optical fiber group or a tape fiber in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel so as to be parallel to each other on the same plane. In the case where two or more optical fiber strands are arranged in a plurality of rows so as to be parallel to each other on the same plane, or a case where two or more tapes are used, it is possible to use one optical fiber strand. It was not possible to manufacture two or more couplers from an optical fiber group or a single tape fiber arranged in a plurality of rows so as to be parallel to each other on the same plane.

In the conventional method for aligning two or more optical fibers in parallel, it is possible to manufacture one coupler with a plurality of optical fibers. However, a plurality of optical fibers are arranged so that three or more optical fibers are parallel to each other. When arranged in a row, two or more couplers could not be manufactured.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems] To solve the above problems
Optical fiber coupler or optical fiber coupler according to the present invention
The manufacturing equipment for fiber optical waveguides with plastic
I will sandwich the exposed glass part of each of the upper optical fibers
And a pair of linearly fixed optical fibers
The draw table and the glass parts of two or more optical fibers
A heating device that can heat the attached parts and fuse and integrate them
And a pin-shaped member inserted between the glass parts and the pin
And a moving device for moving the member in the horizontal and vertical directions.
And multiple clamps arranged in the optical axis direction of the optical fiber
And moving the pin-shaped member of each of the clamps to
The glass part is divided into two or more groups and two or more optical fiber
The glass parts of the bar are aligned in parallel . Ma
Further, the optical fiber coupler or optical fiber according to the present invention
The manufacturing method of the fiber type optical waveguide having the coupler is three
By removing a part of the coating in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber
After exposing the glass part, straighten it on the opposite stretching table.
Fix each, insert a pin-shaped member between the glass parts
The glass part is divided into two or more groups and two or more optical
After aligning the glass parts of Ivar in parallel,
Fused and integrated, then both in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber
Stretching by heating while applying tension in the direction
It is characterized by . The three or more optical fibers are
It is characterized by having a loop shape .

[0010]

By using a clamp having the above-mentioned pin-shaped one, two or more optical fibers can be aligned in parallel when manufacturing an optical fiber coupler. Therefore, two or more couplers can be manufactured using one group of optical fibers or a single tape fiber in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel on the same plane.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows one set of the clamp 1, and a plurality of (two in the figure) are placed on the elongated pin base 2.
Are pinned in the longitudinal direction at predetermined intervals. A vertical moving device 4 such as an air cylinder is linked to the pin base 2, and furthermore, the moving device 4
A horizontal moving device 5 such as an air cylinder for moving the moving member 5 in the horizontal direction is linked.

The diameter d of the pin 3 is 2
The width is set to be smaller than the width of the portion of the glass part of the optical fiber that is to be inserted. Further, when the pin 3 is not a cylinder but a prism, the width of the pin 3 in the direction parallel to the width is set smaller than the width to be inserted.

FIG. 2 shows a case in which two sets of clamps 1 shown in FIG. 1 are used to sandwich an optical fiber, and each clamp 1 is paired in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction of a bare fiber (glass portion) 6. As shown in FIG. 3, the pins 3 are moved vertically and horizontally to align two or more bare fibers 6 in parallel.

Next, a method for actually manufacturing an optical fiber coupler is shown in FIG. That is, another set of two sets of opposed clamps 1 are provided at predetermined intervals in the optical axis direction of the bare fiber 6 and a part of a plurality of optical fibers or tape-like optical fibers is removed by coating (bare fiber 6). ), The fixed length of the clamp 1
Are attached in parallel, and the attached portions are heated and fused and integrated, and then heated and stretched.

Next, how the clamp 1 is used in an actual optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the drawing, a part of the optical fiber tape 7 in the longitudinal direction is removed to form a wire portion (glass portion) 8, and the optical fiber tape 7 is fixed to a stretching stage 10 by a pair of core wire clamps 9.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the pins 3 of the clamp 1 according to the present invention are raised by the vertical moving device 4, and the two or more strands 8 are aligned in parallel by the horizontal moving device 5.

Thereafter, a central portion of the wire portion 8 which is to be extended in a tapered shape is welded by a flame 11a of a burner 11 as a heating device . Then, by moving the pair of core wire clamps 9 in the direction in which the pair of core wire clamps 9 are spread by the stretching stage 10, the central portion is heated again by the flame 11 a to form a tapered extending portion 8 a (see FIG. 7) at the central portion. An optical fiber coupler.

Next, after the flame 11a is moved away, the strand portion 8 is reinforced by a reinforcing case (not shown) to form an optical fiber coupler. In this way, two or more couplers can be manufactured from one tape fiber.

FIG. 6 shows the final product shape manufactured in this manner. This is the case where the coupler is made with 8-core tape. The reinforcing case 15 is fixed to the coupler fixing adhesive 17, and then the lid 16 of the reinforcing case is fixed to the reinforcing case 15 by, for example, an adhesive. This fiber having a fiber optic coupler
This completes the optical waveguide . FIG. 7 shows the inside. This is a case where two couplers are formed with a 4-core tape, but the same applies to an 8-core tape.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, instead of the optical fiber tape, an optical fiber group 19 in which a plurality of optical fiber wires (see the wire portion 8) are arranged in a plurality of rows so as to be parallel to each other on the same plane is used. A similar optical fiber coupler can be obtained. Furthermore, the optical fiber group 19 in which the optical fiber strands are arranged in a plurality of rows so as to be parallel to each other on the same plane can be fixed with an adhesive 20 before the production of the optical fiber coupler. easy. In particular, it is better to fix with an adhesive before removing the coating.

When the clamp according to the present invention is used, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, two optical fiber couplers can be manufactured using three optical fiber wires (see the wire portion 8). is there. Further, as shown in FIG.
Naturally, it is also possible to align more than one strands 8 in parallel. Further, the movement of the pins 3 can be automatically performed, and there is no problem in automation of the manufacturing process. Further, in the present invention, there is no effect unless the number of optical fibers is three or more, but there is no problem if both can be used by using an optical fiber in an apparatus for manufacturing a coupler by using two optical fibers in order to use a coupler manufacturing apparatus. .

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, a coupler can be formed by one optical fiber group or one optical fiber tape in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel on the same plane. As a result, a plurality of optical fiber couplers can be produced at the same time, whereby the cost of the optical fiber coupler can be reduced. In addition, since a plurality of optical fiber couplers are grouped by using an optical fiber group or a tape fiber in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel on the same plane and are arranged in parallel with each other, a conventional optical fiber coupler is used when a plurality of optical fiber couplers are used. It is possible to provide a user-friendly optical fiber coupler.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a clamp showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of how to use the clamp.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the operation of the clamp.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the operation of the clamp.

FIG. 5 is an overall perspective view of a coupler manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a final product shape.

FIG. 7 is a view showing an open state of a final product.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 clamp 2 pin base 3 pin 4 vertical moving device 5 horizontal moving device 6 bare fiber 7 optical fiber tape 8 strand 9 core wire clamp 10 drawing stage 11 burner 15 reinforcing case 16 lid 17 adhesive 19 optical fiber group

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-106506 (JP, A) JP-A-2-140708 (JP, A) JP-A-2-143204 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/28-6/293

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the three or more optical fibers has an exposed
Position the optical fiber so that it sandwiches the glass
A pair of stretching tables fixed in a line and two or more optical fibers
Heat the part where the glass parts of the
A heating device that can be embodied and inserted between the glass part
The pin-shaped member and the pin-shaped member are moved in the horizontal and vertical directions.
And a moving device for moving the optical fiber in the direction of the optical axis of the optical fiber.
And clamps to be provided.
Move the member and divide the glass part into two or more groups
Match the glass parts of two or more optical fibers in parallel
Optical fiber coupler or optical fiber coupler characterized by the following:
An apparatus for manufacturing a fiber-type optical waveguide having a fiber. 2. One of the three or more optical fibers in a longitudinal direction.
After removing the coating on the part to expose the glass part,
Fix each linearly to the extension table and pinch between the glass parts.
The glass part is divided into two or more groups by inserting
After aligning the glass parts of two or more optical fibers in parallel
The part is heated, fused and integrated, and then the optical fiber
Heating while applying tension in both directions in the longitudinal direction of the
An optical fiber coupler characterized by being stretched by
Is a fiber-type optical waveguide with an optical fiber coupler.
Construction method. 3. The three or more optical fibers are tape-shaped.
The optical fiber coupler or light according to claim 2, wherein
Manufacturing method of fiber type optical waveguide with fiber coupler
Law.