JP3196377B2 - Clamp mechanism for optical fiber coupler manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing two or more optical fiber couplers at the same time when manufacturing an optical fiber coupler used for an optical communication system or a sensor system. The present invention relates to an apparatus used for parallel alignment, and in particular, manufactures an optical fiber coupler by combining a pair of upper and lower optical fibers or two upper and lower optical fibers in which a plurality of optical fiber strands are arranged in parallel on the same plane. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In constructing an optical communication system or an optical data ring network, an optical demultiplexer that distributes an optical signal emitted from a light source at a desired ratio is important as a component. One of the optical demultiplexers is an optical fiber coupler. This optical fiber coupler is usually formed by heating and melting a plurality of optical fibers and fusing them, and stretching the fused portion under a constant tension. . At the time of this fusion, it is necessary to closely align the glass portions of the optical fiber in parallel, and for this purpose, a clamp mechanism is used.

Conventionally, from the viewpoint of improving the productivity of optical fibers, a method of manufacturing a plurality of optical fiber couplers at once is disclosed in JP-A-63-205615 and JP-A-1-12.
Various proposals have been made in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 0510.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show an example of a conventional optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus. First and second optical fiber group 1
0,11 uncovered portions 10a to 10d,
11a to 11d are portions 10a 'to 10d', 11 of which coating is removed by a pair of right and left clamps 12a, 12b.
a 'to 11d' are fixed on a pair of left and right extension moving tables 14a and 14b by a pair of right and left clamps 13a and 13b, respectively. Then, the portions 10a 'to 10 of the first and second optical fiber groups 10, 11 from which the coating has been removed.
The d ', 11a' to 11d 'are stretched while being heated and fused by the burner 15, thereby simultaneously producing a plurality of optical fiber couplers. After that, necessary molding is performed by a molding device (not shown).

[0005]

By the way, when a plurality of optical fiber couplers are manufactured at one time, it is necessary that the characteristics of the manufactured couplers be uniform. It was difficult to produce the characteristics uniformly and with good reproducibility. The problem is that the coating of the optical fiber is standardized in size, and when it is arranged side by side, the distance between them is narrow, for example, 125 μm, so that the heating cannot be performed uniformly. The spacing is the same for tape fibers.

FIG. 1 shows the reason why uniform heating is not possible.
0 is shown. In FIG. 10A, 10a 'to 10d' are the first
And 11a 'to 11d' are second optical fiber groups, and 15 is a burner. Burner 15
The combustion gas that has flowed out and burns while flowing as indicated by the arrow in the figure, so that little heat is passed to the set of 10b 'and 11b', 10c 'and 11c', and 10a ', 11a', and 10a '.
Since a lot of heat goes to the pair of d 'and 11d', it is relatively 1
The set of 0a 'and 11a', 10d 'and 11d' is better heated and not uniform. Therefore, the characteristics of the manufactured optical fiber coupler are not uniform.

An object of the present invention is to provide a clamp mechanism capable of simultaneously manufacturing a plurality of optical fiber couplers having uniform characteristics.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an optical fiber device in which a coating is removed from a plurality of first optical fibers over a predetermined section at the same lengthwise position. A first optical fiber group in which the exposed optical fiber strands are arranged so as to be parallel to each other on the same plane, and a first optical fiber having the same number of second optical fibers as the first optical fiber. Similarly, means for arranging and aligning the fiber strands of the second optical fiber group, which are similarly covered and arranged, in parallel with each other, and the exposed optical fiber strands of the first and second optical fibers and the vicinity thereof And a spacer for increasing the distance between the optical fibers by a desired amount.

[0009]

According to the above construction, the intervals between the exposed optical fiber strands of the optical fibers arranged in a row and the optical fibers in the vicinity thereof are simultaneously increased by a desired amount in the first and second groups, so that the burner can be used for combustion. Heated uniformly with gas.

[0010]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 show a single spacer. That is, the first spacer 21 and the second spacer 2
2 are fixed in series at a predetermined interval, and the optical fiber first divided into two by the mountain-shaped portion 23 of the first spacer 21 is then divided into two mountain-shaped portions 24a, 24a of the second spacer 22.
24b is further divided into two. Accordingly, the distance between the finally divided optical fibers is equal to the height of each mountain-shaped portion 2 in the first and second spacers 21 and 22.
3, 24a and 24b. Also, the first
The ridge 23 of the spacer 21 is formed higher than the two ridges 24 a and 24 b of the second spacer 22.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show how to use both spacers 21 and 22. FIG. That is, the portions 10a to 10d and 11a to 1 of the first and second optical fiber groups which are not covered.
Eight 1d lines are first divided into two by the mountain-shaped portion 23 of the first spacer 21. Next, each of the four divided wires is further divided into two by the mountain-shaped portions 24a and 24b of the second spacer 22, to form a pair of two wires.

As a result, the distance between the optical fibers can be simultaneously increased by a desired amount in both the first and second groups.
As shown in (b), the combustion gas discharged from the burner 15 burns while flowing as indicated by the arrow in the figure, and 10a, 11a, and 10c also appear in the set of 10b and 11b and 10c and 11c in the figure.
Since the same heat as the pair of d and 11d goes, 10a and 11a
The set of -10d and 11d is heated uniformly. For this reason,
The characteristics of the manufactured optical fiber coupler can be made more uniform.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the configuration of an actual optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus. That is, the uncoated optical fiber groups 10a to 10d and 11a to 11d are a pair of left and right clamps 12a, 1 for use when the optical fiber groups on the pair of left and right extension moving tables 14a, 14b are aligned.
2b, and the first and second spacers 21 and 22 described above.
Are lifted upward by the Z stages 25a and 25b, whereby the optical fiber groups 10a-1
The optical fibers 10a 'to 10d' and 11a 'to 11 which have been stripped by increasing the distance between 0d and 11a to 11d.
d 'is fixed by a pair of right and left clamps 13a and 13b. Thereafter, the portion from which the coating has been removed is heated by the burner 15 to perform fusion and stretching.

At this time, one end of the optical fiber 10a is connected to one end.
LD light source of required wavelength such as 3 μm, optical fiber 10
A power meter is provided at the other end of the optical fiber 11a and the same side of the optical fiber 11a, and an optical fiber coupler is manufactured while monitoring a set of power. When the desired branching ratio is reached, the flame of the burner 15 is extinguished to complete the optical fiber coupler. Then mold according to your needs.

After this, molding may be performed as it is. However, both spacers 2 of the present invention used to increase the interval are used.
If you lower 1,22, the spacing of the optical fiber group will return to the original,
A coupler having the same shape as that when the operation is performed without expansion is obtained, and a smaller coupler can be obtained. In particular, when a coupler is manufactured using tape, the appearance is better and the commercial value is increased.

In addition, other spacers such as those shown in FIG. 7 are conceivable. This is achieved by moving a pair of left and right wedge-shaped first spacers 25a, 25b and second spacers 26a, 26b movable in the vertical and horizontal directions as shown in FIGS. This is an example in which the intervals between two optical fiber groups 10a to 10d and 11a to 11d are simultaneously expanded by a desired amount. Of course, the structure of the spacer is not limited to these.

[0017]

As described above, by using the clamp mechanism of the present invention, a plurality of optical fiber couplers can be manufactured at the same time, whereby the cost of the optical fiber coupler can be reduced. Further, since a plurality of optical fiber couplers are united by using a tape fiber, it is possible to provide an optical fiber coupler which is easier to use than a conventional one when a plurality of optical fiber couplers are used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spacer alone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an operation state of a spacer.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an operation state of a spacer.

FIG. 5 is an overall side view of the optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of another embodiment of the spacer.

FIG. 8 is a side view of an optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a comparative explanatory diagram of a heating state by a burner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 1st optical fiber group 11 2nd optical fiber group 12a, 12b Clamp 13a, 13b Clamp 14a, 14b Stretching moving table 15 Burner 21 First spacer 22 Second spacer 23 Crest portion 24a, 24b Crest portion

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Eiji Sasaoka, Inventor, 1 Tayacho, Sakae-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. Yokohama Works (56) References JP-A-63-205615 (JP, A) 1-120510 (JP, A) JP-A-1-239509 (JP, A) JP-A-2-259707 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/28 -6/293

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] An optical fiber is exposed by removing a coating of a plurality of first optical fibers over a predetermined section at the same longitudinal position, and the exposed optical fibers are parallel to each other on the same plane. The first arranged to be
The optical fiber group of the second optical fiber group and the second optical fiber group having the same number as that of the first optical fiber are arranged in the same manner as in the first optical fiber, and the fiber strands of the second optical fiber group arranged in a stripped manner are adhered in parallel to each other. Characterized in that it comprises means for arranging the first and second optical fibers, and a spacer for expanding the interval between the exposed optical fiber wires and the optical fibers in the vicinity thereof by a desired amount. . 2. The clamp mechanism for an optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spacer inserts a mountain-shaped portion between the optical fiber groups. 3. The clamp mechanism for an optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a necessary number of spacers are provided by dividing the spacer into two. 4. The clamp mechanism for an optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber group is a tape fiber.