JP3383022B2 - Manufacturing method of optical fiber ribbon - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon used in the field of optical communication and the like, and more specifically, arranging optical fiber strands in parallel and providing a collective coating layer on the outer periphery thereof. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon, which is useful when a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are arranged in parallel and integrated to manufacture an optical fiber ribbon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of optical communication, a plurality of optical fiber strands 1 are arranged in parallel as shown in FIG. 9, and an ultraviolet curable resin (hereinafter referred to as UV resin) or the like is provided on the outer periphery thereof. An optical fiber ribbon 3 which is formed in a tape shape by using a collective coating layer 2 made of a thermosetting resin is used.

Such an optical fiber ribbon core wire 3 is generally composed of a plurality of optical fiber strands 1 as shown in FIG.
By arranging them in parallel and passing through a coating die 4 equipped with a nipple and a die to collectively coat the outer periphery of the wire group with resin such as UV resin stored therein, and then irradiating ultraviolet rays with an ultraviolet lamp 5. It is manufactured by curing the coating resin. In the figure, 6 is a winding device for winding the optical fiber ribbon 3.

In recent years, two more optical fiber ribbons (single tape ribbons) 3 manufactured in this way are arranged in parallel,
UV is applied to the outer periphery in the same way as when manufacturing a single tape core wire.
There has been an attempt to manufacture a multi-core optical fiber ribbon (multi-tape ribbon) by providing a collective coating layer of resin or the like and forming it into a tape shape. That is, FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of such a double tape core wire, which has a structure in which a collective coating layer 7 is further provided on the outer periphery of two parallel single tape core wires 3 and integrated. There is.

[0005]

However, as is clear from FIG. 11, the multi-tape fiber cores manufactured in this way are the optical fiber element wires 1a located on the innermost side of each single tape core wire 3. Inevitably, the interval is larger than the interval between other adjacent optical fiber strands 1, so that there is a problem that the terminals cannot be collectively connected by the connector.

[0006] Therefore, a single tape core wire is obtained so as to obtain a double tape core wire in which the distances between the adjacent optical fiber wires 1 are all equal, that is, the thickness on one side in the wire array direction (width direction) is on the opposite side. There is a demand for a manufacturing technique for a single tape core wire that is formed thinner than its wall thickness.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and it is possible to cause uneven thickness in the collective coating thickness on both sides of the strand arranging direction. In this case, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon which can form all the distances between the strands equally.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of optical fiber element wires or optical fiber core wires are arranged in parallel, and a resin reservoir portion having a resin supply hole is sandwiched between the resin reservoir portion and the resin reservoir portion. A nipple having a nipple hole for passing the plurality of optical fiber strands or optical fiber core wires provided in parallel,
An optical fiber tape core through which a resin is collectively coated on the outer circumference of the plurality of optical fiber element wires or optical fiber core wires by passing through a coating die having a die having a die hole substantially opposite to the nipple hole. In the method for manufacturing a wire, the nipple hole and the die hole are provided by displacing one center thereof with respect to the other center by a predetermined length in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber element wires or optical fiber core wires. In this case, at least one of the nipple and the die is preferably configured to be movable by an arbitrary length in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber element wires or the optical fiber core wires.

In a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of optical fiber strands or optical fiber core wires are arranged in parallel to each other, and a resin reservoir portion having a resin supply hole and the resin reservoir portion sandwiched therebetween are provided. A nipple having a nipple hole through which a plurality of optical fiber strands or optical fiber core wires are passed in parallel, and a coating die provided with a die in which a die hole is provided at a position substantially facing the nipple hole, In a method for manufacturing an optical fiber tape core wire in which a resin is collectively coated on the outer circumference of a plurality of optical fiber wires or an optical fiber core wire, a plurality of optical fiber elements passing through the nipple holes are provided in a resin reservoir portion of the coating die. A guide member having a guide hole for arranging wires or optical fiber core wires in parallel to guide the optical fiber to the die hole is provided with the center of the guide hole with respect to the center of the die hole. It is characterized in that it is arranged by displacing by a predetermined length in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber or the optical fiber core wire, and in this case, the guide member is the arrangement direction of the optical fiber element wire or the optical fiber core wire. It is desirable to be configured to be movable for any length.

As the resin for collectively coating the outer circumference of the optical fiber element wire or the optical fiber core wire, UV such as urethane-acrylate resin or epoxy-acrylate resin is used.
The use of resins is preferred. The material for forming the nipple, the die, the resin reservoir and the guide member may be any material that can maintain the shape, and for example, cemented carbide or brass is preferably used.

[0011]

According to the first method of the present invention, in the coating die, the nipple hole for positioning the optical fiber element wire or the optical fiber core wire and the die hole for molding the collective coating layer of resin have one center at the other. Since it is arranged so as to be displaced by a predetermined length in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber element wires or the optical fiber core wires with respect to the center, the optical fiber element wire group or the core wire group has a die hole, The center is eccentrically passed from the center of the die hole in the direction of arranging the strands (cores), and a desired uneven coating layer is formed.

This method is easy to implement because it is only necessary to change the relative positions of the nipple hole and the die hole. In particular, when at least one of the nipple and the die is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction by an arbitrary length, the uneven thickness amount can be easily adjusted, which is useful.

Also in the second method of the present invention, the group of optical fibers or cores that have passed through the guide holes has the dice holes,
Since the center is eccentrically passed from the center of the die hole in the direction of arranging the strands (cores), it is possible to form a desired eccentric collective coating layer. This method is easier to implement than the first method because it only places the guide member on the conventional coating die. Further, when the guide member is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction by an arbitrary length, it is further advantageous because the uneven thickness amount can be easily adjusted.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a coating die used in the present invention, in which 8 is a coating die. In the following drawings, common parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of optical fiber wires 9 are arranged in parallel and passed through a coating die 8 and their outer circumferences are collectively coated with UV resin, and then an ultraviolet lamp or the like ( (Not shown), the collective coating layer 10 is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays.

As shown in FIG. 2, the coating die 8 is provided with a nipple 11 and a die 12 on the inlet side and the outlet side of the wire 9, respectively, and between them, UV is provided on the upper side.
It has a structure in which a UV resin reservoir 13 having a resin supply hole 13a is provided, and is formed integrally after each part is formed by a separate block. Nipple 11
Has an oval nipple hole 14 through which the optical fiber strands 9 are passed in parallel, and the die 12 has a nipple hole 14.
Dice holes 15 of a similar size and a size larger than that of the nipple hole 14 are formed. The nipple hole 14 and the die hole 15 have a center O of the die hole 15 and a center O of the nipple hole 14 as shown in FIG. ′ Is provided so as to be relatively displaced by a predetermined length in the y-axis direction of the three-dimensional space coordinates when the insertion direction of the wire 9 is the z-axis. That is,
As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 4, the nipple hole 14 and the die hole 15 are overlapped on the xy coordinates with the center O of the die hole 15 as the origin, so that the center O ′ of the nipple hole 14 becomes y from the origin O. It is arranged so as to be displaced by a predetermined length in the axial direction.

In the coating die 8 thus constructed, the group of wires traveling in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 4 (z-axis direction) first passes through the nipple hole 14,
The insertion center is positioned at the center O ′ of the nipple hole 14,
Then, after passing through the UV resin reservoir 13, the die hole 15
The UV resin is coated on the outer periphery by being pulled out through. At this time, since the die hole 15 and the nipple hole 14 are eccentric in the y-axis direction as described above, the UV resin is unevenly coated in the y-axis direction, that is, the arrangement direction of the optical fiber element wires 9, and is collectively covered. . Therefore, after this, by irradiating ultraviolet rays to cure the coating, the optical fiber tape core wire 16 having the collective coating layer 10 having uneven thickness in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber element wires 9 as shown in FIG. It is formed.

As shown in FIG. 6, two optical fiber ribbons 16 thus obtained are lined up so that the thin portion is on the inner side, and UV resin or the like is collectively put on the outer side by a usual method. By coating and hardening the above, all the optical fiber strands 9 are arranged at substantially equal intervals, and therefore, an optical fiber ribbon which can be collectively connected by a connector at a terminal can be obtained. In FIG. 6, 17 is an outer collective coating layer.

A specific example of the above embodiment will be described below.

In the coating die 8 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the nipple 11 and the die 12 is a plate having a length of 80 mm, a width of 30 mm and a thickness of 5 mm, and a nipple hole 14 is formed.
The major axis is 1.04 mm, the minor axis is 0.28 mm, the radius of curvature of the curved part is 0.13 mm,
The die hole 15 has a long diameter of 1.14 mm, a short diameter of 0.36 mm, and a curvature radius of a curved portion of 0.18 mm. Also, the nipple hole 14 and the die hole 1
The displacement of the center of 5 was set to 45 μm in the y-axis direction of the three-dimensional spatial coordinates when the insertion direction of the optical fiber element wire 9 was set to the z-axis direction, and the length of the UV resin reservoir 13 was set to 30 mm. Then, four 0.26 mmφ optical fiber element wires 9 are passed in parallel through a coating die 8 formed by integrating these respective parts, and UV resin is collectively coated on the outer periphery and then irradiated with ultraviolet rays for coating. Was cured to produce an optical fiber ribbon 16 having a width of 1.12 mm and a thickness of 0.34 mm.

The obtained optical fiber tape core wire 16 was cut and the cut surface was observed with a microscope to measure the wall thickness of the collective coating layer. The coating thickness on both sides in the width direction was 0.095 mm on the thick side,
It was 0.005 mm on the thin side, and it was confirmed that the desired uneven thickness occurred.

The coating die 8 of the above embodiment
In the above, if at least one of the nipple 11 and the die 12 is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction by an arbitrary length, the uneven thickness amount of the collective coating layer 10 can be arbitrarily adjusted, and the uneven thickness amounts are different. It is advantageous that not only various optical fiber ribbons can be manufactured, but also various optical fiber ribbons can be used for manufacturing a normal optical fiber ribbon without uneven thickness.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In this embodiment, a coating die 8 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is used. That is, the coating die 8 is provided with the nipple 11 and the die 12, and the UV resin reservoir portion 13 having the UV resin supply hole 13a on the upper portion, which is provided between the nipple 11 and the die 12. However, here, four guide plates 19 having a guide hole 18 of the same shape and size as the nipple hole 11 in the center are provided inside the UV resin reservoir 13 so as to project vertically and horizontally. The shaft 20 is supported by the shaft 20 and is movably provided in parallel with the nipple 11 and the die 12 in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the direction in which the wire group is inserted.

In such a coating die 8, a plurality of optical fiber strands 9 are arranged in parallel and passed through the nipple hole 14 and then the guide hole 18 and pulled out from the die hole 15, but the guide plate 19 is left alone. By moving the guide hole 18 in a horizontal direction orthogonal to the direction in which the wire group is inserted, the guide hole 18 is eccentric with respect to the die hole 15 by a predetermined length, that is, the nipple hole 14 and the die shown in the above-described embodiment. By shifting the position of each center like the hole 15, the UV resin is unevenly coated on the outer circumference of the optical fiber element wire 9 at once. Therefore, thereafter, by irradiating this collective coating with ultraviolet rays to cure it, the optical fiber ribbon having the collective coating layer 10 having uneven thickness in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber element wires 9 similar to that shown in FIG. 16 are manufactured.

A specific example of the above embodiment will be described below.

In the coating die 8 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the nipple 11 and the die 12 are formed into a plate shape having a length of 80 mm, a width of 30 mm and a thickness of 5 mm, respectively, and a nipple hole 14
The major axis is 1.04 mm, the minor axis is 0.28 mm, the radius of curvature of the curved part is 0.13 mm,
The die hole 15 has a major axis of 1.14 mm, a minor axis of 0.36 mm, a radius of curvature of a curved portion of 0.18 mm, and a length of the UV resin liquid supply reservoir 13 of 30 mm. Further, in the UV resin reservoir 13 between the nipple 11 and the die 12, the same shape as the nipple hole 14, the same major axis 1.04 mm, minor axis 0.28 mm, and curvature radius 0.13 mm of the curved portion.
The guide plate 19 having the guide holes 18 of
The center of the die was arranged so as to be eccentric by 45 μm in the horizontal direction from the center of the die hole 14. Then, four optical fiber strands 9 having a diameter of 0.26 mm are passed in parallel through such a coating die 8 and UV resin is collectively coated on the outer periphery, and then the coating is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays to a width of 1.12. An optical fiber ribbon 16 having a thickness of 0.34 mm and a thickness of 0.34 mm was manufactured.

The obtained optical fiber tape core wire 16 was cut, and the cut surface was observed with a microscope to measure the wall thickness of the collective coating layer 10. The coating thickness on both sides in the width direction was 0.0 on the thick side.
It was 95 mm and 0.005 mm on the thin side, and it was confirmed that the desired thickness deviation occurred.

The guide plate 19 may be movable not only in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the direction in which the element wire group is inserted, but also in the vertical direction. In this case, since the position of the guide hole 18 can be decentered in the vertical direction with respect to the die hole 15, although not shown, an optical fiber tape core having a collective coating layer deviated in the thickness direction is provided. Wires can be manufactured. Then, the optical fiber tape core wire having such a collective coating layer having an uneven thickness in the thickness direction,
This is useful when an optical fiber ribbon (single tape ribbon) is laminated in the thickness direction and integrated to produce an integrated optical fiber ribbon (double tape ribbon). I.e. 2
By stacking the book and thin side facing each other and applying a collective coating layer of UV resin or the like on the outer circumference, the distances between adjacent optical fiber strands are all about the same, and therefore connection at the terminal is easy. It is possible to obtain an optical fiber tape core wire (double tape core wire) capable of performing the above.

[0031]

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, a plurality of optical fiber strands pass through the dice holes with their centers displaced in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber strands with respect to the center of the dice holes. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture the optical fiber tape core wire in which the desired uneven thickness is generated in the collective coating layer in the same arrangement direction. Therefore, by using this, it is possible to manufacture a multi-tape core wire in which the distances between the adjacent optical fiber element wires are substantially equal to each other and the connection at the terminal is easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of a method for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a coating die used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a spatial positional relationship between the nipple hole and the die hole.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which the nipple hole and the die hole are overlapped on a plane coordinate.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an optical fiber ribbon according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an optical fiber ribbon which is manufactured using the optical fiber ribbon.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a main part of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a coating die used in the example.

[Fig. 9] Conventional optical fiber ribbon (single tape)
FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing a conventional method for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional optical fiber ribbon (multi-fiber ribbon).

[Explanation of symbols]

8 ... coating dies 9 ... Optical fiber strand 10 ... Batch coating layer 11 ... Nipple 12 ………… Dice 13 --- UV resin reservoir 14 ... Nipple hole 15 --- Die hole 16 ... Optical fiber tape core wire (single tape core wire) 18 ... Guide hole 19 ......... Guide plate

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-143671 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) C03C 25/00-25/70 G02B 6 / 44

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A resin reservoir portion having a resin supply hole in which a plurality of optical fiber strands or optical fiber core wires are arranged in parallel,
A nipple having a nipple hole through which the plurality of optical fiber element wires or optical fiber core wires are provided in parallel with each other and sandwiching the resin reservoir portion, and a dice hole is formed at a position substantially opposite to the nipple hole. Through a coating die provided with a die, in the method for producing an optical fiber tape core wire that collectively coats a resin on the outer circumference of the plurality of optical fiber element wires or optical fiber core wires, the nipple hole and the die hole are one of them. A method for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon, wherein the center of the optical fiber is displaced by a predetermined length in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber strands or optical fiber cores with respect to the other center. 2. The method of manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a nipple and a die is movable in an arbitrary direction in an arrangement direction of the optical fiber strand or the optical fiber strand. And a method for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon. 3. A resin reservoir portion having a resin supply hole, in which a plurality of optical fiber wires or optical fiber core wires are arranged in parallel,
A nipple having a nipple hole through which the plurality of optical fiber strands or optical fiber core wires are provided in parallel with each other, sandwiching the resin reservoir portion, and a dice hole is formed at a position substantially opposite to the nipple hole. Through a coating die having a die, a method for manufacturing an optical fiber tape core wire that collectively coats a resin on the outer periphery of the plurality of optical fiber strands or the optical fiber core wire, in a resin reservoir portion of the coating die, A guide member having a guide hole for guiding a plurality of optical fiber element wires or optical fiber core wires that have passed through the nipple hole to the die hole by arranging them in parallel is provided. A method of manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon, which is arranged by displacing a predetermined length in a direction in which the strands or the optical fibers are arranged. 4. The method of manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon according to claim 3, wherein the guide member is configured to be movable by an arbitrary length in the arrangement direction of the optical fiber element wires or the optical fiber core wires. A method for manufacturing a characteristic optical fiber ribbon.