JP3395365B2 - Tape fiber coupler manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly to a tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus for simultaneously manufacturing a plurality of optical fiber couplers having the same characteristics by using an optical fiber ribbon. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A technique for manufacturing a plurality of optical fiber couplers using an optical fiber ribbon is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No.
-321324 already proposed. The tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus described in this application will be described.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram thereof, FIG. 5 (A) is a side view, and FIG. 5 (B) is a plan view. 1a to 1 in the figure
d, 2a to 2d are bare fiber parts, 3 is a gas burner, 4a
4d and 5a to 5d are optical fiber coating portions, 6a and 6b are optical fiber coating portion fixing tools, 7a and 7b are bare fiber portion fixing tools, and 8a and 8b are drawing tables. The bare fiber portions 2a to 2d are below the bare fiber portions 1a to 1d and are not shown in FIG. 5B.

The first optical fiber coating portions 4a to 4d and the second optical fiber coating portions 5a to 5d are extended by the optical fiber coating portion fixtures 6a and 6b in parallel and at intervals. , 8b. Also, the first
Bare fiber part 1 from which the coating of the optical fiber coating part has been removed
a to 1d and the bare fiber portions 2a to 2d from which the coating of the second optical fiber coating portion has been removed are the bare fiber portion fixtures 7a,
It is fixed by 7b so as to be in close contact with each other.

In this state, the bare fiber portions 1a to 1d and 2a to 2d are heated by using the gas burner 4 to fuse and integrate 1a and 2a, 1b and 2b, 1c and 2c, 1d and 2d, respectively. After that, the bare fiber portions 1a to 1d and 2a to 2d integrated by using the gas burner 4 are heated to draw the drawing table 8
Stretching is performed by moving a to the left and stretching table 8b to the right. At this time, a laser diode (LD) light source (not shown) is connected to one end of the optical fiber of the optical fiber coating portion 5a, and a power meter is connected to the opposite side of the optical fiber of the optical fiber coating portions 5a and 6a to output the output light. To monitor.
When the intensity of light emitted from the optical fibers of the optical fiber coating portions 5a and 6a becomes equal, the stretching is stopped,
Four optical fiber couplers can be manufactured simultaneously.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a schematic structure of an example of a bare fiber part fixing tool. In the figure, 21 is a main body member, 2
2 is a pressing member, 23 is a groove, 24 is a spacer, and 25 is a shaft. The bare fiber portion 1 housed in the groove 23
Sections a to 1d and 2a to 2d are illustrated. Body member 21
The groove portion 23 has a rectangular cross section, and is formed with a spacer portion 24 which is a gap between the bare fiber portions so that the heated gas flows uniformly. For example,
The outer diameter of the optical fiber coating portion is 250 μm, the diameter of the bare fiber portion with the coating removed is 125 μm, and the width of the groove portion 23 is 12 in order to set the gap between the bare fiber portions to 250 μm.
5 μm, the width of the spacer portion 24 between the groove portions is 250
μm. The groove portion 23 is formed by cutting the main body member 21. With the two bare fiber parts housed in each groove 23, the pressing member 22 is rotated about the shaft 25,
Fix it by pressing the bare fiber part from above.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a schematic structure of an example of the optical fiber coating fixture. In the figure, 26 is a main body member, 27 is a pressing member, 28 is a groove portion, 29 is a spacer portion,
30 is an axis. The optical fiber coating portions 4a to 4d and 5a to 5d housed in the groove portion 28 are shown in cross section. The groove portion 28 of the main body member 26 is formed with a spacer portion 29 such that the center line of the groove portion 28 has an interval such that it coincides with the center line of the groove portion of the optical fiber fixture. As described above, the outer diameter of the optical fiber coating portion is 250 μm, the diameter of the optical fiber is 125 μm, and the gap between the bare fiber portions is 2 μm.
When it is 50 μm, the width of the groove 28 is 250 μm,
The width of the spacer portion 29 between the groove portions is 125 μm. Like the bare fiber part fixture, the groove part 28 is formed by cutting the main body member 26. With the two optical fiber coating portions housed in the respective groove portions 28, the pressing member 27
Is rotated about the shaft 30 to fix the optical fiber coating portion by pressing it from above.

When simultaneously manufacturing a plurality of optical fiber couplers having the same characteristics by using such a manufacturing apparatus,
Precise positioning is required as compared to making one optical fiber coupler.

It is difficult in manufacturing to accurately make the diameters of all bare fiber portions in the optical fiber ribbon used, and it is unavoidable that the diameters vary. Therefore, the width of the groove portion of the bare fiber portion fixture must be set to a size that allows the bare fiber portion having the largest diameter among the variations in the diameter of the bare fiber portion to be inserted. When a bare fiber portion having a diameter smaller than the width of the groove portion is inserted into the groove portion of this size, as shown in FIG. 3B, a pair of bare fiber portions 1a and 2a are provided. However, it is fixed in an inclined state in the groove portion, and a deviation occurs in the center position of the two bare fiber portions 1a and 2a.
If the shifts in the center positions of the pairs of the bare fiber portions are different, there is a problem that the characteristics of the manufactured optical fiber couplers cannot be made uniform.

As described with reference to FIG. 5, the pressing member presses all the pairs of bare fiber portions. Considering the variation of the depth of the groove portion and the variation of the diameter of the bare fiber portion, the pressing member can only hit the pair of the bare fiber portion having the highest height, and in the pressing member having such a structure, There is a problem that it is inappropriate to apply a precise pressing force to all the pairs of bare fiber parts.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and can reduce the deviation of the center position of the pair of bare fiber portions in the groove portion into which the bare fiber portion is inserted. An object of the present invention is to provide a tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus capable of applying an appropriate pressing force to a pair of bare fiber portions.

[0012]

The present invention SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION, in the invention according to claim 1, by arranging the two tapes fibers obtained by removing the coating of a predetermined length in the vertical direction, opposite of that for bare fiber Groove for inserting each pair of parts and the groove
In a tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus having a pressing member for closely contacting a pair of inserted bare fiber portions, in the groove portion , the width of the groove portion is among variations in the diameter of the bare fiber portion.
Rectangular shape that is large enough to insert the largest diameter bare fiber
And a V-shaped portion on the bottom of the
It is characterized in that each pair of fiber parts is a groove inserted vertically .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to the first aspect,
The groove portion is formed on a silicon wafer. In the invention of claim 3, in the tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, the groove portion is formed of zirconia ceramics. It is characterized by that.

[0014] In the invention described in claim 4, claim
4. The tape fiber cap according to any one of 1 to 3.
In the la manufacturing apparatus, the pressing member is provided for each pair of bare fiber parts, and is individually displaceably supported by a supporting member. In the invention according to claim 5, And any one of claims 1 to 3.
In the manufacturing apparatus of the tape fiber coupler described in the paragraph,
The pressing member is provided for each pair of two adjacent bare fiber portions, and is individually displaceably supported by the supporting member.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to the fourth or fifth aspect, the pressing member is supported by an elastic force applied to a common supporting member. In the invention according to claim 7, in the tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6, the pressing member is made of BeCu. It is what

[0016]

According to the present invention, since the bottom of the groove is V-shaped, as shown in FIG. 3 (A), the bare fiber portion on the bottom side of the pair of bare fiber portions has a large diameter. It is located in the center of the groove regardless. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deviation from the bare fiber portion positioned above it, and the positioning accuracy is improved as compared with the one using the rectangular groove portion. A silicon wafer or zirconia ceramics is suitable for precisely processing the V-shaped groove at the bottom.

The pressing member is provided for each pair of bare fiber portions, or is provided for each pair of two adjacent bare fiber portions, and is individually displaceably supported by the support member so that all the bare fibers are bare. A pair of fiber parts can be pushed. By supporting the pressing member with elastic force applied to the supporting member, it is possible to obtain a structure in which pressing force is easily applied. The pressing member is preferably made of a material having an appropriate softness, for example, BeC.
u is good.

[0018]

1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of a bare fiber part fixing device in a tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view. 1a to 1 in the figure
d, 2a to 2d are bare fiber parts, 11 is a main body member, 12
Is a support member, 13a to 13d are groove portions, 14a to 14d are pressing members, 15 is a shaft, and 16 is a spring member.

Grooves 13a to 13d are formed in the main body member 11, and the bare fiber portions 1a and 2 are formed in the groove 13a.
a, the bare fiber portions 1b and 2b, and the groove portion 13c in the groove portion 13b
The bare fiber portions 1c and 2c are inserted into the groove portions 13d, and the bare fiber portions 1d and 2d are inserted into the groove portions 13d. In this embodiment, since four optical fiber couplers are manufactured using a four-core optical fiber tape, four groove portions 13a to 13d are formed in the main body portion 11, but the number of groove portions is It is formed according to the number of cores of the optical fiber tape used.
The bottoms of the grooves 13a to 13d are V-shaped.

As a material for forming the V-shaped groove at the bottom, it is necessary to select a material suitable for precision processing. For example, a silicon wafer or zirconia ceramic is a suitable material.

As described with reference to FIG. 3A, the pair of bare fiber portions inserted into the groove portions 13a to 13d has two bare fiber portions even if the diameter of the bare fiber portion is smaller than the width of the groove portion. The deviation of the center position of is small. The width of the groove is 130 μm or more and 150 μm when using an optical fiber tape having a bare fiber diameter of 125 μm.
The following is good. That is, with respect to the diameter of the bare fiber portion,
The width of the groove is preferably 104% or more and 120% or less.

The pressing members 14a to 14d have groove portions 13a to 13d.
Corresponding to each of 13d, it is supported by the support member 12. As the support structure, a structure that allows the pressing members 14a to 14d to move up and down is suitable. In this embodiment, the pressing members 14 a to 14 d are biased downward by the spring member 16 with respect to the support member 12. Therefore, even if the heights of the bare fiber portion pairs inserted in the grooves 13a to 13d are not uniform, it is possible to apply a uniform pressing force to all the bare fiber portion pairs. The pressing force is suitably 30 g or more and 100 g or less.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the essential parts of another embodiment of the bare fiber part fixing device in the tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a main body member, 12 is a support member, 13a and 13b are groove portions, 14a is a pressing member, 16
Is a spring member, 17 is a support rod, 18 is a pressing piece, and 19 is a movable shaft. In this embodiment, one pressing member presses a pair of bare fiber parts inserted in two adjacent groove parts 13a and 13b. The pressing piece 18 attached to the support rod 17 of the pressing member 14a was attached by a movable shaft 19 so as to be swingable. The pressing piece 18 is fixed to the support rod 17 without using the movable shaft 19, and the support rod 17 is fixed to the support member 1.
2 may be attached so as to allow some inclination. Since the pressing piece 18 can be tilted, even if the pair of left and right bare fiber portions have different heights, both can be pressed uniformly.

The pressing surface of the pressing member is preferably made of one having an appropriate softness, for example, BeC.
u is preferably used as the tip of the pressing member or the material of the pressing piece.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the deviation of the center position of the pair of bare fiber portions in the groove portion into which the bare fiber portion is inserted, and it is also possible to reduce There is an effect that it is possible to provide a tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus that can apply an appropriate pressing force to a pair.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of a bare fiber part fixing tool in a tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of the bare fiber part fixing tool of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a bare fiber portion is housed in a groove portion.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a main part of another embodiment of the bare fiber part fixing device in the tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus, FIG. 5 (A) is a side view, and FIG. 5 (B) is a plan view.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional bare fiber part fixing tool used in the optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional fixture for an optical fiber coating portion used in the optical fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a-1d, 2a-2d ... Bare fiber part, 11 ... Main body member, 12a-12d ... Pressing member, 13a-13d ... Groove part, 14 ... Supporting member, 15 ... Shaft, 16 ... Spring member, 17
... Supporting rod, 18 ... Pressing piece, 19 ... Movable shaft.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-6-130245 (JP, A) JP-A-6-34842 (JP, A) JP-A-5-224070 (JP, A) JP-A-64- 46708 (JP, A) JP 7-104142 (JP, A) JP 6-160664 (JP, A) JP 4-247413 (JP, A) JP 3-246509 (JP, A) JP-A-3-77902 (JP, A) JP-A-4-240808 (JP, A) JP-A-7-92346 (JP, A) JP-A-7-84141 (JP, A) JP-A-6-148462 (JP, A) JP-A-6-148461 (JP, A) JP-A-6-347660 (JP, A) Actual development Sho 62-137405 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷⁾ , DB name) G02B 6/28-6/293 G02B 6/04-6/08 G02B 6/24-6/255

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] We claim: 1. Place the two tapes fibers obtained by removing the coating of a predetermined length in the vertical direction, a groove portion for inserting the bare fiber portion of the pair of opposing its respective inserted into the groove portion
In the manufacturing apparatus of the tape fiber coupler having a pressing member for closely contacting the pair of bare fiber parts , the groove is
The width is the largest among the variations in the diameter of the bare fiber.
A rectangular part large enough to insert a bare fiber part
And the V-shaped portion at the bottom thereof, the bare fiber
An apparatus for manufacturing a tape fiber coupler, wherein each pair of parts is a groove which is inserted vertically . 2. The tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the groove is formed in a silicon wafer. 3. The tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the groove is formed of zirconia ceramics. Wherein said pressing member is any one of claims 1, characterized in that it is supported displaceably supported member provided and individually for each pair of bare fiber portion 3
An apparatus for manufacturing a tape fiber coupler according to. Wherein said pressing member claims 1, characterized in that it is supported displaceably supported member and individually provided for each pair of adjacent two Tsunohadaka fiber unit 3
An apparatus for manufacturing a tape fiber coupler according to any one of 1 . 6. The tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the pressing member is supported by an elastic force applied to a common supporting member. 7. The tape fiber coupler manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the pressing member is made of BeCu.