JP3424527B2 - Optical fiber connection terminal processor with fiber positioning push-up mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to prevention of dust reattachment to an optical fiber in an automatic terminal processor for connecting an optical fiber terminal. More specifically, the present invention provides a tape-shaped optical fiber push-up mechanism in the vicinity of a fiber holder for gripping and fixing an optical fiber, thereby reattaching dust to the optical fiber in an automatic terminal processor for connecting the optical fiber to the terminal. Regarding prevention.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical fiber terminal processing machine has been developed for processing an optical fiber terminal and peeling off a protective coating for connection with another optical fiber. For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-26512, a manual operation by mechanical control including mechanical elements including an optical fiber conveying section (A), a stripping section (B), a cleaning section (C) and a cutting section (D) is used. An optical fiber connection terminal processor is disclosed.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the basic structure of such an optical fiber connecting terminal processor. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining an operation of processing an end of an optical fiber by a clamp push-up method using an optical fiber connecting end processor according to a conventional method. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining an operation of processing an end of an optical fiber by using a conventional terminal processing device for connecting an optical fiber without pushing up a clamp.
In FIGS. 3 to 5, 1 is an optical fiber (tape) that is subjected to terminal treatment for connection with other optical fibers, and 2 is a fiber holder that holds and fixes the optical fiber and distributes it to each terminal processing mechanism element. 3 is a holder stage for moving an optical fiber (fiber holder) to each work position by electrical control, 4 is an optical fiber (fiber holder) fixed to the holder stage (integrated with the holder stage)
The holder clamps 5 and 6 are a lower clamp and an upper clamp for disposing the optical fiber in the stripping section (B), the cleaning section (C) and the cutting section (D), 11,
Reference numeral 11 'is a remover for peeling off the optical fiber terminal, and 9 is a scratching blade for aligning the bare optical fiber terminal portion with a certain length to scratch the predetermined position.

[0004] fixed but disposed in the working position by electric control grips and fixing the optical fiber in such a mechanism, typically during connection and fusion of the optical fiber, with fiber holder 2 the optical fiber 1 Then, the fiber holder 2 is moved to advance fusion. Usually, the optical fiber connecting terminal processor has a structure that uses the fiber holder 2 so that the optical fiber can be smoothly set in the fusion machine after the optical fiber is cut. The mechanism for processing an optical fiber terminal by such an optical fiber connecting terminal processor will be described below. As shown in FIG. 4, in the case of using the clamp lifting method,
The optical fiber tape 1 gripped by the fiber holder 2 is pushed up by the lower clamp 5, but the optical fiber tape 1 is pushed up while the fiber holder 2 is moving in order to surely place it on the removers 11 and 11 '(Fig. 4- (I)).

Next, dust on the outer periphery of the optical fiber coating adheres to the upper portion of the lower clamp 5, and the removers 11 and 1
After peeling the optical fiber end with 1'to make a bare optical fiber having a predetermined length exposed, the bare optical fiber is cleaned with a cleaning tape wet with alcohol (not shown), and the bare optical fiber tape 1 is clamped up and down 6 5. The optical fiber 1 is plastically destroyed by gripping and fixing it by 5, and scratching it at a predetermined position with the scratching blade 9 and lowering the pillow part (12 in FIG. 6) which is a separate member from the scratching blade. By doing so, it is cut ( Fig. 4- (b)).
At that time, dust attached to the lower clamp 5 may reattach to the tip of the bare optical fiber 1. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, if the lower clamp 5 is not pushed up, the remover 11, 11 'may not be able to ride properly due to the habit of the optical fiber 1 (FIG. 5- (a)). 1 is deformed and it is necessary to redo it again (Fig. 5-
(B)).

[0006]

As described above, according to the conventional optical fiber connecting terminal processing machine, when the terminal of the optical fiber is processed, the bare optical fiber is cut while the dirt is reattached or the clamp is used. If the optical fiber is not pushed up, the optical fiber is deformed without being attached to the remover and the optical fiber must be re-executed due to the tendency of the optical fiber.

[0007]

As a result of various studies on the above problems, the present inventor has found that a tape-shaped optical fiber pushing-up mechanism is provided in the vicinity of a fiber holder for gripping and fixing an optical fiber in an optical fiber connecting terminal processing machine. It has been found that, by providing such a device, dust can be prevented from adhering to the bare optical fiber and the processing of the optical fiber terminal can be carried out smoothly, and the present invention has been completed. That is, the present invention: For performing terminal treatment of a multi-core tape-shaped optical fiber and a single-core optical fiber,
(A) An optical fiber transport unit having a mechanism by electrical control for gripping and fixing the optical fiber and moving it to each work position of stripping, cleaning and cutting,
(B) a stripping unit having a mechanism for peeling and removing the coating material of the optical fiber to a certain size, and (C) a cleaning having a mechanism for cleaning the optical fiber from which the coating material of the optical fiber has been stripped and removed by the stripping unit. Section, (D) four mechanical elements of a cutting section having a mechanism for aligning and cutting the optical fibers cleaned by the cleaning section to a certain size, and the stripping section (B), cleaning section (C) and In an optical fiber connecting terminal processing machine in which the three steps of the cutting section (D) interlock with the optical fiber transport section to perform batch processing continuously, a tape-shaped optical fiber is provided near a clamp for gripping and fixing the optical fiber. There is provided a terminal processing machine for connecting an optical fiber, which is provided with a push-up mechanism. Also,

The optical fiber push-up mechanism is also characterized in that the optical fiber push-up plate attached to the tip of the push-up arm is moved up and down. Another feature is that the position of the optical fiber push-up plate is in front of and below the fiber holder that grips and fixes the optical fiber, and in the vicinity of the fiber holder. It is also characterized in that the operations of the optical fiber conveying section (A), the stripping section (B), the cleaning section (C) and the cutting section (D) are linked and automated by electrical control. Also,
Stripping section (B) a mechanism for separating and removing a constant dimension dressing optical fibers constituting the is, after peeling off the coating material of the optical fiber to a constant length at remover consisting of two upper and lower strip cutter, the optical fiber It is also characterized in that the fiber holder to be gripped and fixed recedes linearly to remove the coating material of the optical fiber. Also,
Cleaning mechanism constituting a cleaning unit (C) is also characterized in terms Ru good discharge treatment <br/>. In addition, after the optical fiber cutting mechanism that constitutes the cutting part (D) grips both end portions of the optical fiber with the optical fiber gripping mechanism that is composed of the upper and lower clamps that face each other vertically, the optical fiber gripping mechanism is used to scratch the optical fiber at a predetermined position. It is also characterized in that it scratches and presses a member different from the blade to cut the optical fiber, and the protruding portion from the optical fiber is made uniform in size.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The present invention is basically an optical fiber connection terminal processor, characterized in that in the vicinity of the multi-core tape-like or fiber holder for gripping and fixing the single-core optical fiber provided lifting mechanism of the tape-shaped optical fiber Have (claim 1).
Furthermore, the push-up mechanism of the present invention is mounted on the tip of the push-up arm .
It is preferred according to vertical movement of only the optical fiber push-up plate (claim 2). Specifically, it is desirable that the position of the optical fiber push-up plate of the present invention is in front of and below the fiber holder for gripping and fixing the optical fiber, and in a position close to the fiber holder (claim 3). In this case, since the position of the optical fiber push-up plate is below the lower clamp, even when the pushing-up operation of the push-up plate is completed and the optical fiber push-up plate returns to the original position, the optical fiber coating dust does not adhere to the lower clamp.

[0010] Figure 1 is a schematic view showing a basic structure of an optical fiber connection terminal processing machine of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of processing the end of the optical fiber by the push-up mechanism using the terminal processing device for connecting the optical fiber of the present invention. 1 and 2, 1 is a tape-shaped or single-core optical fiber, 2 is a fiber holder, 3 is a holder stage for mounting a fiber holder, and 4 is a holder for arranging an optical fiber in the fiber holder and mounting a lid portion and then fixing the optical fiber. Clamp (Fig. 1
-(B)) 5 is a lower clamp, 6 is an upper clamp, 1
Reference numerals 1 and 11 'denote removers (peeling machines), 7 denotes an optical fiber push-up plate that pushes up the tip of the optical fiber, 8 denotes a push-up arm that pushes up the optical fiber push-up plate, and 9 denotes a wound blade.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the optical fiber connecting terminal processor, the (tape-shaped) optical fiber 1 gripped by the fiber holder 2 is located in front of and below the lower clamp 5, and the fiber holder 2 To a position close to the optical fiber push-up plate 7 and push it upward to remove the remover 11,
Place the tip of the optical fiber 1 on 11 '(Fig. 2-
(I)). By doing so, it is not necessary to push up the lower clamp 5, so that the dust adhered to the cover does not adhere to the lower clamp 5 and is reliably placed on the remover 11 ', and the upper and lower removers 11, 11' The tip portion of the optical fiber 1 is peeled to a certain length to form a bare optical fiber, and the exposed optical fiber 1 is discharged by a discharge machine to make it clean (FIG. 2- (b)).

Then, both ends of the clean-processed bare optical fiber 1 are gripped and fixed by two sets of upper and lower clamps 6 and 5, respectively, and the middle thereof is scratched by a scratching blade 9, as shown in FIG. Then, the pillow portion 12 is lowered and the optical fiber is plastically broken to cut it. In this case, since no dust is attached to the upper and lower clamps 6 and 5, the bare optical fiber 1 can be cut cleanly (FIG. 2- (c)). As a result of observing the cut optical fiber with a microscope, it was confirmed that dust was not attached to the tip portion.

In the present invention, the step (A) of pushing up the optical fiber by the optical fiber pushing-up mechanism and placing it on the remover, and the step of grasping and fixing both ends of the bare optical fiber by the upper and lower clamps to cut them ( Since B) is divided into labor and contact between the optical fiber and the lower clamp is avoided, dust does not adhere to the bare optical fiber.

[II] 4 of terminal processor for optical fiber connection
Regarding mechanical elements: Next, in the optical fiber connecting terminal processor of the present invention,
The four mechanical elements of the optical fiber transport section (A), stripping section (B), cleaning section (C) and cutting section (D) will be described. (I) Optical fiber transport section (A): It has an electric control mechanism for gripping and fixing the optical fiber and moving it to each working position of stripping (B), cleaning (C) and cutting (D). ,
The optical fiber is automatically gripped, fixed, and moved in association with the operation of each of the mechanical elements (B) to (D) (claim 4).

(Ii) Stripping part (B): A stripping part (B) having a mechanism for peeling and removing the coating material of the optical fiber core wire to a fixed size vertically moves the gripped and fixed optical fiber to the tip part. After removing the coating material of the optical fiber to a certain length with a remover equipped with two strip cutters, the fiber holder that held and fixed the optical fiber recedes linearly, and the coating material of the optical fiber is removed. (Claim 5). A hard rubber type friction member may be attached to the lower side of the upper clamp. The heater incorporated in the lower remover can warm the coating material of the optical fiber in advance to facilitate peeling and removal.

(Iii) Cleaning section (C): The stripping section (B) removes and removes the coating material of the optical fiber to expose the bare optical fiber bare optical fiber to a predetermined position by a fiber holder, It is constructed by cleaning with an electric discharge machine (not shown) to remove the coating dust adhering to the optical fiber element wire (claim 6).

(Iv) Cutting part (D): After gripping both end parts of the optical fiber by an optical fiber gripping mechanism composed of vertically clamps facing each other vertically, a scratch is made at a predetermined position with a scratching blade to lower the pillow part. The optical fiber is cut by being plastically broken, and the protruding portion from the optical fiber is arranged to have a constant size (claim 7). In order to understand the operation of the optical fiber connecting terminal processor of the present invention, the cutting mechanism of the optical fiber 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a mechanism for cutting an optical fiber in an optical fiber connecting terminal processor, FIG. 6- (a) is a side view thereof, and FIG. 6- (b) is a plan view thereof. is there.

In FIG . 6, the fiber holder 2 is gripped and
Remove the end of the fixed optical fiber 1 with the remover 11, 11 '.
It is placed on the upper surface of the optical fiber, is sandwiched by the removers 11 and 11 'and peeled off, and then is cleaned by discharge in the cleaning section (C) to remove dust attached to the tip of the bare optical fiber.
The optical fiber 1 is scratched by passing it through the scratching blade 9. After that, immediately before the pillow portion 12 is dropped, the scratching blade 9 is retracted to a position away from the optical fiber 1, and then the pillow portion 12 is dropped to a predetermined position to plastically destroy the optical fiber centering on the scratched portion and the light is emitted. The fiber 1 can be cut. (V) Post-processing: When the processing by each of the above mechanical elements is completed, the peeled coating material, the cut optical fiber element wire, and the like are dropped and stored in a recovery tray (not shown). Then the original
Return to operation .

[0019]

As described above, according to the optical fiber connecting terminal processing device of the present invention, by providing the tape-shaped optical fiber push-up mechanism in the vicinity of the clamp for gripping and fixing the optical fiber, the bare optical fiber is dusted. The effect is that there is no adherence and the processing of the optical fiber terminal can be carried out smoothly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a basic structure of an optical fiber connection terminal processing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of processing an end of an optical fiber by a push-up mechanism using the optical fiber connecting terminal processor of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the basic structure of an optical fiber connecting terminal processor.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of processing an end of an optical fiber by a clamp push-up method using an optical fiber connecting end processor according to a conventional method.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of processing an end of an optical fiber by using a terminal processing device for connecting an optical fiber according to a conventional method without a clamp pushing operation.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a mechanism for cutting an optical fiber in an optical fiber connecting terminal processing machine.
(B) is its side view, Fig. 6 (b) is a plan view thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Multi-core tape-shaped or single-core optical fiber 2 Fiber holder 3 Holder stage 4 Holder clamp 5 Lower clamp 6 Upper clamp 7 Optical fiber push-up plate 8 Lifting arm 9 Injured blade 10 Lid 11, 11 'remover (stripper) 12 Pillows

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Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A (A) optical fiber is gripped for end treatment of a multi-core tape-shaped optical fiber and a single-core optical fiber.
An optical fiber transport unit that has a mechanism by electrical control for fixing and moving to each work position of stripping, cleaning and cutting, (B) Stripping having a mechanism for peeling and removing the coating material of the optical fiber to a certain size Section, (C) a cleaning section having a mechanism for cleaning the optical fiber from which the coating material of the optical fiber has been peeled off in the stripping section, (D) the optical fiber cleaned in the cleaning section is aligned to a certain size 4 mechanical elements of a cutting unit having a mechanism for cutting by cutting are provided, and 3 steps of the stripping unit (B), the cleaning unit (C) and the cutting unit (D) are continuously performed in conjunction with the optical fiber conveying unit. In a fiber optic splicing terminal processing machine that performs batch processing, a tape-shaped optical fiber is placed near the clamp that holds and fixes the optical fiber. A terminal processing machine for connecting optical fibers, which is provided with a push-up mechanism of. 2. The terminal processing machine for optical fiber connection according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber push-up mechanism is based on vertical movement of an optical fiber push-up plate attached to the tip of the push-up arm. 3. The light according to claim 2, wherein the position of the optical fiber push-up plate is a position near and below the fiber holder for gripping and fixing the optical fiber, and near the fiber holder. Terminal processing machine for fiber connection. 4. The operations of the optical fiber conveying section (A), the stripping section (B), the cleaning section (C) and the cutting section (D) are automated by interlocking with each other by electrical control. Item 1. An optical fiber connecting terminal processor according to any one of Items 1 to 3. 5. A stripping section (B) a mechanism for separating and removing a constant dimension dressing optical fibers constituting the was peeled off the coating material of the optical fiber to a constant length at remover consisting of two upper and lower strip cutter After that, grip the optical fiber
2. The terminal processing machine for optical fiber connection according to claim 1, wherein the fixing fiber holder is a mechanism that recedes linearly to remove the coating material of the optical fiber. 6. A cleaning machine constituting a cleaning section (C)
The structure is performed by an electric discharge process.
The terminal processing machine for optical fiber connection described. 7. An optical fiber cutting mechanism constituting a cutting part (D) grips both end portions of the optical fiber with an optical fiber gripping mechanism composed of vertically-opposing upper and lower clamps and then applies the optical fiber at a predetermined position. The terminal processing machine for optical fiber connection according to claim 1, characterized in that the optical fiber is cut with a scratching blade, a member different from the blade is pressed to cut the optical fiber, and the protruding portion from the optical fiber is aligned to a certain size. .