JP4523771B2 - Twisted pair cable - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to twisted pair cables for building a LAN (Local Area Network).

  There are various types of conventional twisted pair cables. Typical examples of these are UTP (Unshielded Twist Pair) cable 101a shown in FIG. 6 (a) and STP shown in FIG. 6 (b). (Shielded Twist Pair) cable 101b.

  The UTP cable 101a includes four twisted pair wires 102 formed by twisting two electric wires including the conductor portion 103 and the insulating portion 104, and a cable sheath member 105 that surrounds them.

  The STP cable 101 b includes a twisted pair wire 102, a presser winding member 106 that surrounds the twisted pair wire 102, a shielding member 107, a drain wire 108, and a cable jacket member 105.

  As an example of a product using the twisted pair cable as described above, there is a patch cord for LAN construction (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the patch cord, and the patch cord 200 includes a cable 201 having the twisted pair cable and the optical fiber, and dedicated connectors 202a and 202b ( Hereinafter, it is collectively referred to as “appropriately connector 202”) and an attachment 203.

  The connector 202a is connected to an optical fiber included in the cable 201, and includes a light incident / exit part 205 for emitting the light propagating through the optical fiber or making the light incident on the optical fiber. The same light incident / exit part 206 as 205 is provided.

  These connectors 202a and 202b can be attached with a dedicated attachment 203 (shown in the figure when they are attached to the connector 202a). The attachment 203 has a light source 204, and light emitted from the light source 204 enters and exits the light. The light is incident on the portion 205, propagates through the optical fiber of the cable 201, and is emitted from the light incident / exit portion 206 of the connector 202b.

By detecting the above light, it becomes possible to identify the cable (identification of the cable to be constructed) necessary for the replacement work of the cable in the LAN or the switching work of the line due to the addition of the line, etc. However, it can be prevented and the construction can be performed efficiently.
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  However, in the patch cord including the patch cord 200, it is necessary to prepare a dedicated connector such as the connector 202 as described above, and a general-purpose connector that is generally used cannot be used.

  Further, in order to make the light for identifying the cable incident, a dedicated instrument such as the attachment 203 is required, and further, a dedicated instrument is also required for detecting the emitted light.

  Therefore, the cable cannot be easily identified, and the cost is increased.

  Also, when constructing a LAN using the above patch cord, the distance between network devices must be known in advance, and a patch cord having a length corresponding to the distance between devices must be prepared. There is.

  In addition, since the above-described dedicated connector requires an increase in the manufacturing cost of the patch panel, various restrictions exist when preparing a patch cord having a length corresponding to the distance between devices.

  Further, the problem to be solved in the prior art is not limited to the above-described patch cord itself, but also exists in a LAN using this.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a LAN configuration. The LAN 300 includes a network device 301, patch panels 302 and 303, a branch point 304, communication outlets 305 and 307, and a PC (Personal Computer) 306. And a terminal device 308.

  Normally, when a LAN 300 or the like is constructed using a twisted pair cable, the wiring length is about 100 m. Among these, a patch cord with a connector is a section between the network device etc. 301 and the patch panels 302 and 303, for communication It is applied only to the section between the outlet 305 and the PC 306 and the section between the communication outlet 307 and the terminal device 308. The total length is about 10 m, and the remaining 90 meters, that is, the total network extension 9 A portion called “permanent link” occupies about 30%, which is basically a fixed line.

  In the above-described permanent link, it is difficult to switch or replace the line, so the line is switched in the section where the patch cord is used.

  However, if a permanent link needs to be switched or replaced, or if any trouble occurs, a normal twisted pair cable is used for this permanent link. Is difficult, and the end portion of the cable needs to be processed locally, which places a great burden on those skilled in the art.

In view of such circumstances, the present invention is the identification of the cable easily performed, rich in versatility, and an object to provide a can reduce twisted pair cable costs.

The present invention according to claim 1 is for identifying a twisted pair cable in which the optical fiber is installed by detecting light incident on one end of a single optical fiber and emitted from the other end. A twisted pair cable, each of which is formed by twisting a plurality of electric wires, a plurality of twisted pair wires, the optical fiber, and a surrounding member that surrounds the twisted pair wire and the optical fiber , And a connector connected to an end of the surrounding member, and the end of the optical fiber is exposed to the outside of the surrounding member and the connector .

  The gist of the present invention described in claim 2 is that, in the invention described in claim 1, the surrounding member is a resin-made outer skin member.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the surrounding member includes a resin-made outer skin member that forms an outer peripheral surface of the surrounding member and an inner peripheral surface of the surrounding member. A fixing member that fixes the twisted pair wire and the optical fiber, a shielding member that is disposed between the outer skin member and the fixing member, and shields electromagnetic waves, and a longitudinal direction of the twisted pair wire and the optical fiber between the shielding member and the fixing member. And a metal wire arranged along the line.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, a space is formed between the surrounding member and the twisted pair wire, and the optical fiber is in the space. The gist of this is that

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to provide the twisted pair cable which can identify a cable easily, is rich in versatility, and can reduce cost.

Hereinafter, a description about the twisted pair cable of the present invention.
In the present invention, an optical fiber is installed in a twisted pair cable, and the twisted pair cable is identified by using this, but the following examples are only for explaining the present invention, and the scope of the present invention It is not limited. Accordingly, those skilled in the art can employ various embodiments including each or all of these elements, and these embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.
In all the drawings for explaining the following embodiments, the same reference numerals are given to the same elements, and the repeated explanation thereof is omitted.

Fig.1 (a) is sectional drawing of the twisted pair cable 1a which concerns on the 1st Example (Example 1) of this invention, FIG.1 (b) is a perspective view of the twisted pair cable 1a.
In this embodiment, the twisted pair cable 1a is a UTP (Unshielded Twist Pair) cable. This UTP cable is highly practical and is the most frequently used cable for LAN wiring.

  As shown in the figure, the twisted pair cable 1a as the UTP cable includes four twisted pair wires 2, an optical fiber 6 for identifying a cable, and a cable sheathing member 5 as a surrounding member that surrounds them. .

  Each of the twisted pair wires 2 is constituted by twisting two electric wires including a conductor portion 3 and an insulating portion 4 surrounding the conductor portion 3.

  As the conductor part 3, in addition to a soft copper single wire having an outer diameter of 0.5 mm, a soft copper single wire having an outer diameter of 0.4 mm or 0.65 mm, or a conductor defined by the standard classifications AWG26 and AWG24 can be used.

  Moreover, as the insulating part 4, a polyethylene material having an outer diameter of 0.9 mm (thickness 0.4 mm) or the like is used, and this insulating part 4 can be freely colored and colors each of the twisted wires. Can be identified.

  Further, the optical fiber 6 is disposed in a space portion between the cable sheath member 5 and the twisted pair wire 2. Details of the optical fiber 6 will be described later.

  Further, the cable skin member 5 is made of a resin such as polyethylene, and the outer diameter thereof can be arbitrarily adjusted in the production stage.

In the first embodiment, the case where the optical fiber is provided in the UTP cable has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the optical cable can be provided in various other types of cables. This example shows a case where an optical fiber is installed in an STP (Shielded Twist Pair) cable as an example, FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view thereof, and FIG. FIG.
In addition, this STP cable is obtained by adding a metal shielding member or the like to the aforementioned UTP cable, and is laid mainly in a place where electromagnetic noise is strong.

  As shown in the figure, a twisted pair cable 1b according to a second embodiment (Example 2) of the present invention includes a twisted pair wire 2, an optical fiber 6 for cable identification, a presser winding member 10, a shielding member 11, and a drain. Wire 12.

  The presser winding member 10, the shielding member 11, the drain wire 12, and the cable outer member 5 function as a surrounding member, the cable outer member 5 forms an outer peripheral surface of the surrounding member, The inner peripheral surface of the surrounding member is formed, and the shielding member 11 is disposed between the cable outer skin member 5 and the presser winding member 10.

  That is, the presser winding member 10, the shielding member 11, and the cable outer cover member 5 are sequentially laminated in the outer peripheral direction of the twisted pair cable 1b.

  The presser winding member 10 functions as a fixing member that fixes the twisted pair wire 2 and the optical fiber 6.

  The shielding member 11 is made of a member formed by weaving a metal foil laminated tape or a fine copper wire formed by laminating a metal foil and a plastic tape, and shields electromagnetic waves from the outside of the twisted pair cable 1b. , Preventing noise from being mixed in the signal, and preventing electromagnetic waves emitted from the twisted pair wire 2 from leaking to the outside.

  In addition, it is difficult to solder the aluminum foil. If the shielding member 11 is made of the metal foil laminate tape as described above, it is difficult to perform grounding or electrical connection. A drain wire 12 is provided.

  The drain wire 12 is a metal wire disposed between the shielding member 11 and the presser winding member 10 along the longitudinal direction of the twisted pair wire 2 and the optical fiber 6, and soft copper is mainly used.

  Moreover, the optical fiber 6 is arrange | positioned in the space part between the cable outer sheath member 5 and the twisted pair wire 2 similarly to said twisted pair cable 1a. Details of the optical fiber 6 will be described later.

Next, details of the optical fiber 6 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the optical fiber 6. As shown in the drawing, the optical fiber 6 includes an optical fiber consisting of a core 7 and a clad 8, and a resin-made optical fiber coating member 9 that covers the optical fiber. Have.

  The optical fiber in the above embodiment is an “all plastic multi-mode optical fiber” defined by JIS C6837. The outer diameter of the core 7 is 980 μm, and the outer diameter of the cladding 8, that is, the outer diameter of the strand. Is 1000 μm.

Because this all-plastic multimode optical fiber has a large core diameter, light can be easily incident by using an inexpensive and simple red light source such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) or LD (Laser Diode). are possible, unless the optical fiber element wires are disconnected, it can be confirmed the opposite end, i.e. that the red light is emitted at the output end side visually. The incoming and outgoing light is not limited to red light but may be any color as long as it is visible light, but a red light source is desirable in view of the current cost.

  The optical fiber 6 in the above embodiment is an “all plastic multimode optical fiber cord” defined by JIS C6836.

  This all-plastic multimode optical fiber cord is generally made by coating the above-mentioned optical fiber with polyethylene or vinyl chloride resin, and therefore has the above-mentioned optical fiber coating member 9. The outer diameter of the optical fiber covering member 9, that is, the outer diameter of the optical fiber 6 is 2.2 mm.

  Since all the optical fibers 6 as described above are made of resin, they do not affect the noise resistance of the twisted pair cable at all.

  Furthermore, even if the maximum wiring length is 100 m when a network is configured with a twisted pair cable, it has a light transmission property capable of visually identifying the emitted light.

  Note that various types of optical fibers having different outer diameters and the like from the above example can be used for the optical fiber 6, and an example thereof is shown in the following table.

  Next, a case where a general-purpose connector is connected to the twisted pair cables 1a and 1b (hereinafter collectively referred to as “twisted pair cable 1” as appropriate) will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a case where an RJ45 connector (hereinafter referred to as “connector 13”), which is one of general-purpose connectors defined by JIS, is connected to the twisted pair cable 1.
The twisted pair cable 1 is adjusted so that the outer diameter thereof matches the size of the connector 13, and the optical fiber 6 is disposed between the surrounding member and the twisted pair wire 2. 6 and the twisted pair wire 2 are independent, and can be handled individually.

  For this reason, it is connectable with the connector 13, and the end part of the optical fiber 6 can be easily exposed to the outside by removing the surrounding member including the cable sheathing member 5.

  In the present embodiment, the connector 13 is an RJ45 connector. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the twisted pair cable 1 can be connected to any general-purpose connector.

Next, a cable identification method using the twisted pair cable 1 will be described.
FIG. 5 shows a plurality (four in this figure) between the network device 20 corresponding to the network device 301 shown in FIG. 8 and the patch panel 21 corresponding to the patch panel 302 or 303 shown in FIG. The case where the twisted pair cable 1 with the connector 13) is connected is shown.

  For example, when the twisted pair cable 1 connected to the connector 13a1 is to be identified on the patch panel 21 side, a visible light source 22 such as a red visible light source is connected to the end of the optical fiber 6 of the connector 13a1, and visible light is incident. Then, since this visible light propagates in the optical fiber 6 and is emitted as the outgoing light 14 from the end of the optical fiber 6 on the connector 13a2 side, the twisted pair cable can be identified by confirming this. .

  Further, as described above, since the end of the optical fiber 6 is exposed to the outside, the cable can be identified without using a dedicated instrument or attachment.

  In the present invention, since the optical fiber itself is also coated, sufficient strength is ensured while using an optical fiber having a relatively small outer diameter, and damage during identification work is prevented. it can.

  In addition, by arranging the optical fiber in a position that does not hinder the handling of the twisted pair wire, that is, in the space portion and exposing it to the outside, and further making the cable sheath thickness and the finished cable outer diameter the same as those of a normal twisted pair cable, Can be secured securely and the twisted pair wire, which is an important point in processing, can be secured freely.

  In addition, by making the cable jacket thickness and the cable outer diameter the same as those of a normal twisted pair cable, the flexibility and the handleability of the cable itself can be secured in the same manner as in a normal twisted pair cable.

  In addition, it is applicable to the case where local end processing is required in the permanent link by making it easy to take out (expose) the identification optical fiber and to process only twisted pair wires. Is possible.

  Furthermore, by using an optical fiber having a light transmission property that can be visually identified even at a long distance of 100 m, it is possible to identify even a cable having a maximum wiring length of 90 m assumed for a permanent link.

  From the above points, it is possible to perform identification even in an area where it is difficult to identify the cable with the conventional technology, and it is possible to improve the efficiency of the network construction work and prevent wiring errors.

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of a twisted pair cable according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the twisted pair cable shown in FIG. FIG. 2A is a sectional view of a twisted pair cable according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the twisted pair cable shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the optical fiber shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is a perspective view which shows the case where the twisted pair cable shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2 is connected to the connector. It is a figure which shows the identification method of the twisted pair cable of FIG.1, FIG2 and FIG.4. (A) It is sectional drawing of the conventional UTP (Unshielded Twist Pair) cable. (B) It is sectional drawing of the conventional STP (Shielded Twist Pair) cable. It is a figure which shows an example of the conventional patch cord. It is a figure which shows the structure of a general LAN (Local Area Network).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a, 1b Twisted pair cable 2 Twisted pair cable 3 Conductor part 4 Insulation part 5 Cable outer sheath member 6 Optical fiber for identification 7 Core 8 Cladding 9 Optical fiber coating member 10 Holding member 11 Shielding member 12 Drain wire 13 Connector 14 Emission light 20 Network equipment, etc. 21 Patch panel 22 Visible light source 101a, 101b Twisted pair cable 102 Twisted pair wire 103 Conductor 104 Insulating part 105 Cable sheath member 106 Presser winding member 107 Shield member 108 Drain wire 200 Patch cord 201 Cable 202a, 202b Connector plug 203 Attachment 204 Light source 205, 206 Light incident / exit section 300 LAN
301 Network equipment 302, 303 Patch panel 304 Branch point 305, 307 Outlet for communication 306 PC (Personal Computer)
308 Terminal equipment

Claims (4)

A twisted pair cable for identifying a twisted pair cable in which the optical fiber is installed by detecting the light incident on one end of the single optical fiber and emitted from the other end,
A plurality of twisted pair wires each formed by twisting together a plurality of electric wires;
The optical fiber;
A surrounding member that surrounds the twisted pair wire and the optical fiber ;
A connector connected to an end of the surrounding member,
The twisted pair cable is characterized in that an end portion of the optical fiber is exposed to the outside of the surrounding member and the connector .   The twisted pair cable according to claim 1, wherein the surrounding member is a resin outer member. The surrounding member is
A resin-made skin member forming the outer peripheral surface of the surrounding member;
A fixing member for forming an inner peripheral surface of the surrounding member, and fixing the twisted pair wire and the optical fiber;
A shielding member that is disposed between the outer skin member and the fixing member and shields electromagnetic waves;
The twisted pair cable according to claim 1, further comprising: the twisted pair wire and a metal wire disposed along a longitudinal direction of the optical fiber between the shielding member and the fixing member.   The space part is formed between the said surrounding member and the said twisted pair wire, The said optical fiber is arrange | positioned in this space part, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Twisted pair cable.

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