JP4851574B2 - Optical fiber fusion splicer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber fusion splicing device for fusion splicing optical fibers.

  As a method for permanently connecting optical fibers, a fusion method has been generalized, and an optical fiber fusion splicing device is used to implement this fusion method.

  An example of a conventional optical fiber fusion splicer is shown in FIG. In this optical fiber fusion splicer, the optical surfaces of a pair of optical fibers (not shown) are aligned with the upper surface B of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped apparatus body A, and the end surfaces of the pair of optical fibers are aligned with each other. A fusion splicing mechanism C is provided that melts and connects the butted end faces with discharge heat. A display monitor D is provided in front of the apparatus main body A, that is, on the front side (operator side) of the fusion splicing mechanism C, and a plurality of operation buttons E are arranged around the display monitor D, so that the operator can display the monitor. D allows a necessary operation button E to be operated while monitoring the fusion-spliced state of the fusion-splicing mechanism C. Further, the upper surface B of the apparatus main body A is provided with a windshield cover F for covering the end portion of the optical fiber to be spliced and protecting the end portion from wind or the like. It is designed to open to the monitor D side).

  As another example of the conventional optical fiber fusion splicing device, the display monitor D is provided behind the fusion splicing mechanism C (opposite to the operator side), and the windshield cover F opens to the opposite side. There are also optical fiber fusion splicing devices designed in this way.

  The conventional optical fiber fusion splicer has the following problems. In other words, since the fusion splicing mechanism is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body, when the optical fiber is set in the fusion splicing mechanism or the set optical fiber is detached from the splicing splicing mechanism, the work is performed. If a person does not look into the fusion splicing mechanism and the optical fiber from above the apparatus main body, it is difficult to grasp the positional relationship between them. Therefore, when sitting on a chair and working, the worker stands up from the chair or sits on the chair and stands above the device body to look into the fusion splicing mechanism and the optical fiber. It is necessary to grasp the positional relationship, and the burden on the operator is great.

The optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present application includes a fusion splicing mechanism for splicing optical fibers, a display mechanism for displaying a connection status and other information by the splicing splicing mechanism, and a splicing connection. An optical fiber fusion splicing device having a control unit for controlling a mechanism and a display mechanism in an apparatus main body, wherein the fusion splicing mechanism grips and positions a pair of optical fibers to be connected. A holder, a discharge electrode rod disposed between both fiber holders, and a heat source control unit that controls the amount of heat generated by changing the amount of discharge current supplied to the discharge electrode rod, and the display mechanism is attached to the fiber holder. A TV camera arranged at a position where the gripped optical fiber can be photographed, an image processing unit that processes a photographed image of the TV camera, an image output from the image processing unit, and desired information in the image Comprising a display monitor for displaying the insertion superimposed image was, the display mechanism is usable also installed in either direction in which the display monitor is facing side or rear side of the apparatus main body, the image processing The unit is characterized in that only a superimposed image can be output by switching to a display monitor a vertically inverted image obtained by horizontally rotating the image 180 ° on the screen .

The optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention has the following effects if the upper surface of the device main body provided with the fusion splicing mechanism is inclined downward from the opposite side toward the operator side.
(1) When an optical fiber is set in or released from the fusion splicing mechanism, the operator does not have to look into the splicing splicing mechanism and the optical fiber from above the apparatus body. The relative positional relationship can be grasped, and the fatigue burden on the operator is greatly reduced.

The optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention is such that the apparatus main body is tilted by placing it on the inclined support surface of the support base, and the upper surface of the apparatus main body is directed toward the operator side, and is inclined downward from the opposite side. If it does, it has the following effects.
(1) Based on the positional relationship between the apparatus main body and the optical fiber to be connected, the apparatus main body is installed in the direction in which it can be most easily operated, and the upper surface of the apparatus main body installed in such an orientation is placed on the operator side. It can be made downward slope from the opposite side. Therefore, it is easy to work whether the optical fiber is in front of or behind the apparatus main body. Further, in any case, the operator can grasp the relative positional relationship without looking into the fusion splicing mechanism and the optical fiber from the upper side of the apparatus main body, and the worker's fatigue burden is greatly reduced. .

If the optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention is attached to the pedestal so that the device main body is pivotable, the upper surface of the device main body can be directed to the operator side and can be inclined downward from the opposite side. It has the following effects.
(1) Based on the positional relationship between the apparatus main body and the optical fiber to be connected, the apparatus main body is installed in the direction in which it can be most easily operated, and the upper surface of the apparatus main body installed in such an orientation is placed on the operator side. It can be made downward slope from the opposite side. Therefore, it is easy to work whether the optical fiber is in front of or behind the apparatus main body. Further, in any case, the operator can grasp the relative positional relationship without looking into the fusion splicing mechanism and the optical fiber from the upper side of the apparatus main body, and the worker's fatigue burden is greatly reduced. .

An optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention has a display mechanism including a camera capable of photographing a connection state by a fusion splicing mechanism, and a display monitor capable of displaying a photographed image of the camera and other desired information. Since the display monitor is rotatably attached to the apparatus main body and the installation angle can be arbitrarily changed, the following effects are obtained.
(1) By changing the installation angle of the display monitor according to the orientation of the apparatus main body, it is possible to always provide a suitable image to the operator.

The optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention has the following effects because the display mechanism can display an image obtained by rotating only the superimposed image by 180 ° on the display monitor.
(1) According to the orientation of the display monitor, an image in which the superimposed image is turned upside down can be switched and displayed on the monitor. Therefore, it is possible to provide a suitable image that does not give visual confusion to the worker.

Since the optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention is provided with an openable / closable cover that covers the butted portion of two optical fibers that are fusion spliced by a fusion splicing mechanism and the vicinity thereof, the following effects are obtained. Have
(1) The fusion between the fiber end faces is not hindered by disturbance such as wind, and a reliable connection can be realized.

1 is a perspective view showing an outline of an optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention shown in Embodiment 1. FIG. The block diagram which shows the outline of a fusion splicing mechanism and a display mechanism. It is a figure which shows an example of the installation state of the optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus of this invention shown in FIG. 1, Comprising: (a) shows an installation state suitable when the optical fiber which is a connection object exists in the front of the said apparatus. Side view, (b) A side view showing a suitable installation state when the optical fiber to be connected is behind the device. (A) is a side view showing the outline of the optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention shown in Embodiment 2, and (b) shows a suitable installation state when the optical fiber to be connected is in front of the device. Side view, (b) A side view showing a suitable installation state when the optical fiber to be connected is behind the device. The perspective view which shows an example of the conventional optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus.

(Embodiment 1)
An example of an embodiment of an optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This optical fiber fusion splicing device includes an apparatus main body and a support base that can support the apparatus main body. The apparatus body includes a fusion splicing mechanism for splicing optical fibers, a display mechanism for displaying the connection status and other information by the splicing splicing mechanism, and a control unit for controlling both mechanisms. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus main body 1 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped appearance, and the fusion splicing mechanism 3 is provided on the upper surface 2 thereof. As shown in FIG. 1, the fusion splicing mechanism 3 includes two fiber holders 5 for holding and positioning a pair of optical fibers 4 to be connected, and a discharge electrode rod disposed between the two fiber holders 5. 6 and a heat source controller 7 (FIG. 2) that controls the amount of heat generated by changing the amount of discharge current supplied to the discharge electrode rod 6. Among these, the fiber holder 5 and the discharge electrode rod 6 are disposed on the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1, and the heat source control unit 7 is disposed inside the apparatus main body 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each of the fiber holders 5 is a block in which a V-groove 8 on which the tip of the optical fiber 4 can be arranged is formed on the upper surface thereof. Each fiber holder 5 can be moved in the directions of arrows X, Y, and Z in FIG. 1, whereby the two optical fibers 4 are axially aligned and the end faces of the optical fibers 4 are abutted with each other. I can do it. Only one of the two fiber holders 5 may be movable in the directions of arrows X, Y, and Z in FIG. 1, and the other may be movable only in the direction of arrow Y. Further, one may be movable in the arrow X and Y directions in FIG. 1 and the other in the Z and Y directions in FIG. Furthermore, movement patterns other than these may be used. In short, any movement pattern may be used as long as it is a movement pattern capable of axial alignment and butting of at least two optical fibers 4 held by the respective fiber holders 5.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the two discharge electrode rods 6 are arranged so as to face each other in a direction orthogonal to the facing direction of the fiber holder 5, and are gripped by the respective fiber holders 5 between the tips of both discharge electrode rods 6. The butted portions 9 of the two optical fibers 4 are positioned. When two discharge electrode rods 6 facing each other are supplied with a discharge current from the heat source controller 7 shown in FIG. 2 (when a voltage is applied), an arc discharge is generated between their tips, and the discharge heat causes The abutting portion 9 of the optical fiber 4 is melted, and the two optical fibers 4 are fused and connected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the display mechanism 12 processes a camera 20 (TV camera 20) disposed at a position where the optical fiber 4 held by the fiber holder 5 can be photographed, and a photographed image of the TV camera 20. And a display monitor 22 (TV monitor 22) for displaying an image output from the image processing unit 21 and a superimposed image in which desired information such as an operation procedure is inserted into the image.

  The image processing unit 21 can switch and output a captured image of the TV camera 20 and an image obtained by rotating only the superimposed image or the superimposed image by 180 ° (an upside down image) to the TV monitor 22. Further, it is possible to detect the position of the optical fiber 4 based on the photographed image of the TV camera 20 and output the position information to the control unit 23. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the TV monitor 22 is attached to the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1 so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrows ab in the figure, and the installation angle (the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1 and the TV camera 20 is The angle between the surface 24 and the surface 24 can be arbitrarily changed within a range of 90 ° to 270 °.

  The control unit 23 shown in FIG. 2 moves the two fiber holders 5 in the directions of arrows X, Y, and Z in FIG. 1 based on the position information input from the image processing unit 21 and is held by the respective fiber holders 5. The optical fiber 4 is aligned and end faces are aligned. Moreover, a command is output to the heat source control unit 7 based on the position information input from the image processing unit 21 to change the discharge current amount.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1 is provided with a cover 10 that can be opened and closed in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the two optical fibers 4 that are fusion-bonded are butted together. The part 9 and its vicinity can be protected from disturbances such as wind. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a work table 30 is projected from the apparatus body 1 on the side opposite to the display monitor 22. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus main body 1 is provided with a handle 31 that is convenient for carrying it. The handle 31 can be rotated in the direction of the arrow cd in FIG. 1, and can be retracted to the position shown in FIG. 1 so as not to interfere with the work during the fusion splicing work.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the support base 40 is a block having a substantially triangular cross section in which an upper surface 41 (support surface 41) is inclined from one end side toward the other end side. By placing the apparatus main body 1 on the support surface 41, the entire apparatus main body 1 can be inclined, and the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1 can be inclined downward from the opposite side toward the operator side. It is. Here, the support base 40 is separate from the apparatus main body 1, and as shown in FIG. 3A, the support base 40 is located below the apparatus main body 1 installed in a direction in which the work table 30 is on the worker side (front side). The display monitor 22 may be inclined to the operator side (front side) as shown in FIG. 3B, with the upper surface 2 of the apparatus body 1 facing the operator side and inclined downward from the opposite side. 3) is placed under the apparatus main body 1 installed in a direction (direction in which the apparatus main body 1 shown in FIG. 3a is rotated 180 ° in the horizontal direction), and the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1 is placed on the operator side. It is also possible to make a downward slope from the opposite side. Note that the inclination angle of the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1 can be arbitrarily changed by changing the inclination angle of the support surface 41, but in this embodiment, the inclination angle θ of the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1 is 15. The inclination angle of the support surface 41 is set so as to be °.

  Here, when an optical fiber is connected by an optical fiber fusion splicing device, the optical fiber on the other side (back) of the device is pulled toward the front and fusion spliced, and then the optical fiber is returned to the back of the device. In some cases, an optical fiber on the front side of the device is connected, and then the optical fiber is returned to the front of the device. The former situation generally occurs during the construction of optical fiber cables. In other words, since the optical fiber cable is fixed to the wall surface, buried in the ground, or suspended in the air, the optical fiber to be connected is inevitably behind the optical fiber fusion splicer. Will exist. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 3B, the apparatus main body 1 installed with the display monitor 22 facing the operator side (front side) is placed on the support base 40 and the work is performed as shown in FIG. It is good to incline toward the person. This is because if the apparatus main body 1 is installed in the orientation shown in FIG. 3B, an optical fiber (not shown) behind the apparatus main body 1 is drawn toward the front and a fusion splicing mechanism (details are shown in FIG. 1 and the like). This is because the display monitor 22 and the cover 10 do not get in the way when the optical fiber is set in the fiber holder 5) or returned to the back of the apparatus main body 1. On the other hand, the latter situation generally occurs when a fine work such as an optical module manufacturing process is performed. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the apparatus main body 1 installed with the work table 30 facing the operator side (front side) is placed on the support table 40 and the work is performed as shown in FIG. It is good to incline toward the person. This is because if the apparatus main body 1 is installed in the orientation shown in FIG. 3A, an optical fiber (not shown) on the front side of the apparatus main body 1 is set in the fiber holder 5), or an optical fiber that is set This is because the display monitor 22 and the cover 10 do not get in the way when the device is returned to the front of the apparatus main body 1.

  As described above, whether the optical fiber to be connected is on the front side or the other side of the optical fiber fusion splicing device, it can be set in the fiber holder provided on the upper surface of the device main body, The display monitor and cover do not get in the way when releasing and returning to the original position, and the upper surface of the device body with the fiber holder is facing the operator side in either case. It becomes a downward inclination from the side, and the operator can grasp the relative positional relationship without looking into the fiber holder and the optical fiber from above the apparatus main body.

  Note that the installation angle of the TV monitor 22 is changed between the case where the apparatus main body 1 is installed in the direction shown in FIG. 3A and the case where the apparatus main body 1 is installed in the direction shown in FIG. Of course, the TV monitor 22 can be easily seen by the operator. Further, the image processing unit 21 (FIG. 2) takes images taken by the TV camera 20 when the TV monitor 22 is in the state shown in FIG. 3 (a) and when it is in the state shown in FIG. 3 (b). Alternatively, an image obtained by rotating it 180 ° is switched and output. Furthermore, the support base 40 and the apparatus main body 1 mounted on the support base 40 can be fixed by bolts or other fixing means, or the apparatus main body 1 can be prevented from sliding off the support base 40 by a latch mechanism.

(Embodiment 2)
Another example of the embodiment of the optical fiber fusion splicing device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The basic configuration of the optical fiber fusion splicer shown in this embodiment is the same as that shown in the first embodiment. The difference is that, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the apparatus main body 1 is pivotably attached to a pedestal 50, so that the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1 is directed toward the operator and inclined downward from the opposite side. It is to be able to do.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the pedestal 50 includes a bottom plate 51 and two opposing support legs 52 raised upward from the surface of the bottom plate 51, and the apparatus main body 1 has two support legs 52. The side surface of the support leg 52 is rotatably attached to the support leg 52 by a fixing pin 53.

  The optical fiber fusion splicing device shown in the present embodiment has the above structure, and as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the device main body is installed in such a direction that the display monitor 22 is on the operator side (front side). The top surface 2 of 1 is directed toward the worker side and is inclined downward from the opposite side, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), so that the work table 30 faces the worker side (front side). Further, the upper surface 2 of the apparatus main body 1 can be inclined downward from the opposite side with the upper surface 2 facing the operator side.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 2 Upper surface of apparatus main body 3 Fusion splicing mechanism 4 Optical fiber 5 Fiber clamp 6 Discharge electrode rod 7 Heat source control part 8 V groove 9 Butting part 10 Cover 12 Display mechanism 20 Camera 21 Image processing part 22 Display monitor 23 Control Part 30 Work table 31 Handle 40 Support base 50 Base

Claims (1)

A fusion splicing mechanism for splicing optical fibers, a display mechanism for displaying the connection status and other information by the splicing splicing mechanism, and a control unit for controlling the splicing splicing mechanism and the display mechanism. An optical fiber fusion splicing device provided in a main body, wherein the fusion splicing mechanism is disposed between two fiber holders for holding and positioning a pair of optical fibers to be connected. And a heat source controller that controls the amount of heat generated by changing the amount of discharge current supplied to the discharge electrode rod, and the display mechanism is located at a position where the optical fiber held by the fiber holder can be photographed. An arranged TV camera, an image processing unit that processes a captured image of the TV camera, an image output from the image processing unit, and a superimposed image in which desired information is inserted into the image Comprising a Shimesuru display monitor, the display mechanism is usable also installed in either direction in which the display monitor is facing side or rear side of the apparatus main body, the image processing unit only superimpose images An optical fiber fusion splicer characterized in that an upside down image rotated 180 ° horizontally on a screen can be switched to a display monitor and output.

Images