JP6390140B2 - Optical fiber manufacturing apparatus and optical fiber manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical fiber manufacturing apparatus and an optical fiber manufacturing method provided with a drawing device that is arranged below a drawing furnace and draws down a rod-shaped glass melted at the start of drawing.

  An optical fiber is manufactured by heating and melting an optical fiber preform (hereinafter referred to as a glass preform) in a drawing furnace (hereinafter referred to as a draw furnace) and drawing from below the draw furnace. Sometimes the first step is the brewing process. Specifically, in the squeezing step, the tip portion of the optical fiber preform is melted, and the molten glass lump is drawn down to first make glass having a diameter larger than the diameter of the optical fiber (also referred to as rod-shaped glass). Cut while pulling. Then, after the rod-like glass becomes fibrous and the wire diameter is reduced to, for example, about 150 μm, it is passed through the pass line after the resin coating device.

Thereafter, while controlling the diameter of the optical fiber drawn through the pass line to be, for example, 125 μm, the linear speed is increased to the target linear speed, and the optical fiber is wound by the winding device.
In addition, the part withdrawn by this extraction process is an ineffective part which is not a product, and it is desirable that the withdrawal of the ineffective part should be completed in a short period of time. Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a drawing device is provided above the resin coating device and the glass of the ineffective portion is automatically drawn off.

JP 2005-162518 A

By the way, the withdrawal device described in Patent Document 1 includes a take-up mechanism including a take-up roller pair and a breaking mechanism that breaks the rod-shaped glass taken up by the take-up mechanism. Has been withdrawn.
However, in this pulling device, the force in the direction (horizontal direction) perpendicular to the pulling direction of the rod-shaped glass that occurs when cutting the rod-shaped glass acts on the pulling mechanism, leading to a failure of the bearing portion of the pulling roller pair. There is a problem that the take-up roller pair is idled and it becomes difficult to take out the rod-shaped glass.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber manufacturing apparatus and an optical fiber manufacturing method that prevent failure of the take-off mechanism and extend the life of the manufacturing apparatus. .

An optical fiber manufacturing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is an optical fiber including a drawing device that is disposed below a drawing furnace that heats and melts an optical fiber preform, and that draws the molten rod-shaped glass at the start of drawing. It is a manufacturing apparatus, and the pulling-down device is disposed between the pulling mechanism for pulling the rod-shaped glass downward, the cutting mechanism for cutting the rod-shaped glass pulled by the pulling mechanism, and the pulling mechanism and the cutting mechanism. is, a swing regulating member for regulating the swing of a direction perpendicular to the take-off direction of the rod-shaped glass, the swing regulating member Ru is formed by one or more pairs of flat-plate-like member.

  According to the present invention, failure of the take-off mechanism can be prevented, and the life of the pull-out device can be extended.

It is a schematic block diagram of the manufacturing apparatus of the optical fiber by one aspect | mode of this invention. It is a block diagram of the withdrawal apparatus in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the swing control member by a 1st Example. It is explanatory drawing of the shaking control member by a 2nd Example. It is explanatory drawing of the shaking control member by a 3rd Example.

[Description of Embodiment of the Present Invention]
First, the contents of the embodiment of the present invention will be listed and described.
An optical fiber manufacturing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes (1) a drawing apparatus that is disposed below a drawing furnace for heating and melting an optical fiber preform and draws down the molten rod-shaped glass at the start of drawing. An apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber, wherein the dropping device includes: a pulling mechanism that pulls the rod-shaped glass downward; a cutting mechanism that cuts the rod-shaped glass pulled by the pulling mechanism; and the pulling mechanism and the cutting mechanism. It is disposed between, and a swing regulating member for regulating the swing of a direction perpendicular to the take-off direction of the rod-shaped glass, the swing regulating member Ru is formed by one or more pairs of flat-plate-like member. As described above, since the sway restricting member restricts the swaying of the rod-shaped glass, an excessive force in the orthogonal direction generated when the rod-shaped glass is cut is less likely to act on the take-up mechanism. Therefore, failure of the take-off mechanism can be prevented, and the life of the withdrawal device can be extended. Since the failure of the take-up mechanism can be prevented, for example, the take-up mechanism composed of the take-up roller pair does not idle and the rod-shaped glass does not accumulate. In addition, due to these effects, it is possible to shorten the work time required to withdraw the ineffective portion and to reduce the equipment repair cost of the withdrawal device. If the swing regulating member is formed of one or more flat plate-like members, for example, excessive force can be effectively reduced with a simple configuration with respect to a pair of take-up mechanisms.

( 2) In the sway restricting member formed of the one or more flat plate-like members, a pair of members of each set is arranged with a predetermined interval along the take-up direction of the rod-shaped glass. If the flat plate-like sway restricting members of each set are alternately arranged in the vertical direction, it is more preferable that the pieces of rod-shaped glass are less likely to stay between the sway restricting members. ( 3 ) An optical fiber manufacturing method for manufacturing an optical fiber using the above manufacturing apparatus. By using the manufacturing apparatus, as described above, an optical fiber can be manufactured while preventing a failure of the take-off mechanism.

[Details of the embodiment of the present invention]
Hereinafter, specific examples of an optical fiber manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an optical fiber manufacturing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention. The manufacturing apparatus 10 includes a drawing heating furnace (hereinafter referred to as a drawing furnace) 11, cooling devices 14 and 15, a resin coating device 16, a resin curing device 17, guide rollers 18 to 20, a capstan device 21, and a dancer roller device 22. A take-up guide roller 23, a take-up device 24, and a pull-down device 25.

  The optical fiber is drawn from below the drawing furnace 11 by heating and melting an optical fiber base material (hereinafter referred to as a glass base material) G with a heater 12 in the drawing furnace 11. The movement of the glass base material G is controlled by the feeder device 13. The optical fiber drawn from the glass base material G is forcibly cooled by the cooling devices 14 and 15, and then an ultraviolet curable resin is applied by the resin coating device 16, and this resin is cured by the resin curing device 17. Subsequently, the optical fiber F after resin application is taken up by the capstan device 21 via the guide rollers 18 to 20, the tension is adjusted by the dancer roller device 22, and then the winding device 24 through the winding guide roller 23. Is wound on a drum.

  The drawing device 25 is disposed between the drawing furnace 11 and the resin coating device 16 so that it can be retracted from the line connecting the drawing furnace 11 and the resin coating device 16 after the opening process at the start of drawing. It is installed to be detachable or slidable with respect to the line. In addition, since it is preferable to install the draw-down device 25 at a location where the melted rod-shaped glass H can be cooled to some extent, for example, it is disposed between the cooling device 14 and the cooling device 15.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the withdrawal device in FIG. In the housing 25a of the pulling device 25, a pulling mechanism 27, a swing regulating member 50, a scratch imparting mechanism 28, a cutting mechanism 29, and the like are installed, and the rod-shaped glass H can be cut and an ineffective portion can be pulled down. is there. The scratch imparting mechanism 28 and the cutting mechanism 29 correspond to the cutting mechanism of the present invention.
A glass receiving container 26 is installed at the lower end of the housing 25a, and the glass lump L and the glass waste M are collected in this glass receiving container 26 and discarded.

  The wire diameter of the rod-shaped glass H is measured by the outer diameter measuring unit 30 and output to the control device 32. When the wire diameter of the rod-shaped glass H reaches, for example, about 10 mm, the dropping device 25 is connected to the wire drawing furnace 11 and the resin. It arrange | positions on the line which connects the coating device 16. FIG. As a result, the rod-shaped glass H is automatically drawn into the drawing device 25. In addition, as the outer diameter measuring unit 30 that measures the wire diameter of the rod-shaped glass H, it is possible to use a device that measures the wire diameter of the drawn optical fiber.

The take-up mechanism 27 is provided near the entrance of the housing 25a and includes, for example, a take-up roller pair 33 that can take down the rod-shaped glass H downward.
The take-up roller pair 33 is configured, for example, in three stages so that the frictional load on the rod-shaped glass H can be dispersed. Are provided in this order.
The take-up mechanism 27 is not limited to the take-up roller pair, and may be pinched by a pinch roller or may be pinched by a capstan belt.

Each of the drive rollers 33a, 33b, and 33c is formed to be rotatable around a bearing portion, and is connected to a drive motor 35, respectively. Each drive roller 33a, 33b, 33c rotates so that the rod-shaped glass H moves downward according to a signal from the control device 32.
Each driven roller 34a, 34b, 34c is formed so as to be rotatable around the bearing portion, and is supported by a spring 36, and is biased toward each drive roller 33a, 33b, 33c.

  The distance Ga between the driving roller 33a and the driven roller 34a is larger than the distance Gb between the driving roller 33b and the driven roller 34b, and this distance Gb is larger than the distance Gc between the driving roller 33c and the driven roller 34c. Has been.

The scratch imparting mechanism 28 and the cutting mechanism 29 are provided between the take-up mechanism 27 and the glass receiving container 26, and the rod-shaped glass H is cut here.
The scratch imparting mechanism 28 includes a scratch imparting member 37, a rotating member 38, and a drive motor 39. When the drive motor 39 rotates the rotating member 38 in a predetermined direction in response to a signal from the control device 32, for example, the rod-shaped scratch imparting member 37 reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the take-up direction of the rod-shaped glass H, for example. The glass H can be contacted and scratched on the surface of the rod-shaped glass H. Thereby, it becomes easy to cut | disconnect the rod-shaped glass H in short length.

  The cutting mechanism 29 is disposed below the scratch imparting mechanism 28 and includes a cutting drive member 40 and a drive motor 41. When the drive motor 41 rotates, for example, the polygonal cutting drive member 40 so that the rod-shaped glass H moves downward in response to a signal from the control device 32, the corner portion of the cutting drive member 40 contacts the rod-shaped glass H. The rod-shaped glass H can be pressed. Thereby, bending stress is added to the rod-shaped glass H, and it can cut | disconnect easily. If the rod-shaped glass H is formed with a small diameter, the scratch imparting mechanism 28 may be omitted and the rod-shaped glass H may be cut only by the cutting mechanism 29.

  The cut rod-shaped glass H or the like is collected in the glass receiving container 26 as a glass lump L or glass scrap M. The weight of the glass lump L and the glass waste M in the glass receiving container 26 is measured by the weight measuring unit 31 and output to the control device 32. As a result, the control device 32 outputs a signal to the heater 12 and the feeder device 13 in addition to the take-up mechanism 27 so that the wire diameter of the rod-shaped glass H becomes a predetermined diameter from the feeder speed and the drawing furnace 11. Adjust the drawing speed, heater temperature, etc.

  Here, the sway restricting member 50 is provided between the take-up mechanism 27 and the scratch imparting mechanism 28, and restricts sway in the direction orthogonal to the take-off direction of the rod-shaped glass H.

(First embodiment)
FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory views of the shaking regulating member according to the first embodiment, FIG. 3A is a plan view of the shaking regulating member, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB. The sway restricting member 50 according to this embodiment has a structure surrounding the rod-shaped glass H.

  Thereby, when the rod-shaped glass H is cut, the swing regulating member 50 regulates the swing of the rod-shaped glass H, so that the force in the orthogonal direction generated when the rod-shaped glass H is cut hardly acts on the take-up mechanism 27. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a failure of the bearing portion of the take-up roller pair 33 and to extend the life of the dropping device. In particular, since the sway restricting member 50 according to the first embodiment surrounds the entire circumference of the rod-shaped glass H, even if the rod-shaped glass H sways in a direction other than the arrow shown in FIG. .

  With these effects, for example, the take-up mechanism composed of a take-up roller pair does not run idle and the rod-shaped glass does not accumulate, thereby shortening the work time required to draw the ineffective portion and reducing the equipment repair cost of the take-off device. be able to.

(Second embodiment)
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a shaking regulating member according to the second embodiment. 4A is a plan view of the swing regulating member, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB. The swing restricting member 50A according to this embodiment has a structure that sandwiches the rod-shaped glass H in two directions.
Specifically, the swing regulating member 50A is formed of a set of flat plate-like members, and the surface in contact with the rod-shaped glass is the same direction as the arrangement direction of the drive rollers 33a, 33b, 33c and the driven rollers 34a, 34b, 34c (roller surface). Are parallel to each other and are formed so as to compete upwards. Thus, if it forms with a pair of flat member, it can reduce an excessive force effectively with a simple structure with respect to the taking-up mechanism used as a pair, for example. Note that the swing regulating member 50A may be formed of two or more sets of flat members.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a shaking regulating member according to the third embodiment. The sway restricting member 50B according to the present embodiment is formed of a pair of flat plate-like members like the sway restricting member 50A according to the second embodiment, but each sway restricting member 50B is in the direction of taking the rod-shaped glass H. It is the structure which arranged alternately along.
More specifically, the surface of each swing regulating member 50B that contacts the rod-like glass faces the same direction as the arrangement direction of the drive rollers 33a, 33b, and 33c and the driven rollers 34a, 34b, and 34c, as in the second embodiment. Are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction, and are formed so as to compete upward. Thus, if a set of flat plate-like sway restricting members are arranged alternately in the vertical direction, the broken pieces of the rod-shaped glass H are less likely to stay between the sway restricting members, which is more preferable.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the meanings described above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Optical fiber manufacturing apparatus, 11 ... Drawing furnace, 12 ... Heater, 13 ... Feeder apparatus, 14, 15 ... Cooling apparatus, 16 ... Resin coating apparatus, 17 ... Resin hardening apparatus, 18-20 ... Guide roller, 21 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Capstan device, 22 ... Dancer roller device, 23 ... Winding guide roller, 24 ... Winding device, 25 ... Pulling device, 25a ... Housing, 26 ... Glass receiving container, 27 ... Pulling mechanism, 28 ... Scratching mechanism, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 29 ... Cutting mechanism, 30 ... Outer diameter measurement part, 31 ... Weight measurement part, 32 ... Control apparatus, 33 ... Take-out roller pair, 33a, 33b, 33c ... Drive roller, 34a, 34b, 34c ... Driven roller, 35, 39 , 41 ... Drive motor, 36 ... Spring, 37 ... Scratch imparting member, 38 ... Rotating member, 40 ... Cutting drive member, 50, 50A, 50B ... Shake regulating member.

Claims (3)

An apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber, which is disposed below a drawing furnace for heating and melting an optical fiber preform, and includes a drawing device for drawing down the molten rod-shaped glass at the start of drawing,
The pulling device is disposed between the pulling mechanism for pulling the rod-shaped glass downward, the cutting mechanism for cutting the rod-shaped glass pulled by the pulling mechanism, and between the pulling mechanism and the cutting mechanism. A swing regulating member that regulates swing in a direction orthogonal to the take-off direction ;
The swing regulating member Ru is formed by one or more pairs of flat plate-like member, the optical fiber manufacturing apparatus. Wherein one or more sets of plate-like members swing regulating member formed by the Ru are arranged with a predetermined spacing members of the pairs of each set along the take-off direction of the rod-shaped glass, according to claim 1 Optical fiber manufacturing equipment. An optical fiber manufacturing method for manufacturing an optical fiber using the production apparatus for an optical fiber according to 請 Motomeko 1 or 2.

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