JPH01221704A - Processing device for end face of plastic optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the necessary of lowering the temperature of an end face forming plate so as to reduce the processing time of end face formation of a plastic optical fiber by adopting radiation heating using far infrared rays so that only the optical fiber can be heated. CONSTITUTION:A heating body 1 of a far infrared ray radiating body and an end face forming plate 3 made of a substance having a good far infrared ray transmittance are provided. Since the far infrared rays radiated from the heating body 1 are mainly absorbed by a plastic optical fiber 5, the end face of the optical fiber 5 is directly heated and deformed. On the other hand, the plate 3 is not heated so much because of its good far infrared ray transmittance and its temperature rise is suppressed to lower than the thermo-deforming temperature of the optical fiber 5. Since the end face of the optical fiber 5 deforms while the fiber 5 is pressed against the plate 3, whose temperature is lower than that of the end face, the optical fiber 5 can be brought to the next process without lowering the temperature of the plate 3 after processing. Thus the processing time can be made shorter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an end face treatment device for plastic optical fibers.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a device for thermally deforming the end face of a plastic optical fiber to make it smooth, for example, there is a device disclosed in Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-164.
It has a heating element with a large heat capacity as proposed in Japanese Patent No. 003, a mirror surface for pressing and heating the optical fiber during heat treatment of the end face of the plastic optical fiber, and a heating element on the opposite side to the mirror surface. The heating element includes a thin plate whose surface can come into contact with and separate from the heating element, and the heating element is movable so that it can come into contact with and separate from the surface of the plate opposite to the mirror surface. There are end-face treatment devices for plastic optical fibers.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, these devices have the following problems.

In other words, in conventional equipment that thermally deforms the end face of a plastic optical fiber, it is essential to lower the temperature of the heating plate by using a device that separates the heating element from the heating plate, thereby lowering the temperature of the end face of the plastic optical fiber. This is a requirement. Therefore, it essentially requires time to lower the temperature of the heating plate and the temperature of the plastic optical fiber, and it also requires time to heat the heating plate for processing the end face again, so the end face processing time is reduced. There is a problem that it takes a long time.

An object of the present invention is to provide a plastic optical fiber end face treatment device that can be operated more quickly and more easily than conventional devices, has excellent optical performance, and is simple in terms of equipment.

[Means to solve the problem] The present invention has the following configuration.

(1) An end face processing device for a plastic optical fiber, characterized in that a heating body made of a far infrared ray emitter and an end face molding plate made of a material with good far infrared transmittance are provided.

(2) The end face treatment device for a plastic optical fiber according to claim (1), wherein the far-infrared radiator is made of ceramics.

(3) The wavelength of the radiation emitted from the far-infrared emitter is 5μ
The apparatus for treating the end face of a plastic optical fiber according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electromagnetic wave is as described above.

(4) The end face processing apparatus for a plastic optical fiber according to any one of claims (1) to (3), wherein the end face forming plate is at least one selected from an ionic crystal, a semiconducting single crystal, and a glass body.

(5) The plastic optical fiber end face processing device according to any one of claims (1) to (4), wherein the molding plate surface in contact with the plastic optical fiber end face is smoothed.

(6) The end face processing apparatus for a plastic optical fiber according to any one of claims (1) to (5), wherein the surface temperature of the surface of the end face molding plate in contact with the end face of the plastic optical fiber is lower than the thermal deformation temperature of the plastic optical fiber.

(7) Claims (1) to (5) wherein a substance with good far-infrared transmittance is provided between the heating body and the end face forming plate to suppress heat conduction from the heating body to the end face forming plate. The described plastic optical fiber end face processing device.

(8) An end face treatment apparatus for a plastic optical fiber according to claim 7, wherein the material provided between the heating body and the end face shaping plate is cooled air.

(9) The plastic optical fiber according to any one of claims (1) to (7), wherein a far-infrared absorbing material for shielding far-infrared rays is installed between the heating body and the end face molding plate so that it can be carried in and pulled out. edge processing equipment.

The present invention will be explained in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a plastic optical fiber end face treatment apparatus of the present invention.

The far-infrared heating element 1 includes a heating source and a far-infrared radiator 2. The heating source consists of a conventional heating wire, flame, or heating medium. In addition, the far infrared radiator 2 is heated to emit a wavelength of 5.
It consists of a ceramic layer that emits electromagnetic waves of approximately 1000 μm.

An end face molding plate 3 is arranged above the far-infrared heating element 1 . As the end face molded plate 3, KBr, HaCl, KR
The material is made of at least one material selected from ionic crystals such as No. 3-5, semiconducting single crystals such as silicon, and glass materials such as quartz, and has good far-infrared transmittance.

The surface of the end face molding plate 3 in contact with the end face of the plastic optical fiber is smoothed by optical polishing or the like.

An injection/exhaust port 4 is provided between the far-infrared radiator 2 and the end forming plate 3 for injecting and discharging a substance such as air that suppresses heat conduction from the heating element to the end forming plate 3. There is.

Furthermore, a far-infrared blocking material 6 is required between the far-infrared tli projector 2 and the end face molding plate 3, which has a mechanism for blocking far-infrared rays emitted from the far-infrared heating body 1 and blocking far-infrared heating. It is also possible to attach it according to the situation and turn it ON and OFF with a switch.

The plastic optical fiber 5 is pressed against the end face molding plate 3 of the apparatus having the above structure, and is radiantly heated by absorbing far infrared rays emitted from the far infrared radiator 2 by a heating source.

At this time, the temperature of the end face molded plate 3 is such that the far-infrared transmittance is higher than that of the plastic optical fiber, and a substance for suppressing heat conduction from the heating body is supplied from the conductive heat shielding substance injection/discharge port 4. , maintained at a temperature lower than that of plastic optical fibers.

In this state, the end face of the plastic optical fiber 5 is thermally deformed, and is molded into an end face state in which the smooth surface of the end face molding plate 3 is transferred.

After the end face molding process has been performed, the plastic optical fiber 5 is directly separated from the end face molding plate 3.

At that time, before separating the plastic optical fiber, the supply interval of the conductive heat shielding material is increased through the conductive heat shielding material injection/discharge port 4, and the far infrared rays are blocked using the far infrared shielding material 6. The temperature of the optical fiber 5 or the end face molding plate 3 may be lowered.

In FIG. 1, the operation method for gripping the plastic optical fiber 5 and pressing it against the end face forming plate 3 includes manual operation as well as operation using a mechanical clamp, racked pinion, etc. It can also be automatically gripped or pressed.

The plastic optical fiber used in the present invention is a core-sheath composite fiber made of polymers for both the core and sheath materials, and the core material is an amorphous polymer with good transparency such as polymethyl methacrylate, polycarbonate, or polystyrene. used.

Examples of the sheath material include polymers having a lower refractive index than the core material, such as fluorine-containing polymers. However, it is not particularly limited to these.

The far-infrared radiator of the present invention emits heat rays that are absorbed by polymers used in plastic optical fibers, excite the thermal motion of the polymers, and raise the temperature by radiation.

The polymer used in plastic optical fibers has a strong absorption band in the far infrared region, so it is sufficiently heated by such far infrared rays, but more preferably the wavelength range is relatively long, from about 5μ to 1000μ. A device that emits electromagnetic waves is preferable, and a far-infrared ceramic heater or the like is suitable as a device that meets this condition, but is not particularly limited thereto.

In addition, the end face molded plate is particularly preferably made of a material having a better far-infrared transmittance than the polymer used in the plastic optical fiber, such as the above-mentioned 1 (Br, NaCl, KR3-5, silicon single crystal, quartz glass, etc.). However, it is not particularly limited to this.

In the device of the present invention having the above configuration, the far infrared rays emitted from the heating body are mainly absorbed by the plastic optical fiber, so that the end face of the plastic optical fiber is directly heated by the far infrared rays and thermally deformed. can.

On the other hand, the end face molded plate has a good transmittance of far infrared rays, so it is not heated much, and is kept below the heat deformation temperature of the plastic optical fiber. This point is completely different from conventional apparatuses, and the end face of the plastic optical fiber is directly heated without heat conduction from the end face molding plate, making it possible to create a so-called low-temperature heating state.

Such a situation can be easily verified by measuring the end face temperature of the plastic optical fiber and the surface temperature of the end face molded plate.

In other words, in conventional equipment, the end face forming plate is a direct heating plate, so its surface temperature is always equal to or higher than the end face temperature of the plastic optical fiber.

On the other hand, it can be easily observed that in the apparatus of the present invention, the end face temperature of the plastic optical fiber is always higher than the surface temperature of the end face molding plate.

Therefore, in the apparatus of the present invention, the end face of the plastic optical fiber is thermally deformed by pressing it against the end face forming plate whose temperature is lower than the end face temperature of the plastic optical fiber. Since it is possible to proceed to the next step without lowering the temperature or only by lowering it slightly, there is an advantage that the processing time can be significantly shortened.

In order to make the end face of the plastic optical fiber more mirror-like and have a nicer finish, the end face molded plate in the present invention is preferably treated to make the surface in contact with the end face as smooth as possible.

In addition, by making the surface temperature of the surface of the end face forming plate in contact with the end face of the plastic optical fiber lower than the thermal deformation temperature of the plastic optical fiber, the temperature of the treated plastic optical fiber can be increased without reducing the temperature of the end face forming plate at all. The end face can be separated from the end face forming plate.

Creating such a situation can be done very easily by adjusting the electric power of the heating element, but it is also possible to create a far-infrared transmittance such as cooling air between the heating element and the end face forming plate. This can also be done by introducing a good substance to suppress heat conduction from the heating plate to the end forming plate.

Note that the surface temperature of the end face molding plate may be lowered after the end face treatment of the plastic optical fiber.

In this case, rather than reducing the temperature of the heating element by deenergizing the power of the heating element, a far-infrared absorbing material for shielding far-infrared rays may be introduced between the heating element and the end face forming plate in a state where it can be pulled out. Although it is preferable to install it from the viewpoint of shortening the end face processing time, the present invention is not particularly limited thereto.

The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to Examples.

[Example] Example 1 In FIG. 1, a far-infrared ceramic heater 1 is used as a heating element.
(manufactured by Noritake: Model PLR-610), and power was adjusted so that the temperature of the surface 2 of the ceramic heater was 220'C. A KR3-5 plate having a thickness of 2# and whose surface in contact with the end face of the plastic optical fiber was optically polished was used as the end face molding plate 3 and was placed above the heating element with a gap of 3M.

At this time, the surface temperature of the surface of the end face molded plate in contact with the end face of the plastic optical fiber was measured and found to be 120'C. In the above device, a plastic optical fiber 1 whose core material is made of polymethyl methacrylate and whose fiber diameter is 1#Ill+ is used.
(manufactured by Toshi: PF-LJ-FBlooo) was pressed against the end face molded plate 3 and separated from the end face molded plate 3 after 7 seconds. 5 plastic optical fibers with end face treatment
When observed under a 0x microscope, it was found to have a mirror surface with extremely high finishing accuracy, and the connection loss was extremely low, less than 1 dB. Note that when the end face of the plastic optical fiber was placed at a position 0.4 InIn above the end face molding plate using the above device, the end face temperature of the plastic optical fiber was measured and found to be 137°C.

Example 2 The surface temperature of the heating element 1 was adjusted to 280'C, and the conductive heat shielding material injection port 4 between the heating element and the end face forming plate was heated to 2.
Example 1 except that air at 0'C is sent at a wind speed of 0.1 m/sec.
The end face treatment of plastic optical fiber was carried out using the same equipment.

The end face processing time was completed in an extremely short time of 3 seconds, and the finish of the end face was extremely clean.

Note that the surface temperature of the end face molded plate was 108°C, and the end face temperature of the plastic optical fiber installed at a position 0.4# above the end face molded plate was 140°C.

Comparative Example 1 The end face of a plastic optical fiber of the same type as in Example 1 was treated using a hot plate type plastic optical fiber end face processing apparatus in which the end face shaping plate was a heating plate for the end face of the plastic optical fiber. The end surface was treated at a surface temperature of 140°C, but although the heat deformation time of the end surface was as short as 2 seconds, when the end surface was separated in that state, the end surface became stringy and the finish was poor. After that, the temperature of the end face molded plate was lowered to 125°C. At that time, it took 17 seconds to lower the surface temperature of the end-face molded plate to 125°C, and the total processing time was as long as 19 seconds. Furthermore, when processing the end face of a plastic optical fiber continuously, it is necessary to raise the temperature of the end face forming plate, which has been lowered once, and the total processing time for the end face of the plastic optical fiber, including that time, is 30 seconds or more. It became extremely long.

[Effects of invention The present invention has the following effects.

- Because of the radiant heating using far infrared rays, only the target plastic optical fiber is mainly heated, there is almost no need to lower the temperature of the end face forming plate, and the end face processing time is significantly shortened.

■ High energy efficiency due to direct heating using far-infrared radiation.

■ Direct heating using far-infrared radiation heats the end face of the target plastic optical fiber uniformly, resulting in a clean finish during end face treatment.

■ Because it is directly heated by far infrared radiation, there is almost no need to adjust the temperature of the end face forming plate, and the equipment is simple.
It has good durability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the plastic optical fiber end face treatment apparatus of the present invention. 1: Far-infrared heating element 2: Far-infrared radiator 3: End face molding plate 4: Conductive heat shielding material injection/exhaust port 5 Niblast optical fiber 6: Far-infrared shielding material

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) An end face processing device for a plastic optical fiber, characterized in that a heating body made of a far infrared ray emitter and an end face molding plate made of a material with good far infrared transmittance are provided. (2) The end face treatment device for a plastic optical fiber according to claim (1), wherein the far-infrared radiator is made of ceramics. (3) The wavelength of the radiation emitted from the far-infrared emitter is 5μ
The apparatus for treating the end face of a plastic optical fiber according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electromagnetic wave is as described above. (4) The end face processing apparatus for a plastic optical fiber according to any one of claims (1) to (3), wherein the end face forming plate is at least one selected from an ionic crystal, a semiconducting single crystal, and a glass body. (5) Claims (1) to (4) wherein the molded plate surface in contact with the plastic optical fiber end surface is smoothed.
) The plastic optical fiber end face treatment device described in ). (6) The end face processing apparatus for a plastic optical fiber according to any one of claims (1) to (5), wherein the surface temperature of the surface of the end face molding plate in contact with the end face of the plastic optical fiber is lower than the thermal deformation temperature of the plastic optical fiber. (7) Claims (1) to (5), wherein a substance with good far-infrared transmittance is provided between the heating body and the end face forming plate to suppress heat conduction from the heating body to the end face forming plate. ) The plastic optical fiber end face treatment device described in ). (8) The apparatus for treating the end face of a plastic optical fiber according to claim 7, wherein the substance provided between the heating body and the end face shaping plate is cooling air. (9) The plastic light according to any one of claims (1) to (7), wherein a far-infrared absorbing material for shielding far-infrared rays is installed between the heating body and the end face molding plate so that it can be carried in and pulled out. Fiber end treatment equipment.