JPH01307613A - Measuring instrument for spiral pitch of optical fiber carrying spacer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To measure a spiral pitch of a spacer having an inversion-like spiral groove with high accuracy by executing an operation by receiving each signal from a speed pulse generator for generating a signal corresponding to an advance quantity of a spiral spacer and a pair of angle pulse generators which are fitted into the spiral groove. CONSTITUTION:When a spacer 12 having an inverted spiral groove for carrying an optical fiber on the outside periphery advances in the direction as indicated with an arrow, a speed signal corresponding to its advance quantity is obtained by a speed pulse generator 18 provided on a take-up machine 14 in front. Also, a pair of angle pulse generators 22, 22' provided between a pair of take-up machines 14 generate an angle signal corresponding to a rotation angle of a pair of rotating bodies 20, 20' which rotate as the spiral spacer 12 advances. Subsequently, the advance quantity of the spacer from the speed pulse generator 18 and the rotation angle of the rotating bodies 20, 20' which are fitted into the spiral groove from a pair of angle pulse generators 22, 22' are led to an arithmetic circuit, and a pitch of the spiral groove is measured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a helical pitch measuring device for an optical fiber supporting spacer in which a plurality of grooves are formed on the outer periphery of a tensile strength line so as to be reversed at appropriate pitches.

(Background of the Invention) As is well known, optical fibers have a low transmission loss and a very large amount of transmission, so their practical use in the field of communications is being promoted widely, and multiple optical fibers are made into cables. When installing, a spacer with a spiral groove formed on the outer periphery for supporting the optical fiber is used as a cable core wire, the optical fiber is inserted into this spiral groove, and tension and compression 1
Avoids stress such as bending.

By the way, there are two types of spiral grooves provided in a spacer: one that goes around the outer periphery from one side to the other, and the other that turns the outer periphery at a predetermined angle, for example, within an interval of 180 degrees. is provided.

In the former circular spiral groove, when an optical fiber is inserted into the groove, the bobbin around which the optical fiber is wound must be rotated, which requires fairly large rotating equipment, resulting in high equipment costs. In addition, there are problems such as difficulty in branching the optical fiber from the middle after it is made into a cable.

On the other hand, with the latter inverted spiral groove, it is easy to branch out the cable from the middle, and there is no need to rotate the bobbin around which the optical fiber is wound. , especially for this type of spiral groove,
The direction of the groove is reversed at every predetermined angular interval, and abnormalities in the groove shape are likely to occur at these reversed portions.

If an abnormality occurs in the spiral groove, problems may occur such as not being able to store the optical fiber stably in the groove when making a cable, or even if the optical fiber can be made into a cable, the abnormality may cause the optical fiber to become unnecessary during use. The lateral pressure acts and increases transmission loss, which adversely affects the transmission characteristics of the optical fiber.

From this point of view, the pitch of the reversing spiral groove in particular requires strict dimensional accuracy over its entire length, but conventionally, no device has been provided that can measure the pitch of such a spacer with high precision. There wasn't.

In view of the above background, the present inventors have conducted extensive research and have completed the present invention. The objective is to provide a device that can measure with high precision.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a helical pitch measuring device for an optical fiber supporting spacer having a helical groove formed at a predetermined pitch and inversion angle on the outer periphery. A speed pulse generator generates a signal corresponding to the amount of advance of the spacer, and a signal corresponding to the rotation angle of these rotating bodies is generated through a pair of rotating bodies fitted within the reversal pitch of the spiral groove. a pair of angle pulse generators that receive the signals of these angle pulse generators and detect the point in time when their output signals match; It is characterized by comprising an arithmetic circuit that counts signals and calculates the pitch of the spiral groove based on the counted value.

(Embodiments and Effects) Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of a helical pitch measuring device 10 for an optical fiber supporting spacer according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the arrangement of the measuring device 10, and the device 1
0 is placed on a support stand 16 between a pair of take-up machines 14 and 14 provided in the middle of the manufacturing process of the helical spacer 12 traveling in the direction of the arrow in the figure.

FIG. 2 shows the details of the helical spacer 12. The spacer 12 has a thermoplastic resin coated on the outer periphery of a tensile strength line such as a monotone line arranged at the center, and this resin coating layer is coated with a pitch P and an inversion angle. Six 360 degree spiral grooves 12a, 12a are formed.

The measuring device 10 includes a speed pulse generator 18 that generates a speed signal V corresponding to the amount of movement of the spacer 12 by the take-up machine 14, and a speed pulse generator 18 that is fitted into the helical groove 12a and rotates as the helical spacer 12 moves forward. A pair of rotating bodies 20.2
0' and rotationally driven by these rotating bodies 20 and 20', and angle signals θ1. It has a pair of angular pulse generators 22 and 22' for generating θ2.

The speed pulse generator 18 is provided in the front take-up machine 14, and is attached to the rotating shaft of the product drive section.

The rotating body 20, 20' is located within the reverse pitch of the spiral groove 12a of the spiral spacer 12, and is installed in the same spiral groove 128, and a gear 20a is fitted on the outer periphery, as shown in detail in FIG. The cylindrical body 20b has a flange attached thereto, and a pin 20e is fixed to a plurality of radial grooves 20c recessed in the flange surface of the body 20b and oriented toward the center via screws 20d. .

Basically, the distance between the rotating bodies 20 and 20' is sufficient as long as it is within the reversal pitch, that is, the distance where the direction of rotation of the groove changes, as described above, but in the case of a spacer with a small outer diameter, this distance is long. Since twist is added to the spacer, it is preferable to set the pitch to about 1/2 or 1/4 of the inversion pitch.

As shown in detail in FIG. 4(B), the pin 20e has a tapered tip 201 and a long hole 203 for attachment in the base 202.

In this embodiment, two pins 20e, 20e are used, and each pin 20e is located at an opposing position, and the amount of protrusion is adjusted so that each pin 20e fits into the same spiral groove 12a. It is fixed at 20d.

Each of the rotating bodies 20 and 20' configured as described above has a third
As shown in the figure, each is installed on the support stand 16 via a holder 24.

The holder 24 includes an annular portion 24a that rotatably supports the rotating body 20 via a bearing 26, and a base portion 24b that supports the annular portion 24a.

A rotary encoder 22a, which is the main body portion of the angle pulse generator 22, is fixedly installed at the upper end of the annular portion 24a.
A disk-shaped driven gear 22c is fixed to the rotating shaft 22b of the rotary encoder 22a, and the driven gear 22c meshes with a gear 20a provided on the outer periphery of the rotating body 20.

Note that the rotary encoder 22a used in this embodiment
sends out a signal corresponding to the rotation angle as an absolute value.

Therefore, the pair of rotating bodies 20 and 20' are connected to the spiral groove 12a.
Set the rotary encoder 22a so that the relative relationship between the pin 20e and the rotary encoder 22a placed in the same groove in each rotating body is the same.

A pair of guide roller devices 28 are provided before and after the holder 24.
．． 28 is installed on the support stand 16.

As shown in FIG. 6, each guide roller device 28 supports the spiral spacer 12 from below, and has a large diameter roller 28a that rotates vertically, and abuts against this from both sides of the spiral spacer 12, and horizontally rotates the spiral spacer 12. A pair of small diameter rollers 2 that rotate in the direction
8b, 28b, and a support post 28c that rotatably supports each roller 28b, 28b, and the angle pulse generator 22 measures the vertical and horizontal vibrations when the spiral spacer 12 is taken up by the taking machine 14. Care is taken to ensure that this does not appear as an error.

The speed pulse generator 18 and the angle pulse generator 22
The signals V, θl, and θ2 are input to a control circuit 30 shown in FIG.

The control circuit 30 inputs the angle signals θl and θ2 from the angle pulse generation circuit 22, and includes a comparator 30a that outputs a coincidence signal S when these angle signals match, and a coincidence signal of the comparator 30a. A counter circuit 30b that counts S and sends out a signal when it reaches a set value, the speed signal V of the speed pulse generator 18 as an input signal, and the output signal of the counter circuit 30b as a control signal,
An arithmetic circuit 30c that calculates the pitch of the spiral groove 12a based on the speed signal V, a pitch indicator 30d that displays the calculation result of the arithmetic circuit 30c, and converts the output value of the pitch indicator 30d into a binary value, Continuously measured spiral groove 12
It is comprised of a microcomputer 30e that calculates the measured value, maximum/minimum value, and average value of the pitch of a, and prints and displays the results.

To explain the calculation of the pitch executed by the calculation circuit 30c, now, from the reversal point a1 of the spiral groove 12a to the same point a
2 is defined as 1 pitch P, and the rotating bodies 20 and 20' are within the reversal pitch of the spiral groove 12a, as shown in FIG. θl and θ2 are set to have the same size. As shown in the figure, since the rotating body 20 located at the front has already passed the reversal point al, when the spiral spacer 12 moves in the direction of the arrow, it rotates to the left as seen in the direction of movement, and the angle signal θ1 is The intensity decreases.

On the other hand, since the rear rotating body 20' has not yet passed the reversal point a1, it rotates clockwise as viewed in the direction of travel, and the angle signal θ2 increases.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2(B), the rotating body 20°20.
When 20' is between the reversal point a1 and the next reversal point,
Since the rotating bodies 20 and 20' rotate in the same direction, the angle signal θ1. θ2 will never match.

When the inversion point al is exactly between the rotating bodies 20 and 20', the display angle of aO is θt, and the display angle of aa is 021 when the inversion position a1 passes through the rotating bodies 20 and 20'. If the angle is θ, the rotation angle of the rotating body 20 while going from aO to al is α1, and the rotation angle of the rotating body 20' while going from al to a3 is α2, then θ■−θ−
It can be expressed as α11θ2−θ0α2, but at a position where al is angularly intermediate between aO and a3, the absolute values of α1 and α2 are equal, and if this is set as 1αc 1, then for example, in Figure 2 (A), aO is to the left (sign -) and a3 is to the right (sign), so θl - θ - (-1αel) - θ + 1α
cl, θ2■θ+(11αcl)−θ+1αC1, so the angle signal θl and the same θ2 match, and this is sent to the comparator 3.
It is detected at 0a and a match signal S is output.

Also, aO points to the right (sign code), and a3 points to the left (sign -
), they match when θ1-θ2-θ-1αc1.

In this way, the point where the angle signal θl and the angle signal θ2 match is
In this embodiment, the coincidence signal S from the comparator 30a is sent out twice, since it occurs every inversion pitch, and twice for one pitch.

Therefore, when finding the pitch between the inverted parts, set number - 1
, when calculating the repetition pitch, by setting the set number -2 in the counter circuit 30b, the inverted pitch or pitch P can be calculated from the relationship with the count value of the speed signal V.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the spiral groove 12a has six grooves,
Although a case where the reversal angle is 360 degrees is illustrated, it is of course possible to measure a case with a larger or smaller number of threads or a reversal angle other than this.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail in the embodiments, according to the pitch measuring device for an optical fiber supporting spacer according to the present invention, the rotation angle of the rotating body fitted in the helical groove and the helical spacer can be measured. The pitch of the spiral groove that reverses can be accurately measured from the amount of progress when taking it off.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(A) is an overall layout diagram showing an example of the device of the present invention, FIG. 1(B) is a side view of the guide roller device, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the details of the spiral groove and the angle signal. , FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the rotating body and its holder, FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the rotating body, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control circuit. 10...Pitch measuring device 12...
...Spiral spacer 12a ...Spiral groove 18 ...Speed pulse generator 20 ...
...Rotating body 22...Angle pulse generator 30a...
... Comparator 30c ... Arithmetic circuit patent applicant Ube Nitto Kasei Co., Ltd. Representative Patent attorney - Kensuke Shiro
Patent Attorney Masatoshi Matsumoto Figure 2 (A) θI θ2 Figure 2 (B) 12 12a θl θ2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A helical pitch measuring device for an optical fiber supporting spacer having a helical groove formed at a predetermined pitch and reversal angle on the outer periphery includes a speed pulse generator that generates a signal corresponding to the amount of advance of the spacer; A pair of angle pulse generators that generate signals corresponding to the rotation angles of these rotating bodies via a pair of rotating bodies fitted within the reversal pitch, and a pair of angle pulse generators that receive signals from these angle pulse generators and generate their outputs. a comparator that detects the point in time when the signals match; and an arithmetic circuit that receives the output signal of the comparator, counts the signal of the speed pulse generator, and calculates the pitch of the spiral groove based on the counted value. A helical pitch measuring device for an optical fiber supporting spacer, comprising: