JPH01319705A - Apparatus for producing light transmission body of optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To exactly produce an intermittent adhesion type optical fiber tape at low cost by feeding an adhesive agent to specified parts of many filaments of optical fibers arranged parallely along its breadth direction from a nozzle with an exact amt. and at exact time using a designating means comprising a timer and a dispenser. CONSTITUTION:Many numbers of filaments of optical fiber 1 are arranged parallely along its breadth direction with a nip rolls 2, 2' and a binding jig 9 for the arrangement, and an adhesive agent is fed from an adhesive agent extruding nozzle 5 to specified parts of the arranged optical fiber surface. Since the amt. of the supplied adhesive agent and the time of the supply to an application nozzle 5 are designated exactly by a designating means constituted of a timer 3 and a dispenser 4, intermittently coated area 6'' with the adhesive agent are formed of the surface of the arranged optical fiber. Thus, the adhesive agent is supplied intermittently extremely smoothly and uniformly. Thereafter, aimed intermittent adhesive tapes are produced exactly and continuously by passing the optical fibers through a curing furnace 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is directed to a sheet-like or fiber-like material having a plurality of original fibers arranged in parallel with a predetermined width and having a bonded surface and a non-bonded portion of a predetermined length at a predetermined interval. The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a tape-shaped optical fiber light guide.

A tape-shaped optical fiber light guide is used by completely roughening the side surface of the original fiber to form a light leakage portion, and is used as a display light source for various display panels, or as a display body itself by forming a pattern on the side surface light leakage portion.

In particular, among the above-mentioned original fiber guide bodies, those in which the side light leakage part is adhesively fixed in a planar shape and the non-light leakage part has a non-adhesive structure have excellent tape lateral bending properties.
In order to ensure ease of handling, the use of small display panels with complex internal structures, such as those for instrument lighting, as illumination light sources is being considered.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the method for producing original fiber light guides in the form of sheets or tapes requires the use of a rotating drum, in which the optical fibers are placed in a predetermined position on the surface of the drum, as it is necessary to have good alignment of the fibers. The method used was to wrap them at intervals and arrange them, apply adhesive to the parts that require adhesion, dry them, and then cut them out.

Another method is to open a large number of original fibers, then align them with a collection nozzle, and then bond the entire one side of the original fibers by passing them through an adhesive coating nozzle to improve the alignment of the original fibers. A method has been proposed in which an original fiber tape or sheet is made by applying a coating agent.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Although the manufacturing method of intermittent adhesive optical fiber tape using a rotating drum is an effective method, it is not possible to make intermittent adhesive optical fiber tape in a continuous process, and the manufacturing cost is high, and the adhesive of optical fibers is difficult to manufacture. The coating of the parts also had to be done manually, and there was a problem in that adhesive coating spots were likely to occur.

On the other hand, the manufacturing method of the original fiber tape using the original fiber collection nozzle and the adhesive coating nozzle cannot perform the intermittent application of the adhesive, and can only obtain a fully adhesive type optical fiber tape. There was a problem in that the obtained optical fiber tape was not easy to handle.

[Elaborate means to solve problems]

Therefore, the present inventors have completed the present invention as a result of studies to develop a device that can be produced more easily and continuously than the conventional method of intermittent bonding optical fiber tape or sea hl. However, it is equipped with means for aligning a large number of source fibers in parallel in the width direction, and an adhesive coating nozzle for applying adhesive to a predetermined length and thickness on a predetermined portion of the aligned optical fiber surface. A source fiber guide made of an intermittent adhesive type optical fiber tape or sheet, characterized in that it is equipped with an instruction means for controlling the supply of adhesive to a coating nozzle in consideration of the traveling speed of the source fibers arranged in alignment. It's in the body's manufacturing equipment.

The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the production of original fiber tape using the apparatus of the present invention, in which 1 is the original fiber, 2j
2' is a nip roller for aligning and transporting a large number of optical fibers, 9 is a focusing jig for focusing and aligning a large number of optical fibers, and 5 is an adhesive intermittently applied to the alignment surface of the original fibers. 3 and 4 are instruction means for supplying adhesive to the coating nozzle at an accurate time and amount, and are composed of a timer 3 and a dispenser 4. Reference numeral 6 indicates an adhesive flow path, and reference numeral 6'' indicates an adhesive surface formed by an adhesive intermittently applied to the original fiber surface for alignment 'fc.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an adhesive curing device, and depending on the type of adhesive used, a hot air oven, an infrared oven, an ultraviolet oven, or the like may be selected and used. 7 is an intermittent bonded optical fiber tape section made by the apparatus of the present invention.

The device of the present invention combines a dispenser 4 and a timer 3 as means for instructing the supply of adhesive to the nozzle, so that the intermittent supply of adhesive to the nozzle is extremely smooth and uniform. Since there is almost no variation in the amount of adhesive supplied as in the case where the adhesive is supplied by the above method, the desired intermittent adhesive tape can be produced continuously and accurately.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an intermittent bonding type optical fiber tape produced by the apparatus of the present invention, in which 11 is the non-bonded part of the original fiber, and 10 is the bonded part.

The optical fiber tube produced by the apparatus of the present invention has excellent bending properties and is extremely easy to handle.

Example: 200 pieces of glass original fiber 1 with a diameter of 0.25 m
As shown in Fig. 1, the bobbin is fed at a speed of 20 m/min, clamped between Jung rollers 2 and 2', and the tension of the nip roller is 140 F/piece, so that the original fibers are arranged in parallel. After aligning with the focusing jig 9, vinyl acetate was dispersed in a methanol-water solvent and then an emulsion type adhesive (
L nozzle 5 supplies the amount necessary to bond 50 length of optical fiber drawn from dispenser 4 with 70C + @)
After that, the supply of adhesive to the nozzle 5 is stopped and the non-contact portion 50 of the optical fiber tape is coated. After performing the step of making i using a combination of timer 3 and dispenser 4, the adhesive portion of the optical fiber tape was dried with hot air to obtain an intermittent adhesive type optical fiber tape.

The width of the joint of the resulting intermittent adhesive optical fiber tape is 5
0±0.25n+s The length is 48±2-5ill, an accurate joint is formed, and the thickness is 340mm.
Met.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the manufacturing process of an intermittent bonding optical fiber tape using the optical light guide manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. Optical fiber (plan view of tape. 1180 original fiber 2, 2/...-nip roller 3...timer 4...dispenser 5-
...Adhesive discharge nozzle 6...Adhesive channel 6"...Adhesive coating section 8.
...Curing furnace 9...Focusing jig for aligning the original fibers 10...Original fiber tape joint portion 11...Original fiber tape non-joining portion Patent applicant Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A means for aligning a large number of optical fibers in parallel in the width direction, an adhesive discharging nozzle for applying adhesive to a predetermined length on a predetermined portion of the optical fiber surface during alignment, and a running speed of the aligned optical fibers. What is claimed is: 1. An optical fiber light guide manufacturing apparatus, comprising means for instructing the amount of adhesive to be discharged from an adhesive discharge nozzle.