JPH04163404A - Manufacture of thin type optical fiber tape core wire - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent optical fibers from being broken by passing an optical fiber bundle which is composed of a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel through a dice hole where one side is formed by a metal or the like and the other side formed by a softer material. CONSTITUTION:There is used a dice 15 which consists of a rubber block 12 loaded on a metal block 11 which is formed with a groove to be a dice hole 10 on the upper surface and fixed by means of fixing pins 13, and provided with a supplying passage 14 made of ultraviolet ray resin communicating with the dice hole 10. It is recommended that the dimension of the dice hole 10 in the minor diameter direction shall not be greater than the outer diameter of an element wire 2 plus 20mum, and the dimension in the major diameter direction shall not be greater than the width of the element wire bundle plus 100mum. There are inserted into the dice hole 10 of this dice 15a plurality of optical fiber element wires 2 in the condition of the element wires arranged in parallel along in the horizontal direction. Then, thenon-hardened ultraviolet ray hardening type resin is supplied from the supplying passage 14, and resin coating is applied to an element wire bundle 16. Urethane acrylate, epoxyacrylate or the like is included in this resin. Then, the element wire bundle 16 is introduced into a hardening device 5 to harden the resin by ultraviolet rays.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon.
In particular, the present invention relates to a manufacturing method suitable for manufacturing thin optical fiber ribbons used in high-density optical communication cables and the like.

"Prior Art" FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional optical fiber ribbon. This optical fiber tape core l is made into a tape shape by arranging a plurality of optical fibers 2 in parallel and covering them with a coating 3 made of an ultraviolet curing resin or a thermosetting resin.

The optical fiber 2 is a bare optical fiber such as a quartz single mode fiber or a multimode fiber coated with an ultraviolet curing resin or a thermosetting resin. Fiber bare wire outer diameter is 125
The outer diameter of μm1 strand (outer diameter of coating) is about 250 μm.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of the method for manufacturing the optical fiber tape core l, in which reference numeral 4 is a die and 5 is a curing device equipped with an ultraviolet irradiation lamp (Uv lamp). In this method, first, a plurality of optical fiber tape strands 2...
- are inserted into the die hole 6 of the die 4 in a state in which they are closely arranged in the horizontal direction, and the outer periphery of these wires is coated with ultraviolet curing resin (uncured) within the die 4. The resin-coated wire bundle 7 pulled out from the die hole 6 is then introduced into a curing device 5, and is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from a U lamp installed in this device to harden the uncured resin. 4. Obtain the tape cable core l shown in FIG.

The dice 4 used in the conventional method described above are as follows:
As shown in Figure 6, the main body is a rectangular block made of metal (
A die hole 6 is formed in the center of the die spot (a die spot) through which a plurality of wires 2 are inserted in close parallel, and a supply pipe 8 is connected to the die hole 6 for supplying ultraviolet curing resin. The structure is as follows.

Incidentally, in recent years, in the field of optical cables using optical fibers, ultra-high-density, multi-core optical cables that accommodate thousands of optical fibers have been studied so as to enable the transmission of extremely large amounts of information. In order to store an extremely large number of optical fibers in a cable at a high density, it is necessary to laminate a large number of thin tape cores with approximately the same thickness as the optical fibers, and then assemble multiple laminates. Research is being carried out on methods of composing cables by covering them.

``Problem to be solved by the invention - 1 However, it was difficult to produce a thin ribbon core with approximately the same thickness as the optical fiber using conventional metal dies. When producing a core wire, the clearance between the strand diameter and the die hole diameter must be set to almost zero, and when a tape core wire is manufactured with the die hole diameter set in this way, the strand diameter This is because if the wire changes slightly in the positive direction or if foreign matter such as dust adheres, the wire may become clogged with the wall of the die hole and breakage may occur.

On the other hand, in order to solve the drawbacks of the metal dies mentioned above,
It is also conceivable to use a die made of a soft flexible material such as rubber. However, when such a die is used to fabricate thin tape cores, especially when fabricating wide tape cores with a large number of fibers, the arrangement of the strands tends to be disordered, as shown in Figure 7. There is a risk that defective products may be produced in which the strands 2 are not lined up in parallel.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a method for manufacturing a thin optical fiber ribbon suitably used for ultra-high density multi-core optical cables and the like.

"Means for Solving the Problem" The present invention provides a method for inserting a fiber bundle in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in parallel into a die having a die hole approximately equal to the outer diameter of the fiber bundle, while not inserting the fiber bundle into the die hole. In the method for manufacturing a thin optical fiber tape, which supplies a cured resin, coats the fiber bundle with an uncured resin, and then cures the uncured resin, the die is formed by forming either the upper or lower part of the die hole with a metal, etc. Made of hard material,
The above problem was solved by using a die whose other end was made of a material softer than the hard material, and by moving the fiber bundle along the hard material side of the die hole.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an optical fiber ribbon (hereinafter referred to as
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of a manufacturing method of a ribbon (referred to as a ribbon core).

In this example, as shown in Fig. 2, a rubber block 12 is placed on a metal block II that has a groove formed on its upper surface to serve as a die hole IO, and is fixed with fixing pins 13. A die 15 is used which is configured with a supply path 14 for ultraviolet resin that communicates with the die. The dimension of this die hole IO is such that the short axis direction is equal to or less than the outer diameter of the strand 2 + 20 μm,
Width of wire bundle in which multiple wires are arranged in parallel in the major axis direction +100
It is desirable that the thickness be less than μm. Also, the metal block 1
The material of 1 is not particularly limited, and steel, stainless steel, copper alloy, etc. are usually used. Also, the rubber block 12
As the material, a material such as noricorn rubber, which is highly durable and does not react with uncured ultraviolet resin, is preferably used.

Then, a plurality of optical fiber wires 2 are inserted into the die hole 10 of the die 5 in parallel along the horizontal direction, and uncured ultraviolet curable resin is supplied from the supply path 14.
The wire bundle in the die hole IO is coated with this resin. As this ultraviolet curable resin, resins such as urethane acrylate, Epoquin acrylate, butadiene acrylate, and soricone acrylate are suitably used.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the resin coated wire bundle 16 pulled out from the die 15 is transferred to the metal block II so that the wire bundle in the die hole 10 moves along the metal block II side of the die 15. Pull it out along the side.

In this way, by pulling out the resin-coated strand bundle 16 along the metal block side at the exit side of the die 15, even if the diameter of the strand 2 changes slightly or dust adheres to the surface of the strand, , the wire bundle will not clog the die hole 10. Further, the arrangement of the strands is not disturbed, and the arrangement of each strand becomes a -straight line.

The resin-coated wire bundle 16 pulled out along the metal block 11 side from the die 15 is then introduced into the curing device 5, where it is irradiated with ultraviolet light from a UV lamp to cure the resin coated on the surface.

The tape core wire 17 that has been cured is pulled out from the curing device 5 and wound onto a winding roller.

As described above, as shown in FIG. 3, a thin tape core in which the tape core thickness is the same as the outer diameter of the strands 2 assigned to it, and each strand 2... is arranged in parallel. A line 17 is obtained.

In this manufacturing method, the die hole 10 is provided with a hole diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the wire bundle in which a plurality of wires 2 are arranged in parallel, and the die hole I
By using a die 15 whose lower part is made of metal and whose upper part is made of rubber, and by placing the resin-coated strand bundle 16 along the metal block side on the exit side of the die 15, the strand bundle gets stuck in the die hole and breaks. In addition, it is possible to obtain a thin tape cable in which each strand is arranged in a straight line without causing any misalignment between the strands.

In the above example, the die was constructed by joining the metal block 11 and the rubber block 12, but instead of metal, a hard material other than metal such as ceramics or glass may be used, and instead of rubber, a hard material such as synthetic resin may be used. It is also possible to use soft materials.

Further, in the above-described die 15, a groove was provided on the metal block ll side to form the die hole 10, but the rubber block 1
2 side or rubber block 12 side and metal block 11
Grooves may be provided on both sides of the die hole to define the die hole.

Hereinafter, the effects of the present invention will be clarified through Examples.

"Example" Thin tape core wires were produced as shown in the following Examples and Comparative Example 1.2, and their performances were compared.

(Example) Using a quartz diameter ngle mode fiber with a diameter of 125 μm and a wire with an outer diameter of 0.25 mm coated with an ultraviolet curing resin, a width of 20 mm and a thickness of 0.25 m was used using the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.
A thin tape core wire with 8 fibers of m was fabricated. Urethane acrylate-based ultraviolet curable resin with a Young's modulus of 70 kg/mm was used as the covering material for the tape core wire.The die was made of stainless steel having grooves for the die holes, similar to the one shown in Fig. 2. A die with a silicone rubber block fixed on a silicone rubber block was used.The hole diameter of the die was
The size was 0.26 mm x 2.05 mm.

The length of each of the eight strands is 3000 m, and the outer diameter of the first strand among these strands is Om ~ 10010 m.
0O part) is 0.23mm, 1000m to 2000m (B
section) is 0, 25 mm, 2000m to 3000m (
C) was changed to 0.27 mm.

Eight core wires including the first core wire with different outer diameters are arranged in parallel along the horizontal direction, inserted into the die hole of the die, and the first core wire is inserted into the die hole of the die.
As shown in the figure, each strand is pulled out along the stainless steel block at the die exit side and coated with uncured ultraviolet resin, then the coated strand bundle is introduced into a curing device and irradiated with ultraviolet rays. Then, the resin was cured to obtain a thin tape core.

(Comparative Example 1) A thin tape core wire was produced under the same conditions as in the above example except that the wire bundle coated with resin was passed through the die hole and pulled out along the silicone rubber block on the die exit side.

(Comparative Example 2) A conventional die (made of stainless steel, die hole diameter 0.26 mm x 2.05 mm) shown in FIG. 6 was used as the die,
The resin-coated wire bundle was pulled out horizontally through the die hole to produce a thin tape core.

The dimensions, strand arrangement, and loss characteristics (loss increase during tape formation, loss loss at low temperature (-40°C)) of the thin tape core wires produced in the above Examples and Comparative Example 1.2 were investigated, and these characteristics were investigated. compared. The results are shown in Table 1.

Margin Table 1 Below As shown in Table 1, in the embodiments of the present invention, even if the diameter of the strands varies, it does not interfere with tape production, and the alignment of the strands is also improved. It has been found that it is possible to produce a high-performance thin tape core with excellent loss characteristics and no problems.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, in the method for manufacturing a thin optical fiber ribbon of the present invention, a die hole having a diameter approximately equal to that of a fiber bundle in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in parallel is provided. Using a die in which either the upper or lower part is made of a hard material such as metal and the other part is made of a material softer than the hard material, and the fiber bundle is moved along the hard material side of the die hole. In this way, it is possible to prevent the fiber bundle from clogging the die hole and breakage, and to obtain a thin optical fiber tape core in which each optical fiber is aligned in a straight line without causing misalignment between each optical fiber. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining an example of the method for manufacturing a thin tape core of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a die preferably used in the method of the present invention, and FIG. A cross-sectional view showing an example of a thin optical fiber ribbon produced by the method of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional optical fiber tape, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional optical fiber ribbon. A schematic configuration diagram for explaining the method, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a die used in the conventional method, and FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a tape core manufactured by the conventional thin tape core manufacturing method. FIG. 2...Element wire, 3...Coating, IO...Dice hole, 11
...Metal block, 12 Rubber block, 14...
- Supply path, 15...Dice, 17...Tape core wire.

Claims (1)

[Claims] The above method is carried out by inserting a fiber bundle in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in parallel through a die having a die hole approximately equal to the outer diameter of the fiber bundle, and supplying an uncured resin into the die hole. In a method for manufacturing a thin optical fiber tape in which a fiber bundle is coated with an uncured resin and then the uncured resin is cured, as the die, either the upper or lower part of the die hole is formed of a hard material such as metal; A method for manufacturing a thin optical fiber ribbon, characterized in that the other die is made of a material softer than the hard material, and the fiber bundle is moved along the hard material side of the die hole.