JPH0423209Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" The present invention relates to a protective device for an optical fiber connection portion, and in particular, to a protective device designed to alleviate stress concentration on the optical fiber due to external force such as bending.

"Prior Art" Generally, when optical fibers are spliced by fusion splicing, etc., it is necessary to reinforce the joint and protect it from external forces in order to ensure the long-term reliability of the joint. ing.

Conventionally, when protecting a connecting portion of an optical fiber, for example, the connecting portion is held in a clamped state by a reinforcing device made of a glass plate or the like.

``Problem to be solved by the invention'' However, with this structure, although the stiffness of the reinforcing device can protect the optical fiber connection itself, the stiffness of the reinforcing device and the exposed parts from both ends of the reinforcing device are Because there is a large difference in rigidity between the optical fiber and the optical fiber at the parts where it is attached, when an external force such as bending is applied, stress concentrates on the optical fiber near both ends of the reinforcing device, and that part tends to bend at a sharp angle. Therefore, there is a problem in that the optical fiber is likely to be damaged if subjected to repeated external forces.

The present invention aims at alleviating the stress concentration on the optical fiber and effectively protecting the optical fiber.

"Means for solving problems" In order to achieve this purpose, this invention
A reinforcing device consisting of a pair of flat plates that collectively hold the connecting portions of multiple optical fibers arranged in parallel in a sandwiched state, and an elastically deformable protector that stores the reinforcing device holding the connecting portion in an inserted state. The protective tube consists of a reinforcing device storage part that stores the reinforcing device in an inserted state from an opening in a side part, a tongue piece that covers a part of the opening of the reinforcing device storage part, and a reinforcing device storage part. The reinforcing device is characterized in that a fiber covering portion is disposed at both ends of the reinforcing device to cover the optical fiber exposed from the reinforcing device in an inserted state.

"Function" The protective device of the present invention holds the optical fiber in a sandwiched state with a reinforcing device and stores them together in a protective tube.In this stored state, the connecting part of the optical fiber is The vicinity of the optical fiber is reinforced with a reinforcing device, and the portion of the optical fiber exposed from both ends of the reinforcing device is covered with the fiber coating of the protective tube, so that when an external force such as bending is applied to the optical fiber, etc. , the elasticity of the fiber coating softens the bending of the optical fiber,
This is to alleviate stress concentration in the vicinity. In this case, the reinforcing device is composed of a flat plate that collectively holds the parallel optical fibers, and the protective tube is designed so that the reinforcing device can be stored by simply inserting it through the side opening. Furthermore, after assembly, the reinforcing device can be prevented from falling off due to the elastic force of the protective tube and the tongue piece that partially covers the opening.

"Embodiment" Hereinafter, one embodiment of the protective device for the optical fiber connection part of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 in the figure is an optical fiber, and the optical fiber 1
In one embodiment, a plurality of tapes (five in the illustrated example) are arranged horizontally in a row so as to form a tape-like shape as a whole.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a reinforcing device that holds the connecting portion of the optical fiber 1 in a clamped state. The reinforcing device 2 is formed into a pair of plate shapes made of glass plates or the like, and an adhesive layer 3 such as hot melt for bonding the optical fiber 1 is disposed on opposing surfaces thereof.

Reference numeral 4 is a protection tube, and the protection tube 4
The reinforcing device storage part 5 is made of an elastically deformable material such as rubber or soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and the reinforcing device 2 is housed in an inserted state, and the optical fibers are exposed from both ends of the reinforcing device 2. 1 and a fiber covering part 6 that covers the fiber cover 1 is integrally formed. These reinforcing device housing portion 5 and fiber covering portion 6
A storage space 7 formed in communication with the interior of the storage space 7.
is open on one side along its entire length,
The reinforcing device 2 holding the optical fiber 1 can be moved in the width direction and inserted into the storage space 7. Further, the outer circumference of the reinforcing device storage container 5 is formed into a round bar shape, and the fiber covering portion 6 is formed into a flat rectangular plate shape having a U-shaped cross section. The connecting portion between the storage portion 5 and the fiber covering portion 6 is formed into a gently curved shape. In addition, on the side of the reinforcing device storage section 5, a pair of upper and lower inwardly directed tongue pieces 8 are provided to cover a part of the opening of the storage space 7.
Two sets are arranged at intervals in the length direction.

When protecting the connecting portion of the optical fiber 1 with a protector configured in this way, as shown in Fig. 1, the end faces of the optical fiber 1 are brought together as shown by arrow A and connected by fusion or the like. After holding the connecting portions in a clamping state with the reinforcing device 2 as shown by the arrow B and fixing each optical fiber 1 together,
When the reinforcing device 2 is moved in the width direction as shown by arrow C and stored in the storage space 7 of the protective tube 4 while elastically deforming each tongue piece 8, the state shown in FIG. 2 is obtained. be. In the stored state shown in FIG. 2, the vicinity of the connecting portion of the optical fiber 1 can of course be reinforced by the highly rigid reinforcing device 2, but the reinforcement 2 exposed from both ends of the optical fiber 1 can be reinforced. The portion of the optical fiber 1 in which it is located is also covered by the fiber coating part 6 of the protective tube 4, and when an external force such as bending is applied to the optical fiber 1, the elasticity of the fiber coating part 6 prevents the optical fiber 1 from bending. By making it gentle as shown by the chain line In addition, damage to the optical fiber 1 can be effectively prevented.

Moreover, the optical fiber 1 connected in this way
If this is a surplus part, it is wound into a loop and stored in a surplus part storage box (not shown). By forming the outer diameter of the portion 5 to be slightly smaller than the thickness dimension of the space inside the extra length storage box, the protective tube 4 is tightly stored in the extra length storage box due to the elasticity of the protective tube 4. The fixed state can be maintained reliably.

The protective tube is not limited to the shape of the embodiment as long as it can integrally cover the reinforcing device and the optical fiber, and may be a tube with vertical slits, a spiral tube, etc. It may also be configured by

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, according to the optical fiber connection protector of the present invention, the vicinity of the optical fiber connection is reinforced with a reinforcing device, and the area exposed from both ends of the reinforcing device is reinforced. A portion of the optical fiber is covered by the fiber coating of the protective tube, and when an external force such as bending is applied to the optical fiber, the elasticity of the fiber coating softens the bending of the optical fiber and prevents damage to the vicinity. Stress concentration can be alleviated, and the protective tube that integrally covers the reinforcing device and the optical fiber also has a shock absorbing function, thereby effectively preventing damage to the optical fiber. In addition, the reinforcing device can be stored by simply inserting it through the opening on the side of the protective tube, and after assembly, the elastic force of the protective tube and the tongue that covers the opening prevent the reinforcing device from falling off. This has the advantage that the assembly work is easy, and the assembled state can be maintained reliably.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the optical fiber connection protector in the present invention, and FIG.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are front views showing a state in which the protective device shown in the figure is assembled to protect the optical fiber, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken along lines - and - in FIG. 2, respectively. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Optical fiber, 2... Reinforcer, 3... Adhesive layer, 4... Protective tube, 5... Reinforcer storage section, 6... Fiber covering section, 7... Storage space, 8
...Tongue piece.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A reinforcing device 2 consisting of a pair of flat plates that collectively hold the connecting portions of a plurality of optical fibers 1 arranged in parallel in a sandwiched state, and a reinforcing device 2 that sandwiches the connecting portions.
an elastically deformable protective tube 4 for storing the reinforcing device 2 in an inserted state; A tongue piece 8 that covers a part of the opening of the reinforcing device 5 and a fiber covering portion 6 that inserts and covers the optical fiber 1 exposed from the reinforcing device 2 at both ends of the reinforcing device storage portion 5 are provided. Features protective equipment for optical fiber connections.