JPH0449603Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Technical field] The present invention is an improvement of a manufacturing device for manufacturing an optical tape unit in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in parallel in a plane and coated with a protective layer. It is related to.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, an optical tape unit 5 as shown in FIG. 3 has been devised. In this method, an optical fiber array 3 is formed by lining up an optical fiber 1 in parallel with a coating layer 2 made of an ultraviolet curable resin, etc., to form an optical fiber array. It is coated with a protective layer 4 made of nylon, ultraviolet curable resin, or the like. By the way, in the manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing this optical tape unit 5, one of the most important points is that the protective layer 4
The problem is how to supply the optical fiber array in a stable shape to the coating equipment that coats the optical fibers. That is, if there is any disturbance in the shape of the optical fiber array immediately before entering the coating device, the position of the optical fiber strands 3 in the finished optical tape unit 5 may be disturbed, and as a result, the optical fibers may be This may cause deterioration of the transmission characteristics of the fiber wire 3. Therefore, in the conventional method, the optical fiber alignment body is pressed from above and below with a sponge or the like to apply tension just before the coating device to prevent the positional deviation of each optical fiber strand 3, At the same time, the shape of the optical fiber array was not disturbed. However, with this method, if the pressure is too high, the transmission characteristics of the optical fiber 3 may deteriorate, or
It has a drawback that it is not effective depending on the material of the coating layer 2 of the optical fiber wire 3. For example, it is effective if the coating layer 2 is made of a material with a certain degree of adhesiveness such as silicone, but if the coating layer 2 is made of a non-adhesive material such as an ultraviolet curable resin,
The optical fiber 3 slips within the sponge, making it ineffective. As described above, in the conventional method, the transmission characteristics of the optical fiber 3 tend to deteriorate, and depending on the material of the coating layer 2 of the optical fiber 3, it is not possible to prevent the shape of the optical fiber array from being disturbed. There were other problems.

[Effect of idea]

In view of the above problems, the purpose of the present invention is to prevent the shape of the optical fiber array immediately before entering the coating device from being disturbed, and to produce an optical tape unit that has a stable shape and less deterioration of transmission characteristics. Our goal is to provide manufacturing equipment for this purpose.

[Structure of the idea]

In order to achieve the above object, the optical tape unit manufacturing apparatus of the present invention converts an optical fiber strand of outer diameter d into n
(n≧2) In this optical tape unit manufacturing apparatus, the apparatus includes an alignment device that forms an array of optical fibers by arranging them in parallel in a plane, and a coating device that coats the array of optical fibers with a protective layer. is an alignment roll A having grooves on the outer peripheral surface with a width W of d≦W≦1.5d and a depth H of nd or more, and a width H of nd≦H.
≦(n+0.5)d and a depth W of at least d on the outer peripheral surface thereof. It is characterized in that it is housed in a planar shape to form an optical fiber array.

[Example of idea]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the optical tape unit manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. As this figure shows, the device of the present invention has n bobbins 11, 11...
The n optical fiber strands 3, 3, . Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the alignment device 16 has a width W of d≦W≦1.5d and a depth H of nd.
(meaning n×d) or more grooves 12 on the outer peripheral surface, and the width H is nd≦H≦(n+
0.5) each has two alignment rolls B15 having grooves 14 on the outer peripheral surface with a depth W of d or more;
In each groove 12, 14 of the alignment roll A13 and alignment roll B15, n pieces of the optical fiber strands 3, 3...
... are housed in a planar shape to form an optical fiber array. In this way, the groove 1 of the alignment roll A13
2, there is little gap in the width direction W, specifically, there is no gap equal to the outer diameter of the optical fiber strand 3, so each optical fiber strand 3 cannot cross over the adjacent optical fiber strand 3. Similarly, in the groove 14 of the alignment roll B15, the gap in the width direction H is at most half the outer diameter d of the optical fiber strand 3, or less, so the gap between adjacent optical fiber strands 3 is It doesn't become extremely disturbed. Therefore, the alignment state is extremely stable.

Here, each alignment roll A13 and alignment roll B
15, the depth H of the groove 12 of the alignment roll A13 should be nd≦H≦(n+0.5).
d, and the depth W of the groove 14 of the alignment roll B15 is preferably in the range d≦W≦1.5d. The arrangement of the alignment roll A and the alignment roll B is as follows:
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, A and B, the alignment roll A is placed on the bobbin 11 side, and the alignment roll B is placed on the coating device 17 side, which will be described later, but the reverse may of course be used. In any case, it is preferable to place it as close as possible to the coating device 17 because the shape of the optical fiber array supplied to the coating device 17 is stabilized. Further, the number of each alignment body roll A and alignment roll B is not necessarily limited to two, and may be one each, or two or more. Of course, if there are two or more rolls, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. The shape of the optical fiber array provided is more stable.
After the optical fiber array is formed by the alignment device 16 in this manner, the optical fiber array is coated with a protective layer by the coating device 17, taken up by a take-up machine 18, etc., and wound up by a winder 19. If the resin to be coated with the coating device 17 is a thermosetting resin, a heating furnace is provided between the coating device 17 and the take-up machine 18, and if the resin is an ultraviolet curable resin, an ultraviolet curing oven is provided to cure the resin. let Further, in the case of thermoplastic resin, an extrusion coating machine is used as the coating device 17.

According to the optical tape unit manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the alignment device provided in front of the coating device allows the optical fiber array to be formed into a stable shape, that is, for each optical fiber forming the optical fiber array. Since the fiber strands can be supplied to the coating device in a state where there is no uneven arrangement, it is possible to obtain an optical tape unit that is stable in shape and has no uneven arrangement and has less deterioration in transmission characteristics.

[Effect of idea]

As mentioned above, according to the optical tape unit manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to supply an optical fiber array with a stable shape to the coating device, and to produce an optical fiber array with a stable shape.
Therefore, it is possible to obtain an optical tape unit in which the transmission characteristics of each optical fiber strand are less deteriorated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the optical tape unit manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 A and B are a plan view and a front view of the alignment device according to FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the unit. 3... Optical fiber wire, 4... Protective layer, 5...
Optical tape unit, 12, 14... groove, 13...
Alignment roll A, 15... Alignment roll B, 16...
Aligning device, 17... coating device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An optical device comprising an aligning device for forming an optical fiber array by arranging n (n≧2) optical fibers having an outer diameter d in parallel in a plane, and a coating device for coating the optical fiber array with a protective layer. In the tape unit manufacturing apparatus, the alignment device has a width W such that d≦W≦
An alignment roll A that has grooves on the outer circumferential surface with a width H of 1.5 d and a depth H of nd or more, and an alignment roll that has grooves on the outer circumferential surface with a width H of nd≦H≦(n+0.5)d and a depth W of d or more. Manufacturing an optical tape unit characterized in that it has at least one each of the alignment roll A and the alignment roll B, and the optical fiber strands are accommodated in a planar shape in each groove of the alignment roll A and the alignment roll B to form an optical fiber alignment body. Device.