JPH05224067A - Method for supplying reinforcing member - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the method for supplying an upper reinforcing member and lower reinforcing member for reinforcing the fusion spliced part of optical fibers. CONSTITUTION:The upper reinforcing member 3 and lower reinforcing member 4 emitted above from a cassette 2 are held together by pawls 6a, 6b for transportation and are transported to the Position of a reinforcing stage 1. The reinforcing stage 1 is risen in this state and the pawl 6b for transportation is opened in the state of gripping the upper reinforcing member 3 by a moving pawl 7a and stationary side pawl 7b constituting a pawl 7 for gripping. The reinforcing stage 1 is then lowered to part the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4. The fusion spliced part of the coated optical fibers is placed in this state on the upper side of the upper reinforcing member and the upper reinforcing member 3 is placed thereon, by which both the upper and lower reinforcing members are supplied in the state of holding the fusion spliced part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for supplying a reinforcing member for supplying an upper side reinforcing member and a lower side reinforcing member for reinforcing a fusion spliced portion of an optical fiber core wire with the fusion spliced portion sandwiched therebetween. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present inventors have developed an automatic connecting device for a single-fiber or multi-fiber optical fiber used for optical communication and the like. In this automatic connecting device, a plurality of optical fiber core wires are set in a core wire cassette, attached to the main body of the device, and the connection device is driven and controlled, so that the optical fiber core wires set in the core wire cassette are set one by one. It is transported to a predetermined work process, the optical fiber core wire is peeled off, the end face of the bare optical fiber is cut, the fusion splicing, and the connection part is reinforced automatically in order, and the optical fiber core wire is completed Are taken out one after another. This automatic connecting device has not been disclosed yet, and therefore, there is no disclosure of a method for reinforcing a fusion splicing part suitable for such an automatic connecting device.

[0003]

As is well known, the fusion spliced portion of the optical fiber core wire is mechanically weak and needs to be reinforced. In the conventional manual connection device for optical fiber core wires, after fusion-splicing, the fusion-splicing part is reinforced by manually sandwiching the fusion-splicing part with two reinforcing members. However, the work of sandwiching the fusion-spliced portion with the reinforcing member by hand is very inefficient and is not suitable for use in the automatic splicing device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to be able to automatically supply an upper reinforcing member and a lower reinforcing member in such a manner as to sandwich a fusion splicing portion of an optical fiber core wire. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of supplying a reinforcing member suitable for an automatic connecting device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows. That is, according to the method for supplying a reinforcing member of the present invention, a plurality of sets of reinforcing members, each including an upper reinforcing member and a lower reinforcing member, are sequentially pushed out from the cassette one by one, and the pushed reinforcing member is gripped on the upper end side. The upper and lower reinforcing members from both sides of the side end face together with the conveying claws to move them onto the reinforcing stage, and then the holding claws waiting on the upper side of the reinforcing stage Of the reinforcing claw for gripping the upper side reinforcing member and holding the one side claw of the conveying claw on both the upper and lower reinforcing members while separating the other side claw from the reinforcing stage relative to the grasping claw. The upper reinforcing member is separated from the lower gripping member by waiting in the direction of moving away from the upper gripping member, and the fusion spliced portion of the optical fiber core that has been fusion spliced is placed on the lower gripping member and then gripped. Separate the claws and attach the upper reinforcement member It is configured as characterized in that placed on the upper side of KiToruchaku connection.

[0006]

In the above structure of the present invention, a pair of reinforcing members consisting of an upper reinforcing member and a lower reinforcing member, which are sequentially pushed up from the cassette, are used as the reinforcing stage by grasping the side end faces from both sides by the conveying claws. Can be posted. While the upper and lower reinforcing members are gripped by the transfer claws on the reinforcing stage, the upper reinforcing member is gripped by the gripping claws waiting on the upper side of the reinforcing stage. With the claws controlling the positions of the upper and lower reinforcing members, release the other claw. Then, the upper reinforcing member is separated from the lower reinforcing member and made to stand by in a separated state, and the fusion splicing portion of the optical fiber core wire is inserted between the lower reinforcing member and the upper reinforcing member.
Next, by placing the upper reinforcing member on the upper side of the fusion splicing portion, the lower reinforcing member and the upper reinforcing member are supplied to the reinforcing stage with the fusion splicing portion of the optical fiber core being sandwiched. ..

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a reinforcing station of an automatic connecting device for optical fiber cores. In the figure, a cassette 2 is provided adjacent to the reinforcing stage 1 for reinforcing the fusion spliced part of the optical fiber core, and the cassette 2 is provided with an upper reinforcing member 3 made of a metal plate and a glass plate. A plurality of sets of reinforcing members including the lower reinforcing member 4 as a set are accommodated. Adhesive layers are applied and formed on the lower surface of the upper reinforcing member 3 and the upper surface of the lower reinforcing member 4, respectively.

A compression spring 5 is provided below the cassette 2, and the compression spring 5 urges the reinforcing member upward. Further, the cassette 2 is provided with a cam (not shown), and the driving of the cam causes the reinforcing members to come out of the cassette 2 one by one by utilizing the biasing force of the compression spring 5. There is.

Transfer pawls 6a and 6b are provided on the upper end sides of the reinforcing stage 1 and the cassette 2, and the transfer pawls 6a and 6b are provided with upper reinforcing members from both sides of the side end faces of a pair of reinforcing members. A gripping mechanism (not shown) that grips 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 together is connected. This carrying claw 6
The thicknesses of a and 6b are smaller than the total thickness of the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4, and when the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 are sandwiched together, On the upper end side, a margin 8 necessary for gripping by a gripping claw 7 described later remains. In this embodiment, the reinforcing stage 1 is movable in the vertical direction together with the transfer claws 6a and 6b, and when the reinforcing stage 1 is in the lowered position, the upper end surface of the reinforcing stage 1 is the upper end surface of the cassette 2. It has a height that matches.

Above the reinforcing stage 1 and the cassette 2, a gripping claw 7 is fixedly arranged on a base or the like of the automatic connecting device with a predetermined gap 10 therebetween. The gripping claw 7 is provided with a movable claw 7a and a fixed block claw 7b, and a step portion is provided on the lower end surface of the fixed block claw 7b. A vertical surface 11 of this step portion serves as a claw portion. It is functioning. Further, the horizontal surface 12 of the step portion functions as a contact surface for regulating the position of the upper reinforcing member 3.

The movable claw 7a is rotatably attached to the rotary shaft 13 and is attached to the rotary shaft 13.
The urging force in the clockwise direction is always given by 14. Further, the operating rod 16 of the solenoid 15 is linked to the upper side of the movable pawl 7a, and when the operating rod 16 moves backward due to the operation of the solenoid 15, the movable pawl 7a moves to the spring 14
The urging force causes the claw portion 9 to move by sandwiching the claw portion 9 toward the fixed block claw 7b.

The apparatus of this embodiment is provided with a control device (not shown), which operates the cam provided on the cassette 2 and the operation of gripping and releasing the gripping of the transfer claws 6a and 6b. The vertical movement of the stage 1 and the solenoid 15 are controlled by the controller.

The apparatus of the present embodiment is configured as described above, and the supply operation of the reinforcing member using the apparatus will be described next with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 1, when a set of the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 were put on the upper side of the cassette 2 in a state of being superposed on each other, they were waiting at the upper end position of the cassette 2. Transfer claws 6a, 6
As shown in FIG. 7, the four corners of the upper and lower reinforcing members 3 and 4 are sandwiched by both sides of the side end surface by b, and as shown in FIG.
The upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 are moved together to the fixed position of the reinforcing stage 1. When this movement to the fixed position is performed, the end surface 17 of the upper reinforcing member 3 near the cassette 2 is aligned with the vertical surface 11 of the fixed block claw 7b. When the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 are moved,
The gripping claw 7 stands by in a state where the movable claw 7a is opened, that is, in a position where the operating rod 16 has advanced.

Next, while the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 are being held by the transfer claws 6a and 6b, the reinforcing stage 1 is moved upward and the upper end surface of the upper reinforcing member 3 is fixed. When the side block claw 7b comes into contact with the horizontal plane 12, the upward movement of the reinforcing stage 1 is stopped, and at the same time, the actuating rod 16 is moved backward by the operation of the solenoid 15, as shown in FIG. As a result, the movable claw 7a is rotated clockwise by the urging force of the spring 14, and the vertical surface 11 of the fixed block claw 7b is rotated.
With the claw portion 9 of the movable claw 7a, the allowance portion 8 of the upper holding member 3 is gripped.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, when the carrying claws 6b are opened and the carrying claws 6a and 6b are released, as shown in FIG. 5, the reinforcing stage 1 is lowered. The upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 are separated from each other. When the lowering of the reinforcing stage 1 is stopped, the carrying claws 6b are moved in the gripping direction as shown in FIG. 6, and the lower reinforcing member 4 is gripped by the carrying claws 6a and 6b and positioned at a fixed position. To be gripped.

In this state, the fusion splicing portion of the fusion spliced optical fiber core is supplied and placed on the upper side of the lower reinforcing member 4. Next, the operation of the solenoid 15
When the movable portion 7a moves forward 16 times, the movable claw 7a rotates counterclockwise to open the claw, and the upper reinforcing member 3 which has been gripped is placed on the fusion splicing portion of the optical fiber core. With the above, the supply operation of the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 is completed.

After the upper and lower reinforcing members 3 and 4 are supplied with the fusion splicing portions of the optical fiber cores sandwiched therebetween, as described above, the upper reinforcing member 3 of the metal plate is subjected to high-frequency heating means or the like. Thus, heat is applied, and the adhesive layers of the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 adhere to each other with the fusion splicing portion sandwiched therebetween, whereby reinforcement of the fusion splicing portion is achieved.

According to this embodiment, after the lower reinforcing member 4 and the upper reinforcing member 3 are separated from each other, the conveying claw 6b is closed and the lower reinforcing member 4 is gripped again. Even if there is a slight deviation in the lower reinforcing member 4, it can be corrected and positioned in a fixed position, so that the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 can be superposed on each other without displacement. The fused portion of the fiber core wire can be reinforced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various embodiments can be adopted. For example, in the above embodiment, the reinforcing stage 1 is on the moving side, and the gripping claw 7 is used.
However, the reinforcing stage 1 may be the fixed side and the gripping claw 7 may be the moving side.

[0020]

According to the present invention, when the upper reinforcing member and the lower reinforcing member are moved from the cassette to the reinforcing stage,
Since the upper and lower reinforcing members are moved together in a superposed state, the upper reinforcing member and the lower reinforcing member do not separate and come apart during the movement, and the reinforcing stage is fixed. It can be reliably moved to the position.

Moreover, when the upper reinforcing member is separated from the lower reinforcing member, the margin of the upper reinforcing member is gripped by the gripping claws while the upper reinforcing member and the lower reinforcing member are moved to the fixed positions. Since the upper and lower reinforcing members are separated from each other, when the fusion splicing part is placed on the lower side reinforcing member and the upper side reinforcing member is placed on the upper side of the fusion splicing part after the separation, the lower side reinforcing member and the upper side The positional displacement of the reinforcing member does not occur, so that the fusion-spliced portion can be reliably reinforced, and the reliability of the reinforced portion can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing an embodiment of an apparatus to which a method for supplying a reinforcing member according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view of a state in which the upper reinforcing member and the lower reinforcing member are moved together to the fixed position of the reinforcing stage from the state of FIG.

3 is an operation explanatory view of a state in which a reinforcing stage is lifted from the state of FIG. 2 and an upper side reinforcing member is held by a holding claw. FIG.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of a state in which one side of the conveying claw is opened while the upper side reinforcing member is gripped.

5 is an operation explanatory view of a state in which the reinforcing stage is lowered from the state of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of an operation of holding the lower reinforcing member by the carrying claw again and positioning it at a fixed position after the reinforcing stage stops descending.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a gripping state of the transport claw when the transport claw is gripping the upper reinforcing member and the lower reinforcing member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Reinforcement Stage 2 Cassette 3 Upper Reinforcement Member 4 Lower Reinforcement Member 6a, 6b Transfer Claw 7 Grip Claw 7a Movable Claw 7b Fixed Block Claw

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Seiyoshi Mishima 2-6-1 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshiaki Satake 1-6 Uchiyuki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph Phone Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of sets of reinforcing members, one set including an upper side reinforcing member and a lower side reinforcing member, are sequentially pushed out from a cassette one by one, and the pushed-out reinforcing members are left on the upper end side to leave a margin for gripping. The upper and lower reinforcing members are grasped together from both sides of the side end face by the conveying claws and moved onto the reinforcing stage, and then the grasping claws waiting on the upper side of the reinforcing stage grasp the marginal part for grasping. The upper reinforcing member is gripped, and while one of the conveying pawls is kept in contact with the upper and lower reinforcing members, the other pawl is separated to move the reinforcing stage in a direction in which the reinforcing stage is relatively separated from the gripping pawl. By this, the upper reinforcing member is separated from the lower gripping member and made to stand by, and after the fusion spliced portion of the fusion-spliced optical fiber core is placed on the lower gripping member, the gripping claws are separated to release the upper reinforcing member. On top of the fusion splice Reinforcement member supply method.