JPH06109947A - Optical fiber reinforcing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To correctly set coated optical fibers in a manner as to prevent the protrusion of a fusion spliced part from a lower reinforcing member even if the coated optical fibers have the permanent set in bending at the time of reinforcing the fusion spliced part of the coated optical fibers by sandwiching the fusion spliced part with the lower reinforcing member and an upper reinforcing member to be put on the upper side thereof. CONSTITUTION:The base end side of pawls 6a, 6b for transportation to grip the lower reinforcing member 4 is provided with tapers 24 to form a V-shaped positioning guide 23. The coated optical fibers 20a, 20b after fusion splicing are fitted into this positioning guide 23, by which the fusion spliced part 21 is set in the central part of the lower reinforcing member 4 without receiving the influence of the permanent set in bending of the coated optical fibers 20a, 20b. The upper reinforcing member is put on the upper side of the fusion spliced part 21 in this set state to sandwich the fusion spliced part 21 with the lower reinforcing member 4 and the upper reinforcing member, by which the fusion spliced part is reinforced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber reinforcing device for sandwiching a fusion spliced portion of an optical fiber core between an upper reinforcing member and a lower reinforcing member for reinforcement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present inventors have developed an automatic splicer for a single-fiber or multi-fiber optical fiber used for optical communication. In this automatic splicer, a plurality of optical fiber cores are set in a core cassette, attached to the main body of the apparatus, and the apparatus is driven and controlled, whereby the optical fiber cores set in the core cassette are determined one by one. The optical fiber core wire that has been subjected to all the steps is automatically transferred to the work process, and the automatic peeling of the optical fiber core, end face cutting of the bare optical fiber, fusion splicing, and reinforcement of the connection part are performed automatically in sequence. It is taken out one after another.

[0003]

As is well known, the fusion spliced portion of the optical fiber core wire is mechanically weak and it is necessary to reinforce it. In the conventional manual connection device for optical fiber cores, after fusion-splicing, the fusion-spliced portion is manually sandwiched between two reinforcing members to reinforce it. However, the operation of manually sandwiching the fusion splicing portion between the reinforcing members is very inefficient and is not suitable for use in an automatic splicing machine.

In view of such circumstances, the applicant has proposed a reinforcing device suitable for an automatic connecting machine. A schematic configuration of the main part of the proposed device is shown in FIG. In the figure, a reinforcing stage 1 for reinforcing the fusion splicing portion of the optical fiber core wire.
A cassette 2 is provided next to the cassette 2, and a plurality of sets of reinforcing members, each of which includes an upper reinforcing member 3 made of a metal plate and a lower reinforcing member 4 made of a glass plate, are housed in the cassette 2. . The lower surface of the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4
An adhesive layer is applied and formed on the upper surface of each.

A compression spring 5 is provided at the bottom of 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 move upward one by one from the cassette 2 by utilizing the biasing force of the compression spring 5. There is.

On the upper end sides of the reinforcing stage 1 and the cassette 2, a conveying claw 6a functioning as a reinforcing member gripping tool,
6b is provided, and the carrying claws 6a and 6b are provided with 1
A gripping mechanism (not shown) for gripping the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 together is connected from both sides of the side end faces of the reinforcing members of the set. The thickness of the carrying claws 6a, 6b is 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 of the reinforcing member 3, a margin portion (grip margin) 8 necessary for a separation claw 7 described later to grip is left. The reinforcing stage 1 is provided with a transfer claw 6a,
6b is freely movable in the vertical direction, and the upper end surface of the reinforcing stage 1 is at a height that matches the upper end surface of the cassette 2 when the reinforcing stage 1 is in the lowered position.

A separating claw 7 is fixedly disposed above the reinforcing stage 1 and the cassette 2 with a predetermined gap 10 therebetween, such as a base of an automatic connecting machine. The separating claw 7 includes 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. The 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 claw 7a, and when the operating rod 16 moves backward by the operation of the solenoid 15, the movable claw 7a moves the spring 14a.
The urging force causes the claw portion 9 to rotate in a clockwise direction so that the claw portion 9 is sandwiched and moved to the fixed block claw 7b side.

A heater (not shown) is built in the block of the block claw 7b, the heater is driven, the operation of the cam provided in the cassette 2 is performed, and the carrying claws 6a and 6b are gripped and gripped. The releasing operation, the up / down movement of the reinforcing stage 1, and the operation of the solenoid 15 are controlled by a control device (not shown). A fusion-bonding stage for fusion-bonding the optical fibers is arranged at a position near the reinforcing stage 1, that is, at a position on the adjacent side orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG.

Next, the operation of this device will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 2, 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 superposed state, they were waiting at the upper end position of the cassette 2. Grasping the four corners of the upper and lower reinforcing members 3 and 4 from both sides of the side end face with the carrying claws 6a and 6b,
As shown in FIG. 3, 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 cassette 2 of the upper reinforcing member 3
The end face 17 near the end is aligned with the vertical face 11 of the fixed block claw 7b. When the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 are moved, the separating claw 7 stands by in a state where the movable claw 7a is open, 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, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation rod 16 is moved backward by the operation of the solenoid 15. 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.
The allowance portion 8 of the upper holding member 3 is gripped by and the claw portion 9 of the movable claw 7a.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, when the carrying claws 6b are opened and the carrying claws 6a and 6b are released, as shown in FIG. 6, the reinforcing stage 1 is lowered. Then, 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. 7, 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-bonded single-core or multi-core optical fiber core wires 20a, 20b are gripped by the transport clamp 22 and are carried from the fusion station, and the fusion-bonded portion 21 is on the lower side. The reinforcing member 4 is placed on the central portion on the upper side (FIG. 8). Next, the operation rod 16 moves forward by the operation of the solenoid 15, the movable claw 7a rotates counterclockwise to open the claw, and the upper reinforcing member 3 that has been grasped is fusion-bonded to the optical fiber core wire. It is placed on the upper side of the part 21.

As described above, the upper and lower reinforcing members 3 and 4 are covered with the fusion splicing portion 21 of the optical fiber core in a sandwiched state, and the upper reinforcing member 3 of the metal plate is blocked by driving high frequency heating means or the like. The heat of the heater on the side of the claw 7b is applied, and the adhesive layers of the upper reinforcing member 3 and the lower reinforcing member 4 are bonded to each other with the fusion splicing portion sandwiched therebetween, whereby the fusion splicing portion 21 is reinforced. .

In this proposed apparatus, as shown in FIG. 8, the fused optical fiber core wire 20a,
When the 20b is placed, the conveyed fusion optical fiber cores 20a and 20b are clamped on the central axis of the lower reinforcing member 4 so that the fusion splicing portion 21 is located at the center position of the lower reinforcing member 4. The optical fiber core wires 20a and 20b are opened and placed on the lower reinforcing member 4.

However, the optical fibers 20a, 20b
When the optical fiber core wires 20a, 20b carried from the fusion splicing station are released on the central axis of the lower reinforcing member 4, the optical fiber core wires 20a, 20b can be bent. As shown in FIG. 9, the fusion splicing portion 21 is placed at a position displaced from the central position of the lower reinforcing member 4 due to the bending tendency of the fusion splicing portion 21 in the extreme case. Will be set at a position protruding from the lower reinforcing member 4, and there will be an inconvenience that the fusion splicing portion 21 cannot be reinforced. In order to eliminate such an inconvenience, the plate widths of the reinforcing members 3 and 4 may be increased. However, in this case, the material cost of the reinforcing member is increased and the reinforcing portion cannot be downsized. Occurs.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to correctly set the fusion splicing portion to the central portion of the lower reinforcing member even in an optical fiber core wire having a bending tendency. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber reinforcing device.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is constructed as follows. That is, according to the present invention, the lower reinforcing member on the reinforcing stage is gripped and fixed by the reinforcing member gripping tool, and the upper reinforcing member is provided on the upper side of the fusion splicing portion of the optical fiber core wire placed on the lower reinforcing member. An optical fiber reinforcing device for applying and sandwiching the fusion spliced portion between an upper reinforcing member and a lower reinforcing member in a sandwich shape, wherein an optical fiber is used as a reinforcing member gripping tool for gripping the lower reinforcing member. A positioning guide is provided for positioning the lower part of the lower reinforcing member substantially at the center of the lower reinforcing member.

[0019]

In the present invention having the above-described structure, the optical fiber cores fusion-spliced to the upper side of the lower reinforcing member are held on the reinforcing stage while the lower reinforcing member is held by the reinforcing member holding tool. Come to. Then, when the optical fiber core wire is released at a fixed position where the fusion spliced portion is located at the substantially center position of the lower reinforcing member, the released optical fiber core wire is guided along the positioning guide of the reinforcing member gripping tool. The fusion splicing part of the optical fiber is set at a predetermined fixed position, and sandwiched between the lower reinforcing member and the upper reinforcing member at the center position thereof to be reinforced.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the description of the present embodiment, the same members as those of the proposed device are designated by the same reference numerals, and the duplicate description thereof will be omitted. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the essential parts of an embodiment of an optical fiber reinforcing device according to the present invention. This embodiment is different from the proposed device in that the optical fiber cores 20a, 20a,
Positioning guide for positioning 20b in the correct position
23 is provided, and the rest of the configuration is the same as the proposed device.

The characteristic positioning guide 23 of this embodiment is constructed by forming a taper 24 on the base end side facing surfaces of the pair of conveying pawls 6a and 6b respectively on the front side and the rear side.
This taper 24 is formed on a slope having a shape that becomes narrower from the upper end toward the bottom, and the slopes of the front and rear transporting claws 6a and 6b face each other while holding the lower reinforcing member 4. It is a substantially V-shaped groove.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the carrying claw 6 is used.
While the lower reinforcing member 4 is held on the reinforcing stage 1 by a and 6b, the optical fiber core wires 20a and 20b after fusion splicing are held by the conveying clamp 22 from the fusing station to the reinforcing stage. When you bring it, the optical fiber core
By releasing 20a, 20b at a position above the positioning guide 23, the optical fiber core wire 20 released from the transport clamp 22 is released.
a and 20b smoothly enter the positioning guide 23 along the taper 24, that is, into the V-shaped groove, and even if the optical fiber cores 20a and 20b are bent, the optical fiber core 20a , 20b are constrained to the correct setting positions by the positioning guides 23, so that the fusion splicing portion 21 is prevented from being set out of the lower reinforcing member 4, and the fusion splicing portion 21 of the lower reinforcing member 4 is prevented. Correctly set in the central position, the fusion splice 21 is completely reinforced.

When the positioning of the optical fiber core wires 20a, 20b is performed more reliably, the optical fiber core wires 20a, 20b after fusion splicing are gripped by the carrying clamp 22 and the upper side of the lower reinforcing member 4 is held. Transport clamp when it is transported to
Before releasing the optical fiber core wires 20a and 20b from the fiber 22, the carrier clamp 22 is pushed to the positioning guide 23 side or moved, or the carrier claws 6a and 6b side, that is, the reinforcing stage 1 side is moved upward by a predetermined amount. By doing so, the optical fiber core wires 20a, 20b are forced to enter the groove of the positioning guide 23 along the taper 24, and thus the fusion splicing portion 21 is further positioned at the center position of the lower reinforcing member 4. It can be set securely.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the optical fiber core wire after fusion splicing can be properly set by fitting it into the positioning guide 23, the optical fiber core wires 20a and 20b are not bent. However, the fusion splicing portion 21 of the optical fiber core wires 20a and 20b can be placed at the correct center position of the lower reinforcing member 4 without being affected by this.
Thus, the fusion splicing portion 21 can be reliably reinforced.

Further, as described above, since the fusion splicing portion 21 can be correctly set at the center position of the lower reinforcing member 4, even if the plate width of the lower reinforcing member 4 is narrowed, the fusion splicing portion 21 is at the lower side. Since it does not stick out from the plate surface of the reinforcing member 4, the width of the lower reinforcing member 4 and the upper reinforcing member 3 can be narrowed, and the material cost can be reduced and the reinforcing portion can be further downsized.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various embodiments can be adopted. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the positioning guide 23 is formed with a taper 24 so as to form a V-shaped groove. The groove shape may be a U-shape or an inverted trapezoidal shape.

[0027]

According to the present invention, since the reinforcing member gripping tool for gripping the lower reinforcing member is provided with the positioning guide,
Even if the optical fiber core is bent, the fusion splicing of the optical fiber can be performed by positioning and setting the fusion optical fiber core in this positioning guide while holding the lower reinforcing member with the reinforcing member gripper. The portion can be easily set at the center position of the lower reinforcing member, whereby the fusion splicing portion can be reliably reinforced without being affected by the bending tendency of the optical fiber core wire.

Further, as described above, since the fusion splicing portion can be correctly set at the center position of the lower reinforcing member, the width of the lower reinforcing member and the upper reinforcing member covering the upper side can be narrowed, and the reinforcing member The material cost can be reduced, and the size of the reinforcing portion can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part configuration of an embodiment of an optical fiber reinforcing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an optical fiber reinforcing device previously proposed by the applicant.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram 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. 2;

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of a state where the reinforcing stage is lifted from the state of FIG. 3 and the upper reinforcing member is held by the holding claws.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram in which one side of the transport claw is opened while the upper reinforcing member is gripped.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view of a state where the reinforcing stage is lowered from the state of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an operation state in which the fusion splicing optical fiber core is carried in a state in which the lower reinforcing member is gripped again by the transporting claws and positioned at a fixed position after the reinforcing stage stops descending. .

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a state where the transport claw is held and a fused optical fiber is set while the lower reinforcing member is being held by the transport claw.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a defective set state due to a bending tendency of the optical fiber core wire.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Reinforcement Stage 3 Upper Reinforcement Member 4 Lower Reinforcement Member 6a, 6b Transfer Claw 7 Separation Claw 20a, 20b Optical Fiber Core 21 Fusion Splicing Section 23 Positioning Guide 24 Taper

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Yutaka Mie, 2-6-1, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor, Kazuo Hokari, 1-1-6, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lower reinforcing member on a reinforcing stage is gripped and fixed by a reinforcing member gripping tool, and an upper reinforcing member is applied to an upper side of a fusion splicing portion of an optical fiber core wire placed on the lower reinforcing member. An optical fiber reinforcing device for sandwiching the fusion-spliced portion with an upper reinforcing member and a lower reinforcing member to reinforce it, wherein an optical fiber is used as a reinforcing member gripping tool for gripping the lower reinforcing member. An optical fiber reinforcing device provided with a positioning guide for positioning substantially at the center of a lower reinforcing member.