JPH06148456A - Automatic cutting device for optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the automatic cutting device for the optical fiber which easily prevents reoperation and the burning of a resin coating and surely eliminates the flawing of an end surface of the optical fiber. CONSTITUTION:This device is equipped with a clamp mechanism 3 which restrains and clamps the optical fiber 1 in a bare state from upper and lower, a traction mechanism 4 which clamps coated optical fiber 2 coating the optical fiber 1 and tows the optical fiber l away from the clump mechanism 3 through the restoring operation of a coiled spring 4, a cutting means which flaws and cuts the surface of the optical fiber 1 between the clamp mechanism 3 and traction mechanism 4, and a switch 5 which detects whether or not the optical fiber 1 is successfully cut at the final stage of the cutting process from the abutting of the moving traction mechanism 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic optical fiber cutting device for automatically cutting an optical fiber, and more particularly to an automatic optical fiber cutting device applied to a fully automatic fusion splicer for optical fibers. Related to the improvement of.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional automatic optical fiber cutting apparatus, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 147408/1989, has a core wire clamp means for holding an optical fiber wire and a fiber for holding an optical fiber. Clamping means, pillow member capable of ascending and descending to press the optical fiber between the core wire clamping means and the fiber clamping means, and an ascending and descending wound for making a wound on the surface of the optical fiber abutting on the pillow member It is composed of a cutter and enables automation of optical fiber cutting in a short time.

However, the automatic optical fiber cutting device disclosed in the publication is focused on the method of cutting an optical fiber, and it has not been detected whether or not the cutting of the optical fiber is actually successful.

Such an automatic cutting device is an automatic device, for example, a fully automatic fusion bonding system for automatically performing a series of operations including peeling, cutting, cleaning, image measurement, fusion splicing, and reinforcement of the coating of the optical fiber core wire. When incorporated into a splicer, even if the cutting of the optical fiber in the cutting process fails for some reason, the failure is not detected in the cutting process, and is not detected in the image measuring process of measuring the optical fibers aligned on the V groove. It was usually detected for the first time.

[0005]

Since the conventional automatic optical fiber cutting apparatus is constructed as described above, and the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber is not inspected immediately after the cutting step, the image measuring step is not performed. Without it, the success or failure of cutting the optical fiber could not be inspected at all.

Therefore, if the cutting of the optical fiber fails for some reason, the work has to be repeated from the cutting step.

Further, there is a serious drawback that the sputter discharge applied to the optical fiber in the cleaning step burns the resin coating remaining when the cutting fails and is very dangerous.

Further, there is a non-negligible problem that a long optical fiber which remains without being cut into a predetermined length comes into contact with the end faces of the optical fibers on the left and right sides to cause a wound.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and it is possible to easily prevent the work from being redone and the resin coating from burning, and to reliably prevent the end face of the opposite optical fiber from being damaged. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic optical fiber cutting device.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object in the present invention, a clamp mechanism for holding an exposed optical fiber, and a cutting means for wounding and cutting the held optical fiber, A movable pulling mechanism that holds the optical fiber core that covers the optical fiber and pulls the wound optical fiber toward the anti-clamping mechanism, and a detection that detects the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber from the movement of the pulling mechanism. And means.

Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object in the present invention, a clamp mechanism for sandwiching a horizontally exposed optical fiber from above and below and an elastic member for sandwiching an optical fiber core wire covering the optical fiber are returned. The movable pulling mechanism pulling the optical fiber toward the anti-clamping mechanism based on the action, the cutting means for wounding and cutting the optical fiber between the clamping mechanism and the pulling mechanism, and the moving pulling mechanism. A switch for detecting the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber from the contact is provided.

Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object in the present invention, a lower clamp that abuts the horizontally exposed optical fiber from below, and an upper clamp that clamps the optical fiber between the lower clamp, A movable clamp that can be lifted and lowered by being suspended from an upper clamp via an elastic member and that clamps an optical fiber between the lower clamp, an operable cutting blade for wounding the clamped optical fiber, and the wound light. A pillow that can be moved up and down to press the fiber and cut it,
A movable pulling mechanism for pulling the wound optical fiber by sandwiching the optical fiber core wire covering the optical fiber, and a detection means for detecting the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber are provided.

[0013]

According to the present invention, when the cutting of the optical fiber is successful, the pulling mechanism moves from the position facing the clamp mechanism to the direction of the anti-clamping mechanism, and the detecting means promptly detects the success of the cutting of the optical fiber. If the optical fiber fails to be cut, the pulling mechanism maintains the stopped state and the detecting means quickly detects the failure of cutting the optical fiber.
The success or failure of cutting the optical fiber can be detected at the final stage of the cutting process.

Therefore, the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber can be promptly detected even if the image measuring step is not reached, and even if the cutting of the optical fiber fails for some reason, the work is restarted from the cutting step. The need to start over can be reliably eliminated.

Further, it becomes possible to prevent burning of the resin coating very easily, and furthermore, it is possible to reliably prevent the end face of the optical fiber from being damaged.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below based on an embodiment shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic optical fiber cutting apparatus according to the present embodiment causes the clamping mechanism 3 to hold the optical fiber 1 and the pulling mechanism 4 to hold the optical fiber core wire 2 and the cutting means to pull the optical fiber 1 and the pulling mechanism. After the wound / cutting of the optical fiber 1 with the mechanism 4, the pulling mechanism 4 moving in the direction of the anti-clamping mechanism 3 is brought into contact with the switch 5 to determine whether the wound optical fiber 1 is cut successfully. I'm trying to detect.

The optical fiber 1 is formed into an optical fiber element wire by covering a primary coating and a buffer layer (not shown) on the peripheral surface thereof, and a secondary coating (not shown) is provided on the peripheral surface of the optical fiber element wire. The optical fiber cores 2 are covered and formed into a tape-shaped optical fiber, which are aligned in a horizontal row and oriented in the horizontal longitudinal direction in FIG.

However, most of the plurality of optical fibers 1 are covered, but in the cutting step, as shown in FIG. Exposed.

Further, as shown in the figure, the clamp mechanism 3 for holding the optical fiber 1 is in contact with the lower peripheral surfaces of a plurality of bare optical fibers 1 via a cushioning material 31 such as rubber. Lower clamp 30 that can be raised and lowered (see arrow)
And an upper clamp 32 that can be moved up and down (see the arrow) to sandwich a plurality of optical fibers 1 with a cushioning material 31A, such as rubber, between the cushioning material 31 of the lower clamp 30 and expose a bare state. It has a function of restraining the plurality of optical fibers 1 in a horizontal state.

In the pulling mechanism 4 for holding the optical fiber core wire 2, as shown in FIG. 1, a mounting table 42 is erected on the upper part of a vehicle body 41 having a plurality of wheels 40. A plate-shaped lower jaw 43 for mounting the optical fiber core wire 2 to be conveyed to the next step is placed on the upper surface, and a pair of guide rods 44 are erected on the upper surface side portion of the lower jaw 43. A plate-shaped upper jaw 45 which holds the optical fiber core wire 2 between the guide rods 44 and the lower jaw 43 is vertically and movably fitted (see arrow).

An end of a coil spring 46 is stretched on the back surface of the mounting table 42, and the anti-clamping mechanism 3 is moved from the position where the pulling mechanism 4 faces the clamp mechanism 3 based on the returning action of the coil spring 46 from the extended state. It is designed to move in the direction of (see arrow).

Further, the cutting means is not shown,
It is composed of a vertically movable cutter that damages the lower peripheral surfaces of a plurality of bare optical fibers 1, and a vertically movable pillow that presses down and cuts the upper peripheral surfaces of the damaged optical fibers 1. It has a function of wounding and cutting a plurality of optical fibers 1 between the clamp mechanism 3 and the traction mechanism 4.

Furthermore, the switch 5 is arranged immediately below the coil spring 46 as shown in the figure, and operates based on the contact with the moving pulling mechanism 4 to cut the wound optical fiber 1. It has the function of detecting success or failure.

A plurality of stoppers 6 are provided on both sides of the switch 5 to lock and stop the moving traction mechanism 4.
Is erected.

Therefore, in order to detect the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber 1 in the cutting step, first, the clamp mechanism 3 is provided with a plurality of bare optical fibers 1, and the pulling mechanism 4 is provided with the optical fiber core wire 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the optical fibers 1 are sandwiched and tension is applied to the plurality of optical fibers 1.

During this clamping, the pulling mechanism 4 is moved in the direction of the clamping mechanism 3 so that the coil spring 46 is extended in the same direction.

Then, the cutter is raised and the clamp mechanism 3 is moved.
The lower surfaces of the plurality of optical fibers 1 between the pulling mechanism 4 and the pulling mechanism 4 are damaged, and then the cutter descends and returns to the original position.

When the cutter returns, the pillow descends and presses against the upper surfaces of the plurality of optical fibers 1 between the clamp mechanism 3 and the pulling mechanism 4, and the pillow applies a bending load to the plurality of optical fibers 1. The pillow is lifted and returned to its original position (see FIG. 2).

Then, the retracting action of the extended coil spring 46 moves the traction mechanism 4 from the position facing the clamp mechanism 3 in the direction of the anti-clamp mechanism 3 (see the arrow), and the traction mechanism 4 is moved within a predetermined time. The switch 5 is brought into contact with the switch 5 to operate, and the cutting of the plurality of optical fibers 1 is detected at the final stage of the cutting process (see FIG. 3).

On the other hand, when even one of the wound optical fibers 1 has failed to be cut, the tension of the optical fiber 1 which has failed to cut is superior to the restoring force of the extended coil spring 46, and thus the pulling is performed. The mechanism 4 does not move in the direction opposite to the clamp mechanism 3 from the position facing the clamp mechanism 3 and remains stopped (see FIG. 4).

However, the pulling mechanism 4 does not come into contact with the switch 5 within a predetermined time due to the pullback action of the optical fiber 1 that has failed to be cut, and the failure of cutting the optical fiber 1 is detected here.

According to the above construction, when the optical fiber 1 is successfully cut, the pulling mechanism 4 moves from the position facing the clamp mechanism 3 toward the anti-clamp mechanism 3 and the switch 5 moves within a predetermined time. When the optical fiber 1 fails to be contacted and operated by the contacting of the optical fiber 1, the pulling mechanism 4 maintains the stopped state and does not contact and operate the switch 5 within a predetermined time. Success or failure can be detected at the final stage of the cutting process.

Therefore, the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber 1 can be inspected promptly even if the image measuring step is not reached, and even if the cutting of the optical fiber 1 fails for some reason, the work is cut. You can eliminate the need to start over.

Further, it is possible to easily prevent the combustion of the resin coating (not shown), and it is expected that the end face of the optical fiber 1 can be reliably prevented from being damaged.

Next, FIGS. 5 to 7 show another embodiment of the present invention. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the optical fiber 1 is attached to the lower clamp 30, the upper clamp 32 and the movable clamp 34. After the optical fiber core wire 2 is sandwiched by the pulling mechanism 4 and the cutter 7 and the pillow 8 are wound / cut, the pulse generated by the rotary encoder 9 is generated based on the rotation of the ball screw 48. The counting is performed to detect the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber 1 in the cutting process.

As shown in the figure, the lower clamp 30 is arranged so as to be able to move up and down (see the arrow) immediately below a plurality of bare optical fibers 1, and the optical fiber 1 is provided on the upper surface.
A cushioning material 31, such as rubber, that abuts the lower peripheral surface of the is attached and faces the upper clamp 32 and the movable clamp 34.

As shown in FIG. 5, the upper clamp 32 is formed in a substantially L-shape, and a cushioning material 31A such as rubber which is in contact with the upper peripheral surface of the optical fiber 1 is attached to the lower portion of the long side which is suspended. There is.

As shown in FIG. 6, a pair of elevating rods 33 are vertically pierced vertically on the upper side of the upper clamps 32 (see arrows), and a movable clamp 34 is provided below the pair of elevating rods 33. A cushioning material 31B such as rubber that is in contact with the upper peripheral surface of the optical fiber 1 is attached to the lower surface of the movable clamp 34.

As shown in the figure, compression coil springs 35 for elastically urging the movable clamp 34 downward are fitted into the pair of elevating rods 33, respectively.

The lower clamp 30 and the upper clamp 32
Are connected to the ends of the rod 36 that can be raised and lowered,
The plurality of rods 36 are respectively accommodated in the accommodation holes 37, and the plurality of rollers 38 for facilitating the lifting and lowering of the rods 36 are surroundingly disposed in the accommodation holes 37.

The pulling mechanism 4 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, a ball screw 48 which is rotatable in the longitudinal direction at the center of the inside of the housing 47 is mounted on the shaft, and guides 49 oriented in the longitudinal direction are placed on both upper sides of the housing 47. Bearings 50 having a substantially concave cross section of the vehicle body 41A, which cover the upper surface of the opening of the housing 47, are slidably fitted in the guides 49.

A DC motor 51 is provided at the end of the ball screw 48.
The output shaft of is connected via a joint 52. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, a convex portion 41a that pierces the rotatable ball screw 48 is provided on the lower surface of the vehicle body 41A so as to hang down.

A mounting table 42 is erected on the upper part of the vehicle body 41A, and a plate-shaped lower jaw 43 for mounting the optical fiber core wire 2 to be transported to the next step is mounted on the upper surface of the mounting table 42. , A pair of guide rods 44 are erected on the upper surface side of the lower jaw 43, and a plate-shaped upper jaw 45 that holds one optical fiber between the lower rod and the lower jaw 43 is provided on the pair of guide rods 44. It is inserted so that it can be raised and lowered (see arrow).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cutter 7 is arranged vertically in the recessed portion of the lower clamp 30 and rises to the lower peripheral surface of the plurality of optical fibers 1 exposed in the bare state. Has the function of damaging.

On the other hand, the pillow 8 is arranged between the upper clamp 32 and the movable clamp 34 as shown in the figure, and has a lower surface made of a cushioning material 8a such as rubber which abuts the upper peripheral surface of the optical fiber 1.
Is adhered, and has a function of being pressed down to the upper peripheral surfaces of the plurality of scratched optical fibers 1 to be cut.

Furthermore, the rotary encoder 9
Is superposed on the back surface of the DC motor 51 and has a function of generating a pulse based on the drive of the DC motor 51, in other words, based on the rotation of the ball screw 48,
From the electrical count of this pulse, the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber 1 is detected in the cutting step. Other parts are the same as those in the above embodiment.

Therefore, in order to detect the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber 1 in the cutting process, first, the plurality of optical fibers 1 exposed to the lower clamp 30, the upper clamp 32 and the movable clamp 34 in the bare state are pulled by the pulling mechanism 4. The optical fiber core wires 2 are respectively sandwiched as shown in FIG. 5, and the drive of the DC motor 51 is controlled to apply tension to the plurality of optical fibers 1 (see FIG. 7A).

At this time, the upper portions of the pair of elevating rods 33 project from the upper clamp 32, and the compression coil spring 35 exposes the compressed state.

In this embodiment, tension is applied to the optical fiber 1 of FIG. 7A, but tension may be applied to the optical fiber 1 at the stage of FIG. 7D for the first time. .

Next, the cutter 7 moves up to damage the lower surfaces of the plurality of optical fibers 1, and then the cutter 7 moves down to return to its original position (see FIG. 7B). When the cutter 7 returns, the pillow 8 descends and comes into pressure contact with the upper surfaces of the plurality of optical fibers 1, and the pillow 8 is cut by applying a bending load to the plurality of optical fibers 1 (see FIG. 7C). After that, the pillow 8 rises and returns to the original position (see FIG. 7D).

Next, although the upper clamp 32 is slightly lifted and returned, the movable clamp 34 maintains the state in which the plurality of optical fibers 1 are sandwiched without being lifted because the compression coil spring 35 constantly biases downward. (See FIG. 7 (d)).

Then, the DC motor 5 is controlled while the torque is being controlled.
1 drives to rotate the ball screw 48, and the vehicle body 41A of the traction mechanism 4 screwed into the ball screw 48 is guided by the guide 49.
5 is slid in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5 while being guided by the optical fiber 1 to pull the optical fibers 1 in the same direction, and the vehicle body 41A of the pulling mechanism 4 moves backward by a predetermined distance within a predetermined time.
The success or failure of cutting is detected at the final stage of the cutting process (Fig. 7).
(See (e)).

On the other hand, if even one of the wound optical fibers 1 has failed to be cut, the optical fiber 1 that has failed to cut restrains the vehicle body 41A of the traction mechanism 4, so that the vehicle body 41A is 5 does not move in the direction of the arrow and remains substantially stopped (see FIG. 7 (f)).

However, by keeping the vehicle body 41A in the stopped state for a predetermined time, the failure of cutting the optical fiber 1 is detected at the final stage of the cutting process.

According to the above structure, the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber 1 can be detected from the presence or absence of the pullback of the optical fiber 1. Therefore, the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber 1 can be promptly inspected even if the image measuring step is not reached. Therefore, even if the cutting of the optical fiber 1 fails for some reason, it becomes possible to eliminate the need to repeat the work from the cutting step.

Further, it can be expected that the resin coating can be easily prevented from burning and that the end face of the optical fiber 1 can be surely prevented from being damaged.

In the above embodiments, the pulling mechanism 4 holds the optical fiber 1 core wire, but the pulling mechanism 4 may hold the optical fiber 1 element wire, the optical cable and the like. The same effect as the example can be expected.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the pulling mechanism 4 having the shape shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 is used. However, the pulling mechanism 4 can hold one optical fiber and can move in the pulling direction. If it exists, it does not need to be the traction mechanism 4 having the shape shown in FIG.

Although the optical fiber 1 is cut in the above-mentioned embodiments, the same operation and effect as those in the above-mentioned embodiments can be obtained even if the optical fiber core wire 2 and the optical fiber element wire are cut.

Although the cutters and the cutter 7 are moved upward in the above-mentioned embodiments, they may be moved in a horizontal direction, an oblique direction, or the like, or a circular cutting blade may be moved horizontally to move the optical fiber. 1 may be wounded or the like.

Further, although the rotary encoder 9 and the ball screw 48 are used in the above embodiment, a timing belt or a combination of a light shielding plate and a photo interrupter may be used instead. Needless to say, the same effect as can be expected.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the cutting of the optical fiber is successful, the detecting means promptly detects the success of the cutting of the optical fiber from the normal movement of the pulling mechanism, If the cutting of the optical fiber is unsuccessful, the detection means promptly detects the failure of cutting the optical fiber from the stopped state of the pulling mechanism, so it is extremely easy to detect the success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber at the final stage of the cutting process. There is a remarkable effect that can be done.

Therefore, if this device is incorporated in a fully automatic fusion splicer, the success or failure of optical fiber cutting can be detected in the cutting process without any delay in the process, and the working time can be greatly shortened and the operational reliability can be improved. It can be expected to have a special effect that the remarkable improvement of the

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of an automatic optical fiber cutting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a state of being cut by an automatic cutting device for an optical fiber according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the automatic cutting apparatus for an optical fiber according to the present invention succeeds in cutting.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which cutting has failed in the automatic optical fiber cutting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an overall perspective view showing another embodiment of the automatic optical fiber cutting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional explanatory view showing another embodiment of the automatic optical fiber cutting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view for sequentially explaining the operation of the automatic optical fiber cutting device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical fiber, 2 ... Optical fiber core wire, 3 ... Clamp mechanism, 4 ... Traction mechanism, 5 ... Switch (detection means), 7 ... Cutter, 8 ... Pillow, 9 ... Rotary encoder (detection means),
30 ... Lower clamp, 32 ... Upper clamp, 34 ... Movable clamp, 35 ... Compression coil spring (elastic member), 46 ...
Coil spring (elastic member), 48 ... Ball screw.

Front page continued (72) Inventor Seiichi Kawana 1-6, Uchiyuki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Naoshi Ogawa 1-1-6 Uchiyuki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Telegraph Phone Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A clamp mechanism for holding an exposed optical fiber, a cutting means for wounding and cutting the held optical fiber, and an optical fiber core wire covering the optical fiber for gripping and wounding. An automatic optical fiber cutting device comprising: a movable pulling mechanism for pulling the optical fiber in a direction opposite to the clamping mechanism; and a detection means for detecting success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber based on the movement of the pulling mechanism. . 2. A clamp mechanism for sandwiching a horizontally exposed optical fiber from above and below, and a clamp mechanism for sandwiching an optical fiber core wire covering the optical fiber and pulling the optical fiber in the anti-clamp mechanism direction based on a restoring action of an elastic member. Movable pulling mechanism, cutting means for wounding and cutting the optical fiber between the clamp mechanism and the pulling mechanism, and a switch for detecting success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber based on contact with the moving pulling mechanism. The automatic optical fiber cutting device according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. A lower clamp that abuts the horizontally exposed optical fiber from below, an upper clamp that holds the optical fiber between the lower clamp, and an upper clamp that is suspended by an elastic member from the upper clamp. A vertically movable clamp that holds an optical fiber between a lower clamp, an operable cutting blade that wounds the held optical fiber, and a vertically movable pillow that presses and cuts the wound optical fiber. A movable pulling mechanism that pulls a wound optical fiber by sandwiching an optical fiber core wire that covers the optical fiber,
2. The automatic optical fiber cutting device according to claim 1, further comprising a detection unit that detects success or failure of the cutting of the optical fiber.