JPH06270048A - Regeneration of electrode bar to fuse and connect optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To grind and remove glass refuse stuck and accumulated on the tip, and regenerate an electrode bar easily by thrusting the discharge generating electrode bar having the conical tip into a flexible grinding wheel, and rotating these relatively. CONSTITUTION:A guide hole 14 in which a discharge generating electrode bar 1 is inserted, is arranged penetratingly in the center of a cylindrical guide member 12, and a cylindrical flexible grinding wheel 13 composed of rubber or polyvinyl chloride or the like is arranged on the outlet side of this guide hole 14. In the case of regenerating the electrode bar 1 in which a part of the tip 9 is abraded or on which glass refuse 6 is stuck after being used to fuse and connect optical fiber, this electrode bar 1 is inserted in the guide hole 14 from the side of the conical tip 9, and is thrust into a flexible grinding wheel 13, and the electrode bar 1 is rotated relatively to the grinding wheel 13 in this condition, and the tip 9 side of the electrode bar 1 is polished, and the glass refuse 6 is removed, so that the tip 9 is regenerated into a clean conical shape.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of remanufacturing an electrode rod for fusion splicing of optical fibers, which is used for fusion splicing of optical fibers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method of connecting optical fibers, a splicing method is widely adopted. For fusion splicing of optical fibers, as shown in FIG. 3, the covering layer 5 of the optical fiber core wire is peeled off to expose the bare optical fiber 2, and the exposed bare optical fiber 2 is joined to the end face 4 thereof. Then, the electrode rod 1 having a conical tip is made to face each other, a high voltage is applied to the electrode rod 1 to cause discharge, and the bare optical fiber 2 is heated by the heat generated by the discharge.
Is performed by heating and melting the end portions of the two, and bringing the melted bare optical fibers 2 into contact with each other and integrally joining them.

When performing fusion splicing of multi-core tape fibers, as shown in FIG. 4, the central axis 7 of the electrode rods 1 to be opposed to each other.
And the shaft 8 on which the naked optical fiber 2 for fusion splicing is arranged
Are shifted so that the heat generated by the discharge of the electrode rod 1 is evenly distributed to each bare optical fiber 2, and the fusion splicing is performed.

When the central axis 7 of the electrode rod 1 and the axis 8 on which the bare optical fiber 2 is arranged are on the same line, as shown in FIG. 6, the bare optical fiber 2a located far from the electrode rod 1 is shown.
Is behind the bare optical fiber 2b located in the vicinity of the electrode rod 1, and the heat generated by the discharge of the electrode rod 1 is not sufficiently distributed to each bare optical fiber 2. On the contrary, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, when the central axis 7 of the electrode rod 1 and the axis 8 on which the bare optical fiber 2 is arranged are displaced, the arranged bare optical fibers are The electrode rod 1 without being behind each other
The heat generated by the electric discharge can be sufficiently absorbed.

[0005]

However, at the time of fusion splicing of the optical fibers, the end portion of the bare optical fiber 2 is melted by the heat generated by the discharge of the electrode rod 1 and, at the same time, the bare optical fiber 2 is melted.
When a part of the glass (SiO ₂ ) 6 of the above is vaporized, as shown in FIG. 5, when the vaporized glass 6 is deposited and deposited on the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1, and the number of fusion splicing of the optical fiber increases, There is a problem that the amount of the slag of the glass 6 attached and deposited on the tip 9 side of the rod 1 increases, and the heat generation due to the discharge of the electrode rod 1 becomes unstable.

When the discharge of the electrode rod 1 becomes unstable and fluctuations occur in the discharge area (area heated by the discharge) 3, the heating conditions of the optical fiber become non-uniform, and the temperature difference in the bare optical fiber 2 becomes uneven. Occurs, and the melting state of the bare optical fiber 2 becomes different. Therefore, there is a problem that the fusion splicing performance of the optical fiber deteriorates.

In order to prevent the generation of heat by the discharge of the electrode rod 1 from becoming unstable due to the slag of the glass 6 attached and deposited on the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1, the electrode 9 is attached and deposited on the tip 9 side. It is necessary to remove the slag from the glass 6
The attached glass 6 was scraped and removed using a cutter knife or the like, but the tip 9 of the conical electrode rod 1 is thin like a needle, and it is not possible to remove all the deposited glass 6 residue with a cutter knife or the like. It was difficult. Particularly, in the case of fusion splicing of optical fibers, there are many dark places such as in a manhole, and it is very difficult to remove the slag of the glass 6 in such a dark place. Therefore, when the generation of heat due to the discharge of the electrode rod 1 becomes unstable, the electrode rod 1 must be replaced.
Has a shorter lifespan and is economically disadvantageous.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide an electrode rod for optical fiber fusion splicing capable of easily regenerating the tip side of the electrode rod for discharge generation. It is to provide a reproduction method.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is constructed as follows. That is, the present invention pierces a flexible grindstone from the tip side with an electrode rod for generating a discharge having a conical tip after fusion splicing of optical fibers, and one or both of the electrode rod and the flexible grindstone are opposed to each other. It is configured such that the conical tip end side of the electrode rod is polished by rotating the electrode.

Further, a guide member having a penetrating guide hole for inserting the electrode rod is prepared, and an electrode rod for generating a discharge having a conical tip after the fusion splicing of optical fibers is used to guide the guide member. Insert into the hole and pierce the tip side of the electrode rod into the flexible grindstone arranged at the exit side of the guide hole, and rotate one or both of the electrode rod and the flexible grindstone relatively to the conical tip side of the electrode rod. Polishing is also a characteristic configuration of the present invention.

[0011]

In the present invention having the above structure, the electrode rod for generating electric discharge is pierced from the tip side to the flexible grindstone. Since the hardness of the flexible grindstone is much smaller than the hardness of the electrode rod, the tip of the electrode rod is It pierces a flexible whetstone without hindrance. In addition, by rotating one or both of the electrode rod and the flexible whetstone pierced by the flexible grindstone, the conical tip side of the electrode rod is polished, and the state close to that before fusion splicing of the optical fiber is used. To be played.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a method for regenerating the electrode rod for optical fiber fusion splicing according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a circular guide hole 14 having an inner diameter of 2 mm for inserting the discharge-generating electrode rod 1 is provided in the center of a cylindrical guide member 12.
And a rubber-made or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cylindrical flexible grindstone on the exit side of the guide hole 14.
13 are arranged.

The discharge generating electrode rod 1 for optical fiber fusion splicing used in this embodiment has a cylindrical shape with a diameter of less than 2 mm.
Before using the fusion splicing, the tip 9 has a conical shape as shown in FIG.
When the fusion splicing was performed, 50μ from the tip of the electrode rod 1
The part retreated by about m (discharging part) is worn to form a recess 15 as shown in FIG. 2 (b), and the fused glass of optical fiber is attached to the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1. A slag of 6 adhered.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the electrode rod 1 after use of the optical fiber fusion splicing as described above is inserted into the guide hole 14 of the guide member 12 from the tip 9 side, and the flexible grindstone is inserted. 13 stick the electrode rod 1 to the flexible grindstone 13 in that state,
By rotating relatively, the conical tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 was polished, and the optical fiber fusion splicing electrode rod 1 was regenerated.

In the above-described method of regenerating the electrode rod for fusion splicing of the optical fiber, the guide hole 14 for inserting the electrode rod is used.
Has an inner diameter of 2 mm, the diameter of the electrode rod 1 is less than 2 mm, and the diameter of the electrode rod 1 and the inner diameter of the penetrating guide hole 14 are almost the same. Therefore, insert the electrode rod 1 into the guide hole 14. Then, the electrode rod 1 is in a state of being supported around the electrode rod 1 by the guide member 12 having the guide hole 14, and in this state, the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 is pierced by the flexible grindstone 13.

At this time, the hardness of the flexible grindstone 13 is determined by the electrode rod 1
The hardness is very small compared to the hardness of
The side is not broken or damaged by the flexible grindstone 13, and the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 pierces the flexible grindstone 13 without any trouble.

The electrode rod 1 pierced by the flexible grindstone 13 is
By rotating the flexible grindstone 13 relative to the stabbed state, friction occurs between the abrasive grains of the flexible grindstone 13 and the tip 9 surface side 10 of the electrode rod 1, and this friction causes the electrode rod 1 to move. The slag of the glass 6 adhering to the tip 9 side of the electrode is removed, and the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 is polished. As shown in FIG. Reproduced in shape. In this example, the regenerated electrode rod 1 was used, and further, the optical fiber fusion splicing could be performed 1000 times or more.

As described above, according to the method of regenerating the electrode rod for fusion splicing of the optical fiber of this embodiment, the electrode rod 1 for discharge generation after the fusion splicing of the optical fiber is used is guided from the tip 9 side to the guide member 12. Insert it into the guide hole 14 of the
By rotating and polishing the electrode rod 1 relative to the flexible grindstone 13 in this state, the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 can be easily regenerated.

Since the hardness of the flexible grindstone 13 is much smaller than the hardness of the electrode rod 1, when the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 is pierced into the flexible grindstone 13, the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 is Since the electrode rod 1 and the flexible grindstone 13 are not hit against each other even when they are polished without being broken or damaged, the electrode rod 1 and the flexible grindstone 13 are polished in a familiar state. The sides are ground into a clean conical shape.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2C, in the electrode rod 1 in which the recess 15 is formed on the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1, the diameter of the electrode rod 1 on the tip 9 side is the recess 15. As the diameter of the electrode rod 1 becomes smaller in this way, the diameter of the electrode rod 1 becomes smaller, and the temperature of the portion where the electrode rod 1 has a smaller diameter and its surroundings rises when the electrode rod 1 is discharged, and the temperature becomes The glass 6 is less likely to adhere to the raised portion. Therefore, the glass 6 adheres to the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 in which the recess 15 is formed more than the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 in which the recess 15 is not formed and before the optical fiber fusion splicing is used. It gets harder.

Also, when the glass 6 adheres, the glass 6 adheres in such a manner that the recess 15 is filled, so that the electrode rod 1
Of the glass 6 on the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 without the recess 15.
As compared with the case where the particles are attached, the fluctuation of the discharge region 3 is less likely to occur, and the heat generated by the discharge of the electrode rod 1 is relatively evenly distributed to each of the fusion-spliced bare optical fibers 2. Therefore, the electrode rod 1 as shown in FIG. 2 (c) in which the electrode rod 1 having the concave portion 15 formed on the tip 9 side is regenerated by repeatedly performing the optical fiber fusion splicing Of the concave portion on the tip 9 side as shown in FIG.
Discharge is more stable than the electrode rod 1 without 15.

As a result, it is difficult to completely remove the slag of the glass 6 attached to the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 in the related art, and even if the electrode rod 1 had to be discarded, the optical fiber fusion according to this embodiment was performed. By using the method of regenerating the connecting electrode rod,
The electrode rod 1 can be easily regenerated, and when the number of usable times before and after the regeneration is combined, the electrode rod 1 can be used more than twice as much as the conventional example. Therefore, the life of the electrode rod 1 can be remarkably extended, which is economically advantageous.

The constitution of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various embodiments can be adopted. For example, in the above embodiment, the guide hole 14 of the guide member 12 is a circular through hole having an inner diameter of 2 mm, but the size and shape of the guide hole are not particularly limited, and the through hole into which the electrode rod 1 can be inserted is inserted. Any hole will do. However, when the electrode rod 1 is easily inserted and when the inserted electrode rod 1 is rotated relative to the flexible grindstone 13, the guide member 12 supports the electrode rod 1 around it, Since the rod 1 is easily rotated, a through hole having a size close to the diameter of the electrode rod 1 is desirable.

In the above embodiment, the cylindrical guide member 12 and the disc-shaped flexible grindstone 13 are used.
The shape of the 12 is not limited to a cylindrical shape and may be another shape. The flexible grindstone 13 is not limited to a disk shape and may be another shape.

Further, in the above embodiment, the flexible grindstone 13 is made of rubber or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), but the flexible grindstone 13 is not limited to rubber or PVC.
You may use what was formed with the other material with hardness smaller than the electrode rod 1.

Further, in the above embodiment, after the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 is pierced into the flexible grindstone 13, the electrode rod 1 is rotated relative to the flexible grindstone 13 so that the electrode rod 1 The tip 9 side was polished, but conversely, the flexible grindstone 13
May be rotated, and it is also possible to relatively rotate both the electrode rod 1 and the flexible grindstone 13.

Further, in the above embodiment, the flexible grindstone 13 is arranged at the exit side of the guide hole 14 of the guide member 12, and the flexible grindstone 13 is pierced with the tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 and polished, Although the electrode rod 1 was regenerated, the electrode rod 1 was pierced from the tip 9 side into the flexible grindstone 13 without providing the guide member 12, and one or both of the electrode rod 1 and the flexible grindstone 13 were rotated relatively. Then, the conical tip 9 side of the electrode rod 1 can be polished.

In the above embodiment, the cylindrical electrode rod 1 having a diameter of less than 2 mm and the tip 9 side of which is conical is used, but the thickness of the electrode rod 1 is not always less than 2 mm in diameter.
For example, the present invention can be similarly applied to a device having a diameter of about 1 mm.

[0029]

According to the present invention, after the fusion splicing of optical fibers is used, an electrode rod for generating a discharge having a conical tip is pierced from the tip side to a flexible grindstone, and one of the electrode rod and the flexible grindstone or By rotating both of them relatively and polishing the conical tip end side of the electrode rod, it became possible to easily remove the glass of the bare optical fiber attached to the tip end side of the electrode rod. As a result, the electrode rod which has been conventionally discarded can be regenerated, the number of times the electrode rod can be used can be significantly increased, and the life of the electrode rod can be remarkably extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a method for regenerating an electrode rod for fusion splicing of optical fibers according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a change in shape of the tip of an electrode rod for connecting an optical fiber used in the above-mentioned embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a fusion splicing operation state of a single-core optical fiber.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a region of discharge generated from an electrode rod when a multi-core optical fiber is fusion-spliced.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a fluctuation of discharge generated from an electrode rod having glass attached to its tip at the time of fusion splicing of a multi-core optical fiber.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing how heat is transferred by the discharge of the electrode rod 1 when the shaft 8 on which the multi-fiber bare optical fiber is arranged and the central axis 7 of the electrode rod 1 are arranged on the same straight line. is there.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing how heat is transferred by the discharge of the electrode rod 1 when the shaft 8 on which the multi-fiber bare optical fiber is arranged and the central axis 7 of the electrode rod 1 are arranged so as to be displaced from each other. is there.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 electrode rod 2 bare optical fiber 9 tip 12 guide member 13 flexible grindstone 14 guide hole 15 recess

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A flexible grindstone is pierced with a discharge generating electrode rod having a conical tip after use of fusion splicing of optical fibers, and one or both of the electrode rod and the flexible grindstone are relatively moved. A method of remanufacturing an electrode rod for fusion splicing of an optical fiber, which is rotated in a horizontal direction to polish the conical tip side of the electrode rod. 2. A guide member provided with a guide hole through which an electrode rod is inserted is prepared, and an electrode rod for generating a discharge having a conical tip after fusion splicing of an optical fiber is used to guide the guide member. Insert into the hole and pierce the tip side of the electrode rod into the flexible grindstone arranged at the exit side of the guide hole, and rotate one or both of the electrode rod and the flexible grindstone relatively to the conical tip side of the electrode rod. Method for remanufacturing electrode rod for optical fiber fusion splicing.