JPH0667032A - Method for processing end surface of optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form the end surface of the optical fiber into a mirror surface and improve the quality and production efficiency without sticking dregs of resin, etc., or dirt on a mirror-surface heating member for a long period as to the end surface processing method for the optical fiber which fits a connector to the end part of the plastic optical fiber by insertion and forms the end surface of the optical fiber into the mirror surface by a heat treatment. CONSTITUTION:In an end surface processing device for the optical fiber which is provided with the mirror-surface heating member 33 on a stand 31 for a substrate 30 and makes the end surface Fa of the optical fiber Fa abut on the mirror surface 33a of the mirror-surface heating member 33 to perform a mirror surface heat treatment, the temperature of the mirror-surface heating member 33 is set at the softening temperature of the material of the optical fiber and the mirror surface heat treatment is performed while making the end surface of the optical fiber abut on the mirror surface 33a of the mirror- surface heating member 33 and softening it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for treating an end face of an optical fiber in which a connector is inserted into the end of a plastic optical fiber (also referred to as an optical cable) and the end face of the optical fiber is subjected to a mirror surface heat treatment to form a mirror surface. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An optical fiber end face processing device of this type that has been already proposed is constructed as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (Japanese Patent Application No. 1-321059).

That is, in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a machine frame 2 is installed on a flat bed 1, and a drive motor 3 such as a pulse motor is installed on the machine frame 2. A pulley 4a of an index unit 4 having a built-in transmission is connected to an output shaft 3a of the drive motor 3 via a transmission belt 5. The rotary shaft 6 connected to the output shaft of the index unit 4 intermittently rotates and stops at the first stop position, the second stop position and the third stop position. The rotating body 7 is axially attached to the end portion. Further, a plurality of smooth heating elements (in the figure, 3
8a, 8b, 8c are provided with a certain pitch interval, and the smooth heating elements 8a, 8b, 8c are made of a material which forms a mirror surface and has heat resistance and thermal conductivity. ing. Further, a holding frame body 9 is erected on the bed 1 in front of the rotating body 7, and a pair of upper and lower guide holes 10 are formed in parallel on the upper portion of the holding frame body 9. Has been done. In addition, each guide bar 12 of the connector support 11 is slidably fitted in the guide hole 10 in the front-rear direction, and a gripping member 13 is provided above the connector support 11. , The gripping member 13 includes
For example, a plastic optical fiber F is the end face F
A is gripped so as to face the smooth heating element 8b and is detachably attached, and the gripping member 13 constitutes a gripping device 16 that grips the optical fiber F. Further, a cylinder device 14 is horizontally provided above the holding frame body 9, and the output shaft 14 of the cylinder device 14 is provided.
The connector support 11 is pivotally attached to a by a pin shaft 15 so as to slide in the front-rear direction.

Therefore, the gripping device 16 drives the cylinder device 14 to push the connector support body 11 connected to the output shaft 14a of the cylinder device 14 forward to drive the optical fiber of the gripping member 13. F is brought into contact with the smooth heating element 8b and subjected to a mirror surface heat treatment so that a mirror surface can be formed on the end face Fa of the optical fiber F.

On the other hand, an air nozzle 17 for cooling is attached to the index unit 4 on the back surface of the smooth heating body 8b via a bracket 18, and the air nozzle 17 cools the back surface of the smooth heating body 8b by air cooling. is doing. A support 19 is installed on the bed 1 located in front of the rotating body 7, and a pair of left and right guide holes 20 are formed in parallel on the upper part of the support 19. There is. Further, each guide bar 22 of the moving body 21 is slidably fitted in the guide hole 20 in the front-rear direction, and a motor 23 is installed on the moving body 21. Further, a cleaning rotary brush 24 held by a bracket (not shown) is connected to the output shaft 23a of the motor 23 via a belt 25.
Reference numeral 4 makes it possible to clean the surface of the smooth heating element 8c at the third stop position. Further, a cylinder device 26 is horizontally provided on the support body 19, and the movable body 21 is pivotally attached to an output shaft 26a of the cylinder device 26 by a pin shaft 27. In addition, the first of the smooth heating element 8a
About 2 hot air jet nozzles 28 are provided in the machine frame 2 at the stop position.
It is arranged so that it can be heated by blowing hot air of about 00 ° C. from the back surface of the smooth heating body 8a.

Therefore, in the above-described optical fiber end face processing apparatus, the smooth heating body 8a at the first stop position is heated by blowing the hot air jet nozzle 28 to about 200 ° C. from the back surface of the smooth heating body 8a in advance. , The smooth heating element 8a
The holding device 16 holds the optical fiber F at the second stop position, faces the surface of the smooth heating body 8a, and stands by.

Next, the drive motor 3 is driven, the output shaft 3a of the drive motor 3 rotates, and the pulley 4a of the index unit 4 rotates via the transmission belt 5, whereby the index unit 4 rotates. Since the rotary shaft 6 that is integral with the body 7 is intermittently rotated, the smooth heating bodies 8a, 8b, and 8c attached to the rotary body 7 are moved from the first stop position to the second stop position and the third stop position. It turns to the position intermittently.

On the other hand, the gripping device 16 drives the cylinder device 14 to drive the cylinder device 14.
Connector support 11 connected to the output shaft 14a of the
Can be pushed forward to bring the optical fiber F of the gripping member 13 into contact with the smooth heating body 8a and perform a mirror surface heat treatment to form a mirror surface on the end face Fa of the optical fiber F.

That is, when the smooth heating body 8a moves from the first stop position to the second stop position, the optical fiber F of the gripping device 16 contacts the surface of the smooth heating body 8a for about 4 seconds, and the optical fiber F The end face Fa of F is made into a gel and formed into a mirror surface. Thereafter, the back surface of the smooth heating element 8a is cooled to a temperature of about 80 ° C. by the cooling fluid of the air nozzle 17, and then the optical fiber F of the gripping device 16 is separated from the surface of the smooth heating element 8a. The end surface of the optical fiber is mirror-finished.

On the other hand, the optical fiber F of the gripping device 16
When the end face treatment of 1 is completed, the gripping device 16 grips a new optical fiber F and stands by. Further, since the smooth heating element 8a that has completed the work intermittently swivels from the second stop position to the third stop position, the cleaning rotary brush 24 at the third stop position causes the cleaning rotary brush 24 to contaminate the surface of the smooth heating element 8a. To clean.

Next, when the surface of the smooth heating element 8a is cleaned, the smooth heating element 8a intermittently pivots from the third stop position to the first stop position and returns to the initial state.

As described above, in the above-described optical fiber end face processing apparatus, the end face Fa of the optical fiber F is set to the melting temperature of the optical fiber to perform the mirror surface heat treatment to form the mirror surface.

[0013]

However, even though the above-mentioned optical fiber end face treating apparatus is theoretically effective, when it is used for a long time in practice, the smooth heating element 8a will not have a residue of resin or the like. Not only is dirt attached to the end face Fa of the optical fiber F to impair its quality, but also the surface of the smooth heating element 8a needs to be newly cleaned, which lowers production efficiency and is difficult to provide at low cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an end face processing method for an optical fiber, which is intended to improve quality and, at the same time, to improve production efficiency. And

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided an optical fiber end surface treatment apparatus for providing a mirror surface heating member on a stand of a substrate, and bringing the end surface of the optical fiber into contact with the mirror surface of the mirror surface heating member to perform a mirror surface heat treatment. In this method, the temperature of the member is set to the softening temperature of the material of the optical fiber, and the end surface of the optical fiber is brought into contact with the mirror surface of the mirror surface heating member to soften the surface of the optical fiber while performing mirror surface heat treatment.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the temperature of the mirror surface heating member is set in advance to the softening temperature of the material of the optical fiber, and the end surface of the optical fiber is brought into contact with the mirror surface of the mirror surface heating member to soften the surface of the optical fiber to perform mirror surface heat treatment. This is a method for processing the end surface of an optical fiber, in which a mirror surface is formed on the end surface to improve quality and production efficiency.

[0017]

The present invention will now be described with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 30 is a flat substrate, and a stand 31 is erected on one side of the substrate 30, and an upper portion of the stand 31 is provided with a stand 31.
A pair of upper and lower slide rods 32 are horizontally slidably fitted. Further, a mirror surface heating member 33 having a built-in heater is vertically provided at one end of each of the slide rods 32, and the front surface of the mirror surface heating member 33 forms a mirror surface 33a. Furthermore, the heating temperature of the mirror surface heating member 33 is
Plastic optical fiber F with connector C inserted
It is set according to the softening temperature (about 120 to 180 ° C) of the material.

On the other hand, a connecting member 34 is attached to the other end of each of the slide rods 32.
An adjusting spring 36 is attached between the load adjusting member 35 and the stand 31. A stopper 37 is horizontally provided on the outer side surface of the stand 31, and the stopper 37 is in contact with the connecting member 34. Further, the mirror surface heating member 33 is the adjustment spring 3
The end face Fa of the optical cable F is retracted when it comes into contact with the mirror heating member 33 so as not to apply an unreasonable load.

On the other hand, a support base 38 is provided on the substrate 30 facing the stand 31, and a pair of guide rods 39 are horizontally fitted to the support base 38. The movable member 4 is attached to one end of each of the guide rods 39.
0 is provided, and a gripping device 41 having a pair of gripping portions 41a is provided on the upper part of the movable member 40 with a coil spring 42 so that the gripping device 41 grips the connector C. . Further, a horizontal cylinder device 43 is horizontally installed on the side surface of the support base 38, and an output shaft 43a of the horizontal cylinder device 43 is connected to the movable member 40 by a pin shaft 44. Further, a connecting body 45 having a contact portion 45a is horizontally attached to the other end of each of the guide rods 39, and a stopper 46 contacts the contact portion 45a on the upper portion of the support base 38. It is attached so as to contact and regulate the position of the gripping device 41.

The operation of the present invention will be described below.

Therefore, the connector C of the plastic optical fiber F is gripped by both gripping portions 41a of the gripping device 41 in advance, and the temperature of the mirror surface heating member 33 is lower than the melting temperature of the material of the optical fiber F. Set to the softening temperature (about 120-180 ° C).

Next, by driving the horizontal cylinder device 43, the movable member 40 is pushed and the end face Fa of the optical fiber F of the gripping device 41 provided on the movable member 40 is fixed to the mirror surface heating member. By repeatedly abutting against the mirror surface 33a of 33 against the elastic force of the adjusting spring 36 to soften it and perform mirror surface heat treatment, the optical fiber F
The end face Fa of is shaped into a mirror surface.

Accordingly, the present invention provides the mirror surface heating member 3 described above.
Since the temperature of 3 is set to a softening temperature (about 120 to 180 ° C.) lower than the melting temperature of the material of the optical fiber F, slag or dirt such as resin adheres to the mirror surface heating member 33 for a long period of time. There is no fear, and quality and production efficiency can be improved.

Although the optical fiber F used in the present invention has been described as a plastic material, the design can be freely changed to be used for a glass optical fiber, for example.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the temperature of the mirror surface heating member is set to the softening temperature of the material of the optical fiber, and the end surface of the optical fiber is brought into contact with the mirror surface of the mirror surface heating member to soften the surface of the optical fiber. As a result, since the end face of the optical fiber is molded into a mirror surface without the possibility that resinous debris or dirt adheres to the mirror surface heating member for a long period of time, it is possible to improve quality and production efficiency. Have an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining an end face processing method for an optical fiber according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing an end face of the optical fiber of the present invention in an exaggerated manner.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an optical fiber end face processing device that has already been proposed.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a main part of an already proposed optical fiber end face processing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 substrate 31 stand 33 mirror surface heating member 33a mirror surface

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber end surface treating apparatus for providing a mirror surface heating member on a stand of a substrate, and bringing the end surface of the optical fiber into contact with the mirror surface of the mirror surface heating member for mirror surface heat treatment.
A method for treating the end face of an optical fiber, wherein the temperature of the mirror surface heating member is set to the softening temperature of the material for the optical fiber, and the end face of the optical fiber is brought into contact with the mirror surface of the mirror surface heating member to soften the surface of the optical fiber.