JPH07244224A - Device for holding optical fiber connection part - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a device for holding optical fiber connection part for strongly holding an optical fiber by using a permanent magnet having strong attractive force, and constituted so that the permanent magnet is separated from an attracting surface by a weak force. CONSTITUTION:A rotary arm 43 is pivotally supported by a supporting shaft 41 on a base 40, and a clamp base 46 is installed on the base 40, then a fiber pressing member 47 is installed in the arm 43. A leaf spring 45 is fixed on the arm 43 and attracting plates 48a and 48b sandwiching the permanent magnet 5 attached to the spring 45 are attracted to the base 40, so that the optical fiber 6 is held by the clamp base 46 and the fiber pressing member 47.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber connecting portion holding device, and more particularly to a device for holding both sides of a fiber connecting portion when performing a screening test or a reinforcing work for the fiber connecting portion. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, the ends of optical fibers are connected by fusion splicing. After the fusion splicing, the fiber fusion splicing part is subjected to a screening load by applying a tensile load to the splicing part. After that, the fiber connecting portion is covered with a plastic sleeve, and the fiber connecting portion is reinforced by heat-shrinking the sleeve. The above-mentioned screening test is a test in which a certain strength or less is applied to a connection portion of an optical fiber to intentionally break a material having a strength lower than the reference strength to remove the connection portion having a low strength. In this screening test,
The magnitude of the tension load applied to the fiber connection portion varies depending on the type of optical fiber, but is usually 50 g to 500 g.
A load of g is applied. Also, during the reinforcing work performed by covering the fiber connecting portion with the sleeve, a tension of about 50 g is applied so that the fiber connecting portion is not bent.

A gripping device for gripping the optical fiber when applying tension to the fiber connecting portion as described above is conventionally known.

A conventional fiber gripping device will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 8. 6 and 7 show a first conventional example, and in this first conventional example, a pair of gripping bodies 2a, 2b are provided on a support base 1 at a predetermined interval. The grip bodies 2a ,. In 2b, as shown in FIG. 7, a clamp table 3 for fiber support is provided on a support table 1. A rotary arm 5 made of a hard metal is pivotally supported on one side of the clamp base 3 via a support shaft 4.
A fiber pressing member 7 for pressing the optical fiber 6 supported by the clamp base 3 is provided on the lower surface of the.

A rotary body 10 having a rotary knob 8 is provided on the rotary arm 5, and a claw 11 provided at a tip of the rotary body 10 has an engaging portion 1 provided on a side portion of the clamp base 3.
It is adapted to engage with 2.

The optical fiber 6 is held by the pair of holding bodies 2a and 2b on both sides of the connecting portion 6a as a center. One or both of the pair of gripping bodies 2a and 2b are movably provided in the horizontal direction so that they can approach and separate from each other. In the illustrated example, the gripping body 2b on the left side of FIG. 6 is fixed, The right grip body 2a is movably provided. As the moving means, a motor 13 capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions is used in the illustrated example. That is, the motor 1
The two guide shafts 16 are parallel to each other between the first fixed frame 14 fixed to the third side and the second fixed frame 15 provided at a constant distance from the first fixed frame 14. The guide frame 16 and the movable frame 17
Insertion hole 1 in which the working frame 18 is formed in each frame
It is movably fitted through 7a and 18a.

A first coil spring 20 is elastically mounted in a fitted state between the movable frame 17 and the action frame 18 of the guide shaft 16, and between the action frame 18 and the second fixed frame 15. The second coil spring 21 is mounted in a fitted state. The working frame 18 is connected to the grip body 2a on the movable side. The movable frame 17 has a screw hole 22, and a screw shaft 13a directly connected to the motor 13 is screwed into the screw hole 22.

The motor 13 is driven by the above-mentioned drive mechanism, and the screw shaft 13a rotates in the forward and reverse directions, whereby the movable frame 17, the first and second coil springs 20 and 21, and the action frame 18 are passed. A horizontal tension can be applied to the grip body 2a. A heater 24 is provided above the support base 1 and between the pair of gripping bodies 2a and 2b, and a heat-shrinkable plastic reinforcing sleeve 25 fitted to the fiber connecting portion 6a by the heater 24. Can be heated.

In the above fiber gripping device, to set the optical fiber 6 on the pair of gripping bodies 2a and 2b,
As shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 7, the rotary arms 5 of the gripping bodies 2a and 2b are rotated upward to open with the support shaft 4 as a fulcrum, and the optical fibers located on both sides of the fiber connection portion 6a as a center. 6 is supported on the clamp base 3.

Then, the rotary arm 5 is tilted downward,
The optical fiber 6 supported by the clamp base 3 is strongly pressed by the fiber pressing member 7, and then the knob 8 is rotated to lock the claw 11 of the rotating body 10 constituting the locking means to the engaging portion 12. Then, by driving the motor 13 and applying a tension (50 g to 500 g) in the direction of the arrow to the grip body 2a, a screening test of the optical fiber 6 can be performed.

By the way, the optical fiber has a coating outer diameter of 0.
25 mmφ, 0.9 mmφ single-core fiber and 2 fibers,
4-fiber, 8-fiber, and 12-fiber tape fibers (each tape thickness is 0.
4 mm). Therefore, the fiber gripping device grips various optical fibers having different outer diameters with a clamp, and locks the above-mentioned claw 11 with the engagement 12 so that each optical fiber does not slip when a tension is applied to the optical fiber. The rotation arm 5 is locked to the clamp base 3 side, and the fiber retainer 7 strongly clamps the optical fiber 6 on the clamp base 3.

In the conventional apparatus described above, when the rotary arm 5 is rotated, the optical fiber 6 on the clamp base 3 is pressed by the fiber pressing member 7, and the knob 8 is operated to lock the rotary arm 5, An inadvertent force may be applied to the movable holding body 2a, and excessive tension may be applied to the optical fiber 6 via the holding body 2a, which may cause the connection portion 6a to break. Further, when the optical fiber 6 is gripped and fixed, the work of pressing the optical fiber 6 with a finger and locking the rotary arm 5 is repeated between the left and right grip bodies 2a and 2b, so that the workability is extremely poor.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, as shown in FIG. 8, a permanent magnet is rotatably supported by a support shaft 30 on a base 31, and a rotary arm 32 having a knob 35 is held by a holding body 33. A gripping device to which 34 is attached and which attracts the permanent magnet 34 to the base 31 is conceivable. Further, in this case, the optical fiber 6 is supported on the clamp base 36 fixed to the base 31, and the optical fiber 6 is supported by the rotary lever 3.
It is provided so as to be pressed and clamped by the fiber pressing member 37 provided at 2.

[0014]

In the above gripping device,
By adopting the attraction method in which the permanent magnet 34 is attracted to the base 31, a one-touch operation for fixing the rotary arm 32 to the clamp base 36 side becomes possible, and workability is improved.

However, in order to hold a plurality of types of optical fibers having different outer diameters, it is necessary to increase the attractive force of the permanent magnet 34. In this way, the suction power is increased (ie,
If the suction area is increased), the gripping force of the optical fiber 6 is increased, but a strong force is required to open the rotary arm 32, and there is a problem that the finger cannot be used for the opening operation. For example, holding a 0.25 mmφ, 0.9 mmφ single-core optical fiber and a tape fiber, 500
When a tension of g is applied, the magnetic force without slipping action on the fiber requires an area of 10 × 15 mm (2000 gauss) or more, and the attraction force in this case is 300,000 gauss.
However, the force for desorbing the permanent magnet having the attraction force of 300,000 gauss from the attraction surface is the force of attracting the weight of about 15 kg, and this weight of 15 kg cannot be directly handled by the fingertip.

The present invention has solved the above-mentioned problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber connecting portion gripping device capable of separating a permanent magnet having an attraction force equivalent to kg weight from the attraction surface by the force of a fingertip.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above object, an optical fiber splicing part gripping device according to the present invention grips an optical fiber whose fiber end faces are fusion-spliced, and through which the above-mentioned optical part is gripped. In an optical fiber connecting portion holding device for applying a tension to a fiber connecting portion, the optical fiber connecting portion holding device is provided on a clamp base arranged on a base and a rotary arm pivotally supported on the base. And a fiber pressing member for pressing the optical fiber supported by the clamp base, and a permanent magnet attached to a leaf spring fixed to the rotating arm and attracted to the base. And

It is preferable that the permanent magnet is sandwiched between attraction plates attached to a leaf spring, and the leaf spring is provided with a knob.

[0019]

According to the structure of the present invention, the permanent magnet can be easily separated from the base by utilizing the flexibility of the leaf spring. That is, the first opening operation of the rotary arm that bends the leaf spring so as to incline the attraction surface of the permanent magnet reduces the attraction force of the permanent magnet by half, and subsequently pulls the rotation arm upward with a weak force. By the opening operation, the permanent magnet can be separated from the attracting surface, and even with a strong attracting force, the permanent magnet can be easily pulled away from the base with a small force.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 show a grip body 42a according to an embodiment.
In the same figure, one end of a rotary arm 43 is pivotally supported by a support shaft 41 on the base 40.
A leaf spring 45 is attached to the tip of the. Base 40
A clamp table 46 is provided on the top of the clamp table 4
The optical fiber 6 supported by 6 is held by a fiber holding member 47 provided on the rotating arm 43. Further, on the lower surface of the leaf spring 45, two attraction plates 48a and 48b are attached in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval, and the permanent magnet 50 is sandwiched by the attraction plates 48a and 48b. The permanent magnet 50 has a strong attracting force that does not move the optical fiber 6 when the holding body 42a holds various optical fibers 6 and applies a maximum tension of 500 g, specifically about 300,000. The suction surface is 10 x 15 mm (2000 Gauss) to give a Gaussian suction force.
Has an area of. A knob 51 is provided on the upper surface of the leaf spring 45.

According to the above construction, as shown in FIG. 1, the rotary arm 43 is closed with respect to the clamp base 46, so that the permanent magnets 50 form the two attraction plates 48a and 48b having the S and N poles. Are strongly adsorbed by the base 40, which is the adsorption surface. Thereby, the optical fiber 6 is firmly held between the clamp base 46 and the fiber pressing member 47.

In order to release the rotary arm 43 from the clamp base 46, as shown in FIG. 2, when the knob 51 is grasped with a finger and tilted diagonally upward to the right, the leaf spring 45 is bent,
Of the two suction plates 48a and 48b, the front suction plate 48a
The other suction plate 48b separates from the base 40 with the lower end of the as a fulcrum. At this time, the attraction force of the permanent magnet 50 is significantly reduced due to the characteristic that the magnetic force decreases in inverse proportion to the double distance. Since the bending stress of the leaf spring 45 is stronger than the reduced attraction force of the permanent magnet 50, the attraction plate 48a can be separated from the base 40 by only slightly pulling the knob 51 further upward. At this time, the rotary arm 43 rotates upward with the support shaft 41 as a fulcrum, and the fiber pressing member 47 can be easily opened from the clamp base 46.

The above operation will be described in detail.
In order to hold a 5 mmφ or 0.9 mmφ single-core optical fiber or a tape fiber and prevent them from shifting, as described above, about 300,000 gauss (adsorption area 10 × 15
(mm or more) is required, and the force for detaching it, that is, the detaching force when pulling in the direction perpendicular to the suction surface is 15
A weight of kg is required. According to the configuration of the present embodiment, this 15 kg suction force can be desorbed by the force of the finger (about 1 kg).

4 and 5 show an assembly drawing of the fiber gripping device. The respective configurations of FIGS. 4 and 5 substantially correspond to those of the conventional fiber gripping device shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and the same elements as those are designated by the same reference numerals to omit redundant description.

To hold the optical fiber 6 with the fiber holding device shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, first, as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 5, the rotary arms 43 of the pair of holding bodies 42a, 42b are respectively. Is rotated upward by using the support shaft 41 as a fulcrum to open. Subsequently, the optical fiber 6 having the connecting portion 6a having the fiber end faces fused to each other is supported by the clamp bases 46 of the pair of holding bodies 42a and 42b located on both sides of the connecting portion 6a. Subsequently, the rotary arm 43 is rotated downward to attract the attraction plates 48a and 48b of the permanent magnet 50 to the base 40. At this time, the fiber pressing member 4
7 holds the optical fiber 6 supported by the clamp base 46.

After that, the motor 13 is driven to drive the grip body 4
A cleaning test of the optical fiber 6 is performed by applying a tension in the direction of the arrow in FIG. In this case, optical fiber 0.25mmφ grip force 600g, optical fiber 0.9m
A grip force of 1 kg or more for mφ and a grip force of 1 kg or more for a 2-fiber to 8-core tape fiber are required. The grip force of such a magnitude is a permanent magnet having an attraction force of 50 g to 500 g,
That is, the suction surface 50a has a size of 10 × 15 mm (suction force 500
It can be easily obtained by using the permanent magnet 50 according to this embodiment of g).

By gripping the knob 51 with a finger and tilting it upward (in this case, a force of about 500 g is applied),
The leaf spring 45 tilts and the two suction plates 48b, 48a are sequentially separated from the base 40, and the rotary arm 43 is clamped to the clamp base 4.
You can open from 6.

In this embodiment, the suction surface 50a has a size of 10 ×.
The 15 mm (2000 gauss) permanent magnet 50 is sandwiched between the two attraction plates 48a and 48b. However, the present invention is not limited to this structure, and the permanent magnet 50 has a box-shaped frame with an open front surface (however, it is not shown in FIG. Needless to say, it may be supported by (not shown), or may have a structure in which these members are not provided and the permanent magnet 50 is used alone and attracted to the base 40.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the gripping device of the optical fiber connecting portion, the rotary arm is attracted and fixed to the base side by utilizing the attraction force of the permanent magnet. In addition to achieving the workability of fiber gripping operation and the effect of preventing fiber cutting, various optical fibers can be securely gripped by using a strong attraction force, and the permanent magnet can be pulled away from the attraction surface with a small force. It can be expected to have an excellent effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an optical fiber holding device according to an embodiment when a fiber is clamped.

FIG. 2 is a side view when the rotating arm is opened from the state of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which a rotating arm is opened from the state of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an entire device in which the optical fiber holding device according to the embodiment is assembled.

5 is a right side view of FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an entire device in which an optical fiber holding device according to a first conventional example is assembled.

FIG. 7 is a right side view of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a side view of an optical fiber gripping device according to a second conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 ... Optical fiber, 6a ... Connection part, 40 ... Base, 41 ...
Support shafts, 42a, 42b ... Gripping body, 43 ... Rotating arm,
45 ... Leaf spring, 46 ... Clamp base, 47 ... Fiber pressing member, 48a, 48b ... Adsorption plate, 50 ... Permanent magnet.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber connecting portion holding device for holding an optical fiber having a fiber end face fusion-spliced and applying a tension to the connecting portion of the optical fiber via the holding portion, wherein the optical fiber connecting portion holding portion is provided. The device is provided with a clamp base arranged on a base, a rotary arm pivotally supported on the base, and a fiber pressing member for pressing the optical fiber supported on the clamp base, and the rotary arm. An optical fiber connecting portion gripping device, characterized in that the device is attached to a fixed spring and is provided with a means to be attracted to the base. 2. The spring is a leaf spring, and the attracted means is a permanent magnet sandwiched by a plurality of sandwich plates.
The optical fiber connecting portion gripping device according to.