JPH0727925A - Optical fiber taking up device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate an operation to execute splicing again in the event of a failure in splicing with an optical fiber taking up device to be used in an optical communication repeater, etc., and to prevent the deterioration of an optical fiber. CONSTITUTION:Plural connecting members 131 to 137 are connected near the peripheral edges of respective bored parts 11a, 12a of two sheets of holding plates 11, 12 to connect the holding plates 11 with 12 keeping a prescribed spacing. The fiber 1 is drawable from between the connecting members 131 to 137 and from the bored parts 11a, 12a even in the event of a failure in the splicing of an end 1a at which taking up begins if the optical fiber 1 is wound in this state around the connecting members 131 to 137 exclusive of the end 1a. The length of the end 1a is thus made up without winding the entire part of the fiber again.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber winder for winding an optical fiber, and more particularly to an optical fiber winder used in an optical communication repeater or the like.

In recent years, optical communication technology using optical fibers has been developed. Optical communication repeaters are arranged in places between the communication stations that perform this optical communication, and the optical signals are respectively amplified. As the optical communication repeater, a device in which an Er (erbium) -doped Er-doped fiber is connected between an input end and an output end and an optical signal is amplified by adding pumping light to the fiber is recently used. It is like this.

In this case, since the Er-doped fiber requires a certain length, it must be properly housed in the optical communication repeater so as not to get in the way. For this reason,
Conventionally, an Er-doped fiber is wound into a ring using an optical fiber winder and housed in an optical communication repeater.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of a conventional optical fiber winder. The optical fiber winder 50 is of a bobbin type, and its lower plate 53 is fixed in the case. The optical fiber 54 is wrapped around a cylindrical core 51. End 54a of the optical fiber 54 on the winding start side
Is drawn out from the notch 52a formed in the upper plate 52 by an appropriate length and spliced with one of the optical fibers on the input side or the output side of the optical signal. Similarly, the end portion 54b on the winding end side is also spliced with the optical fiber on the opposite side.

[0005]

However, the optical fiber 5
Since the end portion 54a on the winding start side of No. 4 is on the core 51 side, if the splicing fails and the extra length portion is to be drawn out again, it is necessary to unwind the entire optical fiber 54 once and rewind it. Therefore, there is a problem that the work is troublesome and that the optical fiber 54 may be deteriorated by rewinding.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an optical fiber winder capable of facilitating reworking when a splice fails and preventing deterioration of the optical fiber at that time. The purpose is to do.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a principle view of an optical fiber winder of the present invention which achieves the above object. Each of the two holding plates 11 and 12 has an internal drawing portion 1 inside.
1a and 12a are formed, and the cutout portions 11a and 12a are formed.
A plurality of connecting members 131 to 137 are connected in the vicinity of the peripheral portion of the two holding plates 11 and 137, so that the two holding plates 11 and 12 are connected at a predetermined interval.

[0008]

[Function] Each holding portion 11 of the two holding plates 11 and 12
a, 12a near the periphery, a plurality of connecting members 131-1
By connecting 37, the holding plates 11 and 12 are connected at a predetermined interval. In this state, if the optical fiber 1 is wound around the connection members 131 to 137, leaving the end portion 1a at the beginning of winding, even if the splicing of the end portion 1a fails, the connection members 131 to 137, and the lead-out member. Parts 11a, 1
The fiber 1 can be pulled out from 2a. This makes it possible to supplement the length of the end portion 1a without rewinding the entire fiber.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the optical communication repeater. The optical communication repeater mainly includes an Er fiber 1 for amplification, a front stage module 2, a rear stage module 3, and a pumping light module 4. Input terminal (I
The optical signal input from the N) 5 is processed by the front stage module 2, amplified through the Er fiber 1, and output from the output terminal (OUT) 6 through the rear stage module 3.
The Er fiber 1 is an optical fiber doped with Er (erbium), absorbs the energy of the pumping light input from the pumping light module 4 via the rear stage module 3, and amplifies only the light of the same wavelength as the input light. To do.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of the inside of the optical communication repeater unit. In the case 7a of the optical communication relay unit 7, the front stage module 2, the rear stage module 3, and the pumping light module 4 are housed at predetermined positions. Also,
The optical fiber winder 10 is housed in the case 7a.

The optical fiber winder 10 is shown in FIG.
Er fiber 1 of is wound up. The end portion 1a of the Er fiber 1 wound around the optical fiber winder 10 is spliced with the optical fiber 22a output from the output terminal 22 of the front stage module 2, while the end portion 1b is connected to the input terminal 31 of the rear stage module 3. Is spliced with the optical fiber 31a coming out of.

The input terminal 21 of the front module 2
Is connected to the input terminal 5 of the optical communication relay unit 7 via the optical fiber 21a. Further, the output terminal 32 of the post-stage module 3 is connected to the output terminal 6 of the optical communication relay unit 7 via the optical fiber 32a. Also,
The pumping light terminal 33 of the latter-stage module 3 has an optical fiber 33.
It is connected to the output terminal 41 of the pumping light module 4 via a.

1A and 1B are views showing a concrete structure of the optical fiber winder 10, in which FIG. 1A is an overall perspective view and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line AA. Optical fiber winder 1
0 is mainly composed of a disc-shaped upper plate 11 and a lower plate 12, and a plurality of connecting members 131 to 137. Upper plate 11
Further, circular cutout portions 11a and 12a are formed in the respective central portions of the lower plate 12 and. Also, the upper plate 11
A notch 11b is formed in a part of the.

The upper plate 11 and the lower plate 12 are connected by a connecting member 13.
1 to 137 are connected at a predetermined interval (40 mm to 50 mm). The connecting members 131 to 137 are
They are attached at substantially equal intervals along the cutout portions 11a and 12a. The Er fiber 1 is the connecting member 1
Wrapped around 31-137. At this time, the end portion 1a at the beginning of winding is wound with an extra length required for splicing. When all the Er fibers 1 are wound, auxiliary members 141 to 14 made of sponge are formed on the outside of the Er fibers 1.
4 and the like are attached by a method such as adhesion.

By the way, the connecting members 131 to 137 are detachably attached to the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 12. In FIG. (B), the connection members 131,
A cross section of the portion 137 is shown. Connection member 131,
Reference numeral 137 denotes upper and lower annular projections 131a and 137, respectively.
a and screw portions 131b and 132b are formed. The screw portions 131b and 132b are screwed into the screw holes 121 and 127 formed in the lower plate 12 and attached. On the other hand, the convex portions 131a and 137a are the upper plate 1
It is fitted into the fitting holes 111 and 117 formed in 1. The other connecting members 132 to 136 are also attached to the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 12 with the same configuration. As a result, the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 12 are detachably connected.

The screw portions 131b and 132b are formed by the convex portion 1.
You may make it convex shape like 31a, 137a. Also,
Other configurations may be used as long as they are attachable to and detachable from the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 12.

With such a configuration, the optical fiber winder 10 according to the present embodiment has, for example, the end portion 1 of the Er fiber 1.
A is wound around the connecting members 131 to 137 with an extra required length. When the end portion 1b is wound with the necessary length left, the auxiliary members 141 to 144 are attached between the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 12 so as to surround the outer periphery of the Er fiber 1. At this time, the end portion 1a on the winding start side
Is pulled out through the notch 11b of the upper plate 11.

Thus, the E to the optical fiber winder 10 is
When the winding of the r fiber 1 is completed, the Er fiber 1
End portions 1a, 1b of the optical fibers 22a, 31
Splice with a. At this time, for example, when the splicing of the end portion 1a fails, as shown in FIG.
a is pulled out from between the connecting members 135, 136 and the like. As a result, the length of the end portion 1a is supplemented. If necessary, it may be pulled out from between the other connecting members or may be disassembled for several turns.

At this time, since the connecting members 131 to 137 can be removed, the fibers can be easily pulled out by removing them as necessary. Even if a large number of connecting members 131 to 137 are removed, the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 12 are assisted by the auxiliary members 141 to 144, so that the entire optical fiber winder 10 is not disassembled.

As described above, in this embodiment, the upper plate 11 and the lower plate 12 are connected by the plurality of connecting members 131 to 137. Therefore, when it is desired to supplement the extra length of the fiber, the entire fiber is unwound. Since there is no need to rewind, the work is easy and the deterioration of the fiber can be prevented.

Further, since the fiber does not hit the edge of the notch 11b of the upper plate 11, there is no fear of damaging it.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the holding plates can be connected at a predetermined interval by connecting a plurality of connecting members in the vicinity of the peripheral portions of the cutout portions of the two holding plates. Therefore, if the optical fiber is wound around the connection member, leaving the end portion at the beginning of winding, even if the splicing of the end portion fails, the fiber can be pulled out from between the connection members and from the lead-out portion. This makes it possible to easily supplement the length of the end portion without rewinding the entire fiber and prevent deterioration of the fiber.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are diagrams showing a specific configuration of an optical fiber winder, in which FIG. 1A is an overall perspective view and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along the line AA.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an optical communication repeater.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the inside of an optical communication relay unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of use of the optical fiber winder.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional optical fiber winder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical (Er) fiber 1a, 1b End part 2 Pre-stage module 3 Post-stage module 4 Excitation light module 10 Optical fiber winder 11 Upper plate (holding plate) 11a Feeding part 12 Lower plate (holding plate) 12a Feeding part 131 ~ 137 Connection member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber winder for winding an optical fiber, comprising: two holding plates (11), (12) each having an internal drawing portion (11a), (12a) formed therein; A plurality of connecting members (131), which are connected in the vicinity of the peripheral portions of the respective drawing-out portions (11a) and (12a) and connect the two holding plates (11) and (12) at a predetermined interval.
(137) and the optical fiber winder characterized by having. 2. The connection members (131) to (137).
The optical fiber winder according to claim 1, characterized in that it is attachable to and detachable from the holding plates (11), (12).