JPH0750727Y2 - SZ Spiral grooved spacer type optical cable manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention relates to an improved SZ spiral grooved spacer type optical cable manufacturing apparatus capable of properly inserting an optical fiber into a spacer having an SZ spiral groove. .

[Prior Art] As shown in FIG. 4, spacer grooves 13 and 13 which are alternately inverted in SZ are formed on the outer circumference of a spacer 12 having a tension member 11, and optical fibers 14 and 14 are housed in the grooves 13 and 13, respectively. However, the spacer type optical cable 10 obtained by applying the protective coating 16 after pressing with the press cord or the tape 15 has a structure in which the weak points of the optical fiber are complemented by protecting the optical fiber weak against lateral pressure by the spacer 12. Recently, it has been attracting attention.

FIG. 2 is a partial front view of the spacer 12 described above.
A plurality of SZ alternating inversion grooves having an inversion pitch P on the outer periphery of 12
13 and 13 are formed as shown in the figure.

If the spacer grooves 13, 13 are not spiral grooves in only one direction, it is not possible to form a sufficient extra length in the optical fiber in one direction, and it will be difficult to take out this when making a branch connection. This is because the SZ alternate inversion not only forms a sufficient extra length for extraction, but also prevents the abnormal tension from being added to the optical fiber due to the presence of such an extra length. It also has an effect.

A conventional manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the spacer type optical cable 10 configured as described above has, for example, a configuration as shown in FIG.

That is, while the separately extruded spacer 12 is supplied from a drum (not shown), the optical fibers 14 and 14 are sent from the optical fiber sending devices 1 and 1, and the fixed eye plates 2 are first passed through as shown in the drawing. After passing through the reversing eye plate 3 having an SZ alternating reversing angle, the optical fibers 14, 14 guided by the reversing eye plate 3 in the diaphragm die 4 are moved to the SZ of the spacer 12
The protective coating 16 is inserted into the grooves 13 and 13 and is pressed and wound by a pressing and winding device with a pressing tape 15, for example, and then the protective coating 16 is extrusion covered by an extruding device (not shown).

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the reversal angle θ of the reversing eye plate 3. The reversal angle θ is set so as to match the reversal angle of the SZ reversal groove 13 of the spacer 12, so that the optical fiber 14 is properly arranged along the inclination angle of the reversal groove 13 of the spacer 12 which proceeds at a constant speed. It is configured to be guided.

In the above conventional device, if the reversal angle of the SZ groove 13 is small, there is not much problem, but recently there are many cases where a large reversal angle of 180 degrees or more is adopted. In that case, as shown in FIG. Optical fiber 14,1 between plate 2 and reversing plate 3
4 will be entangled in the spacer 12, and in this entanglement, a phenomenon is seen in which the optical fiber 14 is momentarily twisted into the groove 13 and is pulled out again, at which time the optical fiber 14 is caught in the groove 13, Excessive tension may be generated in the optical fiber.

In addition, in the optical fiber passage portions of the fixed eye plate 2 and the reversal eye plate 3, the large reversal angle causes bending of the optical fiber 14 with a small bending radius, which causes a large tension to be applied to the optical fiber 14. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In order to solve the above problems, the fixed eye plate 2 and the reverse eye plate 3
There is a proposal to solve the entanglement with the spacer by arranging a cylinder on the spacer 12 between them and causing the optical fiber 14 to slide on the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder.

However, even in that case, the generation of excessive tension on the optical fiber is not always solved due to the friction between the cylindrical surface and the optical fiber, and the generation of the minimal bending at the eyelet passing portion of the optical fiber is not solved. Since no solution has been made, there are still problems such as adverse effects on transmission characteristics and long-term reliability (breaking life).

In addition to this, in the conventional configuration as described above, when the optical fiber 14 enters the diaphragm die 4, friction occurs between the inner surface of the die fixed to the ground and the optical fiber that is in contact with the die while being reversed. There are some defects that the optical fiber 14 may not be correctly guided into the groove 13 and may jump out.
While the optical fiber 14 that has entered the inside is roughly wound or taped by the holding and winding device 5, there is also a problem that the optical fiber 14 jumps out from the groove due to vibration or the like, especially at the inverted portion of S and Z, that is, the straight portion. There is.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, to prevent the optical fiber from being caught in the spacer between the fixed eye plate and the reversing eye plate, and to bend the optical fiber at the eye plate passing portion. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel SZ spiral grooved spacer type optical cable manufacturing apparatus capable of greatly improving the protrusion of an optical fiber from a groove without fear of making it excessively large.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides an apparatus having a fixed eye plate and a reversing eye plate, in which one or more intermediate reversing eye plates are arranged between the fixed eye plate and the reversing eye plate, and When the reversing angle is θ and the total number of reversing eye plates is n, the reversing angle of the i-th intermediate reversing eye plate from the fixed eye plate is It is configured so that

[Operation] By providing the intermediate reversing plate between the fixed eye plate and the reversing eye plate, the entanglement of the optical fiber with the spacer is eliminated,
Further, since the reversing angle of the intermediate reversing plate gradually increases from the fixed eye plate to the reversing eye plate, the possibility that the optical fiber is bent excessively is eliminated.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

The spacer 12 and the optical fibers 14 and 14 are first passed through the fixed eye plate 2, then sequentially passed through the intermediate inversion eye plates 3 ₁ , 3 ₂ ... 3i, then the final inversion eye plate 3, and the light is passed through the diaphragm die 4. The fibers 14 and 14 are inserted into the SZ grooves 13 and 13 and are pressed and wound by the pressing and winding device 5, and then sent to an extrusion device as in the conventional example and a protective coating 16 is applied thereto.

In the present invention, since the intermediate reversing eye plates 3 ₁ , 3 _2, ... 3i are provided, the entanglement of the optical fibers 14, 14 with the spacer 12 found in the conventional example is completely eliminated.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the drive sprocket 7 and the respective intermediate reversing eye plates 3 ₁ , 3 _2, ... 3 corresponding to the reversing eye plate 3.
There are sprockets for driving eye plate 7, 7 ₁ , 7, ₂ ... 7i at positions respectively corresponding to i, and these sprockets are driven simultaneously by a motor 6 via a shaft 7a that rotates, and a chain 8, The structure is such that the reversing eye plate 3 and the intermediate reversing eye plates 3 ₁ , 3 _2, ... 3i connected by 8 can be simultaneously driven for synchronous reversal.

In the above, the reversal angle of each of the intermediate reversing eye plates 3 ₁ , 3 ₂ , ... 3i is set so that the reversing angle gradually increases.

That is, when the inversion angle of the final inversion plate 3 is θ and the total number of inversion plates is n, the inversion angle of the i-th intermediate inversion plate from the fixed eye plate is It is set so that With this setting, as shown by the length of the arrow at the top of each reversing plate in FIG. 1, the reversing angle gradually increases from the fixed plate 2 side, and finally in the final reversing plate 3. The reversal angle θ is required. As a result, the optical fibers 14 and 14 are sequentially inverted little by little, and since the inversions are synchronized, the bending applied to the optical fibers 14 and 14 is kept to a minimum.

To set the reversal angle of each reversing eye plate 3 ₁ , 3 ₂ , ... 3i, 3 as described above, it is sufficient to select the gear ratio of each sprocket 7 ₁ , 7 ₂ ... 7i, 7 for example. Can be realized by structurally simple means.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the final reversing eye plate 3 and the drawing die 4 are connected by the connecting rod 9 so that the drawing die 4 can be synchronously reversed in synchronization with the reversal of the reversing eye plate 3. Good.

With this configuration, the optical fiber 1 with the reversing eye plate 3
As a result of the reversing movement of 4,14, the diaphragm die 4 synchronously follows and revolves, so that the friction between the inner surface of the fixed die 4 and the reversing moving optical fibers 14, 14 does not occur. , The protrusion of the optical fiber 14 from the groove 13 caused by the friction is eliminated, and the optical fiber 14,1
It is possible to insert the four into the grooves 13 and 13 accurately and smoothly, and it is possible to greatly reduce the occurrence of defects.

With respect to the problem of the optical fibers 14 and 14 protruding from the grooves 13 and 13 after being inserted into the grooves 13 and 13 of the optical fibers 14 and 14 in the die 4 which is another problem, the presser winding device 5 is devised. However, it can be prevented by making the distance 1 between the die 4 and the presser winding portion as small as possible (for example, within 100 mm).

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, excessive tension is applied to the optical fiber during manufacture of the spacer type optical cable with the SZ spiral groove, and the tension remains, or the optical fiber is excessively tensioned. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of accidents during manufacturing, and it is possible to greatly improve the transmission characteristics of the optical fiber as a product and the long-term life and its reliability. There are some that can contribute and are very useful industrially.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the structure of an apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial front view of a spacer, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a reversal angle, and FIG. 4 is an end view showing the structure of a spacer type optical cable. , FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a conventional manufacturing apparatus. 1: Optical fiber sending device, 2: Fixed eye plate, 3: Reverse eye plate, 3 ₁ ~
3i: Intermediate reversing eye plate, 4: Diaphragm die, 5: Presser winding device, 9: Connecting rod, 10: Spacer type optical cable, 12: Spacer, 13: SZ
Inversion groove, 14: Optical fiber.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An optical fiber sent from an optical fiber sending device is passed through a fixed eye plate and is then reciprocally reversed in a predetermined angle range by a reversing eye plate, and the light is introduced into a groove of a spacer having an SZ spiral groove by a diaphragm die. In the device configured to insert the fiber, one or more intermediate reversing eye plates are arranged between the fixed eye plate and the reversing eye plate, the reversing angle of the final reversing eye plate is θ, and the total number of the reversing eye plates is set. When n, the reversal angle of the i-th intermediate reversing plate from the fixed plate is ±
An apparatus for manufacturing a spacer type optical cable with an SZ spiral groove, which is configured so as to be θ × i / n.