JPH0781981A - Continuous resin feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To constantly feed resin in the feeder of the resin for coating a wire by connecting an open vessel, a closed vessel and a main vessel, which is pressurized at all times and provided with a level sensor, through a valve. CONSTITUTION:Resin is extruded from a main vessel 3 in specified amts. at all times and supplied to a die nipple 4. When the in the main vessel 3 is decreased and the liq. resin level is lowered to a specified value, the lowering is detected by a level sensor 8, and a warning means is actuated. An appropriate amt. of the resin is charged into an open vessel 1 by an operator, and the resin is introduced into a closed vessel 2 through a valve 12 always opened. The valve 12 is then closed, a valve 32 is opened to equalize the pressure in the vessel 2 with that in the vessel 3. When a valve 32 is then opened, the resin in the vessel 2 is charged into the vessel 3 by gravity in an appropriate amt. When the replenishment is finished, the valves 22 and 32 are closed, the valve 12 is opened, and the original state is restored in preparation for the succeeding replenishment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coating device for coating a resin on an optical fiber drawn from a base material, and more particularly to a resin continuous feeding device for continuously feeding the resin.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to coat a predetermined resin on a drawn optical fiber, for example, a continuous resin supply device as shown in FIG. 7 has been developed. That is, the continuous resin supply device includes a pair of resin tanks 102A and 102B in which a resin 101 is stored in a pressurized tank 100, and a main connecting pipe 104 that connects the resin tanks 102A and 102B to the coating device 103. The three-way valve 105 provided at the confluent portion with the sub connecting pipes 104A and 104B, and each resin tank 10
Air exhaust ports 107A, 10 provided for each 2A, 102B
Two-way valves 106A and 106B for opening and closing 7B are provided. Then, in this resin supply device, when the resin in the resin tank 102A on one side approaches an empty state, the resin tank 102B on the other side is replaced, so that the three-way valve 105 is operated to operate the one side connecting pipe 104A to the other side. The connecting path to the main connecting pipe 104 is switched to the sub connecting pipe 104B, and the other resin tank 102B that has been switched is set to a high pressure so that the resin is newly supplied from this tank side.

[0003]

By the way, when replacing the tank, the two-way valve 106B to be newly supplied is opened to exhaust the air in the connecting pipe. Even if you do,
That is, the air in the pipe indicated by S in FIG. 7 cannot be exhausted, and is sent to the coating device 103 side through the main connecting pipe 104 as it is. As a result, a portion of the optical fiber that is not coated with the resin is generated, and the optical fiber partially becomes a defective product. Therefore, it is not possible to cope with the lengthening of the optical fiber. Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present invention has an object to provide a resin continuous supply device capable of continuously supplying resin in response to the lengthening of an optical fiber.

[0004]

That is, the present invention is a resin continuous supply device for continuously supplying the resin to a coating device for coating a resin on a wire, and a first communication passage extending downward. The second container provided in the second communicating passage that communicates with the opening container containing the resin discharged by opening the first valve provided in the second communicating passage and extends downwardly while communicating with the opening container through the first communicating passage. A closed container that contains the resin discharged by opening the valve and that blocks the inflow of the atmosphere;
A third valve is connected to the closed container via a communication passage, is connected to the covering device via a connection passage, and is connected to the closed container to communicate with the closed container to allow a pressurized gas to flow. A main container that is constantly pressurized and a liquid level sensor that detects when the amount of resin contained in the main container decreases and the liquid level of the resin drops below a certain level are provided.

[0005]

In the present invention, when the liquid level sensor attached to the main container detects that the resin in the main container has dropped to a certain value (or approaches the empty state), the resin for replenishment is opened in the open container. By turning on and opening / closing operations of the first to third valves in an appropriate order, the inside of the main container is maintained while the inside of the main container is kept under pressure and the resin is continuously supplied to the coating device. Resin can be replenished.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a resin continuous supply device according to the present invention. This continuous resin supply device includes an open container (hereinafter referred to as a first container) 1, a closed container (hereinafter referred to as a second container) 2 and a main container (hereinafter referred to as a third container) 3, and A first communication passage 11 and a second communication passage 2 which extend downward from the first container 1 and the second container 2 and communicate with the second container and the third container 3, respectively, and through which the resin passes.
1 is provided with a first valve 12 and a second valve 22, respectively. In addition, a third valve 32 is provided in the air passage 31 that air-tightly connects the second container 2 and the third container 3 and through which an appropriate gas for pressurization passes.
Is provided. In the figure, reference numeral 4 is a die nipple of a coating device for coating the optical fiber 5 with resin,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a connecting path for sending the resin from the third container toward the die nipple 4. Further, reference numeral 7 in the drawing is the first
3 shows a throttle valve provided to avoid a rapid pressure drop of pressurized gas in the container 3.

Unlike the second container 3 and the third container 3, the first container 1 is opened at the upper part and is in a normal pressure (atmospheric pressure) state, and the remaining amount of the resin in the third container 3 is reduced. When this first
Although the resin is replenished from the container 1, this resin replenishment operator may directly perform the work manually or mechanically. In addition, in the 2nd container 2 and the 3rd container 3,
A lid is attached to each of them so that the airtight state can be maintained. The first valve 12 provided in the first communication passage 11 is a two-way valve like the second valve 22 and the third valve 32.
Although normally open (normally open), when the third valve 32 is in the open state, the first valve 12 is always closed to keep the third container 3 in the pressurized state at all times. The second valve 22 is opened only when the resin is delivered from the second container 2 to the third container 3, and is normally closed (normally closed) to keep the third container 3 in a pressurized state at all times. The third valve 32 is normally closed (normally closed) for the same reason, and is opened only when the resin is delivered from the second container to the third container.

The third container 3 is adapted to send a pressurized gas through the air supply passage 33 so that the resin is constantly delivered to the die nipple 4 by a constant amount, and the regulator 34 regulates the internal pressure of the third container 3. It is configured to be adjusted to be constant. The third container 3 is provided with a liquid level sensor 8 that detects when the remaining amount of resin in the container 3 is low and the liquid level drops to a certain value and outputs an electrical signal. . There are various types of liquid level sensors such as an ultrasonic type and an electrostatic capacitance type, which are appropriately selected depending on the type of resin. In addition, in this embodiment, the output signal from the liquid level sensor 8 is input to a control unit that activates an appropriate warning means such as a lamp or a buzzer, and a worker is activated by the lamp or buzzer operated by this. The resin is replenished and the opening / closing operations of the first to third valves are performed. In addition, in order to perform these operations fully automatically, the first to third valves are configured by solenoid valves, and the operation of charging the resin into the first container is configured to be performed electrically, and these operations are performed. By storing the work operation in the storage unit, it is of course possible to automate it using a computer.

Next, a handling (operating) method of the resin continuous feeding apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the resin in the third container 3 gradually decreases as the resin is supplied toward the die nipple 4 while constantly extruding the resin from the third container 3 in fixed amounts (first Step S ₁ ). Then, as shown in FIG. 2, when the liquid level of the resin in the third container 3 drops below a certain value, the liquid level sensor 8 detects it and activates the warning means (lamp or buzzer) (second step S). ₂ ). The worker who has detected the shortage of the remaining amount of resin puts an appropriate amount of resin into the first container 1 (third step S ₃ ).
As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the normally open first valve 1
The resin passes through 2 and is discharged into the second container 2 by its own weight.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the first valve 12 is closed and the third valve 32 is opened to adjust the atmospheric pressure in the second container 2 to the same atmospheric pressure as that in the third container 3 (fourth step). S ₄ ). Further, when the second valve 22 is opened, the resin is discharged from the second container 2 into the third container 3 by its own weight as shown in FIG. 4 (fifth step S ₅ ). In this manner, it will send out the resin to the third container 3, fed to the proper amount (sixth step S _6). This completes the operation of replenishing the resin in the third container 3. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the second valve 22 and the third valve 3 are prepared for the next replenishing operation.
2 Close (seventh step S _7). After this, the first valve 12
To return to the state of FIG. 1, and then set the initial state so that the resin can be replenished anytime (8th step S
₈ ). As a result, a series of resin supply work is completed (9th step S ₉ ). In addition, the operation of supplying the resin to the die nipple 4 performed in the first step S _{1 is} performed during the resin replenishment work because the inside of the third container 3 is constantly maintained at a constant pressure, that is, the second step S ₂ between ~ to ninth step S ₉ also it is possible to continue without of course withstand it.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is detected by the liquid level sensor attached to the main container that the resin in the main container has dropped to a certain value (or approaches the empty state). Then, by supplying the replenishing resin into the open container and appropriately performing the opening / closing operation of the first to third valves,
The resin can be replenished into the main container while keeping the pressure inside the main container and continuously supplying the resin to the coating device. Resin can be replenished without interruption.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a resin continuous supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a series of resin supply operations in the same apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a series of resin supply operations in the same apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a series of resin supply operations in the same apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a series of resin supply operations in the same apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of a resin supply operation.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional continuous resin supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Open container (1st container) 2 Closed container (2nd container) 3 Main container (3rd container) 4 Dice nipple (Coating device) 5 Optical fiber 6 Connection path 8 Liquid level sensor 12 1st valve 22 2nd valve 31 Ventilation passage 32 Third valve

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A resin continuous supply device for continuously supplying the resin to a coating device for coating a resin on a wire, the discharge being performed by opening a first valve provided in a first communication passage extending downward. An open container accommodating a resin to be communicated, and communicating with the open container via the first communication passage,
A closed container that contains a resin discharged by opening a second valve provided in a second communication passage extending downward, and that shuts off the inflow of air, and the closed container through the second communication passage. While communicating with
A third ventilation path is connected to the coating device via a connection path and communicates with the closed container to facilitate the flow of pressurized gas.
A main container that includes a valve and is constantly pressurized, and a liquid level sensor that detects when the amount of resin contained in the main container decreases and the liquid level of the resin drops below a certain level Continuous resin supply device.