JPH08201641A - Optical fiber clamp mechanism for fusion splicing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simplify operational procedure, to simplify optical fiber fixing work and to miniaturize a windbreak cover because it is unnecessary that mechanical parts causing a clamp to vertically move are provided on a stage by fixing an optical fiber on a V groove with a clamp by operation closing the windbreak cover. CONSTITUTION: This mechanism is provided with a V groove base 13, the clamp 17 pressing the optical fiber 15 placed on the V groove of the V groove base 13 from the upside and a wind break cover 33. The clamp 17 is attached to the inside of the windbreak cover 33 vertically movably by a cylinder 37, a compressed coil spring 39, a slider 41 and a rod 43.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clamp mechanism for fixing an optical fiber placed in a V groove in an optical fiber fusion splicer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an optical fiber fusion splicer is provided with a V-groove base and a clamp for pressing and fixing the optical fiber placed in the V-groove of the V-groove base from above.
6325). FIG. 5 shows an example thereof. Reference numeral 11 is a stage of the fusion splicer, and 13 is a V groove stand fixed on the stage 11. The V-groove base 13 has a plurality of parallel V-grooves on the upper surface. Reference numeral 15 is a plurality of optical fibers placed in the V groove of the V groove base 13, and 17 is a plurality of optical fibers 15.
, A clamp for pressing and fixing the support arms collectively from above, a support arm 19 fixed to the clamp 17, a guide portion 21 for guiding the support arm 19 so as to be vertically movable and rotatable, a stopper 23, and a compression coil 25. Spring, 27
Is a lever rotatable around a fulcrum 29 located below the stage 11, and 31 is an operation pin.

In this clamp mechanism, when the operation pin 31 is pushed downward, the clamp 17 is lifted to open the optical fiber 15, and when the operation pin 31 is released, the repulsive force of the compression coil spring 25 causes the clamp 17 to move downward to emit light. The fibers 15 are collectively fixed.

In such a fusion splicer, when the optical fibers are fused and spliced, the arc does not fluctuate due to the movement of the surrounding air so that the fused state of the optical fibers does not become non-uniform. It is necessary to cover the table 13 and the clamp 17 with the box-shaped windshield cover 33. One side of the windshield cover 33 is connected to the stage 11 by a hinge 35 and can be opened and closed.

[0005]

The above-mentioned conventional optical fiber clamp mechanism has the following problems. To fix the optical fiber, rotate the clamp at the retracted position onto the V-groove and then lower it to fix the optical fiber.
Furthermore, an operation procedure of covering the windshield cover is required, which makes the work troublesome. The windshield cover is large in size because it is necessary to cover the entire parts such as the V groove base, the clamp, and the support arm that are exposed on the stage. Since it is necessary to provide a mechanism for vertically moving or rotating the clamp on the stage, the stage becomes large, and thus the fusion splicer as a whole becomes large.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber clamp mechanism for a fusion splicer, which is simple in clamp work and compact.

[0007]

To achieve this object, the present invention provides a V-groove base, a clamp for pressing and fixing an optical fiber placed in the V-groove of the V-groove base from above, and a V-groove base. And a windshield cover for covering the clamp, wherein the clamp is attached to the inside of the windshield so as to be vertically movable, and the opening and closing of the windshield cover and the opening and closing of the clamp are interlocked with each other.

[0008]

With this arrangement, when the windshield cover is opened, the clamp is lifted up, and when the windshield cover is closed, the clamp is lowered to fix the optical fiber on the V-groove base. Therefore, opening / closing of the windshield cover and opening / closing of the clamp can be performed by a single operation, and the work is easy. Further, since the clamp is attached to the inside of the windshield cover, the windshield cover may have a size that covers the V groove base and the clamp, and the windshield cover and the stage can be downsized.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. The parts corresponding to the parts in FIG. 5 described above are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. That is, 11 is a stage of the fusion splicer, 13 is a V groove stand, 15 is an optical fiber, 17 is a clamp, 33 is a windshield cover, and 35 is a hinge.

The characteristic of this clamp mechanism is that the windshield cover 3
That is, the clamp 17 is attached to the inside of 3 so as to be vertically movable. That is, the clamp mechanism has a cylinder 37 perpendicular to the lower surface of the windshield cover 33, and a compression coil spring 39 and a slider 41 are provided in the cylinder 37.
Is stored, and the slider 41 and the clamp 17 are connected to the rod 43.
Has become a unified structure.

The slider 41 is constantly pressed downward by the compression coil spring 39. Therefore, when the windshield cover 33 is open, the slider 41 is pressed against the stopper 37s at the lower end of the cylinder 37. When the windshield cover 33 is closed from that state, the clamp 17 causes the windshield cover 3 to move.
It rotates together with 3 and is mounted on the optical fiber 15 on the V groove base 15. Further, when the windshield cover 37 is closed to the end, the slider 41 is lifted from the stopper 37s as shown in the drawing, and the clamp 17 holds down the optical fiber 15 by the repulsive force of the compression coil spring 39. This fixes the optical fiber 15 on the V groove. Further, when the windshield cover 33 is opened, the clamp 17 rotates together with the windshield cover 33 and is lifted, and the optical fiber 15 is opened.

By the way, opening and closing the clamp accompanied by rotational movement may cause a problem that the optical fiber is laterally displaced in the V groove when the clamp is closed (actually 6-63).
(Also described in Japanese Patent No. 25). In this embodiment, this problem is avoided by the following structure. That is, the height difference a between the center axis of the hinge 35, which is the rotation axis of the windshield cover 33, and the upper surface of the optical fiber 15 is set to zero or minimized, and the gap b between the cylinder 37 and the slider 41 is set.
To be large enough.

Thus, while the windshield cover 33 is being closed, the lower surface of the clamp 17 first comes into contact with the optical fiber 15 and thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3, the cylinder 37 descends while the slider 41 remains stationary. Therefore, a load is applied to the clamp 17 (a force other than the vertical direction is not applied to the clamp until the windshield cover is completely closed). Therefore, the clamp 17 does not move laterally, and as a result, it is equivalent to the clamp 17 being linearly lowered from directly above the optical fiber 15.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In the above embodiment, the clamp 17 cannot be moved after the windshield cover 33 is closed as shown in FIG. However, in the actual work, the optical fiber 15 on either side (see FIG. 2) is
It may be fixed by the clamp 17 without being normally pushed into the groove. In such a case, the clamp that holds the abnormal optical fiber can be finely moved up and down to correct it without redoing the work from the beginning.

In order to realize this, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a fine movement operation pin 45 which penetrates the windshield cover 13 in the vertical direction and projects to the outside of the windshield cover 13 is integrally provided on the slider 41. is there. As a result, even when the windshield cover 33 is closed, either the left or right clamp 17 can be finely moved independently by pulling the fine movement operation pin 45.

In the above embodiments, the compression coil spring is used to obtain the force for the clamp to hold down the optical fiber. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other coil springs such as tension coil springs and plate plies are used. It is also possible to use different types of springs. It is also conceivable to have a structure in which the optical fiber is pressed by the weight of the clamp. Further, the vertical movement mechanism and the fine movement mechanism of the clamp are not limited to the structure of the above embodiment.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, the optical fiber on the V groove can be fixed by the clamp by the operation of closing the windshield cover, so that the operation procedure is simplified and the optical fiber fixing work can be performed. Easy to do. Further, since it is not necessary to provide a mechanical component for moving the clamp up and down on the stage, the windshield cover can be downsized and the fusion splicer can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view in a direction perpendicular to an optical fiber, showing an embodiment of an optical fiber clamp mechanism according to the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the clamp mechanism of FIG. 1 in the same direction as the optical fiber.

3 is a sectional view in the same direction as FIG. 1, showing a state in which the windshield cover of the clamp mechanism of FIG. 1 is being closed.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention in a direction perpendicular to the optical fiber.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional optical fiber clamp mechanism in a direction perpendicular to an optical fiber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11: Stage of fusion splicer 13: V groove stand 15: Optical fiber 17: Clamp 33: Windshield cover 35: Hinge 37: Cylinder 37s: Stopper 39: Compression coil spring 41: Slider 43: Rod 45: Fine operation pin

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A fusion splicer comprising a V-groove base, a clamp for pressing and fixing an optical fiber placed in the V-groove of the V-groove base from above, and a windshield cover covering the V-groove base and the clamp. The clamp mechanism for an optical fiber fusion splicer according to claim 1, wherein the clamp is attached to the inside of the windshield cover so as to be movable up and down, and the opening and closing of the windshield cover and the opening and closing of the clamp are interlocked with each other. 2. A V-groove base has a plurality of V-grooves, and a clamp collectively holds a plurality of optical fibers placed in the plurality of V-grooves. The position of the hinge of the windshield cover and the position of the hinge of the windshield so that the force other than the vertical direction is not applied to the clamp from the time when the lower surface of the clamp first hits the optical fiber until the end of closing the windshield cover.
The clamp mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a gap is provided between a vertical movement guide portion of the clamp and the windshield cover. 3. The clamp mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a member for moving the clamp up and down with the windshield cover closed is projected to the outside of the windshield cover.