JPH08248281A - Device for dropping and assembling coated optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a device for dropping and assembling coated optical fibers which is simple and inexpensive for obtaining an optical fiber cable having an excellent transmission characteristic and high reliability by generating extra lengths in coated optical fibers. CONSTITUTION: This device is arranged with guide pipes 8 on a traveling path of a core body 7 by inclining these pipes in such a manner that the front ends thereof arrive at the groove of this core body. The device is so formed that the coated optical fiber ribbons 9 delivered continuously are introduced in these guide pipes 8 and are dropped into the groove of the core body 7. An assembling die 10 is arranged at the dropping center of the coated optical fiber ribbons 9. Further, a vacuum pump 13 is connected via a hose 12 to a branching part 11 near the front ends of the guide pipes 8 so that the air in the guide pipes 8 is sucked from the introducing side end of the coated fibers toward the dropping side ends.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dropping and assembling apparatus for an optical fiber core wire, and in order to obtain an optical fiber cable which is particularly resistant to bending, the optical fiber core wire is provided with a surplus length to form a groove in the core. The present invention relates to a device that is dropped and assembled.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as an optical fiber cable for wiring, a so-called spacer type optical fiber cable in which an optical fiber which is weak against lateral pressure is protected by a core (spacer) has attracted attention. This is to accommodate an optical fiber core wire such as an optical fiber tape core wire in the groove of a long core body provided with a plurality of grooves on the outer periphery in the S twist, Z twist, SZ twist, etc. It has a structure in which a press-wrap is applied to the outer circumference of a body and an outer cover made of plastic or the like is further provided on the press-wrap.

In such a spacer type optical fiber cable, it is necessary for the optical fiber core wire to have an extra length. That is, the laid optical fiber cable is subjected to various influences such as work load during laying, changes in temperature, bending due to its own weight in aerial laying, wind pressure, etc. from the outside world, and tensile load and compressive load act. Therefore, in order to prevent such a load from acting on the optical fiber as it is and to prevent the deterioration of transmission characteristics, it is necessary to give the optical fiber core wire an extra length of about 0.3% with respect to the groove length of the core. ing.

Various methods have heretofore been used as a method of giving an extra length to an optical fiber core wire.

The first method is to increase the back tension of the core feeding part and apply a take-up tension larger than this tension to wind up the core. In this method, a large effective tension acts on the delivered core, and this tension causes elastic deformation of the core and elongation. Then, after the optical fiber core wire is dropped and stored in the groove of the core body in the axially extended state as described above, the tension is released, so that the core body expanded by elastic deformation contracts to the original length. As a result, an extra length is generated in the optical fiber core wire housed in the groove of the core body.

The second method is the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-235850, etc., and as shown in FIG.
The twisting portion 5 of the core is provided between the drop-in portion 3 and the winding portion 4 of the optical fiber core 2 to the core, and the rotation speed of this twisting portion 5 is slightly smaller than the rotation speed of the core sending portion 6. In this method, the twisting is applied to the core body 1 between the sending section 6 and the twisting section 5 to cause an extra length in the optical fiber core wire 2 which is dropped into the groove and accommodated. .

[0007]

However, such a conventional assembling method requires a complicated and large-sized device such as a twisting device, is not only difficult to control, and requires a high equipment cost. There is a problem that the cost of the optical fiber cable becomes high.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and an extra length is produced in an optical fiber core wire by using a simple and inexpensive device, and an optical fiber having excellent transmission characteristics and high reliability. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber core drop assembling device for obtaining a cable.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An optical fiber core drop assembling apparatus according to the present invention comprises a guide pipe for guiding and continuously dropping an optical fiber core wire into a groove of a core body. It is characterized in that a mechanism is provided for generating an airflow flowing from the end portion on the introduction side of the wire toward the end portion on the drop side.

[0010]

In the optical fiber core drop assembling apparatus of the present invention, a suction mechanism such as a vacuum pump is connected to the guide pipe for guiding and dropping the optical fiber core wire into the groove of the core body. An air flow is generated in the guide pipe from the end on the introduction side of the optical fiber core toward the end on the drop side. Therefore, the optical fiber core wire that passes through the guide pipe and is dropped into the groove of the core body is slightly accelerated by the flow of air in the guide pipe, and the original delivery speed synchronized with the delivery speed of the core body is achieved. It is dropped into the groove at a speed slightly higher than the speed. In this way, an appropriate extra length is added to the optical fiber core wire, and a highly reliable optical fiber cable without deterioration of transmission characteristics due to bending or the like can be obtained.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an embodiment of the optical fiber core drop-in and aggregate device of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 7 indicates a long core having a plurality of grooves formed on its outer circumference, which is fed by a feeding device (not shown) and continuously runs. A plurality of guide pipes 8 are provided on the traveling path of the core body 7.
Are inclined with respect to the traveling direction of the core body 7, and the distal end portions are arranged so as to reach the grooves of the core body 7. And
An optical fiber tape core wire 9 continuously fed from a core wire sending device (not shown) is guided through the inside of the guide pipe 8 and dropped into the groove of the core body 7 at a predetermined incident angle. It is supposed to be. Further, a collective die 10 is arranged at the center position of the drop of the optical fiber tape core wire 9 as described above. Further, the guide pipe 8 is branched in the vicinity of the tip portion (end portion on the core wire dropping side in contact with the groove of the core body 7), and the branch portion 11 has a flexible hose 1
A vacuum pump 13 is connected via 2.

In the drop assembling apparatus of this embodiment, when the vacuum pump 13 is started at the same time when the core body 7 and the optical fiber tape core wire 9 are sent from the respective sending devices, the guide pipe 8 is caused by the vacuum pump 13. The air inside is sucked from the end portion on the introduction side of the optical fiber ribbon 9 toward the end portion on the core drop-in side, and an air flow (indicated by arrow a) in this direction is generated. Then, the optical fiber tape core wire 9 passing through the guide pipe 8 and dropped into the groove of the core body 7 is drawn into this air flow to be slightly accelerated, and is synchronized with the delivery speed of the core body 7. It is dropped into the groove at a speed slightly higher than the original delivery speed. In this way, an appropriate extra length is given to the optical fiber tape core wire 9,
Bending resistant and reliable fiber optic cables are produced.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the drop collecting device shown in FIG.
An air suction hole 14 is provided in the assembly die 10 arranged at the center of the drop-in position, the air suction hole 14 penetrating in the radial direction from the outer peripheral portion to the central core insertion portion 10a. It is connected to the vacuum pump 13. In addition, the inner peripheral side end of the air suction hole 14 has the core body insertion portion 1
0a is opened at a position close to the core body introduction side end,
The air inside the guide pipe 8 is sucked by the vacuum pump 13 from the end portion on the introduction side of the optical fiber tape core wire 9 toward the end portion on the drop side, and the core body 7 into which the optical fiber tape core wire 9 is further dropped. After passing through the void in the groove, the air is sucked through the air suction holes 14 of the assembly die 10.

In the drop assembling apparatus according to this embodiment, the air in the guide pipe 8 is sucked in the running direction of the optical fiber tape core wire 9 and, after passing through the void in the groove of the core body 7, the air is collected. Since it is designed to be sucked through the air suction hole 14 of the die 10, the optical fiber tape core wire 9 passing through the guide pipe 8 is drawn into the air flow in the guide pipe 8 and slightly accelerated. Is dropped into the groove of the core body 7. Therefore, the optical fiber ribbon 9 is stored in the groove with an extra length.

In the above apparatus, the air in the guide pipe 8 is sucked by the vacuum pump 13 after passing through the gap in the groove of the core body 7 into which the optical fiber ribbon 9 is dropped. The optical fiber tape core wire 9 once dropped and stored in the groove 7 is lifted by the flow of air by suction because it is suppressed from above by the assembly die 10 and the core wire itself has rigidity. It is stored well without such a problem.

By the way, when the ambient air is forcibly sucked by the vacuum pump 13, there is a possibility that dust and the like in the surroundings are mixed. Therefore, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the air injection nozzle 16 connected to the air ion generator 15 is arranged outside the end portion of the guide pipe 8 on the core wire introduction side. Air containing 17
However, air is blown into the guide pipe 8 from the end portion on the core wire introduction side.

In this embodiment, air 17 containing ions is added to the air which is forcibly taken into the guide pipe 8 by suction of the vacuum pump 13 and flows in the guide pipe 8 toward the end portion on the core wire drop side. Since it is sprayed, the charge is neutralized by the ions, and the mixing of dust due to static electricity is prevented. In addition, the air containing this ion 17
Is also sprayed onto the optical fiber tape core wire 9 fed into the guide pipe 8, so that the optical fiber tape core wire 9
Static electricity that has been charged to is also removed, and dust is prevented from mixing in. Therefore, it is possible to prevent dust from entering the groove or the like of the core body 7, prevent deterioration of characteristics, and obtain a highly reliable optical fiber cable.

In each of the embodiments described above, the suction mechanism is provided on the downstream side of the guide pipe 8 to generate the air flow in the guide pipe 8.
A mechanism for generating an air flow may be provided on the upstream side of the optical fiber ribbon to drop the optical fiber ribbon 9 into the groove.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, an optical fiber having an extra length can be dropped and assembled into the groove of the core, and the optical fiber has excellent transmission characteristics and high reliability. Fiber cables can be manufactured using simple and inexpensive equipment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an embodiment of an optical fiber core drop-in and aggregate device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of a conventional method of giving an extra length to an optical fiber core wire and assembling it.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 ………… Core body 8 ………… Guide pipe 9 ………… Optical fiber tape core wire 10 ………… Assembling die 11 ………… Branching part 13 ………… Vacuum pump 14 ………… Air suction hole 15 ………… Ion generator 17 ... Air containing ions

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber core dropping and assembling apparatus comprising a guide pipe for guiding and continuously dropping an optical fiber core wire into a groove of a core body, wherein the guide pipe has the optical fiber core wire. An optical fiber core drop-in and-out device, comprising a mechanism for generating an airflow flowing from the introduction side end toward the drop side end. 2. The dropping and assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism for generating the air flow is a suction mechanism. 3. The optical fiber core according to claim 2, wherein the guide pipe is branched in the vicinity of a drop-side end of the optical fiber core, and the suction mechanism is connected to the branch. Line drop assembly device. 4. An assembly die is provided in a drop-in portion of the optical fiber core wire, a suction hole penetrating in a radial direction is provided in the assembly die, and the suction mechanism is connected to the suction hole. The drop fiber assembling device for an optical fiber according to claim 2. 5. An optical fiber core drop according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a spraying mechanism for spraying ions is arranged in the vicinity of the path where the air flow is generated. Collecting device.