JPH0868727A - Optical fiber bending equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an optical fiber equipment for accurately bending an optical fiber with an arbitrary diameter without extremely applying a force to the optical fiber. CONSTITUTION: A circular groove 3 guides an optical fiber 1 in circular shape, a guide groove 4 guides the optical fiber 1 linearly, the circular groove 3 and the guide groove 4 are covered with a lid 2 so that they can be opened and closed freely, the circular groove 3 is provided with a plurality of diameters, and the circular groove with each diameter is formed while it is in contact with the guide groove 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber bender for bending an optical fiber in a loop shape with an arbitrary diameter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When measuring the transmission loss of an optical fiber caused by bending an optical fiber with a small diameter, the optical fiber is bent into a loop shape with an arbitrary diameter and connected to an optical fiber measuring device to perform the measurement. There is. Next, the structure of a general optical fiber bender according to the prior art is shown in FIG.
In FIG. 3, 1 is an optical fiber and 5 is an optical fiber bender.

The optical fiber bender 5 is constructed by stacking cylindrical blocks 5A to 5D whose diameters are intermittently changed.
By winding the optical fiber 1 around each block an arbitrary number of times, the optical fiber is bent into a loop with an arbitrary diameter. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the optical fiber 1 is wound around the block 5C. In this state, the transmission loss of the optical fiber 1 in the bent state is measured by connecting to an optical fiber measuring device (not shown) or the like.

[0004]

In the configuration shown in FIG. 3, the optical fiber 1 is placed in the block of the optical fiber bending device 5 serving as the winding axis.
When the optical fiber 1 is wound around, the optical fiber 1 is loosened due to its expanding characteristic, and it is difficult to maintain the bending with an accurate diameter. In addition, in order to suppress the looseness and wind it around the block 5, there is a problem that an excessive force is applied to the optical fiber. Furthermore, when it is desired to change the winding diameter of the optical fiber intermittently, there is a problem that the configuration becomes large.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber bending device that bends an optical fiber accurately with an arbitrary diameter without applying an undue force to the optical fiber.

[0006]

To achieve this object, the present invention provides an arc groove 3 for guiding the optical fiber 1 in an arc shape and a guide groove 4 for linearly guiding the optical fiber 1.
And a lid 2 that covers the arc groove 3 and the guide groove 4 so that the arc groove 3 and the guide groove 4 can be opened and closed. The arc groove 3 has a plurality of diameters.

[0007]

Next, the construction of the optical fiber bending device according to the present invention is shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, 1 is an optical fiber, 2 is a lid, 3 is an arc groove, and 4 is a guide groove. In FIG. 1, as an example, the circular arc groove 3 is formed with circular arc grooves 3A to 3E having arbitrary diameters, and each circular arc groove 3A to 3E is formed in contact with the guide groove 4. In FIG. 1, the optical fiber 1 is wound from the guide groove 4 along an arbitrary arc groove, and the optical fiber 1 is bent at an arbitrary diameter.

When the optical fiber 1 introduced from the guide groove 4 is inserted into the arc groove 3 having a desired diameter, the bent optical fiber 1 tries to spread, and therefore the optical fiber 1 bends along the outside of the arc groove. In FIG. 1, the optical fiber 1 is shown wound from the guide groove 4 to the circular arc groove 3B. In this way, by accurately forming the diameter of the outer surface of each arcuate groove, the optical fiber 1 can be bent accurately with an arbitrary diameter.
The lid 2 is for preventing the optical fiber 1 from popping out.

Next, a sectional view of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, showing a state in which the guide groove 4 and the arcuate grooves 3A to 3E at equal intervals are formed in the block 3. In FIG. 2, the circular arc groove 3A has the smallest diameter, and the circular arc groove 3E is formed at intervals of, for example, 10 mm. The depth of the arc groove 3 is several times as large as the diameter of the optical fiber 1 so that the optical fiber 1 can be wound several times. In FIG. 2, the optical fiber 1 has a guide groove 4 and an arc groove 3B.
It is wound three times in between. The width of each of the circular arc grooves 3A to 3E is formed to be slightly wider than the thickness of the optical fiber 1.

[0010]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical fiber bender which has a compact structure and can easily and accurately wind an optical fiber with an arbitrary diameter without applying an excessive force. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical fiber bender according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional optical fiber bender.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 optical fiber 2 lid 3 arc groove 4 guide groove 5 optical fiber bender

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An arc groove (3) for guiding an optical fiber (1) in an arc shape, a guide groove (4) for linearly guiding the optical fiber (1), an arc groove (3) and a guide groove ( 4) is provided with a lid (2) that can be opened and closed, the circular arc groove (3) has a plurality of diameters, and the circular arc groove of each diameter is formed in contact with the guide groove (4). Fiber bender.