JPH09132425A - Cleaning treatment of optical fiber preform and cleaning treatment device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning treatment device for an optical fiber preform which executes cleaning of the optical fiber preform with a cleaning rotary brush. SOLUTION: This cleaning treatment device consists of a driving source 1 which is mounted at one end of the optical fiber preform M and rotates the optical fiber preform M, a preform receiving section 3 which is mounted at the other end of the optical fiber preform M and freely rotatably supports the optical fiber preform M, the rotary brush 5 for cleaning which cleans the optical fiber preform M while supplying a washing liquid while maintaining rolling contact with the outside surface of the optical fiber preform M and a traveling mechanism 6 which moves this rotary brush 5 for cleaning in the axial direction of the optical fiber preform M. The optical fiber preform M is simply, easily and rapidly cleaned by this constitution.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for cleaning an optical fiber preform and a cleaning device for the pretreatment of an optical fiber preform during the pretreatment of an optical fiber drawing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the process of drawing an optical fiber preform, dust (dust, etc.) is formed on the outer surface of the optical fiber preform.
It is known that an optical fiber having a low-strength portion can be obtained by drawing a wire while it is attached. The existence of this low-strength portion is considered to be caused by the dust. For this reason, conventionally, dust is removed by flame polishing prior to the drawing process, and thereafter, the dust is stored in clean air such as a clean storage cabinet.

[0003]

However, when the optical fiber preform becomes large in size, it takes a lot of time for the flame polishing, and the workability is unavoidably deteriorated. Further, even in various facilities such as a clean storage cabinet and an air filter, it is necessary to increase the size, and an increase in facility cost cannot be avoided.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional circumstances, and instead of the conventional cleaning by flame polishing,
A cleaning method for an optical fiber preform and a cleaning apparatus therefor, which is based on cleaning the outer surface of the optical fiber preform by using the cleaning rotary brush. Is.

[0005]

One of the present inventions is a method for cleaning an optical fiber preform characterized in that the outer surface of the optical fiber preform is cleaned with a cleaning rotary brush and a cleaning liquid.

Another aspect of the present invention is to install a drive source mounted on one end of the optical fiber preform to rotate the optical fiber preform and an optical fiber preform mounted on the other end of the optical fiber preform. A rotatably supporting base material receiving portion, a cleaning rotary brush for cleaning the optical fiber base material while feeding the cleaning liquid by rolling on the outer surface of the optical fiber base material, A cleaning device for an optical fiber preform characterized by comprising a traveling mechanism for traveling in the axial direction of the fiber preform.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a cleaning apparatus for optical fiber preform according to the present invention. In the figure, M is an optical fiber preform, and 1 is attached to one end (upper end) of the optical fiber preform M supported in a vertical direction (horizontal direction etc.) via a chuck 2 to A driving source 3 such as an electric motor for rotating the fiber preform M is attached to the other end (lower end) of the optical fiber preform M, and the optical fiber preform M can be freely rotated by a rotating means 4 such as a bearing device. The base material receiving portion 5 for supporting the optical fiber base material 5 has a flocked portion made of nylon (trade name) or the like, and rotates on the outer surface of the optical fiber base material M to clean the optical fiber base material M. Is a slider (elevating part) 8 that moves (moves up and down) along a traveling rail member 7 installed in the same direction (longitudinal direction) as the optical fiber preform M, and a support member 9 extended from the slider 8. Through the cleaning rotary brush 5 through the optical fiber Running mechanism for running in the axial direction of the base material M, 10 via the slider 8 for example,
A cleaning liquid supply port 11 for supplying a cleaning liquid such as cleaning water to the cleaning rotary brush 5 is a component that is installed as necessary. The optical fiber preform M, the cleaning rotary brush 5 and the preform receiving portion are provided. 3 and the like are accommodated, and a container portion 12 in which a supporting groove 9 of the cleaning rotary brush 5 travels in a highly airtight state is formed in a part thereof, for example, 12 is provided on the bottom surface of the container portion 11. The cleaning liquid discharge port, 13 is connected to an external medium circulation device system, and a circulation medium supply port for circulating the air in the container portion 11 is provided.

Therefore, with this cleaning device,
In order to remove dust adhering to the outer surface of the optical fiber preform M, first, the other end (lower end) of the optical fiber preform M is set in the preform receiving portion 3, and the chuck 2 is attached to the one end (upper end). Drive source 1 is set via. Next, the cleaning rotary brush 5 is brought into contact with and opposed to one side of the optical fiber preform M. At the time of actual cleaning, the drive source 1 is driven to rotate the optical fiber preform M, while the cleaning rotary brush 5 is rotated, and cleaning liquid such as cleaning water is supplied to the cleaning liquid supply port 10. , The slider 8 is sequentially moved (lowered) along the traveling rail member 7. At this time, if necessary, the air or the like in the container portion 11 is supplied from the circulating medium supply port 13 and exhausted from the circulating medium discharge port 14 to be replaced with clean air or the like.

The optical fiber preform M is rotated by rotating the cleaning rotary brush 5, running downward, and supplying cleaning liquid.
Is cleanly cleaned from one end (upper end) to the other end (lower end). At this time, the dust removed by the cleaning rotary brush 5 is effectively removed outside together with the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid outlet 12 of the container 11. If this is used together with a medium circulation system that circulates air or the like, even if some of the dust is not captured by the cleaning liquid and is scattered, it will be removed by this medium circulation system.

In the above embodiment, the cleaning brush 5 has a disk-shaped flocked portion, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the flocked portion has a tubular (annular) shape. The optical fiber preform M may be passed through the inside. In this case, if the tubular flocked portion is made to run while being rotated, the optical fiber preform side can be left fixedly installed. Further, the supply of the cleaning liquid is not limited to the case where the cleaning liquid is supplied from the cleaning rotary brush 5, and the one end (upper end) to the other end (lower end) of the optical fiber preform M is constantly supplied.
You may make it hang down and supply it. Also,
In the present invention, for example, the drive source 1 and the chuck 2, or the chuck 2 may be configured to be movable up and down so as to be able to cope with the optical fiber preforms M having different lengths.

[0011]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the method of cleaning the optical fiber preform and the cleaning apparatus thereof according to the present invention, the conventional flame polishing is performed by the cleaning rotary brush and the cleaning liquid. Without, it is possible to quickly clean the optical fiber preform. Further, as compared with the conventional flame polishing, an apparatus system such as a flame burner is not required, and a simple apparatus can be used easily, so that the cost of the apparatus itself can be reduced. Further, since the cleaning of the present invention can be carried out easily as described above, in the present invention, the cleaning treatment of the optical fiber preform can be performed each time immediately before the drawing process. Therefore, it is not necessary to store the optical fiber preform cleaned by flame polishing as in the conventional case. Therefore, various facilities such as a clean storage room and an air filter are unnecessary,
From this point, the cost can be reduced. Of course, such cleaning according to the present invention provides a high quality optical fiber in which the presence of low strength parts is significantly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing one embodiment of an optical fiber preform cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Drive Source 2 Chuck 3 Base Material Receiving Section 5 Cleaning Rotating Brush 6 Traveling Mechanism 7 Traveling Rail Member 8 Slider 10 Cleaning Solution Supply Port 11 Container Section 12 Cleaning Solution Discharge Port 13 Circulating Medium Supply Port 14 Circulating Medium Discharging Port M Optical Fiber Preform

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for cleaning an optical fiber preform, which comprises cleaning the outer surface of the optical fiber preform with a cleaning rotary brush and a cleaning liquid. 2. The optical fiber preform is rotated and supported, while the cleaning rotary brush is rotatably brought into contact with the outer surface of the optical fiber preform while the cleaning liquid is supplied and the cleaning rotary brush is A method for cleaning an optical fiber preform, which comprises cleaning the outer surface of the optical fiber preform by traveling in the axial direction of the optical fiber preform. 3. A drive source mounted on one end of the optical fiber base material to rotate the optical fiber base material, and mounted on the other end of the optical fiber base material to rotatably support the optical fiber base material. A base material receiving part, a rotary brush for cleaning which cleans the optical fiber base material while supplying a cleaning liquid by rolling on the outer surface of the optical fiber base material, and the cleaning rotary brush in the axial direction of the optical fiber base material. A cleaning device for an optical fiber preform, comprising: