JPH10104441A - Connector built-in optical cable and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform wiring to a new user in a short time and reduce operation in an operation site as much as possible by giving a marker which indicates the position of a built-in optical connector to an optical cable armor part. SOLUTION: Coated optical fibers 2 in an optical cable 1 are provided with optical connector 3 at specific intervals, and the marker 5 is given to the cable armor 4 at the position where the optical connectors 3 are present. Oily paint may be used at the time of the manufacture or an armor plastic material which is changed in color may be used at this part. In this case, when the armor is provided, the marker 5 is given at the position while the position of the connectors 3 built in the optical cable 1 is detected, so that the optical cable 1 can easily be obtained. Preferably, the position of the optical connectors 3 is detected before an armor forming process, the armor 4 is formed, and the marker 5 is given.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber cable used in the field of optical communication, the field of optical LAN, and the like, and a method of manufacturing the same.

When laying an optical fiber from a telephone station to a building or the like, which is a communication user, an optical fiber core is usually branched from an optical cable that has been passed through. This branch is called a connection. In this connection portion, the sheath of the optical cable is peeled off, so-called pull-down connection is performed. In the case of drop-down connection from an overhead cable, a closure is installed near the utility pole, and a part of the optical fiber core is taken out at the connection part in this.
If the cable is laid underground, a connecting part will be provided in the manhole. The same applies when branching is performed from the optical LAN wiring arranged in the building.

[0003] Of these, branching at an imaginary part will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG.
FIG. 10 (b) shows the optical cable 1 passed through
As shown in (1), an aerial closure 12 is attached to a portion near the power pole 11 of the optical cable 1, and the cable jacket is peeled off at this portion to expose the optical fiber core 2. closure
Reference numeral 12 denotes a housing for housing and protecting the connection unit. Next, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), the connection portion 13 pulls down and connects to the cable 14. Depending on the system, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the transmission device 15 may be interposed. In the case shown in FIG. 10D, the optical fiber is connected outside or inside the transmission device.

[0004] The connection of an optical fiber takes a long time in itself and has a difficulty that the operation must be performed so as not to affect the optical fiber core already used. If the new demand of the user is clear in advance, such a difficult problem can be avoided by wiring in advance from the beginning. However, in reality, new demands are often not clear, and simplification of connection at the connection section is desired.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber cable capable of performing wiring to a new user who has a new demand in a short time and minimizing work at a work site. And a method for manufacturing the same.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an optical cable by assembling optical fiber cords having optical connector connecting portions at predetermined intervals, forming a sheath, and forming an optical cable. An optical cable with a built-in connector, characterized in that a marker indicating the position of the built-in optical connector is added to the portion.

The method of manufacturing an optical cable with a built-in connector according to the present invention comprises the steps of: detecting the position of the connector built into the optical cable; and providing the built-in connector at the portion corresponding to the detected position of the connector. The method includes a step of providing a marker indicating a position.

When the optical cable of the present invention is laid,
When a new user's demand arises and it is necessary to make a drop-down connection from the passed optical cable, remove the optical cable jacket at the position of the marker indicating the position of the built-in optical connector and take out the optical connector , Disconnect the connector and replace it with a cable. As described above, since the position of the connector connection portion can be easily known, wiring to a new user can be completed in a short time. In particular, if a connector is attached to the cable to be dropped in advance, the operation can be completed simply and easily.

[0009] Such a connection is usually made at a telephone pole, a manhole or a cable duct of a building, or a cabinet on each floor of a building. Therefore, if the position of the marker of the optical cable with a built-in connector is set to a utility pole interval, a manhole interval, a floor interval, a room interval, or the like according to the cable to be used, it is easy to use. Also, if these intervals are set to integral multiples of the greatest common divisor, they can be commonly used.

In addition, as a method of manufacturing such an optical cable with a built-in connector, when the position of the connector built into the cable is detected and a marker is attached to the position when the sheath is applied, the present invention can be easily achieved. Optical cable can be obtained. At this time, it is preferable that the detection of the position of the connector is performed before the outer covering step, the outer cover is subsequently applied, and the marker is further applied, and the time between the detection of the position of the connector and the application of the marker is preferably set. By setting according to the cable manufacturing speed, a marker can be provided at an accurate position.

[0011]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of an optical cable according to the present invention. In the optical cable with a built-in connector of the present invention, optical connectors 3 are provided at predetermined intervals on an optical fiber core wire 2 included in the optical cable 1, and a marker 5 is provided on the cable jacket 4 at the position where the optical connector 3 is located. Have been. As the marker, an oil-based paint such as paint may be applied at the time of manufacture, or an outer plastic material having a different color may be used for this portion.

FIG. 2 is a view showing another example of the optical cable according to the present invention. 2 (a) is a sectional view, and FIG. 2 (b) is a side view, wherein 2 is a tape-type optical fiber core, 6 is a steel core, and 7 is a slot for accommodating the core 2. FIG. In this example, the marker 5 is formed by slightly increasing the outer diameter of the cable. Also,
Conversely, the marker 5 may be formed by making the cable outer diameter slightly smaller.

The connector 3 used in the optical cable of the present invention may be a multi-core optical connector such as an MT connector or a single-core connector such as an SC connector. The outer diameter of these connector portions is slightly larger than that of the core wire, so that the core wire can be accommodated in the slot 7 of the cable regardless of where the connector is provided.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a self-supporting optical cable according to the present invention. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 3B is a side view, which has a structure in which the cable main body 10 is supported by the support wires 8. Reference numeral 9 denotes a neck connecting the cable body 10 and the support wire 8. This example is an example in which a marker 5 is provided on a cable main body 10. FIG. 4 shows an example in which a marker 5 is provided on a portion of a support line 8 of a self-supporting optical cable, and FIG. 5 shows an example in which a marker 5 is provided on a neck 8 of a self-supporting optical cable.

Next, a method for manufacturing an optical cable with a built-in connector according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a first example, in which 21 is an arrow indicating the direction in which the cable being manufactured advances,
Denotes a core wire assembling step, 23 denotes a jacket covering step, 24 denotes a marker coating step, 25 denotes a connector detection unit, and 26 denotes a control signal.

The optical fiber core with connector 2 can be easily obtained by attaching optical connectors to both ends of an optical fiber having a predetermined length and sequentially connecting a predetermined number of the optical connectors. This optical connector connection portion can usually be detected by a change in shape, color, light reflectance, and the like as compared with the optical fiber core portion. For example, when detecting a change in the shape, the change can be detected by a contact method or by a non-contact method using image processing or the like. When a change in color is used, it can be detected in a non-contact manner by simply using an optical filter or the like. When the change in reflectance is used, it can be detected in a non-contact manner by simple optical power detection.

The optical connector connection is detected by any of these means, and the time at which the connector position reaches the marker coating step 24 can be calculated from the detection time and the cable traveling speed, and the control signal 26 based on the detection signal can be used to calculate the marker coating step. At 24 the marker is applied.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a second example of the method for manufacturing an optical cable with a built-in connector according to the present invention, in which the marker 5 is changed by changing the color of the cable jacket material itself or by changing the outer diameter of the cable jacket. It is an example in the case of forming. Since the formation of the marker in these cases is performed in the outer covering step 23, the marker applying step 24 in the first example is unnecessary. The control by the control signal 26 in this case is performed in the same manner as in the first example except that the interval from the detection of the connector position to the formation of the marker is shorter than in the first example.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a third example of the method for manufacturing an optical cable with a built-in connector according to the present invention. In the above example,
Although the connector position is detected after the core wire collecting step 22, the connector position is detected before the core wire collecting step 22 in this example. In other respects, the optical cable with a built-in connector according to the present invention can be manufactured in the same manner as in the above-described example.

FIG. 9 shows a method of using the optical cable with a built-in connector according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9 (a), with respect to the optical cable 1 which has been drawn over the telephone pole 11, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), a marker indicating the position of the optical connector is located near the telephone pole 11 of the optical cable 1. The aerial closure 12 is attached to the provided portion, and the cable jacket is peeled off at this portion to expose the optical fiber core 2 including the optical connector 3. Next, as shown in FIG. 9 (c), the optical connector 3 of the core wire to be dropped is removed, and the optical connector 3 of the pull-down cable 14 is pulled down and connected. This withdrawal cable 14 needs to be a cable with a connector. In some systems, as shown in FIG. 9D, a transmission device 15 may be interposed. Also in the case shown in FIG. 9D, the connection can be easily made by the connector connection.

[0021]

As described above, the optical cable with a built-in connector according to the present invention has a built-in optical connector at a predetermined interval and a marker indicating the position of the built-in optical connector is provided on the exterior of the cable. The connecting portion can be easily identified, and at the time of branching work, by taking out this portion and connecting the connector, wiring to a new user can be completed in a short time. Furthermore, considering the situation when actually used, the position of the optical connector is manufactured according to specific numerical values such as telephone pole interval, manhole interval, floor interval, room interval, etc., or according to an integral multiple of its greatest common divisor. By doing so, the optical cable with a built-in connector according to the present invention has excellent effects, such as an easy-to-use optical cable being obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of an optical cable according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another example of the optical cable according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a self-supporting optical cable according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which a marker is provided at a support wire portion of a self-supporting optical cable.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which a marker is provided on the neck of a self-supporting optical cable.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a method for manufacturing an optical cable according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a second example of the method for manufacturing an optical cable according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a third example of the method for manufacturing an optical cable according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a method of using the optical cable with a built-in connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating branching in a conventional imaginary part.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical cable 2 Optical fiber core 3 Optical connector 4 Cable jacket 5 Marker 6 Steel core 7 Slot 8 Support wire 9 Neck 10 Cable main body 11 Telegraph pole 12 Overhead closure 13 Connection part 14 Drop-down cable 15 Transmission device 21 Transmission cable 21 Arrow indicating the direction of travel 22 core wire gathering step 23 jacketing step 24 marker applying step 25 connector detector 26 control signal

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An optical cable comprising a set of optical fiber cores having optical connector connection portions built therein at predetermined intervals and coated with a sheath to form an optical cable, and a marker indicating the position of the internal optical connector is provided on the optical cable exterior portion. An optical cable with a built-in connector. 2. A method for detecting a position of a connector built in an optical cable, and a step of providing a marker indicating a position of the built-in connector on an optical cable exterior part corresponding to the position where the position of the connector is detected. A method of manufacturing an optical cable with a built-in connector.