JPH10282380A - Manufacture of spacer type optical fiber cable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the biting of both grooves in a spacer neighboring each other, when wound on a reel, by inserting a string material in the groove or applying a blocking mateal on the opening of the groove to be wound on the reel to store an optical coated fiber in the grove while removing the string mateal or the blocking material. SOLUTION: A spacer 5 molded is cooled in a water tank 3 and then a string material 4 delivered from a supply reel 4a is inserted into a groove in the spacer 5, withdrawn by a withdrawing machine 6 and wound on a reel 7 (A). The string material 4 is first removed from the spacer 5 supplied from the reel 7 and wound on the reel 4b. A optical coated fiber 8 delivered form a reel 8a is inserted into the groove in the spacer 5, withdrawn by a withdrawing machine 9 and wound on a winding reel 10 (B). For the string mistral 4, a plastic including a foamed or non-formed polyethylene, large enough to easily insert in the groove is used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical fiber cable in which an optical fiber is accommodated in a groove of a spacer having a groove.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of optical fiber cables using a spacer having a groove are known. FIG.
Is a cross-sectional view of a typical spacer. FIG. 3A shows a spacer 18 formed by extruding a plastic such as polyethylene having a plurality of grooves 18a around a tensile cord 16 made of a steel wire, a steel stranded wire, FRP, or the like. It is provided in a helically rotating manner around a longitudinal axis. It should be noted that the helical rotation direction is one in which the rotation direction does not change in the longitudinal direction, and the rotation direction is alternately reversed.
There is a type called a Z type.

[0003] The optical fiber core wires accommodated in the grooves of the spacers are a single core wire in which a glass fiber is provided with a plurality of coatings, and a plurality of glass fibers are coated with an ultraviolet curable resin and arranged in parallel. There are various types such as a tape-shaped core wire that is collectively coated with an ultraviolet curable resin, or a laminated body in which a plurality of tape-shaped core wires are stacked. In some cases, when the optical fiber core is accommodated in the groove, the space in the groove is filled with a jelly-like mixture.

FIG. 3B shows a spacer 19 formed by extruding a plastic such as polyethylene so as to have a plurality of tensile wires 19b made of steel wires arranged in parallel and having one groove 19a in the longitudinal direction. The groove 19a may be formed spirally in the longitudinal direction or may be formed linearly. A unit in which a laminated body of tape-shaped optical fiber cores is accommodated in this groove is used as a unit, and a plurality of units are twisted around a large-diameter tensile core to form a multi-core optical fiber cable. .

FIG. 3C shows a plurality of spiral grooves 20a.
Spacer 2 made of metal such as aluminum having
Indicates 0. When the metal spacer is formed of a soft metal such as aluminum, it is usually formed by supplying a wire such as aluminum and deforming it with a device called a cone foam. Also, one or more heat-resistant coated optical fiber cores are accommodated in the groove 20a of the spacer 20 made of metal, and the outside is coated with aluminum to further form a wire that becomes an electric conductor. Twisted around it and used as an imaginary ground wire.

[0006]

A spacer for accommodating these optical fiber cores is usually formed by an extruder or a molding machine and wound on a reel, and is used in a process for accommodating the next optical fiber core. Sent. Winding the spacer onto the reel is performed in the same manner as winding the coated cable onto the reel, so that the spacer is wound in an aligned state. When the width of the groove is smaller than the outer diameter of the spacer, the upper and lower or left and right spacer grooves do not bite when wound in an aligned state, but the width of the groove is equal to the outer diameter of the spacer. 4, the spacers 22 wound on the reel 21 as shown in FIG.

[0007] If adjacent spacers bite each other during winding on a reel, aligned winding cannot be performed, and a plurality of layers may be wound at the same location, and winding may not be performed at the end. Also, even if the winding could be managed, if the spacer caught by the grooves is supplied to the device for accommodating the optical fiber core, the spacer is smoothly supplied at that part because it is caught by the grooves. No, a hiccup state occurs. Therefore, in a remarkable case, problems such as falling down of the side wall portion of the groove, breakage, and twisting of the spacer itself occur.

[0008] In addition, such biting of the groove is more likely to occur as the groove is spiral and the width of the groove is larger, and it is more likely to occur in the case of an alternately inverted spiral SZ type. Further, in the case of a single-groove type, the groove width is large compared to the outer diameter of the spacer, so that the groove is easily entangled, and the side wall of the groove is thin, so that it is easily damaged. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a manufacturing method in which adjacent grooves of a spacer are not caught when wound on a reel.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a string-like object is inserted into a groove while forming a spacer having a groove for accommodating an optical fiber core, or a closed object is placed on an opening of the groove. Then, the optical fiber core wire is housed in the groove while taking out the spacer from the reel and removing the string-like object or the closing object from the reel.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a process of the present invention. FIG. 1A shows a process of manufacturing a spacer.
(B) shows the step of accommodating the optical fiber in the groove of the spacer. First, in a spacer manufacturing process, the tensile cord 1 fed from the supply reel 1a is guided to an extruder 2, and a plastic having a groove on the tensile cord 1 is extruded by the extruder 2, and the spacer 5 is formed. Is made. The formed spacer 5 is cooled in the water tank 3, and then the string-like object 4 fed from the supply reel 4 a is inserted into the groove of the spacer 5, taken up by the take-up machine 6, and taken up on the reel 7.

If the groove formed in the spacer 5 is spiral, a rotary crosshead is attached to the extruder 2 and
A method of extruding while forming a spiral groove, and an extruder 2
Is a fixed type, and there is a method of extruding while rotating the tensile cord 1 and the take-up machine 6 around the axis. In the former case, the supply of the string-like object 4 is performed by attaching the supply reel 4a of the string-like object 4 to the rotating cage that rotates around the axis and supplying the string-like object 4 in accordance with the rotation of the spiral groove. Insert In the latter case, since the spiral groove is always located at the same position at the insertion point of the string-shaped object 4, the string-shaped object 4 is supplied to the supply reel 4a mounted on a fixed stand.
It may be supplied from.

When the groove formed in the spacer 5 is linear in the longitudinal direction, the supply reel 1a of the tensile cord 1, the reel 7 for winding the spacer 5, the take-up machine 6, the extruder 2
All of the crossheads are of a fixed type, and the position where the string-like object 4 is inserted is also fixed, so that the supply reel 4a of the string-like object 4 can also be of the fixed type.

Next, the step of inserting the optical fiber core 8 into the groove of the spacer 5 will be described with reference to FIG. Reel 7
First, the string-shaped object 4 is removed from the spacer 5 supplied from, and wound around the reel 4b. When the string-shaped object 4 cannot be reused, it is also possible to cut it into an appropriate length without winding it around the reel 4b and store it in a box or the like. Next, the optical fiber 8 fed from the reel 8 a is inserted into the groove of the spacer 5, pulled by the take-up machine 9, and taken up on the take-up reel 10. Also in this case, in the case of a spiral groove, the reel 7 and the take-up reel 10 are rotated around the axis, and the reel 4b for winding the cord-like object 4 and the reel for supplying the optical fiber core 8 are provided. 8a, a method using a fixed type device, a method in which the reel 7 and the take-up reel 10 are set on a fixed type stand, and the reel 4b of the string-shaped object 4 and the reel 8a of the optical fiber core 8 are set in a rotating cage. There is a method of rotating around an axis.

The string-shaped object 4 may be made of plastic such as foamed or non-foamed polyethylene having a size that can be easily inserted into the groove. If the size is 75% or more of the sectional area of the groove, the groove can be sufficiently prevented from being caught. If a string-shaped object 13 having a height higher than the depth of the groove is used, even if the spacer 5 has one groove 12 as shown in FIG. Can be prevented from directly hitting the leading end of the spacer, thereby improving the effect of preventing the spacer from being damaged.

The string-like objects 4 and 13 are provided in the grooves of the spacer.
Instead of inserting the groove, a method of closing the opening of the groove can also be adopted. As a method of closing the opening of the groove, as shown in FIG. 5A, the groove 12 of the spacer 5 made of plastic or the like is used.
5B, or a method of providing an obstruction object 15 made of a coarsely wound tape or fiber around the spacer 5 so as to cross the groove 17 as shown in FIG. 5B. is there.

In the case where the closing object 14 is a tape, if an adhesive is applied to the tape so as not to be transferred to the spacer 5 side, it is possible to more reliably cover the opening so as to cover the opening. Also, no adhesive remains on the spacer 5.
Further, when the closing object 15 is coarsely wound, the opening of the groove is not completely closed, but if the pitch is made small to some extent, it is possible to prevent the groove of the adjacent spacer from biting when wound on a reel. The purpose can be sufficiently achieved.

[0017]

According to the present invention, when forming the spacer, a string-like object is inserted into the groove of the spacer, or the opening of the groove of the spacer is covered with a tape or a coarsely wound closing object. In addition, when the spacer is wound on a reel, vertically adjacent or left and right adjacent grooves do not bite, and the problem that the side wall of the groove is damaged or falls down is solved. Further, the method of the present invention can be applied irrespective of the material of the spacer and irrespective of the number of grooves formed in the spacer or the difference between the spiral direction and the linear direction of the groove.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a process of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A shows a process of manufacturing a spacer, and FIG. 1B shows a process of accommodating an optical fiber core in the spacer.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a spacer according to the present invention, showing an example in which a string-like object is inserted into a groove.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are explanatory views of various examples of spacers. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a spacer is wound around a reel in a manufacturing method according to a conventional technique.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views of a spacer according to the present invention, each showing an example in which a closing object is provided on an opening of a groove.

[Description of Signs] 1: Tensile core wire 1a: Supply reel 2: Extruder 3: Water tank 4: String-shaped object 4a: Supply reel 5: Spacer 6, 9: Take-up machine 4b, 7, 8a: Reel 8: Optical fiber core wire 10: Take-up reel 11, 16: Tensile core wire 12, 17: Groove 13: String-like object 14: Closed object (tape) 15: Closed object (coarse winding) 18, 19, 20: Spacer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method of forming a spacer having a groove for accommodating a core of an optical fiber, inserting a string-like object into the groove, or applying a closing object on an opening of the groove, and winding the reel. And a step of feeding the spacer from the reel to remove a cord-like object or an obstruction object and housing an optical fiber core in the groove. 2. The string-shaped object is a plastic string having a height greater than a depth of the groove.
3. The method for producing a spacer type optical fiber cable according to item 1. 3. The method for manufacturing a spacer type optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein the closing object is a paper or a plastic tape along the opening of the groove. 4. The method for manufacturing a spacer type optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein the closing object is a coarse winding wound on the spacer so as to cross the longitudinal opening of the groove.