JPH11125753A - Annular identification code of optical fiber or the like and formation of this identification code - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease the errors in branching work of optical fibers by erroneous identification and to drastically expand an identifiable range by facilitating the visual identification between the many optical fibers. SOLUTION: The optical fiber F is printed with plural coloring rings varying in colors from the sheath color of the fiber and is provided with coloring ring groups G consisting of the plural coloring rings at specified intervals B in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber F. The coloring ring groups G are the assemblies arranged with two pieces of the same coloring rings symmetrically with the center thereof. The annular identification codes for the optical fibers, etc., are obtd. by forming the combinations of the colors of the respective coloring rings of the coloring ring groups G as identification codes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber or an optical fiber cord provided with an identification code (marking). It is easy to visually distinguish between a large number of optical fiber wires in an optical cable such as a collective cable, etc. The range can be significantly expanded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a branching operation of a private optical fiber communication line, it is necessary to sequentially branch and connect an infinite number of optical fiber wires while identifying them. Conventionally, for this identification, the blue, yellow, green, red, purple,
White, peach, brown, ash, water, orange, and black ”are colored and colored, and these are used as marks or codes for identifying each optical fiber. However, these colors are due to discoloration of the coating layer of the optical fiber or poor lighting.
It may be difficult to distinguish between blue and light blue, red and brown, etc.
When 12 or more types of identification are required, the number of colors has to be further increased. However, the number of colors becomes more difficult to identify. The main reason for coloring the coating of the optical fiber and identifying the same by this color coding is
The fiber diameter of the optical fiber is extremely thin, 250 μm, and the running speed of the optical fiber in the production line is extremely high, which makes it impossible to print characters and symbols on the surface of the optical fiber. It was supposed to be. In some cases, a code based on a combination of a plurality of color-coded bar lines is printed on an optical fiber (not known). If the direction is wrong, the code will be misread, and since the bare optical fiber is extremely thin, the bar printed on its surface is also very fine, so it is easy to color-code the bar and identify the combination. In addition, since the bar wire can only be read from one direction, the identification code such as when the optical fiber is exposed by cutting the optical cable or the printed surface is on the opposite side, etc. Reading may be inconvenient.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in order to cope with the increase in the number of optical fiber strands to be identified due to the increase in the number of optical cables and the speed of drawing the optical fiber, For the purpose of being able to respond to high-speed and to be able to identify accurately, a large number of optical fiber strands are combined regardless of the left and right directions, regardless of the front and back, by combining coloring for identification, It is an object of the present invention to devise a code that can reliably identify a code and can be printed on an ultrafine optical fiber.

[0004]

Means for solving the problems The means for solving the above problems are constituted by the following elements (a) to (c). (A) A plurality of colored rings having different colors from the wire sheath color are printed on the optical fiber, and a colored ring group including the plurality of colored rings is provided at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber. (B) the colored ring group is an aggregate in which two identical colored rings are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center thereof; (c) identifying the color combination of each colored ring of the colored ring group The sign was used. The method of forming the above-mentioned colored ring group is to print a first colored layer having a certain width different from the color of the element wire and leave the both ends of the first colored layer equal in width to a narrower width than the first colored layer. The second colored layer is printed, and the third colored layer is printed on the second colored layer in the same manner to form a plurality of colored layers.

[0005]

[Function] Since the coloring for identification is a ring extending over the entire circumference of the optical fiber, it is possible to form the coloring into a width that does not hinder the identification irrespective of the thickness of the optical fiber. Also, since the colored ring is formed on the entire circumference of the optical fiber, there is no front and back when reading the identification code, and it can be easily read from any direction. Regarding the method of forming the colored ring group The first layer, the second layer, the third layer,...
Each end of the layer, the third layer,... Is left in a ring shape, whereby a large number of colored ring groups can be easily formed. Regarding the printing of the colored layers in an overlapping manner, by matching the center lines in the left-right width direction of each layer, the widths of the colored rings formed on the left and right are equal, and two identical colored rings are symmetrical with respect to the center of the colored group. Will be placed. Note that it is not necessary to form a colored ring group by superimposing a large number of colored layers while leaving both ends of each colored layer exactly strictly, and it is sufficient to form each colored layer as long as both ends remain within a range that does not interfere with identification. Since the number of identification codes can be the same as the number of combinations of the number of coloring rings described above, for example, 80 kinds of optical fiber wires can be assigned identification codes by combining five coloring rings. The above-mentioned "optical fiber" is formed by assembling a large number of these to form an optical fiber tape or an optical fiber cable. The same applies to the case where the optical fiber cable is formed by assembling the optical fiber cables. Therefore, the above-mentioned “optical fiber strand” includes the above-mentioned optical fiber cord.

[0006]

[Embodiment] Next, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an optical fiber having a wire diameter of 250 μm is
This is an example in which a colored ring group of a combination of colored colored rings is formed. The color of the jacket C of the optical fiber F is yellow, the first colored ring layer 1 is blue, the second colored ring layer 2 is green, the third colored ring layer 3 is red, Thus, the number of combinations of three colors, that is, twelve identification codes can be assigned. The width of the left and right first coloring layers 1 is 12 mm, the width of the second coloring layers 2 is 8 mm,
The width of the colored layer 3 is 4 mm, and a pair of colored rings 1 formed on the left and right as a result of superposing the second layer on the first layer and coloring.
The widths of a, 1a and the second colored rings 2a, 2a are each 2 mm. The pitch of the colored ring group G is 10 mm
The appropriate length is about 20 mm, but the length of the exposed optical fiber when the cable is indexed and the optical fiber is drawn out and connected to the connector is generally 25 m.
Since the distance is about m, the interval B between the colored ring groups G may be selected so that at least one colored ring group G is exposed. As is apparent from this embodiment, the arrangement of the colored ring layers 1, 2, and 3 is the same when viewed from the right or left of the optical fiber. Colored rings 1, 2,
Since the three layers are formed in a ring shape on the entire circumference of the optical fiber strand F, it can be easily and accurately read from any direction without distinction between the front and back of the optical fiber strand. The first colored layer 1 is printed with a width of 12 mm by passing a number of print nozzles through an annular print head having an annular arrangement.
Further, the second colored layer 2 is printed thereon with a width of 8 mm, and the third colored layer 3 is further printed thereon with a width of 4 mm. When the three layers are printed in the same step, the first color ring-shaped print head, the second color ring-shaped print head, and the third color ring-shaped print head are sequentially used. Printing may be performed, in which case the printing start timing and printing width of each print head may be controlled. The printing timing of each colored ring is determined by detecting the running speed of the optical fiber and adjusting the printing start timing by each print head based on this to control printing so that printing is performed at a fixed interval and a fixed printing width. This makes it possible to precisely control the degree of overlap between the colored layers as described above.

[0007]

[Effect] Since the identification code is a combination of many colored ring layers of different colors, it can be clearly printed on the optical fiber by a dot printer or an ink jet printer, and the coating of the optical fiber becomes discolored. Also,
These codes can be easily and accurately identified visually even in an environment with insufficient lighting. In addition, by increasing the number of colored ring layers forming the colored ring group (for example, 5 to 6), the number of optical fiber strands that can be identified can be dramatically increased. Further, since the element of the identification code is a colored ring, this code is printed on the entire circumference of the optical fiber, and this can be easily and accurately identified in any direction. In addition, this printing can be performed at high speed by dot printer, inkjet printer,
In addition, the printing is not distorted, and the identification code can be clearly attached. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently cope with an increase in the drawing speed of the optical fiber. Further, since numbers and characters are not printed, the mechanism, structure, and control of the print head are simple, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.
Further, as described above, the coloring rings of the first layer, the second layer, and the third layer can be formed by overprinting, and thus need not necessarily be performed in the same process. Therefore, the primary coating and the secondary coating of the optical fiber are performed. It is also possible to print each colored ring separately in each step such as code coating. Also,
In the case where a plurality of optical fiber strands are covered with one code, an appropriate coloring ring is printed on the cord covering so that the cords can be identified in addition to the optical fiber strands. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... 1st coloring layer (1st coloring ring layer) 2 ... 2nd coloring layer (2nd coloring ring layer) 3 ... 3rd coloring layer (3rd coloring ring layer) 1a: first colored ring 2a: second colored ring F: optical fiber wire G: colored ring group B: interval between colored ring groups G

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Suehiro Miyamoto 1440, Misaki, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture Inside Fujikura Sakura Plant (72) Inventor Yoshitaka Enomoto 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Telephone Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] A plurality of colored rings having different colors from the wire sheath color are printed on an optical fiber, and a colored ring group including the plurality of colored rings is formed at regular intervals in a longitudinal direction of the optical fiber. The colored ring group is an aggregate in which two identical colored rings are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center thereof, and a color combination of each colored ring of the colored ring group is used as an identification code. Ring-shaped identification code for optical fiber strand etc. 2. An optical fiber or an optical fiber cord provided with the ring-shaped identification code according to claim 1. 3. A first colored layer having a fixed width different from the color of the wire and printed, and a second colored layer having a width smaller than that of the first colored layer and leaving both ends of the first colored layer equal. A method of forming a colored ring group of an identification code, in which a layer is printed, a third colored layer is printed on the second colored layer in the same manner, and a large number of colored layers are formed.