JPH11183739A - Flexible multicore optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flexible and easily wirable multicore optical fiber composed of any coated optical fibers by fixing only and end part. SOLUTION: In this multicore optical fiber composed of any coated optical fibers, only the end part 3 is fixed. That is, many optical fibers 2 are not fixed to each other except for the end parts 3 and only the end parts 3 are fixed in a tape shape. Thus, it can be bent in all directions. However, the optical fiber 2 unfixed at the middle part lack mechanical strength. Thus, a tube made of rubber or plastic or the like is provided so as to protect the optical fibers 2 not fixed to each other. Thus, the mechanical strength and flexibility are held. Since the multicore optical fiber prepared in such a manner is full of flexibility, wiring is facilitated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-core optical fiber which is easy to handle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional multi-core optical fiber 1, a multi-core optical fiber in which an optical fiber 2 is fixed in a tape shape as shown in FIG. 5 is used (for example, 2-core, 4-core, 8-core). Core tape core wire (Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Sumitomo Electric Co., Ltd.). However, since these tape-shaped optical fibers are bent only in one direction, they have no flexibility and are difficult to handle at the time of wiring.

Recently, there has been reported a method of wiring and laminating an optical fiber (for example,
R. A. Nordin, "Optical Inter
connection Foundations an
d Applications, "Arttech Ho
use, Inc. , P65 (1994) and N.M. Nib
urg et al. , "IEEE Electro
nic Components and Techno
logic Conference, 259 (199
6)). In this case, since inflexible tape optical fibers cannot be wired, various methods for wiring the optical fibers 2 one by one as shown in FIG. 6 are employed.

[0004] In view of the above, there is a need for a multi-core optical fiber that is flexible and can be easily wired.

An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-core optical fiber comprising a large number of optical fibers which are flexible and can be easily wired.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, a flexible multi-core optical fiber according to the present invention comprises:
In a multi-core optical fiber composed of a large number of optical fibers, only the end is fixed.

Further, in a multi-core optical fiber comprising a large number of optical fibers, the optical fiber is fixed in a cylindrical shape.

According to the present invention, only the end portion is fixed or the optical fiber is fixed in a cylindrical shape, whereby a multi-core optical fiber having flexibility and easy wiring can be manufactured.

The difference between the present invention and the prior art is that, in order to produce a multi-core optical fiber having flexibility and which can be easily wired, the end portion is fixed, but a large number of optical fibers other than the end portion are not fixed to each other. There. In addition, a large number of optical fibers are fixed not in a tape shape but in a cylindrical shape.

That is, a tape-shaped optical fiber in which an optical fiber is fixed in a tape shape is used as a conventional multi-core optical fiber. These tape-shaped optical fibers are bent only in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the optical fiber core wires, and have a structure that is hardly bent in the arrangement direction. Therefore, they have no flexibility and are difficult to handle at the time of wiring. However, in the present invention, since only the ends of the plurality of optical fiber cores are aligned and fixed to each other as described above,
The bending direction is free depending on the part that is not fixed. Further, a plurality of optical fiber core wires are arranged in an ugly shape and fixed to each other so that the bending direction can be freely set. Therefore, the multi-core optical fiber can be bent in any direction, has flexibility, and can be easily handled at the time of wiring. Also, when this multi-core optical fiber is used, even in the case of laminating the optical fibers, it is not necessary to wire the optical fibers one by one, and the wiring can be easily performed.

[0011]

Embodiment 1 FIG. 5 shows a conventional four-core tape-shaped optical fiber 1. As shown in the cross-sectional view, the four optical fibers 2 are adhered side by side, and are allowed to bend only in one direction.

FIGS. 1 to 3 are diagrams for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a flexible multi-core optical fiber 1 manufactured in the present invention. In this embodiment, a large number of optical fibers 2 other than the end portion 3 were not fixed to each other, and only the end portion 3 was fixed in a tape shape. This allows bending in any direction. However, the optical fiber 2 that is not fixed at the intermediate portion has insufficient mechanical strength. Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 2, a tube 4 made of rubber or plastic is provided to protect the optical fibers 2 not fixed to each other in FIG. This provided mechanical strength and flexibility.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the optical fibers 2 are fixed in a cylindrical shape. This made it possible to bend in all directions.

Each of these manufactured multi-core optical fibers has high flexibility, so that wiring is easy.

[0015]

Embodiment 2 FIG. 6 shows a method for producing a conventional optical fiber laminate. That is, conventionally, the optical fibers 2 are wired one by one to the laminate substrate 5.

FIG. 4 shows a method using the flexible multi-core optical fiber 1 according to the present invention. Since the multi-core optical fiber 1 according to the present invention can be easily bent, the multi-core optical fiber 1 can be wired as it is.

[0017]

According to the flexible multi-core optical fiber of the present invention, only the end portion is fixed, or the optical fiber is fixed in a cylindrical shape, so that it has flexibility and can be bent in all directions, and can be handled at the time of wiring. There is an advantage that it is easy. With the diversification of information and communication, many multi-core optical fibers have been used.
In the future, the use of flexible multi-core optical fibers that are easy to handle can be expected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view and a sectional view of a distal end portion of an embodiment of a flexible multi-core optical fiber according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a flexible multi-core optical fiber provided with a tube for protecting the optical fibers which are not fixed to each other of the flexible multi-core optical fiber.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of a flexible multi-core optical fiber in which optical fibers are fixed in a cylindrical shape.

FIG. 4 is a diagram in which the flexible multi-core optical fiber of the present invention is applied to an optical fiber laminate.

FIG. 5 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of a conventional four-core tape-shaped optical fiber.

FIG. 6 is a diagram in which a conventional optical fiber is applied to an optical fiber laminate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Multi-core optical fiber 2 Optical fiber 3 Terminal part 4 Tube 5 Substrate for lamination

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shunichi Higashino Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation 3-9-1-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Koji Sato 3-192-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Telephone Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A flexible multi-core optical fiber comprising: a multi-core optical fiber comprising a number of optical fibers, wherein only a terminal portion is fixed. 2. A flexible multi-core optical fiber comprising a plurality of optical fibers, wherein the optical fiber is fixed in a cylindrical shape.