JPS58181008A - Connecting method of optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To connect easily two fibers, by caulking an elastic member having two fibers in the center hole, from the outside circumference. CONSTITUTION:An optical fiber 2 whose covering is removed and whose end face is treated to a right angle and also a specular state is inserted a little from both directions into a hole made in the center of an elastic member 3. Subsequently, it is caulked by a tool 6 until the diameter of the center hole 4 of the elastic member becomes larger than the diameter (d) of a fiber 1 and smaller than 2d, and both fiber ends are butted. In this case, both fibers 1 become a state that each end face is butted. Subsequently, the elastic member 3 is further caulked from a metal 5 by the tool 6, the diameter of the hole 4 is reduced, and the fibers are axially aligned and connected automatically.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a connection method for easily connecting optical fiber cores.

The main conventional optical fiber connection methods include the groove connection method, the sleeve connection method, the fusion splicing method, and the like. ■Groove splicing requires skill on the part of the operator, as the fiber axis is aligned on a narrow V-groove with a width of about 0.4 mm. There were drawbacks such as being greatly affected by differences in In addition, in the case of the sleeve splicing method, the fibers are aligned in a sleeve having an inner diameter slightly larger than the fiber diameter, so splicing loss is determined by the clearance between the sleeve inner diameter and the 7-eye diameter. For this reason, there is a drawback that work efficiency is significantly impaired in order to perform a low-loss connection. Also, as with the V-groove splicing method, splice loss is greatly affected by differences in the diameters of the fibers to be spliced.

On the other hand, the fusion splicing method does not require skill from the operator and has the advantage that slight differences in fiber diameter can be absorbed by the self-centering effect during fusion. The disadvantage is that a large-scale connection device is required.

In order to eliminate these drawbacks, the present invention makes it possible to easily connect the optical 7-eyeper by inserting a fiber into a hole drilled in the center of the elastic member and caulking the elastic member from the outside. It is. The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, where l is a cored optical fiber, 2 is a bare fiber portion from which the coating has been removed, 8 is an elastic member,
4 is a hole drilled in the center of the elastic member, and 6 is a sleeve-shaped metal piece placed over the elastic member. 6 is a tool for caulking the metal 5 and the elastic member 8. Next, the connection procedure will be explained according to FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 1(a), an optical fin whose coating has been removed and whose end face is perpendicular and mirror-finished is slightly inserted from both directions into the No. 6 hole made in the center of the elastic member δ. Note that FIG. 1(b) is a sectional view taken along line A' in FIG. 1(a).

Next, as shown in Figure 1 (0), caulk with the caulking tool 6 until the diameter of No. 6 drilled in the center of the elastic member is larger than the fiber diameter d and smaller than 2d, and both fiber end faces are crimped. Match. At this time, the two fibers do not overlap in the hole, and their end faces are always butted against each other. FIG. 1 (+1) is a sectional view taken along line B-B' in FIG. 1 (0). When further crimped with the crimping tool 6, as shown in FIG. 1(e), the elastic member is further compressed, the diameter of No. 6 becomes smaller, the fiber axis is automatically aligned, and the connection is completed. . 1st
Figure (G) is a sectional view taken along line c-o' in Figure 1 (8).

Although FIG. 1k1 shows a hexagonal shape of the caulking portion, the shape is not limited to this, and any polygonal shape can be easily caulked. Moreover, gold i5 is not limited to a complete sleeve shape, as shown in Fig. 2, a split sleeve,
Alternatively, it may have a polygonal shape.

Although FIG. 1 describes a method of compressing the elastic member from the outer periphery of the metal 5 using a tool 6 such as caulking pliers, the elastic member 3
By selecting the material, it is also possible to use a member such as a heat shrink tube instead of the metal 5 to caulk the elastic member.

With the structure as described above, even when the diameters of the fibers to be connected differ as shown in FIG. 8, the axis alignment can be easily performed with high precision.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, by tapering the hole 4 so that the diameter thereof is increased at both ends, it is possible to improve the workability when inserting the fiber into the hole. Furthermore, if a part of the fiber core l is made to enter the daifuku, there is no need for reinforcing it again.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment, in which elastic members having a hole in the center are arranged in a tight arrangement.

The connection procedure is the same as in Figure 1. By applying an external force from around a large number of fibers butted against each other in the hole, each elastic member is deformed in the same way, and a large number of fibers are connected at once. It is possible to connect a 7-day IP address. Although FIG. 6 shows a case where there are seven elastic members, the number of elastic members is not limited to this. Further, as with the case of FIG. 1, various methods of caulking from the outside can be considered.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 6, in the center of the dense structure,
By arranging a tensile strength member with high hardness, the strength of the connection portion can be greatly improved.

As explained above, the optical fiber connecting method according to the present invention aligns the fiber axes by deforming the hole in the elastic member, so even if the outer diameters of the fibers to be connected are slightly different, the axes can be easily aligned. can do. Further, since no special connection device is required and the connection can be made in a short time with simple work, it is effective when used in emergency situations such as emergency connections.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1(a) is a side view of the state in which the fiber is inserted, and FIG.
A sectional view at Moum l of a), FIG. 1(C) is one step b
- State diagram after tightening, Figure 1 < (1) is a sectional view taken along B-B/ in Figure 1 (C), Figure 1 (e) is a side view after connection is completed, Figure 1 (0 is a sectional view taken along line c-a' in FIG. 1(e), FIG. 12 is a view of another embodiment of the metal sleeve, and FIG. 8 is a view showing a state in which the fibers are axially aligned by deformation of the hole in the elastic member. , Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the shape of a hole drilled in an elastic member, Fig. 5 is a diagram of an example in which elastic members are arranged in a tight structure, and Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the shape of a hole drilled in an elastic member. It is a diagram of an example in which: 1°゛° fiber core wire, 2... bare fiber portion, 8...
・Elastic member, 4... A hole drilled in the center of the elastic member,
5... Metal set around the elastic member, 6...
Clamping tools, f... tensile strength bodies. 1st “4 (C)” 7 (1)) ￥1 figure (C゛co” ・, l・8′ Ie) 2nd (7! Nido 11)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In the method of connecting 12 fibers, the two fibers to be connected are inserted into a hole drilled in the center of the elastic member and has a diameter larger than the fiber diameter, and the elastic member is caulked from the outer periphery of the elastic member. A method for connecting optical fibers, characterized in that the optical fibers are connected by: