JPS6028610A - Detector for extent of movement of optical fiber in connector for optical fiber by welding - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable detection of an exact moving distance of an optical fiber by incorporating a potentiometer into a conncetor for optical fibers by welding and connecting the same to a voltage comparator circuit. CONSTITUTION:A potentiometer 14 of a multi-revolution type is meshed with a gear 10 of a transmission system 12 and is driven by a gear 15. The meter 14 takes out the rotating quantity of a micrometer 7 in the form of the signal converting the dame to a distance of a moving base 3A and inputs the same to a comparator circuit. Said circuit emits V3 when a base voltage V1 and the voltage V2 from the meter 14 are equal. An output signal V3 is thus obtd. when the voltage V1 for the space (20mum) between the end faces of optical fibers F1 and F2 and the moving distance of the base 3A, i.e., the voltage V2 coincide in the stage of setting said space by the transmission of power from a motor 13 to the base 3A and therefore the prescribed value of the space between the end faces of the optical fibers is detected from the V3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical fiber movement amount detection device in an optical fiber fusion splicer.

In the fusion splicing method, which is one of the permanent splicing methods for optical fibers,
After stripping and cutting the ends of a pair of optical fibers, the ends of both fibers are made to face each other in a straight line, and then these ends are moved relatively toward each other, heat is fused at a predetermined distance between the end faces, and the ends are The connection is completed after matching.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a fusion splicer used to carry out the above method. In the figure, 1 is a fusion heat generator using a pair of discharge electrodes or a laser heater, 2A, 2B
3A and 13B are optical fiber holders disposed on both sides of the fusion heat generator 1, and 3A13B are a movable table and a fixed table that support these holders 2A and 2B.

The holder 28 on the moving table 3A in the above is a known slip-type holder, and the holder 2B on the fixed table 3B is either a slip-type or a fixed-type holder.

Furthermore, the movable base 3AH is capable of reciprocating toward the fixed base 3B side where the holder 2B is located.On the other hand, the fixed base 3B is, as is obvious, a fixed type, but in some cases it may be replaced with a movable base. 0 In Fig. 1 above, if the arrow X direction is the forward movement direction of the moving table 3A, and the arrow The mover 4 is in contact with the support 1'' surface (front (A) of the protrusion 5 protruding from the lower part of the moving table 3A, and the spindle 8 of the micrometer 7 supported by the pedestal 6 is in contact with it. On the other hand,
A motor 13 is connected to the micrometer 7 via a transmission system 12 with ei gears 9, 10, 11.

The optical fiber Fl,
When performing fusion splicing of F2, first hold the ends of these optical fibers F, F2 with the six holders 2A and 2B of the moving table 3A and fixed table 3B, and then move the moving table 3A by operating the set switch. The setting is completed by pressing the protrusion 6 against the spindle 8 of the micrometer 7. After that, when the operation switch including the control system of the fusion heat generator 1 and the motor 13 is pressed, the motor 13 is transmitted to the spindle 8 of the micrometer 7 via the transmission system 12, and as a result, the spindle 8 moves in the direction of arrow X, and the moving table 3A receiving the elastic force of the pusher 4 also moves in the direction of arrow X. When the distance between the end faces of both optical fibers F, F2 reaches a predetermined value during this forward movement, the fusion heat generator 1 starts supplying fusion heat to the end of the optical fiber, After that, the optical fibers F, F2 are connected to each other due to the abutting force of the movable table 2A that continues to move forward and the thermally fused state of the end of the optical fiber, and the optical fibers F, F2 are fused together at the timing of completion of the connection. The heat generator 1 and motor 13 stop operating.

By the way, the distance between the end faces of the optical fibers (20 μm ± 371 m) in the above-mentioned state is important, and if this deviation exceeds the allowable error, the timing of applying heat for fusion will be shifted, and the connection of the optical fiber connection portion will be delayed. Defects and increased transmission loss occur.

Therefore, conventionally, the moving table 3A'II: is inched in the forward direction to obtain an end face interval of 20 μm, but even so, overrun occurs quite often, and to deal with this, the motor 13 is rotated in the reverse direction Even if the table 3A is moved back in the force direction of the arrow X', the transmission system 1
2. Since backrunches and mechanical losses of the motor 13 and the like occur, accuracy is not ensured, and in the current situation where connections are made without recognizing this, the defective rate is high.

The basic reason for this is that the optical fiber fusion splicer, which is a highly dense machine, has no backlash or mechanical loss as described above,
It can be pointed out that /sec is dependent on time.

In view of the problems mentioned above, the present invention incorporates a potentiometer in a predetermined part of the optical fiber fusion splicer described above, and further connects the potentiometer to a voltage humpator circuit to enable accurate movement of optical fibers. The device is designed to be able to detect distance, and its configuration will be explained below with reference to the illustrated embodiment. The original fiber fusion splicer on which the device of the present invention is based is as described in FIG. The comparator circuit will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

In FIG. 2, the potentiometer 14 is of a multi-rotation type, and is incorporated into the transmission system 12 through a gear 16 meshed with the gear 1o of the transmission system 12.

Further, the potentiometer 14 extracts the amount of rotation of the micrometer 7 rotated by the motor 13 as an electric signal converted into the moving distance of the moving table 3A, and applies the output signal to the voltage comparator circuit 16 shown in FIG. It is connected to circuit 16.

On the other hand, the voltage comparator circuit 16 is connected to the variable constant voltage generator 1
7. A comparator 18 and a relay 19 are provided, and the comparator 18 detects when the basic voltage v1 set by the variable constant voltage generator 17 and the applied voltage v2 from the potentiometer 16 become ■,=V2. , outputs an output signal v3.

Therefore, as described in FIG. 1, when setting the end face spacing (2゛0 μm) of the optical fibers FI and F2 by power transmission from the motor 13 to the moving table 3A, the set distance to obtain the end face spacing, that is, the basic voltage Since the output signal 3 is obtained when V and the moving distance of the moving table 3A, that is, the applied voltage V2 match, the predetermined value of the distance between the optical fiber end faces can be detected from this V3.

Furthermore, based on the above output signal V, if various operations after setting the end face spacing (sequence system including forward movement of the moving table 3A, provision of fusion heat, etc.) are started, optical fiber fusion can be performed to prevent connection failures. connection can be achieved.

As explained above, according to the present invention, holders for the original fiber are arranged on both sides of the fusion heat generator, and at least one holder has a movable stage that can reciprocate toward the other holder. A pusher and a micrometer spindle are opposed to each other and abut on the moving table from the forward and reverse directions of the moving table, and the micrometer is connected to a motor via a transmission system. In an optical fiber fusion splicer in which Compared to time-based systems, this system is not affected by backlash, mechanical losses, speed fluctuations, etc., and therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the original fiber movement amount by 1F.
Based on this, optical fiber fusion splicing without connection failure or increased transmission loss can be realized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an optical fiber fusion splicer on which the apparatus of the present invention is based, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the main parts of the apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a voltage comparator circuit diagram of the device of the present invention. 1...Fusion heat generator 2A, 2B...Q...Holder 3A...#Moving table 4...Pusher 7...Micrometer 8...L Spindle 12...Transmission system 13...Motor 14...1 Potentiometer 16...Voltage comparator circuit 1811◆Comparator patent applicant agent Patent attorney Ito Fuji Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3: 162 Shirane, Ibaraki Telecommunications Research Institute, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation ■Applicant: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] Optical fiber holders are arranged on both sides of the fusion heat generator, and at least one of the holders is supported via a movable table that can reciprocate toward the other holder, and the movable table In this method, a pusher and a micrometer spindle are opposed to each other in the forward and backward directions of the moving table and are in contact with each other, and the micrometer is connected to a motor via a transmission system using optical fiber fusion splicing. In the optical fiber fusion splicer, the transmission system incorporates a potentiometer for electrically detecting the moving distance of the moving table, and the potentiometer is connected to a voltage regulator circuit. Quantity detection device.