JPS614003A - Curl removing device for optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remove the curl of a core coated with nylon and to improve the efficiency of core connecting operation by applying tensile force to the core and arranging heat heads which are divided lengthwise movably around the core. CONSTITUTION:Both ends of tip parts of the optical fiber core 1 are clamped with clamping parts 3 and 3' and solenoids 13 and 13' and links 12 and 12' are driven to surround the core 1 with heat heads 11 and 11'; and the core 1 while drawn with the coating unremoved is heated at specific temperatures for a specific time and the heat heads 11 and 11' are separated from the core to cool the coating part forcibly by a cooling fan 18. Therefore, nylon coating parts of the core 1 whose both ends are drawn hardens in a straight state, so the curl of the core due to the nylon coating is removed and the core tip parts becomes straight to facilitate the handling; and end positions are made uniform and the efficiency of core connecting operation is improved.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

(Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a device for removing bends and other irregularities in optical fibers when connecting them. (Prior art) The outer sheaths of the opposing optical tables to be connected are peeled off and separated into core fibers, which are then cut to a length of about 1 to 2 m from the peeled end, and the optical fibers are connected while comparing the core wires. In this case, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 8 (al, (b)),
A terminal processing operation in which the optical fiber core 1 or the high-density tape core wire 20 is manually grasped, the nylon coating is removed, and the optical fiber is cut without bending or twisting the fiber, or I was working on positioning and setting the terminal-treated optical fiber core in the fusion splicer.
These optical fiber connections have the drawback of reducing work efficiency. In particular, when automating the above manual work, as shown in FIG. 4, when the coated part of the optical fiber is gripped by the optical fiber gripping section 8, the position of the tip of the optical fiber is as follows.
Since the optical fiber cannot be fixed due to bending, twisting, etc., when holding and transporting the optical fiber core +S, the core wire may come into contact with other mechanical parts or be positioned and set in the terminal processing device or fusion splicing device. The drawback was that troubles sometimes occurred during the positioning and setting process. In addition, in the process of processing the ends of high-density tape cables, bends and other irregularities in the cables may occur, as shown in Figures 5(a) and (b).
This induces misalignment at the ends of the bare optical fibers 4 that have been terminal-treated, and the end face distances between the bare fibers 4 to be spliced butted against each other during fusion splicing become uneven, so a mechanism for correcting the misalignment is required. In addition, if the misalignment is not corrected, connection failures may occur or connection characteristics may deteriorate. (Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, bending and other irregularities in optical fibers reduce the efficiency of manually or automatically connecting a series of optical fibers, and deteriorate the connection characteristics. However, there were problems such as connection failures and connection failures. (Means for solving the problems) In order to solve these problems, the present invention
Eye: The coating of the core wire is heated and softened while applying a tensile force to remove bends and other irregularities in the core wire connection section in advance. The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings. To the person who prays to the poem fR on the Krai @ side (Embodiment) Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is an optical fiber core wire, 8.8 ' is the core wire gripping part, 5 is the solenoid,
6 and 6' are link mechanisms, 7 is screws, 8 is core tension mechanism,
9 is an operation control section, 10 is a nichrome wire, 11 and 11' are heating heads, 14 is a thermocouple, and 17 is a heating control section. Strip the outer jacket of the optical cable, separate it into optical fiber cores,
Cut the optical fiber to an appropriate length, taking into consideration the length required for connection. As shown in FIG. 1, a wire gripping section 8' supported by a wire tensioning mechanism 8 consisting of a solenoid 5, link mechanisms a and 6', and a spring 7, and a fixed wire gripping section 8, Optical fiber core $1 with nylon coating is designed to eliminate bending, twisting, and other habits. Grasp both ends of the tip of I. The operation control unit 9 drives the fiber tensioning mechanism 8 to apply several hundred grams of tension to the tip of the optical fiber core l, and at the same time, as shown in FIG.

[As shown, a heating head 1 with a nichrome wire IO wound around the optical fiber core 1
1, 11' and the heating heads 11, 11', and a solenoid 18, 18' and the heating head 11 that drive the link mechanisms 12, 12' and the link mechanisms 12, 12'.
, 11', an opening/closing mechanism 15 consisting of a thermal pair 14 for temperature detection.
The solenoid 13°18' is driven by the link mechanism 12°12'+7) operation control unit 16, and after the heating heads 11 and 11' surround the tip of the optical fiber core, the optical fiber L is heated. The first heating is performed so that the tip of the optical fiber 1 is heated within a certain temperature (approximately 150° C.) according to the signal from the thermocouple 14, and the tip of the optical fiber 1 is heated for a certain period of time (more than ten seconds). From the heating control section 17 shown in the figure,
Energize the nichrome wire IO. At this time, the optical fiber coated portion softens. As described above, after heating the coated optical fiber 1 within a certain temperature for a certain period of time while pulling it, the operation control section 16 of the link mechanism 12, 12' is operated and the solenoids 1ill, 18 are activated. ' to drive and drive,
The heating heads 11 and 11' are moved left and right to separate it from the tip of the optical fiber core s1, and the softened nylon coating is forcibly cooled by the cooling fan 18 for a certain period of time (about 10 seconds). Since a tensile force is applied to the coating, it is cured straight, and the curl of the optical fiber due to the nylon coating is removed. Thereafter, the solenoid 5 is driven by the operation control section 9 to release the tensile force on the optical fiber core 1liIl, and the optical fiber core 1 is taken out from the gripping sections 8, 8'. In the embodiment described above, the heating heads 11 and 11' do not contact the nylon coating of the optical fiber core 1, but they may be configured to come into contact with each other in order to improve the heat transfer effect. Further, in the above embodiment, the nylon coating softened by heating is forcedly air-cooled by the cooling fan 18, but the nylon coating may be hardened by natural air cooling. (Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the optical fiber deforming device of the present invention eliminates the bending and other deformities of the optical fiber due to the nylon coating and straightens the optical fiber, resulting in the following advantages: There is. (1) When automating the optical fiber splicing work, handling of the optical fiber becomes easier when the straight portion of the optical fiber core wire tip portion is grasped and transported. Furthermore, there is an advantage that the position of the optical fiber at the tip of the optical fiber is fixed relative to the optical fiber grip, and the positioning and setting of the optical fiber in the terminal treatment device or the fusion splicing device can be ensured. (2) In the terminal processing of high-density ribbon fibers, it is possible to reduce irregularities in the positions of the end faces of a plurality of optical fibers, improve splicing loss, and have the effect of significantly reducing splicing failures. From the above, there is an advantage that connection efficiency and connection characteristics can be significantly improved in a series of manual or automated optical fiber core wire connection processes.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

(Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line xx' in Figure 1, which is an example of the configuration of an opening/closing mechanism for a heating head of an optical fiber straightening device. Figure, Figure 8(a)
, Ib) are diagrams showing an example of the curls of an optical fiber coated wire and a high-density tape coated wire, respectively, and FIG. 5(a) and 5(b) are diagrams showing an example of uneven end surfaces of a plurality of fibers of a high-density tape fiber. 1... Optical fiber coated wire 2... High-density tape coated wire 8.8'... Core wire grip part 4... Terminal-treated bare optical fiber wire 5... Solenoid 6.6'. ...Link mechanism 7...Spring
8... Core wire tensioning mechanism 9... Operation control section 10... Nichrome wires 11, 11'...
Heating head 12, 12'... link mechanism 18,
18'... Solenoid 14... Thermocouple 15...
Opening/closing mechanism 16...Operation control section 17...Heating control section ]8...Cooling fan Fig. 1 1'/ Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Two cable gripping parts that grip the optical fiber, a cable tensioning part that applies tension to the cable via the gripping parts, and a cable between the cable gripping parts. An optical fiber core comprising a heating head surrounding the core and a temperature and operation control section, the heating head being divided in the longitudinal direction and movable from around the core by the operation control section. Removal device. 2. The optical fiber straightening device according to claim 1, further comprising a cooling fan provided near the heating head.