JPS614004A - Mechanism and method for cutting optical fiber in one lump - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To arrange cut end surfaces of fiber couples in a line and in parallel and to improve the efficiency and reliability of core connecting operation by heating a core coating removed end part, clamping bare fiber couples in numbers of V grooves, and cutting cores with a bending mechanism and a cutting edge. CONSTITUTION:The coating part of a core 2 is clamped by a clamping part 13 and tips of bare fiber couple 5 are clamped by a clamping part 18; and tensile force is applied to the core while coating end part is heated by a heat head to remove its curl. The heating is stopped and the coating part is hardened with air; and the coating removed end parts are clamped by a clamping part 23 having V grooves 22 as many as the fiber couples 5 at the same intervals and the couples are set in parallel to one another. The bending mechanism 26 is brought into contact with the couples 5, a cutting flaw 7 is made with the cutting edge 6, and the mechanism 26 is pushed up to cut the core. Therefore, cut end surfaces are made uniform and a right-angled end surface is obtained; and the fiber couples 5 are arrayed in parallel, so the efficiency and reliability of the core connecting operation are improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention aims to align the end face positions of the original fiber pairs and to reduce the optical This invention relates to a mechanism for cutting optical fibers at once for arranging the fibers in a parallel row.

1 (Prior art) The outer sheath of the opposing source cable to be connected is peeled off, and the optical fiber core wire is not exposed, and the peeled end... 1-2
Conventionally, when cutting optical fibers into lengths of about m and connecting them, a single fiber V311', which is a single original fiber 1 coated with plastic, was used, as shown in Figure 2 (a). However, in recent years, with the aim of increasing the number of fibers in optical cables and improving connection efficiency, high-density tape cores in which multiple optical fibers are bonded together in a horizontal row with multiple magnolia fibers, as shown in Figure 2 (1)), have been developed. Line 2 has also come to be used /ζ. Compared to the single fiber 1, when connecting the tape core 2, after removing the nylon coating 8 and the silicone rubber coating 4 of the tape core 2, when cutting the bare optical fiber pair 5 all at once,
It is important that the cut end faces of each optical fiber are aligned in a straight line.

However, as shown in FIG. ), the cutting scratches 7 are aligned on a straight line as shown in FIG. 4(a), but in order to cut the optical fiber, the pair of bare optical fibers 5 must be bent in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. As a result, when tensile force or bending force is applied to the cut portion 7, the cut edge, as shown in Fig.
However, a few micrometers to several tens of micrometers are randomly extracted from the coating. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the positions of the cut end faces of the pair of bare optical fibers 5 cannot be aligned on a straight line, and even an experienced person has the disadvantage that the amount of misalignment A is about 20 μm on average. When connecting the connecting tape cores &1B by butting them together, as shown in FIG. There is a drawback that the connection cannot be made unless corrected, such as by gripping with the gripping portion Q. Therefore, there was a drawback of poor connection efficiency. Furthermore, after correcting the misalignment, when the bare optical fiber pair 5 is removed from the abutment plate 8, the misalignment occurs again, making it impossible to reliably correct the misalignment, resulting in poor connection characteristics. 1 As shown in Fig. 6(a), at the peeled end of the tape cable 2, the welded end 8.4 remains and the optical fibers are not parallel to each other, so... □Fig. 8 As shown in , when cutting the blade 6 :, J:υ to the bare optical fiber pair 15, the cut end surface angle is B occurs. For this reason, there is a drawback that the end faces of the bare optical fiber pair 5 are not aligned in a straight line, resulting in connection failure and deterioration of connection characteristics.0 Furthermore, when the optical fibers are not parallel to each other, The end of the bare optical fiber pair 6 is
As shown in the figure), when connecting the bare optical fibers by placing them on the multi-strand V@10 and butting them, the ends of the bare optical fiber pair 6 do not enter the corresponding v#I, making connection impossible. was there. Note that FIG. 6(0) is a sectional view taken along W-wI in FIG. 6(b).

In order to solve this problem, as shown in FIG. 7, a pair of bare optical fibers 5 is inserted into a comb tooth 12 in which a deep slit 11' matching the mutual spacing between the original fiber pairs is provided, and the optical fibers are aligned parallel to each other. If the surface of the optical fiber does not slide against the inner wall of the slit 11, the surface of the optical fiber may be damaged, or the distance between the optical fibers may be 0 mm or 1 mm.
Because of the order of... there was a drawback that it was extremely difficult to manufacture the comb teeth lz. 1. Since the comb teeth 12 are also used when cutting the original fiber shown in FIG. 8, the same problem occurs.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When cutting the original fibers of a tape core, it is possible to prevent the optical fiber pair from being pulled out from the tape core coating when bending or tensile force is applied. The aim is to align the cut end faces of the fibers on a straight line and to arrange the original fiber pairs parallel to each other.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a high-density tape, a tape in which a pair of stripped bare optical fibers is pulled without heating the coating at the stripped end of the B-line, or The bare optical fiber pair 5 is held and cut by the multi-threaded V-groove 1' that restrains its horizontal alignment, and the next batch fusion splicing is carried out by holding the peeled end of the plate even after cutting. It is designed to move to the process.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are explanatory diagrams of removing the coating from the tape core wire. As shown in FIG. 'By biting the pair of blades 14 into the metal and moving the pair of blades 14 around the end of the optical fiber pair along the axial direction of the optical fiber pair, the nylon compound core 3 and the silicone rubber coating 4 are separated. part is removed. After this, as shown in FIG. 9, the silicone rubber coating 4 remaining on the surface of the optical fiber pair 5 is wiped away using a pair of wiping parts 15.

FIG. 10 is a side view of one embodiment of the present invention.
While holding the Nanelon w1 covering part with the grip part 18, apply tension T to the tip of the bare optical fiber pair 5 while holding it.
1 and T0 are supported by a link 17 connected to a tension applying mechanism 16 capable of applying a large tension of 12 or more, and are configured to start sliding on the surface of the bare optical fiber pair 50 when tension T2 is applied. It is gripped by the gripping portion 18 that has been bent, and is held in the tension applying mechanism 16 to apply a tensile force T0 of several hundred 2 to the pair of bare optical fibers 5.

At the same time, a pair of heating heads 20 in which the nichrome wire 19 is embedded as shown in FIG. Then, the nichrome wire 19 is energized to heat the end of the coating to be removed at a temperature of about 160°C.
At this time, the coating 8.4 of the tape core wire 2 in the heating head 2θ section softens □, and the tension T0 applied to the optical fiber pair 5 by the tension applying mechanism 16 is reduced to a tension slightly larger than the above tension T2. As it increases, the heating head 20
The eighth optical fiber pair 6 of the optical fiber pair 6 on the inner side of the ribbon core 2 in the
The optical fiber pair 5, which has been removed from the bending tendency as shown in the figure and is inside the sheathing, is drawn out of the sheathings 8 and 4. Furthermore, at this time, at the same time, at the coating-removed end of the tape cable, the restraint on the bare optical fiber pair 5 caused by the coating removal, as shown in FIG. 8, is removed. After heating the peeled end/part for a certain period of time, the energization to the nichrome wire 19 is stopped, and at the same time, a pair of heating heads 20 are applied to the tape core wire 2.
keep away from Thereafter, the tension is reduced from about T to T1, and while the tension T is applied to the bare optical fiber arm 5, the heated part of the tape core wire 2 is naturally air-cooled for a certain period of time, and the heated part is Cure coating 8.4. 'Next, after the coating 8.4 of the heated part of the tape cable 2 is cured, as shown in FIG. 21-, and then, as shown in FIG.
After releasing the zero tension TI that grips the bare optical fiber pair 5 at the peeled end with the optical fiber pair gripper 28 having the groove 22,
When the grip part 18 is released, the bare optical fiber pairs 5 become parallel to each other along the grooves 22. The ends of the pair of bare optical fibers 5 are gripped again by the gripping portion 18 .

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, a rubber plate z5 is attached to the leaf spring 24 while both ends of the pair of bare optical fibers 5 are being held by the gripping parts 21, 28, 18, and both ends of the bare optical fiber pair 5 are held up and down. The bending/pulling mechanism 26 that applies bending/pulling force to the bare optical fiber pair 6 is raised to a position where the rubber plate 25 contacts the lighting fiber, and the blade 6 is moved with a constant blade pressure to apply bending/pulling force to the bare optical fiber pair 6. 6, and at the middle position of both hakama parts 18 and 28, light.

Cutting scratches 7 are made perpendicular to the fiber axis. At the same time, the bending/pulling mechanism 26 is further raised to apply bending/pulling force to the pair of bare optical fibers 5 until the optical fibers are cut. At this time, by fixing the link 17 with the stopper 27, the position of the gripping part 18 is fixed with respect to the axial direction of the optical fiber. However, a cutting wound 7 is provided so that the optical fiber is cut with a tension T2 or more. After cutting, the gripping part 18 is opened to dispose of the optical fiber waste, and the gripping part IB is also opened to release the tape core wire 2, but the gripping parts 21 and 28 are
□゛While holding the cut bare optical fiber pair 5, move it to the next batch fusion splicer using the moving mechanism and place it above the multi-line V-groove 1O for axis alignment, as shown in Fig. 18. Set the cut optical fiber pair 5. Since the structure is as described above, the optical fiber pair 15 will not be pulled out from the tape core 2 when the bare optical fiber pair 6 is cut, and therefore the optical fiber pair 5 will not be pulled out in a straight line. Since the position of the cutting scratch inflicted on the bare optical fiber pair 5 becomes the position of the cut end face of the bare optical fiber pair 5, in the batch fusion splicing process... there is no need to correct the uneven position of the end face. Since the fibers are parallel to each other, the blades are perpendicular to each axis of the pair of bare optical fibers 5, and an end face perpendicular to each axis of the pair of bare optical fibers 5 is obtained. is i
As shown in Figure 1B', it can be easily positioned over the multi-line V groove 10 for axis alignment during the next fusion.

In the above embodiment, the heated portion by the heating head 20 is cooled by natural air, but it may be cooled by forced air using a cooling fan.

Further, in the above embodiment, in order to avoid unevenness of the cut end surface due to the pulling out of the optical fiber pair 5 when cutting the optical fiber, the step of pulling the optical fiber while heating the peeled end of the tape core 2 to be peeled is performed. , the two steps of gripping and fixing the pair of bare optical fibers 5 at the ends to be peeled and cutting the optical fibers into the holes, ' are carried out, but only one of the steps is carried out to avoid unevenness of the cut end surfaces. may be avoided.

Further, the action of the tension applying mechanism 16 in the above embodiment may be replaced by the action of the bending/tensioning mechanism 26. 2P (Effect of the invention) As explained above, in order to cut a pair of bare optical fibers,
Even if bending or tensile force is applied, the optical fiber pairs will not be randomly pulled out from the tape cored part, and the cut end faces of each optical fiber pair will be aligned on the -m line, and the coating will be removed. Since the pair of fc bare optical fibers is held by the gripper having a V-groove, the optical fibers of the pair of bare optical fibers are aligned parallel to each other, and the optical fibers of the pair of bare optical fibers are aligned parallel to each other, and the optical fibers of the bare optical fiber pair are kept in a state where they are cut all at once.
As we move on to the next batch fusion splicing device, the benefits are as follows.
・There is a point.

In other words, the cutting scratches on the optical fiber pair are made perpendicular to the optical fiber axis, so that no angle occurs on the cut end face, and the need for comb teeth is eliminated when the optical fiber pair is collectively fused and spliced. i Eliminates the need for work and mechanisms for straightening, eliminates the need for comb teeth when cutting optical fiber pairs all at once, and so the optical fibers are not damaged, connection failures are greatly reduced, and the connection characteristics are improved. Same as above 17,
Furthermore, it has the advantage of greatly improving connection efficiency. Therefore, in preparation for the introduction of multi-core optical cables, it is possible to improve the connection efficiency and reliability of the original fiber, which will greatly contribute to the practical application of optical cable communication systems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a simple embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a
, (b) are schematic diagrams of a single core wire and a tape core wire, respectively.
Figure 8 shows a conventional original fiber cutting mechanism, Figure 4 (
a) is a diagram showing the state of the optical fiber pair before cutting the original fiber, FIG. Explanatory diagram of the method of aligning the cut end surface position with the filler plate, No. 6
Figure (a) is an explanatory diagram of the state of the optical fiber pair after cutting the original fiber, Figure 6 (bl is a plan view of the multi-groove, Figure 6 (0)
is a sectional view taken along w-w' of FIG. 0(b), FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional comb tooth, FIGS. The 1θ diagram is a side view of a simple embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the heating head shown in FIG. 10, FIG. (b) is a sectional view taken along line xx' in FIG. 12(a), and FIG. Figure 0))
Figure 18 (C) is a plan view of the multi-strip groove, Figure 18 (C) is Figure 18 0))
It is a sectional view taken along YY' of 1...Optical fiber 1'...Single-core fiber 2...
Tape core wire 8...Nylon coating ・4・
...Silicone rubber coating 5...Optical fiber pair 6...
Blade? ... Cutting wound 8 ... Abutment plate
9...Gripping part IO...Multi-strip groove
11...Slit 12...Comb teeth 1B
...Gripping part 14...Blade 15...
Wiping part 16...Tension applying mechanism 17...Link 18...
...Gripping part 19...Nichrome wire 20...
・Heating head 21...Hakama part 22...
■Groove 28...Optical fiber pair gripping part □2
4... Leaf spring 25... Rubber plate 26...
・Bending/Tensioning mechanism 27...Stopper 〇Tsubaki 19')tJ lcJ! (a) (b) (c) “Y

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Targeting a tape core in which a plurality of optical fibers are coated in parallel, cutting scratches are made all at once on bare optical fibers from which a certain length of the coating has been peeled off and removed at the end of the core. In an optical fiber batch cutting mechanism that cuts the optical fibers at once by applying bending, bending, and/or tension, the batch cutting mechanism includes a coating gripping part that grasps and fixes the coating at the end where the coating is stripped, and a coating gripping part that grasps and fixes the coating at the end where the coating is removed, and An optical fiber pair gripping part that has multiple V-grooves at intervals corresponding to the mutual spacing and grips and fixes a bare optical fiber pair at the peeled end part; a gripping part that grips the bare optical fiber end part; and the gripping part a tensioning mechanism that applies tension to the bare optical fiber through the cutting blade, a bending/pulling mechanism, and a moving mechanism that moves the bare optical fiber to the batch splicing device while being gripped by the coated gripping part and the optical fiber pair gripping part after cutting is completed. An optical fiber batch cutting mechanism characterized by comprising: 2. The optical fiber batch cutting mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a heating head for heating and softening the coating at the end where the coating is removed. 3. Targeting a tape core in which multiple optical fibers are wrapped in parallel, a certain length of bare optical fiber from which the coating has been removed at the end of the core is cut at once, and the fiber is bent and/or tensioned. In addition, in the optical fiber batch cutting method, after removing a certain length of the coating, the coating near the coating removal part is gripped and fixed by the coating gripping part, and the end of the bare optical fiber is gripped by the gripping part, and the Apply tension to the extent that slippage occurs between the bare optical fiber and the bare optical fiber that is being held, and then align and grip the bare optical fiber near the peeled part with the optical fiber pair gripping part, and in this state, Batch cutting of optical fibers, which is characterized in that the optical fibers aligned in the middle of the grip are scratched all at once, bent and/or tension is applied to cut them all at once, and then the optical fibers are moved to a bulk splicing device while being gripped. Method. 4. Grasp and fix the coating near the coating peeling part with the coating gripping part, grip the end of the bare optical fiber with the gripping part, and apply tension to the extent that slippage occurs between the end of the bare optical fiber and the bare optical fiber being gripped. , and then, before aligning and gripping the bare optical fibers near the sheathing part with the optical fiber pair gripping part, a step of heating and softening the coating at the end of the sheathing peeling part is added. Optical fiber batch cutting method described in section.