JPS6194008A - Jig for treating end face of optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make possible the end face treatment of optical fibers which are different in wire diameter, material, etc. with simple construction and to deal with the change in ambient temp., etc. by changing the resistance value of a heater part which heats a glass substrate to change the calorific value thereof. CONSTITUTION:The jig for end face treatment consists of a heating part 1, a circuit part 2 and a power supply part 3. A glass base plate 5 is held by a frame 4 to the heating part 1 and the end face of the optical fiber is press welded to the center of the front face thereof. The heater part 6 is provided in the position in the rear face part of the plate 5 and is so constituted that the length is equal and the width is <l1>l2 between the vertical piece and cross piece crossing in the cruciform shape. The calorific value when electric current is passed between electrodes 7 and 7 is smaller than the calorific value when the electric current is passed between electrodes 8 and 8. Electricity is thereupon conducted between the electrodes 7 and 7 in, for example, a summer season and between the electrodes 8 and 8 in a winter season, then the overheating is prevented even if the jig is used in the time when the climatic temp. is high and the failure to attain the temp. necessary to melt the end face is obviated even if the jig is used in the time when the climatic temp. is low.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a jig for processing the end face of an optical fiber using a plastic fiber.

[Background technology]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, optical transmission technology using glass fibers has made remarkable progress in optical communication systems and the like. In addition to the above-mentioned glass fibers, plastic fibers are also available as optical fibers that serve as light transmission media, but their practical use has lagged behind that of glass fibers. Other components for optical communication systems that use plastic fiber as a transmission medium include:
Optical connectors, optical branchers, optical demultiplexers/combiners, optical switches, optical modules (optical-electrical/electrical-optical converters), etc. are required for connection.

When connecting plastic fibers, it is necessary to treat the end faces of the plastic fibers. Conventionally, the end faces of the plastic fibers were polished with a file and then subjected to puff polishing before being connected.
It is difficult to process the end face uniformly and there are many variations, resulting in large optical signal losses.

Furthermore, in the connection of plastic fibers, a method of heat-sealing the end faces of the plastic fibers together is often used, but conventional heaters for heat-sealing are large, making them inconvenient to carry.

In these methods, in order to connect a pre-wired plastic fiber to another plastic fiber, the end of the pre-wired plastic fiber must be left extra long or the pre-wired plastic fiber must be removed and polished. Otherwise, they had to be connected by heat fusion, which required a lot of work.

Therefore, the inventors have developed an optical fiber end face processing jig that is convenient to carry and can easily and quickly mirror finish the end face of an optical fiber. This optical fiber end face treatment jig is
It is equipped with a glass substrate that is crimped onto the end face of an optical fiber and a heater section that heats the glass substrate.With the optical fiber inserted through the holding fitting, the end face of the optical fiber is crimped onto the glass substrate, and the heater section heats the glass substrate. By heating the
By melting the end face of the optical fiber, it is possible to obtain a mirror-finished end face of the optical fiber.

However, since this optical fiber end face processing jig cannot change the temperature of the glass substrate to which the end face of the optical fiber is crimped, it can only end face process the optical fibers of the same diameter and made of the same material. Therefore, it was not possible to handle optical fibers with different diameters and materials.

Furthermore, even when end-processing optical fibers with the same wire diameter and the same material, the temperature of the glass substrate to which the end face of the optical fiber is crimped changes due to differences in ambient temperature, such as seasonal differences in air temperature. It was not possible to obtain the optimum temperature for edge treatment.

Therefore, in order to further address the above-mentioned problems, the inventors developed an optical fiber end face treatment that can perform end face treatment of multiple types of optical fibers with different wire diameters and materials, and that can cope with changes in ambient temperature, etc. Although a jig was developed, the structure of the heater part was complicated, and it was very time-consuming to manufacture.

[Purpose of the invention]

In view of the above points, the present invention provides an optical fiber end face that has a simple structure, can perform end face treatment of multiple types of optical fibers with different wire diameters and materials, and can cope with changes in ambient temperature, etc. The purpose is to provide processing jigs.

[Disclosure of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a glass substrate that is crimped onto the end face of an optical fiber, and a heater section that heats the glass substrate, and by changing the electric resistance value of the heater section, heat generation of the heater section is reduced. A jig for processing the end face of an optical fiber that is designed to change the amount of film, and the heater part has a cross shape with different lengths and/or widths between the vertical and horizontal pieces, and has a uniform film thickness. Its gist is an optical fiber end face processing jig, which is formed into a shape, has electrodes on its four ends, and has pairs of electrodes at both ends of the cross-shaped vertical piece and electrodes at both ends of the cross-shaped horizontal piece. . An embodiment of this will be explained in detail below based on the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical fiber end face processing jig (hereinafter abbreviated as "jig") includes a heating section 12 a circuit section 2. It consists of a power supply section 3. A glass substrate 5 is held in the heating section 1 by a frame 4. The end face of the optical fiber is crimped to the center of the front surface of the glass substrate 5.
A heater section 6 is provided at a position on the rear surface of the glass substrate 5 corresponding to that position. This heater section 6 is formed in the shape of a cross and has a uniform film thickness, and electrodes 7.7 and 8.8 are provided at its four ends so as to partially overlap each other. . Electrodes 7.7 and 8.8, which face each other with the cross-shaped intersecting portions in between, form a pair. The heater part 6 has the same length between the vertical piece and the horizontal piece, and a width j2. , 12 is x, >
I! 2. Electrode pair 7.7 and 8.8
are connected in parallel with the power supply section 3, respectively, and the circuit section 2
It is now possible to select the electrode pair to be energized. When a current is supplied from the power supply section 3 to the electrode pairs 7, 7, 8, 8, the heater section 6 generates heat.

The electrical resistance value of the heater section is influenced by non-uniformity of the heater material, differences in the shape of the electrical path, etc., but is mainly influenced by the length of the electrical path and the size of the cross-sectional area in the path. In this embodiment, since the thickness of the heater section 6 is constant and the length of the heater section between each electrode pair is equal, the electrical resistance value of the heater section is 7! the width of the vertical and horizontal pieces of the heater section 6! , ,
It depends on the size of 7!2. In this example, the width l
Since I is wider than the width 12, the amount of heat generated when a current is passed between the electrodes 7 and 7 is smaller than the amount of heat generated when a current is passed between the electrodes 8 and 8.

Therefore, for example, by energizing electrodes 7 and 7 in summer and energizing electrodes 8 and 8 in winter, the heater part will not overheat even when used in high temperatures like summer. Even when the temperature is low, such as in winter, the temperature of the heater section does not reach the temperature required to melt the end face of the optical fiber. In other words, the temperature can always be maintained at the optimum temperature for processing the end face of the optical fiber, regardless of the ambient temperature. Furthermore, when used under a constant ambient temperature, it is also possible to perform end face treatment on two types of optical fibers with different diameters, materials, etc.

As in this embodiment, if the amount of heat generated by the heater section is changed only by the width of the heater section, the relationship between the width of the heater section and the amount of heat generated by the heater section is determined, and the desired amount of heat generated can be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to easily form a heater section that can perform the following steps.

In the above description, the resistance value of the heater part is changed by varying the width between the vertical piece and the horizontal piece of the heater part, but it is also possible to make the width the same and the length different. Further, both the width and length may be made different.

Since the heater part has a simple cross-shaped shape, it is extremely easy to form the heater part, and the shape is suitable for manufacturing by changing the length and width between the electrode pairs. It can be said.

Since the softening point of plastic is around 100°C, the heater part of the jig according to this invention can heat the glass substrate where the end face of the optical fiber is crimped to around 140°C, and up to around 300°C. A material that is stable against heat is desirable. The material for the heater part is ITO (In
In addition to dium tin oxide), metals such as nickel chromium alloys, nitrides such as tantalum nitride, oxides such as ruthenium oxide, etc. are preferably used. Further, a material having PTC characteristics such as barium titanate may also be used.

The glass substrate preferably has a softening point of 700° C. or higher, high high-temperature strength, and good specularity. It is desirable that the electrode has high stability over time and low sheet resistance and contact resistance. Necessary mechanisms such as a temperature compensation mechanism, a two-hour control mechanism, a display mechanism, and a current control mechanism may be incorporated into the circuit portion of the jig. In consideration of portability, it is desirable to use a rechargeable battery in the power supply part of the jig. A protective film may be formed on the glass substrate, heater section, and electrode surfaces of the jig.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The optical fiber end face processing jig according to the present invention includes a glass substrate that is crimped onto the end face of the optical fiber, and a heater section that heats the glass substrate. An optical fiber end face processing jig designed to change the amount of heat generated, in which the heater part is in the shape of a cross with different lengths and/or widths between the vertical piece and the horizontal piece 9, and the film is uniform. It is characterized by an optical fiber end face processing jig that is formed thickly, has electrodes on its four ends, and has pairs of electrodes at both ends of the cross-shaped vertical piece and electrodes at both ends of the cross-shaped horizontal piece. Therefore, the structure is simple, it is easy to manufacture, and the end face treatment of multiple types of optical fibers with different wires and materials can be performed.
It is also possible to respond to changes in ambient temperature, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the optical fiber end face treatment jig according to the present invention, and FIG.
It is a sectional view of part A.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) It is equipped with a glass substrate that is crimped onto the end face of the optical fiber and a heater section that heats the glass substrate, and the amount of heat generated by the heater section can be changed by changing the electric resistance value of the heater section. A jig for processing the end face of an optical fiber, in which the heater part has a cross shape with different lengths and/or widths between the vertical piece and the horizontal piece, and is formed to have a uniform film thickness, and the heater part has a uniform film thickness. An optical fiber end face processing jig is provided with electrodes, and the electrodes at both ends of the cross-shaped vertical piece and the electrodes at both ends of the cross-shaped horizontal piece are paired, respectively.