JPS62223708A - Fusion splicing device for optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the horizontal carriage of a optical fiber core as less as possible by successively driving a carrying board to be optionally moved in the axial direction of the optical fiber core and a coat removing/fusion splicing process mechanism to be optionally moved in the direction rectangular to said moving direction. CONSTITUTION:The coat of the core 3 is removed by the coat removing/fusion slicing process mechanism provided with the carrying board 4 having a carrying board clump to be optionally moved in the axial direction of the core 3, an edge 10' for removing the coat, a center part 6, etc., and constituted so as to be moved in the vertical direction and a naked fiber 3' is cut off by a cutting edge 11 and a sleeper member 12. An opposite naked fiber processed similarly to the fiber 3' is fused and spliced with the optical fiber 3' by moving the board 4 and the coat removing/fusion splicing process mechanism respectively. In said constitution, the horizontal carriage of the optical fiber core can be reduced as less as possible and an integrated automatic connecting device reducing a required core length can be obtained.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION FIELD The present invention relates to an optical fiber fusion splicer that can automatically fusion splice optical fibers. Conventional technology A large number of optical fibers to be connected are housed in an optical cable, and this type of device connects both ends of a pair of optical cables to face each other so that their axes are horizontal. Place it right next to it and use it. Fifth
The figure shows the arrangement. 2 is a connecting device, 2 is an optical cable, and 3 is an optical fiber core. Optical fibers in optical cables are typically coated with a plastic material for protection. An optical fiber in this state is called a core fiber, and an optical fiber without a coating is called a bare fiber. Optical fiber coated wires can be roughly divided into single coated optical fibers, and multi-core tape coated wires, which are a plurality of optical fibers arranged in a horizontal row and coated at once. Fusion splicing is possible for both, and the present invention also connects both. The connection process is as follows. (1) Process of removing the coating from the core wire (coating removal process)
(2) Forming a vertical and smooth end face of the optical fiber by scratching one point on the bare optical fiber and cutting it by applying tension (cutting process) (3) Cutting both ends of the optical fiber It is roughly divided into four steps: positioning, melting and fusing the ends with heat such as electric discharge (fusion process) (4), and reinforcing the connected bare fiber portion (reinforcement process). Conventionally, these steps have been performed manually using dedicated tools or equipment. Automation has also been progressing, but most of these automate the operations within each tool and on the equipment, such as attaching and removing the core wire to those tools and equipment, and An operator must move the core wire between them. These tasks require careful attention and take time. Therefore, studies are underway to reduce the connection work time by automatically performing all processes on one device. Conventional examples of this integrated type splicing device are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 59-18247, ``Fully automatic i-type splicing device for optical fibers'' and Japanese Patent Application No. 61-135865, ``Conveyance mechanism for optical fiber splicing''. ing. However, in these devices, the mechanical parts that carry out each process are fixedly arranged at specific positions, and movement between these processes is performed by a transport mechanism that grips the core wire. The coating removal step may be divided into two steps, such as by performing the wiping operation using an independent mechanism. in any case,
The core wire must be transported between these processes located at different locations, and the length of the core wire from the end of the optical cable is hereinafter referred to as the "core wire draw-out length". ) will need to be kept large. If the length of the wire to be drawn out is large, there will be a large surplus in the length of the core wire after connection, and it will be necessary to store the length by rounding it in the center of both optical cable ends. Therefore, the optical cable connection portion becomes large. The integrated device is aimed at connecting thick optical cables (accommodating 1" optical cables), which has the great advantage of reducing work time. It is undesirable to make it even larger. In the case of manual work, if each tool or device is made sufficiently small, the wire drawing length can be shortened by replacing each tool or device for each process, even if work efficiency decreases. This is a major drawback of such integrated connection devices. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an integrated connecting device that requires a small core length by minimizing the need to transport the optical fiber in the lateral direction (direction perpendicular to the optical cable axis). Structure of the Invention The present invention provides an optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus that is integrally configured to continuously perform coating removal, cutting, and fusion splicing of optical fiber cores, which includes a pair of optical fiber fusion splicers having a mechanism for gripping the core wire. a center unit integrally configured with a mechanism for performing a coating removal process and a fusion splicing process separately between the conveyance table members; a common support member for supporting these mechanisms; A cutting mechanism for cutting the bare fiber is provided between the conveyance table member and the center unit, a common support member is provided to support these mechanisms, and both conveyance table members have guide portions that grip the fiber ends in opposite directions. and is provided with a mechanism that can freely move in the axial direction of the core fiber, and the center unit is provided with a groove for positioning the bare fiber, and the bare fiber held by the carrier member is moved into the bare fiber position groove. A holding mechanism that can move freely is provided, a process mechanism is provided for reinforcing the reinforcing member at the welded joint, and a driving member is provided for each of the mechanical members to remove the coating from the optical fiber core, cut the bare fiber, and perform fusion. The mechanism for the connection process is provided with an electric circuit that sequentially activates the drive members described above to automatically carry out the process, and the conveyor member is configured to be able to move at right angles to the core axis and the center unit, and the bare fiber of the center unit is The positioning groove can be placed only on one side, and a reinforcing mechanism can also be provided to keep both bare fiber ends within the same field of view during the fusion splicing process.
It is equipped with a microscope optical system equipped with a camera, and is configured so that the fusion splicing operation can be controlled using images. Effect of the present invention The present invention enables the coating removal process, cutting process, and fusion process of the optical fiber core to be carried out by moving almost only in the axial direction (same as the axial direction of the optical cable). The present invention is characterized in that a mechanism for the coating removal process and a mechanism for the fusion process are disposed vertically and integrated, and that they are structured to move in the vertical direction. Conventional technology always required lateral movement between these steps, which required extra wire draw-out length.
The invention requires no redundancy. Embodiment 1 First Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as the apparatus) of the present invention. In the figure, 3' is a bare fiber, 4 is a carrier, 5 is a carrier clamp, 6 is a center component, 7 is a V-groove, 8 is a V-groove lamp, 9 is a discharge electrode, IO is a clamp for coating removal, IO
' indicates a removing blade, 11 a cutting blade, 12 a pillow component, 13 a motor, and 14 a connecting portion reinforcing member. Since the structure is completely symmetrical with the center component 6 in the center, components on the right side are not shown. Further, the mutual connection state of individual parts, etc., was not illustrated. This will be supplemented in the explanation below. The configuration of the device of the present invention will be explained. The carrier clamp 5 fixes the core wire 3 to the carrier 4 and moves together with the carrier 4. Transport platform clamp 5
is driven by the motor 13, so this motor 13
is also integrated with the conveyor table 4 (not shown). The core wire 3 is positioned on the carrier 4 by a groove 4 - 1 on the upper surface of the carrier 4 . The groove portion 4-1 is suitably a V-groove in the case of a single-fiber wire, and a square groove in the case of a multi-fiber tape fiber. This carrier 4
The core wire 3 can be moved in the axial direction and in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the axial direction. Further, a V-groove portion 7 is formed on the upper surface of the center component 6 disposed between the transport tables 4. This V-groove portion 7 is for positioning the bare fiber 3' during fusion splicing. In the case of a single-fiber wire, only one V-groove portion 7 is sufficient, but in the case of a multi-fiber tape fiber, multiple grooves matching the number of optical fibers and the spacing thereof are required. Note that the multi-line groove can of course also be used for single-fiber wires. ■Concave notch 7-1 in the center of the groove 7
A pair of discharge electrodes 9 inserted into the notch 7-1 are used to heat and melt the optical fiber by the discharge between the discharge electrodes. A high voltage power source is electrically connected to this pair of discharge electrodes. Furthermore, removal blades io' for coating removal are attached to the left and right ends of the lower surface of the center component 6, respectively, and removal blades io' are attached to the upper surface of the coating removal clamp 10.

By engaging with 0', the coating removal operation of the core wire is performed. ■
The groove lamp 8 and the coating removal clamp 10 are each connected to and driven by an independent motor 13. In this embodiment, these motors 13, center parts 6, and supports (not shown) are integrally connected to form a unit U. The combined units (U) can be moved up and down by an attached mechanism. Cutting blade 11
is provided at the tip of a handle provided between the conveyor table 4 and the center component 6, and is configured to be able to move horizontally in the longitudinal direction of the handle, and this action scratches the surface of the bare fiber 31. Further, the pillow component [2 is configured to move up and down in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction) of this handle. As it moves upward, it pushes up the opposite side of the scratched bare fiber 3/surface with a convex curved surface, applying tensile stress to the scratched bare fiber 1 surface, thereby causing the bare fiber 3/
can be cut. The connecting portion reinforcing member 14 is illustrated in order to explain the position where the reinforcing process is carried out in the apparatus of the present invention and the reinforcing method to be adopted. This is a component for reinforcing the core wire connection part by bonding and integrating the fusion-spliced bare fiber part and the covering parts on both sides from above and below. - Two connection portion reinforcing members 14 are consumed per connection. In this case, a highly elastic material such as glass ceramics or metal is usually used, and a hot melt adhesive is attached in advance to one side of each connection portion reinforcing member 140 (the side in contact with the optical fiber). During the reinforcing step, the bare fiber portion and the coated ends on both sides are sandwiched between two connecting portion reinforcing members 14 from above and below and compressed while being heated. When cooled after heating for a predetermined period of time, the adhesive solidifies and the reinforcing process is completed. A conventionally developed mechanism can be used to perform this operation (not shown). For heating, a method using an electric heater or an induction heating method is used. Regarding the reinforcement technology described here, Utility Application No. 57-520 (
Utility Model Application No. 55-105505) "Optical fiber connection structure", patent application No. 58-1552 a4
46510'''Heat-compression mechanism for reinforcing plate for reinforcing wire rod joints'', Japanese Patent Application No. 60-222146''''Heating-compression mechanism for reinforcing plate for wire rod joints'', Japanese Patent Application No. 1987-9722
153006 "Reinforcing device for optical fiber connection section". In addition, in FIG. 1 of this embodiment, a linear movement mechanism is completely adopted, but even if these mechanisms are replaced with a rotation mechanism such as a link, it can be regarded as approximately linear movement, so The same is true. Now, regarding the arrangement of the apparatus of the present invention with respect to the optical cable to be connected, it is constructed so that the reinforcing work position is located on one side of the optical cable. The reinforcing work position and the center component should be located close to each other, and the mechanisms, power supply circuits, electric circuits, and switches necessary for operation should be installed on the opposite side of the reinforcing work position, with the optical cable interposed as much as possible. Next, the operation of the embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention will be explained. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation. It is a diagram showing schematic cross-sectional views seen from the front over time. Since the left and right sides are completely symmetrical, the right side is omitted in the figure. In (1), the core wire 3 is attached to the conveyor table 4. This is a state in which, after the operator puts the core wire into the groove 4-1 of the conveyor table 4, the conveyor table clamp 5 descends and presses the core wire 3. In addition, when attaching the core wire 3, the carrier clamp 5 is in a position that leaves a gap between the core gA3 and the groove 4-1 that is large enough to insert the core m3, and the core gA3 can be easily inserted into the groove 4-1 by inserting the core gA3 into this gap. is positioned. Further, the lowering operation of the conveyor table clamp 5 may be started by a switch operation by the operator, or a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the core @3 may be built into the conveyor table 4 or the center part 6, and after detection, an appropriate You can also shoot it so that it starts automatically after a certain amount of time has passed. In (2), the coating removal clamp 10 rises and the removal blade l
By engaging σ, the removal blade IO' bites into the coating, and then the conveyance table 4 retreats left and right to pull the core wire 3. Then, since the coating held by the coating removal clamp 10 remains as it is, the coating is torn off at the location where the blade bites, leaving a bare fiber portion corresponding to the amount of movement of the conveyor table 4. In (3), the optical fiber is cut. First, scratch the bare fiber part with the cutting blade l] to scratch it. Next, the pillow part 2 is raised to generate tensile stress and break, resulting in a good cut surface. In addition, if the coating and the optical fiber inside are slippery, use the removal blade to'
A clamping mechanism is prepared to sandwich the bare fiber part from above and below between the cutting position and the cutting position, and it is activated just before attaching the tower with the cutting blade 101, and is held until the optical fiber is broken by the rise of the pillow part 2. By doing so, stable cutting characteristics can be obtained. (4) The center part and the parts connected to it (
Hereinafter, they will be collectively referred to as the "center unit." ) descends along with the groove 7-1 on the top surface of the center component and the transport platform 4.
This figure shows the process of matching the heights of optical fibers. (To be exact, the optical fiber is slightly above the V-groove portion 7-1.) Also, the cutting blade and pillow part [2] are retracted so as not to interfere with subsequent operations. (5) is the V-groove portion 7 of the center part 6 after the process of (4).
-1 and the height of the optical fiber of the conveyance table 4 are made to match, and the process of the conveyance table 4 moving toward the center component 6 from the left and right is shown. Further, the sheath removal clamp 10 makes a large opening motion and drops the cutting waste of the core wire 3 downward. Since the cut bare fiber and the coating located between both transport tables 4 are not separated, they tend to fall off. At this time, if the cut waste of the core wire is pushed at the lower part of the conveyor table 4, it will fall more easily. Further, a tray (not shown) is provided below the center unit, and the cut waste of the core wire is collected there. Now, when the bare fiber part is on the V-groove part 7,
(2) As the groove lamp 8 descends, the conveyance table 4 further moves forward to cause the left and right optical fiber end faces to face each other at the notch 7-1. This state is (6). (2) The groove lamp 8 presses the bare fiber into the V-groove 7, but the force is kept sufficiently small so that the optical fiber can move freely in the axial direction. Thereafter, the ends of the bare fibers are melted by electric discharge, and the end faces are joined by moving the carrier. After fusion splicing the optical fibers in this way, turn on the V-groove lamp 8 strongly and then loosen the conveyor clamp 5.
Next, the conveyance platform 4 is moved back to the left and right. Since the position of the optical fiber remains fixed, the coated portion of the coated fiber slides in the groove of the carrier 4 due to the movement of the carrier 4, and the coated portion of the coated fiber comes out at the tip of the carrier 4. After this, ■ open the groove lamp 8 and further lower the center unit slightly, the connected bare fiber will rise from the V-groove, and the carrier 4 will be moved in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the axis of the core (see Figure 1). By moving the optical fiber in the X direction), the connected optical fiber is transported to the reinforcing process section. At this time, at least one of the left and right conveyor clamps 5 is strongly applied to prevent the core wire from slipping due to external force. In addition,
At this time, activate both transport platforms Classic 5 and move the transport platform 4z
By applying voltage to the directional motor, it is also possible to apply tension to the optical fiber connections and eliminate weak connections by breaking them. In the reinforcing process section, the core wire connection section located between the left and right conveyance tables 4 is sandwiched from above and below between two connection section reinforcing members 14, and a reinforcing operation is performed by heating and compressing it. When the reinforcing operation starts, the carrier 4 releases the carrier clamp 5 and returns to the initial position, so that the next core wire to be connected can be attached. During this time, the center unit moves up and down and returns to its initial position. As explained above, in this embodiment, the steps from the coating removal step to the fusion step can be carried out by only moving the core wire in the axial direction. Only in the reinforcement process, the work position is shifted to the side, so transportation operations are required. However, this has the advantage that the next core wire connection operation can be started during the reinforcing operation. Since the reinforcing process is the most time consuming in current technology, requiring a minimum of 30 seconds, having other work processes proceed in parallel with the reinforcing process helps speed up the connection process. Furthermore, it is also possible to configure the device without the reinforcing step. In this case, the degree of freedom of movement of the transport platform 4 in the X direction can also be omitted. The fact that the transport platform 4 has a degree of freedom of movement in the X direction means that
When trying to attach the core wire to the V-groove 4-1, even if the optical fiber is misaligned in the Y direction with respect to the V-groove 4-1, if the misalignment is detected, it can be corrected by moving the conveyance platform 4. This also has the advantage of being possible. Such deviations are caused by insufficient manufacturing accuracy and assembly accuracy of mechanical parts, and insufficient dimensional accuracy of the core wire coating, and if this operation is added to this embodiment, the accuracy will be affected. This is advantageous because it can be alleviated. The above-mentioned deviation can be detected by installing an optical sensor near the V-groove 7 of the center part 6, or by fixing a TV camera above the center part 6 to observe the tip of the optical fiber and performing image processing. This can also be achieved by configuring a system. The former method has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 135865/1988 entitled "Conveyance Mechanism for Optical Fiber Connection." Furthermore, the use of a TV camera to detect the position of an optical fiber was proposed in a patent application filed in 1983.
24719 Fully Automatic Fusion Splicing Device for Optical Fibers”, Japanese Patent Application No. 58-153055 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-46509) “Optical Fiber Core Detection and Axis Alignment Method”, etc. Since position 7 can be fixed within the field of view of the camera and there is no need to measure it, the latter method can also be easily realized.In addition, in the latter method, the end face of the optical fiber during the fusion process is measured based on the TV image. It has the advantage of being highly functional, such as precisely positioning the optical fiber and automatically determining whether the connection is good or bad by observing the condition of the optical fiber after connection.Second EmbodimentIn the case of the first embodiment, During the fusing process, the ends of the bare fibers on both sides were attached to the grooves for positioning. Therefore, if dust adhered to the grooves or if the optical fiber was not properly clamped to the grooves, , the mutual axes of both optical fibers occur, making it impossible to establish a good connection.In the second embodiment, is a device that is premised on performing an alignment operation, and this problem is eliminated. In terms of structure, the shape of the center part is different, and one
Groove part is missing. Also, of course, the V-groove lamp 8 on that side is unnecessary and therefore omitted. Figure 3 shows the difference. Therefore, only the bare fiber γ on one side is attached to the V-groove, and the coated portion on the other side is simply held by the carrier 4. ■The position of the bare fiber y attached to the groove 7 can be finely adjusted by moving it up and down together with the center unit, and ■The bare fiber y that is not attached to the groove 7 can be adjusted to its position in the You can make fine adjustments. Therefore, by combining both operations, both bare fibers can be aligned. This example can only be applied to single-core wires, but
For single mode fibers characterized by a small core diameter, there is an advantage that alignment operations can be applied to the core itself. This is because in this type of optical fiber, sufficient alignment cannot be achieved by alignment based on the outer periphery of the bare fiber 3' as in the first embodiment due to the presence of core eccentricity within the optical fiber. In addition, instead of missing the V groove part on one side,
The V-groove portion may be machined sufficiently deep. Since the bare fiber 3' is in a floating state there, the same effect can be obtained. Now, for the alignment operation, it is necessary to measure the axis misalignment.
Conventionally developed techniques can be applied to this. The most applicable method is the method using the TV camera described in the first embodiment. By devising the optical system, highly accurate alignment is possible. Optical fibers can be measured using either transmitted illumination or reflected illumination. However, the latter method can be applied to axis alignment based on the core, and conventionally, by using mirrors, each image seen from two directions can be measured by one I'V camera. This method must be adopted for axis alignment based on the core. Regarding this method, the above-mentioned patent application No. 58-153055 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-46509)
It is explained in However, an image from one direction is sufficient for alignment based on the outer circumference of the bare fiber 3'. As described in the same document mentioned above, in transmitted illumination, the width of the bright line that appears in the image of the bare fiber 3' depends on where the observation optical system is focused on the bare fiber 3'. This is because the observation optical system can be aligned in the optical axis direction by moving the widths of both bare fibers 3' to match. Furthermore, a similar phenomenon occurs in the case of reflected illumination, so this can be utilized. This measurement method is scheduled to be presented at the 1961 National Conference of the Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers (held from 3/23 to 3/26). This embodiment has the advantage that alignment operation is possible, so stable operation is possible without being affected by dust, etc., and low-loss connection of single mode fibers is also possible. In this embodiment, until the end of the fusion process, the movement of the conveyor table in the X direction was limited to fine adjustment operations.In other words, (1) fine positioning or alignment operations when setting in the groove; The amount of movement for is at most 0.1 r
It is about m. This is because the axes of both core wires are common when the coating is removed, and the configuration is such that there is no positional deviation in the X direction from the groove portion. However, in this configuration, two
There is a drawback that the amount of movement in the direction (axial direction of the core wire) is large. In this embodiment, the amount of movement in these two directions is shortened by arranging a mechanism to shift the axes of both core wires in the X direction during the coating removal and cutting steps. The rest may be the same as the first embodiment or the second embodiment. FIG. 4 shows the features of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a view of the center unit viewed from below. (A) shows the arrangement when the core wires are set in the previous embodiment, and (B) and (C) show the arrangement in the present embodiment. In (b) and (c), since the positions of the core wires overlap, the positions of the coating removal blade and the cutting blade are moved toward the center by that much, so that the amount of retreat of the conveyor table for the cutting process can be reduced. Further, if the stroke of the moving mechanism can be made smaller, the mechanism itself can generally be made smaller, so the dimension of the device in the Z direction can be made smaller by more than the overlap of the core wires. In these embodiments (B) and (C), movement in the X direction to the V groove is required instead, but the shift in the X direction required to overlap the core wires is Since it is only the line width, it only takes 1 wrm for a single-fiber wire and 2 wrm for a 5-fiber tape wire. Therefore, the increase in the wire draw-out length due to this operation can be almost ignored. Also, in the case of (c), X is more important than in the case of (b).
Although the amount of deviation in the direction is required to be two to three times more, since the core wires overlap to the position of the sheath removal clamp, it is effective in further downsizing the device. On the other hand, since the stroke of the conveyor table can be expected to be shortened by at least 10 mm, the total amount of movement of the mechanism will be reduced, leading to an improvement in work speed. Note that for this X-direction movement to the V-groove, both carriers 4 can be provided with supports, but the X-direction position during the coating removal and cutting process on one side must match the X-direction position of the groove. If this is done, only one of the conveyance tables 4 can be moved. In particular, when the V-groove on one side is omitted as in the second embodiment, it is preferable to shift the position of the coating removal and cutting process on that side from that on the other side of the V-groove. In this case, if the reinforcing process is not carried out by the apparatus, it is not necessary to move the other conveyance table 4 in the X direction, so the mechanism can be omitted. The components or members that perform each step of the present invention are provided with a driving member 7, such as a motor, for driving them, as explained in the section on operation, and are configured to operate by driving the motor. Therefore, after inserting the core wire into the groove (1) of the conveyor table of the apparatus of the present invention, the operator operates a switch to start the apparatus of the present invention, and the electric circuit is configured to automatically perform the steps one after another. The electrical circuit is omitted because it does not require special inventiveness to construct an electrical circuit that automatically performs the steps sequentially. As described above, this embodiment has the advantage that the size of the device and the working speed can be improved. Effects of the Invention According to the configuration of the device of the present invention, it is possible to automatically connect various types of optical fibers, thereby speeding up the splicing work and minimizing lateral movement of the fibers. Therefore, since a long wire lead-out length is not required, there is an advantage that the connecting portion of the multi-core optical cable can be prevented from increasing in size. Therefore, it is very useful for the practical application of large-scale communication systems using optical cables.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operating steps of the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention and an explanatory diagram thereof, and FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a conventional device. 2: Optical cable 3: Optical fiber core i 3/: Bare fiber 4: Transport platform 5: Transport platform clamp 6
: Center part 7: V groove part 8: V groove lamp
9: Discharge electrode lo: Clamp for coating removal to'
: Removal blade l】: Cutting blade 【2: Pillow parts
13: Motor 14: Connection reinforcement member patent applicant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation representative patent attorney
Isao Abe- He He''-'
m/'0 Figure 4 Figure 5 Procedural amendment (method) 1932 June 260, Incident indication Japanese Patent Application No. 61-67881 2 Title of invention Optical fiber fusion splicing device 3 Amendment Relationship with the case involving the person who filed the patent application Patent applicant address: Tokyo fF (1-1-6 Uchisaiwai-cho, Hikita-ku Name (422) Representative of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
Tsune Shinfuji 4 Agent Address: 3-12 Minamimachi, Kokubunji City, Tokyo 185
No. 11 shipping date: May 27, 1986

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) In an optical fiber fusion splicing device that is integrally configured to continuously perform the coating removal, cutting, and fusion splicing processes of optical fiber core wires, a pair of opposing conveyance tables each having a mechanism for gripping the core wires are used. a center unit integrally configured with a mechanism for performing a coating removal process and a fusion splicing process separately between the conveyance table members; a common support member supporting these mechanisms; A cutting mechanism for cutting the bare fiber is provided between the center units, a common support member is provided to support these mechanisms, and both of the carrier members have guide portions for gripping the core wire ends in opposite directions; A mechanism is provided that allows the core to move freely in the axial direction, and the center unit is provided with a groove for positioning the bare fiber, and the bare fiber held by the carrier member is freely moved within the bare fiber position groove. A process mechanism for reinforcing the reinforcing member is provided at the welded connection part, and a drive member is provided for each of the mechanical members to remove the coat of the optical fiber, cut the bare fiber, and perform the fusion splicing process. An optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus is provided with an electric circuit that sequentially operates the aforementioned drive members to automatically perform the above mechanisms. (2) The optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the carrier member is configured to be movable at right angles to the fiber axis and the center unit. (3) The optical fiber fusion splicing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the center unit has a bare fiber positioning groove on only one side. (4) Claim 1, which is equipped with a microscopic optical system equipped with a TV camera that allows the ends of both bare fibers to be seen within the same field of view during the fusion splicing process, so that the fusion splicing operation can be controlled by images. The optical fiber fusion splicing device according to item 1 or 2 or 3.