JPS63230534A - Cooling of wire material and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable cooling of a high-temperature wire material in small space economically and efficiently, by introducing the wire material formed by spinning to a room temperature gas atmosphere separated by a plate material with a small hole isolated from a high-temperature gas layer. CONSTITUTION:A preform 11 is subjected to melt spinning in a heating furnace 7, a prepared optical fiber 2 is drawn to a room temperature gas atmosphere (e.g. air) and coated with a silicone resin by a resin coater 8. Successively, the resin is cured by a resin curing furnace 9 and wound by a winder 10. A wire material cooler 12 is set between the heating furnace 7 and the resin coater 8 and the high-temperature optical fiber 2 drawn out from the heating furnace 7 is cooled. The high-temperature optical fiber 2 pulled out from the heating furnace to air is moved in the arrow direction by the winder 10 to transfer the high-temperature wire material in the axial direction, passed through a small hole 1, a high-temperature air layer formed around the periphery of the high-containing optical fiber 2 by receiving heat of the optical fiber itself is at least partially isolated, removed and the optical fiber is introduced to an air atmosphere separated by a plate material 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for cooling a wire, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for cooling a wire such as a melt-spun high-temperature optical fiber.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional technologies in this field include, for example, the
-7655, and U.S. Pat.
．． There was one shown in the specification of No. 208,200.

Generally, this type of wire cooling device is installed between a drawing furnace and a resin (for example, silicone resin) coating device in an optical fiber manufacturing device. It also plays a role in keeping the temperature of the wire (optical fiber) below a certain level during resin coating.

The reason for performing this cooling is to prevent the surface temperature of the optical fiber from affecting the coating resin layer and causing a decrease in the outer diameter of the coating or an abnormal appearance.

Conventional cooling of the wire in such a cooling device involves inserting a high-temperature optical fiber after drawing and spinning into a cylinder, blowing cooling gas into the cylinder, and cooling the optical fiber by blowing the cooling gas onto the optical fiber. (Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-7655), or cooling by passing through a cylindrical reservoir containing a suitable cooling liquid (e.g. glycol ether, glycol acetate, etc.) (U.S. Pat. No. 4,208.200).

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

As mentioned above, traditional cooling methods include flowing gas in a cylinder or by cooling liquid in a cylindrical reservoir.
Since the optical fiber was being cooled, it was necessary to provide a cylindrical space in the path line, but since conventional cooling devices include cylinders or cylindrical objects,
The required space is quite large, and it is not possible to install other equipment in the space where the cooling device is installed, so it is necessary to secure a considerable amount of space in the pass line just for this cooling device. There was a problem that the line could not be shortened.

Further, there is a problem in that a large capital investment is required for the maintenance of equipment such as a gas supply device and a N flow regulator.

Furthermore, since a low-temperature gas is used for cooling, there is a problem in that moisture adheres to the optical fiber due to dew condensation on the upper and lower surfaces of the cylinder through which the optical fiber passes, reducing the strength of the optical fiber.

Furthermore, the work of inserting the optical fiber into this cylinder is
This is difficult because the cylinder is long and the optical fiber is an insulator and is easily charged with static electricity.

In conventional devices of this kind, as mentioned above, in which the optical fiber is cooled by blowing gas cooled in a cylinder, a large amount of cooling gas is discharged without being used for heat exchange, which reduces the gas cost. , there is a problem that it is disadvantageous in terms of energy cost, and the cooling principle is heat conduction in the cooling gas layer, so if you want to increase the efficiency, it is necessary to lengthen the cooling section (cylindrical length) or increase the gas flow rate. If the former method is used, the space required for the equipment increases, and if the latter method is used, the capacity of the gas cooling device and the gas supply length must be increased. Ta.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides a method and apparatus for cooling a wire such as a high-temperature optical fiber, which can be economically and efficiently cooled in a relatively small space. The purpose is to

c. Means for Solving the Problem] According to the present invention, the above problem can be solved by forming a wire such as an optical fiber by drawing or spinning, and then heating the wire at a high temperature to a room temperature lower than that of the wire. The high-temperature wire is drawn out into a gas atmosphere, and a small hole is provided around the wire to block at least part of the high-temperature gas layer generated by receiving heat from the wire itself. It is inserted into the small hole of the cooling device made of a plate-shaped body, and blocks at least a part of the high-temperature gas layer, thereby creating a room-temperature temperature separated from the gas atmosphere by the plate-shaped body provided with the small hole. The problem is solved by a method of cooling the wire, which is characterized by drawing it into a gas atmosphere.

[For production]

The room-temperature gas atmosphere is divided by a plate-like body that has small holes around the high-temperature wire that are large enough to block at least part of the high-temperature gas layer that is generated by the heat of the wire itself. The wire is inserted into the small hole, drawn from one gas atmosphere at room temperature into the separated gas atmosphere of the other, and the wire is cooled by removing the high temperature gas layer around the wire.

〔Example〕

The cooling method of the present invention differs from the conventional method in which low-temperature gas is blown into a cylinder through which a high-temperature optical fiber passes, and cooling is performed by conduction of heat to this gas via a heated air layer. This is a thermally defective gate, which forcibly removes the air layer around the optical fiber that is heated by the optical fiber itself and has a heat-retaining effect on the temperature of the optical fiber. By replacing the room temperature air with room temperature air, the optical fiber is cooled to the required temperature level by the room temperature air.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the wire cooling method according to the present invention.

In the figure, a preform 11 is also fused in a heating furnace z, and the obtained optical fiber 2 is drawn out into a gas atmosphere at room temperature, for example air, and is coated with silicone resin in a resin coating device 8, followed by resin curing. It is hardened in the furnace 9 and rolled into a winding bag 210.
It is wound up.

A wire cooling device 12 according to the present invention is added between the heating furnace 7 and the resin coating device 8 to cool the high-temperature optical fiber 2 drawn out from the heating furnace 7.

FIG. 2 shows a wire cooling bag F aa according to the present invention used when carrying out the wire cooling method according to the present invention shown in FIG.
It is a perspective view of one example.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a small hole provided in a plate-shaped body 3, and a high-temperature optical fiber 2 drawn out from a heating furnace into the air is connected to a moving means for moving the high-temperature wire in the axial direction, for example. It is moved in the direction of the arrow by the winding device (lO in Fig. 1), passes through the small hole l, and a small portion of the high-temperature air layer generated by receiving the heat of the optical fiber itself is formed around the high-temperature optical fiber 2. A portion of both is cut off, removed, and drawn out into an air atmosphere separated by a plate-shaped body 3.

The wire cooling device according to the present invention is a plate made of a good thermal conductor, which is provided with small holes around the high-temperature wire that are large enough to block at least a portion of the high-temperature gas layer generated by receiving the heat of the wire itself. and a moving means for moving the high-temperature wire in the axial direction, the plate-shaped body is installed in a gas atmosphere at room temperature, and the high-temperature wire is inserted into the small hole of the plate-shaped body. It is configured to be moved in the axial direction by the moving means and drawn into the atmosphere separated by the plate-shaped body.

The above-mentioned wire cooling device can be constructed by arranging a plurality of (two or three or more) plate-shaped bodies in parallel, and the small holes of each plate-shaped body are arranged in a straight line.

In addition, in order to prevent the temperature of the plate-shaped body 3 from rising due to the heated air layer around the optical fiber 2, it is possible to maintain the temperature at or below the room temperature by flowing cooling water.

Although the cooling device shown in FIG. 2 is shown as having two of the above-mentioned plate-shaped bodies 3 installed, a larger number can be installed.

This plate-shaped body 3 is very short in the direction of the f° pass line, and even when multiple pieces are used, each one functions independently, so other equipment elements, such as an outer diameter measuring device, etc. can be connected between them. It is possible to install a thickness unevenness measuring device, etc., and the space efficiency is very good.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the shape of the small hole l in the plate-like body 3, and is a sectional view of the plate-like body 3 taken along a plane including the axis of the small hole l.

FIG. 3(a) shows a plate-shaped body 3 with a cylindrical hole (■),
(bl is provided with a conical projection around the small hole l of the plate-shaped body 3,
The one in which the surface facing the optical fiber is made larger, and the one in (C) is the one in which the plate-like part around the small hole 1 is shaved into a conical shape so that the surface facing the optical fiber is made smaller. Any of the shapes illustrated here or a combination thereof can produce similar effects.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of an example of a plate-like body, in which two plate-like bodies 41 and 42 are provided with slits 43° and 44, respectively, and used in combination. This makes it easy to thread the wire (optical fiber) through.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing the temperature distribution of the air layer around a high-temperature optical fiber. Figure 0 is an example of the actual value measured using a thermocouple of the temperature of the air layer around the optical fiber with a surface temperature of 250 degrees Celsius and a diameter of 125 μm. This shows that. In the figure, the vertical axis indicates the temperature of the air layer around the optical fiber (unit: °C), and the horizontal axis indicates the distance from the central axis of the optical fiber (unit: mm).

As is clear from Fig. 5, the heated air layer around the optical fiber extends to a thickness of several mm (5 mm or more), which makes it difficult to connect the heated optical fiber to a small piece with a radius smaller than this thickness. By passing through the hole (1 in Figure 2), for example, the gas atmosphere (air) in the lower part of the plate-shaped body separated by the plate-shaped body (3 in Figure 1) is separated from the upper part of the plate-shaped body (3 in Figure 1).
At least a portion of the hot air layer can be drawn off, intercepted, and drawn into the interior.

In addition, when an optical fiber is passed through the above-mentioned small hole, the vortex generated before and after the small hole disturbs the high-temperature air layer on the surface of the optical fiber, causing the temperature around the optical fiber to follow the high-temperature air layer. It will be much lower than if it were.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the air flow that occurs when the optical fiber passes through the small hole. The figure shows a plate-shaped body 3 cut along a plane including the central axis of the optical fiber 2.Next, the effects of the wire cooling method according to the present invention will be described with reference to an actual example.

The measurement of the cooling effect is carried out using the plate-shaped body 3 shown in FIG. 2 as the cooling device 12 in the schematic diagram shown in FIG. 1.
As is clear from Table 1, the cooling effect of the culm fiber with small holes (1 in FIG. 1) having a small hole diameter is large.

After one hour of continuous operation using the above device, it cooled! It was found that the temperature of the lithium ion chamber increased and the cooling effect was diminished.

For this purpose, cooling water at 18°C is circulated through the cooling pipe (4 in Figure 1) of the plate-shaped body (3 in Figure 1) that constitutes the cooling device to cool the plate-shaped body. When a 1 mm piece was used and measured under the same conditions as above, a stable cooling effect was obtained over time. It was also found that the cooling effect was slightly increased.

The results of this measurement are shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Note that the wire cooling device according to the present invention, especially the plate-shaped body, receives heat by coming into contact with the heated air layer around the optical fiber passing through, and in this case, the cooling effect is impaired. It is effective to use a good thermal conductor such as copper or iron as the material tube of the plate-shaped body, and it is desirable to cool the device in order to remove the amount of heat received in this way.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it can be used in wire manufacturing processes such as fiber manufacturing processes, particularly wire drawing processes, in which complicated devices such as outer diameter measuring devices and coating devices are arranged in the pass line direction. The wire can be easily cooled in
Moreover, there is an effect that the cost of the device can also be reduced.

More specifically, the pass line can be made shorter than in the prior art, reducing equipment investment and providing advantages over the prior art in terms of gas cost and energy cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the wire cooling method according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an example of a cooling device used in the cooling method according to the present invention, and Fig. 3 is the shape of the small hole in the plate-shaped body of Fig. 2. Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the plate-like body in Figure 2, Figure 5 is the temperature of the air layer around the high-temperature optical fiber, and Figure 6 is the temperature that occurs when the optical fiber passes through the small hole. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the flow of air. ■...Small hole, 2...Optical fiber, 3...Plate-shaped body,
4... Cooling pipe, 5... Estimated flow line of air near the small hole, 7... Heating furnace, 8... Resin pumping device, 9...
・Resin curing furnace IO... Winding device, 11... Preform, 12... Wire cooling device, 13... Optical fiber temperature measurement position Patent applicant Sumitomo Electric Industries Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Tama Mushi Kugobe 9, Resin curing furnace Schematic diagram of the wire cooling method according to the present invention. mm) Temperature of the air layer around the high-temperature optical fiber 5 Figure 1: Small hole 3: Plate-like 2° optical fiber 5 Estimated streamline of air near the small hole Air flow generated when the optical fiber passes through the small hole Diagram schematically showing the flow Figure 6 Procedure auxiliary device October 26, 1988 1, Display of the case Patent Application No. 63431 of 1988 2, Name of the invention Wire cooling method and device 3, Person making the amendment Case Relationship with Patent applicant address 5-15 Kitahama, Higashi-ku, Osaka Name (21
3) Sumitomo Electric Industries Co., Ltd. Representative Tetsu Kawakami Department 4, Agent, E Ino] 5. Number of inventions increased by amendment None 6. Subject of amendment Column 7 for detailed explanation of the invention in the specification, Contents of amendment As shown in the attached sheet/-゛(11. "Cooling gas layer" on page 6, line 2 of the specification is corrected to "to cooling gas layer." (2) "Supply length" on page 6, line 7 of the same specification. ” is corrected to “supply amount”.

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) Forming a wire rod such as an optical fiber by drawing or spinning,
The wire rod is drawn out at a high temperature into a gas atmosphere at a room temperature that is lower in temperature than the wire rod, and the drawn out high-temperature wire rod is removed from a high temperature gas layer generated around the wire rod by receiving the heat of the wire rod itself. It is inserted into the above-mentioned small hole of the cooling device made of a plate-shaped body provided with a small hole of a size that blocks both parts of the high-temperature gas layer, and blocks at least a part of the high-temperature gas layer. A wire cooling method characterized by drawing the wire into a room temperature gas atmosphere separated from the above gas atmosphere by a plate-shaped body. (2) The wire cooling method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the plate-like bodies are used in series as the cooling method. (3) The wire cooling method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the plate-shaped body is cooled to below room temperature. (4) A plate-shaped body made of a good thermal conductor and having small holes around the high-temperature wire that are large enough to block at least part of the high-temperature gas layer generated by the heat of the wire; a moving means for moving the high-temperature wire in the axial direction; the plate-shaped body is installed in a gas atmosphere at room temperature; the high-temperature wire is inserted into a small hole in the plate-shaped body; A wire cooling device characterized in that the wire rod is moved in the axial direction by the plate member and drawn into an atmosphere separated by the plate member. (5) The cooling device is comprised of a plurality of plate-like bodies arranged in parallel, and the small holes of each plate-like body are arranged in a straight line. wire cooling device. (6) The wire cooling device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the plate-shaped body has cooling means for maintaining its temperature below room temperature.