JPS6340290B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a tape-shaped optical fiber in which a required number of optical fibers are arranged in parallel.

This type of tape-shaped optical fiber can be used by itself for optical transmission, and has the advantage that a bundle fiber can be constructed by laminating a plurality of these tape-shaped optical fibers.

When forming this tape-shaped optical fiber, the most important thing is how to align the individual optical fibers in parallel. Conventionally, the optical fibers are aligned in parallel using a jig that regulates the width. However, in this case, it is difficult to align the fibers in parallel without any gaps or irregularities depending on the diameter and number of each optical fiber, and the optical fibers slide in the jig and generate frictional heat. There is a risk that the optical fiber will be damaged due to the occurrence of such a problem, and there have been drawbacks such as the inability to perform high-speed continuous production.

In view of the above, the first object of the present invention is to obtain the desired number of rolls by varying the winding angle and giving an inclination to the rotating roll and utilizing the width-aligning effect of the rotating roll, without using a jig. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method for manufacturing a tape-shaped optical fiber, which can form a tape-shaped optical fiber by easily aligning two optical fibers in parallel without causing friction.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned first object, the present invention draws out a desired number of optical fibers from separate winding drums, wraps them around a rotating roll at different winding angles starting from one end, and makes it possible to A tape-shaped optical fiber is formed by arranging the optical fibers in parallel by tilting them toward the fiber side, and then connecting each optical fiber in a continuous manner using a connecting means such as welding or adhesion. shall be.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a novel method for manufacturing a tape-shaped optical fiber, which can more reliably align a desired number of optical fibers in parallel to form a tape-shaped optical fiber.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned second object, the present invention draws out a desired number of optical fibers from separate winding drums, and sequentially changes the winding angle from one end side of the first rotating roll. The optical fibers are aligned in parallel by slanting toward the larger optical fiber side and wrapping around them, and then the optical fibers are interconnected by welding, adhesive, or other joining means to form a tape-shaped optical fiber. It is characterized by

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

1 and 2 are a plan view and a side view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

In the _figure , A _{1 , A 2 , .}
B ₁ to B _N are optical fibers A whose winding angles gradually increase from the rear end side to the front end side, and whose winding angle is the largest on the front end side, on the first rotary roll 1 that is rotatably supported. The other optical fibers A ₂ to _{A N} except for 1 are slanted toward the optical fiber A ₁ at the left front side. In this case, in order to make the winding angles different, each of the winding drums A ₁ to A _N can be arranged so that the height increases sequentially from the winding drum A ₁ as shown in Fig. 2. .

In this way, the optical fibers B ₁ to B _N are attached to the rotating roll 1.
By making the winding angles different and extending diagonally from the front, the contact resistance of each optical fiber B ₁ to B _N with respect to the rotating roll 1 gradually increases from the rear end side to the front end side. Then, on the rotating roll 1, the optical fibers B ₁ to B _N are brought closer to the optical fiber B ₁ side,
Each of the optical fibers B ₁ to _BN is arranged in parallel without any gaps or irregularities.

The aligned optical fibers 2 aligned in parallel on the rotating roll 1 are passed around the rotating roll 3 as necessary, and then fed to a coupling means 4 that connects each of the optical fibers B ₁ to _BN . An example of this coupling means 4 is an optical fiber.
A high-frequency heating device 5 that heats the outer sheaths of B ₁ to B _N to a degree that slightly melts the optical fibers B ₁ in a molten state.
- A cooling device 6 that cools B _N , and adjacent optical fibers are welded and connected to each other,
A desired tape-shaped optical fiber 7 is formed and wound onto a winding drum 8 which is being driven to wind. Incidentally, the coupling between adjacent optical fibers may be carried out continuously or intermittently, and furthermore, the bonding between adjacent optical fibers may be carried out not only by welding but also by adhesive.

As described above, according to the present invention, the optical fibers pulled out from each winding drum are aligned in parallel on the rotating roll, and then the optical fibers are connected by the coupling means to form a tape-shaped light beam. Since the fibers are formed, it is possible to smoothly align them in parallel on the rotating rollers without generating frictional heat, and to achieve parallel alignment, simply wrap the optical fibers around the rotating rollers to create a width-aligning effect. This has excellent effects such as being able to align the optical fibers easily and without difficulty, and changing the number of optical fibers is extremely easy since it is only necessary to increase or decrease the number of winding drums.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In this example, the optical fibers B ₁ to _BN pulled out from the winding drums A ₁ to A _N are aligned in parallel by the first rotating roll 1, and the aligned optical fibers 2 are arranged, for example, at 90° with the optical fiber A ₁ at the center. The tape-shaped optical fibers were twisted in the same manner as in the first embodiment, except that after twisting, the second rotating roll 3 installed orthogonally to the rotating roll 1 was used to supply the fiber to the coupling means 4. form 7. In this case, since the aligned optical fibers 2 are twisted before the second rotating roll 3,
The width adjustment effect also occurs on the rotating roll 3.

As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention,
Both the first rotating roll and the second rotating roll can repel the width-aligning effect of the optical fibers, and the optical fibers can be more reliably aligned in parallel compared to the first embodiment. Has excellent effects.

A method of forming a bundle fiber by laminating tape-shaped optical fibers formed according to each of the above embodiments will be described. As shown in FIG. A desired number of fibers are rotatably mounted in series on the support rod 9, and adhesive is applied continuously or intermittently to the tape-shaped optical fibers 7 pulled out from the winding drum 8 by an adhesive coating device 10. A pair of width regulating pressure rollers 11 and 12 are arranged to extend in the vertical direction and maintain the required spacing after coating the width, and a pair of width regulating pressure rollers 11 and 12 are arranged immediately after the pressure rollers 11 and 12 are arranged to extend in the front-back direction and maintain the required spacing. By inserting the tape-shaped optical fibers 7 between the pair of height regulating pressure rollers 13 and 14, a bundle fiber 15 having a rectangular end surface in which the tape-shaped optical fibers 7 are laminated can be formed. In this case, it is also possible to apply adhesive directly to the tape-shaped optical fiber 7 obtained by the manufacturing method of the present invention without winding it around the winding drum 8 and to laminate it using the adhesive coating device 10. By incorporating the manufacturing method of the present invention into the manufacturing process of bundle fibers, bundle fibers can be continuously produced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are a plan view and a side view showing an example of an apparatus suitable for use in the manufacturing method of a tape-shaped optical fiber according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a plan view and a side view showing an example of an apparatus suitable for use in other embodiments of the present invention. A perspective view showing the main parts of the device, No. 4
The figure is a schematic perspective view used to explain the method for manufacturing the bundle fiber. Explanation of symbols, A ₁ ~ A _N ... Winding drum, B ₁ ~ B _N
...Optical fiber, 1...First rotating roll, 2...
...Aligned optical fiber, 3...Second rotating roll, 4
. . . Coupling means, 7 . . . Tape-shaped optical fiber.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A desired number of optical fibers are pulled out from separate winding drums, and wrapped around a rotating roll by sequentially changing winding angles from one end thereof and tilting the optical fibers toward the side with a larger winding angle. The optical fibers are aligned in parallel by
1. A method for manufacturing a tape-shaped optical fiber, characterized in that the tape-shaped optical fiber is formed by connecting the fibers in a continuous manner using a bonding means such as adhesive. 2. A desired number of optical fibers are pulled out from separate winding drums, and wrapped around the first rotating roll by sequentially changing the winding angle from one end thereof and tilting toward the optical fiber side with a larger winding angle. Then, the whole optical fiber is twisted at a predetermined angle and wrapped around a second rotating roll, and then each optical fiber is connected and connected by a bonding means such as close contact or adhesive to form a tape-shaped optical fiber. A method for manufacturing a tape-shaped optical fiber, characterized by: