WO2021189616A1

WO2021189616A1 - Optical fiber fusion splicing method

Info

Publication number: WO2021189616A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/089791
Authority: WO
Inventors: 字德明; 王艳梅; 宋李烟; 李百灵; 高峻
Original assignee: 广州永士达医疗科技有限责任公司
Priority date: 2020-03-23
Filing date: 2020-05-12
Publication date: 2021-09-30
Also published as: CN111352189A; CN111352189B

Abstract

Disclosed is an optical fiber fusion splicing method, comprising the following steps: a. removing a coating layer: removing the coating layer used for a part to be fusion-spliced of a first optical fiber, which is called as a first exposed fiber core; and removing a coating layer used for said part of a second optical fiber, which is called as a second exposed fiber core; b. sleeving: taking a hollow pipe with the inner diameter d greater than or equal to 0.2 mm and the outer diameter D smaller than or equal to 1 mm, and sleeving the hollow pipe in the first optical fiber along the first exposed fiber core for use; c. fusion splicing: aligning the first exposed fiber core of the first optical fiber with the second exposed fiber core of the second optical fiber, and placing the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber in a fusion splicer for fusion splicing to obtain a fusion splicing section; d. moving the pipe: moving the hollow pipe from the first optical fiber to the fusion splicing section so as to coat the fusion splicing section; and e, glue injection: injecting glue along the interior of the hollow pipe to wait for glue solidification. The fusion splicing operation of the optical fiber can be completed without an optical fiber coating machine, it can be guaranteed that the outer diameter of a fusion splicing point of the optical fiber is small, and the product requirements are met.

Description

Optical fiber fusion splicing method

Technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of optical fiber processing, in particular to an optical fiber fusion splicing method.

Background technique

There are two main types of optical fiber fusion splicing technology, one of which is to use heat shrinkable tubing, and the other is to use an optical fiber coating machine. For example, the application document with patent application number CN201510483552.7 discloses an optical fiber fusion splicing method. The application date is 20150807 and the announcement date is 20180731. It also uses one of the above two methods to complete optical fiber fusion splicing. The main invention is It lies in bonding the optical fiber bundles together with glue to complete the goal of rapid splicing.

In the prior art, when a heat shrinkable tube is used, the main steps are: [1] stripping the optical fiber (for example, removing the coating layer), [2] wiping the fiber (for example, wiping the core with alcohol cotton), and [3] preparing the end face (That is, the connection end faces of the two optical fibers are processed on the optical fiber fusion splicer), [4] splicing (that is, the two optical fibers are fused together), [5] heat shrinking (that is, the heat shrinkable tube is heated on the optical fiber fusion splicer to make The heat shrinkable tube shrinks and closes to the fiber fusion splice point). Obviously, this method does not require the use of an optical fiber coating machine, and when the demand for optical fiber fusion splicing is small, this method saves the cost of purchasing a machine.

When using an optical fiber coating machine, the core lies in the ability to recoat the stripped optical fiber coating at the optical fiber fusion splice point. The disadvantage is that the coater is expensive, and if the frequency of fiber repair is low, the coater is less cost-effective.

Therefore, when the target product requires the outer diameter of the optical fiber fusion splice to be small (for example, less than 1mm), heat shrinkable tubing cannot be used for fusion splicing (because the outer diameter of the heat shrinkable tubing is generally 3mm-4mm before heat shrinking, and after heat shrinking The outer diameter limit size is also greater than 1mm). Moreover, if the optical fiber coating machine is used to complete the fusion splicing work, the cost performance is too low. Therefore, how to complete the fusion splicing of optical fibers under the premise of saving costs is of great significance.

Summary of the invention

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber fusion splicing method, which can complete the optical fiber fusion splicing work without using an optical fiber coating machine, and can ensure that the outer diameter of the optical fiber fusion splicing point is small and meets product requirements.

The purpose of the present invention is achieved by adopting the following technical solutions:

The optical fiber fusion splicing method includes the following steps:

Step a is to remove the coating layer: remove the coating layer of the first optical fiber for the part to be spliced, called the first bare core; remove the coating layer of the second optical fiber for the part to be spliced , Called the second bare core;

Step b is the casing tube: take a hollow tube, the inner diameter of the hollow tube is d≥0.2mm, and the outer diameter of the hollow tube is D≤1mm, and the hollow tube is sheathed along the first exposed fiber core into the first optical fiber for use;

Step c is fusion splicing: align the first bare core of the first optical fiber with the second bare core of the second optical fiber, and place them in a fusion splicer for fusion splicing to obtain a spliced section;

Step d is pipe transferring: moving the hollow tube from the first optical fiber to the fusion splicing section to cover the fusion splicing section;

Step e is glue injection: inject glue along the inside of the hollow tube and wait for the glue to solidify.

Further, the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber are both single-mode optical fibers.

Further, the inner diameter d of the hollow tube is ≥ 0.3 mm, and the outer diameter of the hollow tube is D ≤ 0.6 mm.

Further, the hollow tube is made of plastic material, metal material or alloy material.

Further, the hollow tube is made of transparent plastic material.

Further, the hollow tube is a FEP capillary tube.

Further, in step e, the specific glue injection method is as follows: immerse the welded section in a glue pool, and flood the welded section with glue, thereby obtaining a completely glued injection section; and then take out the glue injection section.

Further, in step e, the glue used is ultraviolet glue.

Further, the optical fiber fusion splicing method further includes step f, and step f is irradiation: irradiating the glue in step e with an ultraviolet lamp to accelerate the curing of the glue.

Further, in step f, before irradiating the glue with an ultraviolet lamp, the excess glue remaining outside the hollow tube is wiped dry.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

The optical fiber fusion splicing method can finally make the outer diameter of the fusion splicing point ≤ 1mm after the two optical fibers are fused. This size can ensure that the optical fiber is suitable for more occasions. For example, the optical fiber of this size can pass through the metal guide wire with an inner diameter of not more than 1mm, so that the optical path of the probe can work normally and safely inside the metal guide wire; that is, In other words, when the diameter of the optical fiber reserved for the target product is not greater than 1mm, the existing heat shrinkable tube cannot be used to protect the fusion splice, so a coating machine has to be used. The optical fiber fusion splicing method uses a hollow tube instead of heat. The tube is shrunk and glued tightly. The fixing method and protection method are not only reliable and convenient, but also do not need to purchase a coating machine, which is cost-effective; especially when the demand for optical fiber fusion splicing is less, its contribution is particularly significant.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, the present invention will be further described in conjunction with specific implementations. It should be noted that, provided that there is no conflict, the following embodiments or technical features can be combined to form new embodiments.

The optical fiber fusion splicing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

Step a is to remove the coating layer: remove the coating layer of the first optical fiber for the part to be spliced, called the first bare core; remove the coating layer of the second optical fiber for the part to be spliced , Called the second bare core.

Step b is the casing tube: take a hollow tube, the inner diameter of the hollow tube is d≥0.2mm, and the outer diameter of the hollow tube is D≤1mm, and the hollow tube is sheathed along the first exposed fiber core into the first optical fiber for use.

Step c is fusion splicing: align the first bare core of the first optical fiber with the second bare core of the second optical fiber (for example, the two ends are aligned with each other), and place them in a fusion splicer for fusion splicing to obtain a spliced section.

Step d is transferring the tube: moving the hollow tube from the first optical fiber to the fusion splicing section to cover the fusion splicing section.

The optical fiber fusion splicing method can finally make the outer diameter of the fusion splicing point ≤ 1mm after the two optical fibers are fused. This size can ensure that the optical fiber is suitable for more occasions. For example, the optical fiber of this size can pass through the metal guide wire with an inner diameter of not more than 1mm, so that the optical path of the probe can work normally and safely inside the metal guide wire; that is, In other words, when the diameter of the optical fiber reserved for the target product is not greater than 1mm, the existing heat shrinkable tubing cannot be used to protect the splice point, so a coating machine has to be used. The optical fiber splicing method provided in this embodiment passes The hollow tube replaces the heat-shrinkable tube and is glued tightly. The fixing method and the protection method are not only reliable and convenient, but also do not need to purchase a coating machine, which is cost-effective; especially based on the less demand for fiber fusion splicing, its contribution The degree is particularly significant.

As a further preferred embodiment, the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber are both single-mode optical fibers. Of course, the use of multimode fiber is not ruled out. However, the diameter of fiber-based fusion splices should not be greater than 1mm. Therefore, the use of single-mode fibers can reduce the final outer diameter of the fusion splices as much as possible, so that the fusion spliced fibers are suitable for more target products.

As a further preferred embodiment, based on the single-mode fiber including a core and a protective layer (or coating) coated on the surface of the core, the final outer diameter of the single-mode fiber is generally 200um-250um, in order to reserve space The glue is contained and the glue is circulated. Therefore, preferably, the inner diameter d of the hollow tube is ≥ 0.3 mm. At the same time, in order to ensure that the outer diameter of the spliced part of the optical fiber after splicing is small, the outer diameter D of the hollow tube is less than or equal to 0.6 mm. In other words, the inner diameter d of the hollow tube can also be 0.21mm, 0.22mm, 0.23mm, 0.24mm, 0.25mm, 0.26mm, 0.27mm, 0.28mm, 0.29mm or 0.31mm, 0.32mm, 0.33mm, 0.34 mm, 0.35mm, 0.36mm, 0.37mm, 0.38mm, 0.39mm, 0.40mm, 0.41mm, 0.42mm, 0.43mm, 0.44mm, 0.45mm, 0.46mm, 0.47mm, 0.48mm, 0.49mm, 0.50mm, 0.51mm, 0.52mm, 0.53mm, 0.54mm, 0.55mm, 0.56mm, 0.57mm, 0.58mm, 0.59mm. The outer diameter D of the hollow tube can also be 0.31mm, 0.32mm, 0.33mm, 0.34mm, 0.35mm, 0.36mm, 0.37mm, 0.38mm, 0.39mm, 0.40mm, 0.41mm, 0.42mm, 0.43mm, 0.44mm , 0.45mm, 0.46mm, 0.47mm, 0.48mm, 0.49mm, 0.50mm, 0.51mm, 0.52mm, 0.53mm, 0.54mm, 0.55mm, 0.56mm, 0.57mm, 0.58mm, 0.59mm.

Obviously, the hollow tube can be made of metal or alloy material. What needs to be added here is that the heat shrinkable tubing is generally a three-layer structure, with a metal tube in the middle, which is used to ensure that the optical fiber fusion splice is not bent or broken; and the essence of the present invention is that the fusion spliced optical fiber is suitable for use with Mounting the target product with a caliber less than 1 mm, that is, the size is the core element. Therefore, any part of the optical fiber after fusion (that is, including the fusion splice point) needs to maintain a certain degree of flexibility. Therefore, preferably, the hollow tube is made of plastic material.

In addition, since the application uses glue for fixing, the hollow tube is preferably made of transparent plastic material. In this way, it is easy to identify whether the fusion splice of the optical fiber is stable and damaged. As a preferred material for the hollow tube, the hollow tube is a FEP capillary tube. Obviously, the hollow tube can also be made of other conventional transparent plastic materials.

As a further preferred embodiment, in step e, the specific glue injection method is as follows: immerse the welded section in a glue pool and flood the welded section with glue to obtain a completely glued injection section; and then take out the glue injection section. Obviously, considering that the hollow tube reserves less internal space, this glue injection method can ensure that the glue completely penetrates the hollow tube, guarantees the connection effect, and can further improve the bending resistance, torsion resistance, and tensile resistance of the optical fiber fusion splice.

As a further preferred embodiment, in step e, the glue used is ultraviolet glue, which has good fluidity and can ensure that the glue penetrates the hollow tube. In addition, the combined hollow tube is better made of transparent plastic material, which not only ensures the detection of the bonding effect, but also ensures that the ultraviolet rays can transmit through the hollow tube to irradiate the ultraviolet glue normally. That is, the optical fiber fusion splicing method further includes step f, and step f is irradiation: irradiating the glue in step e with an ultraviolet lamp to accelerate the curing of the glue. It should be noted here that in addition to UV glue, other conventional glues, such as heat curing glue, can also be used.

As a further preferred embodiment, in step f, before irradiating the glue with the ultraviolet lamp, the excess glue remaining outside the hollow tube is wiped dry to prevent the glue remaining outside the hollow tube from increasing after curing. The outer diameter of the large hollow tube.

The foregoing embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and cannot be used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any insubstantial changes and substitutions made by those skilled in the art on the basis of the present invention belong to the present invention. The scope of protection required.

Claims

The optical fiber fusion splicing method is characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

Step a is to remove the coating layer: remove the coating layer of the first optical fiber for the part to be spliced, called the first bare core; remove the coating layer of the second optical fiber for the part to be spliced , Called the second bare core;

Step b is the casing tube: take a hollow tube, the inner diameter of the hollow tube is d≥0.2mm, and the outer diameter of the hollow tube is D≤1mm, and the hollow tube is sheathed along the first exposed fiber core into the first optical fiber for use;

Step c is fusion splicing: align the first bare core of the first optical fiber with the second bare core of the second optical fiber, and place them in a fusion splicer for fusion splicing to obtain a spliced section;

Step d is pipe transferring: moving the hollow tube from the first optical fiber to the fusion splicing section to cover the fusion splicing section;

Step e is glue injection: inject glue along the inside of the hollow tube and wait for the glue to solidify.
The method of optical fiber fusion splicing according to claim 1, wherein the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber are both single-mode optical fibers.
The optical fiber fusion splicing method according to claim 1, wherein the inner diameter of the hollow tube is d≧0.3 mm, and the outer diameter of the hollow tube is D≦0.6 mm.
The optical fiber fusion splicing method according to claim 1, wherein the hollow tube is made of plastic material, metal material or alloy material.
The optical fiber fusion splicing method according to claim 4, wherein the hollow tube is made of transparent plastic material.
8. The optical fiber fusion splicing method of claim 5, wherein the hollow tube is a FEP capillary tube.
The optical fiber fusion splicing method according to claim 1, wherein in step e, the specific glue injection method is: immersing the fusion splicing section in a glue pool, and flooding the fusion splicing section with glue, thereby obtaining a completely glue-injecting glue injection section ; Then take out the glue injection section.
The optical fiber fusion splicing method according to claim 1, wherein in step e, the glue used is ultraviolet glue.
8. The optical fiber fusion splicing method according to claim 7, wherein the optical fiber fusion splicing method further comprises step f, and step f is irradiation: irradiating the glue in step e with an ultraviolet lamp to accelerate the curing of the glue.
8. The optical fiber fusion splicing method according to claim 7, characterized in that, in step f, before irradiating the glue with the ultraviolet lamp, the excess glue remaining outside the hollow tube is wiped dry.