JP3047728B2 - Pretreatment device and processing method for optical cord - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vinyl coating (PV)
C), at the end of an optical cord composed of high-strength Kevlar, nylon coating, primary coat, and optical fiber,
In the process of assembling the optical connector for attaching the optical connector parts for connecting the optical cord, the vinyl coating of the optical cord, the Kevlar / nylon coating of the high-tensile body, and the optical fiber are set to an arbitrary length corresponding to the optical connector shape in the assembled state. The present invention relates to an optical code preprocessing device and a processing method for automating an operation called a preprocessing step from cutting to shaping of a Kevlar.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Optical cord pre-processing devices and processing steps have been carried out by hand until 1992 from the practical use of optical cords. In 1992, Schleuniger (Switzerland) introduced a device (called a pretreatment module) that automated the process of coating optical cords with vinyl, Kevlar, nylon and cutting optical fibers.

[0003] This pretreatment module has a rotary actuator for gripping and positioning an optical code.
Each mechanism of Kevlar cutting, nylon coating cutting, and optical fiber cutting is arranged in a fan shape, and the optical cord is configured to be rotated and positioned by the actuator for each work process.

FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of a conventional configuration. FIG. 1 shows an optical cord gripping mechanism 102 of a rotary actuator 101 which grips an optical cord 103 and a vinyl-coated cutting mechanism 1.
04 shows a state where positioning is performed.

[0005] The conventional vinyl coating cutting technique is a method in which the vinyl portion is cut and removed by a cutter knife-like cutting blade rotating along the outer periphery of the vinyl coating.
The optical cord 103 is then positioned by the rotary actuator 101 on the Kevlar cutting mechanism 105.

[0006] Kevlar cutting technology is a method in which a Kevlar is sandwiched between two crushing blades with an impact and mechanically crushed with a strong crushing force to cut the knives. It is short.

[0007] The optical cord 103 is continuously positioned at the nylon cutting mechanism 106. Nylon cutting technology is
The nylon cut surface was mechanically sandwiched between two cutting blades that opened and closed, and the cut portion was cut into contact with the cutting blade. In order to supply an optical code to this preprocessing module, a method is used in which an optical code cut to a fixed length outside is manually attached to the preprocessing module.

[0008]

As described above, according to the conventional technology using the optical code pre-processing module, the life of the crimping blade is short, and the optical code must be supplied to the pre-processing module manually. Had the disadvantage that

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims at automating the supply of an optical code to a preprocessing device, and further expanding the functions handled by the preprocessing device.
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical cord pre-processing device and a processing method which have higher work reliability than conventional mechanisms corresponding to each process, and are excellent in maintainability of a mechanical portion and life of a cutting blade.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided, according to the present invention, an actuator for gripping an optical cord and positioning the optical cord at a predetermined processing position, and an optical cord positioned by the actuator. A pair of opening and closing mechanisms for mounting four pairs of first and second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting blades, and an opening and closing mechanism that is positioned separately from the opening and closing mechanisms and supports the pair of thermal cutting blades; A mechanism for kneading and loosening the Kevlar of the optical cord, and a Kevlar shaping mechanism for molding after the Kevlar of the optical cord is radially positioned by a gas flow,
An optical cord pre-processing device comprising a brush for removing a cutting material attached to the first, second, third and fourth mechanical cutting blades is provided.

According to the present invention, the first, second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting blades are divided into two right and left parts, and the opening / closing mechanism for supporting the cutting blades is closed. An optical cord pre-processing apparatus is provided, wherein the matching shape formed by the cutting blade when the cutting blade is fitted is formed so that the left-right direction of the circular shape is slightly larger than the up-down direction.

According to the present invention, the power of the drive source of the open / close mechanism for supporting the first, second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting blades to the left and right is asymmetrical. An optical code pre-processing device is provided.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an optical cord pre-processing apparatus, wherein the thermal cutting blade is made of ceramics of silicon nitride or silicon carbide.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an optical cord pre-processing device, wherein the Kevlar shaping mechanism by the gas flow comprises inserting and removing a Kevlar a plurality of times into a gas outlet having a divergent shape. You.

Further, according to the present invention, an optical code which is positioned at a predetermined position using the above-described optical code preprocessing device is gripped by an actuator, positioned one after another, and sequentially processed. A method for positioning an optical cord on the first and second mechanical cutting blades, cutting off the vinyl coating of the optical cord, and fusing the Kevlar of the optical cord of a tensile member with the hot cutting blade. Mechanically loosening the welded portion of the fusing portion of the Kevlar, radially shaping the Kevlar with a gas flow, removing the nylon coating and the primary coat with the third mechanical cutting blade, and performing a fourth mechanical cutting. After cutting the optical fiber with a blade, returning the optical cord to the initial position and releasing the optical cord, the brush is gripped by the actuator, and the first, second, third, and fourth The brush was inserted into and removed 械的 cutting blade, after releasing the brush back the brush in a predetermined position, said actuator by returning to the home position,
An optical code processing method is provided, wherein all steps are completed.

[0016]

According to the above-mentioned solution, the supply of the optical code to the pre-processing device is automated, the function to be handled by the pre-processing device is expanded, and the operation reliability is higher than that of the mechanism corresponding to each conventional process. And the serviceability of the mechanism and the life of the cutting blade can be excellent.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 mainly shows an actuator mechanism for positioning an optical cord to each mechanism. In FIG. 2, 1 is a base, 2 is an optical cord, 3 is a hand, and 4A and 4B are actuators.

The base 1 is provided with a mechanism corresponding to each process described separately. The optical cord 2 is gripped by the hand 3 from a fixed position of the transport mechanism outside the apparatus and introduced into the apparatus.

All subsequent positioning of the optical code to the mechanism in each step is performed by the actuators 4A and 4B and the hand 3. The actuator 4A is installed so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow in the figure, that is, in the direction of introducing the optical code into the preprocessing device.

The actuator 4B is installed so as to be vertically movable with respect to the base 1, as indicated by the arrow in the figure. Because of this configuration, the optical cord 2
Is gripped by the hand 3 and set so as to be positioned at an arbitrary position in the introduction direction of the apparatus and the vertical direction of the base 1.

FIG. 3 shows details of the opening and closing mechanism 200 for the first and second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting blades, which is installed on the base 1. In FIG. 3, 5A and 5B are large cutting blades, which are a first cutting blade 5A1 and 5B1 and a second cutting blade 5A.
2, 5B2 and third cutting blades 5A3, 5B3.

6A and 6B are fourth cutting blades, 7A and 7B are movable tables for matching and releasing the large cutting blades 5A and 5B and fourth cutting blades 6A and 6B, and 8A and 8B are movable tables 7A and 7A.
Slide pieces for sliding 7B, 9A and 9B are fixed bases, 10A and 10B are drive cylinders for moving movable bases 7A and 7B, and 11A and 11B are cylinder shafts.

5A1, 5A1 mounted on the large cutting blades 5A, 5B
5B1 is a first cutting blade used for cutting a 3 mm outer diameter optical cord with vinyl. Similarly, 5A2 and 5B2 are second cutting blades for cutting vinyl cords having an outer diameter of 2 mm with vinyl coating.

Similarly, 5A3 and 5B3 are third cutting blades for cutting nylon coating. The fourth cut is 6A, 6B
Is mounted with an optical fiber cutting blade. Large cutting blade 5A,
The cutting blades of 5B and the fourth cutting blades 6A and 6B are fixed to movable tables 7A and 7B, respectively.

Each of the movable tables 7A and 7B has a slide piece 8
It is slidably supported by the fixed bases 9A and 9B via A and 8B. The fixing bases 9A and 9B are fixed to the base 1.

The fixed cylinders 9A and 9B have a driving cylinder 10
A and 10B are fixed. Drive cylinder 10A, 10B
The configuration is such that one of the driving forces is increased.

When the driving cylinders 10A, 10B generate driving force, the driving force is transmitted to the cylinder shafts 11A, 11B, and the large cutting blades 5A, 5B and the fourth cutting blades 6A, 6A,
The movable tables 7A and 7B that support 6B are opened and closed.

With such a structure, the optical cord 2 gripped by the hand 3 shown in FIG.
When the positioning of the vinyl cutting by the actuator 4B is completed at 5A1, 5B1 or 5A2, 5B2, the driving cylinders 10A, 10B are driven, and the movable platform 7 is moved by the cylinder shafts 11A, 11B.
A and 7B move, and the first cutting blades 5A1 and 5B1 or the second cutting blades 5A2 and 5B2 for vinyl coating cutting sandwich and match the vinyl coating portion, and the cutting blade cuts into the vinyl coating of the optical cord. Disconnect.

Subsequently, when the actuator 4A is retracted while the cutting blade of the cutting mechanism remains aligned, the vinyl coating is peeled off from the optical cord. In order to increase the reliability of vinyl-coated cutting by the above-mentioned two-blade mate cutting method, the shapes of the cutting blade and the vinyl cutting surface are compared and examined. A cutting blade shaped so that the left-right direction of the circular shape is slightly larger than the up-down direction is advantageous.

Further, in order to further enhance the reliability of the cutting, it is necessary to accurately position the cutting blade with respect to the optical cord. Therefore, the driving of one of a pair of driving cylinders for driving the cutting blade is required. By setting the force large, the drive cylinder on the small output side is restricted to the stop position of the drive cylinder on the large output side, and positioning of the mechanical cutting blade with good reproducibility can be realized.

At the time of cutting the nylon coating, the optical cord 2 is positioned by the actuator 4B on the third cutting blades 5A3 and 5B3, which are the nylon coating cutting blades. Operates to cut and peel off the nylon coating.

In the fiber cutting step, after the optical cord 2 is positioned at the fourth cutting blades 6A and 6B, the cutting blade opening / closing mechanism operates to pinch the optical fiber between the cutting blades and to damage the surface. Cleave and cleave in the direction.

As described above, the mechanism shown in FIG. 3 is a pair of opening / closing mechanisms, and has a function of operating four pairs of first, second, third and fourth cutting blades. FIG. 4 shows the details of a mechanism 300 that is divided into two parts and installed on the base 1 and that cuts a Kevlar with a hot cutting blade.

In FIG. 4, 12A and 12B are hot cutting blades, 13
A and 13B are movable tables, 14A and 14B are slide pieces, 1
Reference numerals 5A and 15B denote fixed bases, 16A and 16B denote drive cylinders, 17A and 17B denote cylinder shafts, 18 denotes a blower tube, 19 denotes a Kevlar, and 20A and 20B denote Kevlar holders.

With this configuration, the optical cord 2 gripped by the hand 3 shown in FIG.
And the thermal cutting blade 1 by the actuator 4B.
When positioned at 2A and 12B, the gas is blown out from the air blow pipe 18 and the Kevlar 19 is placed on the gas flow path, and positioned so as to blow down below the air outlet of the blow air pipe 18.

The positioned Kevlar is gripped and fixed at its tip by Kevlar retainers 20A and 20B. Thereafter, drive cylinders 16A, 16B of an opening / closing mechanism that support hot cutting blades 12A, 12B made of ceramics of silicon nitride or silicon carbide heated to a red hot state are driven, and cylinder shafts 17A, 17B are moved to movable tables 13A, 13B. Is moved, the hot cutting blades 12A and 12B move to match the glowed tips, and the Kevlar sandwiched between the hot cutting blades is melted.

Although it is difficult to mechanically cut a tensile strength Kevlar, it is perfect and easy to cut by contact with a red-hot high heating element, and it is a highly reliable cutting means. FIG. 5 shows a kneading and loosening mechanism for kneading and loosening the Kevlar welded at the fusing section, and in FIG. 5, reference numeral 21 denotes a left-right moving kneading material and 22 denotes a front-back moving kneading material.

The Kevlar 19, which has been cut to a predetermined size from the optical cord 2, has a part of the cut portion welded. Since the Kevlar is caulked to the outer peripheral portion of a part called a stop ring in a later process, it is required that the welded portion be loosened and shaped radially.

For this purpose, a rubbing loosening member 21 movably arranged in the left-right direction and a rubbing loosening material 22 movably arranged in the front-rear direction are arranged to oppose the welding portion. The welded portion of the Kevlar is sandwiched between the two kneading materials.

First, the kneading and loosening material 22 is positioned on the Kevlar, and then the left and right kneading and loosening material 21 is positioned so as to be pressure-bonded with the Fuguera sandwiched therebetween.

FIG. 6 shows the structure of the Kevlar shaping unit.
In the figure, 23 is a Kevlar shaping part, and 24 is a gas guide tube. Kevlar 1 which was separated and kneaded in the previous process
Reference numeral 9 denotes an actuator which is positioned at the Kevlar shaping section.

The Kevlar shaping part includes the Kevlar shaping part 23 and the gas guide tube 2 connected to the Kevlar shaping part 23.
4 When the Kevlar 19 is positioned on the Kevlar shaping part 23, the gas flows out from the Kevlar shaping part 23 by being connected thereto.

When the optical cord 2 having the Kevlar 19 is repeatedly inserted and withdrawn from the funnel-shaped opening part of the Kevlar shaping part 23 having a funnel-shaped outlet by an actuator, the Kevlar is shaped radially as shown in FIG. Is done.

The Kevlar radial shaping process is a shaping operation required in a post process of the optical connector automatic assembling process, and is a process handled by the present preprocessing module. As described above, the optical cord 2 is positioned at each of the mechanical parts of the actuator and the hand 3 such as vinyl coating peeling, Kevlar cutting, Kevlar kneading, Kevlar shaping, nylon coating peeling, and optical fiber cutting. Return to

FIG. 7 shows a cleaning mechanism of the cutting blade.
25 is a cleaning brush, 26 is a brush stand. Actuators 4A and 4B released from optical cord 2 shown in FIG.
And the hand 3 grips the cleaning brush 25, and is the first, second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting blades of the opening / closing mechanism 200 shown in detail in FIG. Are sequentially positioned on the cutting blades 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B to clean the chips attached to the cutting blades, and then the cleaning brush 25 is returned to the brush base 26, and the actuators 4A, 4B and the hand 3 Enter standby state at home position.

FIG. 8 shows the mounting state of each of the above-described mechanism parts excluding the actuator mechanism 100 for the optical cord. As described above, the optical code pre-processing device according to the present invention comprises an actuator for gripping an optical code and positioning the optical code at a predetermined processing position, and a first and a second optical code provided for the optical code positioned by the actuator. , Third,
Fourth, a pair of opening / closing mechanisms each mounting four pairs of mechanical cutting blades, an opening / closing mechanism positioned separately from the opening / closing mechanism to support a pair of thermal cutting blades, and a mechanism for kneading and loosening the Kevlar of the optical cord, A structure comprising a Kevlar shaping mechanism for shaping the Kevlar after radially expanding it with a gas flow, and a mechanism (brush) for removing the cutting material attached to the first, second, third and fourth mechanical cutting blades. did.

The specific structure of each step-wise mechanism will be described below. 1st cutting blade (for 3mm vinyl outer diameter)
The vinyl coating that cuts and removes with the second cutting blade (corresponding to a vinyl outer diameter of 2 mm) and the nylon coating that cuts and removes with the third cutting blade are the vinyl coating that cuts (the outer diameter is 2 mm and 3 m).
m) and a two-piece tough cutting blade formed into an optimal shape corresponding to nylon coating was mounted on a highly rigid opening / closing mechanism.

The optimal shape of the cutting blade employed for vinyl-coated and nylon-coated cutting is such that the circular shape formed by the cutting blade when the cutting blade opening / closing mechanism is closed has a larger diameter in the opening / closing direction than in the vertical direction. To ensure the reliability of the cutting operation and the smoothness of the cut surface.

In order to correctly position the cutting blade with respect to the optical cord, the opening / closing mechanism sets the driving force generating portions of the pair of opening / closing mechanisms to be inconsistent with each other, positions the cylinder on the high output side at a fixed position, and We have developed a positioning method that allows the cylinder to follow the position of the high-power cylinder, and has excellent positioning reproducibility in positioning the optical code processing unit at a fixed position.

For cutting Kevlar made of high-tensile material, ceramics whose temperature rises to about 1200 ° C. when energized are used, and an optimal heating condition is set by using a thermal cutting method. Heat cutting blade,
It was mounted on the opening and closing mechanism of the system that matched from the left and right, and was configured to cut completely by sandwiching the Kevlar between the two divided thermal cutting blades.

In order to reduce the variation of Kevlar size and the reliability of Kevlar cutting, a Kevlar is placed on a gas stream, aligned in one direction, and the Kevlar tip is gripped and then cut with a hot cutting blade.

The Kevlar cut portion welded after the fusing is peeled off by a Kevlar rubbing and loosening mechanism that slides while being sandwiched between the welded portions, and further, the Kevlar is applied to a funnel-shaped gas blowing portion where the Kevlar is formed radially by a gas flow. A mechanism for shaping by inserting and removing a plurality of times is provided.

The optical fiber to be cut and removed by the fourth cutting blade is cut in advance after the fiber is sandwiched between a pair of blades to damage the cut portion in order to prevent a complicated crack at the cut portion, and then bent to one side to be cleaved. The mechanism to do is adopted.

As described above, as a processing step of the pretreatment module, first, the optical cord is gripped by the actuator, and the first or second machine corresponding to the two kinds of outer diameters of the vinyl coating of the optical cord is used. Is positioned on the target cutting blade, the vinyl coating is cut off, the Kevlar is blown off with a hot cutting blade, the welded portion of the fusing portion of the Kevlar is mechanically rubbed and loosened, and the Kevlar is radially shaped by a gas flow. Remove the nylon coating and the primary coat with the mechanical cutting blade, cut the optical fiber with the fourth mechanical cutting blade, return the optical cord to the initial position, release the optical cord, grip the brush with the actuator, Inserting and removing a brush from the first, second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting blades, returning the brush to a predetermined position, releasing the brush, and returning the actuator to the home position allows all the steps to be performed. It was constructed to complete.

The vinyl-coated cutting blade, nylon cutting blade, and optical fiber cutting blade are mounted so that they can be replaced by a simple operation.
Improved maintainability. As described above, in the present invention, the cutting of the vinyl coating and the nylon coating is performed by cutting the optical fiber into a two-piece tough cutting blade formed into an optimal shape corresponding to the vinyl coating or the nylon coating to be cut. Kevlar cutting is configured so that the cutting blade that controls the cracking of the part is completely melted with a ceramic hot cutting blade, so no large stress acts on the cutting blade during Kevlar cutting, so the cutting blade has a long service life Can be achieved.

These cutting blades are replaceably mounted by a simple operation to enhance maintainability, and an opening / closing mechanism for supporting the cutting blades and exerting a cutting function is reproduced at a fixed position by a balance of power of a driving source. The positioning method is excellent.

Further, as a result of mounting the mechanism for loosening the fusing portion of the Kevlar, the mechanism for forming the Kevlar, the mechanism for cleaning the forming blade, etc. in the same apparatus, there is an advantage that the function of the apparatus can be expanded and the working time can be reduced.

[0058]

Therefore, according to the present invention, as described in detail above, the supply of the optical code to the pre-processing device is automated, the functions handled by the pre-processing device are expanded, and the conventional processes can be performed. It is possible to provide a pretreatment device and a processing method for an optical cord which have higher work reliability than the corresponding mechanism, and have excellent maintainability of the mechanical part and excellent life of the cutting blade.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional configuration.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an actuator mechanism for positioning an optical code particularly in each mechanism in the optical code preprocessing device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an opening / closing mechanism having a cutting blade in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a structural view of a mechanism of a hot cutting blade of the Kevlar in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a Kevlar massaging mechanism used in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a structural view of a mechanism of a Kevlar molding unit used in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a cutting blade cleaning mechanism used in the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a mounting diagram of each of the mechanisms provided on the base except for the actuator mechanism shown in FIG. 1 in the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 1 ... Base, 2 ... Optical code, 3 ... Hand, 4A, 4B ...
Actuator, 100 ... actuator mechanism, 5A,
5B: large cutting blade, 5A1, 5B1: first cutting blade, 5A
2, 5B2 ... second cutting blade, 5A3, 5B3 ... third cutting blade, 6A, 6B ... fourth cutting blade, 7A, 7B ... movable table, 8A, 8B ... slide piece, 9A, 9B ... fixed table , 1
0A, 10B: drive cylinder, 11A, 11B: cylinder shaft, 200: opening / closing mechanism, 12A, 12B: thermal cutting blade, 13A, 13B: movable table, 14A, 14B: slide piece, 15A, 15B: fixed table, 16A, 16B: drive cylinder, 17A, 17B: cylinder shaft, 18
... Blower tube, 19 ... Kevlar, 20A, 20B ... Kevlar presser, 21 ... Left and right moving massaging material, 22 ... Back and forth moving massaging material, 23 ... Kevlar molded part, 24 ... Gas guide tube, 25 ... Cleaning brush, 26 ... Brush Stand.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-249110 (JP, A) JP-A-2-2502 (JP, A) JP-A-61-69007 (JP, A) JP-A 64-64 3607 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 6/00 G02B 6/36

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An actuator for gripping an optical code and positioning it at a predetermined processing position, and four pairs of first, second, third and fourth pairs respectively provided to the optical code positioned by the actuator. A pair of opening and closing mechanisms for mounting a mechanical cutting blade, an opening and closing mechanism that is located separately from the opening and closing mechanism and supports a pair of thermal cutting blades, a mechanism for kneading and loosening the kevlar of the optical cord, and a kevlar of the optical cord. An optical cord pretreatment device comprising: a Kevlar shaping mechanism for forming after radial positioning by a gas flow; and a brush for removing a cutting material attached to the first, second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting blades. 2. The first, second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting blades are divided into two parts on the left and right, and an opening / closing mechanism that supports the cutting blades is closed, and the cutting blades are fitted. 2. The optical cord pre-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the matching shape formed by the cutting blade at the time is formed so that the left-right direction of the circular shape is slightly larger than the up-down direction. 3. The power source of a driving source of a left and right opening / closing mechanism that supports the first, second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting blades is asymmetrical in right and left directions. Optical code pre-processing device. 4. The optical cord pre-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said thermal cutting blade is made of ceramics of silicon nitride or silicon carbide. 5. The optical cord pre-processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the Kevlar shaping mechanism using the gas flow inserts and removes Kevlar a plurality of times from a gas outlet having a divergent shape. 6. An optical code processing method in which an optical code positioned at a predetermined position using the optical code preprocessing device according to claim 1 is gripped by an actuator, positioned one after another, and sequentially processed. Positioning the optical cord on the first and second mechanical cutting blades, cutting and removing the vinyl coating of the optical cord, and fusing the Kevlar of the optical cord of the strength member with the hot cutting blade; Mechanically kneading and loosening the welded portion of the fusing portion of the kevlar, radially shaping the kevlar with a gas flow, removing the nylon coating and the primary coat with the third mechanical cutting blade, the fourth mechanical cutting blade Cutting the optical fiber, returning the optical cord to the initial position, releasing the optical cord, then gripping the brush with the actuator, and performing the first, second, third, and fourth mechanical cutting. A method of processing an optical cord, comprising inserting and removing a brush from a blade, returning the brush to a predetermined position, releasing the brush, and then returning the actuator to a home position to complete all steps.