JPS6015241B2 - Optical fiber end face processing method - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an optical fiber end face processing method.

For example, plastic optical fibers are made by coating a core material made of fibers such as methacrylic resin with a fluorine-containing methacrylic resin having a lower refractive index than the core material, and are used, for example, as a light guide for light transmission. In order to use the above-mentioned optical fiber for optical transmission, it is necessary to process its end face to be as smooth as possible.

That is, if the finish of the end face is rough, the transmitted light will be diffusely reflected, resulting in optical loss, so the end face must be finished smooth. Conventionally, the above-mentioned end face processing was performed by polishing with a grinder.

However, depending on the polishing process, it is difficult to obtain a smooth finished surface, and as shown in Figure 1, chips are likely to occur at the peripheral edge of the finished surface, resulting in a decrease in the effective light transmission area of the optical fiber. This method has disadvantages in that optical characteristics deteriorate, and furthermore, it requires a large number of man-hours and a high degree of skill. The present invention
This was done in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and by thermally processing the end face of the optical fiber, a smooth top surface can be obtained, and chipping at the periphery of the end face can be prevented. The object of the present invention is to obtain a method for processing the end face of optical fiber, which can reduce the number of working steps and simplify the work.

The configuration of the present invention will be explained below based on the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective explanatory view showing an example of a heating device used in the optical fiber end face processing method according to the present invention. 1 is a heating plate made of metal, glass, quartz, etc. with a smooth surface; 2 indicates a heat source such as an electric heater that can be quickly switched on and off. The present invention using the heating device described above consists of the following three steps.

In the first step, as shown in FIG. 3, the end face of the optical fiber 3 is pressed against the heating plate 1 at right angles.

In order to obtain the right angle, appropriate auxiliary means should be used, and the pressing pressure should be set as necessary. Second
In the step, the end face of the optical fiber 3 is heated to a heat deformation temperature of, for example, about 80° C. using the heating plate 1.

The heating temperature is set depending on the material of which the optical fiber 3 is made. In the third step, the temperature of the heating plate 1 is set to 4, for example.
The temperature of the end face is lowered by lowering the temperature from 0° C. to room temperature.

If the temperature is lowered while the end face is pressed against the smooth heating plate 1, the smoothness of the plane can be further improved.
FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the optical fiber 3 obtained by the end face processing method according to the present invention.

As shown in the figure, since the covering material 4 enlarges in a trumpet shape, the core material 5 will not be chipped and the effective light transmission area will not be reduced. FIG. 5 shows an example in which the heating device is rotary in order to sequentially perform the above-mentioned steps in multiple stages.

According to the heating device, work efficiency can be significantly improved. According to the above-described method for processing the end face of an optical fiber according to the present invention, by thermally processing the end face, a smooth finished surface can be easily obtained, and chipping at the peripheral edge of the end face can be easily obtained. In addition, it is possible to obtain the significant effect of reducing the number of work steps and simplifying the work.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing an example of processing an optical fiber by polishing, FIG. The figure is a perspective explanatory view showing the first step of the present invention, Figure 4 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of an optical fiber obtained by applying the method of the present invention, and Figure 5 is an example of a rotary heating device. FIG. 1... Heating plate, 3... Optical fiber. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A step of pressing the end surface of the optical fiber against a smooth heating plate, a step of heating the end surface to a heat deformation temperature by the heating plate, and a step of lowering the temperature of the end surface by lowering the temperature of the heating plate. A method for processing an end face of an optical fiber, comprising the steps of: