JPH0440686B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an optical fiber alignment device for aligning a plurality of optical fibers on a predetermined plane.

[Prior art and its problems]

Nowadays, when optical fibers are used for public communications, there is a strong desire to streamline and simplify the sheath removal, cutting, and fusion splicing techniques involved in the production of optical fiber cables.

With the increase in optical transmission capacity, multi-core optical fibers have become necessary, and currently many optical fibers are formed into a ribbon shape at once, or ribbon-shaped fibers (Figure 5a) are formed randomly within a tube. Loose tube type in which a single optical fiber core is inserted
Type) fiber (Figure 5b).

Ribbon fibers simplify the construction process and reduce costs because they can strip, cut, and fusion splice multiple optical fibers at once, and streamline and simplify optical fiber connections. Tube-type fibers are connected one by one using a single-core fusion splicer, and today, as the capacity of optical transmission lines increases, the number of optical fibers increases from 600 to 3000. The disadvantage was that it became increasingly long-term.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention provides a compact optical fiber alignment device that can easily align optical fiber cores with a simple structure in order to convert conventional loose tube fibers into ribbon-shaped core cores. The purpose is to streamline, facilitate, and speed up connections.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a tape supply means for supplying a tape for bonding a plurality of optical fiber core wires, a tape fixing means for fixing the tape stretched from the tape supply means on a flat surface, A pair of positioning grooves having parallel side walls formed substantially parallel to the fixing surface of the tape fixing means are provided, and the pair of positioning grooves are provided at positions sandwiching the tape fixing means along the optical axis direction of the optical fiber core wire. The parallel side walls of the pair of positioning grooves are located behind the fixing surface of the tape fixing means.

[Effect]

In this invention, the parallel side walls of the positioning grooves are arranged behind the fixing surface of the tape fixing means, so that after the optical fiber is positioned by the pair of positioning grooves, tension is applied to the optical fiber between the pair of positioning grooves. The tape is pressed against the fixing surface of the tape fixing means disposed on the tape fixing means. Since the adhesive tape supplied in advance from the tape supply means extends over the fixing surface, the pressed optical fiber core wire is fixed to the adhesive tape.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an optical fiber alignment device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of this optical fiber alignment device, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. Basically, this embodiment includes a rolled tape (tape supply means) for supplying adhesive tape (for example, heat-resistant adhesive tape), a tape fixing stand (tape fixing means) for fixing the adhesive tape, and an optical fiber core. It consists of a positioning groove (optical fiber positioning means) for aligning the fibers. Optical fiber core 1,
1, 1, . . . are inserted into the loose tube 2 in a random manner, and are held together by a clamp mechanism 3, for example. The optical fiber alignment device according to the present invention is arranged on its optical axis, and the adhesive tape 4 for adhering the optical fibers is approximately parallel to the optical axis of the optical fibers 1, 1, 1... installed perpendicular to each other.

On the opposite side of this alignment device, a fiber terminal fixing stand 5 for fixing the terminals of the optical fiber core wires 1, 1, 1, . . . is erected. The fiber terminal fixing stand 5 is constructed by standing a rectangular parallelepiped 5a and adhering double-sided tape 5b to one surface substantially parallel to the optical axis. It should be noted that the clamp mechanism 3 and the fiber terminal fixing base 5 are not essential elements in the construction of this embodiment, but are merely auxiliary elements. Therefore, the present invention can be accomplished even without the clamp mechanism 3 and fiber terminal fixing base 5.

The configuration of this optical fiber alignment device will be described below. The rolled sheep 4 is placed on the tape fixing table 6 in a stretched state in a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis so that the adhesive surface of the tape is facing up. In this embodiment, the tape roll 4 is installed on the top of the tape fixing table 6, but what is important is that the adhesive surface of the tape is placed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the optical fiber cores 1, 1, 1... It is installed so that it can be placed with the top facing up. Therefore, the rolled tape 4 can also be installed at the lower part of the tape fixing stand 6. The tape fixing table 6 is composed of a flat part 6a inclined in a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the optical fiber core wires 1, 1, 1, . A rolled tape mounting section 6a is provided, and an end fixing member 6c for fixing the tip end 4b of the tape is provided at the bottom. In addition, when installing the rolled tape 4 at the lower part of the tape fixing stand 6, the end fixing member 6c is provided in the upper part, and the rolled tape mounting part 6b is provided in the lower part. The flat portion 6a has at least an area large enough to allow the optical fiber cores to be juxtaposed in a ribbon-shaped structure, the end fixing member 6c is made of a magnet, and the tape fixing stand is made of a magnetic metal. The tip 4b
may be fixed.

On the upstream and downstream sides of the tape fixing base 6 in the optical axis direction, there are positioning grooves 7, 7 for arranging the optical fiber cores 1, 1, 1, . . . in parallel at regular intervals in numerical order or color order. It is provided. The grooves 7a, 7a of the positioning groove parts 7, 7 are formed so as to be substantially parallel to the plane of the flat part 6a of the tape fixing base 6, and the width of the grooves is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the optical fibers to be aligned. It is largely structured. This width is determined by the width of the two clamping members 7b and 7c forming the groove.
This can be changed by making either one of them a movable structure. Therefore, it is possible to deal with variations in optical fiber core wires, and it can be applied to optical fiber core wires of various sizes. In this embodiment, the clamping member 7 is held at the tip of the micrometer head 8.
The width of the grooves 7a, 7a can be increased by pressing c in a horizontal direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis (see FIG. 2). Note that since the clamping members 7c, 7c and the tape fixing base 6 are fixed on the fixing base 9, the relative positions of the clamping members 7c, 7c and the tape fixing base 6 do not change.

Next, based on FIG. 3, optical fiber core wire 1,
The method of arranging 1, 1... will be explained. The optical fiber cores 1, 1, 1, . . . are inserted into the groove 7a in numerical order or color order (for example, brown, red, black, . . .) as shown by a in the figure. Since the clamping members 7c, 7c are movable, they can be adjusted by turning the micrometer head 8 when inserting a cored optical fiber having a large outer diameter. Figure b shows the tape fixing stand 6.
The outline of the plane part 6a (double-dashed line "a" in Fig. 3b)
), a clamping member 7b forming the grooves 7a, 7a
(indicated by the two-dot chain line "b" in the same figure) and the outline of the clamping member 7c (indicated by the two-dot chain line "c" in the same figure)
This shows that. The optical fiber core 1 is housed between the two-dot chain lines “b” and “c” (inside the groove 7a), but since the two-dot chain line “a” is set somewhat apart from this, the optical fiber The fiber core wire 1 is arranged so as to be pressed against the plane portion 6a. Therefore, it becomes easy to fix the optical fiber core 1 to the adhesive tape fixed on the flat part 6a.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained based on FIG.
The explanation will be based on a 12-core loose tube type fiber cable. First, the ends of the 12 single-core optical fibers 1, 1, 1, .

12 Select the first core wire, insert it into the left positioning groove 7a and the right positioning groove 7a (step 102), align it with the bottom of the grooves 7a, 7a, and apply a certain tension. (Step 103).
By applying tension, the optical fiber core 1 is fixed onto the adhesive tape 4 (step 104).
Next, the end of the optical fiber core 1 is fixed to the fiber terminal fixing base 5 (step 105), and the fixed state of the optical fiber core is maintained.

Thereafter, the above steps are repeated in sequence, and when all 12 optical fibers are lined up, the tip 4a of the adhesive tape is bent (step 107).
The optical fiber core is fixed so as to wrap around it, and one side of the adhesive tape is cut (step 108).

Next, the clamp mechanism 3 is opened (step 10).
9), 12-core optical fiber core wire positioning grooves 7a, 7
Take it out from a. At this point, optical fiber core 1,
1, 1... becomes a ribbon-shaped structure (step 11)
0).

〔Effect of the invention〕

In this invention, the optical fiber is positioned at two positions by a pair of positioning grooves located behind the tape fixing means and arranged along the optical axis direction. As a result, simply by applying tension to the optical fiber, the optical fiber is pressed against the fixing surface of the tape fixing means, and the optical fiber is fixed to the tape fixing means. Therefore, the optical fiber cores can be easily aligned with a simple configuration.
Therefore, a loose tube fiber can be easily replaced with a ribbon fiber, and optical fiber connections can be made more rational, easier, and faster.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the optical fiber alignment device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is a side view showing a method for arranging optical fibers, and FIG. The figure is a process diagram showing a method of aligning optical fibers, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a ribbon-type fiber and a loose tube-type fiber. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Optical fiber core wire, 2... Loose tube, 3... Clamp mechanism, 4... Rolled adhesive tape, 5... Fiber terminal fixing base, 6... Tape fixing base, 7... Positioning groove, 8 ...Micrometer head, 9...Fixed stand.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an optical fiber alignment device for closely arranging a plurality of optical fibers in parallel on a plane, the apparatus comprises: supplying a tape for bonding the plurality of optical fibers; tape supply means; tape fixing means for fixing the tape stretched from the tape supply means on the plane; and a pair of positioning grooves having parallel side walls formed substantially parallel to the fixing surface of the tape fixing means. The pair of positioning grooves are arranged at positions sandwiching the tape fixing means along the optical axis direction of the optical fiber core wire, and the pair of positioning grooves are arranged behind the fixing surface of the tape fixing means. An optical fiber alignment device characterized in that parallel side walls are located. 2. The optical fiber core alignment device according to claim 1, wherein the length of the positioning groove can be changed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane. 3. In order to align the plurality of optical fibers at an angle in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis, the tape fixing means is arranged at an angle in the direction. Optical fiber alignment device. 4. The optical fiber core alignment device according to claim 1, wherein the tape is a heat-resistant adhesive tape.