JPH10160965A - Curved shape maintenance guide for optical fiber member, and optical fiber miner with curved part and its curving method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a curved shape maintenance guide for an optical fiber member which stabilizes optical signal transmission, prevents the optical fiber member from being damaged, and saves the space by preventing light loss from varying owing to variation in curvature during use. SOLUTION: The curved shape maintenance guide 11 has a fiber curving and storing part 11a where the optical fiber member 12 is stored in a curved state so that the optical fiber member 12 is held in the specific curved shape. The curved shape maintenance guide 11 has larger bending rigidity than the optical filter member 12. The curved shape maintenance guide 11 has an insertion opening 11b for inserting the optical fiber member 12 into the fiber curving and storing part 1a along its length.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber member for holding an optical fiber member such as an optical fiber cord or an optical fiber cord used in an optical transmission device or its system field in a desired bending state. The present invention relates to an optical fiber member having a shape guide and a bent portion, and a bending method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an optical fiber member (optical fiber or optical fiber cord) used in an optical transmission device is subjected to a bending in an installation route or a connection portion with an optical connector. It may be added to an arbitrary position with an arbitrary bending diameter, and in some cases, extremely small bending may cause a large increase in light loss.

[0003] Accordingly, the level of increase in optical loss is also unstable, and signal transmission by light may become unstable. Further, in an extreme case, there is a possibility that damage such as breakage of the optical fiber member itself may be caused.

Therefore, in the connection portion between the optical connector and the optical fiber member where extreme bending is likely to occur, the optical fiber member 2 is conventionally straightened along the axial direction of the optical connector 1 as shown in FIG. And a protective boot 3 made of a material such as flexible rubber or synthetic resin is provided at the end of the optical connector 1 to prevent the optical fiber member 2 from being extremely bent at the optical connector 1. I was

Further, as a structure for preventing an extreme bending at a connection portion between an optical connector and an optical fiber member of this kind, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 21606/1990 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 2-3920 have been proposed.
There is a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2 (1993) -1995.

[0006]

However, when the optical connector 1 is mounted on the connector mounting surface of the optical transmission equipment, the length of the optical connector 1 itself and the bending radius so that the optical loss of the optical fiber member 2 does not increase. Therefore, it is necessary to secure a sufficient space between the connector mounting surface of the optical transmission device and the adjacent structure. For example, when an optical transmission device whose connector mounting surface is arranged on the back is installed near a wall, it is necessary to secure a much larger distance between the optical transmission device and the wall behind the electrical device as compared with a conventional electric device. there were.

In addition, there is a possibility that signal transmission may become unstable due to light due to an unexpected increase in optical loss caused by an arbitrary bend in the middle of the route in which the optical fiber member 2 is provided.

On the other hand, FIG. 23 shows an increase in optical loss at the time of optical transmission due to bending of a typical optical fiber currently used. In any case, when the bending radius R becomes 10 mm or less, the optical loss tends to increase rapidly. Is shown.

The larger the difference between the refractive index of the core and the cladding of the optical fiber, that is, the larger the numerical aperture NA, the smaller the leakage of light from the core to the cladding due to bending. Decrease.

Further, since the magnitude of increase in optical loss due to bending is relatively stable depending on the type of optical fiber, the increase in optical loss can be predicted. )

Therefore, if this increase in light loss can be tolerated, the optical loss during use can be kept stable by fixing the bending applied to the optical fiber. Further, if the amount of increase in optical loss of the optical fiber due to bending can be predicted and can be maintained in a stable state, a smaller bending diameter can be obtained.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when an optical fiber member is provided and used, bending of the optical fiber member is unavoidable. Prevent fluctuation of optical loss due to change in bending during use, stabilize signal transmission by light,
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber member having a bent shape retaining guide, an optical fiber member having a bent portion, and a method of bending the optical fiber member, which can prevent damage to the optical fiber member and save space.

[0013]

A first technical means for achieving the above object is to provide a bending shape retaining guide for an optical fiber member so as to hold the optical fiber member in a predetermined bent shape.
The optical fiber member has a fiber bending accommodating portion for accommodating the optical fiber member in a bent state and has a bending rigidity larger than the bending rigidity of the optical fiber member.

Further, a structure may be employed in which a reinforcing member having high bending rigidity is built in the inside of the bending shape guide.

Further, a structure may be employed in which an insertion opening for inserting the optical fiber member into the fiber bending accommodating portion is formed along the longitudinal direction of the bending shape guide.

Further, the bent shape guide may be constituted by a plurality of divided guide bodies.

Further, a structure may be employed in which a buffer layer is provided on the inner surface of the fiber bending housing portion.

A second technical means for attaining the above object is that the coating portion of the optical fiber member is made of a material whose bending rigidity is larger than that of the core portion of the optical fiber member. Thus, a predetermined bending deformation is imparted to the covering portion.

In the bending method, a material having a bending rigidity of the covering portion of the optical fiber member larger than a bending rigidity of the core portion of the optical fiber member is used, and a predetermined bending deformation is applied to the covering portion by thermal processing. On the point.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the first invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 11 denotes a bending shape guide, which is a flexible synthetic guide. It is formed of resin or the like, and is formed of a pipe body configured in a coil shape. Further, the inner diameter of the bent shape guide 11 is formed to be larger than the outer diameter of the optical fiber member 12 in order to accommodate and hold the optical fiber member 12 such as an optical fiber or an optical fiber cord.

The bending rigidity of the bending shape guide 11 is larger than the bending rigidity of the optical fiber member 12.
When the optical fiber member 12 is accommodated, the optical fiber member 12 constitutes a fiber bending accommodating portion 11a that accommodates and holds the optical fiber member 12 in a bent state.

The bending shape guide 11 is formed with a slit-shaped insertion opening 11b for inserting the optical fiber member 12 into the fiber bending accommodating portion 11a over the entire length thereof.

The inside radius R of the coil-shaped bending shape guide 11 is such that when the optical fiber member 12 is housed in the fiber bending housing portion 11a and given a predetermined bending shape, the optical fiber member 12 is bent. Is set as appropriate so that the bending radius of the above is within an allowable range.

According to the present embodiment, the optical fiber member 12
Is accommodated in the fiber bending accommodating portion 11a by using the insertion opening 11b of the bending shape guide 11, and the optical fiber member 12 accommodated in the fiber bending accommodating portion 11a is disposed at a predetermined position. In this case, the optical fiber member 12 is fixedly held at a predetermined bending radius, and the shape is stabilized.

Since the shape is stable, it is possible to effectively prevent a change in optical loss of the optical fiber member 12 due to an inadvertent change in bending of the optical fiber member 12 during use. Can be obtained stably at the predicted value, and signal transmission by light can be stabilized.

Further, since the shape is maintained by the bending shape guide 11, there is no possibility that the optical fiber member 12 itself may be damaged or broken due to an extremely small bending radius during use. Damage to the member 12 can be effectively prevented.

Further, since the optical fiber member 12 can be maintained in a stable shape and an increase in light loss can be predicted,
The optical fiber member 12 can be configured to have a smaller bend radius within an allowable range, and the space required for installation can be reduced.

Further, since the bending shape guide 11 is formed in a coil shape, its elasticity in the axial direction can be ensured.

Further, since the insertion opening 11b is formed in the bending shape guide 11, the fiber bending accommodating portion 11a is formed.
The operation of housing the optical fiber member 12 is also facilitated.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a second embodiment of the first invention, in which a metal wire or a high wire is inserted in a pipe body 11c of a bent shape guide 11 having the same structure as that of the first embodiment. Reinforcing material 13 having high bending rigidity, such as a strong synthetic resin body
Are built in along the longitudinal direction.

In this case, when the diameter of the pipe body 11c of the bent shape-retaining guide 11 is small, or
The material of the pipe body 11c is the optical fiber member 12
When the bending rigidity of the optical fiber member 12 is lower than the bending rigidity of the optical fiber member 12, the bending rigidity of the entire bending shape guide 11 can be made larger than the bending rigidity of the optical fiber member 12 by reinforcing the reinforcing member 13. There is an advantage that it can be stably held.

Also, in this embodiment, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

The same effect can be obtained with a structure in which the reinforcing member 13 is embedded along the surface of the pipe body 11c.

FIGS. 5 to 7 show a third embodiment of the first invention, in which an optical connector 14 is connected to an end of an optical fiber member 12. FIG. Then, in order to hold the optical fiber member 12 in a predetermined bent shape near the optical connector 14,
A so-called L-shaped bent shape guide 11 is provided.

As described above, the bending shape guide 11 also has a bending rigidity larger than the bending rigidity of the optical fiber member 12 and has a fiber bending accommodation portion 11a. An insertion opening 11b for insertion into 11a is also formed.

The inner radius R of the bent shape guide 11
Is appropriately set so that the bending radius of the optical fiber member 12 is within an allowable range when the optical fiber member 12 is housed in the fiber bending housing portion 11a and given a predetermined bending shape. .

In this embodiment, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a fourth embodiment of the first invention, in which the cross-sectional shape of the bent shape guide 11 is rectangular instead of the circular shape in the third embodiment. And other polygonal pipes may be used.

The bending of the optical fiber member 12 by the bending shape guide 11 is not limited to bending on a plane, but also bending.
The bending may be such that a three-dimensional twist is added.

It should be noted that the bending shape guide 11 is made of a light and soft pipe made of aluminum or the like, and a predetermined bending deformation is applied to the bending shape guide 11 with the optical fiber member 12 inserted through the insertion opening 11b. The optical fiber member 12 may be provided with a predetermined bent shape.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a fifth embodiment of the first invention, in which a bending shape guide 11 is composed of two divided guide bodies 11A and 11B. The structure has a greater bending rigidity.

That is, the lower divided guide body 11A has a groove-shaped fiber bending accommodating portion 11a which opens upward along the length direction thereof, and the insertion opening 11b at the upper end of the fiber bending accommodating portion 11a extends upward. The upper divided guide body 11B is configured to be fitted and mounted in a more closed state.

Locking ridges 11C are formed on the inner surfaces of both ends of the upper divided guide body 11B facing each other along the length direction, respectively.
At a position corresponding to the locking ridge 11C of 1A, a locking groove 11D is formed in which each locking ridge 11C is detachably locked.

Further, fixing holes 11E and 11F for fixing with screws or the like are formed in the inner and outer portions of each corner portion of each of the divided guide bodies 11A and 11B so as to communicate with each other.

Therefore, the locking ridge 11C and the locking groove 11
When the assembled state cannot be maintained only by the locking structure with D, it is sufficient to lock using the fixing holes 11E and 11F.

For example, when a wiring rack is provided as this locking structure, each fixing hole 11E,
11F may be fixed to the wiring rack with screws or a band body. When the wiring rack is not used, the lower split guide body 11B may be penetrated through the fixing hole 11F of the upper split guide body 11B. A method of inserting and fixing a fixing pin into the fixing hole 11E, and fixing holes 11E and 11
There is a method of filling the adhesive over F and the like.

Further, since the bent shape guide 11 has a divided structure composed of the lower divided guide body 11A and the upper divided guide body 11B, the insertion opening 11b can be secured more widely, and the optical fiber member 12 can be bent and accommodated in the fiber. The work of accommodating in the part 11a becomes easier.

In this embodiment, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

FIG. 12 shows a sixth embodiment of the first invention, in which the flexibility of a rubber material, a sponge material or the like is increased along the inner peripheral surface of the fiber bending accommodating portion 11a in the fifth embodiment. It has a structure provided with a buffer layer 11G made of a member having the same.

In this case, since the bent state of the optical fiber member 12 is maintained through the buffer layer 11G, the surface pressure on the contact surface with the optical fiber member 12 can be made uniform, and the bending of the optical fiber member 12 can be achieved. Damage is also more effectively prevented.

In the fifth and sixth embodiments, the structure provided with the lower divided guide body 11A and the upper divided guide body 11B is shown. Is the upper divided guide body 1
The bent guide 11 having a structure without 1B may be used.
In this case, the bending rigidity of the lower divided guide body 11A alone is larger than the bending rigidity of the optical fiber member 12.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show the seventh and eighth embodiments of the first invention. The bent shape guide 11 shown in FIG. 13 is the same as the bent shape guide 11 of the fifth embodiment. Is a circular cross-section,
The bent shape guide 11 shown in FIG. 14 has a circular cross section of the bent shape guide 11 in the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 15 shows a ninth embodiment of the first invention, in which a protective boot 16 having a predetermined bent shape is provided in a flexible protective boot 16 provided at an end of an optical connector 14. A cylindrical bent shape guide body 17 bent into a predetermined shape is inserted and mounted in order to hold the optical fiber member 12 by inserting the optical fiber member 12 into the bent shape shaped guide body 17. Is held in a predetermined bent shape.

Accordingly, in this case, the bending boot shape guide 11 is constituted by the protective boot 16 and the bending shape guide body 17, and the bending shape guide 11 as a whole has a bending rigidity higher than that of the optical fiber member 12. The structure has a sufficiently large bending rigidity.

In this case, at the time of disposition, the space between the connector mounting surface of the optical transmission device and the adjacent structure can be reduced, and the space can be saved.

The bending radius of the bending shape guide 11 is as follows.
The bending radius of the optical fiber member 12 is appropriately set so as to be a bending radius in an allowable range. Further, the protective boot 16 may be of an integral type as described above, or may be of a split type and subsequently assembled.

Also in this embodiment, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

FIGS. 16 to 21 show embodiments of the second invention. The material of the outer protective coating of the optical fiber member 12 is not a comparatively soft vinyl chloride synthetic resin as in the prior art, but an optical fiber. The fiber member 12 is made of a material having a bending rigidity larger than that of the core wire portion. For example, a relatively hard thermoplastic synthetic resin such as a polyolefin synthetic resin or a polyamide synthetic resin is used as a material of the covering portion.

The desired position where the bending deformation of the optical fiber member 12 is applied is heated and softened to give a predetermined bending deformation, and then solidified by cooling, whereby the optical fiber member 12 is kept in a state where the predetermined bending deformation is applied. You.

FIG. 16 shows a structure in which the optical fiber member 12 is provided with a bending deformation having a bending radius S within an allowable range near the optical connector 14.

FIG. 17 shows that near the optical connector 14, bending deformation of an allowable range of the bending radius S is applied in an arbitrary direction, and bending bending is sequentially applied in a meandering manner, so that the optical fiber member 12 expands and contracts. The structure has a property.

FIG. 18 shows a structure having elasticity near the optical connector 14 by applying bending deformation of an allowable bending radius S in a meandering manner along the axial direction thereof.

FIG. 19 shows a structure in which near the optical connector 14 a bending deformation with an allowable bending radius S is applied in a coil shape in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the optical connector 14 to secure a large elasticity.

FIG. 20 shows a structure in which near the optical connector 14, a bending deformation with an allowable bending radius S is applied in a coil shape along the axial direction thereof to ensure great elasticity.

FIG. 21 shows a structure near the optical connector 14 in which a relatively large-diameter coil-shaped bending deformation can be applied in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction and the optical fiber member 12 can be extended in any direction. It has been.

Therefore, similarly to the first invention, the optical fiber member 12 in each embodiment of the second invention maintains the predetermined bending shape formed in advance, and the fluctuation of the optical loss due to the bending change during use is maintained. This effectively prevents signal transmission by light, prevents damage to optical fiber members, and saves space.

Further, the second invention has an advantage that the bending and retaining guide 11 as in the first invention is not required.

[0068]

As described above, according to the optical fiber member bending guide according to the present invention, the optical fiber member has the fiber bending accommodating portion for accommodating the optical fiber member in a bent state, and the bending rigidity of the optical fiber member is reduced. Since the optical fiber member is held in a predetermined shape by the bending shape-preserving guide, fluctuation of light loss due to a change in bending during use can be prevented, and the bending caused by bending can be prevented. The increase in light loss can be kept within the expected range,
There are advantages in that signal transmission by light can be stabilized, damage to the optical fiber member can be prevented, and space can be saved.

Further, if a structure is adopted in which a reinforcing material having high bending rigidity is built in the inside of the bending shape guide, there is an advantage that the bending shape of the optical fiber member can be held more stably.

Further, if the insertion opening for inserting the optical fiber member into the fiber bending housing portion is formed along the longitudinal direction thereof, the insertion of the optical fiber member into the fiber bending housing portion is easy. There is an advantage that it can be performed.

Further, if a structure in which a buffer layer is provided on the inner surface of the fiber bending housing portion is provided, there is an advantage that damage due to bending of the optical fiber member can be effectively prevented.

Further, according to the optical fiber member having the bent portion of the present invention, the coating portion of the optical fiber member is made of a material whose bending rigidity is larger than the bending rigidity of the core portion of the optical fiber member. A predetermined bending deformation is applied to the covering portion, and the applied predetermined bending shape is maintained, a change in optical loss due to a change in bending during use can be effectively prevented, and the stability of signal transmission by light is stabilized. There is an advantage that the optical fiber member can be prevented from being damaged and the space can be saved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a third embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the bent shape retaining guide.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a fourth embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the fifth embodiment of the first invention, in which a half of the upper divided guide body is omitted.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the same.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a sixth embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a seventh embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing an eighth embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 15 is a partial sectional side view showing a ninth embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 16 is a side view showing the embodiment of the second invention.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing another embodiment of the second invention.

FIG. 18 is a side view showing another embodiment of the second invention.

FIG. 19 is a side view showing another embodiment of the second invention.

FIG. 20 is a side view showing another embodiment of the second invention.

FIG. 21 is a side view showing another embodiment of the second invention.

FIG. 22 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 23 is a relationship diagram between a bending radius and an increase in optical loss in an optical fiber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Bending shape guide 11a Fiber bending accommodating part 11b Insertion opening 11A Lower divided guide body 11B Upper divided guide body 11G Buffer layer 12 Optical fiber member 13 Reinforcing material 14 Optical connector 16 Protective boot 17 Bending shaped guide body

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masao Sasakawa 1-14 Nishisuehirocho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] An optical fiber member has a fiber bending accommodating portion for accommodating the optical fiber member in a bent state in order to hold the optical fiber member in a predetermined bent shape, and has a bending rigidity larger than the bending rigidity of the optical fiber member. A bent shape-retaining guide for an optical fiber member, comprising: 2. The guide according to claim 1, wherein a reinforcing material having high bending rigidity is incorporated therein. 3. The optical fiber member according to claim 1, wherein an insertion opening for inserting the optical fiber member into the fiber bending accommodating portion is formed along a longitudinal direction thereof. Bending shape guide. 4. The guide according to claim 1, wherein the guide comprises a plurality of divided guide bodies. 5. A bending shape guide for an optical fiber member according to claim 1, wherein a buffer layer is provided on an inner surface of said fiber bending housing portion. 6. The coating portion of the optical fiber member is made of a material whose bending rigidity is larger than that of the core portion of the optical fiber member, and a predetermined bending deformation is given to the coating portion by thermal processing. An optical fiber member having a characteristic bent portion. 7. The bending stiffness of a coating portion of an optical fiber member is
A method for bending an optical fiber member, comprising using a material larger than the bending stiffness of the core portion of the optical fiber member and applying a predetermined bending deformation to the coating portion by thermal processing.