JPS61245114A - Fusion splicing device for optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the same device to connect single cores together and tape cores together by allowing both clamping parts for a single core and a tape core to be attached to and detached from a fusion splicing device. CONSTITUTION:While the single core 1 of an optical fiber is set on the fusion splicing device, a couple of fine adjusting bases 5 are provided movably on a base 3 as part of a moving mechanism for moving the optical fiber axially, and single core clamping members 7 which clamps single cores 1 are mounted detachably on the fine adjusting bases 5. The clamping members 7 consists of an upper member 7a and a lower member 7c where a core storage groove 7b is formed, and the single core 1 is clamped by both members 7a and 7b; and an end part of the optical fiber 9 of the single core 1 is treated while adjusted finely by the fine adjusting bases 5, thereby making a fusion splicing. Further, a tape core is connected by using a clamping member 19 for a five-core fiber, for example, shown in a figure and further the clamping member 11 is also usable.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to an optical fiber fusion splicing device.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, optical fiber fusion splicers have been divided into two types: one for a single fiber as shown in FIG. 12, and the other for a tape core in which a plurality of optical fibers are collectively coated as shown in FIG. used independently.

For the above-mentioned single-core wire, the optical fiber 1 is cut after removing the coating.
01 is placed on the guide member 103 having a V-groove, the optical fiber 101 is gripped by the clamps 105 and 107, and then the moving table 109 is moved in the left and right directions in the figure while causing a gas discharge to tighten the optical fiber. The ends of 101 are brought into contact and fusion spliced.

On the other hand, for tape cables, since the ends of each optical fiber become uneven when cutting and handling a plurality of optical fibers, a mechanism for correcting this unevenness is required. That is, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of optical fibers 115 whose coatings have been removed are arranged in the groove via comb teeth 117 to align their axes with each other. Next, the soft clamp 119 is used to connect the optical fiber 1.
15, move the fine movement table 121 in the left and right directions in the figure to abut the ends of each optical fiber 115 against the plate 12.
Hit 3. At this time, the optical fiber 119 is deflected, but this deflection is absorbed by the comb teeth 117. After that, the optical fiber 11 is connected by a hard clamp 125.
Fix 5. In this state, the irregularities in the ends of the optical fibers 115 have been corrected, and after that, the abutment plate 123 is lowered and the distance between the ends of the optical fibers 115 is set to an appropriate amount by the fine movement table 121, and then the ends of the optical fibers 115 are adjusted. The fusion connection is completed by pressing the parts together while heating and melting them.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional optical fiber fusion splicing device, separate devices are required for single fiber and tape fiber. In particular, connecting devices for tape fibers require a mechanism to correct the unevenness of the ends that occurs when cutting the optical fiber, and a mechanism to absorb the deflection during this correction, resulting in a complicated structure. Ta. This invention was made by focusing on these conventional problems, and it is an optical fiber connecting device that does not have a complicated structure compared to the conventional tape fiber connecting device, and can also use both single fiber and tape fiber. The purpose is to provide a fiber fusion splicing device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve this object, the present invention provides a pair of gripping members for gripping the coating portions of optical fibers that connect the ends thereof, and a method for removing the coating near the ends of the optical fibers. a guide groove that guides the optical fiber, and a transfer groove that moves the optical fiber in its axial direction.
In the optical fiber fusion splicing device, which has a mechanism and a heating source for melting and splicing the ends of the optical fibers, the pair of gripping members are removable from the device body and are capable of holding single fibers and tapes. The structure consists of one for core wires.

[Function] When fusion splicing single fiber cores together, attach the single fiber gripping member to the fusion splicing device, and when fusion splicing tape core wires together, fusion splice the tape core wire gripping member. They are attached to splicing equipment and fusion spliced.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a fusion splicing device in which a single optical fiber 1 is set. That is, a pair of fine movement tables 5 as part of a movement mechanism for moving the optical fiber in the axial direction are installed on the base 3 so as to be movable in the left and right directions in the figure. A single-core wire gripping member 7 that grips the coated portion of the core wire 1, that is, the optical fiber, is removably attached.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, this gripping member 7 is composed of an upper member 7a in the figure and a lower member 7C in which a core wire storage *7b is formed. The single fiber wire 1 is held by storing it in the fiber storage groove 7b and sandwiching it between the two members 7a and 7C. After processing the end of the optical fiber 9 (cutting the optical fiber and removing the coating) while gripping the single-fiber wire 1 in this way, the gripping member 7 is installed on the fine movement table 5 shown in FIG. It is fixed with a clamp 10.

A pair of first guide members 11 are disposed between the pair of fine movement tables 5 to guide the optical fiber 9 from which the coating has been removed. This first guide member 11 is capable of guiding a ribbon coated with multiple optical fibers (five in this case) as shown in FIG. 3, which is a view from the ■-■ arrow in FIG. As shown, five V-shaped first guide grooves 11a are formed. On both left and right sides of each first guide member 11 in FIG.
3 is provided so as to be movable up and down in the figure with respect to the base 3. As shown in FIG. 3, this second guide member 13 has a second guide groove 13 larger than the first guide groove 11a.
a has a substantially medium heat, and when guiding a single fiber 1, it rises as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to guide the optical fiber 9.
is guided by the first guide W411a at the center in FIG. At this time, the bottom of the second guide groove 138 only needs to be located at the same height as the bottom of the first guide groove 11a or slightly lower than that.

Above each of the first guide members 11, a soft clamp 15 for fixing the optical fiber 9 after the optical fiber 9 has been guided is provided so as to be movable up and down with respect to the clamp 10.

FIG. 4 shows a ribbon cable 17 having a plurality of optical fibers 9.
A tape core gripping member 19 for gripping is shown. This one gripping member has the same external shape as the single-fiber wire gripping member 7, and consists of an upper member 19a and a lower member 19C in which a fiber storage groove 19b is formed. 17 is stored in the core wire storage groove 19b, and both members 19a and 19C are
By pinching them, the tape core wire 17 is gripped. The tape core wire gripping member 17 can be attached to and removed from the fine movement table 5 of the fusion splicing apparatus in the same way as the single fiber wire gripping member 7.

Note that the discharge conditions at the time of fusion splicing are different for connecting single fiber cores and tape core wires, and generally the discharge conditions used when connecting tape core wires are used to fuse single core wires. In this case, the end of the optical fiber will melt too much, and in the opposite case, the discharge power will be too weak. Therefore, here, a discharge power source (not shown) as a heating source can be adjusted depending on the object to be connected.

Next, the effect will be explained. When connecting two single-core wires,
First, while the single fiber 1 is held by the single fiber grip member 7, the end of the optical fiber is processed, that is, the coating is removed and cut, and the grip member 7 is mounted on the fine movement table 5. At this time,
The second guide member 13 is raised as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and when the single-fiber wire gripping member 7 holding the single-fiber wire 1 is attached to the fusion splicing device, the optical fiber 9 is Second
The first guide groove 11 in the center is guided by the guide groove 13a.
It will be placed at a.

As a result, the ends of the left and right optical fibers 9 to be connected face each other, and in this state, the soft clamp 15 is lowered to fix the optical fibers 9. After the optical fibers 9 are fixed, the fine movement tables 5 are moved in the left-right direction so as to approach each other, so that a predetermined distance is formed between the ends of the optical fibers 9. Then, by adjusting a discharge power source (not shown) and heating and melting the area between the parts Pa, the fine movement table 5 is moved so that the ends are pressed against each other, and the fusion splicing is completed.

On the other hand, when connecting the tape core wires 17, the second guide member 13 is lowered as shown in FIG. and,
The tape fiber 17 processes the ends of the plurality of optical fibers 9 while being held by the tape fiber gripping member 19 . Since the tape core wire 17 is held by the gripping member 19 during this end processing, irregularities in the ends of the optical fibers that occur when the optical fibers 9 are cut in bulk and during handling can be suppressed to a minimum. Next, the tape cable gripping member 19 that grips the tape cable whose end has been treated in this way is mounted on the fine movement table 5. At this time, as shown in FIG.
are placed in each. Then, in this state, after lowering the soft clamp 15 and fixing the optical fiber 9,
The fine movement table 5 is moved in the same way as for connecting the single fibers 1 to each other, the discharge power source (not shown) is adjusted, and the ends of each optical fiber 9 are fusion-spliced.

As described above, in this embodiment, by processing the ends of the optical fibers while the tape core wire 1 is held in advance by the gripping member 19, the irregularities between the ends of each optical fiber are kept to a minimum, which is different from the conventional method. No special mechanism is required to correct this irregularity.

7 and 8 show other embodiments.

In addition, here, the same reference numerals are attached to the same components as in the above-described embodiment to simplify the explanation. In this embodiment, the second guide member 13 is moved up when connecting the single fiber wires 1 to each other and lowered when the tape core wires 17 are connected to the first guide member 1.
The second guide member 13 is inserted into the guide hole 2''1 provided in the second guide member 1, and is provided so that the second guide member 13 can be moved up and down in the guide hole 21 in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. It shows the state when it is raised, and in this state, the single fiber wires 1 can be connected to each other as in the previous embodiment.

FIGS. 9 to 11 show RIt for responding to changes in discharge conditions in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 above.

In this case, the amount of discharge is the same for both the connection between the center lines of gravity and the connection between the tape core wires, and a heat-resistant insulator 23 is placed in the discharge path.
This method takes advantage of the fact that when the heating area is limited by inserting a battery, the heat during discharge is concentrated and a high temperature is obtained. That is, this heat-resistant insulator 23 has a notch 2 having a width that accommodates five optical fibers 9 as shown in FIG.
5 is formed, and is disposed between the two first guide members 11 so as to be movable up and down.

9 and 10 show the tape core wires being connected, with the insulator 23 raised. Due to this rise, the five optical fibers 9 are housed in the notch 25, the heating area due to discharge is restricted, and a high temperature is obtained so that the five optical fibers 9 can be fused. It will be done.

On the other hand, when connecting the single fiber wires 1 to each other, the insulator 23 is lowered as shown in FIG. 11, so that the heating area is not restricted and welding conditions suitable for welding the single fiber wires 1 can be obtained. Do it like this.

Therefore, by simply moving the insulator 23 up and down, effective discharge power suitable for the connection object can be obtained without changing the amount of discharge.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in F below, according to the present invention, since both the gripping members for single-fiber wires and those for tape-fiber wires are detachable from the fusion splicing device, it is possible to connect the same single-fiber wires with the same device. A special mechanism that corrects misalignment between each optical fiber that occurs when cutting, etc. can be used for both connection and connection of tape fibers together, and the end of the tape fiber can be processed while being held by the gripping member. This makes it possible to keep the misalignment to a small level without the need for a fusion splicer, which makes the structure simpler than a conventional fusion splicer for tape core wires, as well as a conventional fusion splicer for single fiber wires.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view of an optical fiber fusion splicing device according to an embodiment of this invention, showing the state in which single fibers are connected together, and Fig. 2 is a gripping member for single fibers attached to the device shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the ■-■ arrow in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an explanatory drawing of the gripping member for the tape cable core, and Fig. 5 is a fusion splicing device showing the connection of tape cable cores. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line Vl-Vll in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of the first guide member of another embodiment.
Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Figure 7, Figures 9 to 11 relate to the mechanism for changing the amount of discharge in the embodiments of Figures 7 and 8, and Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the tape core wire. Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the connection, Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line X-X in Fig. 9, Fig. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the connection of single-fiber wires, and Fig. 12 is a diagram of a conventional fusion splicing device for single-fiber wires. FIG. 13 is a front view of a conventional tape core fusion splicer. 1...Single-core wire 7...Single-core wire gripping member 9...
- Optical fiber 11...first guide member 13...second guide member) l! f1 Figure 2 Figure 3 9c Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 11 (111Q Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11

Claims (1)

[Claims] a pair of gripping members that grip the coating portion of the optical fiber that connects the ends thereof; a guide groove that guides the coating removal portion near the end of the optical fiber; and a movement mechanism that moves the optical fiber in its axial direction; In the optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus, which includes a heating source for melting and splicing the ends of the optical fibers, the pair of gripping members are detachable from the apparatus body, and have gripping members for a single fiber and for a tape fiber. An optical fiber fusion splicing device comprising: