JP3890439B2 - Optical fiber end face processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical fiber end face processing apparatus that cuts an optical fiber end face into, for example, a convex or concave hemispherical surface, and more particularly to an optical fiber end face processing apparatus that is optimal for application to a plastic optical fiber.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, the method of processing an end face of an optical fiber into a hemispherical surface is usually a method of processing the end face by applying heat. However, this method has a disadvantage that the degree of heating is not uniform, and the convex spherical shape is not reproducible, and is scratched or soiled.
[0003]
Therefore, as a solution to such an inconvenience, the lens forming mold that is heated when pressed against the tip of the end of the optical fiber and the lens forming mold that is separated from the end of the optical fiber are separated. There is provided an optical fiber end face processing device comprising a rapid cooling means for forcibly cooling an end portion of a fiber.
[0004]
According to this apparatus, a lens (hemispherical surface) can be formed at the tip of the optical fiber end simply, efficiently and at low cost, a convex shape can be formed with good reproducibility, scratches, and dirt can be generated. Less sticking.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional processing apparatus for an optical fiber end face heated as described above, it is suitable for forming a convex hemispherical surface, but cannot cope with the formation of other shapes including a concave hemispherical surface. Have
Further, the conventional optical fiber end face processing apparatus has a constant guide hole diameter of the guide member, so that the diameter of the optical fiber changes (especially inconvenient when the diameter is reduced). There is a bug that cannot be handled.
In view of these points, the present invention can be formed into not only a convex hemispherical surface but also an arbitrary shape including a concave hemispherical surface by cutting, and the cutting position and cutting amount of the optical fiber at the time of cutting are optimized. It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical fiber end face processing apparatus that can be set and can also handle optical fibers having different wire diameters.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an optical fiber end face processing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is a processing apparatus that cuts an optical fiber end face with a cutting blade, and a cutting blade that can be rotated by a drive source, and an introduction that penetrates. A guide member having a function of chucking an optical fiber, and the cutting blade is provided in the vicinity of the introduction hole opening on one end side of the guide member. By inserting the optical fiber from the end side, the optical fiber is guided and brought into contact with the cutting blade, and the end face of the optical fiber is cut by the rotating cutting blade at a predetermined chucking position of the optical fiber. An apparatus for processing an optical fiber end face,
The guide member has a frustoconical shape having an introduction hole in the center and has a chuck structure having a plurality of slits, and an external thread is screwed on the outer peripheral surface, and the guide member is a housing or a motor of a processing apparatus. An optical fiber that is screwed into a truncated conical screw hole of a guide member adjusting screw provided in the mounting member and is inserted into the introduction hole is chucked.
[0007]
As a result, the optical fiber can be inserted into the introduction hole of the guide member, and the guide member can be chucked simply by screwing it into the screw hole of the guide member adjusting screw. Further, the cutting position and the cutting amount by the cutting blade can be adjusted with high accuracy by the guide member adjusting screw. That is, the optical fiber end face can be cut with high accuracy by maintaining the optimum cutting position with the cutting blade of the optical fiber with high accuracy.
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the motor and the guide member are common so that the drive shaft of the motor that rotates the cutting blade and each center line of the guide member are coaxial. It is attached on the motor attachment member of this.
[0009]
As a result, in addition to the above operations and effects, the cutting blade can be positioned for cutting with respect to the optical fiber supported by the guide member without deviation of the central axis.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view showing an optical fiber end face processing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a further exploded perspective view, and FIG. 3 is a whole perspective view. This processing apparatus processes an end face of an optical fiber with a cutting blade driven by a motor.
[0011]
The said processing apparatus has accommodated the main part in the two housings 11A and 11B as a whole. The casings 11A and 11B are detachably attached to the inverted T-shaped base material 42 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 accommodated therein by set screws 43 and 44, respectively. A screw hole 45 into which a set screw 43, 44 is screwed is provided in each part of the end face of the substrate 42. A large-diameter through hole 46 is formed in the standing piece 42 a of the base material 42. Further, a through hole 47 having substantially the same diameter as the through hole 46 is formed in the side plate 11a of the housing 11A. The housing 11B is formed with a plurality of ventilation holes 48 for ventilating the housing 11B.
[0012]
A substantially cylindrical motor mounting member 49 is inserted through the through hole 46 of the upright piece 42a. The motor 13 is fixed to the standing piece 42a of the base member 42 by four screws 50 (see FIG. 2) through the flange portion 49a at the end of the motor mounting member 49. Therefore, screw insertion holes 42 b and 49 b are provided in the standing piece 42 a and the flange portion 49 a, and a screw hole 13 b is provided in the bracket 13 a of the motor 13. In this fixed state, the tip of the motor mounting member 49 faces the through hole 47 of the housing 11A. The motor mounting member 49 is provided with a pair of cutting waste discharge holes 51 penetrating in the radial direction. A screw hole 52 for attaching a guide member adjusting screw, which will be described later, is formed at the center of the tip of the motor attachment member 49.
[0013]
One end of a pipe-shaped coupling 61 is fixed to the drive shaft 60 of the motor 13 with a screw 62 as shown in FIG. The body of the cutting blade 1 is inserted into the other end of the coupling 61 and is fixed by a screw 63 so as to be replaceable. As the cutting blade 1 used here, one having a cutting edge such as a convex shape, a concave shape, a triangle shape, a mountain shape, and an arc shape is arbitrarily selected in order to obtain a required end face shape of the optical fiber.
[0014]
The guide member 4 of this example is a frustoconical shape having an introduction hole 5 in the center as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, and has a chuck structure having a plurality of slits 58, and an external thread 57 is provided on the outer peripheral surface. It is screwed.
A guide member adjusting screw 53 is screwed into and attached to a screw hole 52 for mounting a guide member adjusting screw provided at the center of the tip of the motor mounting member 49 facing the through hole 47 of the housing 11A.
The guide member adjusting screw 53 is provided with a truncated conical screw hole 56 into which the guide member 4 is screwed. The guide member 4 is screwed into the screw hole 56 and attached thereto. Yes.
Therefore, when the guide member 4 is screwed into the screw hole 56 of the guide member adjusting screw 53, the tapered outer peripheral surface is suppressed in the inner diameter direction because of the slit 58, and the optical fiber 21 inserted into the introduction hole 5 is chucked ( Retained). Thereby, the optical fiber 21 can be held and cut by the cutting blade 1, and the protruding amount of the tip of the optical fiber 21 can be adjusted by the amount of insertion of the guide member 4 into the introduction hole 5. Further, since the guide member adjusting screw 53 screwed into the screw hole 52 can be advanced and retracted by forward and reverse rotation, adjustment of the guide member adjusting screw 53 allows the amount of protrusion of the optical fiber, the cutting position by the cutting blade 1 and The amount of cutting can be adjusted.
[0015]
In such an optical fiber end face processing apparatus, the cutting blade 1 is rotated by fixing the cutting blade 1 to the coupling 61 using a screw 62 and driving the motor 13. On the other hand, when the end face of the optical fiber 21 to be cut is processed, the end of the optical fiber 21 is moved into the introduction hole 5 of the guide member 4 screwed shallowly with respect to the guide member adjusting screw 53 with the arrow in FIG. Insert in direction A.
[0016]
When the insertion amount of the optical fiber 21 reaches a predetermined amount as measured, a jig (not shown) is engaged with the notch 59, and the guide member 4 is inserted into the screw hole 56 of the guide member adjusting screw 53 as shown in FIG. Screw in deeply as shown in. Since the guide member 4 has a chuck structure having three slits 58, the tapered outer peripheral surface is suppressed in the inner diameter direction. For this reason, the optical fiber 21 is held in the introduction hole 5 under an appropriate clamping pressure. That is, the optical fiber 21 is stably held by the guide member 4. Accordingly, any optical fiber 21 having any diameter can be handled.
[0017]
In this case, if the optical fiber 21 excessively protrudes from the tip of the protruding portion 4a in correspondence with the cutting blade 1 or does not protrude from the tip, the chucking is loosened and the optical fiber 21 protrudes. Adjust the amount. After adjusting, chuck again. And after this adjustment (fine adjustment), in order to determine the cutting position and cutting amount by the cutting blade 1 with high accuracy, the protruding amount of the optical fiber 21 is reset. This setting operation can be performed by adjusting the screwing amount of the guide member adjusting screw 53 with respect to the screw hole 52 of the motor mounting member 49.
[0018]
7 and 8 show another guide member 4A and its usage. In this embodiment and usage, there is no guide member adjusting screw, the guide member 4A is screwed directly into the motor mounting member 49, and four slits 58A are inserted in the guide member 4A. Other configurations are the same as those shown in FIGS. According to this example, the guide member adjusting screw is not necessary. Since the guide member 4A has four slits 58A, the portion divided by the slits 58A can be easily deformed. Therefore, the operation of the guide member 4A when chucking the optical fiber 21 becomes light.
[0019]
Therefore, the guide member 4 or 4A can be removed from the guide member adjusting screw 53 or the motor mounting member 49, and the guide member adjusting screw 53 can be removed from the motor mounting member 49 by unscrewing. For this reason, the coupling 61 is formed using the screw hole 56 that is the mounting hole of the guide member 4, the mounting screw hole of the guide member 4 </ b> A of the motor mounting member 49, or the screw hole 52 that is the mounting hole of the guide member adjusting screw 53. Exchange of the supported cutting blade 1 can be performed. At this time, the tip of the tool 65 is inserted into a through hole 64 provided in the housing 11A (see FIG. 3), and the screw 63 screwed into the coupling 61 is loosened, so that the cutting blade 1 is made free at the coupling 61. Or fix by tightening.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 4, the guide member adjusting screw 53 is a ring-shaped moving amount adjusting member, and a screw 54 is provided on the outer periphery. The axial movement amount of the guide member adjusting screw 53 can be adjusted by changing the screwing amount of the screw 54 into the screw hole 52. Note that the screwing operation of the guide member adjusting screw 53 is performed by locking a jig with a pair of notches 55 provided in the guide member adjusting screw 53 and rotating the jig.
[0021]
Further, the guide member adjusting screw 53 is provided with a tapered screw hole 56 on the inner periphery, and the guide member 4 having a screw 57 on the outer periphery is screwed into the screw hole 56 so as to be detachable. The outer periphery (screw) surface of the guide member 4 is tapered, and a protruding portion 4a is continuously provided at one end. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, three slits 58 are inserted in a part including the protruding portion 4a of the guide member 4.
[0022]
A pair of notches 59 are provided on the side surface of the guide member 4 so as to lock and rotate a jig for screwing operation. These notches 59 are shown in FIGS. An introduction hole 5 is provided on the center line of the guide member 4 for introducing and chucking the optical fiber 21.
[0023]
In short, the guide members 4 and 4A have a frustoconical shape having the introduction hole 5 at the center, and have a chuck structure having a plurality of slits 58 and 58A. The optical fiber 21 inserted through the introduction hole 5 can be chucked (held) by screwing into the screw hole 56 of the adjusting screw 53 or the truncated conical screw hole provided in the motor mounting member 49.
Thereby, it is possible to deal with everything from the thick fiber diameter of the optical fiber 21 to the thin one. In particular, in the past, a thin warp diameter could not be accurately processed because the processed portion was thin and flexible. However, according to the guide members 4 and 4A, since it can be held firmly and processed, accurate end face processing is possible. Is possible. Moreover, since the processing length can be adjusted while holding the optical fiber, more accurate end surface processing is possible.
[0024]
The above embodiment does not limit the present invention. Various modifications of the present invention are allowed without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the guide member may be provided not on the motor mounting member but on the housing of the processing apparatus.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the optical fiber end face processing apparatus of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the optical fiber can be held and fixed by inserting it into the introduction hole of the guide member and chucking, the cutting amount of the optical fiber relative to the cutting blade can be arbitrarily set, and the cutting position of the optical fiber is held and fixed Since it is cut, the optical fiber end face can be cut with high accuracy.
(2) Since the optical fiber can be chucked on the guide member, and the guide member can be adjusted in the axial movement amount by the guide member adjusting screw, the cutting position of the optical fiber relative to the cutting blade can be stably held and the cutting amount Can be set arbitrarily and with high accuracy, so that the end face of the optical fiber can be cut with higher accuracy.
(3) The guide member has a frustoconical shape having an introduction hole in the center, and has a chuck structure having a plurality of slits. A male screw is screwed on the outer peripheral surface of the guide member. The optical fiber inserted into the introduction hole can be chucked (held) by screwing into the truncated conical screw hole or the screw hole of the guide member adjusting screw, so that the optical fiber can be easily chucked. In addition, it is easy to adjust the protruding amount of the optical fiber, and the optical fiber can cope with everything from a thick wire to a thin wire. In particular, a thin wire diameter or a core portion alone can be handled, and an accurate end face processing can be performed.
(4) The advantage that an optical fiber can be cut into various shapes such as a convex shape, a concave shape, a triangular shape, a mountain shape, and an arc shape by obtaining an arbitrary shape as a cutting blade is obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of an optical fiber end face processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the entire optical fiber end face processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an optical fiber end face processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a relationship between a guide member and a guide member adjusting screw in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a side view of the guide member shown in FIG.
6 is a cross-sectional view showing a chucking structure of an optical fiber by a guide member in FIG. 4. FIG.
7 is a side view showing another embodiment of the guide member in FIG. 1. FIG.
8 is a cross-sectional view showing an optical fiber chucking structure by the guide member in FIG. 7. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cutting blade 4, 4A Guide member 5 Introduction hole 11A, 11B Housing 13 Motor (drive source)
49 Motor mounting member 52 Screw hole (Mounting hole)
53 Guide member adjustment screw (movement amount adjustment member)
54 Screw 56 Screw hole (Mounting hole)
57 Guide member screws 58, 58A Slit 60 Drive shaft 61 Coupling

Claims (2)

A cutting device for cutting an end face of an optical fiber with a cutting blade, comprising a cutting blade that can be rotated by a driving source, and a guide member that is provided with an introduction hole that penetrates and has a function of chucking an optical fiber, The blade is provided near the introduction hole opening on one end side of the guide member, and the optical fiber is guided toward the cutting blade by inserting the optical fiber from the other end side into the introduction hole of the guide member. A processing device for an optical fiber end face that is abutted and the end face of the optical fiber is cut by a rotating cutting blade at a predetermined chucking position of the optical fiber,
The guide member has a frustoconical shape having an introduction hole in the center and has a chuck structure having a plurality of slits, and an external thread is screwed on the outer peripheral surface, and the guide member is a housing or a motor of a processing apparatus. An apparatus for processing an end face of an optical fiber, characterized in that an optical fiber screwed into a truncated conical screw hole of a guide member adjusting screw provided on an attachment member is chucked. The motor and the guide member are mounted on a common motor mounting member so that a drive shaft of the motor rotating the cutting blade and each center line of the guide member are coaxial. The optical fiber end face processing apparatus according to 1.

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