JPH09113752A - Cutting machine and connecting machine for optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting machine and connecting machine capable of extremely easily position optical fibers with extremely good accuracy in cutting and connecting the optical fibers. SOLUTION: The cutting machine B holds the front end of the optical fiber 2 by a holder A, mounts this holder A and cuts the leading part 1 of the optical fiber 2 to a specified length. Both of the holder A and the cutting machine B are provided with positioning mechanisms, such as tapered pin 7 and tapered hole 14, which engage with each other of themselves and position the holder A to an adequate position when the holder A is mounted. The connecting machine holds the fronts end of the optical fibers 2 by the holder A, mounts the holder A and connects the optical fibers 2 by disposing the front ends thereof opposite to each other. Both of the holder A and the connecting machine are provided with positioning mechanisms, such as tapered pin 7 and tapered hole, which engage with each other of themselves and position the holder A to an adequate position when the holder A is mounted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cutting machine for cutting the tip portions of optical fibers to be connected when connecting optical fibers, and a splicing machine for connecting optical fibers whose tip portions have been cut. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, in order to connect optical fibers to each other, the ends of the optical fibers to be connected are cut into a predetermined shape to form a protrusion, and then the ends of both the optical fibers are connected. It is common to butt together and perform fusion splicing, and fusion splicers for that purpose have already been put to practical use.

By the way, in the conventional general fusion splicer, it is necessary to accurately position the tips of both optical fibers at a predetermined position for connection. In particular, the positioning of the tip of each optical fiber in the lateral direction and the height direction is accurately performed by fixing the bare optical fiber at the opening to the V groove stand, but the axial positioning is performed after cutting each optical fiber. The coating length of the optical fiber is fixed to fix the coating portion of the optical fiber at a predetermined position. Here, it is necessary to strictly perform axial positioning for the following reasons.

That is, in the conventional general fusion splicer, first, the optical fibers to be connected are arranged to face each other with a predetermined gap maintained between their tips, and then both the optical fibers are brought close to each other. In this way, the tips are fused and spliced by electrodes while being extruded in the direction to gradually bring the tips close to each other. The size of the gap to be secured between the ends of both optical fibers must be set properly and strictly before fusion bonding, and therefore it is necessary to strictly position both optical fibers in the axial direction. That is why.

In the prior art, after the optical fiber to be cut is set in the holder, the holder is not securely fixed in the longitudinal direction in the cutting machine, so the cut length of the cut optical fiber itself is not constant. It was Further, also in the splicer, the position of the optical fiber in the longitudinal direction is not constant because the holder is not fixed in the longitudinal direction. As a result, the above-mentioned error was superimposed and the tip position of the optical fiber could not be determined in the connector. Therefore, the conventional splicer has a means for adjusting the tip position of the optical fiber after setting the holder.

For this reason, conventionally, the position is manually corrected while confirming the axial position of the optical fiber by, for example, a microscope or image processing, but in recent years, for example, a positioning means as shown in FIG. 7 is used. There has been proposed a device which automatically positions an optical fiber.

In the structure shown in FIG. 7, movable bases b, which are movable in directions away from and in contact with each other, are arranged on opposite sides of the electrode a (see FIG. 7).
(Only the one on the left side is shown in the figure), and an abutting plate c whose thickness dimension is strictly set is arranged between electrodes a so as to be retractable.

In this positioning means, first, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), an abutting plate c is arranged between electrodes a, and an optical fiber e on which a lead-out portion d is formed in advance is moved respectively. By holding the optical fiber e at a predetermined position in b, the two optical fibers e are set with a proper distance (a distance sufficiently larger than the gap δ that should be finally secured) between their tips. Then, the movable table b is moved forward, the tips of both optical fibers e are brought into contact with the abutting plate c as shown in (b), and then the abutting plate c is moved to the electrode a as shown in (c). Evacuate between the sides. As a result, a proper gap δ matching the thickness dimension and position of the abutting plate c is ensured between the tips of both optical fibers e, and the optical fiber e is always positioned at a predetermined axial position. With this state as the starting point, the optical fibers e are gradually brought close to each other to a predetermined movement amount, and fusion splicing is performed.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above prior art,
Although the optical fiber e can be automatically and accurately positioned in the axial direction at the time of fusion bonding, the optical fiber e must be set again on the moving table b, and the optical fiber e must be repositioned. Since the table b, a drive mechanism for moving it forward, its guide mechanism, an abutting plate C and a mechanism for retracting it are indispensable,
The entire structure must be complicated and expensive, and it is extremely difficult to achieve downsizing, cost reduction, and speedup.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to perform axial positioning of an optical fiber at the time of fusion splicing very easily and accurately without requiring complicated positioning means. To provide effective means.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An optical fiber cutting machine of the present invention holds a holder near the tip of the optical fiber and then mounts the holder to bring the tip of the optical fiber into a predetermined state. Each of the cutting machine and the holder is provided with a mechanism that engages with each other when the holder is mounted and positions the holder at a predetermined position in the optical fiber axis direction. It is characterized by being. In this case, the positioning mechanism provided on the holder is a taper pin or a tapered hole provided on the lower surface of the holder, and the positioning mechanism provided on the cutter is engaged with the taper pin or the tapered hole of the holder. It is preferable to use a taper hole or a taper pin.

Further, the optical fiber connecting device of the present invention has a structure in which the vicinity of the tip of the optical fiber is held by a holder, respectively, and then the holder is attached to connect the tips of the optical fibers to each other. Each of the connection machine and the holder is provided with a mechanism that engages with each other when the holder is mounted and positions the holder at a predetermined position in the optical fiber axis direction. It is characterized by. In this case, the positioning mechanism provided on the holder is a taper pin or a tapered hole provided on the lower surface of the holder, and the positioning mechanism provided on the connector is engaged with the taper pin or the tapered hole of the holder. It is preferable to use a taper hole or a taper pin.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment of a cutting machine and a connecting machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, but both the cutting machine B and the connecting machine C of this embodiment will be described. Figure 1
Since it is premised that the holder A shown in 1 is commonly used, the holder A will be described first.

1A and 1B show a holder A in a state of holding an optical fiber 2, where FIG. 1A is a side sectional view and FIG. 1B is a front view. This holder A includes a main body 3 and a main body 3
A lid 5 that is openably and closably connected by a pin 4, and by closing the lid 5, the main body 3 and the lid 5 allow the front side of the leading end of the optical fiber 2 to come from above and below. The optical fiber 2 is sandwiched from both sides by the guide members 6 which are sandwiched and attached to the front and rear of the main body 3, and the optical fiber 2 can be firmly held without any room to be displaced back and forth and left and right. The lower surface of the main body 3 is a flat surface, and a taper pin 7 having a taper shape whose diameter dimension is gradually reduced toward the lower end side is projectingly provided on the lower surface. The taper pin 7 is for positioning the holder A when the holder A is attached to the cutting machine B and the fusion splicing machine C, and has a taper hole 14 (described later) and a splicing machine C in the cutting machine B. Taper hole 26 (described later)
Together with this, it constitutes a positioning mechanism.

In FIG. 2, the holder A is replaced with a cutting machine B of this embodiment.
It shows a state of being attached to. The coating of the lead-out portion 1 of the optical fiber 2 held by the holder A has been removed in advance. The cutting machine B is for cutting the lead-out portion 1 of the optical fiber 2 held by the holder A to a constant length, that is, for keeping the lead-out length constant, and a base 10 for mounting the holder A, Cutting blade 1 provided on the front part of the base 10.
1, a blade pressing member 12 facing the cutting blade 11, and a pressing member 13 that presses the lead-out portion 1 of the optical fiber 2 at positions before and after the cutting blade 11 and the blade pressing member 12. And
The taper pin 7 is provided on the upper surface of the base 10 so as to project from the lower surface of the holder A when the holder A is mounted.
Taper hole (positioning mechanism) that fits tightly with itself
4 are formed, and the taper pin 7 and the taper hole 14 are formed.
By engaging with each other, the holder A is automatically positioned with respect to the cutting machine B.

That is, the taper hole 1 of this cutting machine B
By mounting the holder A in a state where the taper pin 7 is fitted to the holder 4, the mounting position of the holder A with respect to the cutting machine B does not have a possibility of shifting to the front, rear, left and right, and the holder A is always mounted at a proper fixed position. become. Therefore, by cutting the lead portion 1 in that state, the lead portion 1 is always cut at a fixed position. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, from the center position of the tapered hole 14 of the cutting machine B to the cutting blade 11
When the distance up to is set to L, the holder A is attached to the cutting machine B and the lead-out portion 1 is cut to set the center position of the taper pin 7 of the holder A to the reference position of the holder A.
The tip of the cut optical fiber 2 is always located at a distance L from the reference position of the holder A.

Therefore, the pair of optical fibers 2 to be connected are separately held in the holder A, and the holder A is held.
Are sequentially mounted on the cutting machine B to cut the lead-out portion 1, so that the tip positions of both optical fibers 2 naturally become constant with respect to the reference position of the holder A. Therefore,
As shown in FIG. 3, the holders A are mounted so as to face the connector C, and fusion bonding is performed there.

The connecting device C of this embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is a fixed clamp base 20 as a base and a swing clamp base connected to the fixed clamp base 20 by pins 21 so as to be vertically swingable. 22, one holder A is mounted on the upper surface of the fixed clamp base 20, and the other holder A is mounted on the upper surface of the swing clamp base 22, and the V-groove base 24 and the fiber clamp 25 are used to open the ports of both optical fibers 2. It is supposed that the projecting portion 1 is held and their tips are opposed to each other.

The connector C engages with the taper pins 7 of the holders A at the positions where the holders A should be attached in a state of closely fitting (therefore, it is the same as the taper hole 14 provided in the cutter B). Tapered holes 26 each having a shape are formed. As a result, the tapered hole 26
The center of the is aligned with the reference position of the holder A. here,
Distance L between the reference position of the holder A and the tip of the optical fiber 2
Is the taper hole 26 of the fixed clamp base 20 of the connection machine C.
Is determined so that the position obtained by adding the distance L to the reference position of is coincident with a predetermined position at the time of starting the fusion of the connecting device C. The mutual distance between these tapered holes 26 (the distance between the reference positions of both tapered holes 26) is twice the L dimension when the swing clamp base 22 is in the posture at the time of starting fusion. It is strictly set to a value obtained by adding the above-mentioned δ dimension (the appropriate dimension of the gap to be secured between the tips of both optical fibers 2 at the time of starting fusion).

Further, on the fixed clamp base 20, a solenoid 27 as a drive source for rocking the rocking clamp base 22 by pressing the lower extension portion 22a of the rocking clamp base 22 downward during fusion bonding. And a stopper 28 for restricting the position of the swing clamp base 22 at the start of fusion bonding, and a stopper 29 for restricting the position at the end of fusion bonding.
The positions of 8 and 29 are adjusted in advance in correspondence with the positions of the rocking clamp base 22 at the time of starting fusion bonding and at the time of completion of fusion bonding. Further, the fixed clamp base 20 and the swing clamp base 22
And a swing clamp base 22 between the upper parts of the and
A damper 31 for controlling the rocking speed of the is interposed.

In the connection device C having the above-mentioned structure, the swing clamp base 22 is fixed to the fixed clamp base 20 by the spring 30.
The state in which the lower extending portion 22a is in contact with the stopper 28 by urging in the direction away from the stopper 28 is the posture at the time of starting fusion, and in this state, both of the optical fibers 2 to be connected are held. The holder A is mounted on the fixed clamp base 20 and the swing clamp base 22, respectively, and the bare optical fiber portion of the optical fiber 2 is mounted on the V groove base 24. As a result, the tips of both optical fibers 2 naturally oppose each other, and as described above, the axial positioning of both optical fibers 2 is naturally made strictly, and a proper gap δ is naturally secured between both tips. Will be done.

Therefore, the solenoid 27 is driven to push down the lower extension portion 22a of the rocking clamp base 22 to rock the rocking clamp base 22 counterclockwise in FIG. 3 against the biasing force of the spring 30. Also, by appropriately controlling the swing speed by the damper 31, the swing clamp base 22
While pushing out the holder A attached to the front side at an appropriate speed, the fusion connection is performed by an electrode (not shown). The tip of the lower extension portion 22a of the swing clamp base 22 is a stopper 29.
When it comes into contact with, the rocking stops and the fusion splicing is completed at that point.

As described above, in the connector C of this embodiment, both optical fibers 2 whose length from the holder A has been cut to a constant length by the cutter B are attached to the holder A while being held in the holder A, respectively. Only by doing so, the axial positioning of both of the optical fibers 2 can be carried out precisely. Therefore, two holders A and a cutting machine B
By using the connection device C and the connection device C as one set, the optical fiber e is set on the moving table b as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 7, and then the moving table b is moved again to perform precise positioning. Is unnecessary, and no special positioning means that requires high accuracy for performing such work is required. As a result, simplification, miniaturization, cost reduction and speedup of the entire device are sufficiently achieved. It is possible to

In particular, in the above embodiment, since the tapered pin 7 and the tapered holes 14 and 26 are adopted as the positioning mechanism, when they are fitted, there is no play due to the so-called taper action and the positioning is naturally highly accurate. And the holder A can be easily attached to and detached from the cutting machine B and the connection machine C.
In other words, if a normal 90 ° pin and groove are used instead of the tapered shape, play is required for insertion / removal, and the play reduces the positioning accuracy. Can be avoided.

In the above embodiment, the taper pin 7 and the taper holes 14 and 26 are fitted to each other to accurately position the holder A in the axial direction and the lateral direction. If the cross section of 26 is circular, there is room for relative rotation when they are fitted together. Therefore, if necessary, a configuration for restricting the relative rotation of the holder A may be added, for example, the rotation is restrained. A combination of an appropriate stopper, a key and a key groove for restraining rotation between the taper pin and the taper hole, and a non-circular cross section such as an elliptical shape or a square shape for the taper pin and the taper hole Conceivable.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the holder A is provided with the taper pin 7 and the cutting machine B and the connecting machine C are provided with the tapered holes 17 and 26. On the contrary, the cutting machine B and the connecting machine C are provided with the tapered pins. May be provided so as to project to the upper surface side, and a taper hole into which the holder A is fitted may be provided on the lower surface.

Further, as described above, normally, when mounting the holder A, only the positioning of the optical fiber 2 in the axial direction needs to be performed strictly, and the positioning in the width direction and the height direction does not require so much accuracy. As a positioning mechanism provided in the holder A, instead of the taper pin 7 as described above, FIG.
As shown in (a), a protrusion 41 having a tapered cross section extending in the width direction of the optical fiber 2 may be provided, or a groove 42 having a tapered cross section as shown in (b) of the figure may be provided. When the holder A is provided with such a ridge 41 or groove 42, the positioning mechanism provided in the cutting machine B and the connecting machine C includes a groove having a tapered cross section with which the ridge 41 engages, or the groove 42 described above. It goes without saying that the projection is formed to have a tapered cross section.

As a modification of the one shown in FIG. 4 (a), as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the chamfered portions 4 each having a tapered shape are formed on the lower portions of the front and rear wall portions of the holder A, respectively.
Similarly, strict positioning can be achieved by forming 3 and 44 and engaging the chamfered portions 43 and 44 in close contact with the sloped portions 45 and 46 provided on the cutting machine B and the connection machine C. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the chamfered portion 44 and the sloped portion 46 are provided only on the rear surface side, and the front side of the holder A is the upright wall portion 47.
Strict positioning can also be performed by bringing the upright wall portion 47 into close contact with the upright wall portion 49 on the rear surface side of the stopper 48 provided for positioning in the cutting machine B and the connecting machine C. That is, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the chamfered portions 43 and 44, the sloped portions 45 and 46, and the upright wall portions 47 and 49 constitute a positioning mechanism for axially positioning the holder A. . In the case of FIG. 5 (a), the center position in the longitudinal direction of the holder A and the center position between the inclined surfaces 45 and 46 of the cutting machine B and the connection machine C are reference positions, and in the case of FIG. The positions of the upright wall portion 47 of A, the upright wall portion 49 of the cutting machine B, and the connecting machine C are reference positions.

In the above-described embodiments and their modifications, the taper action is used to position the holder A in the axial direction. However, the present invention uses the taper action to perform positioning. The present invention is not limited to this, and the point is that when the holder is mounted, the holder is engaged with the cutting machine and the connecting machine so that the axial positioning of the holder is naturally made strictly. Therefore, for example, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B can be further considered.

In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the stopper 48 having the upright wall portion 49 is provided on the cutting machine B and the connecting machine C, as in the case shown in FIG. 5 (b). The holder A is provided with a biasing means 50 or a biasing means 51 for biasing the holder A forward, at the rear side of the mounting position of the holder A.
Is pushed forward to bring the upright wall portion 47 at the front portion into close contact with the upright wall portion 49 of the stopper 48 so that the holder A is axially positioned. The biasing means 50 in the one shown in FIG. 6A is configured to bias the holder A forward by the push spring 50b via the push plate 50a, and the biasing means 51 in the one shown in FIG. 6B. Is configured to press the holder A forward by the tip side of the lever 51b by urging the base end side of the lever 51b rotatable about the shaft 51a toward the rear side by the push spring 51c. In both cases, the holder A is pressed forward to stop the upright wall portion 47 at the front portion thereof by the stopper 48.
Holder A and cutting machine B in a state of being closely attached to the upright wall portion 49 of
Also, the holder A is axially positioned by engaging with the connector C. That is,
In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the upright wall portion 4 of the holder A is
7, the upright wall portion 49 of the cutting machine B and the connecting machine C, and the biasing means 50, 51 constitute a positioning mechanism for axially positioning the holder A. In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the positions of the upright wall portion 47 of the holder A and the upright wall portion 49 of the cutting machine B and the connecting machine C are the reference positions, as in the case of FIG. 5B.

In the case of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the holder A is fixed in the width direction by a stopper having a simple structure on the side surface of the holder mounting portion of the cutting machine B or the connecting machine C. It is recommended to provide the holder A for fixing in the height direction.
It may be performed by pressing the spring with a spring or the like. However, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6B, fixing in the height direction is not particularly necessary.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the specific structure of each part of the holder, the cutting machine, and the connecting machine, that is, the structure for holding the optical fiber in the holder, and the cutting of the optical fiber in the cutting machine. The configuration for the connection, the configuration for connecting the optical fibers in the connection device, etc. are not limited to the above embodiments without departing from the gist of the present invention, and various design changes can be made. Needless to say. Further, the present invention can be applied to a multi-core tape type optical fiber.

[0033]

As described above, in the cutting machine of the present invention, the tip of the optical fiber is cut by holding the optical fiber in the holder and mounting the holder, and the holder is mounted. At this time, the holder has a positioning mechanism that engages with the cutting machine to position the optical fiber in the axial direction. The length can always be constant. Further, in the splicer of the present invention, the holders holding the optical fibers to be spliced are mounted so that the optical fibers face each other, and when the holders are mounted, the holders are engaged with the splicer. Since the optical fiber has a positioning mechanism for axially positioning the optical fiber, the axial positioning of the optical fiber can be properly and strictly performed by itself only by mounting the holder. As described above, there is no need to newly move the optical fiber in the axial direction and position the optical fiber at the time of connection, so that the structure of the entire apparatus can be simplified, downsized, cost reduced, and speeded up. Further, in any case, if a structure in which the taper pin and the taper hole are fitted to each other is adopted as the positioning mechanism, it is possible to naturally perform highly accurate positioning by the so-called taper action and to easily attach and detach the holder. Further, since the optical fiber can be positioned in the width direction, a guide member for fixing in the width direction can be eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B are views showing an embodiment of a holder applied to a cutting machine and a connecting machine of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a side sectional view, and FIG.
Is a front view.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the cutting machine of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the connecting device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing another two examples of holders applied to the cutting machine and the connection machine of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another two examples of the positioning mechanism in the cutting machine and the connection machine of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing still another two examples of the positioning mechanism in the cutting machine and the connection machine of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional connecting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A holder B cutting machine C connection machine 1 outlet 2 optical fiber 7 taper pin (positioning mechanism) 14,26 taper hole (positioning mechanism) 41 ridge (positioning mechanism) 42 groove (positioning mechanism) 43,44 chamfer (positioning) Mechanism) 45,46 Slope (positioning mechanism) 47,49 Upright wall (positioning mechanism) 50,51 Biasing means (positioning mechanism)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An optical fiber cutting machine configured to hold a vicinity of a front end portion of an optical fiber by a holder and cut the front end portion of the optical fiber into a predetermined state by mounting the holder. And each of the holders are provided with a mechanism that engages with each other when the holders are mounted and positions the holders at a predetermined position in the optical fiber axis direction. Machine. 2. The optical fiber cutting machine according to claim 1, wherein the positioning mechanism provided on the holder is a taper pin or a taper hole provided on a lower surface of the holder, and the positioning mechanism is provided on the cutting machine. The optical fiber cutting machine is characterized in that the positioning mechanism provided is a tapered hole or a tapered pin that engages with the tapered pin or the tapered hole of the holder. 3. An optical fiber connector having a structure in which a tip portion of an optical fiber is held by a holder, and the holder is mounted to connect the tip ends of the optical fibers by abutting each other. Each of the holders is provided with a mechanism that engages with each other when the holders are mounted and positions the holders at a predetermined position in the optical fiber axis direction. . 4. The optical fiber connector according to claim 3, wherein the positioning mechanism provided on the holder is a taper pin or a taper hole provided on a lower surface of the holder, and the positioning mechanism is provided on the connector. The optical fiber splicing machine is characterized in that the positioning mechanism used is a tapered hole or a tapered pin that engages with the tapered pin or the tapered hole of the holder.