JPH10197767A - Split type optical fiber ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the division to respective coated optical fibers of optical fiber ribbon and to prevent an increase in transmission loss by environment by specifying the tight adhesive force of an integral coating resin and a resin for connection. SOLUTION: A coated and colored optical fiber having a colored layer 3 formed by applying and curing a UV curing type ink composed of epoxy acrylate or urethane acrylate as a chief material is produced by using an optical fiber having a protective coating layer 2 composed of a soft primary coating layer and hard secondary coating layer consisting of an urethane acrylate UV curing type resin for a single mode glass fiber 1. The optical fiber ribbon 5 each formed by lining up four pieces of such coated and colored optical fibers in parallel on the same plane and integrating these fibers with the integral coating resin 4 consisting of the urethane acrylate UV curing type resin are lined up on the same plane, by which the split type optical fiber ribbon 7 connected with the resin 6 for connection consisting of the urethane acrylate UV curing type resin is obtd. The tight adhesive power of the integral coating resin 4 and the resin 6 for connection is specified to 1 to 100g/cm.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a split type in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are arranged and integrated in a plane and a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are arranged in parallel and integrated. The present invention relates to an optical fiber ribbon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a method of manufacturing a split type optical fiber ribbon is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-163411.
In the publication, a division unit coated with a soft resin is used for the division part, so that unnecessary division is avoided when dividing the optical fiber ribbon, and the division position can be easily identified from the appearance. It is known that the division position can be determined by a tactile sensation and the erroneous division is avoided by collectively covering the optical fiber with a hard resin. In this case, the optical fiber may be exposed or spilled by the collective coating resin at the time of division. This is because, when the adhesive strength between the optical fiber surface at the split location and the collective coating resin is small, the optical fiber having a portion where the adhesive force is relatively weak at the time of division is separated from the collective coating resin, and the optical fiber is separated. This is because the fiber spills.

[0003] Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-166808 discloses that
To reduce the thickness of the optical fiber ribbon to the same thickness as the outer diameter of the optical fiber, and to easily split the optical fiber ribbon by twisting the optical fiber, the optical fiber surface and the batch coating resin are used. It is shown that the range of the adhesion strength is defined by the 90-degree peel strength. In this case, the optical fiber ribbon may be broken by twisting. The reason for this is that the twisting causes the coating interface in the optical fiber ribbon to be distorted and cracked.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-138518 discloses that
In order to easily divide the optical fiber ribbon, it is disclosed that the optical fiber ribbons are connected by connecting resin materials having different elongation rates. In this case, by reducing the elongation of the connecting resin material, the resin material may be broken when a force is applied from the outside. This is because, when the elongation of the connecting resin material is reduced, cracks are likely to occur in the connecting resin when bending occurs.

[0005]

As a result of various studies on the objects of the present invention, the present inventors have found that the adhesion between the collective coating resin and the connecting resin is further improved, and the Young's modulus of the connecting resin after curing is obtained.
It has been found that the above problems can be solved by setting the elongation percentage to a certain range, and the present invention has been completed. That is, the present invention provides: A plurality of optical fiber colored cords are arranged in parallel, a plurality of optical fiber tape cords integrated by a collective coating resin made of an ultraviolet curable resin are arranged in parallel, and this is A split type optical fiber ribbon, wherein the adhesive force between the collectively coated resin and the connecting resin is 1 to 100 g / cm in the splittable optical fiber ribbons connected by the connecting resin. I do. Further, the cured resin has a Young's modulus of 5 to 100 k.
g / mm ² . It is also characterized in that the elongation after curing of the connection resin is 5 to 80%.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail. The split type optical fiber ribbon of the present invention is basically composed of a plurality of colored optical fiber ribbons arranged in parallel, and a plurality of optical fiber ribbons integrated by a batch coating resin made of an ultraviolet curing resin. It is a divisible structure that is arranged in parallel and connected by a connecting resin made of an ultraviolet curing resin,
(i) The adhesion between the batch coating resin and the coupling resin is 1 to 100
g / cm, and if necessary, (ii) the cured resin has a Young's modulus of 5 to 100 kg / mm ² and (iii) an elongation of 5 to 80%.

The protective coating layer constituting the split type optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention may be constituted by a soft primary coating layer made of an ultraviolet-curable resin. A hard secondary coating layer may be provided. Further, as the collective coating resin, the same resin as the ultraviolet curable resin constituting the protective coating layer can be used. Further, it is desirable that the connecting resin is selected from those of the ultraviolet curable resin so as to obtain predetermined adhesion, Young's modulus and elongation. Examples of the ultraviolet-curable resin include urethane acrylate, ester acrylate, epoxy acrylate, butadiene acrylate, and silicone acrylate. If necessary, an ultraviolet-curable resin that becomes a hard / soft resin after curing may be selected. .

[0008]

According to the present invention, a plurality of colored optical fiber cores are arranged in parallel, and a plurality of optical fiber tape cores integrated with a batch coating resin made of an ultraviolet-curable resin are arranged in parallel. In the case of splittable optical fiber ribbons connected by a connecting resin made of resin, 1) When the splittable optical fiber ribbons are divided into optical fiber tape cores integrated with a batch coating resin, The adhesion between the coating resin and the coupling resin is 1 to 100 g / c.
m, preferably 2 to 70 g / cm, more preferably 3 to 70 g / cm.
It must be 50 g / cm (claim 1).

[0009] In this case, if the adhesion is too large, exceeding 100 g / cm, the coupling resin will be split at the time of splitting, and at the same time the batch-coated resin will also be split. There is a risk of falling or spilling. On the other hand, if the adhesion is too small, less than 1 g / cm, for example, when exposed to a moist heat environment or when immersed in warm water, partial separation occurs at this interface, and water accumulates. This causes an increase in transmission loss. Therefore,
When the adhesive force between the collective coating resin and the coupling resin is within the above-mentioned predetermined range, the optical fiber tape can be reliably divided for each optical fiber tape at the time of division, and the transmission loss increases even when immersed in moist heat or hot water. Nothing.

2) The cured resin has a Young's modulus of 5 to 5 after curing.
100 kg / mm ² , preferably 10-70 kg / mm
² , more preferably 15 to 60 kg / mm ² (claim 2). If the Young's modulus of the coupling resin after curing exceeds 100 kg / mm ² , the impact of the division becomes noise due to the division during data transmission, and the code error rate is 10 ^-12 or less when transmitting a 2 Mbps signal, for example. However, an error occurs in the transmission signal such as instantaneously exceeding 10 ^-9 . On the other hand, if it is as small as less than 5 kg / mm ^2, it is too soft and may be broken into each optical fiber tape core when it is cabled.

3) The elongation percentage of the connecting resin after curing is 5-8.
0%, preferably 10-60%, more preferably 20-
It must be 50% (claim 3). In this case, if the elongation is less than 5%, when the small-diameter optical fiber ribbon is bent with a small diameter by a roller or the like at the time of forming into a cable, it is broken at the coupling resin portion, and the handleability is deteriorated. . On the other hand, if the elongation exceeds 80%, the connecting resin is difficult to split and hard to split.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described by the following examples, which do not limit the scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional structure of a representative split type optical fiber ribbon of the present invention. A plurality of (two in the case of the embodiment) optical fiber ribbons are entirely covered in parallel. This is an example of connecting with a connecting resin as described above. In FIG. 1, 1
Is a glass fiber, 2 is a protective coating layer, 3 is a colored layer, 4 is a batch coating resin, 5 is an optical fiber ribbon, 6 is a coupling resin, and 7 is a split type optical fiber ribbon. FIG.
1 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional structure of a split type optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention, in which a plurality of (two in the case of the embodiment) optical fiber ribbons are connected in parallel with a connecting resin having a fixed width. It is another example of connection.

As shown in FIG. 1, a single mode glass fiber 1 has a soft primary coating layer and a hard secondary coating layer made of a urethane acrylate ultraviolet curing resin.
An optical fiber having a protective coating layer 2 composed of various kinds of layers was manufactured. Using this optical fiber, an optical fiber colored core having a colored layer 3 formed by applying and curing an ultraviolet curable ink containing epoxy acrylate or urethane acrylate as a main component was manufactured.

The four colored optical fiber cords were arranged in parallel on the same plane, and an optical fiber tape cord 5 integrated with a batch coating resin 4 made of a urethane acrylate ultraviolet curable resin was manufactured. Here, 2.0%, 1.0%, 0.5%, 0.3% of silicone oil is added to the collective coating resin 4.
The added optical fiber tape core and silicone oil 0
% Of an optical fiber ribbon. The optical fiber tape cores 5 are arranged in parallel on the same plane, and a split type optical fiber tape core 7 connected by a connection resin 6 made of urethane acrylate ultraviolet curable resin having physical properties shown in Table 1 below is manufactured. did. This is shown in FIG.

<Evaluation Test> The measurement of the adhesion between the ultraviolet curing resin for connection 6 and the collective coating resin 4 was carried out as follows. A batch coating resin having a film thickness of 40 to 50 μm was applied on the polyester sheet, and cured by irradiating an ultraviolet ray having an irradiation light amount of 500 mJ / cm ² . Thereafter, a connection resin is applied in a thickness of 40 to 50 μm on the cured batch coating resin,
Ultraviolet rays with an irradiation light amount of 500 mJ / cm ² were irradiated and cured. These were all performed under nitrogen.

Thereafter, the collective covering resin and the connecting resin are peeled off from the polyester sheet, and the collective covering resin is fixed.
The connecting resin was tensile-measured 180 ° upward at a pulling speed of 200 mm / min (180 ° peeling). At this time, the maximum value on the chart that can be read from the measured value was taken as the measured value, and this measured value was regarded as the adhesion between the collective coating resin and the connecting resin. Adhesion force 0.5 g / c when 2% is added, corresponding to the amount of silicone oil added to the batch coating resin 4 described above.
m, adhesive strength 2 g / cm when 1.0% added, adhesive strength 50 g / cm when 0.5% added, adhesive strength 70 when added 0.3%
g / cm, and an adhesion force of 120 g / cm when no additive was added.

Further, 11 kinds of connecting resins are coated with a film thickness of 40 to
Coated on glass at 50μm, irradiation light amount 500mJ / c
A 2.5% Young's modulus was measured at a pulling speed of 1 mm / min using a JIS No. 2 dumbbell according to JIS K7113 using a sheet-like sample cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays of m ² , and the sample was broken at a pulling speed of 50 mm / min. The elongation at the time was measured. Using these 11 types of coupling resins, split optical fiber ribbons were trial manufactured and various evaluations were performed.

Here, Comparative Example 1 has an adhesion of 0.5 g / c.
m, Comparative Example 2 has a large adhesion of 120 g / cm, Comparative Example 3 has a small adhesion and a small Young's modulus of 3 kg / cm ^2, and Comparative Example 4 has a large adhesion and a Young's modulus. Is large and elongation is as small as 3%,
It was manufactured by changing the batch coating resin and the coupling resin.
After immersing the split optical fiber tape cores of these Examples and Comparative Examples in bundles of 700 m each in 1.5 m circumference in hot water at 60 ° C. for 2 weeks, the transmission loss of 1.55 μm wavelength was measured by OTDR (Optical). Time Dmain reflectmeter).

At this time, the transmission loss increases: 0.05 dB / km or less... ◎ Over 0.05 dB / km and 0.10 dB / km or less
··· When exceeding 0.10 dB / km ... × Here, in Comparative Example 1, 0.13 dB /
km and 0.23 dB / km in Comparative Example 3, it was found that there was a problem in reliability when a failure such as damage to the cable jacket occurred during practical use.
The transmission loss of these comparative examples is due to the fact that the water 18 permeated from the connecting resin surface 6 generates small liquid bubbles at the interface between the connecting resin 5 and the collective coating resin 4 having relatively weak adhesion, and water accumulates during this. FIG. 8 schematically shows this state. It is considered that this caused a difference in the side pressure applied to the optical fiber, resulting in an increase in transmission loss. FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a state in which water permeated from the coupling resin surface is accumulated in the split type optical fiber ribbon.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the split optical fiber ribbon is separated using a jig. As shown in FIG. 7- (a), the jig 1 that opens the left and right optical fiber ribbons 5 and 5 ′ in the vertical direction as shown in FIG.
6 and 16 ′, and the case where the jackets 17 and 17 ′ of the left and right optical fiber ribbons 5 and 5 ′ can be separated without breaking as shown in FIG. -As shown in (c), the outer sheath 17, 1 of one of the optical fiber ribbons.
When 7 ′ was broken, it was judged as failure, and 100 tests were performed using a 5 m sample. From these results, those that succeeded in dividing all samples
.. ◎ A failure was determined as poor ... × even once. In Table 1, good and bad are indicated by ◎ and ×, respectively.

According to Table 1, Examples 1 to 11 and Comparative Examples 1 and 3 all showed good division as shown in the structure of FIG. 3, but Comparative Examples 1 and 3 showed poor transmission loss characteristics. There are bad drawbacks. However, although it was possible to divide the eleventh embodiment, it was found that a large force was required for the division work. This is because the elongation after curing of the connecting resin is 10%.
This is because it is as large as 0% and sticky. In Comparative Examples 2 and 4, the optical fiber surface was exposed without separation at the interface between the coupling resin and the collective coating resin (FIG. 4).
Some spilled from the batch coating resin (FIG. 5). From the above results, by setting the adhesion force to 1 to 100 g / cm, a split type optical fiber ribbon having excellent reliability required for an optical communication line and excellent terminal separation was obtained.

On the other hand, considering the actual use, as a method for improving the efficiency of using the split type optical fiber ribbon,
It is conceivable that the left and right optical fiber ribbons are branched to terminal devices at different locations, and when there is an optical fiber in use in either the left or right optical fiber ribbon, the split type optical fiber ribbon is separated. It is necessary. It is not desirable that a transmission error occurs in communication using the optical fiber being used during this operation. For this reason, a transmission path having a total length of 4 km, in which four optical fibers in the right optical fiber tape were continuously connected, was produced.
The splitting operation of the split type optical fiber ribbon was performed while the test signal of 2 Mbps was passed to evaluate the change in the bit error rate.

For this evaluation, the incident intensity of the optical signal is adjusted to be low, the code error rate before the operation is adjusted to be 10 ^−12, and the division operation is performed 5 times to obtain the maximum code error rate of 10 ^{−12.
When -9} was exceeded, judgment with careful attention to the division work ... △ Others were good judgments. As a result, a transmission error occurs in Example 9 and Comparative Example 4, and when the Young's modulus of the coupling resin is high, the force at the time of division is transmitted more directly to the optical fiber ribbon, and a transmission error may occur. Do you get it.

Next, from the viewpoint of manufacturability of an optical cable, the occurrence of division during manufacturing was examined as a problem that could occur in a split type optical fiber ribbon. FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the appearance of the twisting device used in the experiment. Using this apparatus, a weight of 500 g was applied to a 50 cm long split optical fiber ribbon as the maximum load applied during normal manufacturing.
4, and twisting was performed at a rotation angle of 900 degrees until the pitch became 200 mm. This work was carried out for 11 types of split type optical fiber tapes of the embodiment, and care should be taken when handling the splits.
・ △ Others were good.

As a result, the splitting of the optical fiber ribbon was performed twice with respect to the split optical fiber ribbon of Example 8. As a result of further study on this sample, when the load was reduced to 350 g, the fiber was twisted. It was also found that no splitting occurred. This is considered to be because the Young's modulus of the connecting resin used in Example 8 was as small as 3 kg / mm ^2, and the resin was broken. That is, from the viewpoint of handleability during manufacturing, it is desirable that the Young's modulus of the connecting resin after curing is 5 kg / mm ² or more.

In addition, since the split type optical fiber ribbon is manufactured into an optical cable by being guided by a number of rollers during manufacturing, it is desirable that the splitting type optical fiber tape should be resistant to unexpected splitting due to bending by rollers or the like. For this reason, the split type optical fiber tape was wound 50 times around a mandrel having an outer diameter of 50 mm and 100 mm, and the presence or absence of splitting was evaluated. As a result, about Example 10, three divisions occurred by winding around a mandrel having an outer diameter of 50 mm. For this reason, when using Example 10, it was necessary to consider bending.

This is considered to be because the elongation percentage of the connecting resin is as small as 3%, so that the resin is liable to be broken when bent, and the elongation percentage of the connecting resin is desirably 5% or more. Table 1 shows the results of summarizing the splitting properties using 11 types of coupling resins in which the Young's modulus and elongation after curing of the coupling resin were changed.

[0028]

[Table 1]

[0029]

As described above, in the split type optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention, 1) the adhesion between the collectively covering resin and the connecting resin is 1 to 100;
By setting the specific range to g / cm, the optical fiber tape can be divided without any trouble at the time of division into the optical fiber ribbons, and does not cause an increase in transmission loss even in a wet heat or hot water environment. In addition, if the specific range value is set, the splitting property is not impaired even if the adhesion force between the collective coating resin and the connection resin is any value. 2) By setting the Young's modulus of the connecting resin to a specific range of 5 to 100 kg / mm ² , it is possible to prevent transmission signal errors at the time of splitting and unexpected splitting at the time of conversion to a cable. 3) By setting the elongation percentage of the connecting resin in a specific range of 5 to 80%, it is possible to prevent accidental division and reduce the force required for division.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional structure of a typical split-type optical fiber ribbon according to the present invention, in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are connected in parallel by a connecting resin so as to cover the entirety. It is.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of a cross-sectional structure of the split type optical fiber ribbon of the present invention, in which a plurality of optical fiber ribbons are connected and connected in parallel with a connecting resin having a fixed width. This is an example.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example (Example 1, Comparative Example 1) of good splittability in a split-type optical fiber ribbon.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a case where the surface of an optical fiber is exposed in a split-type optical fiber ribbon.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a case where an optical fiber is spilled in a split type optical fiber ribbon.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the appearance of a twisting device used in an experiment of Comparative Example 3.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state where the split type optical fiber ribbon is separated using a jig.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which water permeated from a coupling resin surface is accumulated in a split-type optical fiber ribbon.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Glass fiber 2 Protective coating layer 3 Colored layer 4 Collective coating resin 5 Optical fiber tape core wire 6 Connecting resin 7 Split type optical fiber tape core wire 11 Optical fiber tape core wire 12 Handle 13 Pulley 14 Weight 15 Holder 16, 16 'Jig 17, 17' Core sheath 18 Water

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kaoru Okuno 1 Tayacho, Sakae-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Sumitomo Electric Industries Co., Ltd. Yokohama Works (72) Inventor Takeshi Ken Takahashi 1-Tagamachi, Sakae-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Sumitomo Electric (72) Inventor Ryohide Oka 1-chome, Taya-cho, Sakae-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture Sumitomo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of colored optical fiber cords are arranged in parallel, a plurality of optical fiber tape cords integrated by a collective coating resin made of an ultraviolet curable resin are arranged in parallel, and this is made of an ultraviolet curable resin. In the split type optical fiber ribbons connected by the connecting resin, the adhesive force between the collective covering resin and the connecting resin is 1 to 100 g /.
cm, wherein the core is a split type optical fiber tape. 2. The coupling resin having a cured Young's modulus of 5
The split type optical fiber ribbon according to claim 1, wherein the weight is 分割 100 kg / mm ² . 3. An elongation percentage after curing of the connecting resin is 5 to 3.
2. The split optical fiber ribbon according to claim 1, wherein the ratio is 80%.