WO2014060999A1

WO2014060999A1 - Machine and method for thermally stripping optical cables

Info

Publication number: WO2014060999A1
Application number: PCT/IB2013/059453
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yongjun HUAN; Hang Lee; Zonshen LENG
Original assignee: Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; Tyco Electronics Uk Ltd.
Priority date: 2012-10-19
Filing date: 2013-10-18
Publication date: 2014-04-24
Also published as: CN103777277A

Abstract

In order to improve the optical cable stripping efficiency, a machine for thermally stripping optical cables is provided, comprising: an optical cable holding platform (10) provided with an end surface (12) and an optical cable holding surface (11), the optical cable holding surface (11) is configured to secure a plurality of optical cables to be stripped side by side, the optical cable ends to be stripped (25) extend beyond the end surface of the optical cable holding platform, and the optical cable end to be stripped comprises a bare fiber (24) and a covering layer (23) for wrapping the bare fiber; an optical cable heating and gripping module (110) arranged opposite the end surface (12) in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable (20), which is used to secure side by side and heat the ends to be stripped (25); a cutting device (120) for forming a cut on the covering layer (23) that wraps the bare fiber at the end to be stripped exposed out of said heating and gripping module; a stripping drive device for driving the optical cable holding platform (10) and the heating and gripping module (110) to move relative to each other in said longitudinal direction. The production efficiency can be significantly improved as a plurality of optical cables can be stripped at a time.

Description

Machine for Thermally Stripping Optical Cables

Field of the Utility Model

The present utility model relates to optical cable stripping and in particular, to a machine for thermally stripping optical cables.

Description of the Related Art

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an optical cable with the optical cable protective sheath and Kevlar removed. In said cross-sectional view, the optical cable 20 comprises a bare fiber 24, a coating layer 231 for wrapping the bare fiber 24, and a buffer layer 232 for wrapping the coating layer 231. The coating layer 231 and the buffer layer 232 form the covering layer 23. The diameter of said optical cable is, for example, 0.9 mm.

For example, before an optical fiber is planted, it is necessary to remove the coating layer 231 and the buffer layer 232 on the bare fiber 21. According to the prior art, a single optical cable 20 is heated, and then a blade is used to peel the covering layer off the bare fiber. According to the prior art, it is always the situation that one optical cable is placed and operations are performed on one optical cable at a time, which is not favorable for improving the production efficiency.

Summary of the Utility Model

The present utility model is developed to improve the optical cable stripping efficiency.

According to the present utility model, a machine for thermally stripping optical cables is provided, comprising: an optical cable holding platform provided with an end surface and an optical cable holding surface, the optical cable holding surface is configured to secure a plurality of optical cables to be stripped side by side, the optical cable end to be stripped extends beyond the end surface of the optical cable holding platform, and the optical cable end to be stripped comprises a bare fiber and a covering layer for wrapping the bare fiber; an optical cable heating and gripping module arranged opposite the end surface in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable, which is used to secure side by side and heat the ends to be stripped; a cutting device for forming a cut on the covering layer that wraps the bare fiber at the end to be stripped exposed out of said heating and gripping module; a stripping drive device for driving the optical cable holding platform and the optical cable heating and gripping module to move relative to each other in said longitudinal direction.

Advantageously, said optical cable holding platform is provided with a plurality of holding grooves arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable, an optical cable pressing plate, and a locking member for releasably applying a pressing force directing toward the holding surface of said optical cable holding platform to the optical cable pressing plate, and said optical cable pressing plate secures and holds said optical cables inside corresponding holding grooves, respectively.

Optionally, said cutting device comprises a plurality of blade sets that are arranged side by side, each blade set corresponding to an end to be stripped and provided with an upper blade and a lower blade that are opposite each other for defining the cutting edge, said upper blade being disposed above said end to be stripped and said lower blade being disposed below said end to be stripped, and said cutting edge defining the radial depth cut into the covering layer of an optical cable. Advantageously, the upper blade and the lower blade of each blade set form a " Π " shaped edge when contacting each other.

Optionally, said cutting device comprises an upper laser device and a lower laser device that are disposed above and below said end to be stripped in the vertical direction, respectively, and a cutting drive device, said cutting drive device enables laser beams emitted from said upper laser device and said lower laser device to move relative to said optical cable end to be stripped in a direction parallel to said end surface so as to cut said covering layer.

Optionally, said optical cable heating and gripping module comprises: an upper gripping part and a lower gripping part in the vertical direction, and said upper gripping part and lower gripping part are opposite to each other in the vertical direction; and an upper gripping part drive device connected to said upper gripping part to achieve relative movement between said upper gripping part and said lower gripping part along said vertical direction, wherein: at least one of said upper gripping part and lower gripping part is heated to heat said end to be stripped. Moreover, said machine for thermally stripping optical cables further comprises a vertical support member that is fixedly disposed relative to said lower gripping part; said upper gripping part drive device comprises a drive source fixed to said vertical support member and a drive axle driven by the drive source, and said drive axle is connected to said upper gripping part. Furthermore, said upper gripping part drive device further comprises a guide part disposed on said vertical support member for guiding said upper gripping part to move vertically.

Advantageously, a plurality of lower gripping part grooves are formed in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable on the surface of said lower gripping part opposite said upper gripping part, and said ends to be stripped are adapted to being placed inside said lower gripping part grooves, respectively.

Optionally, said machine for thermally stripping optical cables further comprises a plurality of waste removing pushing pins, each pushing pin being aligned with a corresponding lower gripping part groove; a waste removing drive device for driving said pushing pins into said lower gripping part grooves so as to remove the removed covering layer inside said lower gripping part grooves. Advantageously, said waste removing drive device drives said optical cable heating and gripping module to move toward said pushing pins. Furthermore, said waste removing drive device acts as said stripping drive device.

With the technology according to the present utility model, the production efficiency is significantly improved as a plurality of optical cables can be stripped at a time. Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is an illustrative cross-sectional view of an optical cable according to an embodiment of the present utility model, wherein the optical cable protective sheath and Kevlar have been removed;

Fig. 2 is an illustrative 3-D view of the machine for thermally stripping optical cables according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

Fig. 3 is an illustrative side view of the machine for thermally stripping optical cables in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an illustrative top view of the machine for thermally stripping optical cables in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 illustrates the structure of a single blade according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

Fig. 6 illustrates the structure of the assembly of a plurality of blade sets according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the assembled plurality of blade sets in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the edge of a blade.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Embodiments of the present utility model will be described in detail below. Examples of the embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein identical or similar legends refer to identical or similar components. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative and intend to describe the present utility model, which shall not be construed as limitations to the present utility model.

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an optical cable with the optical cable protective sheath and Kevlar removed. In said cross-sectional view, the optical cable 20 comprises a bare fiber 24, a coating layer 231 for wrapping the bare fiber 24, and a buffer layer 232 for wrapping the coating layer 231. The coating layer 231 and the buffer layer 232 form the covering layer 23. The diameter of said optical cable is, for example, 0.9 mm. It should be noted that the above optical cable structure is only illustrative.

A machine for thermally stripping optical cables according to an embodiment of the present utility model will be described below with reference to Figs. 2 - 4. Said machine for thermally stripping optical cables comprises: an optical cable holding platform 10 adapted to secure a plurality of optical cables to be stripped 20 side by side on the optical cable holding surface 11 of said optical cable holding platform 10, and the ends to be stripped 25 of the optical cables 20 (see Fig. 4) extend beyond the end surface 12 of the optical cable holding platform, said optical cable end to be stripped 25 has a bare fiber 24 and a covering layer 23 that wraps the bare fiber (see Fig. 1); an optical cable heating and gripping module 110 arranged opposite the end surface 12 in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable 20, which is used to secure side by side and heat the ends to be stripped 25; a cutting device 120 for forming a cut on the covering layer 23 that wraps the bare fiber at the end to be stripped 25 exposed out of said heating and gripping module; a stripping drive device for driving the optical cable holding platform 10 and the heating and gripping module 110 to move relative to each other in said longitudinal direction.

Preferably, as shown in Figs. 2 - 4, said optical cable holding platform 10 may comprise: a plurality of holding grooves 13 adapted to hold a plurality of optical cables to be stripped, and said holding grooves 13 extend along said longitudinal direction. To facilitate the cutting operation, advantageously, see Fig. 3, an optical cable pressing plate 81 is disposed adjacent to said end surface 12; and a locking member 82 for releasably applying a pressing force directing toward the holding surface 11 of said optical cable holding platform 10 to the optical cable pressing plate 81, wherein said optical cable 20 is disposed between said optical cable pressing plate 81 and said optical cable holding platform 10. Advantageously, the optical cable pressing plate 81 is disposed close to said end surface 12 and perpendicular to said longitudinal direction. The grooves 13 may be formed by forming recesses that are downwardly recessing on the optical cable holding surface 11. Alternatively, a plurality of projecting strips arranged in parallel may also be formed on the optical cable holding surface 11, and said grooves 13 are formed between neighboring projecting strips. The grooves 13 may be V-shaped grooves, rectangular grooves or semi-circular grooves. The optical cable holding surface of the optical cable holding platform 10 may not be provided with the above grooves 13 extending longitudinally, but be provided with special positioning slots, each positioning slot forms a fixing point, and for each optical cable, one or more positioning slots may be provided.

As shown in Figs. 6 - 7, said cutting device 120 may comprise a plurality of blade sets 121 that are arranged side by side. Each blade set 121 corresponds to an end to be stripped 25 and is provided with an upper blade 1211 and a lower blade 1212 that are opposite each other for defining the cutting edge, and the upper blade and the lower blade have substantially the same structure. Said upper blade 1211 is disposed above said end to be stripped 25 and said lower blade 1212 is disposed below said end to be stripped 25, and said cutting edge defines the radial depth cut into the covering layer of an optical cable. Fig. 5 illustrates the lower blade 1212. Fig. 8 is a partially enlarged view of the edge of the blade, said lower blade comprises a blade body 1212a and an edge (i.e. cutting blade) 1212b. As shown in Fig. 8, there is a distance d between the edge 1212b and the end surface 1212al of the blade body 1212a, which is, for example, 140 - 200 μιη. When the upper blade 1211 and the lower blade 1212 of each blade set 121 contact each other, the distance between the edges (cutting blades) of the upper blade and the lower blade is approximately 2d due to said distance d, and the distance 2d may define the depth cut into the covering layer of a bare fiber. The upper blade and the lower blade may only form a cut on the upper side and the lower side of the optical cable separately. Due to the existence of said cuts, it is easy to pull apart the covering layer on the end to be stripped. In light of the cylindrical shape of optical cables, the edges of the upper blade and the lower blade may also have a shape of concave arc. In addition to the shape shown in Fig. 8 and the shape of concave arc, moreover, the edge may also have a shape like "I I".

As shown in Figs. 5 - 6, both the upper blade 1211 and the lower blade 1212 may be of an elongated shape. The upper blade 1211 is held by an upper blade holding seat 122. The upper blade holding seat 122 is provided with a plurality of projections 1221. The upper blade 1211 may be secured by being placed in a groove formed by neighboring projections 1221. The lower blade 1212 is held by a lower blade holding seat 123. The lower blade holding seat 123 is provided with a plurality of projections 1231. The lower blade 1212 may be secured by being placed in a groove formed by neighboring projections 1231. The way to secure blades is not limited thereby. For example, screws may be used to arrange blades side by side on blade holding seats. The relative movement between the upper blade holding seat 122 and the lower blade holding seat 123 may be controlled to achieve the cutting of a covering layer.

Said upper blade and said lower blade cut into said covering layer to a position that is 5 - 62.5μιη from said bare fiber.

The cutting device may further employ laser devices. Said cutting device comprises an upper laser device and a lower laser device that are disposed above and below said end to be stripped in the vertical direction, respectively, and a cutting drive device. Said cutting drive device enables laser beams emitted from said upper laser device and said lower laser device to move relative to said optical cable end to be stripped 25 in a direction parallel to said end surface 12 so as to cut said covering layer. Apparently, when laser beams are used to perform cutting, the power of the laser beams and the relative movement speed between the laser beams and the end to be stripped 25 need to be controlled so as to control the radial depth cut into the optical cable.

As shown in Figs. 2 - 3, said optical cable heating and gripping module 110 comprises: an upper gripping part 111 and a lower gripping part 112 in the vertical direction, said upper gripping part 111 and lower gripping part 112 are opposite to each other in the vertical direction, a plurality of lower gripping part grooves (not shown; however, they could be similar to the holding grooves 13, but have a smaller size as the protective sheath and Kevlar have been removed) are formed in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable 20 on the surface of said lower gripping part 112 opposite said upper gripping part 111, and said ends to be stripped 25 are adapted to being placed inside said lower gripping part grooves, respectively; and an upper gripping part drive device 113 connected to said upper gripping part 111 to achieve relative movements between said upper gripping part 111 and said lower gripping part 112 along said vertical direction, wherein: at least one of said upper gripping part 111 and lower gripping part 112 is heated to heat said ends to be stripped 25.

First, the heating function of the optical cable heating and gripping module 110 will be described. A heater may be disposed on at least one of said upper gripping part 111 and lower gripping part 112. As said heater may directly increase the temperatures of the upper gripping part and/or the lower gripping part, it can heat the ends to be stripped 25 of optical cables held between the said upper gripping part 111 and lower gripping part 112. The heater may be disposed inside or outside the upper/lower gripping parts. The temperatures of the opposing surfaces of the upper/lower gripping parts may be monitored and adjusted by using a temperature sensor and adjusting the heater's power. Moreover, the heater may even be directly disposed on the opposing surfaces of the upper/lower gripping parts. The heating temperature and heating time of the heating and gripping module are set according to various materials of the covering layer. Specifically, said heating temperature is between 50 - 200°C, and said heating time is 2 - 30 s.

The gripping function of the optical cable heating and gripping module 110 will be described below. As shown in Fig. 3, said machine for thermally stripping optical cables further comprises a vertical support member 114 that is fixedly disposed relative to said lower gripping part 112; said upper gripping part drive device 113 comprises a drive source 1131 fixed to said vertical support member 114 and a drive axle 1132 driven by the drive source, and said drive axle 1132 is connected to said upper gripping part 111. The drive source herein may be an electric motor, a hydraulic cylinder, a pneumatic cylinder, etc. The drive axle 1132 may be directly connected to the upper gripping part 111, or may be indirectly connected to the upper gripping part 111 via other components, as shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 3, said upper gripping part drive device 113 may further comprise a guide part 1133 disposed on said vertical support member 114 for guiding said upper gripping part 111 to move vertically. The guide part 1133 may have an engagement form of a guide groove and a guide track, or may be any other form that could aid the vertical movement of the upper gripping part 111, for example, a commercially available sliding track. Due to the presence of the guide part 1133, it can ensure that the upper gripping part 111 moves in the vertical direction b, thereby ensuring that the gripping surface of the upper gripping part 111 and the gripping surface of the lower gripping part 112 are parallel to each other and consequently providing the same gripping force to the ends to be stripped 25 of all optical cables between the gripping surfaces. As shown in Fig. 3, advantageously, two or more guide parts 1133 may be employed.

As shown in Fig. 3, the machine for thermally stripping optical cables may further comprise an additional gripping module 190, said gripping module 190 is disposed close to said end surface 12, which may tightly press the optical cable ends to be stripped simultaneously by means of a pressure bar.

As shown in Figs. 2 - 4, the machine for thermally stripping optical cables further comprises: a plurality of waste removing pushing pins 130, each pushing pin 130 being aligned with a corresponding lower gripping part groove; a waste removing drive device 140 for driving said pushing pins 130 into said lower gripping part grooves so as to remove the removed covering layer inside said lower gripping part grooves. In Figs. 2 - 4, the pushing pins 130 are secured on a pushing pin support 150. The waste removing drive device 140 drives the optical cable heating and gripping module 110 to move toward said pushing pins 130 such that the pushing pins 130 enter the aligned corresponding lower gripping part grooves, respectively, to push out the waste (the removed covering layer) therein. However, the optical cable heating and gripping module 110 may also remain at the original position, while the pushing pin support 150 is driven by the waste removing drive device 140.

The waste removing drive device 140 comprises a drive source and a drive axle driven by the drive source, and said drive source may be an electric motor, a hydraulic cylinder, a pneumatic cylinder, etc.

As shown in Figs. 2 - 3, the optical cable holding platform 10, the optical cable heating and gripping module 110, the pushing pin support 150 and the waste removing drive device 140 are all disposed on a base 160. In the case where the optical cable heating and gripping module 110 may move relative to the base 160, a sliding guide device may also be disposed between the optical cable heating and gripping module 110 and the base 160, and said sliding guide device may be a linear sliding track 170. In the case where the optical cable holding platform 10 may move relative to the base 160, a sliding guide device may also be disposed between the optical cable holding platform 10 and the base 160, and said sliding guide device may be a linear sliding track 180. The linear sliding track may be disposed underneath the moving stage, while both the optical cable heating and gripping module 110 and the optical cable holding platform 10 may be disposed on the corresponding moving stage or supported by said moving stage.

Said optical cable holding platform 10 may move relative to said base 160 in said longitudinal direction c via a special drive mechanism so as to increase its distance from the optical cable heating and gripping module 110, thereby achieving the separation of the covering layer from the bare fiber. However, for example, as shown in Fig. 2, in the case where the drive axle of the waste removing drive device 140 has a sufficiently long drive distance and the pushing pins 130 will not touch the bare fiber of the end to be stripped 25, the waste removing drive device 140 may be used to cause the relative movement between the optical cable heating and gripping module 110 and the optical cable holding platform 10, i.e. the waste removing drive device 140 may act as a stripping drive device. The stripping drive device may further be any drive device that causes the relative movement between the optical cable heating and gripping module 110 and the optical cable holding platform 10, such as a hydraulic drive device or an electric motor drive device that drives the optical cable holding platform 10 to move away from the optical cable heating and gripping module 110.

A specific example of the stripping operation performed on the covering layer of optical cables will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 - 4.

First, place the optical cable holding platform

Place the optical cable holding platform 10 on a moving stage (corresponding to the base 160) for the optical cable holding platform, and during the placement of optical cables, each optical cable 20 on the optical cable holding platform 10 needs to be placed into the V-shaped groove (corresponding to the lower gripping part grooves) of the front end optical cable heating and gripping module (corresponding to the lower gripping part 112). At the same time, the optical cable 20 may also be placed in the rear end optical cable gripping module (corresponding to the gripping module 190), and 18 optical cables are pressed tight simultaneously with a pressure bar; to control the pressing force so as to prevent damages to the optical cables or failure to effectively press the optical cables, the groove width after the pressure bar is locked needs to be controlled between 0.4 and 0.9 mm.

Next, grip the ends to be stripped and perform thermal stripping

When the optical cable ends to be stripped 25 are secured, the front end optical cable gripping and heating temperature control module (corresponding to the upper gripping part 111) is driven downwardly as, for example, the movement b and presses along with the front end optical cable gripping module (corresponding to the lower gripping part 112) the 0.9 mm optical cables into the grooves thereon, and the gaps after pressing similarly needs to be controlled between 0.4 and 0.9 mm; in the process of pressing by the optical cable gripping module, the upper and lower edges of the blade sets (comprised of 18 upper and 18 lower blades that engage in pairs) cut into the buffer layers and the coating layers of the 0.9 mm optical cables, and stop at a position about 5 ~ 62.5 um from the surface of the bare fibers.

After the assembly, each blade set controls the amount of cutting into an optical cable through the size of its opening. A " Π " shaped cutting edge will be formed when the blades are assembled, and the size of the opening is controlled in the range of 0.140 ~ 0.250 mm. Since the sizes of the openings need to be controlled in the above range for 18 optical cables at the same time, mutual orientation by upper and lower edges is employed in the structural design of all blade sets, i.e. after the engagement, the edge gap is in the range of 0.140 ~ 0.250 mm for all blade sets; and in terms of the blade installation, the blades are fixed with screws only when all blades are completely engaged. At the same time when the blades cut in, the heating module in the front end optical cable gripping and heating temperature control module (corresponding to the upper gripping part 111) will heat the coating material of optical cables to be stripped, the heating temperature and time may be controlled via controllers. Generally, the temperature of heating blocks is set in the range of 50 ~ 200°C, the temperature accuracy is ±5°C, the heating time is 2 ~ 30 s, and the above parameters may be set appropriately according to various materials of the covering layer of optical cables. When a set temperature and heating time have been reached, the movement c as shown in Fig. 3, the controller will control the moving stage 200 of the optical cable holding platform 10 to move toward right, and the moving stage 200 will pull the coating layer and the buffer layer of optical cables apart at the cutting edge position, thereby completing thermal stripping.

Third, remove waste

Subsequently, the cylinder (the waste removing drive device 140) will drive the waste pushing pins 130 in a relative rightward movement as the movement a shown in Fig. 3 to push out the waste after the cable stripping, and the waste will fall directly from the opening on the base plate into a waste collection bin.

Lastly, take off the optical cable holding platform

Take off the optical cable holding platform 10, and the apparatus in Figs. 2 - 3 will automatically reset to prepare for stripping operations on the next plate of optical cables.

Embodiments of the present utility model have been illustrated and described. However, those skilled in the art should understand that these embodiments may be modified without departing from the principles and spirit of the present utility model. The applicable scope of the present utility model shall be defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. The protection scope of the present utility model shall be subject to the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A machine for thermally stripping optical cables, characterized in that it comprises: an optical cable holding platform (10) provided with an end surface (12) and an optical cable holding surface (11), the optical cable holding surface (11) is configured to secure a plurality of optical cables to be stripped side by side, the optical cable end to be stripped (25) extends beyond the end surface of the optical cable holding platform, and the optical cable end to be stripped comprises a bare fiber (24) and a covering layer (23) for wrapping the bare fiber; an optical cable heating and gripping module (110) arranged opposite the end surface (12) in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable (20), which is used to secure side by side and heat the ends to be stripped (25); a cutting device (120) for forming a cut on the covering layer (23) that wraps the bare fiber at the end to be stripped exposed out of said heating and gripping module; a stripping drive device for driving the optical cable holding platform (10) and the heating and gripping module (110) to move relative to each other in said longitudinal direction.

2. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 1, characterized in that said optical cable holding platform is provided with a plurality of holding grooves (13) arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable, an optical cable pressing plate (81), and a locking member (82) for releasably applying a pressing force directing toward the holding surface of said optical cable holding platform to the optical cable pressing plate (81), wherein said optical cable pressing plate secures and holds said optical cables inside corresponding holding grooves, respectively.

3. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 1, characterized in that said cutting device comprises a plurality of blade sets (121) that are arranged side by side, each blade set corresponding to an end to be stripped and provided with an upper blade (1211) and a lower blade (1212) that are opposite each other for defining the cutting edge, said upper blade being disposed above said end to be stripped and said lower blade being disposed below said end to be stripped, and said cutting edge defining the radial depth cut into the covering layer of an optical cable.

4. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 1, characterized in that said cutting device comprises an upper laser device and a lower laser device that are disposed above and below said end to be stripped in the vertical direction, respectively, and a cutting drive device, said cutting drive device enables laser beams emitted from said upper laser device and said lower laser device to move relative to said optical cable end to be stripped in a direction parallel to said end surface so as to cut said covering layer.

5. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 1, characterized in that said optical cable heating and gripping module (110) comprises: an upper gripping part (111) and a lower gripping part (112) in the vertical direction, and said upper gripping part and lower gripping part are opposite to each other in the vertical direction; and an upper gripping part drive device (113) connected to said upper gripping part to achieve relative movement between said upper gripping part and said lower gripping part along said vertical direction, wherein at least one of said upper gripping part and lower gripping part is heated to heat said end to be stripped.

6. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 5, characterized in that said machine for thermally stripping optical cables further comprises a vertical support member (114) that is fixedly disposed relative to said lower gripping part; said upper gripping part drive device comprises a drive source (1131) fixed to said vertical support member and a drive axle (1132) driven by the drive source, wherein said drive axle is connected to said upper gripping part.

7. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 6, characterized in that said upper gripping part drive device (113) further comprises a guide part (1133) disposed on said vertical support member for guiding said upper gripping part to move vertically.

8. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 5, characterized in that a plurality of lower gripping part grooves are formed in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the optical cable on the surface of said lower gripping part opposite said upper gripping part, and said ends to be stripped are adapted to being placed inside said lower gripping part grooves, respectively.

9. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 8, characterized in that it further comprises: a plurality of waste removing pushing pins (130), each pushing pin being aligned with a corresponding lower gripping part groove; a waste removing drive device (140) for driving said pushing pins into said lower gripping part grooves so as to remove the removed covering layer inside said lower gripping part grooves.

10. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 9, characterized in that said waste removing drive device drives said optical cable heating and gripping module to move toward said pushing pins.

11. The machine for thermally stripping optical cables as set forth in Claim 10, characterized in that said waste removing drive device acts as said stripping drive device.