JPH034092A - Hose with built-in optical fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate turbulence of an optical signal and damage of an optical fiber by inserting the optical fiber, without being fixed, in a protecting pipe, fixedly embedded in a lengthwise direction in the interior of a hose, and helically winding around the optical fiber, exposed in both end parts of the hose, to be surrounded by a protecting tube. CONSTITUTION:A hose 1 is formed of vulcanized rubber, plastic, etc., and a reinforced layer 3, in which a reinforcing thread or the like is stranded, can be provided in the interior of the hose. Also a protecting pipe 4 is formed of material equal to the hose, and it is preferable to provide hardness and strength possible to protect an optical fiber 5 from an external pressure. The optical fiber 5 is not integrally fixed to the hose. An outer side layer 6 in both end parts of the hose 1 is removed, and the exposed otical fiber 5 is helically wound by several times on the reinforced layer 3, then a connecting metal fixture 7 is inserted to a hose end part and fixed by a sleeve metal fixture 8. Further an exposed portion of the optical fiber 5 is coated with a protecting tube 9 of sponge or the like and fixed by fixing bands 10. Thus because extension- contraction of the optical fiber for flexing and extension-contraction of the hose is suppressed, turbulence of an optical signal and damage of the optical fiber can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a hose having an optical fiber built therein.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, car washing equipment, painting equipment, etc. are equipped with a hand-held operation unit such as a cleaning nozzle or painting nozzle at one end of a hose, and the other end of the hose is connected to the main body of the equipment, such as a washing machine or painting machine. .

However, although it is possible to open and close the cleaning nozzle and painting nozzle to spray out cleaning water and coating liquid using the handheld control unit, it is necessary to drive or stop the motor of the pump that pressurizes the cleaning water and coating liquid. Operations could not be performed using a handheld control unit, and the operator had to go to the main body of the device to operate it.

Therefore, in cases such as the above, it would be convenient if a worker located far away from the equipment could operate the equipment's motor etc. using the hand control unit while holding one end of the hose. Recently, a remote control device has been proposed in which an optical fiber is buried in a hose to connect a hand control section and the device body, and the motor etc. of the device main body is operated by the hand control section using optical signals propagated within the optical fiber ( (Refer to Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 59-48789) 0 In addition, as mentioned above, even if the hose is not for hand operation, it can be used for both the original purpose of the hose and for signal transmission, so there is an optical fiber embedded in the hose. A self-contained rubber hose has also been proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 87238/1983).

However, in the hose in which the optical fiber is embedded as proposed above, the optical fiber is embedded and fixed integrally in the hose material such as rubber. However, this type of hose is frequently rolled up, stretched, and even stepped on during handling, and each time the hose is bent, a load is placed on the optical fiber embedded and fixed inside. For example, if you bend a hose with the optical fibers on the outside, the optical fibers fixed inside the hose will be pulled, and if you bend the hose with the optical fibers on the inside, the optical fibers will be compressed. As a result, if the hose is excessively bent, the optical fiber will be deformed at the bent point, increasing or decreasing its cross-sectional area, which may disrupt the optical signal and cause malfunction, and if such a load is repeatedly applied. In some cases, optical fibers were damaged or disconnected. Furthermore, the hose expands and contracts each time the fluid inside the hose is pressurized or depressurized due to opening and closing of the cleaning nozzle, and the hose expands and contracts frequently due to the pulse of the pump, but the optical fiber is integrated with the hose. If the hose is fixed to the hose, the optical fiber will expand and contract along with the hose, and there is a risk that the optical fiber will become fatigued and easily be damaged or disconnected due to repeated loads.

[Invention p (problem to be solved)]

In view of such conventional circumstances, the present invention eliminates the loads such as tension, compression, or expansion and contraction applied to the optical fiber provided inside the hose, thereby eliminating damage and breakage of the optical fiber even if the hose is repeatedly bent and expanded/contracted. The purpose is to provide a hose with built-in optical fiber.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the optical fiber built-in hose of the present invention includes a hose, a protective tube integrally buried inside the hose along its length, and an optical fiber inserted without being fixed inside the protective tube. The optical fiber exposed from the outer periphery of the hose cut out at both ends of the hose and the protective tube is spirally wound, and protective tubes surrounding the exposed portions of the optical fiber are attached to both ends of the hose.

The hose according to the present invention may be made of vulcanized rubber, plastic, or thermoplastic elastomer, or may be a hose made of two or more of these materials, and may further include a reinforcing layer in which reinforcing thread or the like is braided or wound. I can do it.

Part of the protection tube can be made of the same material as the hose, but it is preferable that it has appropriate hardness and strength to protect the optical fiber from external and internal pressure. Further, it is preferable in terms of manufacturing that the protective tube is embedded in the hose along its length in a straight line or in a UII shape, and in the case of a hose having a reinforcing layer, it is disposed on the outer periphery of the reinforcing layer.

Furthermore, since plastic optical fibers have the disadvantage that their functionality deteriorates at rubber vulcanization temperatures, it is necessary to avoid exposure to rubber vulcanization in hoses that use rubber at least in part. For example, after embedding a protective tube inside a rubber hose and vulcanizing it, is it safe? A method of inserting an optical fiber into a lN pipe, or a method of inserting an optical fiber into a hose inner layer made of vulcanized rubber, plastic, or thermoplastic elastomer, or a reinforcing layer formed on the outer periphery of the hose, and then inserting the protective tube and the inner layer. Alternatively, there is a method of extrusion molding a polyolefin-based or polystyrene-based thermoplastic elastomer that does not require vulcanization as an outer surface layer around the outer periphery of the reinforcing layer.

The thermoplastic elastomer described above can have properties similar to those of vulcanized rubber simply by extrusion molding, that is, without vulcanization. Incidentally, it is not necessary to avoid vulcanization in the case of glass-based optical fibers.

[Effect]

In the hose with a built-in optical fiber of the present invention, the protective tube is integrally fixed to the hose, but the optical fiber is not integrally fixed to the hose, and may move in the lengthwise direction within the protective tube or bend within the protective tube. such as protruding in the opposite direction,
Can move freely within the protection tube. Moreover, since the optical fiber is wound in a spiral shape at both ends of the hose to provide some play, even if the hose is long and has a large bend,
The movement of optical fibers is not obstructed.

Therefore, even though the optical fiber would conventionally be pulled or compressed by bending the hose, in the present invention the optical fiber moves within the protection tube and is drawn into the protection tube from the spiral winding section or from the inside of the protection tube to the winding section. By being pushed out and further shifting in the bending direction within the protective tube at the bending point, the load that should originally have been applied can be significantly reduced. Furthermore, even if the hose expands or contracts due to an increase or decrease in the internal pressure of the hose or pulsation of the pump, the optical fiber moves within the protective tube and absorbs the expansion and contraction, so almost no load is applied.

In this way, with respect to the bending and expansion and contraction of the hose, the load of the optical fiber itself, such as tension, compression, expansion and contraction, is suppressed, so malfunctions due to disturbances in optical signals can be prevented, and at the same time, damage and breakage of the optical fiber can be eliminated.

In addition, since the optical fiber is inserted into the protective tube and built into the hose, the protective tube can protect the internal optical fiber from internal and external pressure applied to the hose, and the optical fiber etc. can be exposed on the inner and outer peripheries of the hose. There is no problem with fluid transfer or hose movement.

〔Example〕

A specific example of the optical fiber built-in hose of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

This hose 1 with a built-in optical fiber is made by extruding soft nylon 12 to an inner diameter of 10111K as an inner layer 2, and forming a reinforcing layer 3 by braiding polyester reinforcing yarn around the outer periphery of this inner layer 2. The outside is made of vinyl chloride and the inside is made of polyethylene.Outer diameter 2.2fi and inner diameter 1.
．． While applying the two-fin cylindrical protective tube 4 linearly in the length direction, polyolefin thermoplastic elastomer "Sandplane (trade name of Mitsubishi Monsanto Chemicals)" is continuously extruded as the outer surface layer 6. Manufactured. In addition, protection tube 4
Inside is an optical fiber 5 with an outer diameter of 1.01111 (Sumitomo Electric Industries - SUC!OA-0FT-VZXI!: G-5
C5) is inserted in advance. The outer diameter of the optical fiber built-in hose thus obtained was 19.00 m and 11 m, and both the inner and outer circumferences were perfectly circular, but the inner and outer circumferences were slightly eccentric to make the optical fiber embedded part uneven in thickness.

Furthermore, when using the hose with a built-in optical fiber as a hose for hand operation such as a car wash hose, connect fittings (
assembly) must be inserted.

In this specific example, as shown in FIG. 1, the outer layer 6 is removed at both ends of the hose where the connecting fittings are attached, and the optical fiber 5 exposed by cutting the protective tube 4 is inserted into the reinforcing layer 5.
Wrap it in a spiral around it several times. Next, the connecting fitting 7 is inserted into the end of the hose, and the sleeve fitting 8 inserted into the outer periphery is caulked to fix both. Furthermore, the outer periphery of both ends of the hose was covered with a protective tube 9 made of sponge or the like so as to surround the exposed portion of the optical fiber 5, and both ends of the protective tube 9 were tightened with fixing bands 10 to the extent that the optical fiber 5 would not be damaged. .

A swinging impulse test was conducted on the optical fiber built-in hose thus obtained. That is, the other end of the hose is fixed on the extension line of one end of the hose in a direction orthogonal to the one end, and the oil temperature is 40σ from one end of the hose and the pressure cuff is 0.
% and pressurization cycle While pumping at 70 cpm, the minimum bend radius of the hose is 80811 on one end and 7 on the other end.
Rotate cycle 2 from one end to the other end so that 01111
It was moved back and forth at 0 cpm.

Even after shaking 500,000 times, there was no abnormality in the hose, and there was no change in the light transmittance of the built-in optical fiber.

Note that the shape of the protection tube 4 is not limited to the cylindrical shape shown in FIG.
As shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4, there is a gutter-shaped (third
Particularly preferred is a protective tube with a double structure, in which a core material 12 in the form of cylindrical or cylindrical material 12 (see Fig. 4) is inserted in an unfixed state. For example, a gutter-shaped or cylindrical core material 12 made of a hard, non-elongated resin such as polyethylene is inserted into an outer cylinder 11 made of a soft, stretchable resin such as vinyl chloride, and the core material 12 is inserted into the gutter of the core material 12 or When the optical fiber 5 is inserted into the cylinder, the optical fiber 5 is protected from internal and external pressure by the core material 12 made of hard resin, and when the hose is bent, the hard core material 12 protects the outer cylinder 11.
Since it moves within the hose, it does not interfere with the flexibility of the hose.

(Effects of the Invention) In the optical fiber built-in hose of the present invention, the optical fiber is inserted into the protective tube, so the optical fiber can be protected from internal pressure and external pressure by the protective tube, and the optical fiber in the protective tube is integrated with the hose. Since it is not fixed to the hose and can move freely within the protective tube, even if the hose is bent or expanded or contracted, the optical fiber will hardly be pulled, compressed, or expanded or contracted, eliminating disturbance of the optical signal caused by the optical fiber. At the same time, the load that is repeatedly applied is reduced, so damage and breakage of the optical fiber can be eliminated.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an end sectional view showing a specific example of the optical fiber inner hose of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view at the center of the optical fiber built-in hose of FIG. Figures 3 and 4
The figure is a sectional view showing a specific example of a protection tube through which an optical fiber is inserted. 1.Hose 2.Inner layer 3.Reinforcement layer 4.Protection tube 5.Optical fiber 6.Outer layer 7.Connection fitting 8.Sleeve fitting 9.Protection tube 11..Outer tube 10.・Fixing band 12...Core material Figure 1 Figure 2 Procedure amendment (voluntary) l. Display of the case Heisei Patent Application No. 137724 2 Name of the invention Hose with built-in optical fiber 3 Person making the amendment Relationship to the case

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) The outer periphery of the hose includes a hose, a protective tube embedded along its length inside the hose, and an optical fiber inserted without being fixed inside the protective tube, with a cutout at both ends of the hose. 1. A hose with a built-in optical fiber, characterized in that an optical fiber exposed from a portion and a protection tube is spirally wound, and protection tubes surrounding the exposed portion of the optical fiber are attached to both ends of the hose.