JPH0362010A - Method for connecting metal coated fiber - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily connect metal coated fibers by inserting the fibers each coated with a solderable metal into a metal sleeve formed with a solderable metal and carrying out soldering. CONSTITUTION:Ends 2, 3 of metal coated fibers 1 each coated with a solderable metal are inserted into a metal sleeve 4 formed with a solderable metal from both ends 5, 6 in the longitudinal direction. The ends 2, 3 are butted in the sleeve 4 and the ends 5, 6 of the sleeve 4 and the metal of the parts 7 of the fibers 1 projecting from the ends 5, 6 are soldered with solder 8. The fibers 1 can simply be connected without using a connector or a melt bonding machine and optical fibers can be connected with a small loss at the connected part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method for connecting metal-coated fibers used for various information transmissions.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, when connecting the end faces of two optical fibers by butting them together, a connector has been used or both fibers have been fused together.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional optical fiber connection method has the following problems.

■When connecting using connectors, the compatibility of the connectors became a problem, and when the optical fiber was broken or the connector was damaged, it was not possible to reconnect the optical fiber without a compatible connector. .

- Splicing by fusion requires an expensive fusion splicer, and only a person who is familiar with the operation of a fusion splicer can perform the splicing process smoothly, which means that anyone can use it freely. There was no food.

(Means for Solving the Problems) As shown in FIG. 1, the method for connecting metal-coated fibers of the present invention is to solder both ends 2.3 of a metal-coated fiber l coated with a metal that can be soldered. are inserted from both longitudinal ends 5 and 6 of a metal sleeve 4 made of a suitable metal, and butt against each other within the sleeve 4, so that both ends 5 and 6 of the metal sleeve 4 are inserted.
6 and the metal of the protruding portion 7 of the metal coated fiber l protruding from both ends 5 and 6 are soldered with solder 8.

The metal coated fiber l in the present invention has a glass cladding lO formed around a glass core 9 as shown in FIG.
A carbon coat layer 11 is formed around it, and a metal coat layer 12 is formed around it.

(Function) The metal-coated fiber connection method of the present invention involves inserting and soldering a metal-coated fiber l coated with a metal that can be soldered into a metal snub 4 made of a metal that can be soldered. This makes it easy to connect the same fiber l.

Further, by reducing the gap between the inner hole 13 of the sleeve 4 and the metal-coated fiber 1, the axis misalignment between the metal-coated fibers 1 butted against each other in the inner hole 13 is reduced.

(Example) Figure 1 shows an example of the metal-coated fiber splicing method of the present invention.
A metal coated fiber l having an outer diameter of 325 umφ is used, on which a carbon coat layer 10 having a length of 41 m is formed, and a metal coat layer 12 plated with copper to a thickness of 1100 LL is formed around the carbon coat layer 10. It is coated by a thermal CVD method using Ct H□ during the drawing process of the type fiber. By doing this, it is possible to prevent dust from adhering to the glass surface, and the deterioration of the strength of the optical fiber is reduced.

Copper plating becomes easier in the subsequent process. By the way, the copper coating is electroless plated to a thickness of about 40μm, then 60μm thick.
Electrolytic plating was performed to a thickness of m.

The surface of the metal-coated fiber I thus obtained was scratched with a knife or the like, bent to a curvature of 5 mm or less in diameter, and cut into two pieces. These two metal coated fibers l are inserted from both ends 5.6 in the longitudinal direction of the metal sleeve 4 as shown in FIG. The protruding portion 7 of the metal coated fiber 1 protruding from the metal coat layer 12 was soldered to fix the two. When the loss of this connection was measured, it was found to be 0.9 dB, indicating that it is sufficiently practical.

Note that the metal sleeve 4 is made of copper and has an inner diameter of 0.7 m.
mφ, outer diameter 1.5 mmφ, and length 50 mm.

The metal coat layer 12 of the metal coat fiber 1 is coated with copper, but the coat layer 12 may be made of other metals as long as they can be soldered, such as zinc, tin, etc.
These include chrome, brass, silver, and gold.

In addition, since this metal coated fiber 1 is easily damaged when used with the metal coat layer 12 exposed, it is preferable to cover the surface of the fiber 1 with a plastic sheath.In this way, it will be less likely to be scratched. Also,
During soldering, the plastic melts when the temperature reaches 200° C. or higher, but the strength does not deteriorate because the glass fiber portion is protected by the metal coating layer 12 inside.

The diameter of the inner hole I3 of the metal sleeve 4 is set to such a size that a slight gap is created between the inner hole 13 and the fiber L when the metal coated fiber L is inserted therein. If the gap is large, it is easy to insert the metal coated fiber l, but the axes of the fibers l that are butted together are likely to be misaligned.
On the other hand, if the gap is small, it will be difficult to insert the same fiber l, but the axis misalignment between the metal coated fibers l will be reduced.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the metal-coated fiber connection method of the present invention, connection can be easily performed even by an unskilled person without using a connector or an expensive fusion splicer, and there is no loss at the connection portion. This allows fewer optical fiber connections.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the metal-coated fiber connection method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an end view of the metal-coated fiber. 1 is metal coated fiber 2. 3 is both ends of metal coated fiber 4 is metal sleeve 5. 6 is both ends of metal sleeve 7 is protrusion 8 is solder

Claims (1)

[Claims] Metal-coated fiber 1 coated with solderable metal
Both ends 2 and 3 of the metal sleeve 4 are inserted into a metal sleeve 4 formed of a solderable metal from both ends 5 and 6 in the longitudinal direction and butted together within the sleeve 4, and both ends 5 and 6 of the metal sleeve 4 and both ends 5 of the metal sleeve 4 are , 6. A method for connecting metal-coated fibers, characterized in that the metal of the protruding portion 7 of the metal-coated fiber 1 protruding from the metal-coated fiber 1 is soldered with solder 8.