JPH0442644B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] In order to automatically and continuously connect optical fibers, it is necessary to automatically and continuously supply optical fibers.

The present invention relates to an automatic optical fiber supply device for this purpose.

[Prior Art] Although not an optical fiber core wire, automatic feeding devices for general wire rods include the following. Chapter 8a
As shown in the figure, there is a cassette 90 holding a large number of wire rods 92 and a feed roller 94.

First, move the feed roller 94 to the right (No. 8b
), then close the space between the feed rollers 94 (Fig.
), rotate the feed roller 94 to feed the wire 92,
Insert it into the chuck 96.

After feeding one wire rod 92, the feeding roller 9
4 is opened and returned to the original position (the state shown in FIG. 8a), and the cassette 90 is moved intermittently by the distance between the wire rods 92.

Repeat this below.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] In the above case, the movement of the feed roller 94,
Motors are required for opening, closing, and rotation.

As the number of motors increases, the structure becomes more complex and the device becomes larger. This is disadvantageous when connecting optical fibers with short extra length or when working in narrow spaces.

Note that the cassette 90 is used instead of the feed roller 94.
There are cases where you move the other side, but there are similar problems.

[Means for solving the problem] In the above case, the present invention has the following advantages:
The above problem is solved by linking the movement and opening/closing of the feed roller 94 with the movement of the chuck 96, thereby eliminating the need for a dedicated motor.

(1) A fiber moving unit 70 of an optical fiber fusion splicing apparatus in which a fiber moving arm 76 to which a fiber chuck 78 is attached is supported by a support plate 72 and is moved back and forth. (2) A slide stand 20 of the fiber supply unit 10 is provided at the rear of the fiber supply unit 10 so that it can move a certain distance back and forth and is always biased forward. , the contact rod 82 is provided so as to be slidable in the front and back direction, and when the wire moving arm 76 moves rearward, it pushes the contact rod 82 rearward, and the contact rod 82 moves toward the wire supply section. (3) When the slide table 20 of No. 10 is pushed backward and the fiber moving arm 76 moves forward, the slide table 20 automatically returns to the forward position. Attach the lower roller 36 to the lower roller mounting base 22 integrally attached to the
The cam block 2 is attached to the lower roller mounting base 22.
(4) When the slide base 20 is positioned forward, the cam block 28 is raised. position, when the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36 are opened and the slide base 20 is located at the rear, the cam block 28 is at the lowered position and the upper and lower rollers 3
(5) A cassette 52 for holding a large number of core wires 56 is provided behind the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36, and when the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36 are closed as described above, A feature is that one core wire 56 is sandwiched between them.

[Embodiment] As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus of the present invention includes a core wire supply section 10 and a core wire moving section 70.

First, the core wire supply section 10 will be explained.

In FIG. 2, only the core wire supply section 10 is shown.

For convenience of explanation, the front, back, left and right directions are indicated by arrows 12.
Define as follows.

14 is the base. A bar 18 is supported by support plates 16 standing up on both right and left ends of the front and rear parts, and a slide table 20 is attached to it so as to be movable back and forth.

A square block-shaped lower roller mounting base 22 is provided, for example, at the right end of the slide base 20, and a thick plate-shaped upper roller mounting base 24 is further erected thereon.

Slide bearing 2 on upper roller mounting base 24
6, the cam block 28 is attached so as to be movable up and down. A protruding part 30 is made to protrude in front of the cam block 28, and a slope 32 is formed on the lower surface of the protruding part 30 (FIG. 1).

The freely rotating upper roller 3 is attached to the cam block 28.
Attach 4.

Further, a lower roller 36 is provided at a position facing the upper roller 34. The shaft 38 of the lower roller 36 is supported by the lower roller mounting base 22 and is connected to the motor 4.
Rotates by 0.

A tension spring 42 is provided between the lower roller mounting base 22 and the cam block 28, so that the cam block 2 is always
8 downward.

A post 44 is set upright at the front of the slide table 20, and a roller 46 provided at the tip thereof is brought into contact with the slope 32 of the cam block 28.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the slide base 20 is in the forward position, the cam block 28 is
The upper and lower rollers 34 and 36 are opened.

When the slide base 20 retreats, the cam block 2
8 is lowered by the force of the tension spring 42, and the space between the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36 is closed.

Further, a tension spring 48 is provided between the lower roller mounting base 22 and the post 44 to always urge the slide base 20 forward.

A protrusion 50 is provided on the front surface of the slide table 20. Its role will be explained later.

A cassette 52 is placed behind the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36.
will be established.

The core wires 56 are held in the holes 54 of the cassette 52 at regular intervals.

The motor 57 drives the pinion 58 and the rack 60.
The cassette 52 is inserted at intervals of the core wires 56 through the
Increase intermittently.

Next, the core wire moving unit 70 will be explained (first
figure).

This forms part of an optical fiber fusion splicer.

There are support plates 72 at the front and rear, and a bar 74 passed between them supports the core wire moving arm 76 so as to be movable back and forth. The arm 76 for moving the core wire is screwed with the screw 8.
0, and is moved back and forth by the rotation of the screw 80.

A contact rod 82 is attached to the rear support plate 72.
Attach it so that it can slide freely in the front and rear directions and prevent it from slipping out.

[Operation] (1) Several to several dozen core wires 56 are set in the cassette 52.

(2) Raise the cassette 52 and align one core wire 56 with the height of the upper and lower rollers 34, 36 (third
figure).

(3) Retract the core wire moving arm 76. Then, the wire moving arm 76 pushes the contact rod 82, and the contact rod 82 moves against the protrusion 50.
Press to move the slide stand 20 backward.

Then, as mentioned above, the upper and lower rollers 34, 3
6 are closed, sandwiching one core wire 56 (FIG. 4).

(4) Next, rotate the lower roller 36 and feed the core wire 56.

At this time, the cable chuck 78 is opened by the gap through which the cable core 56 passes (FIG. 5).

(5) As shown in Fig. 6, the sensor 84 detects the
After determining the length of wire 6 to the specified length, wire chuck 7
8.

(6) Next, move the core wire moving arm 76 forward. Then, the slide table 20 automatically moves forward under the action of the tension spring 48, and the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36 are opened as described above (FIG. 7).

The above operation is then repeated.

(7) If the connection fails and you want to try the same optical fiber again, proceed from (3) above.

(8) Furthermore, when discharging the core wire 56 that has failed in connection, it is sufficient to proceed from the above (3) and then reversely rotate the lower roller 36 in the next step (4).

(9) Note that the fiber moving arm 7 of the fiber moving unit 70
6 and the core wire supply section 10 are the contact rod 8
Since they are mechanically connected only at 2, the core wire supply section 10 can be easily attached and detached if necessary.

[Effects of the Invention] (1) The number of motors can be reduced by mechanically interlocking the movement and opening/closing of the upper roller 34 and lower roller 36 with the movement of the core wire moving arm 76. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the structure and downsize the device. This is advantageous when connecting optical fibers with short extra length and when working in narrow spaces.

(2) As mentioned above, if the connection fails, move the fiber moving arm 76 backward and move the fiber
8, the core wire 56 can be freely taken in and taken out by the upper roller 34 and lower roller 36, so as long as there is extra length, it is possible to redo the wire as many times as necessary.

(3) The fiber moving unit 70 and the fiber supply unit 10 are not directly mechanically connected, but the movement of the fiber moving arm 76 is connected to the fiber supply unit 10 via the contact rod 82. Since the cable is transmitted to the slide table 20, the core wire supply section 10 can be easily attached and detached if necessary.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 7 relate to embodiments of the present invention,
FIG. 1 is a front view, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the fiber supply unit 10, and FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 show the feeding operation of the fiber 56, 8a, 8b, and 8c are explanatory diagrams showing the conventional feeding operation of the wire rod 92 in the order of steps. 10... Core wire supply section, 14... Base, 16...
...Support plate, 18...Bar, 20...Slide base,
22...Lower roller mounting base, 24...Upper roller mounting base, 26...Slide bearing, 28...
Cam block, 30... protrusion, 32... slope,
34... Upper roller, 36... Lower roller, 38...
Shaft, 40...Motor, 42...Tension spring, 44
... Post, 46 ... Roller, 48 ... Tension spring, 50 ... Protrusion, 52 ... Cassette, 54 ...
Hole, 56... Core wire, 57... Motor, 58... Pinion, 60... Rack, 70... Core wire moving part,
72... Support plate, 74... Bar, 76... Core wire moving arm, 78... Core wire chuck, 80... Screw, 82... Contact rod, 84... Sensor, 90... Cassette, 92 ...Wire rod, 94...
Feed roller, 96...check.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Wire movement of an optical fiber fusion splicing device in which a fiber moving arm 76 to which a fiber chuck 78 is attached is supported by a support plate 72 and moved back and forth. Behind the section 70, a core wire supply section 1 is provided.
0 is provided so that it can move a certain distance back and forth and is always urged forward, and the contact rod 82 is slidably moved back and forth on the support plate 72 of the core wire moving section 70. provided, and when the core wire moving arm 76 moves rearward,
The core wire moving arm 76 pushes the contact rod 82 backward, and the contact rod 82
pushes the slide stand 20 of the fiber supply unit 10 backward, and when the fiber moving arm 76 moves forward, the slide stand 20 automatically returns to the forward position, and the slide A lower roller 36 is attached to a lower roller mount 22 integrally mounted on the base 20, a cam block 28 is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction with respect to the lower roller mount 22, and a freely rotating upper roller 34 is attached to the cam block 28. , provided at a position facing the lower roller 36, and when the slide base 20 is located forward, the cam block 28 is in a raised position, the space between the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36 is opened, and the slide base 20 is moved rearward. When positioned, the cam block 28 is in the lowered position so that the space between the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36 is closed, and a cassette 52 that holds a large number of core wires 56 is provided behind the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36, An optical fiber core supply device characterized in that when the upper and lower rollers 34 and 36 are closed, one core wire 56 is sandwiched between them.