JPH07301720A - Multi-fiber optical fiber clamp device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Objective] The height of the optical fiber 24 put in each V-groove 14 is not uniform in the submicron unit, and in the case of an optical fiber clamp with a flat bottom, all the optical fibers 24 are clamped. Sometimes you can't. Especially V with an individual alignment mechanism
In the case of grooves, the tendency is great. To solve this problem. [Structure] The fiber clamp 40 is composed of a bracket 42 and a plurality of thin plates 46 and the like. The thickness w of the thin plate 46 is V
It is thinner than the pitch p of the grooves 14. The thin plates 46 are attached to the vertically movable bracket 42 one above each V groove 14 so that they can be independently moved up and down. A downward force is always applied to each thin plate 46 by an elastic body 54 such as a sponge. In this way, each optical fiber is individually clamped. Even if the heights of the optical fibers inserted in the respective V-grooves 14 are not uniform, the optical fibers that are not properly clamped do not occur.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical fiber clamping device in a multi-fiber optical fiber fusion splicing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 schematically shows the vicinity of an optical fiber clamping device in a conventional multi-fiber optical fiber fusion splicing device. (A) is a side view, (b) is a view of (a) from the B direction, and (c) is an enlarged view of the C cross section of (b). A V-groove block 10 has a plurality of V-grooves 14 provided on the upper surface of a main body 12. Reference numeral 20 is the entire multi-fiber optical fiber tape, 22 is a coated portion, and 24 is a bare optical fiber with the coating removed. A fiber clamp 30 is provided above the V groove 14 so as to be movable up and down. When the fiber clamp 30 is lowered, the fiber clamp 30 comes into contact with and holds the optical fiber 24 put in the V groove 14. The fiber clamp 30 is made of ceramics, for example, and has a flat bottom 32. 34 is a spring for applying a load to the optical fiber clamp 30, 36
Is a movable table, and 38 is a coating clamp.

[0003]

FIG. 3 (c) shows an ideal state. There is a limit to the processing accuracy of the V groove 14. Strictly speaking, as shown schematically in FIG. 4, each V
The height of the optical fiber 24 put in the groove 14 is not uniform in the submicron unit. In the case of a ceramic fiber clamp 30 having a flat bottom 32, it may not be possible to clamp all the optical fibers 24. As shown in FIG. 5, if the dust 39 is clamped on the optical fiber 24,
Even more so. The optical fiber must be clamped in contact with the corresponding V-groove.

FIG. 6 shows the case of a V groove having an individual centering mechanism. Various forms (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-273430) have been proposed for the individual aligning mechanism, but in each case, the height and shape of the V grooves arranged side by side are individually moved up and down or deformed by a piezoelectric element. It is a method to let. In the following examples of the present invention, the V-groove configuration is illustrated in a limited manner,
The present invention is intended for all configurations in which the V-grooves are arranged side by side. In FIG. 6, one slope 140 of the V groove 14 is fixed. On the other hand, the other slope 142
Are formed on the movable plate 144. When the movable plate 144 is moved up and down, the position of the optical fiber 24 put in the V groove 14 changes. Utilizing this, the optical fibers 24 can be individually aligned. If the heights of the optical fibers 24 become uneven as a result of the individual alignment, the same problem as described above occurs.

If the optical fiber 24 is not firmly clamped in the V groove 14, the optical fiber is lifted due to disturbance such as eccentricity, eccentricity or dust of the optical fiber itself, and an unclamped portion is generated, resulting in poor alignment. Become. Further, in the fusion splicing, the optical fibers on both sides are pushed toward the discharge area during discharge, but the optical fiber 24 jumps up from the V groove 14 at the moment of collision at the time of connection, and good connection characteristics cannot be obtained. . In either case, axis alignment will be incomplete and connection loss will occur.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A plurality of pressing members of a fiber clamp are provided, and these members can be independently moved up and down.

[0007]

[Operation] When the fiber clamp 40 is divided into a plurality of pieces, the optical fiber 4 is pressed to the V groove 14 side by each individual clamp. Even if the V-grooves 14 have different heights, the fiber clamp 40 independently moves up and down according to the height to press the optical fiber 24.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the structure of a fiber clamp 40 is as follows. That is, V groove 1
4, a bracket 42 is provided so as to be movable up and down, and a plurality of thin plates 46 each having a thickness w smaller than the pitch p of the V groove 14 are provided on the bracket 42, one above each V groove 14. The pressing members are attached one by one so that they can be independently displaced up and down to form a plurality of (sheet) divided pressing members. -Also, a downward force is always applied to each thin plate 46 individually. 1A shows a state in which the fiber clamp 40 is separated from the V groove block 10 (cross section A in FIG. 1B), FIG. 1B shows the state when viewed from the right side, and FIG. The state in which the optical fiber 24 is clamped in contact with the V-groove block 10 (A cross section in (b)), (b) shows the state seen from the right side. The fiber clamp 40 is composed of a bracket 42, a thin plate 46, a ceiling block 52, and an elastic body 54, which will be described later. The fiber clamp 40 is entirely moved up and down in the ± Y directions by a mechanism (not shown).

The main body 44 of the bracket 42 is, for example, in the shape of a rectangular block (ABCD in FIG. 1B), and has a rectangular deep groove 440 (EFG) in the front-rear direction (see arrow P) on the upper surface.
H), a shallow groove 442 (JKLM) is provided on the lower surface.
It has a glyph.

The thin plate 46 has an inverted L shape. The thickness t is thinner than the pitch p of the V-grooves 14 and is, for example, about 125 μm, and the material is SDK material or the like. Its lateral part 460
Are hinged to the bracket 42 in the deep groove 440 by a common pin 48. Spacers 50 are inserted between the lateral portions 460 and between the outer lateral portions 460 and the side walls of the deep groove 440, respectively. The spacing between the thin plates 46 is defined by the spacer 50. The vertical portions 462 of the thin plate 46 are each movable within the storage portion 444 of the bracket 42. It should be noted that each of the vertical portions 462 is positioned directly above the one V-shaped groove 14. Each thin plate 46 has a pin 48
Rotate about. In addition, to enable rotation,
The front-rear width of the storage portion 444 is larger than the width of the vertical portion 462. When the rotation angle of the thin plate 46 is small, the vertical portion 46
2 can be considered to move up and down.

The ceiling block 52 has, for example, an inverted U shape. This is put on the bracket 42 and fixed.
The elastic member 54 is inserted between the ceiling block 52 and the vertical portion 462 of the thin plate 46 (in the deep groove 440) in a slightly compressed state. This is due to the elastic body 54, each vertical portion 46.
This is because a downward force is always applied to the 2 individually. One having such a function is, for example, a sponge having high elasticity. However, it may be something other than a sponge. Each thin plate 46 is pushed by the elastic body 54 and rotates clockwise in FIG. However, the limit is where the vertical portion 462 contacts the rear lower end N of the storage portion 444.

When the fiber clamp 40 is lowered from the state shown in FIG. 1, the lower ends of the vertical portions 462 of the single thin plate 46 individually touch the single optical fiber 24. Each vertical part 4
62 compresses the elastic body 54 while pressing the pin 48.
Rotate around and lift. Finally, the state shown in FIG. 2 is obtained. As a result, each optical fiber 24 is individually clamped. Even if the heights of the optical fibers 24 are not uniform, there is no optical fiber that is not properly clamped.

During fusion, the optical fiber 24 is pushed in by a moving mechanism (not shown) and advances in the direction of arrow Q in FIG. 2 (a). At this time, since the optical fibers 24 are individually and surely pressed by the thin plate 46, the optical fibers 24 do not come off the V groove 14 during the forward movement.

The above embodiment illustrates the case of the individual alignment V groove. However, the present invention is also applicable to the case of a fixed V groove. Further, the pressing member is not limited to the embodiment having a thickness corresponding to the V-groove pitch and pressing the optical fibers 24 one by one. For example, a thin plate having a width that can hold several optical fibers together can be used, and the degree of division can be changed according to various specifications. In this case also, it is called an individual clamp. is there.

Further, the term V-groove in the present invention refers to
It does not necessarily refer only to an accurate V-shaped groove, but generically refers to a positioning groove in which an optical fiber is arranged and positioned, and includes a modification of the V-shaped groove. Further, the present invention is not limited to the fusion splicer, but can be applied to a mechanism having a positioning groove such as an optical switch.

[0016]

As described above, even when the heights of the optical fibers 24 put in the respective V-grooves 14 are not uniform, each optical fiber 24 is individually clamped, and the number of optical fibers which are not properly clamped can be reduced. Therefore, good connection characteristics can be obtained in fusion splicing and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a fiber clamp 4 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Explanatory drawing of the state where 0 is separated from the V groove stand 10.

FIG. 2 shows a fiber clamp 4 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Explanatory drawing of the state where 0 is in contact with the V groove base 10.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the vicinity of a clamp device of a conventional fusion splicer.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a problem to be solved in the case of the fixed V-groove method.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of another problem to be solved in the case of the fixed V-groove method.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a problem to be solved in the case of the individual alignment V-groove method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 V-groove block 12 V-groove block main body 14 V-groove 140 One slope of V-groove 140 The other slope of V-groove 144 Movable plate 20 Optical fiber tape 22 Coated portion 24 Optical fiber 30, 40 Fiber clamp 32 Clamp bottom 34 Spring 36 Movable Platform 38 Coated Clamp 39 Dust 42 Bracket 44 Bracket Body 440 Deep Groove 442 Shallow Groove 46 Thin Plate 460 Thin Plate Horizontal Part 462 Thin Plate Vertical Part 48 Pins 50 Spacer 52 Ceiling Block 54 Elastic Body

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A clamping device for a multi-fiber optical fiber comprising a plurality of V-grooves arranged side by side and a fiber clamp for contacting an optical fiber placed in the V-groove and pressing the V-grooves. The pressing member is divided into individual pieces, and the pressing members are vertically movable above the V groove and can be vertically displaced independently of each other, and a downward force is applied to the V groove. A multi-fiber optical fiber clamping device, which is attached separately.