JPH11149027A - Optical tape cord manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce a multi-core optical tape cord 7 having a tensile strength wire 2 and a plurality of optical fiber cords 5 having a rectangular cross section in parallel, covering a tape-forming layer and integrating them. In this case, the manufacturing process is simplified, and the arrangement of the optical fiber cords 5 is adjusted. SOLUTION: A plurality of optical fiber wires 1 and a plurality of tensile strength wires 2 are respectively arranged in parallel and sent to a single-core cord coating die 11, where a coating layer is coated on each of the optical fiber wires 1 and the tensile strength wire 2. Then, a plurality of the optical fiber cords 5 are simultaneously produced. Then, these optical fiber cords 5 are extruded from the single cord coating die 11 while keeping the shape and direction of the taped coating die 15. To cover the taped layer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an optical tape cord suitable for high-density intra-station optical wiring.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant of the present invention has proposed an optical fiber cord having a structure shown in FIG. 3 as an ultra-fine diameter and high strength optical fiber cord, and FIG.
An optical tape cord having the structure shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes an optical fiber. This optical fiber 1 is a normal one having an outer diameter of 250 μm by providing a primary coating and a secondary coating on a bare optical fiber having an outer diameter of 125 μm. The optical fiber 1 is provided with a pair of tensile strength members 3, 3 each of which is a set of three tensile strength wires 2, 2, 2. The optical fiber code 5 is obtained.

The covering layer 4 has a rectangular cross-sectional shape, and the two sets of strength members 3, 3 sandwich the optical fiber 1 at positions facing each other on the short side of the covering layer 4. Are arranged symmetrically, and portions where the tensile strength members 3 and 3 are not present are arranged at positions facing each other on the long side of the coating layer 4. Aramid fiber, PBO fiber, glass fiber,
A thin wire having a diameter of 20 to 50 μm, such as a steel wire, is used. Further, for the coating layer 4, a thermoplastic resin, a thermosetting resin, an ultraviolet curable resin, or the like is used. Further, the optical fiber cord 5 has a cross-sectional dimension of usually 0.35 to 0.4 mm in the long side direction and 0.28 to 0.2 mm in the short side direction.
Although it is 6 mm, it is not limited to this range.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the optical tape cord. The optical tape cord 7 of this example is a tape-shaped one in which eight single-core optical fiber cords 5, 5,... Shown in FIG. Each of the optical fiber cords 5 is arranged such that portions of the coating layer 4 where the tensile strength members 3 do not exist are adjacent to each other, that is, long sides of the coating layer 4 are adjacent to each other.

With this arrangement, the tensile members 3, 3... Of the optical fiber cords 5, 5,... Are located only on one side or both sides of the optical tape cord 7. The same material as the resin forming the coating layer 4 is used for the tape forming layer 6, but the Young's modulus of the resin forming the tape forming layer 6 is lower than the Young's modulus of the resin forming the coating layer 4. It is preferable to perform the branching operation when branching to each of the optical fiber cords 5, 5,.

[0006] In the optical tape cord 7 having such a structure, the optical fiber 1 of the adjacent optical fiber cord 5 is used.
Since the tensile strength member 3 does not exist in between, and only the coating layer 4 exists, the width of the optical tape cord 7 can be made to match the width of the normal tape core wire by adjusting the thickness of the coating layer 4. The spacing between the bare optical fibers can also be made to match the spacing between the bare optical fibers in a normal tape. For this reason, the optical tape cord 7 can be fusion-spliced to a normal tape core.

Further, as described above, since there is no tensile member in the width direction of the optical tape cord 7, the dimension of the width itself can be reduced, and the density can be increased. Further, since the tensile strength members 3, 3... Are arranged side by side on both surface sides, the mechanical strength is also sufficient. Further, in this structure, since the tensile strength members 3, 3... Are present only on both surfaces of the optical tape cord 7, the tensile strength members 3, 3,. In addition, the coating layer 4 can be easily and collectively removed.

When the optical tape cord 7 is branched into the optical fiber cord 5, the optical fiber cord 5 itself is also protected by the tensile members 3, 3,..., And needs to be reinforced again with a reinforcing tube or the like. It has excellent features such as being able to be used as it is as a multi-core branch cord, and is evaluated as satisfying the demand for high-density in-station optical wiring and the like.

The production of the optical tape cord 7 having such a structure is performed by the same method as that of the conventional optical fiber ribbon. That is, first, the optical fiber cords 5 are manufactured one by one using a coating die or the like,
The optical fiber cords 5 are wound up on a reel, and the plurality of optical fiber cords 5 are arranged in parallel with each other so that portions where the tensile strength wires 2, 2... Do not exist are adjacent to each other. After feeding and applying the resin liquid to be the taped layer 6 here, the outgoing part (die)
And curing by heating or irradiation with ultraviolet light.

However, in such a manufacturing method, the optical fiber cord 5 itself has a plurality of tensile strength wires 2 and 2.
… And because the cross-sectional shape is rectangular, the dimensional variation is inevitably increased, and high dimensional accuracy is maintained as in the case of the conventional optical fiber ribbon in the case of the conventional optical fiber ribbon. Can not do. For this reason,
When the size of the outgoing line portion of the coating die is simply determined by the size of the optical fiber cord 5 and the number of condensed wires (the number of core wires), the outgoing line size of the optical fiber cord 5 in a concentrating parallel state
.. Are too large or too small.

Further, since the optical fiber cord 5 is manufactured in advance in another process and is once wound on a reel, the optical fiber cord 5 may have a curl. If the tape has a curl, when the taped layer 6 is covered, the fed optical fiber cord 5 undulates, and a good arrangement cannot be maintained. Further, the number of steps of the optical fiber cord 5 is large and costly.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to simplify the manufacturing process in a method for manufacturing an optical tape cord as shown in FIG. It is an object of the present invention to manufacture an optical tape cord in which the arrangement of the optical fiber cords is not disturbed by the optical fiber cords due to the curl and the like.

[0013]

The object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an optical tape cord, comprising: arranging a plurality of optical fiber wires and a plurality of tensile strength wires in a line in parallel with each other and feeding the single-core cord coating die. , Each optical fiber and the tensile strength wire is covered with a coating layer and integrated,
A plurality of the above optical fiber cords are simultaneously produced, and then,
The problem is solved by feeding these optical fiber cords into a taped coating die while maintaining the shape and direction extruded from the single-core cord coating die, and coating the taped layer. At this time, it is preferable to use a single cord coating die having a plurality of die holes.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. This manufacturing apparatus includes a single-core cord coating die 11 (hereinafter referred to as a die 11) for manufacturing optical fiber cords 5, 5,... By coating and unifying the optical fiber strand 1 and the tensile strength wire 2.
And the first curing device 14,
Each of the optical fiber cords 5 is coated with a taped layer 6 to produce a taped coating die 15 for producing an optical tape cord 7, and a second curing device 17.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a single core coating die 11 suitably used in the manufacturing method of the present invention. The single-core cord coating die 11 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and has a space filled with a resin liquid therein, and the optical fiber 1 and the tensile strength wire 2 are inserted into one long side surface thereof. Eight inlet holes are provided in a row, and eight dice holes 13 serving as output portions of the optical fiber cord 5 are provided on the other side surface so as to communicate with the inlet holes. ing. A resin liquid supply hole 12 for supplying the resin liquid to the die 11 is formed substantially at the center of the bottom surface.

The number of the die holes 13, 13,... Is equal to the number of the optical fiber wires 1, 1,... Of the optical tape cord 7, and in this case, eight, but is not particularly limited. Further, the dice shapes are all rectangles having the same size, and the dice holes 13, 13,... Are provided in parallel at equal intervals. The die 11 in FIG. 1 is a single die having a plurality of dice holes 13, 13..., But a plurality of coating dice having one or a plurality of dice holes 13 are arranged, and the desired number of optical fiber cords 7 is arranged. The number of the die holes 13 may be the same as the number of the die holes 13.

The above-mentioned taped coating die 15 is
It has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and has a space filled with a resin liquid inside, and one of the long side surfaces has optical fiber cords 5,5.
Are provided, and a rectangular die hole serving as an outgoing portion of the optical fiber cord 5 is provided on the other side surface so as to communicate with the input hole. A resin liquid supply hole 16 for supplying the resin liquid to the taped coating die 15 is provided substantially at the center of the bottom surface.
Are formed.

As the first curing device 14 and the second curing device 17, a heating furnace, an ultraviolet curing device, or the like is used. Depending on the curing method of the resin used for each coating layer of the optical tape cord 7, Selected.

In order to manufacture the optical fiber cord 7 using such a manufacturing apparatus, first, the optical fiber strands 1, 1
Are arranged in a line in parallel, and each optical fiber
Along the top and bottom of 1 ..., three tensile strength lines 2, 2 ...
These are fed so that one set of the optical fiber 1 and the strength member 3 are inserted into the respective input portions of the die 11. Next, an uncured resin liquid to be the cord coating layer 4 is supplied into the die 11 from the resin liquid supply hole 12, and the die hole 1, which is an outgoing wire portion, is supplied.
The optical fiber cords 5, 5... To which the resin liquid has been applied from the respective die holes 13, 13.
One optical fiber cord 5 is led out from each die hole 13 so as to exit. Then, it is sent to the first curing device 14, where the applied resin liquid is cured to produce a plurality of optical fiber cords 5. At this time, the eight optical fiber strands 1, 1,... Can be simultaneously coated in the die 11, and the coated optical fiber cords 1, 1,. Has a portion where the tensile strength line 2 exists and a portion where it does not exist.

Next, these optical fiber cords 5, 5
Are sent to the taped coating die 15 while maintaining the shape and the direction sent from the die 11. That is, in a state where a plurality of optical fiber cords 5, 5... Are arranged in parallel and portions where the tensile strength lines 2, 2.
From the incoming line. Then, after applying the resin liquid to be the taped layer 6, the resin liquid is led out from the outgoing line portion and sent to the second curing device 17, where the applied resin liquid is cured to obtain a light as shown in FIG. The tape code is set to 7. The number of tensile wires 2 inside the optical fiber cord 5 is as follows.
The strength is determined by the required strength of the optical tape cord 7, and here, three are provided above and below the optical fiber strand 1,
There is no particular limitation.

According to such a manufacturing method, the optical fiber cords 5 can be manufactured collectively, and the optical fiber cords 5 are sent to the taped coating die 15 while the alignment state of the optical fiber cords 5 is maintained correctly. As a result, the optical fiber cord 5 is not disturbed in the direction of the optical fiber cord 5, and the optical fiber cord 5 is not wound on a reel. Therefore, the optical tape cord 7 has a good arrangement of the optical fiber cords 5. Furthermore, in this production method, the number of steps is smaller than that of the conventional method, and it is economical.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments. An optical tape cord 7 was produced using the apparatus shown in FIG. Two steel wires each having a diameter of 0.1 mm are vertically attached as tensile strength wires 2 above and below an optical fiber strand 1 having an outer diameter of 0.25 mm. Eight of these wires are arranged in parallel, and the die diameter is 0.28 mm × 0. .
It is fed into a single-core cord coating die 11 having eight die holes 13 each having a diameter of 41 mm, where each of the optical fibers 1, 1... Is coated with an ultraviolet curing resin as a coating layer. 14 and irradiated with ultraviolet rays to cure the resin, thereby producing optical fiber cords 5, 5,... Having an outer diameter of 0.27 mm × 0.4 mm and a rectangular cross section.

Next, the eight optical fiber cords 5,
5 are fed into a taped coating die 15 having a die hole diameter of 0.42 mm × 2.3 mm while maintaining the shape and direction sent out from the die 11, wherein:
An ultraviolet curable resin to be the taped layer 6 was applied, and the resin was cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays with a second curing device 17 to produce an optical tape cord 7 having a length of 5 km.

In manufacturing the optical tape cord 7,
There were no troubles such as clogging of dies during the production. Further, in the manufactured optical tape cord 7, the variation of the outer diameter was stable at 10 μm or less in both thickness / width. Further, no increase in the loss of the optical fiber after the production of the optical tape cord 7 was observed. Further, when the manufactured optical tape cord 7 was cut every 100 m and its cross-sectional shape was visually observed, in any place,
There was no rotation of the optical fiber cords 5, 5,... And no disorder in the arrangement, and it was found that the optical tape cord 7 had a good shape.

[0025]

As described above, according to the optical tape cord manufacturing method of the present invention, the dimensions of the individual optical fiber cords do not vary, and the optical fiber cords are not disturbed due to the winding habits. Optical tape cords can be manufactured economically.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a manufacturing apparatus used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a single-core cord coating die used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of an optical fiber cord manufactured according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example of an optical tape cord manufactured according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical fiber wire 2 ... Tensile wire 3 ... Tensile body 4 ... Coating layer 5 ... Optical fiber cord 6 ... Tape layer 7 ... Optical tape cord 11 ... Single cord coating die 13 ... Dice hole 14 ... First curing device 15: Coating dies in tape form 17: Second curing device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Keiji Ohashi 1440 Mutsuzaki, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture Inside Fujikura Sakura Factory (72) Inventor Masao Tachikura 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Telephone Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Fumi Izumida Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of tensile strength lines are vertically attached to an optical fiber, and a coating layer is coated and integrated. The cross-sectional shape is rectangular, and a portion where a tensile strength line exists and a portion where no tensile strength line exists in the coating layer. Then, a plurality of these optical fiber cords are arranged in parallel in a row and covered with a tape layer to be integrated. A method of manufacturing an optical tape cord having a structure arranged so that a plurality of optical fiber wires and a plurality of tensile strength wires are arranged in a line in parallel and sent to a single-core cord coating die. Each of the optical fiber wires and the tensile strength wire is covered with a coating layer to be integrated, and a plurality of the above-mentioned optical fiber cords are simultaneously produced. A method for producing an optical tape cord, comprising feeding a taped coating die while keeping the shape and direction extruded from a taping die to cover a taped layer. 2. The single-core cord coating die according to claim 1,
2. The method for manufacturing an optical tape cord according to claim 1, wherein the optical tape cord has a plurality of die holes.