JPS597908A - Optical cable unit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an optical cable unit in which several unit g-wires are twisted around a center line.

Optical fiber core wire has a much smaller allowable elongation than other cable constituent materials, and is vulnerable to elongation.

For this reason, an optical cable unit as shown in FIG. 1 has been proposed in order to protect the optical fiber from the tension when tension is applied to the optical cable unit. This optical cable unit consists of a unit wire 3 formed by applying a soft polymer material layer 2 such as soft silicone/rubber on the outer periphery of an optical fiber core 1, and a soft silicone rubber layer 2 on the outer periphery of a tension member 4 such as a stainless steel wire. Several outer periphery KW of the center line 6 having a soft polymeric material layer 5 such as the above are twisted together, and the twisting grooves on the outer periphery are filled with a soft separator material 7 such as soft silicone rubber to form a structure.

In such an optical cable unit, as tension is applied, the fiber cores l of each party compress the soft polymer material layer 2.5 and move sequentially toward the center of the unit, and the twisting radius becomes smaller, causing the optical fiber cores l to become smaller. The spiral body stretches and the tension can be relaxed accordingly. In this case, the soft polymer material layer 2°5Vi needs to have enough hardness to prevent it from being scraped off by a supply reel, etc., so that when it is subjected to tension, the optical fiber core l will be sufficiently close to the center of the unit. Since it cannot be moved, tension is applied to the Optical 7 fiber core wire 1, which has the disadvantage that a sufficient tension relaxation effect cannot be exerted.

In order to allow each fiber core to move freely within the unit, a unit consisting of optical fiber cores housed with extra length in a hollow pipe is twisted together around the center line. An optical cable unit has been proposed. However, in optical cable units using such unit wires, it is not possible to keep the optical fiber core floating in the center of the pipe, so the optical fiber core wire is housed in a meandering manner at the bottom of the pipe. Therefore, relative displacement of the optical fiber core wire in the longitudinal direction is likely to occur within the pipe during use. As a result, the optical fiber tends to have locally slack parts and tense parts along the longitudinal direction, and when tension is applied to the strained parts, the optical fiber becomes loose. There was a risk of breakage, and there was a drawback that a tension-relieving effect could not be reliably obtained.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical cable unit that can reliably obtain the required strain relief effect.The optical cable unit according to the present invention has a gel-like material layer provided around an optical fiber, and a protective layer on the outer periphery. Provided with fiber optic core #! The device is characterized in that a plurality of unit wires, each of which has a flexible polymer material laminated layer coated on its outer periphery, are twisted around the center line.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. In the optical cable unit of this embodiment, a gel-like material layer 9 is provided around the periphery of the optical fiber 8, and a protective layer 1 is provided on the outer periphery of the gel-like material layer 9.
0 is provided to constitute an optical fiber core wire 11, and the outer periphery of the unit wire 1 is coated with a soft polymer material layer 2.
2 and a center line 6 formed by providing a soft polymer material layer 5 such as soft silicone rubber on the outer periphery of a tension member 4 such as a stainless steel wire, and a plurality of unit wires 12 are attached to the outer periphery of this center line 6. are twisted together, and a soft polymer material 7 such as soft silicone rubber is filled in the twist grooves on the outer periphery. As the optical fiber 7-IPA wire 8, an optical fiber in which a primary sheath is provided on the outer periphery, or a buffer layer further provided in the outer periphery of the optical fiber is used. The gel material layer 9 is formed using, for example, 7 silicone gel. Such a gel-like substance has no fluidity, does not hinder the movement of the optical fiber 8, and has a self-repairing function (the cut portion is self-fused) when it is cut due to the movement of the optical fiber 8. It has the property that the JIS hardness tl is zero. The protective layer 10 is
For example, it is formed from fiber-reinforced glass, nylon, Teflon, or the like.

As the soft polymer material, for example, a material having a Young's modulus of about 001 to Dunn's is used.

Such an optical cable unit has the effect that when tension is applied, the optical fiber 8 moves toward the center of the unit within the gel material layer 9, and the optical fiber core 11 moves along the soft polymer material layer 2. The effect of compressing and moving toward the center of the unit is added. That is, when tension is applied, each fiber core wire 11 moves toward the center of the nib while decreasing its twist radius due to the twisting effect. At this time, only the protective layer 10 is initially stiff against the tension, but the initial slack of the optical fiber 8 is absorbed within this protective layer 10, and the optical fiber 8 expands its radius. While reducing the size, cut the gel-like material layer 9 into 4 pieces and move it to the center of the unit.

At this time, the relationship between the elongation strain value of the optical fiber core wire 11 and the elongation strain 6 of the optical fiber wire 8 is #! Shown in Figure 3. That is, up to this range, elongation strain acts on the optical fiber core 11, but no elongation strain acts on the optical fiber element 18. Next, when the optical fiber strand 8 is inscribed in the protective layer 10, the optical fiber 8 also becomes taut, and the optical fiber core 11 compresses the soft polymer material layer 2 while reducing its twisting radius. The relationship between the elongation strain ε of the 0-optical fiber core 11 moving toward the center of the unit and the elongation strain ``ε0'' of the original cable unit is shown as a bent straight line as shown in FIG. 4. 5 is obtained by composing the results shown in FIG. First, even in the high strain region (ε≧ε), the amount of increase in the elongation strain of the optical fiber strand 8 is smaller than the elongation strain of the optical cable unit, achieving a large elongation relaxation effect as a whole.

FIG. 6 shows the second embodiment of the present invention. In the zero-wire optical cable unit, a gel material made of silicone gel or the like *#1 is attached to the outer periphery of the tension member 4 as the center line 6. A structure in which a soft outer cover 14 made of soft silicone rubber or the like is provided around the outer periphery is used. Other points have the same structure as the first embodiment.

According to such an optical cable unit, when tension is applied to the PC, the optical fiber core wire 11 is connected to the soft polymer material 742.
is compressed and moved toward the center of the unit, and the soft outer sheath 14 is further recessed and moved toward the center of the unit, thereby further improving the elongation relaxation effect.

The unit wire 12 used in the present invention is produced, for example, as follows. That is, when the protective layer 10 made of a polymeric material is extruded into a pipe shape around the outer periphery of the optical fiber wire 8, The protective layer 10 is filled with a gel S, and then the protective layer 1
A soft polymer material layer 2 is placed on the outer periphery of the sample.

1. The unit wire 12 may have a layered structure as shown in FIG. This unit wire 12 has a glue-like material J made of silicone gel on the surface of the optical fiber wire 8.
After applying the R layer 9 and drying the fitting 11, the surface 1
(c) It has a structure in which a coating surface hardening agent is attached to harden only the surface of the gel-like material layer 9 to form a silicone rubber hardened layer 15, and a protective layer 10 and a soft polymer material layer 2 are covered on the outer periphery of the hardened silicone rubber layer 15. be.

Note that in Example 1 shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the protective layer 10 may be formed by hardening the surface of a gel-like substance.

The optical cable unit according to the present invention can be used as a single-unit optical cable by covering its outer periphery with a couple sheath, or can be used as a multi-unit optical cable by twisting several units together and covering the outer periphery with a cable sheath. .

As explained above, the optical cable unit according to the present invention has a gel material layer around the optical fiber and a protective layer on the outer periphery of the optical fiber, which is further covered with a soft polymer material layer. Since the structure is such that multiple unit wires are twisted together around the center line, each optical fiber wire within each fiber core wire will be untwisted when tension is applied. It is possible to sufficiently obtain the elongation relaxation effect by moving toward the center of the unit while decreasing the radius, and by moving toward the center of the unit while compressing the soft polymer material layer while decreasing the twisting radius of each fiber core. 0 Therefore, it is possible to provide an optical cable unit that is resistant to elongation.-0 In particular, in the present invention, since a gel-like material layer is provided around the optical fiber, the optical fiber can be pulled toward the center of the unit by tension. When moving the optical fiber, no resistance is applied to the optical fiber strand, and it can be smoothly moved toward the center of the unit, which is very suitable for alleviating elongation.

In addition, if the optical fiber is suspended in a gel-like substance layer within the protective layer, the winding radius of the optical fiber becomes smaller than the winding radius of the emulsion layer during winding, and the optical fiber becomes It is possible to prevent the winding length of the strand from becoming shorter than the winding length of the protective layer.In addition, by providing an eζ gel material layer around the optical fiber strand, it is possible to prevent The peeling work becomes easier, the connecting work of the optical fiber cable can be easily performed, the waterproofness is improved, and the life of the optical fiber wire can be extended.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional optical cable unit, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an m1 embodiment of an optical cable unit according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between unit elongation strain and core wire elongation strain, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between unit elongation strain and wire elongation strain, and FIG. A cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the optical cable unit, and FIG. M7 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the unit wire. 2... Soft polymer material layer, 4... Tension member, 5... Soft polymer material layer, 6... Center line, 8...
Optical fiber cable, 9...Gel-like material layer, 10...Protective layer, 11. Written amendment to the procedures for the extension of the law (voluntary) January 22, 1981 Kazuo Wakasugi, Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office 16 Indication of the case Patent application No. 116207/1989 2, name of the invention Optical cable unit (529) Furukawa Tunkei Kogyo Co., Ltd. 4, agent 1 person 4-3 Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Higashi-no-Eto 105
No. 1 No. 6 Wensan Pill 6th Floor Specification Column for Detailed Description of the Invention, Figures 2 and 6 of the Drawings, Contents of Amendment A. The complete specification is corrected as follows. Corrected to ``inside the twist groove and in the gaps around its inner circumference.'' (2) On page 5, lines 7 to 8, change “Tokoro no... Garari,” [Buto tends to be repaired by adhesive.]
I am corrected. 3. The drawings “Figure 2” and “Figure 6” are corrected as shown in the attached sheet. that's all

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A gel-like material layer is provided around the optical fiber and is retained on its outer periphery! The characteristic is that a plurality of unit wires are twisted around the outer periphery of the center line, and the optical fiber core wire is formed by forming layers, and a soft polymer material layer is arranged around the outer periphery of the core wire. optical cable unit. (2) The optical cable unit according to claim 1, wherein the center line is a structure 3SLK in which a gel-like material layer is provided around the tension member and a soft jacket is provided on the outer periphery.