JPS6079307A - Plastic optical fiber end face treatment equipment - 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 [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a processing device for heat-treating the end face of a plastic optical fiber to give it a smooth finish.

[Prior art]

Plastic and glass optical fibers are required to have their end faces smoothed when connecting the fibers to each other or connecting the fibers to an element. For this reason, conventionally, an optical polishing method has been implemented in which polishing is performed in several stages using abrasives with different particle sizes, and further finishing is performed. However, this method involves many polishing steps, and also has the disadvantages of having to incorporate a cleaning step while gradually reducing the size of the abrasive material, which lengthens the polishing time (and increases processing costs). .

For this reason, JP-A-55-121405 is already known as a method for simply treating the end face of plastic optical fibers. In this method, the end of a plastic optical fiber is pressed against a high-temperature mirror plate, heated, deformed along the mirror plate, smoothed, cooled and solidified, and once cooled sufficiently, removed from the mirror plate and smoothed. This is a processing method to obtain a sharp end face. However, in this method of edge treatment, it is necessary to perform the heating and cooling processes of the mirror plate alternately and efficiently. It was necessary to cool down forcibly. However, cooling in this manner reduces the efficiency of heating in the next step, and the apparatus tends to be relatively large and expensive.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention aims to provide a simple, compact, and inexpensive end face treatment device for plastic optical fibers that can easily perform heating-cooling cycles in a short time.

[Structure and operation of the invention]

The present invention will be explained below with reference to drawings of embodiments.

In the figure (1) is an aluminum housing.

A notch (11) is provided at approximately the center of the housing (1), extending from the top surface to the front. A mirror plate (2), which is chrome-plated to give a mirror finish, is fixed with screws (3).

On the other hand, on the back side of this mirror plate (2), a heating element (4) to which a tip trap of a retaining ring (5) is attached is installed so as to be able to approach and separate. In other words, a support rod (7) is inserted through the hinge (8) near the middle of the retaining ring (5) to which the brass heating element (4) is attached.
) is rotatably held in the housing (1).

At this time, the heating element (4) is installed so as to be located on the back side of the casting plate (2), and the retaining ring (5) is attached to the handle (6).
When levered, the heating element (4) becomes a mirror surface & (2)
It can be moved freely towards and away from the ground.

An end face processing method using the processing apparatus configured as described above will now be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a ferrule (9) is fitted onto the tip of an acrylic plastic optical fiber CF) whose core is made of acrylic resin and whose sheath is made of fluorine resin on the mirror plate (2), Lightly support this with your hand (H) and place the end surface on the mirror plate (2
), while a heating element (4) is placed on the back of the casting plate (2).
) are brought into contact with each other to raise the temperature, and the surface temperature of the mirror plate (2) is heated to 200±5°C. When the mirror plate (2) is heated, the end face of the plastic optical fiber (F) is also heated and fluid deformation occurs, but in this state the end face is also smoothed. Here, about 4 seconds after the contact, the heating element (4) is separated from the mirror plate as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. Then, the mirror plate (2) loses its heating source and is rapidly cooled by heat radiation and a portion of heat conduction to the housing (1). At the same time, the end face of the acrylic plastic optical fiber CF) is also cooled together with the mirror plate (2).
After cooling to 0° C., the acrylic plastic optical fiber (F) was separated. The time from when the heating element (4) was released until when the fiberglass material CF) was released was about 6 seconds.

The end face treated in this way is the output end.

A light emitting diode was attached to the input end, and a photodiode was opposed to the output end, and the output current value of the received light was measured.
) was confirmed to be equivalent. Additionally, it was found that the processing cycle was short because one process was completed in about 10 seconds.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, the present invention has a simple configuration in which a heating element that can be moved toward and away from the mirror plate is placed on the back side of the mirror plate, resulting in a device that is much smaller, cheaper, and easier to operate than conventional devices. is obtained, and the treated end surface is also superior and comparable to that of optical polishing. Moreover, it has the advantage that the treatment cycle is significantly shortened and it can be carried out easily.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the processing apparatus in a heated state, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the processing apparatus with the heating element removed, and FIG. l-■ line sectional view,
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV--IV in FIG. 2. (1)...Housing (2)...Mirror plate (3)...Set screw (4)...Heating element (5)...Retaining ring ( 6)...Handle F...Optical fiber H...Hand holder L Figure 'jL2 figure Sleeve 4 figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An end face treatment device for plastic optical fibers, characterized in that a heating element that can freely approach and separate from the mirror plate is installed on the back side of the mirror plate supported by hacking.