JPH04156405A - Optical fiber delivery device - 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 an optical fiber feeding device that feeds out a fixed amount of optical fiber (including multi-core optical fibers such as tape-shaped fibers), for example, an optical fiber coupler. It can be used when connecting optical fiber to manufacturing equipment.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 4 shows a small outline of a conventional optical fiber feeding device. This optical fiber feeding device has an optical fiber 1
A plurality of wound bobbins 2 are fixed to a plurality of rotating shafts 3 driven by a motor. A light source 4 and a power meter 5 are fixed to the bobbin 2 via a slip ring (not shown). One end of the optical fiber 1 wound around the bobbin 2 is connected to a light source 4 and a power meter 5 via an optical switch, and the other end is connected to a fixed port.
It is guided to a dancer roller D consisting of a roller 6 and a movable roller 7, and further held by a pinch roller 8 located ahead of the dancer roller D. At the tip of the pinch roller 8, for example, an optical coupler manufacturing device (not shown) is arranged.

When the optical fiber 1 is sent to the dancer roller D, the movable roller 7 is lowered, and when the optical fiber is pulled from the dancer roller D, the ijJ movable roller 7 is raised in accordance with the amount of pulling out. Therefore, by detecting the position of the movable roller 7 with a sensor, the amount of optical fiber 1 accumulated on the dancer roller D is detected, and the amount of rotation of the rotating shaft 3 is adjusted.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional feeding device requires one motor for one bobbin, which has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the device. For example, when multiple bobbins are used together to continuously unwind optical fibers in order to effectively utilize the labor force of workers in the optical coupler manufacturing process, ancillary equipment including multiple motors (light source 4, power source 4, meter 5
, slip rings, etc.), doubling the number of parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a compact optical fiber feeding device that can continuously feed out optical fibers without increasing the number of parts.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a plurality of bobbins around which a plurality of optical fibers are wound and fixed on the same rotation axis, a plurality of fiber storage means for accumulating the optical fibers supplied from the bobbins, The configuration includes a detection means for detecting the accumulation state of optical fibers in the plurality of fiber accumulation means, and a control means for rotating the rotation shaft based on the accumulation state and accumulating the optical fibers in the plurality of fiber accumulation means. be done.

[Effect]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, by detecting the storage state of optical fibers in the storage means by the detection means, the timing of rotating the rotation shaft can be adjusted, and the optical fiber to be fed out can be selected. can do. Therefore, at least one of the plurality of storage means
This makes it possible to accumulate enough optical fibers.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An optical fiber feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in the description, the same reference numerals are used for the same elements, and redundant description will be omitted.

This feeding device uses three bobbins fixed to the same rotating shaft, a dancer roller as a storage means, and an optical sensor consisting of a light emitting element and a light receiving element as a detection means. The amount of optical fiber required to manufacture one optical fiber coupler is supplied to the manufacturing device as the amount of one payout.

This feeding device includes three bobbins 11 fixed to a rotating shaft 10 driven by a single motor 9.

Each bobbin 11 houses an optical fiber 1, which is connected at one end to the light source 4 or the power meter 5, in a wound state. The light source 4 and the power meter 5 are fixed to a rotating shaft 10,
It is connected to one end of the optical fiber 1 via an optical switch or the like. Power is supplied to the light source 4 and the power meter 5 via a slip ring 14. Further, the other end of the optical fiber 1 is supplied via a dancer roller D1 and a pinch roller 8 to a coupler manufacturing device or the like that manufactures an optical fiber coupler.

The dancer roller D includes a fixed roller 6 and a movable roller 7, and is configured to apply a constant tension to the optical fiber 1. The tension applied to the optical fiber 1 is determined by the weight of the movable port 7 in the membrane. If this weight is large, a spring such as a constant tension spring is added to move the movable roller 7 upward. It is desirable that the tension be adjusted by hoisting it up. Further, since the optical fiber 1 is accumulated by winding around the outer periphery of the fixed roller 6 and the movable roller 7, the amount of accumulation changes depending on the distance between the fixed roller 6 and the movable roller 7. In other words, 1-i1 constant roller 6
is fixed at a fixed position, so the accumulated amount of optical fiber 1 can be determined as 4i* per fiber depending on the position of movable roller 7. For example, fixed roller 6 and movable roller 7
The larger the interval, the greater the amount of storage in the optical fiber 1.

An upper limit sensor 12 and a lower limit sensor 13 are installed at the upper limit position and lower limit position of this i'iJ dynamic rotor rough range, and the upper limit→! Dancer 2 and lower limit sensor 13
The movable roller 7 exists in any area divided by rl
: Can be determined whether it is done or not. Therefore, these sensors 12
．． Based on the output value of 1B, the state of optical fiber accumulation by each dancer roller D is detected.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The movement area is roughly divided into two areas ASB with the 1st limit position as the boundary, and the timing of driving the rotation axis]O is detected. Area A covers the area between the fixed roller 6 and the center/seat 12, and area B covers the area between the sensor 12 and the sensor 13. These regions Δ, B are divided into 8 optical fibers 1 to create a turntable to at least one optical fiber.
For example, it is set to be able to accumulate an amount of 1.2 times. That is, an optical fiber] is unwound to produce a 1.2-tree end-fiber coupler.
, 1+J The moving roller 7 moves over the entire range of area A or area B.

In addition, a control device (not shown) controls the accumulation state so that at least one movable roller 7 of the three dancer rollers D is at the upper limit position, and the optical fiber wound around the dancer roller with the movable roller 7 at the lowest position is controlled. Used with priority.

Hereinafter, an example of controlling the ++1 moving roller 7 with reference to the lower limit position will be explained based on FIG. In this control example, when all the movable rollers 7 leave the lower limit position, the rotating shaft 10 is rotated, and the tip fiber 1 is supplied from the bobbin 1 until at least one movable roller reaches the rough limit position. . To simplify the following explanation, the distance between the eye and the upper limit is set to 1.
0, '3 dancer rollers D SD ,
Distinguished by D.

First, 1jI moving roller 7 of the first Dan → no roller D1
The movable mouth of the second dancer roller D2 is at the rough or intermediate position, and the movable mouth of the third dancer roller D3 is at the upper limit position.
It is assumed that the moving roller 7 is located at the 099 (M) position from the 1st limit position (see FIG. 12(a)).

In this case, since the movable roller 7 at the lowest position is the first dancer roller D1, the optical fiber wound around this dancer roller D1 is preferentially used. +iJ moving roller 7 of dancer roller D1 is 1.0 due to the use of
However, when the movable roller D1 of the dancer roller D1 leaves the rough limit position, all the movable rollers 7 are not at the upper limit position, so the motor 9 is driven by the control device, and any of the movable rollers The optical fiber 1 is wound from the bobbin 11 until it reaches the upper limit position. in this case,
The movable roller 7 at the lowest position is the dancer roller D3, and the distance to the lower limit position is 0.1. Therefore, the condition "to be at at least one lower limit position..." means that the FiJ moving roller 7 of the dancer roller D3 is approximately 0. ] Satisfied when it descends.

Therefore, the rotating shaft 10 rotates until the condition is satisfied, and a predetermined amount of optical fiber 1 is supplied from the hobbin 11.

As a result, the movable rollers 7 of the first dancer roller I) t and the second dancer roller D2 straddle and descend (
(See figure (b)).

In this state, the dancer roller D3, which is the riJ moving roller 7 located at the lowest position, is used preferentially.

When this +-1J moving roller 7 is raised, all the J moving rollers 7 are no longer at the lower limit position, and the motor 9
or controlled by a control device. In this case, since the movable roller 7 of the dancer roller D2 is closest to the lower limit position, its I
The motor 9 is rotated so that the fI moving roller 7 reaches the 1ζ limit position.
or rotate. As a result, the movable rollers 7 of the first dancer roller D1 and the second dancer roller D2 are lowered by approximately 4 heights (see FIG. 4(c)).

Hereinafter, the operation of the feeding device according to the above embodiment will be explained.

When a predetermined amount of optical fiber 1 is pulled from the optical coupler manufacturing apparatus, the movable roller 7 of the dancer roller rises, and the accumulated optical fibers are consumed. As a result, all movable rollers 7 are at the lower limit position.
When no longer exists, the rotating shaft 10 is rotated under the control of the control device. Rotation axis] When rotated from 0, bobbin 11
The optical fiber] is supplied to the dancer roller D, and the movable roller 7 of the dancer roller D is lowered. The supply of the optical fiber is continued until one of the movable rollers 7 reaches the lower limit position. The optical fiber 1 supplied from the bobbin 11 is accumulated by the dancer roller D. When the optical fibers 1 are accumulated, the position of the movable roller 7 is lowered, so it can be seen that the amount of optical fibers accumulated between the fixed roller 6 and the movable roller 7 has increased. Further, when the optical fiber 1 necessary for manufacturing the optical coupler is pulled toward the coupler manufacturing apparatus side by, for example, a work opening, the movable roller 7 of the dancer roller D around which the pulled optical fiber 1 is wound rises. The optical fiber 1 that has been stored is fed out by the dancer roller D.

As described above, according to the feeding device according to the embodiment, the same rotating shaft, motor, slip ring, light source, power meter, and control device can be used for the three bobbins, and the optical fiber can be efficiently It is possible to carry out feeding work.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example of control was explained in which the timing for rotating the rotary shaft is based on the lower limit position (see FIG. 3), but control may be performed using the upper limit position as a reference. For example, when all the dancer rollers have left the upper limit position, the rotation shaft may be rotated until at least one dancer roller reaches the lower limit position.

Furthermore, although we used a dancer roller as the storage means, we have also developed a method that can physically express the amount of storage in the optical fiber, for example, by arranging multiple sensors in a direction that intersects the direction in which the optical fiber is stretched. The method may be based on a so-called catenary method in which the accumulation state of the optical fiber is detected by detecting the position of slack in the optical fiber caused by the supply of the fiber.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In this invention, since a plurality of bobbins are attached to the same shaft, the number of parts does not increase.

Furthermore, since the optical fibers having a large accumulated amount are fed out by the detection means, the optical fibers can be drawn out continuously.

Furthermore, since the increase in the number of parts due to the increase in the number of bobbins can be suppressed to a minimum, the device can be kept compact.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an optical fiber feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a dancer roller that can be used in the above feeding device, and FIG. 3 is a dancer roller that can be used in the above feeding device. FIG. 4 is a process diagram showing an example of control of the +iJ moving roller, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of an optical fiber feeding device according to the prior art. 1...Optical fiber, 2,]1...Bobbin, 3.10.
・Rotation axis, 4...Light source, 5...Power meter, = 13
- 6 ・Fixed roller, 7 .
・Lower limit sensor, 14...Slip ring, Representative patent attorney Yoshikima Hase
Mountain 1) Row -1 14
- =33-

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of bobbins around which a plurality of optical fibers are wound and fixed on the same rotation axis; a plurality of fiber storage means for accumulating the optical fibers supplied from the bobbins; and a plurality of the plurality of fibers. a detection means for detecting the accumulation state of optical fibers in the fiber accumulation means; and a control means for rotating the rotation shaft based on the accumulation state and accumulating the optical fibers in the plurality of fiber accumulation means. Optical fiber feeding device. 2. The fiber accumulation means includes a pair of fixed rollers around which the optical fibers are wound and a movable roller, and the distance between the movable rollers and the fixed rollers changes depending on the amount of accumulated optical fibers. The optical fiber feeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that: