Claims
- 1. An apparatus for cutting at least one optical fiber, comprising:
a contact element; an element adapted to pivot, mounted on a rotation shaft, the element being pivotable relative to the contact element between an insertion position and a cutting position; at least one holding apparatus, including an interruption and at least one of fitted to and formed on the element adapted to pivot, wherein at least one fiber to be cut is held in a defined position relative to the element eanadapted to pivot over the entire profile of a pivoting rhythm between the insertion position and the cutting position in which the at least one fiber is aligned parallel to the rotation shaft, at least in the center of the interruption; and a scoring device, fitted to the contact element and movable at right angles to the rotation shaft in a scoring plane running parallel to the rotation shaft, wherein at least one fiber held by the holding apparatus is scoreable in the area of the interruption of the element adapted to pivot, the rotation shaft being arranged on the contact element such that the at least one fiber held by the holding apparatus is touched by the contact element exclusively in the cutting position when the element adapted to pivot is being pivoted from the insertion position to the cutting position, and wherein the holding apparatus is at a distance from the other components of the apparatus when the element adapted to pivot is in the insertion position, such that the holding apparatus is freely accessible from one side for convenient and protective insertion of the at least one fiber to be cut.
- 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding apparatus is a groove formed in the element adapted to pivot.
- 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first clamping apparatus and a second clamping apparatus are fitted to at least one of the contact element and the element adapted to pivot, wherein each fiber held by the holding apparatus is adapted to be fixed on a first side of the interruption by the first clamping apparatus, and wherein
each fiber held by the holding apparatus is adapted to be fixed on the second side of the interruption by the second clamping apparatus.
- 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the holding apparatus and the two clamping apparatuses are designed such that an optical fiber, whose sheath has been partially removed, is adapted to be fixed, wherein a first section, including a sheath, of the fiber is adapted to be fixed by the first clamping apparatus and a second section including no sheath, of the fiber is adapted to be fixed by the second clamping apparatus.
- 5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact element includes a curved surface along the longitudinal direction of the fiber so that a fiber that needs to be cut is prestressed with a defined curvature if the element adapted to pivot is in the cutting position.
- 6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the contact element is designed asymmetrically relative to the interruption and along the longitudinal direction of the fiber such that a subsection of the fiber to be cut, which includes no sheath and is located on the first side of the interruption, is held essentially without any contact while the element adapted to pivot is in the cutting position, and touches the contact element only in the at least immediate vicinity of the interruption.
- 7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the contact element includes a plastic insert arranged such that a subsection of the fiber to be cut, including no sheath, is touched exclusively by the plastic insert.
- 8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact element includes an anvil and a base element.
- 9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact element includes contact points at different distances from the scoring plane, and wherein the rotation shaft of the element adapted to pivot is movable such that the fiber to be cut rests on a contact point associated with the respective position, as a function of the respective position of the rotation shaft, when the element adapted to pivot is in the cutting position.
- 10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein, when the rotation shaft is moved, the vertical distance between the scoring plane and an axis which coincides at least in the center of the interruption with the center axis of an inserted fiber remains unchanged when the element adapted to pivot is in the cutting position.
- 11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the rotation shaft is movable by at least one eccentric shaft.
- 12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the rotation shaft is movable between at least two discrete positions.
- 13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the contact element includes a stepped surface with at least one edge which runs parallel to the longitudinal direction of the fiber, and with at least two contact surfaces which are parallel to the scoring plane.
- 14. A method for cutting at least one optical fiber, comprising:
pivoting an element, adapted to pivot, to an insertion position; holding the at least one fiber to be cut in a defined position relative to the element over an entire profile of a pivoting movement between an insertion position and a cutting position; pivoting the element from the insertion position to a cutting position, wherein, throughout the entire pivoting movement,
the fiber is held essentially parallel to the rotation axis of the pivoting movement, and the fiber is touched by a contact element exclusively in the cutting position; scoring the fiber at a predetermined scoring point, fitted to the contact element, using a scoring movement which runs at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the fiber, and in a scoring plane which runs parallel to the longitudinal direction of the fiber wherein the fiber to be cut is scored such that the fiber is cut into two parts; pivoting the element from the cutting position to a removal position; and removing the fiber.
- 15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the insertion position and the removal position are identical.
- 16. The method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising:
additionally fixing the fiber, before the fiber to be cut is scored, using a first clamping apparatus and a second clamping apparatus on the element; and fixing the fiber, after the element has pivoted from the cutting position to the removal position, using the first clamping apparatus, wherein the second clamping apparatus is released, and wherein
the first clamping apparatus fixes the fiber on a first side of the predetermined cutting point, and the second clamping apparatus fixes the fiber on the second side of the predetermined cutting point.
- 17. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein,
once the element been pivoted to the removal position, the two parts of the cut fiber are removed from the holding apparatus.
- 18. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the fiber is prestressed with a defined curvature by the shape of the contact element when the element is in the cutting position.
- 19. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the fiber is held essentially without any contact in the vicinity of the cutting point on one side of the cutting point using the contact element having a shape which is asymmetric relative to the cutting point.
- 20. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein, before the element is pivoted from the insertion position to the cutting position, the rotation shaft is moved such that the fiber to be cut touches the contact element at a contact point associated with the respective position of the rotation shaft, after the element which can pivot has been pivoted to the cutting position.
- 21. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the rotation shaft is moved to a predetermined position as a function of the diameter of the fiber to be cut.
- 22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein a first clamping apparatus and a second clamping apparatus are fitted to at least one of the contact element and the element adapted to pivot, wherein each fiber held by the holding apparatus is adapted to be fixed on a first side of the interruption by the first clamping apparatus, and wherein each fiber held by the holding apparatus is adapted to be fixed on the second side of the interruption by the second clamping apparatus.
- 23. The apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein the holding apparatus and the two clamping apparatuses are designed such that an optical fiber, whose sheath has been partially removed, is adapted to be fixed, wherein a first section, including a sheath, of the fiber is adapted to be fixed by the first clamping apparatus, and a second section, including no sheath, of the fiber is adapted to be fixed by the second clamping apparatus.
- 24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the contact element includes a curved surface along the longitudinal direction of the fiber so that a fiber that needs to be cut is prestressed with a defined curvature if the element adapted to pivot is in the cutting position.
- 25. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the contact element is designed asymmetrically relative to the interruption and along the longitudinal direction of the fiber such that a subsection of the fiber to be cut, which includes no sheath and is located on the first side of the interruption, is held essentially without any contact while the element adapted to pivot is in the cutting position, and touches the contact element only in the at least immediate vicinity of the interruption.
- 26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the contact element includes a plastic insert arranged such that a subsection of the fiber to be cut, including no sheath, is touched exclusively by the plastic insert.
- 27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the contact element includes contact points at different distances from the scoring plane, and wherein the rotation shaft of the element adapted to pivot is movable such that the fiber to be cut rests on a contact point associated with the respective position, as a function of the respective position of the rotation shaft, when the element adapted to pivot is in the cutting position.
- 28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 27, wherein, when the rotation shaft is moved, the vertical distance between the scoring plane and an axis which coincides at least in the center of the interruption with the center axis of an inserted fiber remains unchanged when the element adapted to pivot is in the cutting position.
- 29. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the rotation shaft is movable by at least one eccentric shaft.
- 30. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the rotation shaft is movable between at least two discrete positions.
- 31. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein the rotation shaft is movable between at least two discrete positions.
- 32. An apparatus for cutting at least one optical fiber, comprising:
means for pivoting an element, adapted to pivot, to an insertion position; means for holding the fiber in a defined position relative to the element over an entire profile of a pivoting movement between an insertion position and a cutting position, wherein the means for pivoting pivots the element from the insertion position to a cutting position, and wherein, throughout the entire pivoting movement,
the fiber is held essentially parallel to the rotation axis of the pivoting movement, and the fiber is touched by a contact element exclusively in the cutting position; means for scoring the fiber at a predetermined scoring point, fitted to the contact element, using a scoring movement which runs at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the fiber, and in a scoring plane which runs parallel to the longitudinal direction of the fiber, wherein the fiber to be cut is scored such that the fiber is cut into two parts, wherein the means for pivoting pivots the element from the cutting position to a removal position and wherein the fiber is thereafter removed from the means for holding.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
101 37 227.2 |
Jul 2001 |
DE |
|
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/DE02/02186 which has an International filing date of Jun. 14, 2002, which designated the United States of America and which claims priority on German Patent Application number DE 101 37 227.2 filed Jul. 30, 2001, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/DE02/02186 |
6/14/2002 |
WO |
|