Patent Application
20220252809
The present disclosure relates to an optical fiber ribbon, an optical fiber cable, and a method for manufacturing the optical fiber ribbon.
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-111801 filed on Jun. 17, 2019, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-099147 filed on May 28, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Patent Literature 1 describes an optical fiber ribbon having a configuration in which optical fibers are disposed to be separated from each other so as not to contact each other and a bridge portion formed of a connecting resin is provided between the optical fibers.
Patent Literatures 2 and 3 describe an intermittent connection type optical fiber ribbon in which a gap is formed between optical fibers having a small diameter of 220 μm or less and a distance between centers of the optical fibers is set to approximately 250 μm.
An optical fiber ribbon according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes:
a plurality of optical fibers disposed in parallel to each other:
a connecting resin for connecting the plurality of optical fibers; and
a bridge portion formed of the connecting resin,
in which the plurality of optical fibers are disposed in a state where a side surface of the optical fiber is separated from or in contact with a side surface of another adjacent optical fiber,
in which the bridge portion is provided between the optical fibers disposed in the separated state,
in which an outer diameter of the optical fiber is 220 μm or less, and
in which an average distance between centers of the plurality of optical fibers is 220 μm or more and 280 μm or less.
An optical fiber cable according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes:
the optical fiber ribbon as described above; and
a cable sheath,
in which the optical fiber ribbon is mounted inside the cable sheath.
A method for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes:
a step of allowing a plurality of optical fibers of which outer diameter is 220 μm or less to be disposed in parallel to each other;
a step of allowing the plurality of optical fibers disposed in parallel to each other to be disposed in a state where a side surface of the optical fiber is separated from or in contact with a side surface of another adjacent optical fiber, setting an average distance between centers of the plurality of optical fibers to 220 μm or more and 280 μm or less and allowing a die to pass therethrough, and coating a portion in the separated state and outer peripheries of the plurality of optical fibers in the contact state with a connecting resin; and
a step of curing the connecting resin and providing a bridge portion between the optical fibers disposed in the separated state.
In a case where optical fibers are disposed without a gap therebetween by using an optical fiber having a small diameter of 220 μm or less in an optical fiber ribbon, a distance between centers of the optical fibers becomes small, such that it is difficult for the optical fiber to be mounted in a V-groove of an existing fusion splicer.
Therefore, for example, as in the optical fiber ribbon described in Patent Literature 1, it is conceivable that the optical fibers are disposed to be separated from each other so as not to contact each other, and the bridge portion formed of the connecting resin is also provided between the optical fibers. However, a pitch of the V-groove of the existing fusion splicer is 250 μm, such that when the optical fiber ribbon is attempted to fit in the pitch thereof, a width of the bridge portion becomes narrow and thus flexibility of the optical fiber ribbon may become insufficient. When the flexibility of the optical fiber ribbon is insufficient, the optical fiber ribbon is difficult to be deformed, such that it becomes difficult to mount the optical fiber ribbon in the optical fiber cable at high density.
On the other hand, Patent Literatures 2 and 3 describe the intermittent connection type optical fiber ribbon in which the gap is formed between the optical fibers having the small diameter of 220 μm or less and the distance between the centers of the optical fibers is set to approximately 250 μm. However, the intermittent connection type optical fiber ribbon using the above-described optical fiber having the small diameter may be difficult to be manufactured by performing an intermittent process at high speed and with high accuracy in a longitudinal direction while the gap between the optical fibers is kept constant.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide an optical fiber ribbon, an optical fiber cable, and a method for manufacturing the optical fiber ribbon, in which an optical fiber having a small diameter of 220 μm or less is used, and the optical fiber is easily mounted in a V-groove having a pitch of 250 μm in an existing fusion splicer, such that high-density mounting can be achieved.
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an optical fiber ribbon, an optical fiber cable, and a method for manufacturing the optical fiber ribbon, in which an optical fiber having a small diameter of 220 μm or less is used, and the optical fiber is easily mounted in a V-groove having a pitch of 250 μm in an existing fusion splicer, such that high-density mounting can be achieved.
First, embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described.
(1) An optical fiber ribbon according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a plurality of optical fibers disposed in parallel to each other;
a connecting resin for connecting the plurality of optical fibers; and
a bridge portion formed of the connecting resin,
in which the plurality of optical fibers are disposed in a state where a side surface of the optical fiber is separated from or in contact with a side surface of another adjacent optical fiber,
in which the bridge portion is provided between the optical fibers disposed in the separated state,
in which an outer diameter of the optical fiber is 220 μm or less, and
in which an average distance between centers of the plurality of optical fibers is 220 μm or more and 280 μm or less.
According to the optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configuration, even though the optical fiber having a small diameter of 220 μm or less is used, the optical fiber can be easily mounted in a V-groove of a pitch of 250 μm in an existing fusion splicer by adjusting a width of the bridge portion. Flexibility of the optical fiber ribbon can be improved, such that when the optical fiber ribbon is mounted in an optical fiber cable, for example, the optical fiber ribbon can be rolled to be mounted therein, and can be formed to be suitable for high-density mounting.
(2) The number of the optical fibers disposed in the contact state is N, and the N may be a multiple of 2.
(3) The connecting resin may have a Young's modulus of 0.5 MPa or more and 200 MPa or less at room temperature.
According to the optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configuration, rigidity of the optical fiber ribbon is in an appropriate range. As a result, the optical fiber ribbon has appropriate flexibility.
(4) A maximum thickness D of the optical fiber ribbon including the optical fiber is 235 μm or less, and
in which when a width of the bridge portion is defined as W, a thickness of the bridge portion is defined as t, and a Young's modulus at room temperature of the connecting resin is defined as E, a deformation parameter P represented by P=D×E×t2/W may be 0.035 or more and 14.2 or less.
Since the deformation parameter P of the optical fiber ribbon is 0.035 or more and 14.2 or less, appropriate rigidity can be obtained. Since the optical fiber ribbon has appropriately high rigidity, buckling in a longitudinal direction caused by temperature shrinkage is hard to occur. The optical fiber ribbon is not too rigid, such that when the optical fiber cable housing the optical fiber ribbon is bent, the optical fiber ribbon is appropriately deformed in a direction of intersecting a width direction thereof, thereby making it possible to prevent an increase in transmission loss. Therefore, the optical fiber ribbon can further prevent the increase in transmission loss in a low temperature environment.
(5) The bridge portion may include a recessed portion.
According to the optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configuration, the optical fiber ribbon can be easily deformed at the recessed portion. Since the optical fiber ribbon can be easily torn from the recessed portion, single core separation can be easily performed.
(6) The bridge portion may be provided to be biased toward any one side surface of one side surface and the other side surface of a parallel surface of the optical fiber ribbon.
According to the optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configuration, since the connecting resin is provided to be biased toward one side surface of the parallel surface of the optical fiber ribbon, the optical fiber ribbon is easy to be bent in a specific direction, and when the optical fiber ribbon is mounted in the optical fiber cable, the optical fiber ribbon is rolled to be easily mounted therein, for example.
(7) The bridge portion intermittently may include a dividing portion in a longitudinal direction of the optical fiber ribbon.
According to the optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configuration, since the optical fiber ribbon intermittently includes the dividing portion, the optical fiber ribbon can be easily deformed. Since the optical fiber ribbon can be easily torn from the dividing portion as a starting point, single core separation is easily performed.
(8) The connecting resin may contain a silicon-based release agent.
According to the optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configuration, since the connecting resin is a resin containing the silicon-based release agent, a friction coefficient can be reduced. The friction coefficient of the connecting resin is small, such that when a plurality of optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configurations are mounted in the optical fiber cable, each optical fiber ribbon easily moves in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the increase in transmission loss in the optical fiber cable.
(9) A peeling strength between an outermost layer of the optical fiber and the connecting resin may be less than 0.1 N/mm.
According to the optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configuration, the connecting resin can be easily peeled off from the outermost layer of the optical fiber.
(10) The optical fiber may include a glass fiber and a coating that covers an outer periphery of the glass fiber,
in which the coating may include two coating layers,
in which an outer coating layer of the two coating layers may be a cured product of a resin composition containing: a base resin containing a urethane acrylate oligomer or a urethane methacrylate oligomer, a monomer having a phenoxy group, a photopolymerization initiator, and a silane coupling agent, and a hydrophobic inorganic oxide particle, and
in which a content of the inorganic oxide particle in the resin composition may be 1% by mass or more and 45% by mass or less based on a total amount of the resin composition.
According to the optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configuration, lateral pressure resistance of the optical fiber becomes stronger. Therefore, since the increase in transmission loss when the optical fiber ribbon is mounted in the optical fiber cable can be prevented, the optical fiber ribbon can be formed to be further suitable for high-density mounting.
(11) In the optical fiber, bending loss at a wavelength of 1,550 nm may be 0.5 dB or less for a bending diameter of φ15 mm×1 turn, and 0.1 dB or less for a bending diameter of 920 mm×1 turn.
According to the optical fiber ribbon having the above-described configuration, a lateral pressure characteristic can be improved, and an attenuation at low temperature characteristic can be improved.
(12) An optical fiber cable according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes:
the optical fiber ribbon according to any one of the above (1) to (11), and
a cable sheath,
in which the optical fiber ribbon is mounted inside the cable sheath.
According to the optical fiber cable having the above-described configuration, while the optical fiber having the small diameter of 220 μm or less is used, the optical fiber ribbon that can be easily mounted in the V-groove having the pitch of 250 μm in the existing fusion splicer can be mounted at high density.
(13) A method for manufacturing an optical fiber ribbon according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes.
a step of allowing a plurality of optical fibers of which outer diameter is 220 μm or less to be disposed in parallel to each other;
a step of allowing the plurality of optical fibers disposed in parallel to each other to be disposed in a state where a side surface of the optical fiber is separated from or in contact with a side surface of another adjacent optical fiber, setting an average distance between centers of the plurality of optical fibers to 220 μm or more and 280 μm or less and allowing a die to pass therethrough, and coating a portion in the separated state and outer peripheries of the plurality of optical fibers in the contact state with a connecting resin; and a step of curing the connecting resin and providing a bridge portion between the optical fibers disposed in the separated state.
According to the method for manufacturing the optical fiber ribbon, while the optical fiber having a small diameter of 220 μm or less is used, it is possible to manufacture the optical fiber ribbon that can be easily mounted in a V-groove having a pitch of 250 μm in an existing fusion splicer and that is formed to be suitable for high-density mounting.
Hereinafter, specific examples related to an optical fiber ribbon, an optical fiber cable, and a method for manufacturing the optical fiber ribbon according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
The present invention is not limited to these examples, indicated by the scope of the claims, and intended to include all the modifications within the meaning equivalent to the scope of the claims and within the scope thereof.
As illustrated in
The connecting resin 21 is provided between two optical fibers so as to fill a gap between the optical fibers disposed in a state where a certain distance is provided therebetween, and is provided around the optical fiber 11 so as to cover the optical fiber 11. The connecting resin 21 provided between the optical fibers forms a bridge portion 21a that bridges the optical fibers 11 adjacent to each other. The connecting resin 21 provided around the optical fiber 11 other than the portion between the optical fibers forms an outer peripheral coating portion 21b that covers an outer periphery of the optical fiber 11. The optical fiber ribbon 1A is a bridge type optical fiber ribbon including a bridge-shape splicing portion provided between predetermined (every two cores) optical fibers in the state where the side surface of the optical fiber is separated from the side surface of another adjacent optical fiber.
In the optical fiber ribbon 1A, for example, in a case where M is an even number, the bridge portion 21a is provided between the M-th optical fiber and the (M+1)-th optical fiber. In the case of this example, the bridge portion 21a is provided between the optical fibers 11B and 11C, between 11D and 11E, between 11F and 11G, between 11H and 11I, and between 11J and 11K.
A thickness t of the bridge portion 21a (a thickness in a direction orthogonal to a parallel direction of the optical fiber) is formed to be thinner than a thickness obtained by adding an outer diameter R of the optical fiber 11 and a thickness s of the outer peripheral coating portion 21b. The bridge portion 21a is formed so that a location of an upper end of the bridge portion 21a does not exceed a location of a broken line A1 connecting upper ends of the outer peripheral coating portions 21b coated around the optical fiber 11. The bridge portion 21a is formed so that a location of a lower end of the bridge portion 21a does not exceed a location of a broken line A2 connecting lower ends of the outer peripheral coating portion 21b. In the case of this example, the bridge portion 21a is formed so as to splice almost central portions of the optical fibers 11 adjacent to each other.
The Young's modulus of the connecting resin 21 (the bridge portion 21a and the outer peripheral coating portion 21b) is 0.5 MPa or more and 200 MPa or less at room temperature (for example, 23° C.). For example, an ultraviolet curable resin, a thermosetting resin, or the like are used for the connecting resin 21. Adhesion between an outermost layer of the optical fiber 11 and the connecting resin 21 is desirably small, and for example, the connecting resin 21 may be formed of a resin containing a silicon-based release agent. By containing the silicon-based release agent in the connecting resin 21, the adhesion therebetween becomes small and thus peelability of the connecting resin 21 is improved, thereby making it also possible to facilitate a work of separating the optical fibers 11A to 11L into a single core. A friction coefficient of the connecting resin 21 is smaller than that of a resin containing no silicon-based release agent, such that for example, when a plurality of optical fiber ribbons 1A are mounted in the optical fiber cable, each optical fiber ribbon 1A easily moves in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, when the optical fiber ribbon 1A is mounted in the optical fiber cable, it is possible to prevent an increase in transmission loss in, for example, a low temperature environment.
As an index of the adhesion, there is peeling strength which is a force per unit length required for peeling off the connecting resin 21 from an outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 11. In order to cause the peeling, it is desirable that the peeling strength between the outermost layer of the optical fiber 11 and the connecting resin 21 is less than 0.1 N/mm.
The peeling strength between the outer peripheral surface of the optical fiber 11 and the connecting resin 21 is measured as follows.
In the optical fiber ribbon 1A, the connecting resin 21 at opposite ends of the optical fiber 11 in a width direction is cut with a knife and a razor, and separated. Next, since the connecting resin 21 is separated vertically, one of the separated connecting resins 21 is grasped and pulled in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and the width direction (in a direction of 90 degrees) of the optical fiber 11 at a speed of 100 mm/min, and a tensile force at that time is measured. The tensile force and a length of the peeled connecting resin 21 are converted into the peeling strength per unit length.
The optical fiber 11 includes, for example, a glass fiber 12 formed of a core and a clad, and two coating layers 13 and 14 that cover a periphery of the glass fiber 12. The optical fiber 11 may have a colored layer. The inner coating layer 13 of the two coating layers is formed of a cured product of a primary resin. The outer coating layer 14 of the two coating layers is formed of a cured product of a secondary resin.
As the primary resin forming the inner coating layer 13 in contact with the glass fiber 12, a soft resin having a relatively low Young's modulus is used as a buffer layer. As the secondary resin forming the outer coating layer 14, a hard resin having a relatively high Young's modulus is used as a protective layer. The Young's modulus of the cured product of the secondary resin is 900 MPa or more, desirably 1000 MPa or more, and more desirably 1500 MPa or more at room temperature (for example, 23° C.).
It is desirable that the secondary resin forming the outer coating layer 14 is a resin composition containing: a base resin containing a urethane acrylate oligomer or a urethane methacrylate oligomer, a monomer having a phenoxy group, a photopolymerization initiator, and a silane coupling agent; and a hydrophobic inorganic oxide particle. A content of the inorganic oxide particle in the resin composition is 1% by mass or more and 45% by mass or less based on a total amount of the resin composition.
Hereinafter, acrylate or methacrylate corresponding thereto is referred to as (meth) acrylate.
As the urethane (meth) acrylate oligomer, an oligomer obtained by reacting a polyol compound, a polyisocyanate compound, and a hydroxyl group-containing (meth) acrylate compound can be used. This oligomer can be obtained, for example, by reacting polypropylene glycol, isophorone diisocyanate, hydroxyethyl acrylate, and methanol having a molecular weight of 4,000.
As the monomer having the phenoxy group, a (meth) acrylate compound having the phenoxy group can be used. For example, the monomer having the phenoxy group includes nonylphenol EO modified acrylate (a trade name “ARONIX M-113” of Toagosei Co., Ltd.), or the like.
As the photopolymerization initiator, one of known radical photopolymerization initiators can be appropriately selected and used, and for example, the photopolymerization initiator includes 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyldiphenylphosphine oxide or the like.
The silane coupling agent is not particularly limited as long as the silane coupling agent does not interfere with the curing of the resin composition. For example, the silane coupling agent includes 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane or the like.
The hydrophobic inorganic oxide particle has a hydrophobic group introduced into a surface of the inorganic oxide particle. The inorganic oxide particle is, for example, a silica particle. The hydrophobic group may be a reactive group such as a (meth) acryloyl group, a vinyl group, or the like, or a non-reactive group such as a hydrocarbon group (for example, an alkyl group), an aryl group (for example, a phenyl group), or the like.
A lateral pressure characteristic of the optical fiber 11 is improved by blending the inorganic oxide particle with the secondary resin forming the outer coating layer 14. The primary resin forming the inner coating layer 13 and the secondary resin are formed of, for example, an ultraviolet curable resin, a thermosetting resin, or the like. It is desirable that the optical fiber 11 has bending loss equivalent to that of ITU-T G.657A2 in which the bending loss at a wavelength of 1,550 nm is 0.5 dB or less for a bending diameter of φ15 mm×1 turn, and 0.1 dB or less for a bending diameter of φ20 mm×1 turn. By using the above-described optical fiber, the lateral pressure characteristic can be improved, and an attenuation at low temperature characteristic can also be improved.
In the optical fiber ribbon 1A configured as described above, the outer diameter R of the optical fiber 11 (11A to 11L) is 220 μm or less. In the case of this example, a distance between centers of the optical fibers 11 is formed so that a distance P1 between the centers thereof in a state where the optical fibers are in contact with each other is set to approximately 200 μm. A distance P2 between the centers thereof in a state where the optical fibers are separated from each other at a certain distance is formed to be approximately 300 μm. Therefore, in the optical fiber ribbon 1A, an average distance P ((P1+P2)/2) between the centers of the optical fibers 11 is formed to be 220 μm or more and 280 μm or less. In the case of this example, a width W of the bridge portion 21a (a width in the same direction as the parallel direction of the optical fiber 11) is formed to be approximately 100 μm.
That is, in
In this example, the number of cores of the optical fiber ribbon 1A is set to 12, and the number of cores thereof is not limited thereto. The number of cores of the optical fiber ribbon 1A may be a multiple of 4, such as, for example, 24 cores, 48 cores, or the like.
Next, fusion of the optical fiber ribbon will be described with reference to
When the optical fiber ribbons are spliced with each other, a multi-core fusion splicer (not illustrated) is used, thereby making it possible to collectively fuse and splice a plurality of optical fibers. As illustrated in
At the time of performing fusion splicing, as illustrated in
In the case of the optical fiber ribbon 100 having the configuration as shown in reference example 1, since the distance P3 between the centers thereof is formed to be equal to the pitch P0 of the V-groove, the respective optical fibers 11A to 11L are disposed so as to face the respective V-grooves 31A to 31L. Therefore, the optical fibers 11A to 11L are pushed down approximately vertically, and are sequentially housed one by one in the V-grooves 31A to 31L, respectively.
At the time of performing fusion splicing, as illustrated in
In the case of the optical fiber ribbon 200 having the configuration as in the reference example 2, since the distance P4 between the centers of the optical fibers 11A to 11L is formed to be smaller than the pitch P0 of the V-grooves 31A to 31L, the optical fibers 11A to 11L are disposed so as to gather in a direction of the center location 32 of the V-groove base 30. Therefore, the optical fibers 11A to 11L are pushed down along a groove wall of the V-groove, for example, in a direction of an arrow. Therefore, the optical fibers 11A to 11L cannot be sequentially housed in the V-grooves 31A to 31L. For example, the optical fibers may not be housed in the V-grooves 31A and 31L at an end.
In the case of the optical fiber ribbon 1A according to the first embodiment, the distance P1 (approximately 200 μm) between the centers of the optical fibers in a state where the optical fibers are in contact with each other is formed to be smaller than the pitch P0 of the V-groove. However, the distance P2 (approximately 300 μm) between the centers of the optical fibers in a state where the bridge portion 21a is provided between the optical fibers is formed to be larger than the pitch P0 of the V-groove. Therefore, in the optical fiber ribbon 1A, the average distance P between the centers of the optical fibers 11 is approximately 250 μm, such that when the optical fibers 11A to 11L are pushed down by the clamp lid, the optical fibers 11A to 11L are guided along the groove wall of the V-groove in a direction of an arrow illustrated in
In the above-described configuration, the optical fibers in a state where the connecting resins are removed are housed in the V-grooves 31A to 31L, and for example, in addition to removal of the connecting resin, the coating layers may be further removed so that only the glass fibers may be housed in the V-grooves 31A to 31L.
Next, a method for manufacturing the optical fiber ribbon 1A will be described with reference to
First, the optical fibers 11A to 11L are manufactured by performing drawing so that a diameter of the glass fiber 12 is set to approximately 125 μm and a diameter of the outer coating layer 14 is set to approximately 200 μm. The optical fibers 11A to 11L may have a colored layer in order to have identifiability.
12 pieces of the optical fibers 11A to 11L are prepared, two optical fibers are caused to contact each other, and a coating die 41 of a manufacturing apparatus 40 passes therethrough in a state where a gap having a certain distance is provided between the optical fibers every two cores. When the optical fiber ribbon 1A is manufactured, the coating die 41 is formed with a hole of a die inlet portion so that the gap between the optical fibers every two cores is set to approximately 100 μm. The outer peripheries of the optical fibers 11A and 11B, 11C and 11D, 11E and 11F, 11G and 11H, 11I and 11J, and 11K and 11L in a state of contacting each other, and the gaps between the optical fibers 11B and 11C, 11D and 11E, 11F and 11G, 11H and 11I, and 11J and 11K in a state where the gap having the certain distance is provided therebetween are coated with the connecting resin 21 by the coating die 41.
With respect to the optical fibers 11A to 11L coated with the connecting resin 21, for example, when an ultraviolet curable resin is used for the connecting resin 21, a curing apparatus 42 emits ultraviolet rays to cure the connecting resin 21. The bridge portion 21a is formed by curing the connecting resin 21 applied to the gap between the optical fibers. The outer peripheral coating portion 21b is formed by coating the outer peripheries of the optical fibers in the state of contacting each other with the connecting resin 21 and then by curing the connecting resin 21. As a result, the distance P1 between the centers of the optical fibers 11A and 11B, 11C and 11D, 11E and 11F, 11G and 11H, 11I and 11J, and 11K and 11L is set to approximately 200 μm, and the distance P2 between the centers of the optical fibers 11B and 11C, 11D and 11E, 11F and 11G, 11H and 11I, and 11J and 11K is set to approximately 300 μm, thereby manufacturing the optical fiber ribbon 1A in which the average distance P between the centers of the optical fibers 11A to 11L is set to 220 μm or more and 280 μm or less.
In the above-described manufacturing method, the connecting resin 21 forming the bridge portion 21a and the outer peripheral coating portion 21b is coated by the coating die 41, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, first, only the connecting resin 21 forming the outer peripheral coating portion 21b may be coated by the coating die 41, and then the connecting resin 21 forming the bridge portion 21a may be coated by a coating apparatus such as a dispenser or the like.
In the optical fiber ribbon 1A manufactured as described above, as illustrated in
In the optical fiber ribbon 1A, since the Young's modulus of the connecting resin 21 is in the range of 0.5 MPa or more and 200 MPa or less, rigidity of the optical fiber ribbon 1A is in an appropriate range. Therefore, according to the optical fiber ribbon 1A, a configuration having appropriate flexibility can be formed, and an optical fiber ribbon suitable for high-density mounting can be formed.
According to the optical fiber ribbon 1A, since the connecting resin 21 contains the silicon-based release agent, the adhesion between the outermost layer of the optical fiber 11 and the connecting resin 21 can be reduced, such that the peeling strength can be set to less than 0.1 N/mm. The friction coefficient of the connecting resin 21 is smaller than that of, for example, a resin that does not contain silicon, such that, for example, when a plurality of optical fiber ribbons 1A are mounted in the optical fiber cable, each optical fiber ribbon 1A easily moves in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, when the plurality of optical fiber ribbons 1A are mounted in the optical fiber cable, for example, the increase in transmission loss in the low temperature environment can be prevented. For example, a loss fluctuation value of a loss temperature characteristic at −40° C. can be reduced to about two-thirds as compared with a silicon-free optical fiber ribbon.
According to the optical fiber ribbon 1A, by using the cured product of the above-described resin composition (the resin containing the inorganic oxide particle) as the outer coating layer 14 forming the coating in the optical fiber 11, lateral pressure resistance of the optical fiber 11 can be strengthened. Therefore, when the optical fiber ribbon 1A is formed by using the above-described optical fiber 11, for example, it is possible to further prevent the increase in transmission loss when the plurality of optical fiber ribbons 1A are mounted in the optical fiber cable. Therefore, the optical fiber ribbon more suitable for high-density mounting in the optical fiber cable can be formed. For example, the transmission loss at −40° C. can be improved to 0.3 dB/km as compared with the maximum transmission loss of 0.5 dB/km of the optical fiber that does not contain the resin composition.
Even though an optical fiber equivalent to ITU-T G.657A2, in which the bending loss at the wavelength of 1,550 nm is 0.5 dB or less for the bending diameter of φ15 mm×1 turn, and 0.1 dB or less for the bending diameter of φ20 mm×1 turn, is used, the same effect can be obtained.
According to the method for manufacturing the optical fiber ribbon 1A, it is possible to manufacture the optical fiber ribbon 1A suitable for high-density mounting by using the optical fiber having the small diameter of 220 μm or less and by allowing the optical fiber to be easily mounted in the V-groove having the pitch of 250 μm in the existing fusion splicer.
Next, an example of an optical fiber cable according to the embodiment will be described with reference to
The optical fiber cable 50 includes a slot rod 52 including a plurality of slot grooves 51, a plurality of optical fiber ribbon 1A, and a cable sheath 53. The optical fiber cable 50 has a structure in which a plurality of slot grooves 51 are radially provided in the slot rod 52 including a tension member 54 at a center. The plurality of slot grooves 51 may be provided in a stranded shape such as a spiral shape, an SZ shape, or the like in the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber cable 50. The respective slot grooves 51 respectively house a plurality of the optical fiber ribbons 1A which are rolled from a parallel state to be formed in a dense state. A press wrapping tape 55 is wrapped around the slot rod 52, and the cable sheath 53 is formed around the press wrapping tape 55.
The optical fiber cable 50 has, for example, an outer diameter of 34 mm, and is formed as a cable in which 6 slot grooves 51 are provided, 48 optical fiber ribbons 1A are housed in each slot groove 51, and the optical fibers 11 having 3,456 cores are provided. In this case, core density calculated from the number of cores of the optical fiber cable and a cross-sectional area of the optical fiber cable is 3.81 cores/mm2.
The optical fiber cable is not limited to the slot type optical fiber cable, and may be, for example, a slotless type optical fiber cable.
According to the optical fiber cable 50 having the above-described configuration, the optical fiber 11 having a small diameter, the outer diameter of which is 220 μm or less, is used, thereby making it possible to mount, at high density, the optical fiber ribbon 1A having a configuration that allows the optical fiber 11 to be easily mounted in the V-groove having the pitch of 250 μm in the existing fusion splicer.
Next, an optical fiber ribbon 1B according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to
According to the optical fiber ribbon 1B having the above-described configuration, the recessed portion 22 is provided in the bridge portion 21a, such that the optical fiber ribbon 1B can be easily deformed by the recessed portion 22. Since the bridge portion 21a can be easily torn from the recessed portion 22, single core separation of the optical fiber 11 in the optical fiber ribbon 1B can be easily performed.
An optical fiber ribbon 1C according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to
According to the optical fiber ribbon 1C having the above-described configuration, since the dividing portion 23 is intermittently provided in the bridge portion 21a provided every two cores, the optical fiber ribbon 1C can be easily deformed. Therefore, when the optical fiber ribbon 1C is mounted in the optical fiber cable, the optical fiber ribbon 1C can be easily rolled and mounted therein, such that an optical fiber ribbon suitable for high-density mounting can be formed. Since the bridge portion 21a can be easily torn from the dividing portion 23 as a starting point, single core separation of the optical fiber 11 in the optical fiber ribbon 1B can be easily performed.
Since the bridge portion 21a is configured to be provided every two cores, the width W of the bridge portion 21a can be widened as compared with a configuration in which the bridge portion is provided between the respective cores. Therefore, it becomes easy to provide the dividing portion 23 in the bridge portion 21a in the optical fiber ribbon 1C.
An optical fiber ribbon 1D according to a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to
For example, the bridge portion 121a between the optical fibers 11B and 11C is provided to be biased toward a lower parallel surface side in
According to the optical fiber ribbon 1D having the above-described configuration, since the connecting resin 21 forming the bridge portion 121a is provided to be alternately biased toward one side surface of the parallel surface of the optical fiber ribbon 1D, the optical fiber ribbon 1D is easily bent in a direction of intersecting a width direction of the optical fiber ribbon 1D at each bridge portion 121a. Therefore, when the optical fiber ribbon 1D is mounted in the optical fiber cable, for example, the optical fiber ribbon 1D is rolled to be easily mounted therein. Therefore, the optical fiber ribbon 1D can be formed to be suitable for high-density mounting. The optical fiber ribbon 1D is excellent in batch connectivity because the optical fiber ribbon 1D is less likely to generate warpage than a structure where the bridge portion is biased toward one side surface.
An optical fiber ribbon 1E according to a fifth embodiment will be described with reference to
According to the optical fiber ribbon 1E having the above-described configuration, since the connecting resin 21 forming all the bridge portions 221a is biased toward one side surface of the parallel surface of the optical fiber ribbon 1E, the optical fiber ribbon 1E is easily bent in a specific direction (an upper direction in
An optical fiber ribbon 1F according to a sixth embodiment will be described with reference to
In the case of this example, the distance between the centers of the optical fibers 11 is formed so that the distance P1 between the centers thereof in a state where the optical fibers are in contact with each other is set to approximately 200 μm. The distance P2 between the centers thereof in a state where the optical fibers are separated from each other at a certain distance is set to approximately 400 μm. Therefore, the optical fiber ribbon 1F is formed so that the average distance P ((3P1+P2)/4) between the centers of the optical fibers 11 is set to 250 μm. In the case of this example, a width W of the bridge portion 321a (a width in the same direction as a parallel direction of the optical fiber) is formed to be approximately 200 μm. Other configurations are the same as those of the optical fiber ribbon 1A.
According to the optical fiber ribbon 1F having the above-described configuration, the same effect as that of the optical fiber ribbon 1A of the first embodiment can be obtained.
An optical fiber ribbon 1G according to a seventh embodiment will be described with reference to
In the optical fiber ribbon 1G, a distance F between the centers of the optical fibers 11 is a length obtained by adding an outer diameter R of the optical fiber 11 and a width W of the bridge portion 421a (a width in the same direction as a parallel direction of the optical fiber). In the optical fiber ribbon 1 configured as described above, the outer diameter R of the optical fibers 11 (11A to 11L) is 220 μm or less. The distance F between the centers of the optical fibers 11 is 220 μm or more and 280 μm or less. Other configurations are the same as those of the optical fiber ribbon 1A.
As illustrated in
The present inventors consider a deformation parameter P as an index indicating deformability of the optical fiber ribbon. The deformation parameter P is represented by the following Equation (1) by using the maximum thickness D of the optical fiber ribbon, the width W of the bridge portion, the thickness t of the bridge portion, and the Young's modulus E of the connecting resin.
P=D×E×t
2
/W Equation(1)
The deformation parameter P is an index indicating that as a value is larger, the optical fiber ribbon is less likely to be deformed, and as the value is smaller, the optical fiber ribbon is more likely to be deformed.
Hereinafter, an example in which the deformation parameter P is considered will be described.
In an optical fiber ribbon including a bridge portion for each core such as the optical fiber ribbon G illustrated in
In this example, the transmission loss is evaluated at a low temperature (−40° C.) environment with respect to each sample. Table 1 below shows evaluation results of the transmission loss with respect to the samples No. 1 to 27.
The evaluation for each sample is performed by housing the optical fiber ribbon of each sample in an optical fiber cable for evaluation 60 having a configuration illustrated in
The slot type optical fiber cable for evaluation 60 includes a slot rod 62 including six slot grooves 61, and a plurality of optical fiber ribbons 1G housed in the slot groove 61. In
The optical fiber cable for evaluation 60 has an outer diameter of 34 mm and is formed as an optical fiber cable in which 48 samples (the optical fiber ribbons) are housed in each slot groove and the optical fibers having 3,456 cores are provided so that the mounting density becomes 50%. When each fiber cable for evaluation 60 housing each sample is placed in a low temperature (−40° C.) environment, it is determined whether or not a wavelength of signal light is 1.55 μm and the transmission loss satisfies 0.5 dB/km or less. When the transmission loss of the sample is 0.5 dB/km or less, it is determined that the transmission loss thereof is good, evaluation B is determined when the transmission loss thereof is greater than 0.3 dB/km and 0.5 dB/km or less, and evaluation A is determined when the transmission loss thereof is 0.3 dB/km or less. When the transmission loss thereof exceeds 0.5 dB/km, the transmission loss thereof is determined to be inferior and evaluation C is determined. That is, the sample determined as the evaluation A or the evaluation B is an optical fiber ribbon having a good transmission loss characteristic.
A relationship between the deformation parameter P of each sample and the transmission loss in the environment of −40° C. thereof shown in Table 1 is illustrated in
According to the evaluation results in Table 1, the samples having good transmission loss (the samples determined as the evaluation A or the evaluation B) are No. 1 to 27. Among the samples, the samples having particularly good transmission loss (the sample determined as the evaluation A) are No. 4 to 9, No. 12 to 18, and No. 21 to 26. Accordingly, it can be seen that the transmission loss is particularly good when the deformation parameter P is 0.035 or more and 14.2 or less in the optical fiber ribbon 1G.
It can be seen that when the deformation parameter P is too small (less than 0.035), rigidity of the optical fiber ribbon 1G becomes small, and when the optical fiber cable contracts in the low temperature environment, buckling is generated in the optical fiber ribbon 1G such that the transmission loss increases. On the other hand, it can be seen that when the deformation parameter P is too large (greater than 14.2), the rigidity of the optical fiber ribbon 1G becomes large, and for example, when the optical fiber cable is drum-wound and bent, the transmission loss increases because the optical fiber ribbon 1G is difficult to be deformed in a direction intersecting of a width direction of the optical fiber ribbon 1G.
In the case of improving the core density of the optical fiber ribbon 1G mounted in the optical fiber cable, the maximum thickness D of the optical fiber ribbon 1G is desirably 235 μm or less.
In order to further improve the transmission loss, the secondary resin of the optical fiber is examined. Therefore, in the same configuration as that of the sample No. 1, a sample, in which the optical fiber is changed to an optical fiber obtained by mixing the secondary resin with the inorganic oxide particle, is separately prepared, and the transmission loss in the low temperature (−40° C.) environment is evaluated in the same manner as that of the samples 1 to 27. As a result, in the transmission loss in the environment of −40° C. in Table 1, the transmission loss of 0.5 dB/km (the sample No. 1) can be reduced to 0.3 dB/km.
The transmission loss of the sample No. 1 is the largest among the samples No. 1 to 27, such that when the inorganic oxide particle is mixed with the secondary resin, the transmission loss becomes 0.3 dB/km or less in all the samples No. 1 to 27.
When the connecting resin of the optical fiber ribbon 1G contains silicon, the friction coefficient of the connecting resin becomes smaller than that of the resin that does not contain silicon. Therefore, in the low temperature environment, each optical fiber ribbon 1G has a small frictional force with other members disposed therearound, such that the optical fiber ribbon 1G easily moves in the longitudinal direction.
In order to verify that the transmission loss characteristic in the low temperature environment is improved by containing silicon in the connecting resin, a sample, in which the connecting resin is changed to a connecting resin to which silicon is not added, is separately prepared, and evaluation of the transmission loss is performed in the low temperature (−40° C.) environment in the same manner as that of the samples No. 1 to 27. According to the evaluation thereof, the above-described sample, in which the connecting resin is changed to the connecting resin to which silicon is not added, has the transmission loss in the low temperature environment which is about 1.5 times higher than that of the samples No. 1 to 27 to which silicon is added. That is, it can be seen that when silicon is added to the connecting resin, the transmission loss characteristic in the low temperature environment is improved and the transmission loss can be reduced to about two-third as compared with the connecting resin to which silicon is not added.
Hereinabove, while the present invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Further, the number, location, shape, or the like of the above-described components are not limited to the embodiments, and can be changed to a number, location, shape, or the like suitable for performing the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-099147 | May 2019 | JP | national |
| 2019-111801 | Jun 2019 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2020/020942 | 5/27/2020 | WO |
