Tools – Wire stripper – Having relatively movable clamp and blade
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-13
2003-07-29
Hail, III, Joseph J. (Department: 3723)
Tools
Wire stripper
Having relatively movable clamp and blade
C081S009510, C081S009420
Reexamination Certificate
active
06598497
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical fiber cable cover removing device which removes the covering layer of an optical fiber cable.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, an optical fiber has been cut at a predetermined position for use so that the optical fiber can be abutted and joined to other optical fiber and devices. In the case in which the optical fiber is cut, the covering layer must be removed in order to expose a bare fiber. In order to remove the covering layer of an optical fiber, an optical fiber cable covering removing device which removes the cable covering layer of the optical fiber in one operation is used frequently.
FIGS. 8 and 9
are exploded views showing an example of conventional optical fiber cable covering removing device. An optical fiber cable covering removing device in this example comprises a support member
2
and a fiber holder retainer
3
.
The support member
2
comprises a main body
6
having a pair of freely opening and closing cutter holders
4
and
5
attached together by hinge, and a lid
7
. One cutter holder
4
comprises a first cable covering removing cutter
8
which removes the cable covering layer of the optical fiber, and a tip retaining section
10
a
which retains the tip of the optical fiber
20
. The other cutter holder
5
comprises a second cable covering removing cutter
9
and a tip retaining section
10
b
on which a guide groove
11
which retains the tip of the optical fiber
20
is formed. Also, in the guide groove
11
of the tip retaining sections
10
a
and
10
b
, a heating plate (not shown in the drawing) and a heating device (not shown in the drawing) are embedded. The heating device heats the covering layer of the optical fiber
20
positioned by means of the guide groove
11
of the tip retaining section
10
a
and
10
b
via the heating plate, to a temperature at which temperature the cable cover does not melt. Here, the optical fiber
20
is made of a bare fiber
20
a
and a covering layer which is formed around the bare fiber
20
a.
A fiber holder retainer
3
comprises a retainer upper member
12
and a retainer lower member
13
attached together by a hinge so as to be openable and closeable. On the retainer lower member
13
, a base stand
15
and a fiber holder
14
having two opening and closing plate members
16
and
16
attached together by a hinge so as to be openable and closeable are fit against the upper surface
15
a
of this base stand
15
.
Also, the support member
2
and the fiber holder retainer
3
are connected via fitting holes
17
and
17
and guide bars
18
and
18
. On both longitudinal sides of the retainer lower member
13
, the fitting holes
17
and
17
are formed in parallel with the longitudinal direction. The fitting holes
17
and
17
lead to fitting holes (not shown in the drawing) formed on both sides of the longitudinal direction of a main body
6
of the support member
2
. Also, the fitting holes
17
and
17
lead to the fitting holes of the main body
6
, and then the guide bars
18
and
18
extending from this fitting hole are inserted in the fitting holes
17
and
17
. Also, the guide bars
18
and
18
are fitted to the fitting holes
17
and
17
, in such a way that the fiber holder retainer
3
can be moved by external force such as manual manipulation by an operator, and the positioning can be fixed when external force stops. In the removal of the covering layer of the optical fiber
20
in which the optical fiber cable cover removing device of this example is used, first, the optical fiber
20
is mounted on the base stand
15
in condition that the opening and closing members
16
and
16
of the fiber holder
14
are opened against the base stand
15
, and then the optical fiber
20
is retained by the fiber holder
14
by closing the opening and closing member
16
and
16
and the retainer upper member
12
.
Next, the optical fiber
20
is mounted in the guide groove
11
of the tip retaining section
10
b
of the cutter holder
5
, the optical fiber
20
is retained by closing the cutter holder
4
and by fitting the tip retaining section
10
a
to the tip retaining section
10
b.
Here, the optical fiber
20
positioned by the guide groove
11
is heated to the temperature at which the optical fiber
20
does not melt by the heating device via the heating plate, and then the covering layer is softened.
Next, the support member
2
and the fiber holder retainer
3
are clamped, and then the optical fiber
20
is positioned by the tip retaining section
10
a
of the cutter holder
4
, the tip retaining section
10
b
of the cutter holder
5
, and the guide groove
11
on the tip retaining section
10
b
. In this condition, only the covering layer of the optical fiber
20
is incised by the first cable covering removing cutter
8
and the second cable covering removing cutter
9
.
Next, while maintaining the support member
2
and the fiber holder retainer
3
clamped, the fiber holder retainer with the fiber holder
14
are moved away from the support member
2
along the guide bars
18
and
18
until the end of the optical fiber
20
moves away from first cable covering removing cutter
8
and the second cable covering removing cutter
9
. Then, because the movement of the covering layer between the tip and the incising position is limited by the first cable covering removing cutter
8
and the second cable covering removing cutter
9
, the covering layer is cut at the incising position, and the bare fiber
20
a
is extracted from the covering layer, and thus the covering layer is removed as a result.
As explained above, in such an optical fiber cable covering removing device, the removing operation of the covering layer must be performed while the support member
2
and the fiber holder retainer
3
are clamped.
In such an optical fiber cable covering removing device, there was a problem that when extracting the optical fiber
20
through the first cable covering removing cutter
8
and the second cable covering removing cutter
9
, the seizing force on the optical fiber by these cable covering removing cutters was insufficient, and thus the removal of the covering layer was insufficient.
Also, there was a problem in that when extracting the optical fiber
20
through the first cable covering removing cutter
8
and the second cable covering removing cutter
9
, the clamping force on the fiber holder retainer
3
was insufficient, and thus the optical fiber
20
could not be extracted from the support member
2
due to the slipping in the fiber holder
14
.
Particularly, in the case in which the optical fiber is a multiple type of optical fiber tape, and in the case in which a number of the optical fibers is increased, and in the case in which the clamping force exerted by an operator is weak, such problems tend to occur.
The present invention was made in view of the above situation, and an object of present invention is to provide an optical fiber cable covering removing device which can remove the covering layer of an optical fiber reliably and safely.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above problems can be solved by an optical fiber cable covering removing device having a support member having a pair of freely opening and closing cutter holders provided with cable covering removing cutters which remove the covering layer of the optical fiber and being provided with a cutter holder fixing structure which fixes the cutter holder in a closed position, a fiber holder which can freely open and close and retains the optical fiber, a fiber holder retainer which can move the fiber holder toward and away from the support member along longitudinal direction of the optical fiber.
The cutter holder fixing structure should preferably impart fixing force parallelly to the cable covering removing cutter provided on the cutter holder.
The fiber holder retainer should preferably be provided with a fiber holder fixing structure which fixes the fiber holder in the closed position.
The fiber holder fixing st
Mizushima Toshiro
Otani Taku
Sato Takeshi
Bell Boyd & Lloyd LLC
Fujikura Ltd.
Hail III Joseph J.
Thomas David B.
LandOfFree
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