Optical waveguides – Accessories – Splice box and surplus fiber storage/trays/organizers/ carriers
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-20
2002-07-23
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Optical waveguides
Accessories
Splice box and surplus fiber storage/trays/organizers/ carriers
Reexamination Certificate
active
06424783
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber reel and an optical fiber storing case for storing an optical fiber used for optical wiring in optical communication equipment such as an optical amplifier. And further, the present invention relates to an optical repeater using the optical fiber reel and the optical fiber storing case.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fusion splicing is generally used to splice optical fibers used for optical wiring in an optical communication equipment. Diameter of an optical fiber is, for example, 125 &mgr;m and diameter of a core in which light propagates is more small of about 10 &mgr;m. It is necessary to set end portions of the optical fibers to be spliced into an fusing apparatus with high accuracy in order to carryout fusion splicing. An optical fiber needs, therefore,excess length part of it adding with practically using part. Especially in optical communication equipment such as an optical amplifier where a number of optical fibers are wired and spliced, it is necessary to efficiently house the excess length parts of the number of optical fibers in a limited space. And therefore various storage cases for excess length part of an optical fiber have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 174238/1999 discloses a storage case for an optical fiber fusion splicing part. FIG.
24
and
FIG. 25
are oblique drawings showing a condition of using a storage case for the fusion splicing part of an optical fiber. In the drawings, numeral
101
is a case body, numeral
102
is a lid, numeral
103
is a take-up member, numerals
104
and
106
are through holes, numerals
105
and
107
are introduction openings, and numeral
108
is a rotary disc. Numeral
10
is a reinforce sleeve, and the reinforce sleeve
10
is generally used to cover the surrounding of fused end parts of optical fibers which are spliced by facing their end parts to another fiber's end parts. Numerals
14
and
15
are take-up holes, numeral
16
is a holding sheet, numeral
17
is a cut line of the holding sheet
16
, and L is a core, i.e., an optical fiber.
The take-up member
103
has a groove at a center portion in which the sleeve can be inserted only from one side, to fit a reinforce sleeve
10
(not shown in the drawings, but is located at the same position of the reinforce sleeve
10
). And the take-up member
103
including two take-up parts having outer circumferential take-up face with a radius of curvature not less than the bend minimum radius of the core L.
The rotary disc
108
has an outsider diameter larger than the major axis of the take-up member
103
and is formed integrally to have the same axis as the take-up member
103
, on a face opposite to the opening side of the groove to fit a reinforce sleeve
10
.
The holding sheet
16
is divided into two sheets at the center portion and having external configuration larger than that of the take-up member
103
. And the holding sheet
16
is stuck to the take-up member
103
at the opening side of the groove to fit a reinforce sleeve
10
.
The take-up holes
14
and
15
are forming of a pair of through halls of the rotary disc
108
, forming on the two take-up parts of the take-up member
103
with the groove to fit a reinforce sleeve
10
as the center.
The case body
101
and the lid
102
are made to removable from each other. The case body
101
has a core introduction opening
105
and the lid
102
has a core introduction opening
107
. And the introduction openings
105
and
107
are made on outer circumferential portions in a tangent direction of the case body
101
and the lid
102
respectively. In a storage portion, comprising the case body
101
and the lid
102
, the take-up member
103
is rotatably stored.
Excess length parts of optical fibers including a fusion splicing part are stored in this storage case for a fusion splicing part of an optical fiber as described below. First, as shown in
FIG. 24
, the lid
102
of the storage case is opened and the slide disk
108
comprising the take-up member
103
is taken out. Then, the reinforce sleeve
10
serving as the fusion splicing part of the core L is inserted from the cut line
17
of the holding sheet
16
which is on the take-up member
103
and is fixed at the reinforcing sleeve fitting groove.
Next, as shown in
FIG. 25
, the cores L extending from the end portions of the reinforce sleeve
10
are placed inside through the introduction openings
105
, and the lid
102
is closed. Then, with the storage case held, the rotary disc
108
is rotated in a take-up direction utilizing the take-up holes
14
,
15
. Thus, the cores L are retracted from the introduction openings
105
,
107
successively, and the excess length parts of the cores(optical fibers) L come to be stored in the case.
However, in the above mentioned conventional storage case for a fusion splicing part of an optical fiber, the reinforce sleeve
10
serving as the fusion splicing part is fixed into the case. It is, therefore, essential that the difference between the excess lengths of the optical fibers on both sides of the reinforce sleeve
10
are a predetermined length. In other words, if the difference between the excess lengths of the optical fibers on both sides of the reinforce sleeve
10
are not the predetermined length, one of the excess length parts is not stored in the case and is left outside or one side of the optical fiber is pulled strongly as to break off and another side of the optical fiber can not be pulled sufficiently to store the case.
And yet under normal conditions, the rate of succeeding in fusion splicing of optical fibers (the rate of succeeding in fusion splicing in the first attempt and going straight to the next process) is not always 100%. In most cases, it is necessary to cut and fuse again the fusion portion, and actually it is almost impossible to accurately determine the excess lengths of the optical fibers.
Moreover, in the conventional storage case for excess length part of an optical fiber, to store excess length parts of optical fibers with a number of the reinforce sleeve
10
, the same numbers of the case bodies
101
,
102
are required. Therefore, it is necessary that a thickness of each case body
101
,
102
is larger than a diameter of the reinforce sleeve
10
and, as a result, a large storing space is required.
The present invention was made to solve the above mentioned problems incidental to the prior art and to provide a compact storage case for excess length part of an optical fiber, even if the excess lengths of an optical fiber is not determined, optical fibers are neatly stored without being left outside.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An optical fiber reel according to the present invention, which is a reel for storing an optical fiber, comprises two optical fiber take-up members taking up an optical fiber and two flat plate like frame members sandwiching the two optical fiber take-up members between them, the two flat plate like frame members, covering the two optical fiber take-up members, having external circumferential configuration of which diameter is larger than diameter of a circumscribed circle of the two optical take-up members by not less than three times of d of diameter of the optical fiber, and arranged facing each other to make a gap not less than d but less than 2d, each of the two optical fiber take-up members having an external circumferential take-up face and a pair of outer surfaces, and arranged as the pair of outer surfaces being parallel to a flat plate face of the frame members to make a gap of not less than d between each other external circumferential take-up faces of the take-up members, the external circumference of the plane like frame members and external circumferential take-up faces of the optical fiber take-up members constituting to make a gap of not less than d between them.
It is preferable that center point of the frame members having the circular outer circumferential configuration is located to coincide
Burns Doane , Swecker, Mathis LLP
Le Thanh-Tam
Mitsubishi Denki & Kabushiki Kaisha
Sircus Brian
LandOfFree
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