Optical fiber alignment jig, optical fiber fusion splicer equipped with optical fiber alignment jig, and method for aligning optical fiber

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11237330-B2
Application number	US-201917272518-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2019
Priority date	Aug 29, 2018
Publication date	Feb 1, 2022
Grant date	Feb 1, 2022

Abstract

This optical fiber alignment jig for aligning a plurality of optical fibers with the tip end coating stripped off to expose glass fiber includes a rail; a convex push-up part capable of moving in the extending direction of the rail; and a plurality of plate-shaped parts that each have a first surface and a second surface perpendicular to the extending direction of the rail and an inclined surface that can carry a respective optical fiber, the inclined surfaces of the plurality of plate-shaped parts being inclined, relative to the extending direction of the rail, in the same direction. The plurality of plate-shaped parts are arranged side by side along the extending direction of the rail with the first surface of one plate-shaped part facing the second surface of an adjacent plate-shaped part and are contacted by the push-up part so as to move toward the inclined surface side.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An optical fiber alignment jig for aligning a plurality of optical fibers tip end coating of which is stripped off to expose glass fibers comprising:
a rail;
a convex push-up portion that is movable along an extending direction of the rail; and
a plurality of plate-shaped members each having a first surface and a second surface which are perpendicular to the extending direction of the rail, and an inclined surface on which one of the plurality of optical fibers is placeable, the inclined surfaces of the plurality of plate-shaped members being inclined in the same direction with respect to the extending direction, the plurality of plate-shaped members being arranged in parallel along the extending direction such that a first surface of one plate-shaped member among the plurality of plate-shaped members faces a second surface of an adjacent plate-shaped member, and configured to move toward an inclined surface side when come into contact with the push-up portion.

2. The optical fiber alignment jig according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of plate-shaped members are individually rotated, in response to contact with the push-up portion, around a shaft extending along the extending direction.

3. The optical fiber alignment jig according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of plate-shaped members are configured to have the same shape as each other.

4. The optical fiber alignment jig according to claim 1 , wherein the number of the plurality of plate-shaped members is larger than the number of the plurality of optical fibers.

5. The optical fiber alignment jig according to claim 1 , wherein a parallel pitch of the plurality of plate-shaped members in the extending direction is equal to an alignment pitch of the plurality of optical fibers.

6. The optical fiber alignment jig according to claim 5 , wherein the parallel pitch of the plurality of plate-shaped members is 60 μm or more and 300 μm or less.

7. The optical fiber alignment jig according to claim 1 , wherein the push-up portion includes:
a top portion parallel to an axial direction of the plurality of optical fibers; and
two slopes having different slope directions with respect to the extending direction.

8. The optical fiber alignment jig according to claim 7 , wherein an angle formed by the two slopes is 60 degrees or more and 170 degrees or less.

9. An optical fiber fusion splicer comprising:
the optical fiber alignment jig according to claim 1 ;
a holder placing portion on which an optical fiber holder that holds the plurality of optical fibers by sandwiching the plurality of optical fibers along an axial direction is placed;
a V-groove on which the glass fibers are individually placable;
another V-groove on which other glass fibers different from the plurality of optical fibers are placable; and
a pair of discharge electrodes facing each other,
wherein the other V-groove, the V-groove, the optical fiber alignment jig, and the holder placing portion are located in this order along a direction intersecting the extending direction of the rail, and
wherein the pair of discharge electrodes are configured to discharge between the V-groove and the other V-groove.

10. The optical fiber fusion splicer according to claim 9 ,
wherein the plurality of plate-shaped members are individually rotated, in response to contact with the push-up portion, around a shaft extending along the extending direction of the rail, and
wherein the shaft is located closer to the optical fiber holder than the V-groove.

11. A method for aligning optical fibers using the optical fiber alignment jig according to claim 1 , the method comprising:
moving the push-up portion along the rail;
bringing the push-up portion into contact with the plurality of plate-shaped members in order;
in response to contact with the push-up portion, moving at least one of the plurality of plate-shaped members toward the inclined surface side; and
placing the plurality of optical fibers on the inclined surfaces of the plurality of plate-shaped members, respectively.

Assignees

• Sumitomo Electric Optifrontier Co Ltd

Inventors

• Sato Ryuichiro

Classifications

• G02B6/2553

  Splicing machines, e.g. optical fibre fusion splicer · CPC title

• G02B6/06 Primary

  the relative position of the fibres being the same at both ends, e.g. for transporting images · CPC title

• G02B6/4403

  with ribbon structure (G02B6/4429, G02B6/4439, G02B6/4479 take precedence) · CPC title

• G02B6/4408

  Groove structures in support members to decrease or harmonise transmission losses in ribbon cables · CPC title

• G02B6/3628

  for mounting fibres to supporting carriers (G02B6/3608, G02B6/3616 take precedence) · CPC title