Sumitomo Electric Optifrontier Co., Ltd.

A fusion splicing system includes a fusion splicer including a fusion mechanism to fusion-splice optical fibers, and a control unit configured to control an operation of the fusion mechanism, a first information terminal capable of communicating with the fusion splicer, and a server capable of communicating with the first information terminal. The control unit is configured to set locking on an operation of the fusion mechanism before use. The first information terminal acquires locking release information to temporarily release the locking setting from the server, and transmits a locking release command signal including the locking release information to the fusion splicer. The control unit determines whether or not the locking release information included in the received locking release command signal is appropriate, and temporarily releases the locking setting on the fusion mechanism to enable the fusion mechanism when the locking release information is appropriate.

A fusion splicing method includes a step of exposing a glass fiber in a distal end region of an optical fiber strand, a step of disposing the optical fiber strand in a V-shaped groove, a step of pressing the optical fiber strand disposed in the V-shaped groove against the V-shaped groove by a clamp, and a step of causing the optical fiber strand to slide on the V-shaped groove. In the step of disposing the optical fiber strand in the V-shaped groove, a region of the coating portion that is not removed in the optical fiber strand is disposed in the V-shaped groove.

An optical connector in one embodiment includes an optical fiber, a ferrule assembly, and a housing. The housing has a positioning part defining an accommodation position of the ferrule assembly. The positioning part has an inclined surface with which a part of the ferrule assembly is to contact and the ferrule assembly includes a ferrule, a sleeve, and a flange. The sleeve includes a projection and the flange is disposed between the positioning part and the projection of the sleeve, and has a flange front surface including an edge contacting the inclined surface of the positioning part and a flange rear surface contacting or being close to the projection of the sleeve.

An optical fiber cutter according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a blade that makes a cut in an optical fiber; a recovery unit that recovers cutting scraps of the optical fiber which has been severed starting from the cut; and an open/close member that rotates around a first axis in a first rotation direction to thereby open the recovery unit. The optical fiber cutter further comprises: a moving member that moves along a first direction; and a rotation member that, as the moving member moves in the first direction, rotates around a second axis in a second rotation direction which is a reverse direction of the first rotation direction, thereby causing the open/close member to rotate in the first rotation direction.

An optical fiber cutter according to one embodiment includes a roller, a first gear, a second gear, an interlocking member, and a third gear configured to rotate by meshing with the rack. The third gear rotates in a first rotation direction when the interlocking member moves in a first direction, and the third gear rotates in a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction when the interlocking member moves in a second direction different from the first direction. The second gear does not rotate when the third gear rotates in the first rotation direction, and the second gear rotates together with the third gear in the second rotation direction when the third gear rotates in the second rotation direction.

An optical fiber holder holds an optical fiber cable including an optical fiber strand and a sheath covering the optical fiber strand. The optical fiber holder includes: a base portion having a placement surface on which the optical fiber cable is placed; and a lid portion openably and closably attached to the base portion to cover at least a part of the placement surface. The lid portion includes one or a plurality of pads facing the placement surface, and pressing the optical fiber cable against the placement surface in a state where the lid portion is closed, and an angle defining portion that is located closer to a lead-out tip of the optical fiber strand than all the pads in an extending direction of the optical fiber strand, and that covers the optical fiber strand exposed from the sheath, to define a lead-out angle of the optical fiber strand.

An optical connector of one embodiment includes an optical fiber, a ferrule assembly, and a housing provided with a positioning part on an inner wall surface for suppressing a fluctuation in an aligning state of the optical fiber with respect to the housing. The positioning part includes an inclined surface and a facing surface which contact a part of the ferrule assembly. The ferrule assembly includes a ferrule, and a sleeve member. The sleeve member is constituted by a sleeve and a flange which has edges contacting the inclined surface and the facing surface respectively. Of an outer peripheral portion of the flange, a portion including the edges facing at least one of the inclined surface and the facing surface includes a set including a deformation absorbing part and two contact portions disposed on both sides of the deformation absorbing part.

An alignment member includes a base unit, and an alignment mechanism unit including a movable base portion disposed overlapping the base unit, an alignment lid disposed overlapping the movable base portion, and a movable member provided in at least one of the movable base portion and the alignment lid. The movable base portion is pivotally connected to the base unit. The alignment lid is configured to be pivoted relative to the movable base portion. When the movable base portion and the alignment lid are overlapped with each other, a slit is formed between the movable base portion and the alignment lid, the slit being open on a side opposite to a connection point between the slit and the base unit and being configured to accommodate a plurality of optical fibers in parallel.

An optical fiber fusion splicer includes an image acquisition unit, a condition setting unit, and a fusion splicing unit. The image acquisition unit acquires an image including each of end surfaces of first and second optical fibers that are splicing targets in a state where the end surfaces of the first and second optical fibers are disposed to face each other. The condition setting unit sets splicing conditions in accordance with a state of each of the end surfaces by identifying the state of each of the end surfaces on the basis of the image. The fusion splicing unit fusion-splices the first and second optical fibers together by means of discharge between a pair of electrode bars in accordance with the splicing conditions set by the condition setting unit.

An optical fiber cutter includes a main body including a fiber fixing portion, and a moving portion including a blade for scratching the optical fiber, the moving portion being attached to the main body to be movable between a first position and a second position, the first position being an initial position before the optical fiber is scratched, the second position being a position after the optical fiber is scratched. The fiber fixing portion is configured to move the optical fiber such that the optical fiber fixed to the fiber fixing portion does not cross a movement range when the blade portion moves from the second position to the first position, and such that a cleaved surface of the optical fiber after cleaving is positioned in a direction away from the blade portion along an axial direction of the optical fiber.