| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To connect optical fibers by fusion splicing to each other with low loss even when a discharge beam is in a distorted shape. SOLUTION: An optical fiber fusion-splicing machine is equipped with V- groove blocks 52 and 52 where the optical fibers 10 and 20 to be connected are so set that their end surfaces abut against each other and discharge electrodes 41 and 42 which heat the optical fibers 10 and 20 through arc discharge. While the optical fibers 10 and 20 are not in a discharge area, preliminary discharging is performed, a TV camera 32 picks up an image of the discharge beam, and an image processor 33 obtains luminance distributions on a plurality of Z-axial lines set in the discharge beam image at different X- directional positions and decides the center of the discharge from the luminance distributions; and a controller 34 controls a driving device 35 to position the abutting parts of the optical fibers 10 and 20 in the center and then primary discharge is carried out to connect the tips of the optical fibers 10 and 20 by fusion splicing to each other. |
