| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and apparatus by which a splittable optical fiber ribbon can be produced in a single step process while greatly reducing the manufacturing cost and time of the present technology. SOLUTION: The ribbon making process includes steps of: making insulated fibers arranged into a flat, side-by-side configuration; aligning a plurality of groups of fibers with a single coating die; making optical fiber subunits by passing the aligned fibers through a single coating die; partially curing the coating of the subunits by using a first alignment die; bringing the subunits in contact with each other through a second alignment die; and curing the coating of the joined subunits completely. Accordingly, the subunit surfaces are crosslinked at the contact position, and the thickness of coating is made thinnest at the location of the crosslink web, thereby creating stress concentration when separating the ribbon unit. Thus each subunit can be easily split from the ribbon unit. This invention reduces the present manufacturing cost by 33%.
|
