Optical fiber coil for submersible and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of optical fiber guidance technology, and discloses an optical fiber coil for a submarine and a manufacturing method thereof, wherein the optical fiber coil comprises an odd-numbered optical fiber layer, a front end plate, a rear end plate and a shell, the front end plate and the rear end plate are arranged opposite to each other at the two ends of the optical fiber layer, and the shell is arranged on the surface of the front end plate and the rear end plate; the optical fiber coil is a hollow coil, and the pay-off end is located in the inner cavity, and the wire is paid out from the inside to the outside. The optical fiber coil of the present invention comprises an odd-numbered optical fiber layer, adopts a pay-off method of inner outlet wire, and adopts single-mode optical fiber, with a bare fiber diameter of 0.25mm, a minimum bending radius of 5mm, and a screening tension of 150kpsi. The overall structure is light, and aramid material is woven on the outer layer of the optical fiber to increase the tensile strength, which can minimize the tensile force requirement for the conductor during high-speed navigation, and at the same time reduce the weight of the optical fiber coil, so as to avoid the optical fiber coil being too heavy and affecting the navigation posture of the submarine, and the structure is simple and reliable.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of optical fiber guidance technology, and more specifically, to an optical fiber coil for a submersible and a manufacturing method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Submersibles are mainly used to perform underwater surveys, seabed exploration, underwater observation and measurement, salvage, rescue and other tasks. There is a wire for transmitting signals between the submersible and the control platform, and signals can be transmitted bidirectionally through this wire. At present, most submersibles use electromagnetic wires for information transmission. With the requirements of submersibles for high speed, long range and low noise, the shortcomings of electromagnetic wires, such as large size, limited amount of information transmitted and susceptibility to interference, are becoming increasingly obvious. Using optical fiber communication technology to replace electromagnetic wires is the development direction of the transmission system. The advantages of optical fiber communication technology are wide transmission bandwidth, large amount of information, small size, light weight, good corrosion resistance and strong anti-interference ability, but the disadvantage is low tensile strength and cannot be reasonably applied to submersibles. Summary of the invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an optical fiber coil for a submersible and a manufacturing method thereof in view of the technical problems existing in the prior art, which adopts an inner-outlet laying-out method and has a simple and reliable structure.

[0004] In order to solve the above problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0005] The present invention provides an optical fiber coil for a submersible, the optical fiber coil comprising an odd number of optical fiber layers, a front end plate, a rear end plate and a shell, the front end plate and the rear end plate are arranged opposite to each other at two ends of the optical fiber layer, and the shell is arranged on the surfaces of the front end plate and the rear end plate; the optical fiber coil is a hollow coil, the wire-releasing end is located in the inner cavity, and the wire is released from the inside to the outside.

[0006] Furthermore, the optical fiber layer uses single-mode optical fiber, the bare fiber diameter is 0.25 mm, the minimum bending radius is 5 mm, the screening tension is 150 kpsi, and the outer layer of the optical fiber is woven with aramid material.

[0007] The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing an optical fiber coil for a submersible, and the specific steps of the manufacturing method include the following:

[0008] Install the manufacturing mold, including a front end sleeve, a front end plate, a rear end plate, a rear end sleeve and a winding shaft, the front end plate and the rear end plate are arranged at two ends of the winding shaft, and the front end sleeve and the rear end sleeve are arranged respectively for positioning;

[0009] The installed production mold is placed on the winding equipment, and the winding parameters including the optical fiber diameter and tension value are set;

[0010] The optical fiber to be wound passes through the front end sleeve, and the head end is fixed on the surface of the winding shaft, and the optical fiber coil is wound on the winding shaft in sequence to form an optical fiber layer, and the two ends of the optical fiber layer are respectively close to the side surfaces of the front end plate and the rear end plate;

[0011] An odd number of optical fiber layers are reciprocated on the surface of the winding shaft and between the front end plate and the rear end plate, and the tail end of the optical fiber passes through the rear end plate to complete the winding process;

[0012] Silicon rubber is applied to both end surfaces of the optical fiber layer that are in contact with the front end plate and the rear end plate, and a shell is installed on the surface of the front end plate and the rear end plate;

[0013] Remove the front and rear shaft sleeves, pull the first end of the optical fiber to extract the first layer of optical fiber, remove the winding shaft, and cut the extracted optical fiber to obtain a hollow optical fiber coil, with the pay-off end located in the inner cavity;

[0014] An additional loss test is performed on the optical fiber coil by using a test module.

[0015] Furthermore, mounting bosses for mounting the front end plate and the rear end plate are respectively formed at both ends of the winding shaft, and a first protrusion and a second protrusion are respectively formed on the front end sleeve and the rear end sleeve, the first protrusion is located between the opposite surfaces of the front end plate and the winding shaft, and the second protrusion is located between the opposite surfaces of the rear end plate and the winding shaft.

[0016] Furthermore, the optical fiber wire diameter is 0.435 mm, and the tension is 130 g.

[0017] Furthermore, the gaps between the adjacent optical fiber coils are filled with paraffin wax, and liquid glue is applied after each layer of optical fiber coil is wound, and the amount of liquid glue in each layer of the optical fiber layer is 0.9 g.

[0018] Furthermore, the test module includes an optical terminal, a first optical fiber connector, a second optical fiber connector and an optical power meter. The optical fibers at both ends of the optical fiber coil are fused to the first optical fiber connector and the second optical fiber connector respectively. The first optical fiber connector is connected to the optical terminal, and the second optical fiber connector is connected to the optical power meter.

[0019] Furthermore, the length of the optical fiber coil is 2 km, and the additional loss of the optical fiber coil is 0.01 dB.

[0020] Furthermore, a threading hole with a diameter of 0.5 mm is provided on the surface of the first protrusion of the front end sleeve opposite to the winding shaft.

[0021] Furthermore, a mounting gap between the front end plate and the first protrusion of the front end sleeve is 0.25 mm; and a mounting hole of the front end plate forms a chamfer with a length of 1 mm.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0023] (1) The optical fiber coil of the present invention comprises an odd number of optical fiber layers, and adopts an inner-outlet pay-out method, that is, the winding shaft is removed to become a hollow coil, and the wire is paid out from the inside to the outside. This can reduce the tensile strength requirement for the conductor during high-speed navigation to a minimum, and at the same time reduce the weight of the optical fiber coil, avoiding the excessive weight of the optical fiber coil affecting the navigation posture of the submarine, and the structure is simple and reliable.

[0024] (2) The optical fiber coil of the present invention adopts single-mode optical fiber, the bare fiber diameter is 0.25 mm, the minimum bending radius is 5 mm, the screening tension is 150 kpsi, the overall structure is lightweight, and aramid material is woven on the outer layer of the optical fiber to increase the tensile strength, thereby improving the overall strength of the entire optical fiber coil, and also has good corrosion resistance and anti-interference capabilities.

[0025] (3) The manufacturing method of the present invention first installs a manufacturing mold, and reciprocates to wind an odd number of optical fiber layers on a winding shaft. After the winding is completed, the first optical fiber layer is extracted and the winding shaft is removed to form a hollow optical fiber coil, and an additional loss test is performed. The overall manufacturing method is simple and reliable. The obtained optical fiber guidance coil is small in size, light in weight, and has a simple and reasonable structure. It can effectively transmit speed, attitude and other information to the control platform during the high-speed and long-distance underwater navigation of the submarine.

[0026] (4) The front end sleeve and the rear end sleeve of the present invention are respectively formed with a first protrusion and a second protrusion, which facilitates the positioning of the front end plate and the rear end plate, and enables the two ends of the wound optical fiber coil to be reliably close to the front end plate and the rear end plate, thereby ensuring the reliability of the winding process.

[0027] (5) In the present invention, the gaps between adjacent optical fiber coils are filled with paraffin wax, and liquid glue is applied after each layer of optical fiber coils is wound, so that the optical fiber coils are arranged as a whole without gaps, and the bonding force between the optical fiber coils is increased to ensure the reliability of the optical fiber coil.

[0028] (6) The present invention implements additional loss testing of an optical fiber coil through an optical terminal, a first optical fiber connector, a second optical fiber connector and an optical power meter, and obtains an additional loss of 0.01 dB for an optical fiber coil with a length of 2 km. The method is simple and reliable, and has little effect on the transmission of optical signals. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] In order to more clearly illustrate the scheme of the present invention, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work. Among them:

[0030] Figure 1 The present invention is a flow chart of the method for making a fiber optic coil for a submersible.

[0031] Figure 2 The figure is a schematic diagram of the optical fiber coil and the manufacturing mold used for the submersible of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the additional loss test of the optical fiber coil used in the submersible of the present invention is shown.

[0033] The reference numerals are explained as follows: 1-front end sleeve, 2-front end plate, 3-housing, 4-optical fiber layer, 5-rear end plate, 6-rear end sleeve, 7-winding shaft, 11-first protrusion, 71-second protrusion, 100-optical fiber coil, 101-optical terminal, 102-first optical fiber connector, 104-second optical fiber connector, 105-optical power meter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by technicians in the technical field of the present invention; the terms used in this specification are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. For example, the directions or positions indicated by the terms "length", "width", "up", "down", "left", "right", "front", "back", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", etc. are based on the directions or positions shown in the drawings, which are only for the convenience of description and should not be understood as limitations on the present technical solution.

[0035] The terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof in the specification and claims of the present invention and the above-mentioned drawings are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions; the terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present invention and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish different objects rather than to describe a specific order. In the specification and claims of the present invention and the above-mentioned drawings, when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "mounted on" or "disposed on" or "connected to" another element, it may be directly or indirectly located on the other element. For example, when an element is referred to as being "connected to" another element, it may be directly or indirectly connected to the other element.

[0036] In addition, reference to "embodiments" herein means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. The appearance of the phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0037] See also Figure 1 As shown, the present invention provides a method for making an optical fiber coil for a submersible, and the specific steps include the following:

[0038] Step S1: Install the mold, see Figure 2 As shown, the manufacturing mold includes a front end sleeve 1, a front end plate 2, a shell 3, a rear end plate 5, a rear end sleeve 6 and a winding shaft 7. The front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5 are relatively arranged at both ends of the winding shaft 7, and the front end sleeve 1 and the rear end sleeve 6 are respectively arranged for positioning.

[0039] Furthermore, mounting bosses are formed at both ends of the winding shaft 7, and the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5 are mounted respectively. The front end sleeve 1 is arranged on the mounting boss, and the side is connected to the front end plate 2, and a first convex portion 11 is formed, and the first convex portion 11 is located between the opposite surfaces of the front end plate 2 and the winding shaft 7. The rear end sleeve 6 is also arranged on the mounting boss, and the side is also connected to the rear end plate 5, and a second convex portion 71 is formed, and the second convex portion 71 is located between the opposite surfaces of the rear end plate 5 and the winding shaft 7. By providing the first convex portion 11 and the second convex portion 71, it is convenient to position the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5, and cooperate with the winding shaft 7 to ensure the reliability of winding.

[0040] Specifically, a threading hole 111 with a diameter of 0.5 mm is provided on the surface of the first protrusion 11 of the front end sleeve 1 opposite to the winding shaft 7 for passing the optical fiber to be wound.

[0041] Specifically, the installation gap between the front end plate 2 and the first protrusion 11 of the front end sleeve 1 is only 0.25mm, so as to prevent the optical fiber sheath from entering between the front end plate 2 and the front end sleeve 1 during the winding process; the end where the mounting hole of the front end plate 2 is connected to the side of the front end sleeve 1 forms a chamfer with a length of 1mm, in order to reduce the wear of the optical fiber by the front end plate 2 during the pay-off process.

[0042] Step S2: The installed production mold is placed on the winding equipment, connected to the winding shaft 7 by a clamping motor for fixing, and the winding parameters including the optical fiber diameter value and the tension value are set.

[0043] Furthermore, the optical fiber wire diameter is 0.435 mm, and the tension is 130 g.

[0044] In this embodiment, the optical fiber diameter value is set to achieve synchronization between the winding shaft 7 and the winding equipment. When the winding shaft 7 rotates one circle, the winding equipment should synchronously move a distance of the optical fiber diameter. Since single-mode optical fiber with extremely high requirements for bending resistance is adopted, aramid material is woven on the outer layer of the optical fiber coil to further increase the tensile strength. The diameter value of the encapsulated optical fiber is 0.435mm. During the winding process, in order to achieve dense winding between the optical fiber coils and no gaps, a constant tension needs to be set. If the tension is set too large, it will cause strain on the optical fiber diameter and increase additional losses; if the tension is set too small, the optical fiber winding will be too loose, causing a pay-off failure. Therefore, after repeated winding trials, the tension value selected by the present invention is 130g.

[0045] Step S3: The optical fiber to be wound passes through the front end sleeve 1 through the threading hole 110, and the head end is fixed on the surface of the winding shaft 7, and the optical fiber coil is wound on the winding shaft 7 in sequence to form an optical fiber layer 4, and the two ends of the optical fiber layer 4 are respectively close to the opposite sides of the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5.

[0046] Specifically, the starting point of the optical fiber coil of each optical fiber layer 4 is close to the side of the front end plate 2, and is wound in sequence along the axial direction on the surface of the winding shaft 7. The end point of the optical fiber coil is close to the rear end plate 5, and no gaps are allowed between adjacent optical fiber coils. If the optical fiber coils are not arranged neatly and have gaps, the gaps are filled with paraffin to ensure that the optical fiber coils are arranged neatly. After processing, the next layer of winding is carried out.

[0047] Furthermore, the gaps between the adjacent optical fiber coils are filled with paraffin wax, and liquid glue is applied after each layer of optical fiber coil is wound. The amount of liquid glue in each layer of the optical fiber layer 4 is about 0.9 g.

[0048] In this embodiment, after each layer of optical fiber layer 4 is wound, a uniform amount of liquid glue is applied to increase the bonding strength between the optical fiber coils. The amount of liquid glue used in each layer is determined according to the size of the optical fiber coil. The amount of liquid glue should not be too much, as it will affect the pay-off speed; nor should it be too little, as it will cause the risk of collapse of the optical fiber layer.

[0049] Step S4: Wind an odd number of optical fiber layers 4 back and forth on the surface of the winding shaft 7 and between the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5, i.e., control the number of layers of the last optical fiber layer 4 to be wound to be an odd number, and pass the tail end of the optical fiber through the rear end plate 5, and the winding of the entire optical fiber layer 4 is completed.

[0050] In this embodiment, the head end of the optical fiber is fixed on the surface of the winding shaft 7 after passing through the front end sleeve 1, and the odd number of optical fiber layers 4 are reciprocated between the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5, so that the tail end of the optical fiber can pass through the rear end plate 5, that is, the head end and the tail end of the optical fiber can pass through the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5 respectively, which is convenient for installation and operation. Specifically, a U-shaped groove is set on the rear end plate 5 for passing the tail end of the optical fiber.

[0051] Step S5: de-axis, that is, a layer of silicone rubber is applied to the positions where the two end faces of the wound optical fiber layer 4 contact the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5, and a shell 3 is set on the surface of the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5. The tail end of the optical fiber passes through the wire hole on the shell 3 and is aligned with the mounting holes between the front end plate 2, the rear end plate 5 and the shell 3 and fixed.

[0052] In this embodiment, a layer of silicone rubber is applied on both sides of the wound optical fiber layer 4, that is, close to the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5, in order to increase the bonding strength between the optical fiber layer 4 and the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5, prevent the optical fiber layer 4 from falling off, and ensure the reliability of the overall structure of the optical fiber coil.

[0053] Step S6: Remove the front sleeve 1 and the rear sleeve 6, pull the first optical fiber layer 4 out by pulling the optical fiber head end, remove the winding shaft 7, and cut the pulled optical fiber to obtain a hollow optical fiber coil 10.

[0054] Specifically, the optical fiber coil 100 includes a front end plate 2, a shell 3, an optical fiber layer 4 and a rear end plate 5. The front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5 are arranged opposite to each other, and the shell 3 is arranged on the surfaces of both. An odd number of optical fiber layers 4 are arranged between the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5, and both ends of all optical fiber layers 4 are respectively attached to the front end plate 2 and the rear end plate 5 to form a hollow coil, and the wire-releasing end is located in the inner cavity of the coil, and the wire is released from the inside to the outside.

[0055] Furthermore, the optical fiber layer 4 uses a single-mode optical fiber with extremely high bending resistance, with a bare fiber diameter of 0.25 mm, a minimum bending radius of 5 mm without affecting the transmission of optical signals, and a screening tension of up to 150 kpsi, which has good tensile strength. Aramid material is woven on the outer layer of the optical fiber to further increase the tensile strength.

[0056] In this embodiment, the optical fiber coil 100 adopts an internal wire-out method, and the winding shaft 7 needs to be pulled out to become a hollow coil, and the pulled-out optical fiber is cut off to obtain a pay-out end, which is located in the inner cavity of the optical fiber coil. The wire is paid out from the inside to the outside, which is simple and easy to operate, and also reduces the weight of the coil.

[0057] Step S7: After the optical fiber coil 100 is manufactured, an additional loss test is performed on the optical fiber coil 100 through a test module to check its performance. The additional loss is the optical loss caused by the strain of the optical fiber due to external force.

[0058] Test principle Figure 3 As shown, the test module includes an optical terminal 101, a first optical fiber connector 102, a second optical fiber connector 104 and an optical power meter 105. The optical fibers at both ends of the optical fiber coil 100 are fused to the first optical fiber connector 102 and the second optical fiber connector 104 respectively. The first optical fiber connector 102 is connected to the optical terminal 101, and the second optical fiber connector 104 is connected to the optical power meter 105.

[0059] Specifically, the optical terminal 101 is powered on, and at this time, the optical terminal 101 sends a fixed optical signal, which passes through the optical fiber coil 100 and reaches the optical power meter 105, and the power value A at this time is recorded. Take another piece of bulk optical fiber with the same length as the optical fiber coil, and test it in the same way, record the power value B and compare it with the power value A. The optical fiber coil 100 made by the present invention has a length of 2km, and the optical fiber loss before and after winding is 0.6dB and 0.61dB respectively, and the additional loss of the optical fiber coil is 0.01dB, which does not affect the transmission of the optical signal.

[0060] Specifically, under the same volume, the optical fiber coil 100 can be wound up to 4 km at most, with a longer range. The additional loss of the 2 km optical fiber coil 100 produced in this embodiment is only 0.01 dB, which means that the transmission of the optical signal is minimally affected.

[0061] The optical fiber coil for a submersible provided by the present invention and the method for making the same have good corrosion resistance, strong anti-interference capability, and high tensile strength, and can be reliably applied to a submersible working underwater, and can also be applied to torpedoes and rockets, developing in the direction of high speed, long range, and precision guidance.

[0062] The above embodiments are preferred implementation modes of the present invention, but the implementation modes of the present invention are not limited to the above embodiments. Any other changes, modifications, substitutions, combinations, and simplifications that do not deviate from the spirit and principles of the present invention should be equivalent replacement methods and are included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An optical fiber coil for a submersible, characterized in that: The optical fiber coil comprises an odd number of optical fiber layers, a front end plate, a rear end plate and a housing, wherein the front end plate and the rear end plate are arranged opposite to each other at two ends of the optical fiber layer, and the housing is arranged on the surfaces of the front end plate and the rear end plate; The optical fiber coil is a hollow coil, the pay-off end is located in the inner cavity, and the fiber is paid out from the inside to the outside; The optical fiber layer adopts single-mode optical fiber, the bare fiber diameter is 0.25mm, the minimum bending radius is 5mm, the screening tension is 150kpsi, and the outer layer of the optical fiber is braided with aramid material.

2. A method for making an optical fiber coil for a submersible, characterized in that: The specific steps of the production method include the following: Install the manufacturing mold, including a front end sleeve, a front end plate, a rear end plate, a rear end sleeve and a winding shaft, the front end plate and the rear end plate are arranged at two ends of the winding shaft, and the front end sleeve and the rear end sleeve are arranged respectively for positioning; The installed production mold is placed on the winding equipment, and the winding parameters including the optical fiber diameter and tension value are set; The optical fiber to be wound passes through the front end sleeve, and the head end is fixed on the surface of the winding shaft, and the optical fiber coils are wound on the winding shaft in sequence to form optical fiber layers. When winding, the starting point of the optical fiber coil of each optical fiber layer is close to the side of the front end plate, and the end point of the optical fiber coil is close to the side of the rear end plate; the gap between adjacent optical fiber coils is filled with paraffin, and liquid glue is applied after each layer of optical fiber coil is wound; An odd number of optical fiber layers are reciprocated on the surface of the winding shaft and between the front end plate and the rear end plate, and the tail end of the optical fiber passes through the rear end plate to complete the winding process; Silicon rubber is applied to both end surfaces of the optical fiber layer that are in contact with the front end plate and the rear end plate, and a shell is installed on the surface of the front end plate and the rear end plate; Remove the front and rear shaft sleeves, pull the first end of the optical fiber to extract the first layer of optical fiber, remove the winding shaft, and cut the extracted optical fiber to obtain a hollow optical fiber coil, with the pay-off end located in the inner cavity; An additional loss test is performed on the optical fiber coil by using a test module.

3. The method for making an optical fiber coil for a submersible according to claim 2, characterized in that: The two ends of the winding shaft respectively form mounting bosses for mounting the front end plate and the rear end plate, and the front end sleeve and the rear end sleeve respectively form a first convex portion and a second convex portion, the first convex portion is located between the opposite surfaces of the front end plate and the winding shaft, and the second convex portion is located between the opposite surfaces of the rear end plate and the winding shaft.

4. The method for making an optical fiber coil for a submersible according to claim 2, characterized in that: The optical fiber line diameter is 0.435 mm, and the tension is 130 g.

5. The method for making an optical fiber coil for a submersible according to claim 2 or 4, characterized in that: The amount of liquid glue in each layer of the optical fiber layer is 0.9 g.

6. The method for making an optical fiber coil for a submersible according to claim 2, characterized in that: The test module includes an optical terminal, a first optical fiber connector, a second optical fiber connector and an optical power meter. The optical fibers at both ends of the optical fiber coil are fused to the first optical fiber connector and the second optical fiber connector respectively. The first optical fiber connector is connected to the optical terminal, and the second optical fiber connector is connected to the optical power meter.

7. The method for making an optical fiber coil for a submersible according to claim 2 or 6, characterized in that: The length of the optical fiber coil is 2 km, and the additional loss of the optical fiber coil is 0.01 dB.

8. The method for making an optical fiber coil for a submersible according to claim 3, characterized in that: A threading hole with a diameter of 0.5 mm is arranged on a surface of the first protrusion of the front end sleeve opposite to the winding shaft.

9. The method for making an optical fiber coil for a submersible according to claim 3, characterized in that: The installation gap between the front end plate and the first protrusion of the front end sleeve is 0.25 mm; the installation hole of the front end plate forms a chamfer with a length of 1 mm.

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