An automatic testing device for vertical repeated bending of submarine optical cables

Abstract

The present invention discloses an automatic vertical repeated bending test device for submarine optical cables, comprising: a vertical frame, a rotating frame, a first bending guide, a second bending guide, a first travel limit switch, a second travel limit switch, a proximity switch, a controller and a rotation driving device. The rotation driving device is horizontally arranged at the top of the vertical frame. The rotating frame is arranged at the front end of a rotating shaft. The proximity switch is arranged on the front of the vertical frame and horizontally points to the bottom of the rotating frame. A first fixture corresponding to the submarine optical cable is arranged at the top of the front of the rotating frame. The first bending guide and the second bending guide are symmetrically arranged on the rotating frame. The first travel limit switch is arranged on the vertical frame and is located on the left rotation path at the bottom of the rotating frame. By the above method, the automatic vertical repeated bending test device for submarine optical cables of the present invention reduces the friction problem, ensures the unity of the bending angle each time, and improves the accuracy of the bending test.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of mechanical testing of submarine optical cables, and particularly to an automatic vertical repeated bending testing device for submarine optical cables. Background Art

[0002] During the production and shipping processes of long-length submarine optical cables, the cables are routed in a winding manner to enter the cable pool. When the submarine optical cable passes through the route, there is only a very small belt traction tension, and the bending radius is much smaller than that during the construction process. Therefore, a complete repeated bending performance testing system needs to be established to evaluate the bending performance of the submarine optical cable under a fixed bending radius.

[0003] The repeated bending test is a test in the laboratory to simulate the relevant bending experienced by the submarine optical cable during the production and shipping processes and verify whether the product performance has deteriorated. The usual method is: fixing the submarine optical cable on a horizontal straight arm, and driving the repeated bending of the submarine optical cable by the left and right swinging of the straight arm on the workbench. During the test, the repeated friction between the submarine optical cable and the workbench will cause wear of the submarine optical cable, which will have a certain impact on the appearance judgment and even the electrical performance after bending. Due to friction and inertia problems, when the straight arm swings horizontally, the swing of the submarine optical cable lags behind or is less than the swing angle of the straight arm, resulting in partial lack of evaluation of the tension-free bending performance of the submarine optical cable.

[0004] In addition, in order to simulate the force on the submarine optical cable during the production and shipping processes, a gravity needs to be applied to the submarine optical cable. Due to the friction losses between the submarine optical cable and the workbench and the pulley, the gravity loading is unstable and inaccurate, and improvement is required. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The main technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an automatic vertical repeated bending testing device for submarine optical cables to perform vertical repeated bending tests on submarine optical cables, reduce friction problems, and improve the accuracy of bending tests.

[0006] To solve the above technical problems, a technical solution adopted by the present invention is to provide an automatic vertical repeated bending test device for submarine optical cables, including: a vertical frame, a rotating frame, a first bending guide, a second bending guide, a first travel limit switch, a second travel limit switch, a proximity switch, a controller, and a rotation drive device. The rotation drive device is horizontally arranged on the top of the vertical frame. A rotating shaft connected to the rotation drive device and horizontally extending forward of the vertical frame is arranged on the top of the vertical frame. The rotating frame is arranged at the front end of the rotating shaft. The proximity switch is arranged on the front of the vertical frame and horizontally points to the bottom of the rotating frame. A first clamp corresponding to the submarine optical cable is arranged at the top of the front of the rotating frame. The first bending guide and the second bending guide are symmetrically arranged on the rotating frame. The first bending guide extends from below the first clamp in a circular arc to the left side of the rotating frame, and the second bending guide extends from below the first clamp in a circular arc to the right side of the rotating frame. The first travel limit switch is arranged on the vertical frame and is located on the path of the left rotation of the bottom of the rotating frame. The second travel limit switch is arranged on the vertical frame and is located on the path of the right rotation of the bottom of the rotating frame. The first travel limit switch, the second travel limit switch, and the proximity switch are respectively connected to the controller for signal transmission. The controller is connected to the rotation drive device for rotation control.

[0007] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rotation drive device uses a forward and reverse motor.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rotating frame adopts a cross-shaped structure.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a cross-shaped wire guide is arranged on the front of the vertical frame directly below the rotating frame.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the radii of the first bending guide and the second bending guide are 1 meter.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a load-bearing component is further included. The load-bearing component includes a first fixed pulley, a second fixed pulley, a rope, and a weight. The first fixed pulley is arranged at the bottom of the vertical frame and directly below the vertical frame. The second fixed pulley is arranged in the vertical frame and above one side of the first fixed pulley. The front end of the rope is provided with a second clamp corresponding to the submarine optical cable. The tail end of the rope sequentially bypasses the lower part of the first fixed pulley and the upper part of the second fixed pulley and then extends downward. The weight is arranged at the tail end of the rope and is suspended.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the controller uses a PLC controller.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, one end of the submarine optical cable penetrates upward through the cross-shaped wire guide and is fixed on the first clamp.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first travel limit switch is located on the path within 90° of left rotation at the bottom of the rotating frame, and the second travel limit switch is located on the path within 90° of right rotation at the bottom of the rotating frame.

[0015] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: An automatic vertical repeated bending test device for submarine optical cables pointed out by the present invention drives the vertical repeated bending of the submarine optical cable through the left and right swinging of the rotating frame, reduces the friction problem, improves the accuracy of load application, and guides the submarine optical cable during bending through the first bending guide and the second bending guide, ensuring the unity of the bending angle each time, which is beneficial to improving the accuracy of the bending test, has a high degree of automation, and improves the test efficiency. Description of the Drawings

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings, where:

[0017] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram (before installing the submarine optical cable) of a preferred embodiment of an automatic vertical repeated bending test device for submarine optical cables of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 is Figure 1 the left view (after installing the submarine optical cable);

[0019] Figure 3 is Figure 1 a schematic structural diagram (after installing the submarine optical cable) of a preferred embodiment when the rotating frame rotates clockwise in Detailed Embodiments

[0020] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] Please refer to Figures 1 to 3 , the embodiments of the present invention include:

[0022] Such as Figure 1The shown automatic vertical repeated bending test device for submarine optical cables is used for the repeated bending test of submarine optical cable 12, and includes: a vertical frame 1, a rotating frame 2, a first bending guide 7, a second bending guide 9, a first stroke limit switch 6, a second stroke limit switch 3, a proximity switch 13, a controller (not shown), a rotation driving device 8, and a weight component. The rotation driving device 8 is horizontally arranged at the top of the vertical frame 1. In this embodiment, the controller adopts a PLC controller, and the rotation driving device 8 adopts a forward and reverse motor, which is connected to the rotation driving device 8 through the controller to perform the rotation control of the rotation driving device 8.

[0023] A rotating shaft 10 connected to the rotation driving device 8 and horizontally extending forward of the vertical frame 1 is arranged at the top of the vertical frame 1. The rotating frame 2 is arranged at the front end of the rotating shaft 10 to realize the left and right rotation driving of the rotating frame 2. In this embodiment, the rotating frame 2 adopts a cross-shaped structure, which has a light self-weight and is also beneficial for resetting and monitoring the rotation angle.

[0024] As Figure 2 shown, the proximity switch 13 is arranged on the front of the vertical frame 1 and horizontally points to the bottom of the rotating frame 2. When the rotating frame 2 is reset, the proximity switch 13 detects the bottom position of the rotating frame 2. The proximity switch 13 is connected to the controller to send a signal, so that the controller obtains the signal of the reset of the rotating frame 2.

[0025] A first clamp 11 corresponding to the submarine optical cable 12 is arranged at the top of the front of the rotating frame 2. A cross-shaped wire guide frame 5 is arranged on the front of the vertical frame 1 and is located directly below the rotating frame 2. One end of the submarine optical cable 12 penetrates upward through the cross-shaped wire guide frame 5 and is fixed on the first clamp 11, so that the upper part of the submarine optical cable 12 can be bent with the left and right swing of the rotating frame 2, and the swing of the lower part of the submarine optical cable 12 is restricted by the cross-shaped wire guide frame 5 to ensure that the bending angle is in place each time. The cross-shaped wire guide frame 5 guides the submarine optical cable 12 and has good adaptability to the outer diameter specification of the submarine optical cable 12. In addition, as Figure 2 and Figure 3 shown, when the submarine optical cable 12 is vertically bent, the frictional resistance is small and can be ignored.

[0026] The first bending guide 7 and the second bending guide 9 are symmetrically arranged on the rotating frame 2. The first bending guide 7 extends in an arc from below the first fixture 11 to the left side of the rotating frame 2, and the second bending guide 9 extends in an arc from below the first fixture 11 to the right side of the rotating frame 2. When the submarine optical cable 12 is bent, it is guided by the first bending guide 7 and the second bending guide 9 to ensure the uniformity of the bending angle each time. In this embodiment, the radii of the first bending guide 7 and the second bending guide 9 are 1 meter, and the submarine optical cable 12 is bent left and right repeatedly with a radius of 1 meter. In addition, the first bending guide 7 and the second bending guide 9 can be replaced with arc plates of other radii to achieve bending tests of other radii.

[0027] The first travel limit switch 6 is arranged on the vertical frame 1 and is located on the path of the bottom left rotation of the rotating frame 2. The second travel limit switch 3 is arranged on the vertical frame 1 and is located on the path of the bottom right rotation of the rotating frame 2. In this embodiment, the first travel limit switch 6 and the travel limit switch 3 are respectively connected to the controller to send signals. During the rotation of the rotating frame 2, the rotation angle of the bottom of the rotating frame 2 is monitored through the first travel limit switch 6 and the travel limit switch 3, which is beneficial to the commutation control of the rotation drive device 8 and improves the uniformity of the repeated bending angle of the submarine optical cable 12.

[0028] In this embodiment, the first travel limit switch 6 is located on the path within 90° of the bottom left rotation of the rotating frame, and the second travel limit switch 3 is located on the path within 90° of the bottom right rotation of the rotating frame, realizing the bending of the submarine optical cable 12 within 90° left and right and avoiding the problem of excessive bending angle.

[0029] In order to simulate the tensile force problem during the bending of the submarine optical cable in the actual production and shipping process, a load-bearing component is specially designed. In this embodiment, the load-bearing component includes a first fixed pulley 4, a second fixed pulley 15, a rope 17, and a weight 16. The first fixed pulley 4 is arranged at the bottom of the vertical frame 1 and is directly below the vertical frame 1. The second fixed pulley 15 is arranged in the vertical frame and is above one side of the first fixed pulley 4. The front end of the rope 17 is provided with a second fixture 14 corresponding to the submarine optical cable 12, so that the front end of the rope 17 is fixed to the position below the cross-shaped wire rack 5 of the submarine optical cable 12 to apply a downward tensile force to the submarine optical cable 12.

[0030] As Figure 2 shown, the tail end of the rope 17 extends downward after passing around the lower part of the first fixed pulley 4 and the upper part of the second fixed pulley 15 in sequence. The weight 16 is arranged at the tail end of the rope 17 and is suspended. The tensile force on the submarine optical cable 12 is adjusted through the weight 16. The operation is simple. Due to the small friction, the tensile force is applied more precisely and the adjustment is convenient. In addition, the up-and-down misaligned design of the first fixed pulley 4 and the second fixed pulley 15 is beneficial to reducing the overall height and occupying less space.

[0031] In summary, an automatic vertical repeated bending test device for submarine optical cables proposed by the present invention can achieve low-friction repeated bending tests of submarine optical cables, improve the test accuracy, have a high degree of automation, and enhance the work efficiency and operation safety.

[0032] The above are only embodiments of the present invention, and do not limit the patent scope of the present invention accordingly. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made by using the content of the specification of the present invention, or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, shall be similarly included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic vertical repeated bending test device for submarine optical cables, used for the repeated bending test of submarine optical cables, characterized in that, Comprising: An upright frame, a rotating frame, a first bending guide, a second bending guide, a first travel limit switch, a second travel limit switch, a proximity switch, a controller, a rotation drive device and a load component. The rotation drive device is horizontally arranged at the top of the upright frame. A rotating shaft connected to the rotation drive device and horizontally extending forward of the upright frame is arranged at the top of the upright frame. The rotating frame is arranged at the front end of the rotating shaft. The proximity switch is arranged on the front of the upright frame and horizontally points to the bottom of the rotating frame. A first clamp corresponding to the submarine optical cable is arranged at the top of the front of the rotating frame. The first bending guide and the second bending guide are symmetrically arranged on the rotating frame. The first bending guide arc-bends and extends from below the first clamp to the left side of the rotating frame. The second bending guide arc-bends and extends from below the first clamp to the right side of the rotating frame. The first travel limit switch is arranged on the upright frame and is located on the path of the bottom left rotation of the rotating frame. The second travel limit switch is arranged on the upright frame and is located on the path of the bottom right rotation of the rotating frame. The first travel limit switch, the second travel limit switch and the proximity switch are respectively connected to the controller for signal transmission. The controller is connected to the rotation drive device for rotation control. The rotating frame adopts a cross-shaped structure. A grid wire rack is arranged on the front of the upright frame and is located directly below the rotating frame. The load component includes a rope and weights. The front end of the rope is fixed at a position below the grid wire rack on the submarine optical cable. The weights are arranged at the tail end of the rope and are suspended.

2. The vertical repeated bending automated test device for submarine optical cables according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rotation drive device adopts a forward and reverse rotation motor.

3. The submarine optical cable vertical repeated bending automated test device according to claim 1, wherein The radius of the first bending guide and the second bending guide is 1 meter.

4. The vertical repeated bending automated test device for submarine optical cables according to claim 1, wherein, The load component further includes a first fixed pulley and a second fixed pulley. The first fixed pulley is arranged at the bottom of the upright frame and is located directly below the upright frame. The second fixed pulley is arranged in the upright frame and is located above one side of the first fixed pulley. A second clamp corresponding to the submarine optical cable is arranged at the front end of the rope. The tail end of the rope sequentially bypasses the lower part of the first fixed pulley and the upper part of the second fixed pulley and then extends downward.

5. The vertical repeated bending automated test device for submarine optical cables according to claim 1, wherein, The controller adopts a PLC controller.

6. The vertical repeated bending automatic test device for submarine optical cables according to claim 1, characterized in that One end of the submarine optical cable penetrates upward through the grid wire rack and is fixed on the first clamp.

7. The vertical repeated bending automated test device for submarine optical cables according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first travel limit switch is located on the path within 90° of the bottom left rotation of the rotating frame. The second travel limit switch is located on the path within 90° of the bottom right rotation of the rotating frame.

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