Optical unit ointment filling system and filling method

Abstract

The invention discloses an optical unit factice filling system and method, the system comprises a controller, a factice container, a weighing device, a pre-suction pump, a metering pump and a factice filling tool, the factice container is arranged on the weighing device, the pre-suction pump is suspended above the factice container, and the metering pump is arranged on the factice container. The bottom of the pre-suction pump is provided with a suction pipe extending into the ointment container, a first oil conveying pipe is arranged between the output end of the pre-suction pump and the input end of the metering pump, a second oil conveying pipe is arranged between the output end of the metering pump and the ointment filling tool, and the weighing device is connected with the controller to send signals. And the controller is connected with the pre-suction pump and the metering pump, and is used for controlling operation, monitoring the weight of the ointment in the ointment container on line, measuring and calculating the actual filling rate, and finally obtaining a stable and reliable filling effect by adjusting the traction speed or the ratio of the ointment pump, ensuring that the actual filling rate meets the use requirement, and ensuring the stability of the optical unit technological process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of optical unit grease filling, and in particular to an optical unit grease filling system and a filling method. Background Art

[0002] The grease in the optical unit, the core component of the submarine optical cable, is a special grease. The viscosity of the grease will change exponentially with the external shear force. The main function of the grease is to protect the optical fiber well, strongly block the infiltration of seawater, absorb hydrogen for a long time, and adjust the damping of the cable structure. If the gap filling rate of the grease does not meet the standard, it is easy to cause seawater to seriously penetrate into the core components.

[0003] After the finished submarine cable is laid on the seabed, if the submarine optical cable breaks in extreme circumstances, the core optical unit in the submarine optical cable will be quickly corroded by seawater under the huge seawater pressure, and the high-pressure seawater will penetrate into the stainless steel pipe. The weak hydroxide ions in the water will penetrate into the optical fiber, causing transmission loss water peaks in the optical fiber core, seriously affecting the transmission quality of the submarine optical cable system and seriously degrading the system transmission.

[0004] The optical units currently produced usually only take samples from the head and tail ends of the optical units for water seepage testing to determine the water seepage reliability of the optical units. Dynamic monitoring cannot be performed during the entire process. This results in the inability of ultra-long submarine optical cables to meet the filling rate reliability. The changes in the amount of grease filling during the production process cannot be dynamically monitored and needs to be improved. Summary of the invention

[0005] The main technical problem solved by the present invention is to provide an optical unit grease filling system and filling method, so as to fill the optical unit grease and realize online monitoring and adjustment of the grease filling rate.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, a technical solution adopted by the present invention is: to provide an optical unit paste filling system, including: a controller, a paste container, a weighing device, a pre-suction pump, a metering pump and a paste filling tooling, the paste container is arranged on the weighing device, the pre-suction pump is suspended above the paste container, a suction pipe extending into the paste container is arranged at the bottom of the pre-suction pump, a first oil pipeline is arranged between the output end of the pre-suction pump and the input end of the metering pump, a second oil pipeline is arranged between the output end of the metering pump and the paste filling tooling, the weighing device is connected to the controller for signal transmission, and the controller is connected to the pre-suction pump and the metering pump for operation control.

[0007] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the weighing device is an electronic scale, the pre-suction pump is a screw pump, and the metering pump is a gear metering pump.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an oil return pipe extending into the grease container is provided on one side of the first oil delivery pipe, and an overflow valve is provided on the oil return pipe.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a first filter is disposed at the bottom of the suction pipe, and a second filter is disposed on the first oil delivery pipe.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second oil pipeline adopts a constant temperature heating hose.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the grease filling tooling includes a grease heating seat and a fiber guide tube arranged on the grease heating seat, and the grease heating seat is provided with a temperature and pressure sensor, and the temperature and pressure sensor is connected to a controller to send signals of the grease temperature and pressure in the grease heating seat.

[0012] In order to solve the above technical problems, a technical solution adopted by the present invention is to provide a method for filling an optical unit paste, comprising the following steps: The grease is sucked out of the grease container by a pre-suction pump and sent to a metering pump by a first oil delivery pipe. The metering pump accurately controls the stable grease flow rate and shears the grease to apply external shear force to increase the fluidity of the grease. The grease is then sent to a grease filling tool through a second oil delivery pipe. In the grease filling tool, the grease and the optical fiber cluster are input into a stainless steel tube of the optical unit. Monitor the weight of the paste in the paste container online, calculate the actual filling rate, and finally obtain a stable and reliable filling effect by adjusting the traction speed or the paste pump ratio, and meet the requirement of actual filling rate ≥ 90%; Assume that the oil pump ratio is Y, the actual traction speed of the optical unit is a, the maximum speed of the traction machine is b, the maximum speed of the metering pump is c, and the actual speed of the metering pump is e. .

[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the calculation of the actual filling rate includes the following steps: The optical unit includes a stainless steel tube and an optical fiber arranged in the stainless steel tube. The outer diameter of the stainless steel tube is set to D, the outer diameter of the optical fiber is set to d, the thickness of the stainless steel tube is set to t, the number of cores of the optical fiber is set to n, the density of the grease is set to ρ, and the theoretical unit full filling grease weight is set to m1. The theoretical cross-sectional area of ​​the stainless steel tube in the optical unit is , the theoretical cross-sectional area of ​​the optical fiber in the stainless steel tube ; Linear reasoning yields a linear function relationship between the gel pump ratio and the theoretical unit full fill gel weight: , the fitting curve of Y-m1 is obtained by verifying the experimental data, k is the slope of the fitting curve, j is the intercept of the fitting curve with the ordinate; During the process of filling the optical unit paste, the meter mark of the optical unit production length and the weight displayed by the weighing device are intermittently recorded. Assuming that the meter mark recorded for the nth time is L1 and the weight displayed by the weighing device is m2, and the meter mark recorded for the n+1th time is L2 and the weight displayed by the weighing device is m3, the actual filling rate is Z, then Z= ((m2-m3) / (L2-L1)) / m1.

[0014] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: an optical unit grease filling system and filling method disclosed by the present invention realizes the grease filling of the optical unit and monitors the actual filling rate during the filling process. The actual filling rate can be improved by setting the grease pump ratio to ensure that the actual filling rate meets the use requirements, thereby ensuring the stability of the process of the core component optical unit, so that the core component optical unit of the submarine optical cable has excellent resistance to seawater penetration, thereby ensuring a service life of the submarine optical cable of more than 25 years. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for describing the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work, among which: Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of a light unit paste filling system of the present invention; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the light unit; Figure 3 is the fitting curve of Y-m1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention are described clearly and completely below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0017] See also Figure 1~Figure 3 , the embodiment of the present invention includes: like Figure 1 The optical unit paste filling system shown includes: a controller, a paste container 2, a weighing device 1, a pre-suction pump 4, a metering pump 5 and a paste filling tool 6. The paste container 2 is arranged on the weighing device 1. The weighing device 1 adopts an electronic scale, which can weigh the paste container 2 in real time and display the weight of the paste container 2 and the paste in the paste container 2.

[0018] In this embodiment, the accuracy of the electronic scale is 0.05kg, the minimum weighing weight is 2kg, the maximum weighing weight is 200kg, and the ointment container 2 adopts a standard industrial barrel. The weighing device 1 is connected to the controller to send signals, and the controller is connected to the pre-suction pump 4 and the metering pump 5 to control the operation and improve the automation level.

[0019] The pre-suction pump 4 is suspended above the ointment container 2 and does not contact the ointment container 2 to avoid adverse effects on the operation of the weighing device 1. A suction pipe 3 extending into the ointment container 2 is provided at the bottom of the pre-suction pump 4, and a first filter 11 is provided at the bottom of the suction pipe 3. The ointment is filtered through the first filter 11 during suction to remove impurities.

[0020] A first oil delivery pipe 8 is provided between the output end of the pre-suction pump 4 and the input end of the metering pump 5. In this embodiment, the pre-suction pump 4 is a screw pump, which is responsible for sucking materials to ensure that the jelly in the first oil delivery pipe 8 is always fully filled to meet the needs of the metering pump 5. A return oil pipe 12 extending to the jelly container 2 is provided on one side of the first oil delivery pipe 8, and a relief valve 7 is provided on the return oil pipe 12. When the pressure is too high, the excess jelly is returned to the jelly container 2 through the relief valve 7.

[0021] The first oil delivery pipe 8 is provided with a second filter 9 to deliver the further filtered oil to the metering pump 5. The second filter 9 uses at least one 200-mesh filter to filter and block large bubbles or impurities that may exist in the oil, thereby avoiding damage to the metering pump 5 and preventing large bubbles from affecting the metering pump 5's accurate metering of the oil flow.

[0022] A second oil delivery pipe 10 is provided between the output end of the metering pump 5 and the jelly filling fixture 6 to deliver the jelly to the jelly filling fixture 6. In this embodiment, the metering pump 5 is a gear metering pump, which can shear the jelly and apply external shear force to make the viscosity of the jelly thinner and more liquid, thereby improving the fluidity. The second oil delivery pipe 10 is a constant temperature heating hose, which can heat the jelly and further improve the fluidity of the jelly.

[0023] like Figure 1 As shown, the jelly filling tool 6 includes a jelly heating seat 61 and a fiber guide tube 62 arranged on the jelly heating seat 61. The optical fiber cluster is introduced through the fiber guide tube 62 (in this embodiment, the fiber guide tube 62 can be a capillary brass needle tube), and is input into the stainless steel tube of the optical unit together with the introduced jelly when passing through the jelly heating seat 61.

[0024] The grease heating seat 61 is provided with a temperature and pressure sensor 63, which is connected to the controller to send signals of the temperature and pressure of the grease in the grease heating seat 61, ensuring that the temperature and pressure of the grease meet the requirements before the grease filling production of the optical unit can be carried out. A heating element can be installed in the grease heating seat 61 to further heat the grease, so that the grease is completely in a liquid state with a thinned viscosity, which is convenient for pressure detection and adjustment.

[0025] A method for filling an optical unit with ointment comprises the following steps: The grease is sucked out from the grease container 2 by the pre-suction pump 4, and sent to the metering pump 5 by the first oil delivery pipe 8. The metering pump 5 accurately controls the stable grease flow rate, shears the grease, applies external shear force, and increases the fluidity of the grease (in order to protect the optical fiber, the grease uses a special high-viscosity thixotropic multi-component grease, which has a high initial viscosity and is not conducive to flow and filling). Then, it is sent to the grease filling tool 6 through the second oil delivery pipe 10. In the grease filling tool 6, the grease and the optical fiber cluster are input into the stainless steel tube of the optical unit together; Online monitoring of the ointment weight in the ointment container to calculate the actual filling rate, specifically: like Figure 2 As shown, the optical unit includes a stainless steel tube 14 and an optical fiber 13 disposed in the stainless steel tube. Assuming that the outer diameter of the stainless steel tube is D, the outer diameter of the optical fiber is d, the thickness of the stainless steel tube is t, the number of cores of the optical fiber is n, the grease density is ρ, and the theoretical unit full filling grease weight is m1, the theoretical cross-sectional area of ​​the stainless steel tube in the optical unit is , the theoretical cross-sectional area of ​​the optical fiber in the stainless steel tube ; Assume that the oil pump ratio is Y, the actual traction speed of the optical unit is a, the maximum speed of the traction machine is b, the maximum speed of the metering pump is c, and the actual speed of the metering pump is e. ; Linear reasoning yields a linear function relationship between the gel pump ratio and the theoretical unit full fill gel weight: , the fitting curve of Y-m1 is obtained by verifying the experimental data, k is the slope of the fitting curve, j is the intercept of the fitting curve with the ordinate; The fitting curve is as follows Figure 3 The experimental data are shown in the following table:

[0026] During the process of filling the optical unit paste, the meter mark of the optical unit production length and the weight displayed by the weighing device are intermittently recorded, for example, every 1 km. Assuming that the meter mark of the nth record is L1 (in meters), and the weight displayed by the weighing device is m2, and the meter mark of the n+1th record is L2, and the weight displayed by the weighing device is m3, the actual filling rate is Z, then Z= ((m2-m3) / (L2-L1)) / m1; If the actual filling rate is lower than the requirement, the traction speed or the grease pump ratio is adjusted (when the traction speed of the optical unit remains unchanged, the controller changes the speed of the metering pump by adjusting the grease pump ratio) to finally obtain a stable and reliable filling effect and meet the requirement that the actual filling rate is ≥90%.

[0027] In summary, the optical unit grease filling system and filling method pointed out in the present invention are used to fill the unit grease and obtain a stable and reliable grease filling rate by adjusting the process parameters, so that the anti-water seepage performance of the optical unit, the core component of the submarine optical cable, is guaranteed, thereby ensuring the stable and reliable operation of the submarine optical cable system. The system is easy to operate and works stably, which is conducive to ensuring the production of continuous ultra-long length optical units.

[0028] The above are only embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made using the contents of the present invention specification, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A light unit paste filling system, characterized in that: include: A controller, a grease container, a weighing device, a pre-suction pump, a metering pump and a grease filling tooling, wherein the grease container is arranged on the weighing device, the pre-suction pump is suspended above the grease container, a suction pipe extending into the grease container is arranged at the bottom of the pre-suction pump, a first oil pipeline is arranged between the output end of the pre-suction pump and the input end of the metering pump, a second oil pipeline is arranged between the output end of the metering pump and the grease filling tooling, the weighing device is connected to the controller for signal transmission, and the controller is connected to the pre-suction pump and the metering pump for operation control.

2. The optical unit paste filling system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The weighing device adopts an electronic scale, the pre-suction pump adopts a screw pump, and the metering pump adopts a gear metering pump.

3. The optical unit paste filling system according to claim 1, characterized in that: An oil return pipe extending into the grease container is arranged on one side of the first oil delivery pipe, and an overflow valve is arranged on the oil return pipe.

4. The optical unit paste filling system according to claim 1, characterized in that: A first filter is arranged at the bottom of the suction pipe, and a second filter is arranged on the first oil delivery pipe.

5. The optical unit paste filling system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second oil pipeline adopts a constant temperature heating hose.

6. The optical unit paste filling system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The grease filling tooling includes a grease heating seat and a fiber guide tube arranged on the grease heating seat. The grease heating seat is provided with a temperature and pressure sensor. The temperature and pressure sensor is connected to a controller to send signals of the grease temperature and pressure in the grease heating seat.

7. A method for filling a light unit paste, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: The grease is sucked out of the grease container by a pre-suction pump and sent to a metering pump by a first oil delivery pipe. The metering pump accurately controls the stable grease flow rate and shears the grease to apply external shear force to increase the fluidity of the grease. The grease is then sent to a grease filling tool through a second oil delivery pipe. In the grease filling tool, the grease and the optical fiber cluster are input into a stainless steel tube of the optical unit. Monitor the weight of the paste in the paste container online, calculate the actual filling rate, and finally obtain a stable and reliable filling effect by adjusting the traction speed or the paste pump ratio, and meet the requirement of actual filling rate ≥ 90%; Assume that the oil pump ratio is Y, the actual traction speed of the optical unit is a, the maximum speed of the traction machine is b, the maximum speed of the metering pump is c, and the actual speed of the metering pump is e. .

8. The method for filling the optical unit with grease according to claim 7, characterized in that: The calculation of the actual fill rate includes the following steps: The optical unit includes a stainless steel tube and an optical fiber arranged in the stainless steel tube. The outer diameter of the stainless steel tube is set to D, the outer diameter of the optical fiber is set to d, the thickness of the stainless steel tube is set to t, the number of cores of the optical fiber is set to n, the density of the grease is set to ρ, and the theoretical unit full filling grease weight is set to m1. The theoretical cross-sectional area of ​​the stainless steel tube in the optical unit is , the theoretical cross-sectional area of ​​the optical fiber in the stainless steel tube ; Linear reasoning yields a linear function relationship between the gel pump ratio and the theoretical unit full fill gel weight: , the fitting curve of Y-m1 is obtained by verifying the experimental data, k is the slope of the fitting curve, j is the intercept of the fitting curve with the ordinate; During the process of filling the optical unit paste, the meter mark of the optical unit production length and the weight displayed by the weighing device are intermittently recorded. Assuming that the meter mark recorded for the nth time is L1 and the weight displayed by the weighing device is m2, and the meter mark recorded for the n+1th time is L2 and the weight displayed by the weighing device is m3, the actual filling rate is Z, then Z= ((m2-m3) / (L2-L1)) / m1.

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