Automatic material waiting and cutting device for optical fiber drawing

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of manufacturing and forming of glass, in particular to an automatic material waiting and cutting device for optical fiber drawing. The device comprises a box body and a controller, the box body comprises a side wall and a top opening used for allowing a stub bar to fall into the box body, a stub bar cutting assembly and a stub bar sensing assembly used for monitoring falling of the stub bar are arranged on the side wall, and the stub bar cutting assembly comprises a direct-acting cut-off tool stretching into the box body and a driving assembly used for driving the cut-off tool; a stub bar supporting plate used for being matched with the cut-off tool to abut against the stub bar is arranged at the position, opposite to the cut-off tool, of the side wall, the stub bar sensing assembly and the stub bar cut-off assembly are both connected with the controller, and the controller is used for starting and resetting the stub bar cut-off assembly at the set time after the stub bar sensing assembly detects the stub bar. According to the utility model, the cut-off tool is matched with the saw-toothed stub bar supporting plate, so that a stub bar to be cut can be tightly jacked to avoid the phenomenon that the stub bar slips or even slips off at the cut-off tool, and the reliability of the cut-off device is favorably improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to the manufacturing and forming technical field of glass, and specifically relates to an automatic equal-material cutting device for optical fiber drawing. BACKGROUND

[0002] Optical fiber drawing, also known as drawing, is a process of drawing a prepared optical fiber preform into a small optical fiber with a required diameter by heating it to a molten state in a heating furnace of a drawing machine. The optical fiber drawing process mainly includes four steps of melting, drawing, coating, and testing. In the melting process, the optical fiber preform will become molten after being heated for a period of time. The end of the optical fiber preform begins to soften and melt, forming a droplet of molten glass, which is called a "material head". The droplet of molten glass drips out of the annealing tube below the heating furnace under the action of gravity, and the material head stretches to form the initial shape of the optical fiber as it descends.

[0003] In the initial stage of optical fiber drawing, the dropped material head needs to be cut off in time to avoid interference with subsequent operations. In the past production, the operation of cutting off the material head was usually performed manually. Since the temperature of the material head is high, the operator may be burned when cutting off the material head, and other safety accidents may occur. In addition, the time for the end of the optical fiber preform to melt and drop the material head is not certain, and the operator needs to spend a long time waiting for the material head to drop during manual operation. When multiple drawing machine devices are turned on at the same time, the operator may not be able to attend to all the devices, and thus may not be able to cut off the dropped material head in time, which may result in phenomena such as material head looping and blocking of the optical fiber pipeline, and further may cause the drawing machine to malfunction or even need to be shut down for maintenance.

[0004] A Chinese utility model patent document with the authorization announcement number CN217025784U and the authorization announcement date 2022 / 07 / 22 discloses a material head dropping device for optical fiber production. The device includes a base and a controller. The controller is arranged on the base. A shearing mechanism is also arranged on the base, and the shearing mechanism is connected with the controller. The shearing mechanism includes a pneumatic actuator and a pair of scissors. The pneumatic actuator receives a shearing signal from the controller to control the pair of scissors to shear the optical fiber.

[0005] The device can control the pair of scissors to cut off the material head, which can solve the safety accident problem that may occur during manual operation in traditional production, and can also reduce the waiting time of the operator, thereby reducing abnormal situations caused by the failure to cut off the material head in time when multiple devices are running at the same time. However, the optical fiber is generally made of glass, and its surface is very smooth. When the pair of scissors is used to cut off the material head of the optical fiber, the material head may slip out of the pair of scissors, which makes it impossible to effectively cut off the material head. In this case, it is necessary to repeatedly perform the cutting operation. If the controller does not have a repeated cutting instruction, the material head may be missed and phenomena such as material head looping or blocking of the optical fiber pipeline may occur. Practical new content

[0006] The utility model discloses a kind of automatic equal material cutting devices for optical fiber drawing, to solve the problem that material head is easily slipped from scissors in prior art and material head cannot be effectively cut.

[0007] To solve the above problems, the automatic equal material cutting device for optical fiber drawing adopts the following technical solutions:

[0008] An automatic equal material cutting device for optical fiber drawing, comprising a box body and a controller, the box body comprises a side wall and a top opening for the material head to fall into the inside of the box body, the side wall is provided with a material head cutting assembly and a material head sensing assembly for monitoring the falling of the material head, the material head cutting assembly comprises a straight cutting knife extending into the inside of the box body and a driving assembly for driving the cutting knife, a material head support plate for tightly supporting the material head with the cutting knife is also provided on the side wall opposite to the position of the cutting knife, the material head sensing assembly and the material head cutting assembly are connected with the controller, and the controller is used to start and reset the material head cutting assembly after a set time when the material head sensing assembly detects the material head.

[0009] Further, the material head support plate is a sawtooth-shaped material head support plate.

[0010] Further, the sawtooth-shaped material head support plate comprises an upper plate and a lower plate arranged relative to the position of the cutting knife, and a gap is formed between the upper plate and the lower plate for the cutting knife to enter to complete the cutting action of the material head.

[0011] Further, the driving assembly comprises a gas cylinder, the gas cylinder is provided with a piston rod reciprocating therein, the cutting knife comprises a blade for cutting the material head and a handle away from the blade, and the handle is connected with one end of the piston rod exposed from the gas cylinder.

[0012] Further, one end of the piston rod exposed from the gas cylinder is provided with a threaded segment on the handle, and the other end is provided with a threaded cap matched with the threaded segment.

[0013] Further, the blade of the cutting knife is an arc-shaped blade.

[0014] Further, the side wall is also provided with a positioning hole at a position parallel to the gas cylinder, the positioning hole is provided with a positioning rod reciprocating therein, and one end of the positioning rod extending into the inside of the box body is connected with the cutting knife.

[0015] Further, the side wall of the box body is also provided with a material collecting box for collecting the falling material head.

[0016] Further, the material receiving box is detachably connected with the side wall of the box body.

[0017] Further, the material head sensing assembly is an optical fiber sensor, and the optical fiber sensor is arranged with at least two along the circumference of the side wall.

[0018] Beneficial effects: the automatic equal material cutting device for optical fiber drawing is an opening invention. The automatic equal material cutting device for optical fiber drawing includes a box body and a controller. The box body can be used as a protective cover to avoid the situation that the cutting of the material head causes the flying of the debris and the occurrence of the safety accident. The controller can realize the automation control of the device, which is helpful to improve the production efficiency and reduce the labor cost. The material head sensing assembly can monitor whether the material head falls down, and then transmit the signal to the controller. In this process, the operator can simultaneously consider multiple devices without waiting for the material head in a device to fall down, which is helpful to optimize the resource allocation. The controller controls the driving assembly, and then drives the cutting knife to act. At this time, the cutting knife cooperates with the material head support plate. The material head support plate can support the cut material head, which is convenient for the cutting action of the cutting knife, can avoid the phenomenon that the material head slips or even slips off at the cutting knife, and is helpful to improve the reliability of the cutting device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 It is an embodiment schematic view of the automatic equal material cutting device for optical fiber drawing.

[0020] Figure 2 It is a top view of the automatic equal material cutting device for optical fiber drawing.

[0021] In the figure: 1, box body; 2, side wall; 3, top opening; 4, serrated material head support plate; 5, upper plate; 6, lower plate; 7, air cylinder; 8, knife handle; 9, arc-shaped blade; 10, positioning rod; 11, optical fiber sensor; 12, optical fiber; 13, induction furnace; 14, annealing tube; 15, handle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The features and performances of the utility model are further described in detail in combination with the embodiments.

[0023] The automatic equal material cutting device for optical fiber drawing utilizes the controller to realize the automation and intelligence of the cutting device, and the cooperation of the cutting knife and the serrated material head support plate can avoid the slipping of the material head, so as to ensure the effectiveness of the cutting work.

[0024] Based on the above invention concept, as a basic scheme, like Figures 1-2As shown, the automatic equal material cutting device for optical fiber drawing includes a box body 1 and a controller, the controller can select a PLC controller, the PLC controller is simple to install and can be directly operated in various industrial environments, when in use, only the on-site equipment and the corresponding port of the PLC controller need to be connected to put into operation, the box body 1 includes a side wall 2 and a top opening 3 for the material head to fall into the inside of the box body 1, the optical fiber 12 preform rod will become a molten state after being heated in the induction furnace 13 for a period of time, the end part begins to soften and melt to form a drop-shaped material head, then the material head passes through the annealing tube 14 and falls into the box body 1 of the cutting device, the box body 1 forms a protective cover to avoid the situation that the material head will produce splashing of debris when being cut off and cause a safety accident, the side wall 2 is provided with a material head cutting assembly and a material head induction assembly for monitoring the falling of the material head, the material head induction assembly can monitor whether the material head falls in real time, and the problem that the operator needs to wait for a long time for the material head to fall can be solved, so as to reduce the consumption of time, the material head cutting assembly includes a straight cutting knife extending into the inside of the box body 1 and a driving assembly for driving the cutting knife, the driving assembly can drive the action of the cutting knife after the material head is monitored by the material head induction assembly, without the participation of the operator, the driving assembly controlled by the controller has the advantages of fast and efficient reaction, the side wall 2 is also provided with a material head support plate for tightly supporting the material head with the cutting knife at the position opposite to the cutting knife, when the cutting knife cuts off the falling material head, the material head is pushed and tightly cooperates with the material head support plate to complete the cutting work, due to the supporting effect of the material head support plate, the material head is not easy to deviate or shake during the cutting process, the material head can be avoided to slip, so that the time of repeated cutting or the phenomenon of invalid cutting caused by the material head slipping is reduced, and the reliability of the cutting work is improved, the material head induction assembly and the driving assembly are connected with the controller, the controller is used for starting and resetting the material head cutting assembly at the set time after the material head is detected by the material head induction assembly, so that the automation and intelligent control of the two assemblies can be realized by the controller, when the material head induction assembly monitors the falling of the material head, a signal is transmitted to the controller, and then the driving assembly is controlled by the controller to push the cutting knife to complete the cutting work of the material head.

[0025] As a preferred embodiment, as Figure 1As shown, the material head support plate is a sawtooth material head support plate 4, which includes an upper plate 5 and a lower plate 6 arranged relative to the position of the cutting knife, and a gap is formed between the upper plate 5 and the lower plate 6 for the cutting knife to enter to complete the cutting action of the material head. When the cutting action of the material head is performed, the cutting knife pushes the material head to move, and at this time the material head on the upper and lower sides of the cutting knife abuts against the corresponding upper and lower plates, respectively. The cutting knife cuts the material head in the gap formed between the upper and lower plates. The sawtooth material head support plate 4 can support and limit the material head, which helps the cutting knife to cut the material head without slipping or slipping off, thereby improving the reliability of the device. In other embodiments, a wave-shaped material head support plate is provided, which has a structure similar to the sawtooth material head support plate 4 and can also achieve the effect of preventing the material head from slipping off.

[0026] As a preferred embodiment, the driving assembly includes a cylinder 7, which has a piston rod reciprocating therein. The cutting knife includes a blade for cutting the material head and a handle 8 away from the blade. The blade is precisely machined and made of high-strength material with excellent performance, which can make the cutting knife have excellent cutting performance and easily and quickly cut the material head. The handle 8 can be made of a strong and durable material, which can withstand a large cutting force and impact force, thereby prolonging its service life. The handle 8 is connected to one end of the piston rod exposed from the cylinder 7. The cylinder 7 can quickly convert the energy of compressed air into mechanical energy and drive the cutting knife to perform fast and accurate cutting operation. Moreover, the cylinder 7 is easy to control, and different cutting forces can be controlled by adjusting the air pressure in the cylinder 7. In other embodiments, a lead screw and a sliding rod can be provided. The sliding rail can move reciprocatingly along the lead screw by driving the lead screw to rotate by a motor, and the sliding rod is connected to the handle 8 to drive the cutting knife to act. Compared with the cylinder 7, the lead screw and the sliding rod have a slower response. By increasing the motor speed to make the lead screw rotate quickly, the lead screw may be fatigued and broken after a long time of high-speed rotation, and has a shorter service life. However, the purpose of driving the cutting knife to complete the cutting work can also be achieved.

[0027] As a preferred embodiment, one end of the piston rod exposed from the cylinder 7 is provided with a threaded section on the handle 8, and the other end is provided with a threaded cap matched with the threaded section. By screwing the threaded section and the threaded cap, the piston rod and the handle 8 of the cutting knife are tightly connected, and it is not easy to loosen or fall off. The threaded connection makes the installation between the piston rod and the handle 8 simple and fast. The operator only needs to align the threaded section with the threaded cap and tighten it to complete the installation without the need for additional auxiliary devices or tools. When the cutting knife needs to be replaced or the cylinder 7 needs to be repaired, the threaded connection also makes the disassembly process simple and convenient. Only by unscrewing the threaded cap can the replacement or repair work be carried out. In addition, the threaded connection has high applicability. The threaded connection is generally produced according to standard specifications in conventional production, which makes the piston rod and the cutting knife can be selected from different manufacturers to reduce procurement costs. In other embodiments, the butt joint and the matching butt groove can also achieve the connection of the piston rod and the cutting knife.

[0028] As a preferred embodiment, the cutting edge of the cutting knife is an arc-shaped cutting edge 9, which can gather the material head during the cutting process to ensure that the material head does not slide out of the arc-shaped cutting edge 9. In addition, the arc-shaped cutting edge 9 can better fit the material head being cut, thereby improving the cutting accuracy. In other embodiments, the cutting edge is not arc-shaped, but linear, and the length of the cutting edge is lengthened to avoid the phenomenon that the material head slides out of the cutting edge during the cutting process.

[0029] As a preferred embodiment, as shown in Figure 2 The side wall 2 is also provided with a positioning hole parallel to the cylinder 7. The positioning hole is provided with a positioning rod 10 that can reciprocate in the positioning hole. One end of the positioning rod 10 extends into the box body 1 and is connected with the cutting knife, so that it can move with the cutting knife. The positioning rod 10 can provide a stable guide for the cutting knife when it moves with the cutting knife, ensuring the linearity and stability of the cutting knife during movement. It can effectively prevent the cutting knife from rotating during movement, thereby helping to reduce invalid cutting or interference with the material head support plate caused by the rotation of the cutting knife. The positioning rod 10 can also share part of the load borne by the cutting knife during cutting, which helps to prolong the service life of the cutting knife and improve the reliability of the entire device.

[0030] As a preferred embodiment, the side wall 2 of the box 1 is further provided with a material head collecting box for collecting the dropped material head, which can effectively collect the cut material head to prevent the material head from scattering on the bottom of the box 1 and causing cleaning trouble, help to keep the inside of the box 1 clean, reduce cleaning time, improve work efficiency, and the material head collecting box and the side wall 2 of the box 1 are detachably connected, so that the material head collecting box and the box 1 can be set as a drawer type detachable connection, which is convenient to detach the material head collecting box from the side wall 2 of the box 1 after storing a certain amount of material head in the material head collecting box, simple and convenient, and a handle 15 can be installed on the material head collecting box to pull out the material head collecting box from the box 1 during disassembly. In other embodiments, a material head collecting hopper can be used to collect the material head, and the bottom opening of the material head collecting hopper is connected with another collecting box. When the collecting box is full, the collecting box can be cleaned externally without disassembling the material head collecting hopper. Although the entire device occupies more space, it can also collect the material head.

[0031] As a preferred embodiment, the material head sensing assembly is an optical fiber sensor 11, and at least two optical fiber sensors 11 are arranged along the circumference of the side wall 2. The optical fiber sensor 11 is a sensor that converts the state of the measured object into a measurable optical signal, has the advantages of high sensitivity and precision, and can accurately and quickly respond when the material head drops, and then transmit the signal to the controller. In addition, the main material of the optical fiber sensor 11 is quartz glass, which has very high durability and stability. Under normal use conditions, the service life of the optical fiber sensor 11 is long, which can reduce the cost of maintenance or replacement; at least two optical fiber sensors 11 are arranged along the side wall 2 of the box 1, which can further improve the accuracy of monitoring the dropping of the material head. When one of them fails, the other can continue to work to avoid downtime maintenance. The number of optical fiber sensors 11 can also be set according to the specific number of the side wall 2. In other embodiments, infrared sensors or laser sensors and other sensors can be selected, as long as the adopted sensors can accurately and quickly monitor the dropping of the material head.

[0032] The working process of the automatic equal-material cutting device for optical fiber drawing is as follows: Figures 1-2As shown, the material head drops from the annealing furnace 15 arranged below the induction furnace 13 and enters the box 1 of the device, when the material head drops to the position of the optical fiber sensor 11, the optical fiber sensor 11 transmits the signal of the material head dropping to the controller, and the controller controls the air cylinder 7, so that the air cylinder 7 drives the cutting knife to cut off the material head, at this time, the cutting knife pushes the material head to abut against the upper plate and the lower plate, the upper plate and the lower plate can be used as the support of the material head to avoid the material head from slipping off, then the cutting knife cuts off the material head in the gap formed between the upper plate and the lower plate, finally, the cut-off material head falls into the receiving box, when the device is used for many times, the material head accumulated in the receiving box will fill the receiving box, at this time, the receiving box can be directly taken out and the material head in the receiving box is cleaned to facilitate the subsequent use.

[0033] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and is not used to limit the present application, the patent protection scope of the present application is subject to the claims, any equivalent structural change made by using the content of the specification and drawings of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An automatic equal-material cutting device for optical fiber drawing, characterized in that, The application relates to a box and a controller, the box comprising a side wall and a top opening for a material head to fall into the box, the side wall being provided with a material head cutting assembly and a material head sensing assembly for monitoring the falling of the material head, the material head cutting assembly comprising a straight cutting knife extending into the box and a driving assembly for driving the cutting knife, the side wall being further provided with a material head supporting plate for abutting the material head in cooperation with the cutting knife at a position opposite to the cutting knife, the material head sensing assembly and the material head cutting assembly being connected with the controller, and the controller being used for starting and resetting the material head cutting assembly after a set time when the material head sensing assembly detects the material head.

2. The automatic equal material cutting-off device for optical fiber drawing according to claim 1, characterized by, The material head supporting plate is a sawtooth-shaped material head supporting plate.

3. The automatic constant material cutting-off apparatus for optical fiber drawing according to claim 2, wherein The sawtooth-shaped material head supporting plate comprises an upper plate and a lower plate arranged opposite to the position of the cutting knife, and a gap is formed between the upper plate and the lower plate for the cutting knife to enter to complete the cutting action.

4. The automatic constant material cutting-off apparatus for optical fiber drawing according to claim 1, characterized by The driving assembly comprises a cylinder, the cylinder being provided with a piston rod reciprocating in the cylinder, the cutting knife comprising a blade for cutting the material head and a handle opposite to the blade, and the handle being connected with one end of the piston rod exposed from the cylinder.

5. The automatic equal material cutting-off device for optical fiber drawing according to claim 4, wherein The one end of the piston rod exposed from the cylinder is provided with a threaded section, and the other end is provided with a threaded cap matched with the threaded section.

6. The automatic equal material cutting-off device for optical fiber drawing according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The blade of the cutting knife is an arc-shaped blade.

7. The automatic constant material cutting-off apparatus for optical fiber drawing according to claim 4, wherein The side wall is further provided with a positioning hole at a position parallel to the cylinder, the positioning hole being provided with a positioning rod reciprocating in the positioning hole, and one end of the positioning rod extending into the box being connected with the cutting knife.

8. The automatic constant material cutting-off apparatus for optical fiber drawing according to claim 1, wherein The side wall of the box is further provided with a material receiving box for collecting the falling material head.

9. The automatic constant material cutting-off apparatus for optical fiber drawing according to claim 8, wherein The material receiving box is detachably connected with the side wall of the box.

10. The automatic equal material cutting-off device for optical fiber drawing according to claim 1, characterized by, The material head sensing assembly is an optical fiber sensor, and at least two optical fiber sensors are arranged along the circumference of the side wall.

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