Optical fiber cable and information management method for optical fiber cable

Abstract

An optical fiber cable (1) comprises a cable core (11) and an outer sheath (12) formed around the cable core (11). The dynamic coefficient of friction between the optical fiber cables (1) is 0.5 or less, and information relating to the optical fiber cable (1) is laser engraved on the outer sheath (12).

Description

Optical fiber cable and optical fiber cable information management method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an optical fiber cable and an information management method for an optical fiber cable.

[0002] Conventionally, techniques have been developed for checking information related to optical fiber cables, such as information related to the installation of the optical fiber cable. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for recording coded information related to the installation of an optical fiber cable on an installed optical cable, and reading out the coded information related to the installation of the optical fiber cable at the installation site of the optical fiber cable.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-21730

[0004] An optical fiber cable according to one aspect of the present disclosure is an optical fiber cable comprising a cable core and an outer sheath formed around the cable core, wherein the coefficient of dynamic friction between the optical fiber cables is 0.5 or less, and information regarding the optical fiber cable is laser engraved on the outer sheath.

[0005] An information management method for an optical fiber cable according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a method for managing information about an optical fiber cable comprising: a cable core; and an outer sheath formed around the cable core, wherein the coefficient of dynamic friction between the optical fiber cables is 0.5 or less; and cable information about the optical fiber cable is laser engraved on the outer sheath, and the information management method includes the steps of reading the cable information; and displaying the cable information.

[0006] Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an optical fiber cable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for reading cable information stored in the code illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of an operation for reading cable information stored in the code illustrated in Fig. 1.

[0007] [Problem to be Solved by the Present Disclosure] In the method described in Patent Document 1, printed paper is attached to the jacket of the optical cable. However, in the case of an optical fiber cable that is laid by air pressure feeding, the printed paper attached to the jacket may be rubbed and peeled off during laying, etc.

[0008] The present disclosure aims to provide an optical fiber cable and an information management method for optical fiber cables that allow information about the optical fiber cable to be easily confirmed and ensures the identifiability of the information.

[0009] Effect of the Present Disclosure According to the present disclosure, information about an optical fiber cable can be easily confirmed, and the identifiability of the information can be ensured.

[0010] (Description of Embodiments of the Present Disclosure) First, embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described. An optical fiber cable according to one aspect of the present disclosure is: (1) an optical fiber cable including a cable core; and an outer jacket formed around the cable core, wherein the coefficient of dynamic friction between the optical fiber cables is 0.5 or less, and information about the optical fiber cable is laser engraved on the outer jacket. As such, since the optical fiber cable has a coefficient of dynamic friction of 0.5 or less, it is easy to lay by air pressure feeding, towing, or the like. Furthermore, even when laid by air pressure feeding, towing, or the like, the information about the optical fiber cable is provided by forming unevenness on the outer jacket through laser engraving, so that the engraving can be prevented from being erased due to friction, etc. during laying. Therefore, information about the optical fiber cable can be easily confirmed, and the identifiability of the information can be ensured.

[0011] (2) In the optical fiber cable of (1), the dynamic friction coefficient may be 0.3 or less. This is particularly effective for optical fiber cables with a lower dynamic friction coefficient.

[0012] (3) In the optical fiber cable of (1) or (2), a two-dimensional code containing information about the optical fiber cable may be laser-engraved on the jacket. With this configuration, for example, a URL of a web page containing information about the optical fiber cable may be engraved as a two-dimensional code, thereby making it possible to present a large amount of information.

[0013] (4) In the optical fiber cable according to any one of (1) to (3), the jacket may be formed of a material having a carbon content of less than 2% by mass. This configuration makes the markings on the jacket more visible.

[0014] (5) In the optical fiber cable according to any one of (1) to (4), the jacket may be formed of a material having a silicone additive content ranging from 0.1% by mass to 0.5% by mass. With this configuration, when the optical fiber cable is laid by air pressure feeding, for example, the jackets can slide easily when they are in contact with each other, making the laying work easier.

[0015] (6) In the optical fiber cable according to any one of (1) to (5), the jacket may be formed of a material to which a laser sensitizer is added. With this configuration, laser marking can be performed on the jacket by irradiating the jacket with a laser beam.

[0016] (7) In the optical fiber cable according to any one of (1) to (6), the jacket may be laser engraved with information relating to the installation of the optical fiber cable. With this configuration, it is possible to provide useful information to an operator when installing the optical fiber cable.

[0017] (8) An information management method for an optical fiber cable according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a method for managing information about an optical fiber cable including a cable core and a jacket formed around the cable core, wherein the coefficient of dynamic friction between the optical fiber cables is 0.5 or less, and cable information about the optical fiber cable is laser-engraved on the jacket, the information management method including the steps of reading the cable information and displaying the cable information. Since the optical fiber cable has a coefficient of dynamic friction of 0.5 or less, it is easy to lay the cable by air pressure feeding, towing, or the like. Even when the cable is laid by air pressure feeding, towing, or the like, the information about the optical fiber cable is provided by forming unevenness on the jacket through laser engraving, so that the engraving can be prevented from being erased due to friction during laying. Therefore, information about the optical fiber cable can be easily confirmed, and the identifiability of the information can be ensured.

[0018] (Details of the embodiment of the present disclosure) Specific examples of optical fiber cables according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to these examples, but is defined by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

[0019] (Configuration of Optical Fiber Cable) Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an optical fiber cable 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 1 shows a state in which each optical fiber cable 1 is laid inside a sub-duct 2, and further, a plurality of sub-ducts 2 are laid inside a main duct 3. The optical fiber cable 1 is, for example, a microduct cable that is laid inside the sub-duct 2 by air pressure feeding or pulling, and has an outer diameter of approximately 20 mm. Note that an optical fiber cable 1 with a small radius of curvature makes it difficult to read a code 15, which will be described later, so the outer diameter of the optical fiber cable 1 is preferably 6 mm or more.

[0020] The optical fiber cable 1 includes a cable core 11 and a jacket 12 formed around the cable core 11. The cable core 11 includes an optical fiber ribbon 16 including a plurality of optical fiber cores 13, and a water-absorbing tape 14 covering the plurality of optical fiber ribbons 16. For example, the optical fiber cores 13 constituting the optical fiber ribbon 16 may be intermittently connected to each other along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber cable 1. The plurality of optical fiber cores 13 are in the form of an optical fiber ribbon connected to each other, but may also be single-core. The water-absorbing tape 14 is wound longitudinally or horizontally around the plurality of optical fiber ribbons 16. The optical fiber cable 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a slotless type, but may also be a slotted type.

[0021] The jacket 12 is made of a resin such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and is formed by extrusion molding around the water-absorbing tape 14. The jacket 12 is preferably made of a material with a silicone additive content ranging from 0.1% to 0.5% by mass. In this case, when the optical fiber cable 1 is laid, the jackets 12 can be made to slide easily when the jackets 12 are in contact with each other or with the subduct 2, making the laying work easier.

[0022] The coefficient of dynamic friction between the optical fiber cables 1 is 0.5 or less, and more preferably 0.3 or less. Since the coefficient of dynamic friction between the optical fiber cables 1 is low, laying work by air pressure feeding, pulling, etc. can be easily performed.

[0023] (Laser Engraving on Sheath) A code 15 storing information about the optical fiber cable 1 (hereinafter referred to as "cable information") is laser engraved on the sheath 12. In the example shown in Fig. 1, a QR Code (registered trademark) that can record a large amount of information such as letters and numbers by combining white cells and black cells and that can be read at high speed is attached to the sheath 12 as the code 15.

[0024] More specifically, for example, a laser photosensitive agent is added to the jacket 12. After the jacket 12 is formed, the jacket 12 to which the laser photosensitive agent has been added is irradiated with laser light, causing the laser photosensitive agent to react and creating a depression in a portion of the jacket 12, thereby attaching the highly abrasion-resistant cord 15 to the jacket 12. The cord 15 is preferably colored a different color from the jacket 12, making it easy to identify the location where the cord 15 is attached.

[0025] The cable information includes, for example, information about the installation of the optical fiber cable 1. Specifically, the cable information includes at least one of information about the optical fiber cable 1, such as the manufacturer, the year of manufacture, the number of optical fiber cores, the allowable tension, and the allowable bending diameter.

[0026] Furthermore, the outer jacket 12 is formed from a material with a carbon content greater than zero mass % and less than 2 mass %. If the material of the outer jacket 12 contains a large amount of carbon, the laser sensitizer may not react well to the laser light, which may prevent clear marking. Therefore, by reducing the carbon content of the outer jacket 12 as described above, the cord 15 can be clearly marked on the outer jacket 12.

[0027] (Flow of operation for reading cable information) Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a method for reading cable information stored in the code 15 shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of operation for reading cable information stored in the code 15 shown in Fig. 1.

[0028] 2, the jacket 12 is laser engraved at a plurality of locations at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber cable 1. The predetermined intervals fall within a range of, for example, 30 cm to 1 m. The plurality of codes 15 attached to the same optical fiber cable 1 may store, for example, the same cable information, or different cable information.

[0029] Referring to Figures 2 and 3, first, a worker laying the optical fiber cable 1 checks one of the multiple cords 15 before or during the installation work, and takes a photo of that cord 15 using a device 21 with a photographing function and a display function, such as a smartphone (step S11).

[0030] Next, after photographing the code 15, the device 21 reads the cable information stored in the code 15 (step S12). Then, the device 21 displays the read cable information, for example, on a screen provided on the device 21 (step S13). In Fig. 3, as an example, a list of the manufacturer, manufacturing year, number of optical fiber cores, allowable tension, and allowable bending diameter of the optical fiber cable 1 is displayed on the screen.

[0031] In this way, by displaying the cable information on the screen of the device 21, the worker can easily check information related to the installation of the optical fiber cable 1 before or during the installation work. Note that the device 21 is not limited to a smartphone, and may be AR (Argumented Reality) glasses or the like.

[0032] Furthermore, a two-dimensional or one-dimensional code other than a QR code may be laser engraved on the jacket 12, or characters related to the optical fiber cable 1 may be laser engraved. Furthermore, the code 15 may store a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a web page describing cable information. In this case, the device 21 can, for example, after capturing an image of the code 15, display the web page describing the cable information on a screen based on the URL or the like stored in the code 15.

[0033] The code 15 may also store identification information for the optical fiber cable 1 (hereinafter referred to as "cable ID"), an IP (Internet Protocol) address of an external server that manages cable information, and the like.

[0034] In this case, the device 21 can read, for example, the cable ID and IP address stored in the code 15, and, based on the cable ID and IP address, request cable information about the optical fiber cable 1 from an external server via a network. When the external server receives the cable ID transmitted from the device 21, it transmits the cable information about the optical fiber cable 1 corresponding to the cable ID to the device 21, and the device 21 can display the cable information transmitted from the external server on a screen.

[0035] In addition, by inputting various information into the device 21, such as the model of the pumping device, the pumping route, the diameter of the sub-duct 2, the radius of curvature of the sub-duct 2, and the outside air temperature, the worker can obtain more detailed information about cable pumping, such as the expected pumping distance and precautions to take when pumping.

[0036] Specifically, when the device 21 reads the cable ID and IP address stored in the code 15, it transmits the above-mentioned various information input by the worker and the cable ID to an external server based on the IP address.

[0037] The external server stores a database in which, for example, various information related to cable laying, cable ID, expected pumping distance, precautions to take when pumping, and results of past pumping tests are associated with each other. When the external server receives the various information and cable ID transmitted from the device 21, it can read out the expected pumping distance and precautions to take when pumping based on the various information and cable ID, and transmit the read information to the device 21. This makes it possible to present more detailed information related to cable pumping to the worker.

[0038] In addition, a dedicated portal site may be used to access the database on the external server, and a system may be adopted in which only authorized persons can log in.

[0039] Although the present disclosure has been described above based on specific embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these examples, but is defined by the scope of the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.

[0040] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 optical fiber cable 2 sub-duct 3 main duct 11 cable core 12 jacket 13 optical fiber core 14 water-absorbing tape 15 cord 16 optical fiber ribbon 21 equipment

Claims

1. A cable core; an outer jacket formed around the cable core, The coefficient of dynamic friction between the optical fiber cables is 0.5 or less, An optical fiber cable in which information about the optical fiber cable is laser engraved on the outer jacket.

2. 2. The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein the coefficient of dynamic friction is 0.3 or less.

3. 3. The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein a two-dimensional code containing information about the optical fiber cable is laser engraved on the jacket.

4. 3. The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein the jacket is formed from a material having a carbon content of less than 2% by mass.

5. 3. The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein the jacket is formed from a material having a silicone content in the range of 0.1% by mass to 0.5% by mass.

6. 3. The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein the jacket is formed from a material to which a laser sensitizer is added.

7. 3. The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein information relating to the installation of the optical fiber cable is laser engraved on the jacket.

8. A cable core; and an outer jacket formed around the cable core, The coefficient of dynamic friction between the optical fiber cables is 0.5 or less, cable information relating to the optical fiber cable is laser engraved on the jacket; The information management method includes: reading the cable information; and displaying the cable information.