Fiber optic patch cord production display

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1. Cable Cutting and Pre-treatment

• Cable Trimming: Use a cable trimming machine or aramid scissors to cut the optical cable according to the required length (e.g. 3 meters), while retaining sufficient filament (Kevlar fibers) to enhance the tensile strength.

• Fiber Removal: Use fiber removal pliers to remove the outer protective sleeve of the fiber (e.g. 900 μm buffer layer), exposing the bare fiber. It is important to ensure that the length of fiber removal matches the core, and avoid damaging the fiber cladding (especially for single-mode fibers, the cladding is more sensitive to damage).

• Cleaning: Use alcohol cotton or an ultrasonic cleaning machine to remove impurities on the fiber surface, ensuring that the end faces are free from contamination.

2. Component Assembly

• Inserting Components: Sequentially insert the tail sleeve, ring, wine glass, stopper ring, etc. into the optical fiber, leaving a length of 0.6 - 0.75 meters. Ensure the sequence is correct and no components are missed.

• Inserting Core Assembly: Insert the optical fiber into the pre-applied glue-filled core (such as a ceramic core), and pull back 1mm to confirm that the fiber is not broken. The glue is usually 353ND epoxy glue (ratio 10:1), and it needs to be stirred at high speed to remove air bubbles.

• Curing: Place the core in the curing oven. For single-mode optical fibers, the curing temperature is 105℃, and for multimode, it is 115 - 120℃. The curing time is approximately 30 minutes. The gel turns brown, indicating that the curing is complete.

3. End face grinding

• Debonding and rough grinding: Use sandpaper or a grinding machine to remove the excess glue on the end face of the plug core, and initially smooth the end face.

• Progressive grinding: Use 9μm, 3μm, 1μm and ADS grinding discs for multiple levels of grinding, and each step requires ultrasonic cleaning. The grinding time is adjusted according to the newness of the grinding discs (about 50 seconds per step).

• Polishing: The final grinding uses ultra-fine grinding discs (such as 0.05μm) to ensure the end face is smooth without scratches, black spots or glue residue.

4. End face inspection and testing

• End face inspection: Use a 400x end inspection instrument to observe the end face. The qualified standard is no defects and clear light transmission points. Common defects include moon-shaped fibers, gel ring cracks, etc.

• Optical testing:

◦ Insertion loss test: Insertion loss (IL) ≤ 0.3 dB, return loss (RL) for single-mode ≥ 50 dB, multi-mode ≥ 20 dB.

◦ Three-dimensional interference test: Detect parameters such as curvature radius (R), vertex offset (L), and fiber height (H). For APC type, the 8° inclined angle also needs to be checked.

• Cleaning and dust prevention: After testing, use a tape-type cleaner or pen-type cleaner to clean the end face and install a dust cover.

5. Final Assembly and Packaging

• Tail Sleeve Pressing: After cutting the polypropylene filament, insert the spring and stop ring into the core, and fix the tail sleeve with a pressing tool to ensure a secure connection.

• Packaging: After winding and tying the wires, place them in an anti-static bag or blow-molded packaging film, and mark the length, interface type (such as LC/SC), fiber optic model (single mode/multi-mode), etc.

• Quality Inspection: The QA department randomly samples and tests the finished products to ensure they comply with industry standards (such as TIA/EIA-568).

Key process control points:

• Grinding accuracy: The material of the grinding sheet (tungsten steel with appropriate hole diameter) and the grinding pressure directly affect the quality of the end face.

• Glue ratio: The 353ND glue must be mixed strictly in a 10:1 ratio. High-temperature curing is used to avoid stress damage to the optical fiber.

• Environmental control: The production environment needs to be dust-proof, temperature and humidity-controlled to avoid static electricity from contaminating the optical fiber end face.

Through the above process, optical fiber patch cords can achieve low-loss and high-reliability connection performance, and are suitable for communication, data center and other scenarios.