WELDING METHOD FOR OPTICAL FIBER

PURPOSE:To connecting optical fibers with small loss by varying discharge power according to variation in outside diameter even when the optical fibers differ in outside diameter. CONSTITUTION:Electrode rods 2 are arranged opposite each other at right angles to optical fibers 1 set on V-groove base 3. A light source 6 and an outside diameter detecting device 7 are arranged symmetrically about the axis of the optical fibers 1, and consequently the outside diameters of the optical fibers 1 are detected without contacting. The detected outside diameters of the optical fibers 1 are sent to an outside diameter detection processing circuit 8, and a calculation expression wherein a discharging current or discharging time is varied according to the outside diameters of the optical fibers is programmed, the detected outside diameters of the optical fibers 1 are collated, and the discharge power of the electrode rods 2 is varied according to the outside diameters through a discharging circuit 10. Consequently, a welding method for optical fibers which makes a low-loss connection is obtained.