Method and apparatus for reclaiming gas in a fiber draw furnace
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsNikolaos Pantelis Kladias, Yunfei Shao, Xiaoyong Wang, Chunfeng Zhou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fiber draw furnace includes a heated section configured to contain and heat a glass source from which an optical fiber is drawn. A lower extended muffle having a first end and a second end. A gas screen is coupled to the second end of the lower extended muffle configured to allow a gas to flow into the lower extended muffle. A reclaim cylinder is coupled to the lower extended muffle including an outer housing defining a reclaim chamber. A plurality of reclaim ports are tangentially coupled to the outer housing and an inner housing is positioned within the outer housing.
Claims12
A fiber draw furnace, comprising:
- a heated section configured to contain and heat a glass source from which an optical fiber is drawn;
- a lower extended muffle having a first end and a second end;
- a gas screen coupled to the second end of the lower extended muffle configured to allow a gas to flow into the lower extended muffle;
- and
- a reclaim cylinder coupled to the lower extended muffle, comprising:
- an outer housing defining a reclaim chamber, wherein a plurality of reclaim ports are tangentially coupled to the outer housing and wherein the plurality of reclaim ports are configured to generate a gas vortex within the reclaim chamber;
- and
- an inner housing positioned within the outer housing.
A fiber draw furnace, comprising:
- a heated section configured to contain and heat a glass source from which an optical fiber is drawn;
- a top gas screen coupled to a first end of the heated section and configured to pass a first gas into the heated section;
- a reclaim cylinder coupled to a second end of the heated section, comprising:
- an outer housing defining a reclaim chamber comprising a plurality of reclaim ports coupled thereto, wherein the plurality of reclaim ports are substantially tangentially orientated to an exterior surface of the outer housing;
- and
- an inner housing positioned within the outer housing, the inner housing defining a barbed inlet;
- a lower extended muffle having a first end coupled to the reclaim cylinder;
- and
- a bottom gas screen coupled to a second end of the lower extended muffle and configured to pass a second gas into the lower extended muffle;
- and
- an adapter tube extending from the second end of the lower extended muffle toward the first end that is substantially coaxial with the lower extended muffle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.