Apparatus and methods for detecting stray optical fibers during winding

A method of detecting a whipping tail in a fiber winding system, comprising:

• a) winding a fiber onto a winding surface of a rotating spool having a rotation axis and opposing outer flanges by passing the fiber through a containment region formed between the rotating spool and a containment shield operably disposed relative to and spaced apart from the winding surface, thereby forming on the winding surface a wound fiber having a wound fiber surface, and wherein the whipping tail extend outwardly from the wound fiber surface;
• b) directing a light beam proximate the rotating spool and through the containment region such that the whipping tail substantially periodically passes through at least a portion of the light beam to form intensity dips in the light beam to form from the light beam a modulated light beam;
• c) converting the modulated light beam into a digital signal comprising electrical pulses having an electrical pulse timing as defined by the intensity dips;
• and
• d) comparing the electrical pulse timing to an estimated timing of the whipping tail based on at least one operational parameter of the fiber winding system.

A fiber winding system for winding a fiber and that can detect a whipping tail, comprising:

• a) a spool configured to rotate about a rotation axis, the spool having a winding surface on which the fiber is wound to form a wound fiber, wherein the whipping tail extends outwardly from the wound fiber;
• b) a feed mechanism configured to feed the fiber onto the spool surface at a line speed;
• c) a whip shield operably disposed relative to the spool to form a containment region between the spool and the whip shield;
• d) a whipping tail detection apparatus comprising:
• i) a light source configured to emit a light beam over an optical path that is substantially parallel to the rotation axis, that traverses the containment region so that the whipping tail if present substantially periodically passes through at least a portion of the light beam due to the rotation of the spool to form a series of intensity dips in the light beam to form therefrom a modulated light beam;
• and
• ii) a light detector configured to detect the modulated light beam and form therefrom an analog electrical signal having a series of signal dips defined by the series of intensity dips;
• and
• iii) a controller configured to receive and process the analog electrical signal to establish the presence of the whipping tail by comparing a timing of the signal dips to an estimated whipping tail timing.