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US 12,545,617 B2Granted
Method for processing glass filament
AssigneeMicrosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
InventorsSeyed Reza Sandoghchi, Peter Charles Shardlow, Andrew Paul Appleyard, Andrew Thomas Harker
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Abstract
A method of processing glass filament comprises: providing a length of glass filament from which a portion is to be separated from the remainder of the filament; directing energy onto the filament in order to cause a decrease in a width of the filament at a desired location for separation of the portion; and causing relative longitudinal movement between the portion and the remainder of the filament to separate the portion from the remainder of the filament at the desired location.
Claims20
A method of processing glass filament, comprising:
- providing a length of glass filament from which a portion is to be separated from the remainder of the filament, the filament having an internal structure comprising one or more longitudinal lumina;
- directing energy, in the form of one or more laser beams, plasma beams, or flames, onto the filament in order to cause a decrease in a width of the filament at a desired location for separation of the portion that is sufficient to cause ablation of the glass of the filament at the desired location, wherein the energy is directed at a non-orthogonal angle to the longitudinal axis of the filament and towards the portion so as to reduce condensation of vapour generated by the ablation inside the lumina in the remainder of the filament;
- and
- moving the portion away from the remainder of the filament to obtain the portion separated from the remainder of the filament, the separated portion forming a cane able to be drawn into an optical fibre.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.