Method of manufacturing an optical fiber and production system therefor
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsMaxim Evgenyevich Blyum, Elena Alekseevna Chizhova-Notkina, Nikolay Anatolyevich Panin
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing optical fiber in an optical fiber production system is provided. The method includes providing a draw furnace operatively coupled to a slow cooling device along a draw pathway, drawing the optical fiber from an optical fiber preform in the draw furnace and along the draw pathway, heat treating the optical fiber in the slow cooling device positioned along the draw pathway, the slow cooling device comprising an inlet, an outlet, and a process tube extending between the inlet and the outlet, and selecting an opening size of an outlet nozzle operatively coupled to the outlet based on a draw speed of the optical fiber.
Claims18
A method of manufacturing optical fiber in an optical fiber production system, the method comprising:
- providing a draw furnace operatively coupled to a slow cooling device along a draw pathway;
- drawing the optical fiber from an optical fiber preform in the draw furnace and along the draw pathway in a draw direction;
- heat treating the optical fiber in the slow cooling device positioned along the draw pathway, the slow cooling device comprising an inlet, an outlet, and a process tube extending between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the optical fiber induces a gas boundary layer extending outward from the optical fiber and moving in the draw direction;
- and
- adjusting an opening size of an outlet nozzle operatively coupled to the outlet with an actuator based on a draw speed of the optical fiber, wherein the opening size of the outlet nozzle is selected to have a first opening size at a first draw speed and a second opening size that is greater than the first opening size at a second draw speed that is greater than the first draw speed, and wherein the induced gas boundary layer is larger at the second draw speed compared to the first draw speed.
An optical fiber production system comprising:
- a draw furnace configured to draw an optical fiber from an optical preform along a draw pathway extending from the draw furnace, in a draw direction;
- a slow cooling device positioned along the draw pathway, wherein the slow cooling device comprises:
- an inlet;
- an outlet;
- and
- a process tube extending between the inlet and the outlet;
- an adjustable outlet nozzle located proximate to the outlet, wherein the adjustable outlet nozzle has an outlet opening size configured to be adjusted based on draw speed of the optical fiber, wherein the outlet opening size of the adjustable outlet nozzle is selected to have a first opening size at a first draw speed and a second opening size that is greater than the first opening size at a second draw speed that is greater than the first draw speed;
- a fiber collection unit positioned along the draw pathway;
- and
- a gas distribution assembly positioned along the draw pathway and fluidly coupled to the outlet and structurally configured to induce gas flow from the gas distribution assembly into the process tube such that gas flows within the process tube in an upward direction, wherein the slow cooling device is positioned between the draw furnace and the gas distribution assembly, wherein the optical fiber drawn through the process tube induces a gas boundary layer extending outward from the optical fiber and moving in the draw direction, and wherein the induced gas boundary layer is larger at the second draw speed compared to the first draw speed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.