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US 12,742,938 B2Granted
Fiber alignment system
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsAlejandro Aguilar, Jinxin Huang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical fiber alignment system is disclosed. The alignment system includes a reflective mirror, an image capturing system, and a data processing system. The reflective mirror is configured to simultaneously reflect a first illuminated image of a first optical fiber and a second illuminated image of a second optical fiber. The image capturing system is configured to receive the reflected first and second illuminated images and to convert the first and second illuminated images into computer-readable image data. The data processing system is configured to receive the image data from the image capturing system and to control movement of at least one of the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber based upon the image data.
Claims17
An optical fiber alignment system comprising:
- a first illumination system configured to illuminate a first singe-core optical fiber;
- a second illumination system comprising one or more light sources configured to at least partially radially surround a second multi-core optical fiber to provide illumination radiation from a position radially outward and directed radially inward of the second multi-core optical fiber towards at least one core of the second multi-core optical fiber to illuminate the second multi-core optical fiber;
- a reflective mirror configured to simultaneously reflect a first illuminated image of the first single-core optical fiber and a second illuminated image of the second multi-core optical fiber,
- the reflective mirror being configured to move from a first position to a second position wherein the reflective mirror is disposed between the first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber in the first position, and the reflective mirror is not disposed between the first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber in the second position;
- an image capturing system configured to receive the reflected first and second illuminated images and to convert the first and second illuminated images into computer-readable image data;
- a data processing system configured to receive the image data from the image capturing system and to control movement of at least one of the first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber based upon the image data;
- and
- a measurement device configured to measure one or more properties of the first singe-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber when coupled together, the measurement device being connected to the single-core optical fiber to measure the one or more properties.
5 more elements
A method of aligning optical fibers, the method comprising:
- illuminating a first single-core optical fiber with a first illumination system;
- positioning one or more light sources of a second illumination system around a second multi-core optical fiber to illuminate the second multi-core optical fiber so that the one or more light sources at least partially surrounds the second multi-core optical fiber, the one or more light sources providing illumination radiation from a position radially outward and directed radially inward of the second multi-core optical fiber towards at least one core of the second multi-core optical fiber to illuminate the second multi-core optical fiber;
- simultaneously reflecting illuminated images of the first single core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber from a reflective mirror and onto an image capturing system;
- converting the reflected images to computer-readable image data with the image capturing system;
- processing the image data with a data processing system to determine an alignment error of the first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber;
- based upon the alignment error, moving the first single-core optical fiber relative to the second multi-core optical fiber;
- moving the reflective mirror from a first position to a second position wherein the reflective mirror is disposed between the first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber in the first position, and the reflective mirror is not disposed between the first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber in the second position;
- coupling the first single-core optical fiber with the second multi-core optical fiber;
- and
- measuring one or more properties of the coupled first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber with a measurement device that is connected to the first single-core optical fiber.
7 more elements
An optical fiber alignment system comprising:
- a first illumination system configured to illuminate a first singe-core optical fiber;
- a second illumination system configured to illuminate a second multi-core optical fiber;
- a reflective mirror configured to simultaneously reflect a first illuminated image of the first single-core optical fiber and a second illuminated image of the second multi-core optical fiber,
- the reflective mirror being configured to move from a first position to a second position, wherein the reflective mirror is disposed between the first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber in the first position, and the reflective mirror is not disposed between the first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber in the second position;
- an image capturing system configured to simultaneously receive the reflected first and second illuminated images and to convert the first and second illuminated images into computer-readable image data;
- a data processing system configured to receive the image data from the image capturing system and to control movement of at least one of the first single-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber based upon the image data;
- and
- a measurement device configured to measure one or more properties of the first singe-core optical fiber and the second multi-core optical fiber when coupled together, the measurement device being connected to the single-core optical fiber to measure the one or more properties.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.