Method for processing glass filament
AssigneeMicrosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
InventorsSeyed Reza SANDOGHCHI, Peter Charles SHARDLOW, Andrew Paul APPLEYARD, Andrew Thomas HARKER
Life of this patent
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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 device for drawing glass filament from a preform, comprising:
- a pair of rotatable belts each having a movable surface rotatable about an axis of rotation, the belts arrangeable into positions in which the movable surfaces are facing with a separation to receive and grip the glass filament, movement of the surfaces acting to pull the filament away from the preform along a direction of a longitudinal axis of the filament,
- in which the axes of rotation of the belts are locatable at opposite and substantially equal non-orthogonal angles to the pull direction, in order to impart a rotation to the filament about its longitudinal axis.
A device for drawing glass filament from a preform, comprising:
- a first rotatable belt having a first movable surface rotatable about a first axis of rotation;
- a second rotatable belt having a second movable surface rotatable about a second axis of rotation, wherein:
- the first movable surface faces the second movable surface;
- the first movable surface is separated by a separation that receives and grips the glass filament;
- the separation has a width (W);
- and
- movement of the first movable surface and the second movable surface acts to pull the glass filament away from the preform along a longitudinal axis of the filament.
A device for drawing glass filament from a preform, comprising:
- a first pair of drive wheels;
- a first rotatable belt having a first movable surface rotatable about a first axis of rotation, wherein the first rotatable belt forms a continuous loop around the first pair of drive wheels;
- a second pair of drive wheels;
- a second rotatable belt having a second movable surface rotatable about a second axis of rotation, wherein:
- the second rotatable belt forms a continuous loop around the second pair of drive wheels;
- the first movable surface faces the second movable surface;
- the first movable surface is separated by a separation that receives and grips the glass filament;
- and
- movement of the first movable surface and the second movable surface acts to pull the glass filament away from the preform along a longitudinal axis of the filament and rotate the glass filaments as the glass filament is pulled away from the preform.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.