Method and apparatus for drawing optical fiber
AssigneesHitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Cable, Ltd.
InventorsKatsuyuki Imoto, Gyozo Toda, Masao Sumi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
For drawing an optical fiber from an optical fiber preform there are provided means for heating an optical fiber preform, means for pulling out an optical fiber from the optical fiber preform whose fore end part has been fused by heating, and means for causing gas to flow along the outer peripheral surface of the fused part of the optical fiber preform. By further controlling the flow rate of the gas and/or the pulling-out velocity for the optical fiber according to fluctuations in the fiber diameter of the optical fiber, an optical fiber of uniform fiber diameter is easily provided.
Claims30
In an apparatus for drawing an optical fiber having a heater for heating an optical fiber preform and a pulling arrangement for drawing out an optical fiber from said preform, the forward end portion of which has been fused by said heater, the improvement comprising:
- first means for detecting the diameter of said optical fiber, and
- second means for controlling a predetermined amount of gas flow along the outer peripheral surface of the fused part of said preform in response to detected fluctuations of said optical fiber diameter.
In a process for drawing an optical fiber from an optical fiber preform, wherein the preform is heated and an optical fiber is drawn out from said preform, the forward-end portion of which having been fused by supplying heat to said preform, the improvement comprising the steps of detecting the diameter of said optical fiber, and preventing variations in the diameter of the optical fiber drawn from said preform due to changes in gas flow along the outer peripheral surface of said preform by controlling a predetermined amount of gas flow along the outer peripheral surface of the fused part of said preform in response to detected fluctuations of said optical fiber diameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.