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US 4,230,473 AGranted
Method of fabricating optical fibers
AssigneeBell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated
InventorStewart E. Miller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The separate steps of forming an optical fiber preform and then drawing the fiber are combined into an essentially simultaneous process wherein a "stub" preform (18) is formed by means of the so-called "vapor-phase axial-deposition" method while the fiber (17) is simultaneously drawn from the end of the stub that is opposite to the end upon which the particulate matter (14, 15) is being deposited.
Claims6
A method of fabricating an optical fiber comprising the steps of:
- forming (11) particulate precursor material capable of being consolidated into a glass (16);
- directing a stream (14) of said particulate material onto a supporting member (10) where it is consolidated by heating (13) to form a stub preform;
- CHARACTERIZED IN THAT:
- said fiber (17) is continuously drawn from one end of said stub (18) as long as said particulate material continues to be deposited upon the opposite end of said stub.
1 more element
The method of fabricating an optical fiber comprising the steps of:
- providing sources of materials including silicon, oxygen and refractive index modifying dopants (40,41);
- combining (42, 46) said silicon, oxygen and selected dopants to form a plurality of streams (47, 48, 49) of particulate precursor material having different refractive indices;
- directing said streams onto a supporting member (58) where they are consolidated by heating (59) to form a stub preform;
- CHARACTERIZED IN THAT:
- said fiber (50) is continuously drawn from one end of said stub for as long as said particulate material continues to be deposited upon the opposite end of said stub.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.