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US 4,410,344 AGranted
Optical waveguide fiber draw guiding and coating method and apparatus
AssigneeWestern Electric Company, Inc.
InventorRama Iyengar
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AssigneeWestern Electric Company, Inc.
InventorRama Iyengar
Estimating the term…
A method of uniformly coating an optical waveguide fiber 10 comprises the steps of suspending an elongated glassy optical fiber preform 11 in an upright orientation from a preform holder that includes a collet 14 to which an x-y translator 15 is coupled, heating the preform, and drawing fiber from the bottom of the heated preform. The drawn fiber is passed through a tubular coating applicator 32 located beneath the preform, and the position of the fiber is sensed as it is being drawn. In response to sensed deviations in fiber position from along a preselected path that extends through the tubular coating applicator along the applicator axis, the preform is repositioned by horizontal movement of the preform holder so as to return the drawn fiber to the preselected path and thereby maintain its travel through the coating applicator substantially along the applicator axis.
A method of guiding an optical waveguide fiber being drawn from an optical waveguide fiber preform comprising the steps of sensing an actual position of the fiber, comparing the sensed position with a preselected position located along a preselected path of fiber travel, and moving the preform in response to deviations in the sensed position from the preselected position so as to maintain the fiber travelling substantially along the preselected path.
A method of uniformly coating an optical waveguide fiber comprising the steps of positioning an elongated glassy optical fiber preform in an upright orientation;
Apparatus for guiding an optical waveguide fiber as it is drawn from a heated optical fiber preform and with the apparatus comprising, in combination, means for sensing an actual position of the fiber, means for comparing the sensed position with a preselected position located along a preselected path of fiber travel, and means for repositioning the preform in response to deviations in the sensed position from the preselected position so as to maintain the fiber travelling substantially along the preselected path.
Apparatus for uniformly coating an optical waveguide fiber as it is drawn from an optical fiber preform comprising, in combination, tubular applicator means for applying liquid coating material to the fiber as it passes therethrough;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.