Method for forming a porous glass preform
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsJohn S. Abbott, Mark C. Bertz, James H. Faler, William Schirmer, III, John G. Williams
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for rapidly forming a porous glass preform is provided in which an array of burners is oscillated along a path parallel to the longitudinal axis of the preform. Unlike existing soot deposition techniques, the oscillation amplitude is limited so that each burner deposits soot on only a portion of the preform, e.g., 20% of the preform. By controlling inter-burner variability and the air flow in the burner-array/preform region, preforms having substantially uniform axial properties are obtained notwithstanding the fact that different burners are used to laydown different parts of the preform.
Claims8
A method for forming an elongated, substantially-porous, glass preform comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing an elongated cylindrical starting member;
- (b) providing an array of soot-producing burners;
- and
- (c) depositing glass soot on the starting member to form the preform by producing relative oscillatory motion with varying turn-around points between the array of soot-producing burners and the starting member while maintaining the preform substantially from from unidirectional longitudinal motion.
A method for forming an elongated, substantially-porous, glass preform comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing an elongated cylindrical starting member;
- (b) providing an array of soot-producing burners;
- and
- (c) depositing glass soot on the starting member to form the preform by producing relative oscillatory motion with varying turn-around points between the array of soot-producing burners and the starting member such that each burner in the array deposits soot on only a portion of the usable length of the preform, wherein said usable length of the preform is the length of said preform having substantially uniform properties and a substantially uniform diameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.