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AssigneeAlcatel Alsthom Compagnie Generale d'Electricite
InventorsJacques Goudeau, Henri Marc Michaud, Jean-Philippe Francois, Thierry Auvray, Michel Hertz, Patrick McKenzie
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The fiber-drawing furnace includes a graphite tube positioned vertically, heated by induction, and subjected internally to an inert atmosphere, said tube internally defining a fiber-drawing chamber. In the furnace said graphite tube is a double-walled tube having an inner wall and an outer wall, its inner wall is porous and separates the fiber-drawing chamber from a peripheral chamber defined between the walls and subjected to a flow of inert gas which diffuses through said porous wall into said fiber-drawing chamber. Application to drawing down an optical-fiber preform.
A fiber-drawing furnace for drawing down an optical-fiber preform into an optical fiber, said furnace including a graphite tube positioned vertically, heated by induction, and subjected internally to an inert atmosphere, said tube internally defining a fiber-drawing chamber and receiving said preform via the top end of said chamber, wherein said graphite tube is a double-walled tube having an inner wall and an outer wall, its inner wall is made of porous graphite, a peripheral chamber is defined between its walls around the fiber-drawing chamber, and said tube is equipped to inject at least one inert gas into said peripheral chamber and to cause it to flow therein, which gas diffuses via said porous inner wall into said fiber-drawing chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.