Fiber guide

A fiber guide coupled to a winding machine for winding optical fiber onto a spool, the fiber guide comprising, in combination:

• a rigid pay guide assembly having a receiving aperture;
• a left and a right parallel strand of wire spaced apart across the receiving aperture of the pay guide assembly;
• and,
• a spacer or washer or shim fixed between at least a first pair of left and right parallel strands passing through a throat to fix the spacing of the first pair of left and strands wires in the throat to a predetermined width.

A fiber guide for spooling fiber from an automatic coil winding machine onto a spool comprising in combination:

• a rigid pay guide assembly having a generally arcuate opening and comprising two similar sections held together with a gap between the sections;
• a left and right parallel strand of wire tightly stretched across the receiving aperture of the arc and anchored;
• a spacer or washer or shim fixed between at least a first pair of left and right parallel strands passing through a throat to fix the spacing of the left and right parallel strands in the throat to a predetermined width;
• a spool for receiving the fiber from between the left and right parallel strands;
• a guide pulley rotatably mounted on a guide pulley shaft, the guide pulley shaft being carried by the pay guide assembly, the guide pulley rotating on the shaft to guide the fiber from the winding machine onto the spool via the space between said left and right parallel strands;
• a guide pulley bearing on the shaft for rotatably supporting the guide pulley;
• and,
• means for connecting the winding machine and said pay guide assembly.