Apparatus to improve degree of cure for ultraviolet curable optical fiber coating by actively removing heat from the coating during irradiation

An apparatus for accelerating the curing of a coating applied to an optical fiber by actively removing the heat of the exothermic cure reaction during UV irradiation, said apparatus comprising:

• a UV lamp;
• a first reflector disposed adjacent to said UV lamp;
• a second reflector disposed opposite said first reflector with said UV lamp positioned therebetween;
• and
• means for providing a laminar cross-flow of a cooling gas across the coated optical fiber inside the apparatus, wherein said providing means comprises:
• at least two quartz plates disposed adjacent to the second reflector such that the coated fiber may pass between the quartz plates while being in an effective focus of UV energy from said UV lamp;
• and
• an airflow device that forces a laminar flow of cooling gas between said quartz plates in a direction substantially perpendicular to the draw direction of the coated optical fiber.

An apparatus for accelerating the curing of a coating applied to an optical fiber by actively removing the heat of the exothermic cure reaction during UV irradiation, said apparatus comprising:

• a UV lamp;
• a first reflector disposed adjacent to said UV lamp;
• a second reflector disposed opposite said first reflector, said second reflector having a plurality of pairs of apertures disposed opposite each other;
• at least one quartz plate disposed adjacent said second reflector so as to create a passageway between said second reflector and said quartz plate through which a coated optical fiber may pass;
• and
• an airflow device that forces a laminar flow of cooling gas through respective pairs of said plurality of pairs of apertures such that the cooling gas passes across the coated optical fiber while said optical fiber is between said first and second reflector.

An apparatus for curing a coating applied to an optical fiber, said apparatus comprising:

• a UV lamp;
• first reflector disposed adjacent to said UV lamp;
• a second reflector disposed opposite said first reflector with said UV lamp positioned therebetween;
• at least two quartz plates disposed adjacent said second reflector and between which a coated optical fiber may pass;
• and
• an airflow device that forces a cooling gas between said two quartz plates in a direction substantially perpendicular to a draw direction of the optical fiber.