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US 9,366,821 B2Granted
Method of forming fused coupler
AssigneeTyco Electronics Corporation
InventorTerry Patrick Bowen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of forming a coupler, the method comprising: (a) heating a portion of an optical fiber having multiple cores and an initial diameter; and (b) applying a tensile force across the portion such that the portion stretches, thereby reducing the initial diameter to a reduced diameter sufficient to cause optical signals propagating in one or more of the multiple cores to leave their respective cores and enter other cores of the fiber.
Claims15
A method of forming a coupler, said method comprising:
- heating a portion of an optical fiber having multiple cores and an initial diameter, said cores being defined in a common cladding, said cores being essentially the same in at least size and shape, but having different positions in said common cladding, said multiple cores being disposed symmetrically about a center axis;
- and
- applying a tensile force across said portion such that said portion stretches, thereby reducing said initial diameter to a reduced diameter sufficient to cause an optical signal propagating in a first core of said multiple cores to leave said first core and enter a second core of said multiple cores of the fiber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.