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US 9,554,420 B2Granted
Partial vacuum operation of arc discharge for controlled heating
Assignee3SAE Technologies, Inc.
InventorsRobert G. Wiley, Brett Clark, John Lower, Jason Troyer, Clyde J. Troutman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical discharge, suitable for heating optical fibers for processing, is made in a controlled partial vacuum, such that saturation of available ionizable gas molecules is reached. The workpiece temperature is thereby made to be a stably controlled function of the absolute air pressure and is insensitive to other conditions. A system and method accomplishing the foregoing are provided.
Claims27
A method, comprising:
- providing a gas-filled chamber having disposed therein at least two electrodes;
- positioning at least one optical fiber in a gap between the at least two electrodes;
- establishing an arc discharge in the gap between the at least two electrodes, thereby producing a heat zone in the gap, including ionizing the gas within the heat zone so that the arc discharge reaches saturation for a chosen gas pressure;
- and
- controlling an upper temperature limit within the heat zone by controlling a gas pressure within the chamber.
2 more elements
An apparatus, comprising:
- a chamber configured to maintain a gas;
- a plurality of electrodes within the chamber and arranged to generate an arc discharge in a gap between the at least two electrodes to establish a heat zone in the gap;
- at least one fiber holder configured to maintain a portion of at least one optical fiber in the heat zone;
- an arc discharge unit configured to supply a drive current to the at least two electrodes at a level sufficient to ionize the arc discharge to saturation for a chosen gas pressure;
- and
- a controller configured to control a gas pressure within the chamber to responsively control an upper temperature limit within the heat zone when the arc discharge is ionized to saturation.
3 more elements
A workpiece processing system, comprising:
- an airtight chamber configured to maintain a gas in at least a partial vacuum;
- a plurality of electrodes within the chamber and arranged to generate an arc discharge in a gap between the at least two electrodes to establish a heat zone in the gap;
- a positioner system configured to position at least one workpiece within the heat zone for processing;
- an arc discharge unit configured to supply a drive current to the at least two electrodes at a level sufficient to ionize the arc discharge to saturation for a chosen gas pressure;
- a pressure sensor arranged to sense a gas pressure within the chamber;
- and a controller coupled to the pressure sensor and configured to control a gas pressure within the chamber to responsively control an upper temperature limit within the heat zone;
- a vacuum generating venturi configured to generate the partial vacuum within the airtight enclosure and to control the pressure to thereby establish an upper limit of the temperature applied to the workpiece.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.