Method and apparatus for making fiber optic couplers
US6325883A · kind A · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 14, 2000 |
| Grant date | Dec 4, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 14, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T156/1798
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method is disclosed for applying glue to a fiber optic coupler composed of a plurality of contiguously extending optical fibers, the fibers extending though the bore of a tube and through a longitudinally adjacent coupling region where the tube is collapsed around the fibers, the fibers being fused together in the coupling region, the diameters of the fibers in the coupling region being smaller than the diameters thereof in the bore. The method comprises: holding the coupler, and simultaneously injecting glue into both ends of the tube bore; wherein the coupler is oriented vertically, the glue being injected into the bore ends by positioning a hollow needle at each of the bore ends, the glue flowing through the needle in the bore at the top end of the tube at a rate greater than it flows through the needle in the bore at the bottom end of the tube.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.