Optical fiber preform manufacturing apparatus
US6487880B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 9, 1999 |
| Grant date | Dec 3, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 9, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
- CPC primaryC03B37/01869
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Disclosed are an optical fiber preform manufacturing apparatus and method in which processes for shrinking and closing a deposited tube are conducted using a device suitable for those processes, which device is other than the device used in a deposition process for forming the deposited tube on the inner surface of a preform tube, thereby reducing the processing time while reducing the amount of OH penetrated from the preform tube into a vitreous component of the deposited tube, thereby achieving a reduction in OH loss. In accordance with the optical fiber preform manufacturing apparatus and method, operations are conducted which involve setting the heating temperature of a circular heater to a temperature lower than the softening point of a deposited tube, exhausting contaminants existing in the interior of the deposited tube while moving the circular heater at a desired temperature, setting the heating temperature of the circular heater to a temperature not lower than the softening point of the deposited tube, and shrinking and closing the deposited tube while moving the circular heater to a desired temperature.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.