System and method for manufacturing color-coated optical fiber
US7591904B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 22, 2004 |
| Grant date | Sep 22, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 29, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B6/4482
- WIPO fieldMaterials, metallurgy
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention include a system and method for color-coating an optical fiber. The system includes a flow controller that controllably delivers and mixes color concentrate from one or more color concentrate reservoirs with a coating material, which colored coating material is fed to a coating die through which optical fiber passes. The color concentrate reservoirs are more compact and can be made portable along with the flow controller. Thus, the entire color coating system can travel to any appropriate location in the fiber manufacturing facility, e.g., at any one of a number of draw towers. Such portability allows many different colors to be used at the same draw tower much more easily than conventional arrangements, which typically only have one color line per draw tower. The method includes providing an optical fiber, controllably delivering color concentrate with a coating material to a coating die, coating the optical fiber with the coating die, and curing the coated fiber.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.