Large diameter optical waveguide splice

US9477042B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• WEATHERFORD TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS, LLC · US

Inventors

• Mark R. Fernald · Enfield, US
• Trevor MacDougall · South Dartmouth, US
• Martin A. Putnam · Cheshire, US
• Rebecca S. Bryant · Bartlesville, US
• Christopher J. Wright · Bend, US
• Michael Arcand · Portland, US
• Christopher T. Chipman · Scotland, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 6, 2011
• Grant date: Oct 25, 2016
• Expiry date: Nov 18, 2033

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G02B6/2551
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Techniques and systems suitable for performing low-loss fusion splicing of optical waveguide sections are provided. According to some embodiments, multiple laser beams (from one or more laser) may be utilized to uniformly heat a splice region including portions of the optical waveguide sections to be spliced, which may have different cross-sectional dimensions. According to some embodiments, the relative distance of the optical waveguide sections and/or the power of the multiple laser beams may be varied during splicing operations.