Gte Laboratories Incorporated

John E Fulenwider

Mark L Dakss

Carl Belmonte

John A Gonsalves

A tool for preparing the ends of optical fiber waveguides prior to such operations as coupling and splicing. The tool is adapted for single-handed operation and comprises a pair of manually actuated handles, first and second fiber supporting surfaces, and a third fiber supporting surface between the first and second surfaces. The optical fiber waveguide is secured to the first and second surfaces by a pair of clamping members which are responsive to the squeezing of the handles. Once the fiber waveguide is secured to the surfaces, further squeezing of the handles produces separating rotation of a pair of jaw members to put the fiber under tensile stress. A cutting blade suspended above the third surface is released to produce a peripheral microcrack on a portion of the optical fiber waveguide lying on the third fiber supporting surface. The induced stress and curved support of the fiber waveguide act in combination to propagate the microcrack diametrically through the fiber so that an appropriate fiber end is obtained. Various modifications and refinements of the tool provide for greater control and semi-automatic operation in preparing fiber ends.

Hand-held tool for optical fiber waveguide end preparation

A tool for preparing the ends of optical fiber waveguides prior to such operations as splicing is disclosed. The tool is adapted for single-handed operation and comprises a pair of manually actuated handles, first and second fiber-supporting surfaces, and a third fiber-supporting surface interjacent the first and second. The optical fiber waveguide is secured to the first and second surfaces by a pair of clamps which are responsive to the squeezing of the handles. Once the fiber waveguide is secured to the surfaces, further squeezing of the handle produces separating rotation of a pair of jaw members to stress the fiber. A cutting blade, suspended above the third surface, is released by the manual actuation of a thumb latch positioned on the tool in alignment with the natural position of the operator's thumb when the handles are being squeezed. Rotation of the thumb latch permits the blade to fall, either under the influence of gravity or a driving spring, to produce a peripheral microcrack on a portion of optical fiber waveguide lying on the third fiber-supporting surface. The induced stress, and curved support, of the fiber waveguide act in combination to propagate the microcrack diametrically through the fiber so that an appropriate fiber end is obtained.

A transducer is disclosed in which energy received from either mechanical or acoustic sources is converted into modulated optical power. The transducer is comprised of three basic components, an input optical fiber, an output optical fiber and a means for varying the optical coupling coefficient between the two fibers in response to information containing energy received from a mechanical or acoustic source. The input optical fiber carries a steady state optical signal which may be either continuous or pulsed. The means operates to control the coupling of the steady state optical signal into the output optical fiber. An intensity modulated output signal is then carried by the output optical fiber away from the transducer. The intensity modulated output signal may be either detected and thereby converted to electrical energy for transmission or may be transmitted in an optical form if optical communications facilities are available.

Transducer for converting acoustic energy directly into optical energy

A transducer converts an acoustic signal into a digital pulse code signal through optical encoding techniques. A pulsed light source emits a beam of light along a predetermined path. A digital optical encoder is located in the path and emits a digitally encoded light beam having regions in which light is present and regions in which there is an absence of light. A rotatable mirror which is located in the path of the encoded beam is connected to a diaphragm so that the angle of deflection of the encoded beam is a function of the acoustic signal. An array of digitally encoded photoconductive elements is located in the path of the deflected encoded beam. Threshold circuitry monitors the variation in the resistance of the photoconductive elements and produces an N bit digital pulse code representative of the magnitude and polarity of the acoustic signal during each occurrence of a pulsed light beam.

Optically encoded acoustic to digital transducer

A transducer in a telephone handset converts acoustic signals into a digital pulse code. The transducer receives enable pulses from a concentrator system which services a group of telephones and converts each of these pulses into a group of time separated pulses having equal pulse widths. These pulses are applied to a binary coded variable capacitive coupling device. An acoustic device converts the acoustic signal into a related displacement of an output member which in turn couples to a movable capacitive plate in the capacitive coupling device. The output of the transducer is a binary word related to the value of the acoustic signal, the word being generated with each occurrence of the enable pulse. The concentrator has a clock and a pulse distributor for providing enable pulses at different intervals for each telephone set being services. Circuitry is also provided for putting in separate time frames all pulse code signals for all telephones on a twisted pair of conductors connecting the concentrator and the central office.

Acoustic to pulse code transducer

A piezoelectric beam is fixed at one end and is subdivided into segments, each of which is deflected by a logic one in one of the magnitude bit locations of a digital word. The total deflection of the beam is related to the total magnitude of the digital word. The segment closest to the fixed end is controlled by the most significant bit, and the segment closest to the free end is controlled by the least significant bit. The free end is connected to the cone of a speaker so that the acoustic signal resulting from the motion of the cone is related to the digital word. A buffer regulates the polarity of the voltages applied to each segment according to the sign bit in the word so that the beam deflects in either of two directions depending on the polarity of the digital word.

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Concord, MA, United States of America

John E Fulenwider