Corning Incorporated

John S Abbott

James Henry Faler

John G Williams

Mark C Bertz

William Schirmer, Iii

Bruce Warren Reding

David Andrew Pastel

Douglas Gregg Neilson

Richard R Williams

Gregory E Smith

Donald L Knasel

In the process of drawing optical fibers, a protective plastic coating is applied to the fiber by applying a curable liquid coating material thereto and the subsequently curing the liquid coating to a protective plastic layer. At high fiber draw speeds, air entrained with the fiber enters the liquid coating material and causes bubbles in the cured coating. The incidence of bubbles in the coating is reduced by replacing air adjacent the fiber surface with helium.

Method for coating fibers

The fiber-coating concentricity of a coated optical fiber is controlled by non-axisymmetrically heating the coating material in the sizing die with respect to the z-axis along which the fiber is drawn. By controlling the temperature profile and thus the viscosity profile of the coating material, the amount of coating material applied to each azimuthal position of the fiber is controlled as it exits the sizing die. The apparatus that provides the desired temperature profile can also be employed to control the coating diameter.

Method and apparatus for coating optical fibers

A method and apparatus for non-destructive analysis of canes and preforms which contain 'striae' in which the cane or preform is transversely illuminated with a beam of light at a wavelength which is long enough to substantially eliminate the effect of striae resulting from variations in dopant concentration.

Method and apparatus for analyzing optical waveguide cane

A method and apparatus for rapidly forming a porous glass preform is provided in which an array of burners is oscillated along a path parallel to the longitudinal axis of the preform. Unlike existing soot deposition techniques, the oscillation amplitude is limited so that each burner deposits soot on only a portion of the preform, e.g., 20% of the preform. By controlling inter-burner variability and the air flow in the burner-array/preform region, preforms having substantially uniform axial properties are obtained notwithstanding the fact that different burners are used to laydown different parts of the preform.

Method for forming a porous glass preform

Apparatus for rapidly forming a porous glass preform is provided in which an array of burners is oscillated along a path parallel to the longitudinal axis of the preform. The oscillation amplitude is limited so that each burner deposits soot on only a portion of the preform, e.g., 20% of the preform. By controlling inter-burner variability and the air flow in the burner-array/preform region, preforms having substantially uniform diameter and axial properties are obtained.

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Elmira, NY, United States of America

John S Abbott