Other

Fiberlign Division of Preformed Line Products (canada) Ltd.

Jds Fitel Inc.

Luminos Industries Ltd.

Fiberlign Division of Preformed Line Products Ltd.

Fiberlign a Division of Preformed Line Products (canada) Ltd.

Murray R Harman

James D Marshall

Gordon A Clark

Stephen G Harman

Timothy P Cutts

Philip M Garel-Jones

An electrostatic loudspeaker (ESL) assembly providing curvature in two directions for improved dispersion of sound waves. The ESL comprises at least one stator panel, a flexible diaphragm and a spacer that impedes contact between the stator panel and the diaphragm. The stator is formed from a material that comprises an array of apertures. Furthermore, the material can be annealed. The material temper, along with the aperture geometry and patter, affect the stretchability of the material. The two-axis curved structure enables a compact form of ESL to be realized, including bookshelf type loudspeakers whereas all known commercial units are comparable in height to that of a human listener. The individual curved ESL panels can also be readily combined to create larger transducer assemblies including omni-directional units.

Electrostatic loudspeaker capable of dispersing sound both horizontally and vertically

An acoustic transducer, specifically an electrostatic loudspeaker (ESL) providing curvature in two directions for improved dispersion of sound waves. The compound curvature also provides a virtual focus of the propagated sound waves for accurate reproduction of musical program material recorded with standard single-point microphones. The highly directional nature of high frequency sound waves requires that a flat or cylindrical electrostatic transducer must be physically tall to allow a listener to either recline or stand. The two-axis curved structure enables a compact form of ESL to be realized, including bookshelf type loudspeakers whereas all known commercial units are comparable in height to that of a human listener. The individual curved ESL panels can also be readily combined to create larger transducer assemblies including omni-directional units. A preferred stator panel hole-geometry is included for improved high voltage operation of coated perforated metal stator panels, and methods of forming the metal panel are described. The artistic nature of the two-dimensionally curved electrostatic transducer also lends itself to other non-traditional forms such as integration into lighting fixtures and other such architectural uses.

A moving fiber optical switch of the type having two opposed supports carrying optical fibers with a gap between the fiber ends, with at least one of the supports being flexibly mounted for pivotal movement relative to the other support, and in which: (1) an actuator means, which provides pivotal movement of one or both supports between two orientations corresponding to first and second relative positions of the fiber supports, is connected to a connecting member or housing by means of a flexure; (2) the switch has means for adjusting the length of the gap between the fiber ends; and (3) the switch has means for adjusting the alignment of the optical fiber ends in a direction perpendicular to the movement provided by the pivotal movement of the flexibly mounted support or supports.

Moving fiber optical switch

A positioning device suitable for accurately positioning objects such as optical fibers includes a first support, a movable support restrained for movement relative to the first support with one degree of freedom and carrying a holder for the object to be positioned, and an intermediate support which is connected to the first support by a pair of first spaced flexible elements of equal length and which is connected to the movable support by a pair of second spaced flexible elements, the second pair also being equal in length to each other. The first and second flexible elements are oppositely arranged and dimensioned so that arc-errors in the movement of the intermediate support caused by bending of the first flexible elements are substantially compensated by arc movements of the second flexible elements to produce a desired movement of the movable support, which may be rectilinear or angular movement about an axis. An actuator causes movement of the movable support with bending of all the flexible elements, and a control member connects the first support, the intermediate support and the movable support so that the degree of movement of the intermediate support is one half the movement of the movable support.

Positioning device especially for assembling optical components

A positioning device that is ideally suited for the assembly of optical components, particularly fiber optic components utilizing small-core single-mode optical fiber. The invention teaches a structure that can be used for 3 axis positioning and alignment wherein all of the control actuators are located on a common axis to improve operator adjustment efficiency and reduce repetitive motion strain. The device uses flexible elements to connect relatively movable parts, including parts which move orthogonally relative to each other. The device also has a lever arrangement which provides a mechanical advantage for the control actuators.

A moving fiber optical switch has a deformable pivotable element having a flexible portion and two ends at which opposite optical fiber ends are mounted to align each other in a controlled manner. The number of parts subject to wear resulting in an impairment of the accuracy of the switch has been reduced compared to earlier designs. The deformable element forms an open ring or a frame the ends of which are laterally displaceable relative to each other. The ends are restrained or partly immobilized such that during a pivotal movement of the ring or frame, the alignment of the ends, and particularly the associated end portions of opposite optical fibers, is controllably changed.

Optical fiber switch with a deformable structure

A consumable fusion block for fusing optical fibers includes non-conducting substrate with at least one flat surface. A pair of electrodes overlay the flat surface of the substrate and are spaced apart on either side of a passline such that each electrode tip end is adjacent the passline. A space between the electrode tips defines an arc region which can be covered to form a semi-enclosed arc region. A method is also provided for manufacturing a plurality of fusion blocks from a single slab of non-conducting material by overlying the non-conducting material with a length of conducting material, bonding the conducting material to the non-conducting material, and cutting the slab into smaller fusion blocks.

Fusion splicing block with electrodes disposed on planar surface

A positioning system is provided for controlling the optical alignment of optical waveguides. At least one optical waveguide is mounted to a first displaceable terminus and an opposite waveguide is mounted to a second terminus. A force can be applied to one of the termini so as to cause an essentially lateral (radial, pivotal etc.) misaligning movement of the end portion of the respective optical waveguide relative to the end portion of the opposite waveguide mounted to a second terminus, the end portions being separated by an air gap. The force required to move the displaceable terminus is provided by a first elastic member having a relatively low stiffness, such as a spring with a low spring constant. When exerted, the force is counteracted by a second elastic member, such as a spring having a higher stiffness, or spring constant, than the first elastic member. In an embodiment of the invention, the displaceable terminus may itself form a resilient member to which the first elastic member is connected for exerting the displacement force. When a large stiffness ratio between the elastic members is selected, it is possible to attain a very precise alignment control of the opposite optical waveguides by reducing the movement of relatively simple actuators such as hand-operated levers or lead-nut and lead-screw combinations into considerably finer movements of the displaceable terminus with the concomitant misalignment of the respective optical waveguide.

Positioning system for controlling optical alignment of optical

An optical fiber splice element is provided that includes a base member having a fusion element for aligning optical fibers for fusion within. A covering member is provided for covering and forming an enclosure with the base member in a closed position. The covering member can be a separate member or alternatively can be in the form of a hinged lid. At lease one of the covering member and the base member include a locking mechanism for maintaining closure in a closed position. The optical fiber splice element in an open position has an opening at either end for accommodating one or more optical fibers.

Fusion splice element for use in splicing optical fibers

A method and apparatus for placing two optical fiber ends or, one optical fiber end and another object, in contact with one another is provided. The method involves moving one of an optical fiber and an object toward one another so that they make contact with one another and apply a loading force upon one another. A load sensing device detects the loading force and provides a signal indicative of the load sensed. The invention is particularly useful for placing two optical fiber ends in contact with one another so that predetermined force applied to the optical fiber ends.

Method and apparatus for controlling the contact of optical fibers

An opto-mechanical switch suitable for use in optical telecommunications systems comprises an input port and two output ports interconnected by an optical path, an optical element and an actuation mechanism for moving the optical element relative to the optical path so as to change coupling of light beams between the input port and the output ports. The optical element is supported by a flexible suspension unit comprising a pair of mutually-spaced twin elongate flexures. Each of the pair of flexures is attached at one end to an anchorage and at its other end to a mounting for optical element. The flexures are identical in length and flexibility and are spaced apart in the direction of displacement of the optical element. In use, when the actuator displaces the optical element, the flexures flex in common in the direction of displacement of the optical element. The optical element may be an optical fiber, a mirror, a prism, and so on. The twin flexures obviate the need for precision sliding surfaces which assures greater dependability, especially in switches which are used very infrequently, such as routing switches for re-routing traffic around a failed local station in a ring architecture system.

Opto-mechanical device having optical element movable by twin flexures

Method of manufacturing a fusion splicing block for optical fiber

A tool for fusing optical fibers is provided. The tool is preferably sized to be hand held and includes a housing having clamps that are positioned to engage recesses within a fusion sleeve placed in a chamber within the housing for holding down the sleeve. The housing includes a current source and conducting terminals for contacting and for providing an electric current to portions of the sleeve so that a heating element within the sleeve can fuse the first and second optical fibers together.

Tool for fusing optical fibers

A ganged optical switch is provided for switching a first optical fiber into and out of axial alignment with a second optical fiber. The fibers are secured to first and second carriages respectively. By relatively moving the carriages, the optical fibers can be moved into and out of axial alignment. Two test optical fibers ganged to the first and second optical fibers provide test path for transmitting an optical signal along. The fibers forming the test path are positioned at particular locations on the carriages such that when the test optical fibers are axially aligned, the first and second fibers are guaranteed to be axially aligned. An optical detector is positioned at an end of one of the test fibers and an LED is provided at an end of the other of the test fiber. An indication of alignment is provided when light from the LED is detected by the optical detector.

Growing community of inventors

Gloucester, Canada

Murray R Harman