The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 03, 1994
Filed:
Jun. 17, 1992
Hiroshi Suganuma, Kanagawa, JP;
Tomoyuki Hattori, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroaki Takimoto, Kanagawa, JP;
Yoshiharu Okawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Hiroshi Yokota, Kanagawa, JP;
Kazuhiko Arimoto, Kanagawa, JP;
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Sumiden Opcom, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The first process for producing an optical fiber coupler includes a first step wherein at least one of the optical fibers to be used is stripped of the coating, a second step in which the bare portion of that optical fiber is heated for a predetermined time to diffuse the dopants, a third step wherein the other optical fibers which have not been heat-treated are stripped of their coating, a fourth step in which the bare portions of all the optical fibers are heated as they are brought into intimate contact, thereby forming a unitary portion, and a fifth step wherein the unitary portion is drawn via heating to form the coupling portion of an optical fiber coupler. The second process for producing an optical fiber coupler includes stripping the coating from at least one optical fiber, fixing the fiber so as to impart an axial stress thereto and then heating the bare portion of the stripped optical fiber thereby thinning the diameter of the heated portion, and then proceeding in the same manner as described with respect to the third through fifth steps of the first embodiment of the present invention. The processes according to the present invention enable a wide-band optical fiber coupler to be easily produced without using optical fibers of different structures but using optical fibers of identical structures.