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:
Apr. 29, 1997
Filed:
Nov. 09, 1994
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An optical fiber preform manufacturing apparatus which continuously monitors the weight of a preform during manufacturing by a load cell without increasing the offset amount of the preform. The preform manufacturing apparatus includes a rotary chuck unit vertically moved by an elevating unit and a rod gripped by the rotary chuck unit and vertically extending downward. At the time of manufacturing a preform, the elevating unit and the rotary chuck unit are driven to rotate and move a starting rod suspended from the lower end of the rod upward. A support plate is fixed to the rotary chuck unit. Three or more load cells are arranged between the support plate and an elevating plate of the elevating unit. The rotary chuck unit is firmly supported by these load cells, so that the rotating shaft is not inclined. A hole is formed in the elevating plate, and the rotary chuck unit extends through the hole with a gap therebetween. A load by the support plate, the rotary chuck unit, the seed rod, a starting rod and the preform acts on the load cells. Therefore, the weight of the preform can be detected from an output from the load cells.