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:
Oct. 20, 1998
Filed:
Jul. 08, 1997
James S Sirkis, Burtonsville, MD (US);
Yaowen Li, Greenbelt, MD (US);
Christopher J LaVigna, Olney, MD (US);
Other;
Abstract
A fiber optic sensor employs tapered fiber optics in a tapered gun barrel. The fiber optic sensor employs a single-mode optical fiber, a light source supplying light to the single-mode fiber and at least one tapered dual-mode optical fiber secured to the barrel in a longitudinal direction. The single-mode fiber is spliced to with an end of a proximal one of the dual-mode fibers for carrying the light signal. A partial reflector is inserted between the dual-mode fibers to partially reflect and partially transmit light. A reflector is coupled to a distal end the dual-mode fiber, at the open end of the muzzle of the gun, to reflect the transmitted light. A coupler couples the single-mode fiber to the proximal dual-mode fiber. A coherent multiplexer is connected to the coupler for receiving and multiplexing the reflected light. A processor is responsive to the multiplexer for processing the multiplexed sensing information. The dual-mode fiber is tapered inversely with respect to the tapered muzzle to simplify the processing function. When two or more dual-mode fibers are employed, an offset splice is provided between the dual-mode fibers. A method is also disclosed.