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:
Mar. 09, 1999
Filed:
Jan. 29, 1998
Christian Jakobsen, Copenhagen, DK;
Flemming Pedersen, Farum, DK;
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides an optical detection system for detecting defects in an optical fiber. The system comprises a light source for projecting a beam of light onto the coating layer of an optical fiber. An optical detector positioned adjacent the optical fiber receives a first light ray reflected at the interface of the air and the coating layer as the light enters the coating layer surrounding the optical fiber and a second light ray reflected at the interface of the air and the coating layer as the light exits the coating layer after passing through the optical fiber. When a defect, such as an airline, for example, is present in the optical fiber, a third light ray is reflected by the defect and is detected by the optical detector. A signal processor is electrically coupled to the optical detector for receiving an output signal from the optical detector and for processing the output signal to determine whether or not one or more defects have been detected. In accordance with the preferred embodiment, when only two rays of light are detected, the signal processor determines that no defects exist in the optical fiber. When three rays of light are detected, the signal processor determines that a defect exists in the optical fiber.