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:
Nov. 30, 1999
Filed:
Dec. 16, 1997
Robert N Hamburger, La Jolla, CA (US);
Ruibo Wang, Goleta, CA (US);
Jien-Ping Jiang, Tuscon, AZ (US);
Other;
Abstract
A sensor system includes an optical fiber sensor element which is connected to a light source at one end and a detector at the opposite end. The sensor element is an optical fiber which has a light transmitting core, a cladding layer surrounding the core, and an outer protective layer. The outer protective layer is removed along at least part of the length of the fiber to expose a portion of the cladding layer, and the exposed portion of the cladding layer is roughened to produce a plurality of surface scratches extending through at least part of the thickness of the cladding layer. The exposed, roughened portion of the cladding layer forms a sensor region through which light is lost from the core, and is exposed to a medium to be monitored so that the amount of light lost will be dependent on the refractive index of the medium.