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:
Jul. 10, 2001
Filed:
Mar. 25, 1998
Daniel D. Uhm, Vinton, VA (US);
Robert A. Spencer, Roanoke, VA (US);
Alcatel, Paris, FR;
Abstract
The present invention provides an improvement to a fiber optic draw furnace having a heating element (,) arranged inside a furnace shell (,) for drawing an optical fiber (F) from a preform (P). The fiber optic draw furnace (,) has one or more pieces of fiber draw furnace insulation (,) to separate the heating element (,) from the furnace shell (,) for reducing the thermal transfer therebetween. At least one of the pieces of fiber draw furnace insulation (,) is made from rigidified high purity graphite felt that provides highly efficient thermal insulation between the heating element (,) and the outer furnace shell (,). The rigidified high purity graphite felt insulation (,), (,) includes either a bottom insulation ring (,), a cylindrical insulation insert (,) or a cylindrical insulation canister (,).