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. 26, 2002
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2000
David W Sherrer, Blacksburg, VA (US);
James C. Hurst, Jr., Wytheville, VA (US);
Haleos, Inc., Blacksburg, VA (US);
Abstract
A V-groove chip for fiber arrays having a wick stop trench. The wick stop trench intersects the V-grooves and is preferably deeper than the V-grooves. The wick stop trench prevents adhesive from moving via capillary action along the entire length of a V-groove. This is very useful for manufacturing V-groove fiber arrays because often it is desirable to adhesive the fiber to the V-groove chip in multiple gluing steps. For example, two gluing steps are beneficial if rotational alignment of the fiber (e.g., for polarization maintaining fiber arrays) is desired. Also, if longitudinal alignment of the fiber is desired, two gluing steps are beneficial. Two gluing steps allows the front and rear portions of the optical fiber to be secured independently, thereby improving precision in fiber placement. Preferably, the wick stop trench is filled with solidified adhesive.