GB2166975A - Optical fibres - Google Patents

Optical fibres Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2166975A
GB2166975A GB08429076A GB8429076A GB2166975A GB 2166975 A GB2166975 A GB 2166975A GB 08429076 A GB08429076 A GB 08429076A GB 8429076 A GB8429076 A GB 8429076A GB 2166975 A GB2166975 A GB 2166975A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
fibre
coating material
radiation
primary coating
curing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB08429076A
Other versions
GB2166975B (en
GB8429076D0 (en
Inventor
Kevin Christopher Byron
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
STC PLC
Original Assignee
STC PLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by STC PLC filed Critical STC PLC
Priority to GB08429076A priority Critical patent/GB2166975B/en
Publication of GB8429076D0 publication Critical patent/GB8429076D0/en
Publication of GB2166975A publication Critical patent/GB2166975A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2166975B publication Critical patent/GB2166975B/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29CSHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C35/00Heating, cooling or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanising; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C35/02Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould
    • B29C35/08Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation
    • B29C35/10Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation for articles of indefinite length
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01JCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
    • B01J19/00Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
    • B01J19/08Processes employing the direct application of electric or wave energy, or particle radiation; Apparatus therefor
    • B01J19/12Processes employing the direct application of electric or wave energy, or particle radiation; Apparatus therefor employing electromagnetic waves
    • B01J19/121Coherent waves, e.g. laser beams
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B01PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
    • B01JCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
    • B01J19/00Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
    • B01J19/08Processes employing the direct application of electric or wave energy, or particle radiation; Apparatus therefor
    • B01J19/12Processes employing the direct application of electric or wave energy, or particle radiation; Apparatus therefor employing electromagnetic waves
    • B01J19/122Incoherent waves
    • B01J19/123Ultraviolet light
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C03GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
    • C03CCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
    • C03C25/00Surface treatment of fibres or filaments made from glass, minerals or slags
    • C03C25/10Coating
    • C03C25/104Coating to obtain optical fibres
    • C03C25/106Single coatings
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C03GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
    • C03CCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GLASSES, GLAZES OR VITREOUS ENAMELS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF GLASS; SURFACE TREATMENT OF FIBRES OR FILAMENTS MADE FROM GLASS, MINERALS OR SLAGS; JOINING GLASS TO GLASS OR OTHER MATERIALS
    • C03C25/00Surface treatment of fibres or filaments made from glass, minerals or slags
    • C03C25/10Coating
    • C03C25/12General methods of coating; Devices therefor
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29CSHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C35/00Heating, cooling or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanising; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C35/02Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould
    • B29C35/08Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation
    • B29C35/0805Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using electromagnetic radiation
    • B29C2035/0827Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using electromagnetic radiation using UV radiation
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29CSHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C35/00Heating, cooling or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanising; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C35/02Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould
    • B29C35/08Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation
    • B29C35/0805Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using electromagnetic radiation
    • B29C2035/0838Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using electromagnetic radiation using laser
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29LINDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
    • B29L2011/00Optical elements, e.g. lenses, prisms
    • B29L2011/0075Light guides, optical cables

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Toxicology (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Surface Treatment Of Glass Fibres Or Filaments (AREA)

Abstract

In order to achieve curing of u.v. curable primary coating material applied to an optical fibre, such as directly after pulling from a preform, the output from a u.v. laser is directed axially into the preform and stripped from the fibre at the point of application of the primary coating material, which stripped radiation thus causes curing.

Description

SPECIFICATION Optical Fibres This invention relates to optical fibres and in particular to the curing of primary coatings applied to optical fibres.
Primary coatings are applied to optical fibres directly after their manufacture, which generally involves pulling from a preform. The primary coating materials employed may be heat or u.v.
light curable and may be applied in various ways, for example extrusion or solution coating. U.V. light curing currently involves passing the just-coated fibre through the beam of one or more u.v. lamps in order that sufficient u.v. light to cause curing is incident on the coated fibre, the speed of fibre drawing and coating also being relevant factors.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of curing u.v. curable primary coating material applied to an optical fibre including the steps of directing u.v. radiation axially into the fibre and stripping it from the fibre at the point of application of the primary coating material.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 illustrates, schematically, u.v. curing in-line with fibre drawing and coating, and Fig. 2 illustrates a detail of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale.
Instead of passing a primary coated optical fibre through the beam of a u.v. lamp in order to cure a u.v. curable primary coating, the present proposal involves directing u.v. radiation axially into a preform 1 from which a fibre 2 is being drawn in a conventional manner.
As illustrated in Fig. 1, the output from an ultra-violet laser 3, for example an Excimer laser or a He-Cd laser, is directed axially into the preform 1 via a beam expander 4. The u.v. light propagates in the cladding 5 of the preform, two cladding modes 6 being shbwn in Fig. 2. When the primary coating material is applied, as illustrated schematically at 7 and for example by dip coating the u.v. radiation cladding modes are stripped from the cladding at the point of application 8 of the liquid primary coating material and thus curing is achieved.
Provided the refractive index of the coating material is greater than the refractive index of the cladding the coating material will itself strip the cladding modes therefrom. If this is not the case then a glass bead 9 whose refractive index is greater than the refractive index of the cladding material may be disposed just prior to the point of application 8 of the primary coatings, with the fibre passing therethrough in order to achieve the cladding mode stripping. The bead 9 may even be just immersed in the liquid coating material to ensure maximum effectiveness of the mode stripping.
Using such an in-line method of application of u.v.
radiation means that there will be uniform illumination at the point of curing. Curing will also be rapid since the power applied is much higher than can be achieved with lamps.

Claims (7)

1.A A method of curing u.v. curable primary coating material applied to an optical fibre including the steps of directing u.v. radiation axially into the fibre and stripping it from the fibre at the point of application of the primary coating material.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the coating material is applied to the optical fibre directly after pulling thereof from one end of an optical fibre preform, the u.v. radiation being directed axially into the other end of the preform.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the u.v. radiation is stripped from a cladding layer of the fibre.
4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the u.v.
radiation is stripped from the cladding layer by a bead of higher refractive index than the cladding layer and through which the fibre is passed.
5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the u.v. radiation is provided by a u.v. laser.
6. A method of curing u.v. curable primary coating material applied to an optical fibre substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
7. An optical fibre having a u.v. cured primary coating cured by a method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.
GB08429076A 1984-11-16 1984-11-16 Optical fibres Expired GB2166975B (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB08429076A GB2166975B (en) 1984-11-16 1984-11-16 Optical fibres

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB08429076A GB2166975B (en) 1984-11-16 1984-11-16 Optical fibres

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB8429076D0 GB8429076D0 (en) 1984-12-27
GB2166975A true GB2166975A (en) 1986-05-21
GB2166975B GB2166975B (en) 1988-06-02

Family

ID=10569866

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB08429076A Expired GB2166975B (en) 1984-11-16 1984-11-16 Optical fibres

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2166975B (en)

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19644350A1 (en) * 1996-10-25 1998-04-30 Alsthom Cge Alcatel Method and device for producing an optical glass fiber
EP1138642A1 (en) * 2000-03-31 2001-10-04 Alcatel Laser photocuring system
WO2001098223A1 (en) * 2000-06-16 2001-12-27 Alcatel Uv-cure of coatings for an optical fiber with a laser
US7022382B1 (en) 2000-06-16 2006-04-04 Alcatel UV-cure of coatings for an optical fiber with a laser
US8314408B2 (en) 2008-12-31 2012-11-20 Draka Comteq, B.V. UVLED apparatus for curing glass-fiber coatings
US20140191427A1 (en) * 2013-01-08 2014-07-10 Commscope, Inc. Of North Carolina Selective uv curing of epoxy adjacent to optical fibers by transmitting uv energy through the fiber cladding
US8871311B2 (en) 2010-06-03 2014-10-28 Draka Comteq, B.V. Curing method employing UV sources that emit differing ranges of UV radiation
US9187367B2 (en) 2010-05-20 2015-11-17 Draka Comteq, B.V. Curing apparatus employing angled UVLEDs
US10029942B2 (en) 2010-08-10 2018-07-24 Draka Comteq B.V. Method and apparatus providing increased UVLED intensity and uniform curing of optical-fiber coatings

Cited By (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19644350A1 (en) * 1996-10-25 1998-04-30 Alsthom Cge Alcatel Method and device for producing an optical glass fiber
EP1138642A1 (en) * 2000-03-31 2001-10-04 Alcatel Laser photocuring system
WO2001098223A1 (en) * 2000-06-16 2001-12-27 Alcatel Uv-cure of coatings for an optical fiber with a laser
JP2003535806A (en) * 2000-06-16 2003-12-02 アルカテル UV curing of optical fiber coatings using lasers
US7022382B1 (en) 2000-06-16 2006-04-04 Alcatel UV-cure of coatings for an optical fiber with a laser
US8604448B2 (en) 2008-12-31 2013-12-10 Draka Comteq, B.V. UVLED apparatus for curing glass-fiber coatings
US8314408B2 (en) 2008-12-31 2012-11-20 Draka Comteq, B.V. UVLED apparatus for curing glass-fiber coatings
US9067241B2 (en) 2008-12-31 2015-06-30 Draka Comteq, B.V. Method for curing glass-fiber coatings
US9187367B2 (en) 2010-05-20 2015-11-17 Draka Comteq, B.V. Curing apparatus employing angled UVLEDs
US9687875B2 (en) 2010-05-20 2017-06-27 Draka Comteq, B.V. Curing apparatus employing angled UVLEDs
US8871311B2 (en) 2010-06-03 2014-10-28 Draka Comteq, B.V. Curing method employing UV sources that emit differing ranges of UV radiation
US10029942B2 (en) 2010-08-10 2018-07-24 Draka Comteq B.V. Method and apparatus providing increased UVLED intensity and uniform curing of optical-fiber coatings
US20140191427A1 (en) * 2013-01-08 2014-07-10 Commscope, Inc. Of North Carolina Selective uv curing of epoxy adjacent to optical fibers by transmitting uv energy through the fiber cladding
US9664863B2 (en) * 2013-01-08 2017-05-30 Commscope, Inc. Of North Carolina Selective UV curing of epoxy adjacent to optical fibers by transmitting UV energy through the fiber cladding
US10908363B2 (en) 2013-01-08 2021-02-02 Commscope, Inc. Of North Carolina Selective UV curing of epoxy adjacent to optical fibers by transmitting UV energy through the fiber cladding

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2166975B (en) 1988-06-02
GB8429076D0 (en) 1984-12-27

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PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee