GB2166975A - Optical fibres - Google Patents
Optical fibres Download PDFInfo
- 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
Links
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 title description 5
- 238000000576 coating method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 22
- 239000011248 coating agent Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 19
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 15
- 239000000835 fiber Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 13
- 230000005855 radiation Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 10
- 239000013307 optical fiber Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 8
- 238000005253 cladding Methods 0.000 claims description 11
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 9
- 239000011324 bead Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000003618 dip coating Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000001125 extrusion Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005286 illumination Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C35/00—Heating, cooling or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanising; Apparatus therefor
- B29C35/02—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould
- B29C35/08—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation
- B29C35/10—Heating 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
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J19/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
- B01J19/08—Processes employing the direct application of electric or wave energy, or particle radiation; Apparatus therefor
- B01J19/12—Processes employing the direct application of electric or wave energy, or particle radiation; Apparatus therefor employing electromagnetic waves
- B01J19/121—Coherent waves, e.g. laser beams
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
- B01J—CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS
- B01J19/00—Chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general; Their relevant apparatus
- B01J19/08—Processes employing the direct application of electric or wave energy, or particle radiation; Apparatus therefor
- B01J19/12—Processes employing the direct application of electric or wave energy, or particle radiation; Apparatus therefor employing electromagnetic waves
- B01J19/122—Incoherent waves
- B01J19/123—Ultraviolet light
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
- C03C—CHEMICAL 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
- C03C25/00—Surface treatment of fibres or filaments made from glass, minerals or slags
- C03C25/10—Coating
- C03C25/104—Coating to obtain optical fibres
- C03C25/106—Single coatings
-
- C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
- C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
- C03C—CHEMICAL 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
- C03C25/00—Surface treatment of fibres or filaments made from glass, minerals or slags
- C03C25/10—Coating
- C03C25/12—General methods of coating; Devices therefor
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C35/00—Heating, cooling or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanising; Apparatus therefor
- B29C35/02—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould
- B29C35/08—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation
- B29C35/0805—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using electromagnetic radiation
- B29C2035/0827—Heating 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
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C35/00—Heating, cooling or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanising; Apparatus therefor
- B29C35/02—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould
- B29C35/08—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation
- B29C35/0805—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using electromagnetic radiation
- B29C2035/0838—Heating 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
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
- B29L2011/00—Optical elements, e.g. lenses, prisms
- B29L2011/0075—Light 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.
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)
| 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 |
-
1984
- 1984-11-16 GB GB08429076A patent/GB2166975B/en not_active Expired
Cited By (15)
| 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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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |