EP0095729A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Hermetic coating by heterogeneous nucleation thermochemical deposition
Assignee: International Standard Electric Corp
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Filing: 1983-05-26
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2003-05-26
Abstract
Abstract An optical fiber which has just been drawn from an optical preform is provided with an external heremetic coating by using, a heterogeneous nucleation thermochemical deposition technique. This technique involves passing the fiber through a reaction zone which contains a gaseous medium that includes a reactant which decomposes, or a mixture of reactants which chemically react, at a predetermined temperature to form the material of the coating. Only the fiber but not the gaseous medium surrounding the same is heated to the predetermined temperature, especially by directing radiation onto the exposed circumferential surface of the fiber, so that the decomposition or the chemical reaction takes place directly on the exposed surface of the fiber rather than in the gaseous medium, accompanied by simultaneous deposition of the coating material on the exposed surface of the fiber. The resulting fiber with heremetic coating can then be provided with an additional polymer coating layer.
Inventors
- 👤 Dipak Ranjan Biswas
- 👤 Dilip Kumar Nath
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 17:26
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/48; C23C16/481; C03; C03C; C03C25/00; C03C25/10; C03C25/104; C03C25/106; C03C25/1061; C03C25/1063; C03C25/12; C03C25/22; C03C25/223
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
106 words
A method of producing an optical fiber having a hermetic coating on its surface and one ore more organic coatings on the hermetic coating, characterized i n that the hermetic coating is applied in the following steps: passing the fiber through a gaseous medium containing at Least one reactant capable of undergoing a chemical conversion into the material of the coating when heated to a predetermined temperature; and heating the optical fiber at Least at its exposed surface at Least to the predetermined temperature for the chemical conversion into and simultaneous deposition of the material of the coating to take place directly on the exposed surface.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
106 words
A method of producing an optical fiber having a hermetic coating on its surface and one ore more organic coatings on the hermetic coating, characterized i n that the hermetic coating is applied in the following steps: passing the fiber through a gaseous medium containing at Least one reactant capable of undergoing a chemical conversion into the material of the coating when heated to a predetermined temperature; and heating the optical fiber at Least at its exposed surface at Least to the predetermined temperature for the chemical conversion into and simultaneous deposition of the material of the coating to take place directly on the exposed surface.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the hermetic coating is applied to the optical fiber immediately after the drawing of the fiber from an optical preform.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the passing and heating steps are conducted at the same region.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method as defined in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it further comprises the step of circulating the gaseous medium around the heated exposed surface of the fiber.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
25 words
The method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the heating step includes directing radiation against the exposed surface.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
106 words
An apparatus for applying a hermetic coating to an exposed surface of an optical fiber, characterized in that it comprises means for defining a reaction zone; means for maintaining in the reaction zone a body of a gaseous medium containing at Least one reactant capable of undergoing a chemical conversion into the material of the coating when heated to a predetermined temperature; and means (15, 16) for heating the optical fiber (7) at Least at its exposed surface at Least to the predetermined temperature for the chemical conversion into and simuLtaneous deposition of the material of the coating to take place directly on the exposed surface.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
106 words
An apparatus for applying a hermetic coating to an exposed surface of an optical fiber, characterized in that it comprises means for defining a reaction zone; means for maintaining in the reaction zone a body of a gaseous medium containing at Least one reactant capable of undergoing a chemical conversion into the material of the coating when heated to a predetermined temperature; and means (15, 16) for heating the optical fiber (7) at Least at its exposed surface at Least to the predetermined temperature for the chemical conversion into and simuLtaneous deposition of the material of the coating to take place directly on the exposed surface.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 6, characterized in that, the heating means includes means (15, 16) for directing radiation onto the exposed surface of the fiber.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
71 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 6, characterized in that the defining means (10) includes at Least one wall portion (13) which circumferentially surrounds said reaction zone and which is transparent to said radiation; and that the directing means includes at Least one source (15) of said radiation disposed externally of said wall portion and aimed through the Latter at the exposed surface of the fiber passing through said reaction zone.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
62 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 8, characterized in that the directing means further includes at Least one reflecting member (16) partially surrounding said source and operative for reflecting the radiation emitted by said source (15) and reaching said reflecting member toward said wall portion and through the same onto the exposed surface of the fiber (7) passing through said reaction zone.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
33 words
The apparatus as defined in any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the directing means includes at Least one elongated radiation source (15) extending substantiaLLy parallel to the fiber (7).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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