G - Physics – 02 – B
Patent
G - Physics
02
B
G02B 6/255 (2006.01)
Patent
CA 2343991
A heat oven for shrinking or otherwise applying protective sleeves onto optical fibers after fusion splicing. The oven preferably includes a plurality of fiber holding elements to enable the simultaneous heating and shrinking of protective sleeves on a plurality of fused fibers. The splice sleeves are heated by forced convection, conduction, or by a combination of conduction and forced convention. This is preferably accomplished by blowing hot air at or across the fibers in the fiber holding elements. The forced hot air is preferably created by a resistive element to heat the air and an impeller-type air mover. The air can be passed over the fibers, under the fibers, or directly at the fibers. If the air is passed beneath the fibers, there are preferably slots or openings in the fiber holding elements to expose the sleeves to the hot air. This invention can also be used for applying a single reinforcing sleeve to a single fiber. The heat oven preferably includes a plurality of fiber holding elements, and more preferably, one fiber holding element for each fiber to be spliced in a predetermined group or tube. A reinforcing sleeve is properly positioned on each fiber in the group, and each fiber in the group is loaded into a respective fiber holding element in the heat oven. Once all of the fibers have been loaded, the sleeves can simultaneously be heated and shrunk without any manual intervening steps. Preferably, the fiber holding elements are color coded to substantially match the color of the different fibers in the group. This provides visual feedback to the operator to minimize tangling of the fibers.
Clark Brett G.
Grasso Donald D.
Ware Scot K.
Amherst Holding Company
Clark Brett G.
Grasso Donald D.
Torys Llp
Ware Scot K.
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