Abstract: At least a pair of shear blades cuts a stream of viscous molten glass descending from a glass feeder. The paired shear blades continuously move, while retaining a substantially horizontal position, about a horizontal axis along looped paths symmetrical to each other on opposite sides of the descending stream of molten glass. When viewed in a vertical plane, each loop represents the forward motion of each blade toward the center of the descending stream of molten glass, the crossing of the cutting edges provided on the two facing blades, and the retreat of each blade away from the center of the glass stream. The cutting of glass stream begins at the end of the forward motion of the shear blades and ends when the cutting edges provided on them have crossed each other. This permits the area and time of contact between the shear blades and the descending stream of molten glass to be minimized.

Abstract: A tube is wound into a coil, and the resulting coil of tube is vibrated so that a given point of the tube reciprocates along a helical path. An optical fiber is fed into the coil of tube that is being thus vibrated. Because of the vibration, the inner wall of the tube exerts such a force as to move the optical fiber diagonally upward and forward. This force causes the optical fiber to jump in the tube diagonally upward and forward and slide forward along the inner wall of the tube. The intermittent conveying force exerted by the inner wall of the tube in the direction of the circumference of the coil causes the optical fiber in the tube to travel forward, thereby pulling in additional length of the optical fiber from outside the tube.

Abstract: A tube is wound into a coil, and the resulting coil of tube is vibrated so that a given point of the tube reciprocates along a helical path. An optical fiber is fed into the coil of tube that is being thus vibrated. Because of the vibration, the inner wall of the tube exerts such a force as to move the optical fiber diagonally upward and forward. This force causes the optical fiber to jump in the tube diagonally upward and forward and slide forward along the inner wall of the tube. The intermittent conveying force exerted by the inner wall of the tube in the direction of the circumference of the coil causes the optical fiber in the tube to travel forward, thereby pulling in additional length of the optical fiber from outside the tube.