Where The Second Or Further Layer Is A Coating Patents (Class 385/128)
  • Patent number: 8031997
    Abstract: Disclosed is an improved optical fiber that employs a novel coating system. When combined with a bend-insensitive glass fiber, the novel coating system according to the present invention yields an optical fiber having exceptionally low losses. The coating system features (i) a softer primary coating with excellent low-temperature characteristics to protect against microbending in any environment and in the toughest physical situations and, optionally, (ii) a colored secondary coating possessing enhanced color strength and vividness. The improved coating system provides optical fibers that are useful in relatively thin-walled, low-modulus buffer tubes (i.e., “flextubes”) that can be readily accessed without special tools.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2011
    Assignee: Draka Comteq, B.V.
    Inventor: Bob J. Overton
  • Patent number: 8023789
    Abstract: A plastic optical fiber cable includes: a bare optical fiber including a core made of a poly(methyl methacrylate) or a copolymer including methyl methacrylate as a major component and a cladding layer including, at least in the outermost layer, a layer made of a certain fluorine-containing olefin-based resin; and a coating layer provided on the outer surface thereof. The coating layer includes a protective coating layer, a light blocking coating layer, and a functional coating layer, the layers being provided in the order mentioned from inner side. The protective coating layer is made of a certain resin material. The light blocking coating layer is made of a nylon-based resin including, as a major component, nylon 11 or nylon 12, the nylon-based resin containing monomer and oligomer compounds derived from the nylon-based resin in an amount of a certain range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Amane Aoyagi, Yoshihito Tsukamoto, Yasushi Fujishige, Yoshiko Maeda, Tsuyoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 8000576
    Abstract: A double-clad optical fiber includes a core, an inner cladding and an outer cladding of silica-based glass. The core may have a radius of less than about 5 ?m, a first index of refraction n1 and does not contain any active rare-earth dopants. The inner cladding may surround the core and includes a radial thickness of at least about 25 ?m, a numerical aperture of at least about 0.25, and a second index of refraction n2 such that n2<n1. The relative refractive index percent (?%) of the core relative to the inner cladding may be greater than about 0.1%. The outer cladding may surround the inner cladding and include a radial thickness from about 10 ?m to about 50 ?m and a third index of refraction n3 such that n3<n2. The relative refractive index percent (?%) of the inner cladding relative to the outer cladding may be greater than about 1.5%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Xin Chen, Joohyun Koh, Ming-Jun Li
  • Patent number: 7995873
    Abstract: A fiber optic sensor apparatus includes an optical fiber, a fiber bend holder, and a sensing element. The optical fiber can be configured to form a transmit fiber path and a return fiber path by adhering the fiber bend holder to the center of the optical fiber in order to form a straight section between the transmit fiber path and the return fiber path. The optic fiber can be physically bent and adhered to tabs associated with the fiber bend holder. A cut can be precisely made in the center of the adhered straight section and the sensing element can be inserted into an optical path associated with the optical fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Justin Prevo, Larry J. Terpstra
  • Publication number: 20110176814
    Abstract: A plastic optical fiber cable includes: a bare plastic optical fiber including a core formed of a polymer containing a methyl methacrylate unit, and a clad layer including a layer formed of a specific fluorine-containing olefin resin at least in the outermost layer; and a coating layer around the bare plastic optical fiber, the coating layer including a light-shielding coating layer formed of a specific nylon resin composition, a functional coating layer (C) and a functional coating layer (D) in this order, where one of the functional coating layer (C) and the functional coating layer (D) is formed of a resin composition (I) containing a polybutylene terephthalate resin as a major component or an ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer as a major component; the other is formed of a specific nylon resin composition (II); and a ratio of the thickness of the functional coating layer (C) to the thickness of the functional coating layer (D) is set to fall within a specific range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2009
    Publication date: July 21, 2011
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI RAYON CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Tsukamoto, Tsuyoshi Kimura, Yasushi Fujishige, Rie Akihara, Mitsuhiro Matsuo
  • Patent number: 7978948
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an optical fiber accommodated in an optical fiber cable, and more particularly, to an optical fiber which optimizes optical fiber coating resin and color resin and restrains an increase in transmission loss of the optical fiber due to an operating environment and aged deterioration and provides an optical fiber and optical fiber ribbon without any increase of transmission loss irrespective of the operating environment and aged deterioration, and especially when exposed to water or high humidity. The optical fiber is an optical fiber coated with at least two layers of coating resin, wherein the outermost coated coating resin is a colored layer made of color resin and when the optical fiber is immersed in water which is heated to 60° C. for 168 hours, an extraction rate of the coating resin of the optical fiber is set to 1.5 mass percent or below.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuo Nakajima, Hiroki Tanaka, Yoshihiro Arashitani, Kouji Mochizuki, Mitsunori Okada
  • Patent number: 7978949
    Abstract: Optical fibers and optical transmission systems, which are capable of broadband and large capacity single-mode optical transmission, and have low macrobends are provided. The optical fiber made from pure silica comprising a core region, a cladding region at the circumference of the core region a coating layer made from a resin at the circumference of the cladding region, and having a cutoff wavelength of shorter than 1530 nm, and positive dispersion at 1550 nm, bending loss of less than 10 dB/m at a bending diameter of 20 mm, and an effective core area of 120 ?m2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kazunori Mukasa
  • Patent number: 7978946
    Abstract: An optical fiber includes a glass fiber having a glass core and a cladding which contains voids spaced apart from the core. The voids act as trapping sites for ingressing molecules from the surrounding environment, thereby reducing the effect of such molecules on the fiber's light-transmission properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Verrillon, Inc.
    Inventors: Imtiaz Majid, Abdel Soufiane, Kanxian Wei, Gary Drenzek, Chih-Hao Wang
  • Publication number: 20110142404
    Abstract: This invention discloses a bend insensitive single mode fiber, which is composed by a bare glass fiber with a round cross section and two resin protective layers with circular cross sections surrounding the outer of the bare glass fiber. It is characterized in that the bare glass fiber is composed by a core layer with a round cross section and two claddings with circular cross sections. The refractive index of the core layer is higher than the index of the two claddings and the refractive index difference between the core layer and the first cladding is larger than the difference between the first and second claddings. The second cladding is made of pure SiO2. The refractive index profile of the core layer follows a power function, and the refractive index profile of the two claddings follow a ladder-type distribution. The loss of the invented fiber is insensitive to the bending of the fiber, which meets the requirements of ITU.T G.657.A and G.657.B standards, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2009
    Publication date: June 16, 2011
    Applicant: FUTONG GROUP CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Liyong Zhang, Weimin Lu, Haigang Wu, Qunxing Li, Xiaopeng Huang
  • Publication number: 20110103754
    Abstract: A buffered optical fiber (10) comprises a central core (11) surrounded by an optical cladding (12), a coating (13) surrounding the optical cladding, a protective buffer (15) surrounding the coating and an intermediate layer (14) between the coating and the protective buffer. The intermediate layer consists of hot melt seal and peel material. The intermediate layer (14) may be extruded in tandem with the outer protective buffer (15).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2009
    Publication date: May 5, 2011
    Applicant: DRAKA COMTEQ B.V.
    Inventors: Jean Marc Testu, Olivier Tatat
  • Publication number: 20110085772
    Abstract: An optical fiber comprising: (i) a multi-mode silica based glass core, said core having a 80-300 ?m diameter and an index of refraction n1; (ii) a cladding surrounding the core, said cladding having a thickness ?20 ?m and index of refraction index of refraction n2<n1, the cladding comprising (a) fluorine doped silica with relative index of refraction delta <0, or (b) a polymer with relative index of refraction delta <0; (iii) a protective coating, the protective coating having a Young's modulus greater than 700 MPa, a thickness ?15 ?m, and an index of refraction index of refraction n3>n2; and (iv) a permanent buffer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2010
    Publication date: April 14, 2011
    Inventors: Seldon David Benjamin, Kevin Wallace Bennett, Gregory Blake Bohler, Jeffrey Coon, Samuel Don Navé
  • Patent number: 7925134
    Abstract: This disclosure presents a version of a coherent laser radar system that is immune to environmental effects on Mach-Zehnder-configured interferometers and reference length standards comprising such systems. The present disclosure also describes methods and materials which alleviate interferometer drift due to vapor absorption using a polyimide coated polarization maintaining fiber to reduce the change in the length of a reference arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2011
    Assignee: Nikon Metrology NV
    Inventors: Anthony Slotwinski, Andrew L. Bennett
  • Patent number: 7920768
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a single mode optical fiber comprising a first central region having a radius r1, a maximum refractive index value n1 and at least one second ring surrounding said first central region, which second ring has a radius r2 and a minimum refractive index value n2, wherein n2<n1. The present invention furthermore relates to an optical communication system for multi-channel signal transmission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2011
    Assignee: Draka Comteq, B.V.
    Inventors: Mark Peter Marie Jetten, Pieter Matthijsse
  • Patent number: 7899294
    Abstract: A double-clad optical fiber includes a core, an inner cladding and an outer cladding of silica-based glass. The core may have a radius of less than about 5 ?m, a first index of refraction n1 and does not contain any active rare-earth dopants. The inner cladding may surround the core and includes a radial thickness of at least about 25 ?m, a numerical aperture of at least about 0.25, and a second index of refraction n2 such that n2<n1. The relative refractive index percent (?%) of the core relative to the inner cladding may be greater than about 0.1%. The outer cladding may surround the inner cladding and include a radial thickness from about 10 ?m to about 50 ?m and a third index of refraction n3 such that n3<n2. The relative refractive index percent (?%) of the inner cladding relative to the outer cladding may be greater than about 1.5%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2011
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Xin Chen, Joohyun Koh, Ming-Jun Li
  • Patent number: 7894697
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an optical fiber which has a structure for further increasing an FOM (=|dispersion|/loss) and which can be applied to a dispersion compensation module. The optical fiber is mainly composed of silica glass and has a core region including a center of an optical axis, a depressed region surrounding the core region, a ring region surrounding the depressed region, and a cladding region surrounding the ring region and doped with F. As compared with the refractive index of pure silica glass, a relative refractive index difference of the core region is greater than 2% but less than 3%, a relative refractive index difference of the depressed region is ?1% or more but ?0.5% or less, a relative refractive index difference of the ring region is 0.01% or more but 0.24% or less, and a relative refractive index difference of the cladding region is ?0.3% or more but ?0.1% or less. The FOM at the wavelength of 1550 nm is 250 ps/nm/dB or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Sasaki, Kazumasa Makihara, Tetsuya Haruna, Masashi Onishi, Masaaki Hirano
  • Patent number: 7876991
    Abstract: An optical fiber which reduces transmission loss increase even in a high humidity environment or under water is provided. To solve the above issue, an optical fiber according to the present invention comprises a glass optical fiber coated with at least two coating layers, soft and hard layers. The optical fiber is further coated by a colored resin to make a colored optical fiber. The hard layer and the color layer of the colored optical fiber have a free volume radius of at least 0.290 nm according to positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2011
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuo Nakajima, Kouji Mochizuki, Hiroki Tanaka
  • Patent number: 7865049
    Abstract: An optical fiber and methods of processing and manufacturing an optical fiber comprising a core, a cladding and a coating covering a segment of the cladding proximate to an end of the optical fiber are presented where patterned apertures are provided in the coating such that a portion of light propagating in the cladding escapes through the patterned apertures of the coating. The patterned apertures allow non-confined light to escape from the cladding in the coating region to provide reduced absorption of the non-confined light by the coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Rajminder Singh
  • Publication number: 20100303429
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for making a substantially void-free microstructured optical fiber using a one-step process is provided. A preform for the optical fiber is prepared, comprising an outer jacket made of solid glass, a cladding having a plurality of microtubes and/or microcanes arranged in a desired pattern within the jacket, and a core which may be solid or hollow, with the cladding and the core extending above the top of the outer jacket. The thus-prepared preform is placed into a fiber draw tower. As the fiber is drawn, negative gas pressure is applied to draw the canes together and consolidate the interfacial voids between the canes while positive gas pressure is applied to the preform to keep the holes of the microcanes open during the fiber drawing. The apparatus includes a jig having support tubes that are connected to a vacuum pump for application of the negative gas pressure and a vent tube connected to a gas supply for application of the positive gas pressure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2009
    Publication date: December 2, 2010
    Applicant: The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Daniel J. Gibson, Jasbinder S. Sanghera, Frederic H. Kung, Ishwar D. Aggarwal
  • Patent number: 7839901
    Abstract: A powerful fiber laser system is configured with at least one gain block. The gain block includes an input fiber guiding a pump light, a multiclad active fiber receiving the pump light so that a major portion is absorbed in the core of the active fiber while a minor portion of the pump light propagates in the inner cladding of the active fiber, and a multiclad output fiber. The multiclad output fiber is configured with a core, guiding a signal lased by the core of the active fiber upon absorption of the major portion of the pump light, an inner cladding receiving the minor portion of the pump light and an outer cladding. The inner and outer claddings of the multiclad output fiber have respective refractive indexes which are selected so that the refractive index of the outer cladding is higher than that one of the inner cladding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: IPG Photonics Corporation
    Inventors: Mikhail Meleshkevich, Victor Ilyashenko, Oleg Shkurikhin
  • Publication number: 20100290781
    Abstract: Disclosed is an improved, single-mode optical fiber possessing a novel coating system. When combined with a bend-insensitive glass fiber, the novel coating system according to the present invention yields an optical fiber having exceptionally low losses. The coating system features (i) a softer primary coating with excellent low-temperature characteristics to protect against microbending in any environment and in the toughest physical situations and, optionally, (ii) a colored secondary coating possessing enhanced color strength and vividness. The secondary coating provides improved ribbon characteristics for structures that are robust, yet easily entered (i.e., separated and stripped). The optional dual coating is specifically balanced for superior heat stripping in fiber ribbons, with virtually no residue left behind on the glass. This facilitates fast splicing and terminations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2010
    Publication date: November 18, 2010
    Applicant: DRAKA COMTEQ B.V.
    Inventors: Bob J. Overton, Louis-Anne de Montmorillon, Simon Richard, Denis Molin, Marianne Bigot-Astruc, Pierre Sillard, David Boivin
  • Patent number: 7817892
    Abstract: A bend insensitive fiber optic cable includes a singlemode fiber, a buffer layer surrounding the fiber wherein a thickest component of the buffer layer has an elastic modulus greater than 515 MPa (75,000 psi), and a jacket surrounding the buffer layer, wherein the jacket has a thickness of at least 1.2 mm. In one preferred embodiment, the buffer layer includes a nylon 12 resin with a nominal elastic modulus of approximately 218,000 psi. In this embodiment, an inner thin component of the buffer layer is made of an ethylene/ethyl acrylate resin so as to facilitate stripping of the buffer layer away from the fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2010
    Assignee: OFS Fitel, LLC
    Inventors: Kariofilis Konstadinidis, David J. Mazzarese, Richard Norris, Peter A. Weimann
  • Patent number: 7813611
    Abstract: According to one example of the invention an optical fiber comprises: (i) a core comprising of Al doped silica having a first index of refraction n1; (ii) at least one silica based cladding surrounding the core and having a second index of refraction n2, such that n1>n2; (iii) a hermetic carbon based coating surrounding said cladding, said hermetic coating being 300 nm-1000 nm thick; and (iv) a second coating surrounding said hermetic coating, said second coating being 5 ?m to 80 ?m thick.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Kevin Wallace Bennett, Joohyun Koh
  • Patent number: 7811640
    Abstract: This invention describes methods for fabricating polymer optical waveguides, and polymer optical waveguides themselves wherein at least one of the optical layers is deposited by a two-stage deposition process. In particular, the two-stage deposition process comprises spinning as the second step. Preferably, the polymer optical waveguide comprises a three layer structure comprising a lower cladding layer, a light guiding core layer and an upper cladding layer, supported on a substrate. The invention has particular application to the volume production of polymer optical waveguides on large area substrates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: RPO Pty Limited
    Inventors: Robert Bruce Charters, Dax Kukulj, Ian Andrew Maxwell, Graham Roy Atkins
  • Patent number: 7813614
    Abstract: The invention consists in an amplifying optical fiber comprising a core containing a dopant and a cladding, wherein said core comprises a monomode core intended to propagate an optical signal, quantum dots of a semiconductor material being disposed in or near said monomode core, and a multimode core surrounding the monomode core, intended to receive a pumping signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: Alcatel
    Inventors: Christian Simonneau, Laurent Gasca, Stephanie Blanchandin, Dominique Bayart
  • Patent number: 7787733
    Abstract: An optical transmission fiber is formed to include a relatively low-index, relatively thin outer cladding layer disposed underneath the protective polymer outer coating. Stray light propagating along an inner cladding layer(s) within the fiber will be refracted into the thin outer cladding (by proper selection of refractive index values). The thin dimension of the outer cladding layer allows for the stray light to “leak” into the outer coating in a controlled, gradual manner so as to minimize heating of the coating associated with the presence of stray light. The inventive fiber may also be bent to assist in the movement of stray light into the coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2010
    Assignee: Furukawa Electric North America, Inc.
    Inventors: David John DiGiovanni, Yoshihiro Emori, Michael Fishteyn, Clifford Headley
  • Patent number: 7787732
    Abstract: An optical fiber, made of silica-based glass, comprising a core and a cladding, each of the optical fiber having a mode field diameter of 5.5 ?m or larger at a wavelength of 1100 nm, transmitting light with a wavelength of 1250 nm in a single mode, and having a bending loss of 1 dB/turn or smaller at a wavelength of 1100 nm when the optical fiber is bent with a curvature radius of 2 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2010
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryuichi Sugizaki, Iwao Shimotakahara, Harumi Inaba, Takeshi Yagi
  • Patent number: 7773834
    Abstract: A polarizing film is made of multilayer polarizing fibers embedded within a matrix. The fibers are formed with layers of at least a first and a second polymer material. Layers of the first polymer material are disposed between layers of the second polymer material. At least one of the first and second polymer materials is birefringent. In some embodiments the thickness of the layers of at least one of the materials varies across the fiber, and may include layers are selected as quarter-wavelength thickness for light having a wavelength of more than 700 nm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Andrew J. Ouderkirk, Gregory L. Bluem, Robert L. Brott, Patrick R. Fleming, Joan M. Frankel, Shandon D. Hart, William J. Kopecky, Huiwen Tai, Margaret M. Vogel-Martin, Daniel J. Zillig
  • Publication number: 20100195966
    Abstract: According to some embodiments an optical waveguide fiber comprises: (i) a Ge free core having an effective area of 90 ?m2 to 160 ?m2, at a 1550 nm wavelength, and ? value 12???25, said core comprising: (a) a central core region extending radially outwardly from a centerline to a radius 0 ?m?r0?2 ?m, and having a relative refractive index percent profile ?0(r) in % measured relative to pure silica, wherein ?0.1%??0(r)?0.1%, wherein the central core region has a maximum relative refractive index percent, ?0MAX, (b) a first annular core region surrounding and directly adjacent to the central core region and extending to an outer radius r1, wherein 4.8 ?m?r1?10 ?m, and having a relative refractive index percent profile, ?1(r) in % measured relative to pure silica, and a minimum relative refractive index, ?2MIN, and the relative refractive index measured at a radius r=2.5 ?m being: ?0.15??1(r=2.5 ?m)?0, and ?0MAX??1(r=2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Inventors: Scott Robertson Bickham, Dana Craig Bookbinder, Ming-Jun Li, Snigdharaj Kumar Mishra, Daniel Aloysius Nolan, Pushkar Tandon
  • Patent number: 7766561
    Abstract: The invention relates to high-strength, abrasion-resistant optical fiber cable having a supplemental layer consisting essentially of a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) to enhance the cable's tensile strength and hermetically seal it, and an outermost encasing layer to protect the LCP supplemental layer from damage that could otherwise diminish the tensile strength or destroy the moisture barrier properties of the cable gained by adding the supplemental liquid crystal polymer layer. The encasing layer is preferably a thin layer of a smooth, non-crystalline thermoplastic that can be easily removed with chemicals that do not affect the properties of the supplemental layer so that the supplemental layer can be made accessible for promoting the formation of hermetically sealed interfaces between the cable and other structures. Cross-head extrusion methods for coating optical fibers with LCP and encasing layers are described along with laser and ultrasonic bonding techniques for fabricating hermetic packages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: Linden Photonics, Inc.
    Inventors: Amaresh Mahapatra, Robert J. Mansfield
  • Patent number: 7764855
    Abstract: An optical fiber having: a) a glass portion; and b) at least one protective coating layer disposed to surround the glass portion, the protective coating layer having a modulus of elasticity value between ?40° C. and +60° C. between 5 MPa and 600 MPa, preferably not higher than 500 MPa, more preferably not higher than 450 MPa and much more preferably not higher than 300. Preferably the protective coating layer is a single protective coating layer which is disposed in contact with the glass portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Prysmian Cavi e Sistemi Energia S.R.L.
    Inventors: Giacomo Stefano Roba, Lidia Terruzzi, Sabrina Fogliani, Luca Castellani, Emiliano Resmini, Raffaella Donetti, Lisa Grassi
  • Patent number: 7760978
    Abstract: An optical transmission fiber is formed to include a relatively low-index, relatively thin outer cladding layer disposed underneath the protective polymer outer coating. Stray light propagating along an inner cladding layer(s) within the fiber will be refracted into the thin outer cladding (by proper selection of refractive index values). The thin dimension of the outer cladding layer allows for the stray light to “leak” into the outer coating in a controlled, gradual manner so as to minimize heating of the coating associated with the presence of stray light. The inventive fiber may also be bent to assist in the movement of stray light into the coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: DFS Fitel LLC
    Inventors: David John DiGiovanni, Yoshihiro Emori, Michael Fishteyn, Clifford Headley
  • Patent number: 7747120
    Abstract: A coated optical fiber capable of transmitting high-power light, which is an optical fiber having an outer surface coated with a coating material, is characterized in that the coating material is made of a transparent UV curable resin so as to prevent the coating material from absorbing light leaked outside from the optical fiber to generate heat. Further, a light transmitting method is characterized in that a fiber fuse propagation threshold which is a minimal light output required for fiber fuse propagation is obtained and a transmitted light output is controlled so that the transmitted light output becomes smaller than the fiber fuse propagation threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Koji Seo, Naoya Nishimura
  • Patent number: 7742671
    Abstract: A silica-based optical fiber includes a core and a cladding that is formed on an outer circumference of the core. The core includes three or more layers including a layer doped with at least one of germanium and fluorine, and a concentration of the germanium or the fluorine in each of the layers is controlled in such a manner that a Brillouin gain spectral peak is spread into a plurality of peaks on a Brillouin gain spectrum. With this scheme, an optical fiber is provided, which has stable characteristics in the longitudinal direction, and which has a high SBS threshold so that generation of the SBS can be effectively suppressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignees: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yahei Koyamada, Katsunori Imamura
  • Patent number: 7734136
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a single mode optical fiber comprising a first central region having a radius r1, a maximum refractive index value n1 and at least one second ring surrounding said first central region, which second ring has a radius r2 and a minimum refractive index value n2, wherein n2<n1. The present invention furthermore relates to an optical communication system for multi-channel signal transmission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: Draka Comteq B.V.
    Inventors: Mark Peter Marie Jetten, Pieter Matthijsse
  • Publication number: 20100135339
    Abstract: A powerful fiber laser system is configured with at least one gain block. The gain block includes an input fiber guiding a pump light, a multiclad active fiber receiving the pump light so that a major portion is absorbed in the core of the active fiber while a minor portion of the pump light propagates in the inner cladding of the active fiber, and a multiclad output fiber. The multiclad output fiber is configured with a core, guiding a signal lased by the core of the active fiber upon absorption of the major portion of the pump light, an inner cladding receiving the minor portion of the pump light and an outer cladding. The inner and outer claddings of the multiclad output fiber have respective refractive indexes which are selected so that the refractive index of the outer cladding is higher than that one of the inner cladding.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2008
    Publication date: June 3, 2010
    Inventors: Mikhail Meleshkevich, Victor Ilyashenko, Oleg Shkurikhin
  • Patent number: 7729587
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of producing a planar multimode optical waveguide by direct photo-patterning and, more particularly, to an optical waveguide material and a method of producing the same. It is possible to control the refractive index of the optical waveguide, and the optical waveguide has a desirable refractive index distribution throughout different dielectric regions. In the method, it is unnecessary to conduct processes of forming a clad layer and of etching a core layer, thus a production process is simplified. The method comprises coating a photosensitive hybrid material having a refractive index or a volume changed by light radiation, in a thickness of 10 microns or more, and radiating light having a predetermined wavelength onto the coated photosensitive hybrid material to form the multimode optical waveguide due to a change in refractive index of a portion onto which light is radiated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
    Inventors: Byeong-Soo Bae, Dong-Jun Kang, Jin-Ki Kim, Woo-Soo Kim
  • Patent number: 7729564
    Abstract: An optical fiber is provided, which is unlikely to cause interlayer delamination between a glass optical fiber and a primary coating layer even when it is immersed in water. The optical fiber of the present invention includes a glass optical fiber 1 consisting of a core and a cladding, a primary coating layer 2 overlaid on the glass optical fiber, and a secondary coating layer 3 overlaid on the primary coating layer, wherein the relaxation modulus of the secondary coating layer is set at 400 MPa or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuo Nakajima, Hiroki Tanaka, Yoshihiro Arashitani, Takayoshi Ono
  • Publication number: 20100124398
    Abstract: A Radiation Curable Coating composition, which may be used as an inner primary coating, an outer primary coating, single coats, a matrix, or a buffer resin composition, comprising: A Radiation Curable Coating composition, which may be used as an inner primary coating, an outer primary coating, single coats, a matrix, or a buffer resin composition, comprising at least one radiation-curable oligomer wherein said at least one radiation curable oligomer is a fatty-acid modified epoxy acrylate; at least one ethylenenic unsaturated reactive diluent; wherein said oligomer(s) and diluent(s) are selected from the group that does not include moieties with Urethane chemistry. This composition, when tested, is found to have resistance to thermal degradation as measured by less than 10% weight loss after exposure of cured specimens in a natural convection furnace for 100 hours at 180° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2009
    Publication date: May 20, 2010
    Applicant: DSM IP ASSETS B.V.
    Inventors: Edward J. MURPHY, Timothy Bishop, Steven R. Schmid
  • Patent number: 7720338
    Abstract: Described are new cable designs for indoor installations wherein the cable comprises a dual-layer optical fiber buffer encasement of acrylate resin. The buffer encasement has an acrylate compliant inner layer that protects the fiber and minimizes stress transfer to the fiber; and a hard, tough acrylate outer layer that provides crush resistance. The dual-layer optical fiber buffer encasement is wrapped with reinforcing yarn and encased in an outer protective jacket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: Furukawa Electric North America
    Inventors: Mark G. Graveston, Jason Pedder, Peter A. Weimann
  • Publication number: 20100119198
    Abstract: A coated optical fiber of the present invention comprises a glass fiber coated by at least two coating layers (a soft layer and a hard layer), wherein the glass surface of the glass fiber, where the at least two coating layers of the optical fiber are removed, has a peak intensity ratio of 0.6 or more in C3H7O+ (m/z 59) or C4H9O+ (m/z 73) with respect to Si+ (m/z 28) peak in cation analysis of TOF-SIMS. The optical fiber suppresses increase in its transmission loss even when it is exposed to a high-humidity environment or immersed in water.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2009
    Publication date: May 13, 2010
    Applicant: FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuo NAKAJIMA, Hiroki TANAKA, Kouji MOCHIZUKI
  • Patent number: 7715675
    Abstract: The present invention relates to optical fiber coating systems capable of providing a high degree of microbend protection to an optical fiber, and an optical fiber coated therewith. According to one embodiment of the invention, an optical fiber coating system includes a primary coating and a secondary coating, wherein when a ribbon having twelve large effective area optical fibers coated with the coating system is subjected to the ribbon optical performance test at a wavelength of 1550 nm, the average change in attenuation is about 0.020 dB/km or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Michelle D Fabian, Edward J Fewkes, Huan-Hung Sheng, Michael J Winningham
  • Patent number: 7706650
    Abstract: The invention relates to a composite structure (11) formed by a plurality of layers (13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23) including an optical fiber (25) for structural monitoring purposes which is at least partly embedded in said structure (11), incorporating a protective cover (27) in those areas of its embedded part susceptible to needing repair, and to a process for repairing said embedded optical fiber comprising the following steps: identifying the optical fiber area in need of repair, removing material until reaching the cover (27), extracting said area, removing the protective cover (27), repairing the optical fiber (25), relocating the repaired area in the structure and returning the removed material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Airbus Espana, S.L.
    Inventor: José Manuel Menéndez Martin
  • Patent number: 7706651
    Abstract: Disclosed is an air blown optical fiber unit having beads attached on its surface. The air blown optical fiber unit includes at least one optical fiber, a buffer layer surrounding the optical fiber and made of polymer resin, an outer layer surrounding the buffer layer and made of polymer resin, and beads attached on a surface of the outer layer to have height of 40 ?m to 120 ?m on the average. This air blown optical fiber unit gives improved installation characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: LS Cable Ltd.
    Inventor: Chan-Yong Park
  • Patent number: 7702205
    Abstract: A relative refractive index difference ?1 between a center core region and a cladding layer is 0.30% to 0.35%, a relative refractive index difference ?2 between an outer core layer and the cladding layer is ?0.10% to ?0.04%, and ?1:?2 is 2.5:1 to 7.5:1. A diameter of the center core region is 9.0 ?m to 10.5 ?m, and a ratio of diameters of the center core region and the outer core layer is 0.20 to 0.35. A cutoff wavelength is 1310 nm or shorter, a zero dispersion wavelength is 1285 nm to 1345 nm, and at a wavelength of 1550 nm, an MFD is 10.5 ?m or larger, a transmission loss is 0.185 dB/km or lower, and a bending loss is 15 dB/m or lower.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2010
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Naomi Kumano
  • Patent number: 7697809
    Abstract: An optical fiber, comprising: (i) a core having a core center and a radius or a width a, (ii) a cladding surrounding the core, and (iii) at least one stress member situated proximate to the fiber core within the cladding, said stress member comprising silica co-doped with F and at least one dopant selected from the list consisting of: GeO2, P2O5, Y2O3, TiO2 and Al2O3, wherein distance b between the stress member and the core center satisfies the following equation: 1?b/a<2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2010
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Dana Craig Bookbinder, Xin Chen, Joohyun Koh, Ming-Jun Li, Daniel Aloysius Nolan
  • Patent number: 7687275
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for amplifying the detected signal in a gas sensor. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for increasing the concentration of the gas which is being detected in a sample or increasing the concentration of a gas which is directly obtained from the gas in the sample by chemical reaction. The gas which is to be detected is nitric oxide (NO). In particular, the method concerns the selective conversion of NO to NO2 which allows a threefold amplification of the number of analyte molecules in NO trace gas analysis in a single amplification cycle. Subsequent reduction or thermal decomposition of the obtained NO2 can provide NO again, which can again be introduced in a new amplification cycle. Multiple (n) amplification cycles can provide a sensitivity amplification by a factor 3n. The method can be combined with a multitude of detection methods and tolerates a high humidity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2010
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventor: Dirk Burdinski
  • Patent number: 7676130
    Abstract: The invention includes a composition for an optical fiber coating. An inventive composition includes a non-thiol functional adhesion promoter and less than about 0.5 pph of a strength additive containing a thiol functional group. The invention further includes an optical fiber coated with the inventive composition. A second inventive composition includes a photo-polymerizable composition which contains an adhesion promoter and a non-silicon containing strength additive containing at least about one thiol functional group. A third inventive composition includes a photo-polymerizable composition which has a silane containing adhesion promoter and a strength additive containing at least about one halide functional group. The invention also includes an optical fiber coated with the inventive coating and methods of making an optical fiber including the inventive coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2010
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Ching-Kee Chien, Edward J Fewkes, Susan M Gasper, Anita S Hill, Gregory F Jacobs, Frederic C Wagner, Michael J Winningham, Randall E Youngman
  • Publication number: 20100046900
    Abstract: The present invention provides an optical fiber in which composites constructing its coating are not complicated, so, there is also little constraint in view of production, and, moreover, delamination between a glass optical fiber and a primary layer, and a bubble in the primary layer hardly arise. The optical fiber of the present invention is an optical fiber which has a glass optical fiber which has a core 1, which passes an optical signal, in a center portion, and a cladding 2 surrounding this, a primary protective layer 3 made to coat the glass optical fiber, a secondary protective layer 4 applied on this primary protective layer 3, and a third protective layer 5 applied to an outer periphery of this secondary protective layer 4, wherein glass transition temperature of the primary protective layer 3 is made to be higher than ?20° C. and 10° C. or lower, glass transition temperature of the secondary protective layer 4 is made to be ?10° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2006
    Publication date: February 25, 2010
    Applicant: THE FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuo Nakajima, Hiroki Tanaka, Yoshihiro Arashitani, Kouji Mochizuki, Mitsunori Okada
  • Patent number: 7660505
    Abstract: An optical fiber comprising a flame retardant UV light-curable tight-buffer coating coated onto the fiber, wherein said tight-buffer coating is substantially halogen-free, and has a limiting oxygen index of at least about 22%, and wherein said tight-buffer coating is removable from said fiber with a strip-force of less than about 1800 grams when the fiber is upjacketed with said coating at a line speed of at least 300 m/min.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2010
    Assignee: DSM IP Assets, B.V.
    Inventors: David M. Chase, Kenneth Dake, Kelly A. Hawkinson, Jack Kelly, Edward J. Murphy
  • Publication number: 20100021118
    Abstract: A double-clad optical fiber includes a core, an inner cladding and an outer cladding of silica-based glass. The core may have a radius of less than about 5 ?m, a first index of refraction n1 and does not contain any active rare-earth dopants. The inner cladding may surround the core and includes a radial thickness of at least about 25 ?m, a numerical aperture of at least about 0.25, and a second index of refraction n2 such that n2<n1. The relative refractive index percent (?%) of the core relative to the inner cladding may be greater than about 0.1%. The outer cladding may surround the inner cladding and include a radial thickness from about 10 ?m to about 50 ?m and a third index of refraction n3 such that n3<n2. The relative refractive index percent (?%) of the inner cladding relative to the outer cladding may be greater than about 1.5%.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2009
    Publication date: January 28, 2010
    Inventors: Xin Chen, Joohyun Koh, Ming-Jun Li