OPTICAL FIBER ASSEMBLIES, AND METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF

• Main Authors: McAlpine, Warren W, Hawtof, Daniel W, Filippov, Andrey V, Freeland, Riley S, Burns, Rodney M, Tedder, Catharina L
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 27.10.2016
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS, OR APPARATUS; OPTICS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCESIN A PLASTIC STATE; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TRANSPORTING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

A method of making a fiber optic cable, comprising steps of: providing at least one optical fiber in a process direction; extruding a cone of polymer material that draws down surrounding the at least one optical fiber to form a tube; accelerating powder particles in a motive gas through a nozzle, along the process direction, to an interior of the extrusion cone where the powder particles have sufficient momentum to collide with the interior of the extrusion cone, wherein the acceleration is such that at least a portion of the powder particles becomes mechanically attached to the extrusion cone with at least a part of an attached particles extending into or partially embedded within the tube; and including the tube with other such tubes to form the fiber optic cable.