US 11,952,305 B2
Methods and systems for processing optical fiber
Ravindra Kumar Akarapu, Horseheads, NY (US); Joel Patrick Carberry, Big Flats, NY (US); David Alan Deneka, Corning, NY (US); Steven Akin Dunwoody, Castle Hayne, NC (US); Kenneth Edward Hrdina, Horseheads, NY (US); John Michael Jewell, Wilmington, NC (US); Yuanjie Jiang, Painted Post, NY (US); Nikolaos Pantelis Kladias, Horseheads, NY (US); Ming-Jun Li, Horseheads, NY (US); Barada Kanta Nayak, Painted Post, NY (US); Dale Robert Powers, Painted Post, NY (US); Chunfeng Zhou, Painted Post, NY (US); Vincent Matteo Tagliamonti, Painted Post, NY (US); and Christopher Scott Thomas, Horseheads, NY (US)
Assigned to CORNING INCORPORATED, Corning, NY (US)
Filed by CORNING INCORPORATED, Corning, NY (US)
Filed on Sep. 30, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/490,720.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/085,527, filed on Sep. 30, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0098085 A1, Mar. 31, 2022
Int. Cl. C03B 37/027 (2006.01); C03B 37/029 (2006.01)
CPC C03B 37/02727 (2013.01) [C03B 37/029 (2013.01); C03B 2205/55 (2013.01); C03B 2205/56 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for processing optical fiber, comprising:
an optical fiber preform;
a draw furnace containing the optical fiber preform;
a fiber conveyance pathway extending between an upstream end of the draw furnace and a downstream end opposite the upstream end;
an optical fiber drawn from the optical fiber preform and conveyed along the fiber conveyance pathway from the upstream end to the downstream end in a fiber conveyance direction; and
a flame reheating device surrounding the fiber conveyance pathway downstream from the draw furnace and heating the optical fiber by at least 100 degrees Celsius at a heating rate greater than 10,000 degrees Celsius/second, wherein the flame reheating device comprises a plurality of burners arranged in a successive manner, wherein each of the plurality of burners comprises:
a body having a top surface and an opposing bottom surface,
an opening within the body extending from the top surface through the body to the bottom surface, wherein the opening is configured to pass the optical fiber through the body along the fiber conveyance pathway, and
one or more gas outlets within the body configured to ignite a flammable gas to form a flame encircling the optical fiber within the opening,
wherein a distance between two adjacent burners of the plurality of burners ranges from about 2 inches to about 10 inches.