METHOD AND DEVICE FOR REMOVING OPTICAL FIBER COATING

摘要

PURPOSE:To completely remove the coating material of an optical fiber by heating a part in the longitudinal direction of an optical fiber in a non-contact state in an oxygen atmosphere and burning away the covering material of the optical fiber. CONSTITUTION:The optical fiber 5 is held by holders 4 in a chamber 1 and a gas mainly contg. oxygen is continuously introduced from an oxygen supplying part 2 into the chamber 1 to maintain the oxygen atmosphere in the chamber 1. The optical fiber 5 is locally heated and thermally cracked to a gaseous state by a heat source 11 consisting of an IR lamp or CO2 laser and a condenser lamp 12 in a heating section 10, by which the heated part is ignited and burned. The covering is thus locally removed and the optical fiber 6 is exposed. The gas generated by the combustion is discharged from a discharge section 3 to the outside of the chamber 1. Since the covering is burned while the oxygen is supplied at all times in such a manner, no coverings are stuck at all to the exposed optical fiber 6.