Optical fiber cable producer and method of bonding optical fibers to light emitting diodes

摘要

In a flexible, fiber optic belt 16 for the coherent transmission of light from an LED light source 22 a planar array of fiber optic filaments 34 extend along the length of the belt 16 and are positioned by transverse elements 79 along the major neutral plane of the belt. The fiber optic belt 16 is restrained to movement only in the direction normal to the major neutral plane by means of one or more rigid flat strips 25 parallel to the major neutral plane and the light source 22 is thermoelectrically cooled to improve the availability of light supplied by the diodes. In a method for producing the fiber optic cable, transverse positioning elements 79 are layered on a cable mold 56, one or more fiber optic filaments 34 are placed upon the transverse positioning elements 79. Fiber optic filaments 34 are pressed onto an adhesive layer adjacent to the LED's 48 and bonded by the melting of the adhesive. The fiber optic filaments 37 and transverse positioning elements 79 are later encapsulated in a molded flexible belt 16. An automated fiber optic cable producer is characterized by an elongated fiber optic mold 56, an emitter array 180 fixed to that mold, and a fiber feed mechanism mounted on a fiber carrier 94 for movement relative to the fiber optic cable mold 56. The carrier 94 is used for bonding the end of a fiber optic filament 34 on an emitter 48 in the emitter array 180 and routing the filament along the mold 56 to a transmitting head 26.