Method and apparatus for cooling optical fibers

摘要

The present method and apparatus relates to cooling an optical fibre during the drawing process of said fibre. In particular the present method comprises flowing a cooling gas onto the optical fibre wherein the flow direction of the cooling gas is substantially transversal with respect to the longitudinal axis of the fibre. It has been found that by employing a flow of cooling gas being substantially transversal to the longitudinal axis of the drawn fibre, the cooling efficiency of the fibre may be substantially improved. The apparatus comprises a hollow elongated body, said hollow elongated body having at least one wall defining an internal elongated space through which the drawn fibre passes wherein the at least one wall of said hollow elongated body is provided with at least one longitudinal opening through which said cooling gas is introduced into the hollow body and at least one longitudinal opening through which said cooling gas is removed from said hollow body.