A METHOD OF AND AN APPARATUS FOR COOLING AN OPTICAL FIBRE

摘要

A method of and an apparatus for cooling an optical fibre drawn from a heated glass blank by passing the fibre (3) through a cooling pipe (9) in which a cooling gas (A) flows in the axial direction of the fibre around it. In order to reduce the consumption of cooling gas, the cooling gas is caused to flow turbulently (B) around the fibre by means of a throttle point (20) formed by a partition wall (19) in the cooling pipe, so that a laminar flow of cooling gas around the fibre is prevented and the transfer of heat between the cooling gas and the fibre is improved.