Patent ID: 9651744
Date: 2017-05-16
CPC Classifications: G02B

Claim:
1. An automated process comprising: forming a plurality of holes in a substrate, the substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface, each of the plurality of holes extending through the top surface and the bottom surface and having a pre-determined position within a predefined tolerance; gripping a first optical fiber with a gripper, the gripper configured to control a position of the fiber in a plane transverse to a length of the fiber within a predefined tolerance; guiding the first optical fiber from the top surface of the substrate through a predetermined hole of the plurality of holes and past the bottom surface of the substrate; and confirming that a length of the first fiber protrudes from the bottom surface of the substrate; repeating said gripping, said guiding, and said confirming with a second optical fiber; aligning an optical element so that a contacting surface of the optical element is parallel to the bottom surface of the substrate; and moving the optical element towards the bottom surface of the substrate so as to push the first fiber and the second fiber back into their corresponding holes.