Patent ID: 9676660
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: C03B,G02B

Claim:
1. A bent optical fiber manufacturing method for manufacturing a bent optical fiber in which a bend portion is formed at least in a part thereof, the method comprising: a pre-step of preparing an optical fiber comprised of silica-based glass; a bend portion forming step of bending a partial region of the prepared optical fiber, thereby to form a bend portion in the optical fiber; and a laser light irradiating step of heating the bend portion by irradiation with laser light to soften the bend portion formed in the bend portion forming step, thereby to relax a bend in the bend portion, wherein the bend portion forming step comprises forming a plurality of bend portions including the bend portion, in a plurality of regions separated from each other along an axial direction of the optical fiber, in the optical fiber, and all of the plurality of bend portions are bent in the same direction with respect to the axial direction of the optical fiber, thereby to form a single bend region having a predetermined radius of curvature as a whole, and wherein the laser light irradiating step comprises heating each of the bend portions by irradiation with the laser light to soften each of the bend portions formed in the bend portion forming step, thereby to relax bends in the respective bend portions.