Patent ID: 6347537
Filing Date: 2002-02-19
Classification: C03B,C03C,G02B

Abstract:
An optical fiber drawing method for reducing polarization characteristic of an optical fiber, comprising:drawing said optical fiber from an optical fiber preform; coating said optical fiber with a predetermined coating material; and guiding said optical fiber coated with said predetermined coating material with a first guide roller that swings periodically, and rolling said optical fiber on a roller surface of said first guide roller in accordance with the swing of said first guide roller; and guiding said optical fiber that has passed through said first guide roller with a second guide roller provided to a next stage of said first guide roller and having a fixed rotating shaft and suppressing said optical fiber from rolling on a roller surface of said second guide roller with an optical fiber rolling suppression portion provided to said second guide roller, wherein the swing of said first guide roller is such that the maximum clockwise angle and the maximum counterclockwise angle of said first guide roller are equal, such that a period of the clockwise swing which is the time from the beginning to the end of the clockwise swing of said first guide roller and a period of the counterclockwise swing which is the time from the beginning to the end of the counterclockwise swing of said first guide roller are equal, and such that a swing direction of said first guide roller is reversed smoothly without stopping when the swing angle of said first guide roller becomes maximum, wherein an optical fiber responsive motion suppressing means is provided to a preceding stage of said first guide roller, said means comprises at least one pair of responsive motion suppressing rollers which are provided above said first guide roller at a predetermined distance, said responsive motion suppressing rollers opposing each other at a predetermined gap through which said optical fiber is passed.