Patent ID: 7001466

Claim:
A coating supply system for providing coating material to a coating applicator in the manufacture of optical fiber, comprising: at least a first coating reservoir and a second coating reservoir, both of which can be selectively coupled to the coating applicator; a pressurized air source that provides high pressure air, wherein the air source can be selectively coupled to one or both of the first and second coating reservoirs; a sized orifice that selectively provides the pressurization of one of the first and second coating reservoirs at a predetermined rate using the pressurized air from the pressurized air source while the other of the first and second coating reservoirs is supplying coating material to the coating applicator; and wherein the pressurized air source can be selectively coupled to one or both of the first and second coating reservoirs by at least a first valve and a second valve, respectively, and by at least the sized orifice in series with a third valve.