NYFORS Releases Short Fiber Length Recoaters

At this year’s Photonics West exhibition in San Francisco, USA, NYFORS presents new product solutions specially designed for recoating applications where only short lengths of optical fiber are available. A narrower positioning and shorter distance between the fiber clamps enables clamping and recoating of fibers as short as 124 mm without reducing the recoat length itself.

Two model configurations – the ReCoater 2 SC and the AutoCoater 2 SC – allow the customer to choose between a manual and a fully automatic short clamp recoating system. Easily exchangeable silicone moulds allows for flexible recoating of many different fiber coating sizes. With standard moulds the recoated part of the fiber is round with a diameter that perfectly and uniformly matches that of the original coating. A unique feature is also the choice to perform recoatings with a cross section slightly smaller than the original coating (undersize) or recoatings with a larger diameter that overlaps the original coating at each end (overcoating). A mould change can be performed in less than a minute and requires no realignment of the system.

In the automatic production AutoCoater 2 SC configuration, recoating compound is dispensed automatically from an easily attached 1 Oz Nalgene bottle functioning as the recoater reservoir tank. This greatly simplifies refilling in high volume production. The bottle as well as the injection pump, supply lines and injection needle may be removed and exchanged as a single unit. This completely eliminates the need to purge or cleanse the injection pump and supply lines when changing from one type of recoating resin to another.

Injection of recoating material can also be performed manually as in the manual ReCoater 2 SC configuration. While this does require a manual user operation, it also ensures flexibility because the user can immediately switch from one type of recoating compound to another (e.g. from a high index recoating material to a low index material) without any need to flush out a recoater reservoir and injection pumping system.

The easy exchange of mould size and recoating material, in combination with the short fiber lengths needed, makes the AutoCoater/ReCoater 2 SC an ideal choice for recoating operations where flexibility is required to meet many different needs and specifications.

Fast curing is achieved through a highly efficient UV LED array arranged along the length of the mould. Curing times depend on the fiber and fiber coating diameter as well as on the properties of the customer selected recoating resin, but are typically as short as 3 seconds which allows for very fast recoating operations. It is also possible to cure low index recoating compounds used in fiber laser manufacturing.

Both model configurations come in an ergonomic bench top design for comfortable operation. The main operator interface is an easy to navigate and user friendly GUI on the touch screen control panel. System software supports storable and user defined programs for easy process change. Remote monitoring and supervision can be carried out through an Ethernet interface.

About NYFORS
Nyfors Teknologi AB develops fiber preparation equipment for high strength and specialty fusion splicing applications. Specializing in advanced solutions for fiber pre- and postprocessing, the product range includes: precision fiber cleavers and cleave check interferometers, fiber optical recoaters and tensile testers, and custom manufacturing solutions for e.g. fiber optic gyroscope production.

Behind our products you find unique and original expertise accumulated during more than twenty years of research and development for the fusion splicing industry.