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Method of making an undersea, high pressure bulkhead penetrator for use with fiber optic cables

  • US 4,469,399 A
  • Filed: 12/30/1981
  • Issued: 09/04/1984
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1981
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method for making a penetrator capable of optically transmitting through a wall separating a first medium from a higher pressure medium comprising:

  • providing a bore through the wall having a first side and a second opposite side;

    applying wax to one end of a cylindrically-shaped lens;

    inserting the cylindrically-shaped lens into the bore, the lens having a length to locate its far end flush with the first side of the wall and the wax applied end within the bore at the second opposite side of the wall;

    melting the wax allowing it to flow around the top of the wax applied end of the cylindrically-shaped lens to hold the lens in place;

    cooling the melted wax to precisely fix the cylindrically-shaped lens into position wthin the bore and defining a clearance space between the cylindrically-shaped lens and the bore;

    potting high strength epoxy resin in the clearance space between the cylindrically-shaped lens and the bore by vacuum drawing resin into the clearance space to assure a uniform bonding of the lens in the bore;

    curing the resin retained in the clearance space to secure the lens in a water-tight and gas-tight sealed relationship; and

    aligning optical fibers on either side of the lens to assure optical signal transfer, the step of alignment includes there being a moveable plate to align the fibers with the lens and the tacking of the plate in place with cyanoacrylate adhesive thereby not disrupting the integrity of the penetrator lens.

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