Gas branching apparatus and method for manufacturing fine glass particle deposited body using the same

Abstract

A gas branching apparatus that branches and supplies a gas to first to N-th supply targets, includes first to N-th pipes wherein the first to N-th pipes are each branched into first to N-th branch pipes on a downstream end side, and wherein the i-th branch pipes of the respective first to N-th pipes are connected in common to the i-th supply target, and the i-th branch pipes of the respective first to N-th pipes are provided with valves, respectively, where i denotes each of integers of 1 to N.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A gas branching apparatus that branches and supplies a gas to first to N-th (where N is an integer of 2 or more) supply targets, comprising:
 a plurality of flow dividers each including first to N-th gas outlets through which the gas is branched and discharged, the flow dividers having different volumes; and   a plurality of pipes connecting one of the first to N-th gas outlets of each of the plurality of flow dividers to any of the first to N-th supply targets on a one-to-one basis.   
     
     
         2 . The gas branching apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a controller configured to switch between the flow dividers to be used to branch the gas, according to a flow rate of the gas, so as to use any one of the plurality of flow dividers for branching of the gas.   
     
     
         3 . The gas branching apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the flow divider is designed so as to have an equal branching ratio of the gas to the first to N-th gas outlets.   
     
     
         4 . The gas branching apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the first to N-th supply targets are arranged along a longitudinal direction of a long object.   
     
     
         5 . A method for manufacturing a fine glass particle deposited body using the gas branching apparatus according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         6 . A gas branching apparatus that branches and supplies a gas to first to N-th (where N is an integer of 2 or more) supply targets, comprising:
 a volume-variable flow divider including first to N-th gas outlets through which the gas is branched and discharged; and   a plurality of pipes connecting one of the first to N-th gas outlets of the flow divider to any of the first to N-th supply targets on a one-to-one basis.   
     
     
         7 . The gas branching apparatus according to  claim 6 , further comprising:
 a controller configured to control a volume of the flow divider according to a flow rate of the gas.   
     
     
         8 . The gas branching apparatus according to  claim 6 ,
 wherein the flow divider is designed so as to have an equal branching ratio of the gas to the first to N-th gas outlets.   
     
     
         9 . The gas branching apparatus according to  claim 6 ,
 wherein the first to N-th supply targets are arranged along a longitudinal direction of a long object.   
     
     
         10 . A method for manufacturing a fine glass particle deposited body using the gas branching apparatus according to  claim 6 .