Coating of fiber lightguides with UV cured polymerization

Abstract

Glass fiber lightguides require polymer coatings for protection. A new coating system comprising an acrylate-epoxy polymer that is UV curved is convenient to apply and gives excellent strength and durability to fiber lightguides.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An optical fiber waveguide comprising a glass fiber and a polymer coating the fiber, the invention characterized in that the polymer coating comprises the polymerization product of a prepolymer mixture resulting from reacting acrylic acid with a 0.4 to 1.0 weight ratio mixture of aliphatic diglycidyl ether to aromatic diglycidyl ether, and further characterized in that the polymerization product contains a UV sensitizer in order to cure said prepolymer mixture with ultra violet light. light. 
     
     
       2. The waveguide of claim 1 in which the aliphatic ether is 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether. 
     
     
       3. The waveguide of claim 2 in which the aromatic ether is diglycidyl ether of halogenated bisphenol A. 
     
     
       4. The waveguide of claim 1 in which the polymerization product additionally contains a silane or titanate coupling agent. .Iadd. 
     
     
       5.  Optical fiber waveguide comprising a glass optical fiber having a continuous flexible adherent cured coating on the surface of said fiber said coating formed by immersing said fiber in a bath of liquid radiation curable material thus coating said fiber with said material and passing said coated optical fiber through a die and thereafter exposing said coated optical fiber to UV radiation for a time sufficient to cure said coating on said fiber. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 
     
     
       6.  An optical fiber waveguide suitable for optical communication comprising a glass fiber and a polymer coating characterized in that said polymer coating comprises 1) the polymerization product of a UV curable polymer and 2) a UV sensitizer wherein said polymerization is induced by UV light. .Iaddend.