Importance

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Abstract

The present invention involves an optical fiber splicer made of a unistructural mass of inherent shaped memory polymer material. The splicer has a longitudinal dimension with opposite ends having first bore at one end and a second bore at the other end wherein the bores go into the mass and to each other. Preferably, the first bore and the second bore are merely a single continuous oriface. The unistructural mass has a first shape and a second shape. The first shape is a recoverable, predetermined inherent shape wherein the first bore and second bore each have a preset diameter to accomodate and tightly hold end segments of denuded optical fibers of predetermined diameter in spliced, butted alignment with one another. The second shape is such that the first bore and second bore each have swollen predetermined diameters which are greater than the diameters of the end segments of optical fibers so as to loosely and freely receive the end segments. The unistructural mass of inherent shape memory polymer material is initially formed in the first, inherent shape, and is then swollen and partially shrunk to its second, deformed shape and is capable of being returned to its first shape by application of a non-mechanical stimulus thereto, such as heat. The invention is also directed to preparing the optical splicer as well as to using the optical splicer to obtain a butt-to-butt splicing of optical fibers.

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First Claim