Provided is a method for manufacturing a glass fiber strand in which a glass fiber strand is formed by bundling a plurality of glass fiber filaments comprising molten glass drawn out from a nozzle, wherein said method for manufacturing a glass fiber strand is capable of detecting breakage of the glass fiber filaments in a more reliable manner. This method comprises: an image capturing step (STEP-1) for generating a plurality of items of image data by continuously capturing images of a plurality of glass fiber filaments f; an image processing step (STEP-2) for extracting, from the image data, a high luminance object 100 having a luminance of a prescribed value or more; and a breakage detection step (STEP-3) for detecting that a glass fiber filament f has broken on the basis of the results of the image processing in the image processing step. In the breakage detection step, the presence of a change in the position of a high luminance object 100 is detected on the basis of the plurality of items of the image data, and it is determined that the glass fiber filament f has broken when a change in the position of a high luminance object 100 is detected.

A system for drawing optical fiber in microgravity including a sealed housing to prevent infiltration of at least humidity and filled with a dry environment, a preform holder located within the sealed housing to hold preform material, a furnace located within the sealed housing to receive the preform material from the preform holder and to heat the preform material from which the optical fiber is pulled, a feed system to move the preform material from the preform holder to the furnace, a drawing mechanism located within the sealed housing to pull the optical fiber from the preform material within the furnace, a diameter monitor located within the sealed housing to measure a diameter of the optical fiber and a fiber collection mechanism located. within the sealed housing to gather and store the optical fiber.

A preform material including a starter tip to facilitate an initial fiber draw from the preform within a furnace, wherein the tip comprises a vacuum-sealed tip to receive a plastic grip which attached to an end of a preform.

A sensor system to provide data for use to control manufacture of an optical fiber in microgravity including a diameter sensor to monitor a diameter of a fiber drawn from a preform material, a tension sensor to monitor tension of the fiber as the fiber is pulled from the preform material to a storage device and a controller in communication with at least one of the diameter sensor and the tension sensor to evaluate sensor data to determine at least one of a speed and rate at which the fiber is pulled from the preform material.

A system for controlling an ambient microgravity environment of a system for drawing optical fiber including a filter arranged to cleanse an environment from contaminants, a molecular sieve arranged in a series of at least one of meshes and baffles to dehumidify the environment, at least one of a pump and a fan to draw an environmental gas through the filter, through the molecular sieve and back in to an ambient environment and a housing in which the filter, molecular sieve and at least one of pump and fan reside.

A system for receiving optical fiber in microgravity including a spool portion to hold optical fiber created in microgravity, a catching mechanism to secure the fiber end to the spool and a capturing device that is extendable from near and retractable to near the spool portion to pull the optical fiber to the spool portion.

A system for precoating a preform for drawing optical fiber including a diameter sensor to determine a diameter of pulled optical fiber, a cooling system to cool the optical fiber once it is pulled from a furnace, a coating system to apply a coating to the optical fiber once it has cooled and an ultra-violet lamp to cure the coating.

Disclosed is a method (600) for drawing an optical fiber (124) comprising step of melting a cylindrical glass preform (118) in a draw furnace (102) to obtain a bare optical fiber (120), cooling the bare optical fiber inside a cooling tube (106), supplying at least one inert gas inside the cooling tube (106) from at least one inlet port (208), recovering the at least one inert gas from at least one recovery port (214) that is positioned at an intermediate position along a longitudinal axis (218) of the cooling tube (106) and coating the cooled bare optical fiber (120) to obtain the optical fiber (124).

An optical fiber drawing apparatus includes a drawing furnace configured to heat and soften an optical fiber base material and configured to draw the optical fiber, a capstan configured to pull and transport the optical fiber, a winding device configured to wind the optical fiber, a tensioning mechanism arranged between the capstan and the winding device and configured to test a strength of the optical fiber by tensioning the optical fiber, and a backup winding device arranged between the capstan and the tensioning mechanism and configured to temporarily wind the optical fiber when the optical fiber is broken.