An apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber including: a drawing portion; a coating portion; and a curing portion, wherein: a direction changer which changes a direction of the bare optical fiber is disposed in any position from the drawing portion to the coating portion; the direction changer includes a guide groove which guides the bare optical fiber; a blowout port of a fluid which floats the bare optical fiber wired along the guide groove is formed along the guide groove in the guide groove; and in the blowout port, the Reynolds number in an inlet wire portion of the bare optical fiber to the guide groove and an outlet wire portion from the guide groove is greater than the Reynolds number in an intermediate portion between the inlet wire portion and the outlet wire portion.

The present disclosure provides a tension control device including a turn bar which is disposed between an upstream device delivering a belt-shaped web and a downstream device receiving the web and of which a pressing member presses the web and a control unit which feedforward-controls a pressing force applied from the turn bar to the web on the basis of a schedule relating to a conveying speed of the web of any one of the upstream device and the downstream device.

A web transport system for transporting a web of media along a web transport path in an in-track direction, including at least one non-contact web guide. The web guide includes a wall having a curved exterior surface, wherein the web of media travels around a bearing portion of the curved exterior surface from a web guide entry position to a web guide exit position, and a hollow interior containing a pressurized liquid. A first row of liquid ejection holes is provided in proximity to the web guide entry position having axes that are inclined toward a downstream direction, and a second row of liquid ejection holes is provided in proximity to the web guide exit position having axes that are inclined toward an upstream direction. The pressurized liquid flows through the liquid ejection holes to force the web of media away from the bearing surface of the web guide.

A web transport system for transporting a web of media along a web transport path in an in-track direction, including at least one non-contact web guide. The web guide includes a wall having a curved exterior surface, wherein the web of media travels around a bearing portion of the curved exterior surface from a web guide entry position to a web guide exit position, and a hollow interior containing a pressurized liquid. A first row of liquid ejection holes is provided in proximity to the web guide entry position, a second row of liquid ejection holes is provided in proximity to the web guide exit position, and an intermediate array of liquid ejection holes is provided between the first and second rows. A total number of liquid ejection holes in the intermediate array is less than a total number of liquid ejection holes in the second row.

A method of manufacturing an optical fiber includes drawing an optical fiber preform and forming a bare optical fiber, disposing a coating layer formed of a resin on an outer circumference of the bare optical fiber, and curing the coating layer and obtaining an optical fiber. A direction of the bare optical fiber is changed by a direction changer in any position from drawing the optical fiber to disposing the coating layer, and the direction changer includes a guide groove which guides the bare optical fiber.

A sheet conveying apparatus includes: a first conveying section that conveys a strip-shaped sheet having a first surface and a second surface, with the first surface facing downward; a turn section provided downstream of the first conveying section to turn over the sheet; and a second conveying section provided downstream of the turn section. The turn section includes a convex curved surface having its axis extending in a width direction of the sheet and turns over the sheet along the convex curved surface with the first surface facing inward. The convex curved surface includes: a small-diameter portion provided with air nozzles for injecting air; and a pair of large-diameter portions disposed on both sides of the small-diameter portion in an axis direction and extending outward in a radial direction relative to the small-diameter portion to support both ends of the sheet in the width direction.

A system for transporting a separator by using an air guide roller includes an air guide roller controller and an air guide roller configured to receive a control command from the air guide roller controller and to spray the air onto one surface of a separator when the separator travels.