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 an average flow rate or a highest flow rate of the fluid in an inlet wire portion of the bare optical fiber to the guide groove, and an outlet wire portion from the guide groove is faster than a lowest flow rate of the fluid in an intermediate portion between the inlet wire portion and the outlet wire portion in the blowout port.

An optical fiber temperature sensor including a lead-in fiber and black body emitter. The lead-in optical fiber includes a fiber end, and the black body emitter is fused on the fiber end, wherein the black body emitter is made up of a melted high emissivity material included integrally in melted silica. Further embodiments include temperature monitoring apparatus with one or more optical fiber temperature sensors, and electronic device processing apparatus including optical fiber temperature monitoring. Numerous other aspects and embodiments are included.

An optical fiber capable of achieving both of the ZSA property and the rapid curability is provided. The optical fiber includes a glass optical fiber 13, a primary coating layer 16 that coats an outer periphery of the glass optical fiber 13, and a secondary optical fiber 17 that coats an outer periphery of the primary coating layer 16. Young's modulus of the primary coating layer 16 is 1.2 MPa or less and Young's modulus of the secondary coating layer 17 is 800 MPa or more. Sulfur content of the surface of the glass optical fiber 13 is 0.2% by atom or more. Sulfur is not present in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the primary coating layer 16.

A method of producing an optical fiber, containing: (a) a resin application step of applying an ultraviolet curable resin, onto an outer circumference of an optical fiber; (b) a heating step of heating the ultraviolet curable resin; and (c) a light irradiation step of irradiating the ultraviolet curable resin with ultraviolet light emitted from a semiconductor light emitting element, in a state in which the ultraviolet curable resin is heated, to cure the ultraviolet curable resin into a coating resin.

A screen includes a mesh substrate having an openness of greater than 30% when viewed at 0 incidence, the mesh substrate having a first major surface and a second major surface, the first major surface including a first coating, the first major surface having a first reflectance value, wherein the first reflectance value has an average value of greater than about 10% as measured by an EN410 standard and a diffuse reflection profile at all viewing angles from 89 to 89, excluding an angle of direct illumination as measured by a scattering distribution function technique using a Goniometer, wherein the diffuse reflection profile provides a reduction in view through the mesh substrate when viewed from 89 to 89.

Embodiments of the present technology include a formaldehyde-free binder composition. The composition may include melamine. The composition may also include a reducing sugar. In addition, the binder composition may include a non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone. Embodiments may also include a method of making a formaldehyde-free binder composition. The method may include dissolving melamine in an aqueous solution of a reducing sugar. The concentration of the reducing sugar may be 30 wt. % to 70 wt. % of the aqueous solution, which may be at a temperature of 50 C. to 100 C. The method may also include adding a non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone to the dissolved melamine in the aqueous solution to form a binder solution. The temperature of the aqueous solution of the dissolved melamine may be 50 C. to 100 C. during the addition of the non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone. The method may further include reducing the temperature of the binder solution.

A curable formaldehyde-free binding composition for use with fiberglass is provided. Such curable composition comprises an aldehyde or ketone and an amine salt of an inorganic acid. The composition when applied to fiberglass is cured to form a water-insoluble binder which exhibits good adhesion to glass. In a preferred embodiment the composition when applied to fiberglass provides a sufficient blackness required in facer products.

A surface-modified fibrous material is provided for incorporation in a thermoplastic matrix to form a fiber-reinforced composite article. Good binding between the fibrous material and the thermoplastic matrix is achieved through the presence of finely roughened surfaces on the fibers of nanoparticles of an inorganic material. Such nanoparticles are provided from an alkaline aqueous size composition containing the nanoparticles dispersed therein (as described). The fibrous material may be provided in continuous or discontinuous form. In a preferred embodiment glass fibers are initially provided in continuous form followed by cutting into discontinuous lengths and drying with the retention of the nanoparticles on the surfaces of the fibers. The surface-roughened fibrous material is incorporated in a thermoplastic matrix as fibrous reinforcement with the application of heat whereby the thermoplastic matrix is rendered melt processable. In preferred embodiments injection or compression molding is utilized. Improved long-fiber thermoplastics also may be formed to advantage.

Disclosed is a glass fiber-reinforced composite material, an asphalt mixture using the same, and a manufacturing method thereof, the method comprising manufacturing, as a mixed structure, a bundle type fiber reinforcing material by coating with a polypropylene resin; a scrap reinforcing material having pellet or particle shaped glass fiber scrap, the glass fiber scrap having economical and outstanding physical properties and several strands of glass fiber; and adding the same to a hot-mix asphalt mixture, thereby capable of being injected at a plant construction site in a simple manner and improving the performance of the asphalt by preventing the phenomenon of the fiber becoming entangled within the produced hot asphalt mixture.

Embodiments of the invention relate to a hydrogen-resistant optical fiber with a core having a central axis. The core may include only silica, or only silica and fluorine, while a cladding region surrounding the core may be made of silica and fluorine, along with at least one of germanium, phosphorus, and titanium.