System Configuration; Furnace Configuration; Objective Lens Configuration; Operating The Gpx4000Lz - THORLABS Vytran GPX4000LZ User Manual

GPX4000LZ Glass Processor
5.8.

System Configuration

The Vytran GPX4000LZ system is capable of operating with multiple furnace types (fusion sources) – these include
the CO laser optical heads for either splicing or for end-cap fusion and the various filament fusion heads. The FFS3
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software maintains separate settings for each configuration and allows the user to easily switch between saved
configurations.
When changing from one furnace type to another, the machine will typically require re-centering to position the fiber
centrally with respect to the fusion source and centered within all camera views. Please note that when the objective
lens used to view the fiber is changed, the fiber will need to be re-centered.

5.8.1 Furnace Configuration

From the Configuration menu shown in Section 5.5.1. the user can click on the GPX Configuration menu item and
pick a configuration from the drop-down list. The system will first check if any modifications have been made to the
current configuration since FFS3 was opened and request validation if necessary. Afterwards, the FFS3 will restart
to load the new configuration. The software will then update all the machine settings to the last known state for the
selected configuration.

5.8.2 Objective Lens configuration

After a new furnace configuration is loaded, the user will have to determine what objective lens setting will be used.
Open the Lens Select dialog from the Configuration menu (Configuration → Image → Objective Lens Setup). The
Lens Select dialog allows the user to pick between the objective lenses available on the system. If modifications to
the parameters need to be made or saved, the user will need to go to the Lens Properties dialog under the same
menu path.
Once furnace configuration and lens selection is complete, the user will need to run the "Splice Head Home" and
"Focus Home" routines to ensure the focus offset and home-to-view position are correct as these values can change
depending on furnace configuration and objective lens selection.
5.9.

Operating the GPX4000LZ

5.9.1 CO Splice Head Configuration
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Once the user has set the system to be in the Splice Head Configuration with the desired lens objective setting and
installed the proper objective on the camera tower and the correct optical head on the furnace tower, the system is
ready to be calibrated to be used for splices and tapers.
CO Splice Normalization Process
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In order to calibrate the system and ensure the fiber line is aligned with the CO
"CO2-Splice-400 Normalization" with the appropriate objective lens setting. Prepare a pair of 20-400 LMA-GDF
fibers the same way as for a splice and install them in the Left and Right FHBs and run the one button process. The
system will go through the step-by-step routine of aligning and gapping the fibers and turning on the CO
heat the fiber tips. The "CO
heating on both fiber tips in all three views (Back, Front and Center views for 5X and 10X, and Side and Top Views
for 2X setting). The process will measure the amount of rounding each fiber tips reveals to suggest the appropriate
adjustment of the fiber position to match that of the beam axis. This is an iterative process and multiple attempts
could be required to achieve the best alignment. Once the process is successful, the fiber line is well aligned with
the beam axis and the system is ready to perform splices and tapers.
Execute a Splice or Taper
The user can now open the splice file or taper file he desires to execute, prepare fibers according to desired process
and press the blue "One Button Process" to execute the routine automatically based on the list of processes defined
in the file "splice process list".
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Splice Normalization" process is then launched to check the symmetry and amount of
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Chapter 5: Operation
Laser beam axis, open the file
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TTN102049-D02
laser to
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