The first step to understanding optical fiber fabrics is to understand how light is emitted. In order to weave a plastic optical fiber fabric, plastic optical fibers are woven into regular yarns as warps or wefts. A plastic optical fiber is a light-guiding fiber. Once the plastic optical fiber component in the optical fiber fabric is connected to the light source, the fabric can produce luminescence and color changes.
How do you make the fabric to create the luminous effect?
1. Fiber fabric needs to be cut according to requirements, and the exposed fiber bundle needs to be fixed at the ends of the fabric. Afterward, the fiber bundle will be cut with a hot cutter before being connected to the LED (RGB round head) via its flat end. The LEDs on the PCBA are already connected, and they can be powered by batteries at this point.
As shown in the figure, in order to increase efficiency and quality, the LUMISONATA team has created a mold and made a set of couplers that manufacturers can screw into place just like ordinary screws.
b) After the fiber optic fabric has been connected to the light source, it can be tested by lighting the LED. At this point, people may find the fabric very dim and the light very weak. This is because the plastic optical fiber is protected by a PE layer.
Here, let me briefly introduce plastic optical fiber, also known as luminous optical fiber and polymer optical fiber. As of now, the core material of plastic optical fibers (POF) is polystyrene (PS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), and the sheath materials are PMMA, fluoroplastics, etc.
Each material features its own light attenuation characteristics and temperature range. For this reason, we must perform a side-lighting treatment on the plastic optical fiber of the fabric. Treatment methods include physical wall breaking methods, such as using sharp instruments to break the plastic optical fiber skin, or chemical methods, such as soaking the fiber in chemical reagents to let the light source come out of the core.
2. Now let’s discuss how to use the lasers way to optical fiber fabric have the side light emission . Optical fiber fabrics emit light by utilizing the side light emission properties of plastic optical fibers.
In order for the fiber to emit side light, its outer layer must be destroyed. Consequently, it has a lot to do with the force acting on the outer cover of the layer. An excessive amount of power will break the entire plastic optical fiber. On the other hand, the light cannot penetrate the layer when the power is too low, and the luminous effect is not good as the wrapped fiber yarn cannot be damaged. This is the most important factor for the luminescence of optical fiber fabrics, and it also has a major impact on large-scale industrial applications of optical fiber fabrics.
We have developed an automatic laser processing system for side-emitting light, which makes LUMISONATA one of the best companies in the field of automated laser processing. Our laser processing system helps improve efficiency and is suitable for mass industrialized production.
The picture shows optical fiber fabrics illuminated by a light source. Optical fiber fabric side light emitting equipment with automatic laser processing uses a 20-watt carbon dioxide laser machine. Automated software controls the time (12 minutes per second), distance (45CM), and specifications (20*20CM). Fiber fabric is usually placed and collected simultaneously through the automatic reel and the laser machine, which greatly improves the quality of processing and work efficiency.
To Sum Up
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The above content discusses the reasons why fiber optic fabrics emit light. I welcome your comments and exchange of ideas on my blog. Let’s learn and grow together in the field of fiber optic textiles.
