Page 199 - Chalcogenide Glasses for Infrared Optics

Glass Pr ocesses for Other Applications 175

FIGURE 7.17 Thermoscan tympanic membrane thermometer.

was gold-plated. Jacob Fraden is an expert in the design of thermal
14
sensors. His analysis indicated an improvement in performance as
well as a cost reduction would occur if AMI could provide a small-
diameter (3-mm), short-length (3- to 5-mm) IR glass light pipe. Both
ends had to be polished. The problem for AMI, in order to be consid-
ered as a replacement supplier, was that we had to demonstrate an
ability to produce 50,000 per month. Final production was estimated
to reach 1 million per year. The time deadline for us to demonstrate
50,000 was only 3 months away.
Our glass science consultant Tom Loretz of CES was the only per-
son we knew who had any experience extruding glass. We knew he
could design and build a first-class unit to produce the rods, or cane,
as he called them. But that would take time, and we did not have
time. We would have to put together a unit with what we could find
locally. Our machinist, Tommy Tyler, produced a stainless-steel cylin-
der with a piston to match. We purchased a large air cylinder to drive
the piston. A heater unit for the cylinder was built. The machinist
designed a track and guide for the glass rods as they emerged. A steel