Alcatel

Allen Griser

Justin Thompson

Kevin Paschal

Curtis John Hutton

Rob Greer

An optical fiber ribbon in which the location of a particular fiber contained in the ribbon can be easily identified in the field. The optical fiber ribbon includes a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel with and adjacent one another, and a ribbon matrix bonded to the outer coatings and encasing the plurality of optical fibers, wherein the ribbon matrix includes indicia on an outside thereof for directionally identifying a particular one of the optical fibers. According to a first aspect of the invention, the indicia includes triangle, with an apex of the triangle pointing in the direction of the particular fiber. Alternatively, according to a second aspect of the invention, the indicia includes an arrow pointing in the direction of the particular fiber. The indicia is preferably repeated at regular intervals along the length of the ribbon to allow the particular fiber to be identified along the entire length of the ribbon. In the case of an optical fiber ribbon product which includes a plurality of optical fiber ribbons, the indicia can also be used to distinguish between ribbons. For example, in the event the indicia is a triangle, a first optical fiber ribbon can be identified by a single triangle repeated at regular intervals along the length of the ribbon and a second optical fiber ribbon can be identified by a pair of triangles repeated along the length of the ribbon. Alternatively, the ribbons can be identified with a different indicia for distinguishing between the ribbons.

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Hickory, NC, United States of America

Allen Griser