Prysmian S.p.a.

Other

Clint Nicholaus Anderson

Ehsan Fallahmohammadi

Brian G Risch

Jeffrey Scott Barker

John R Sach

Andrea Terry

Ben H Wells

Ryan Truong

Luca Giorgio De Rai

Jason C Weaver

Gavin Lin

Misty Whitcomb

Donald Ray Parris

An exemplary optical cable includes a first type of ribbon bundles, a second type of ribbon bundles, a third type of ribbon bundles, a plurality of strength rods, and an outer jacket. Each of the first, the second, and third type of ribbon bundles includes a first, a second, a third flexible ribbon with corresponding optical fibers disposed within a ribbon bundle jacket. The first type of ribbon bundles is arranged in an interlocking pattern in a central region of the optical cable. The second type of ribbon bundles and the third type of ribbon bundles are disposed around the first type of ribbon bundles in a peripheral region of the optical cable. The outer jacket is disposed around the second and the third type of ribbon bundles, and the plurality of strength rods being at least partially embedded in the outer jacket, where the cumulative cross-sectional area of all of the strength rods in the cable divided by the cumulative cross-sectional area of all glass parts of the optical fibers in the cable is a first value less than 0.22, and where, at a temperature between −40° C. and 0° C. and at a wavelength of 1550 nm, the attenuation increase of the optical fibers in the cable relative to 25° C. is below 0.15 dB/km.

High fiber density cable with flexible optical fiber ribbons

An optical cable includes a plurality of buffer tubes and an outer jacket surrounding the plurality of buffer tubes. Each of the plurality of buffer tubes includes a buffer tube jacket surrounding a plurality of flexible ribbons. The buffer tube jacket includes a first deformable material that has undergone deformation during formation of the optical cable to conform to an irregular axial cross-sectional shape of each respective plurality of flexible ribbons. Each flexible ribbon includes a plurality of optical fibers and a first longitudinal length. For each flexible ribbon, each optical fiber of the plurality of optical fibers is attached to an adjacent optical fiber of the plurality of optical fibers along a bond region comprising a second longitudinal length that is less than the first longitudinal length. The cable has a fiber density between about 5.0 and about 10 fibers/mm.

High density optical cables

An optical-fiber ribbon having excellent flexibility, strength, and robustness facilitates separation of an optical fiber from the optical-fiber ribbon without damaging the optical fiber's glass core, glass cladding, primary coating, secondary coating, and ink layer, if present.

Flexible optical-fiber ribbon

An optical-fiber ribbon includes optical fibers (e.g., reduced-diameter optical fibers) arranged in parallel within optical-fiber units, wherein at least one adjacent pair of optical-fiber units is separated by a longitudinal adhesive-free spacing for a portion of the optical-fiber ribbon's length. Typically, each adjacent pair of optical-fiber units is separated by an adhesive-free spacing for a respective portion of the optical-fiber assembly's longitudinal length. In an exemplary embodiment, longitudinal adhesive-free spacings effectively increase the width of an optical-fiber ribbon formed of reduced-diameter optical fibers so that the optical-fiber ribbon achieves a more conventional optical-fiber ribbon width, thereby facilitating mass-fusion splicing using standard splicing equipment.

Optical-fiber ribbon with spaced optical-fiber units

An optical cable includes a plurality of buffer tubes and an outer jacket surrounding the plurality of buffer tubes. Each of the plurality of buffer tubes includes a buffer tube jacket surrounding a plurality of flexible ribbons. The buffer tube jacket includes a first deformable material that has undergone permanent plastic deformation during formation of the optical cable to conform to an irregular axial cross-sectional shape of each respective plurality of flexible ribbons. Each flexible ribbon includes a plurality of optical fibers and a first longitudinal length. For each flexible ribbon, each optical fiber of the plurality of optical fibers is attached to an adjacent optical fiber of the plurality of optical fibers along a bond region comprising a second longitudinal length that is less than the first longitudinal length.

The present invention relates to an optical fiber ribbon, comprising a plurality of adjacent optical fiber units extending in a longitudinal direction and arranged in parallel forming an optical fiber assembly having a width, each of the optical fiber units comprising either a single fiber or a group of at most three optical fibers, preferably two optical fibers, encapsulated with a matrix material; and a plurality of successive elongated rectilinear beads of a bonding material being arranged along a length of said assembly; each of said plurality of beads being configured to form an elongated bond between two adjacent optical fiber units of the plurality of optical fiber units; wherein a first bead forming a first bond connects a first pair of adjacent optical fiber units while the successive bond formed by the successive bead, connects a further pair of adjacent optical fiber units, wherein at least one optical fiber unit of the further pair differs from the optical fiber units of the first pair; wherein at each longitudinal position of the optical fiber assembly there is at most one bond. The present invention moreover relates to a method of producing such an optical fiber ribbon. A fluorescent tracer is present in the beads.

Optical fiber ribbon and a method and system of producing the same

A fiber separation tool is provided. The fiber separation tool includes a fin configured to maintain the fiber separation tool in a parallel orientation with respect to a plurality of fibers, a hook tip at a first end of the fin, wherein the hook tip is configured to separate the plurality of fibers, a blade disposed in the fin above the hook tip, wherein a portion of a cutting edge of the blade protrudes from a blade opening in the fin, and wherein the blade is configured to slice through a bonding material connecting the plurality of fibers, a lip at each side of the blade opening, wherein the lip is configured to prevent individual fibers of the plurality of fibers from contacting the blade, and a pivot point configured to guide the fiber separation tool between the individual fibers.

Flexible ribbon fiber separation tool

An optical-fiber ribbon includes intermittent gaps along its longitudinal length in which no bonding material is present across the width of the optical-fiber ribbon. These intermittent gaps without bonding material (e.g., adhesive beads) help to reduce or eliminate bonding-material interference as the optical-fiber ribbon is positioned within an alignment chuck during preparations for mass-fusion splicing.

Optical-fiber ribbon with adhesive-free gaps

An optical cable includes a plurality of deformable buffer tubes and an outer jacket surrounding the plurality of deformable buffer tubes. Each deformable buffer tube of the plurality of deformable buffer tubes includes a single flexible ribbon including a plurality of optical fibers. Each deformable buffer tube further includes an axial cross-section of the deformable buffer tube that includes the single flexible ribbon. The axial cross-section comprises an irregular shape.

An optical-fiber ribbon having excellent flexibility, strength, and robustness includes optical fibers having a sacrificial, outer release layer that facilitates separation of an optical fiber from the optical-fiber ribbon without damaging the optical fiber's glass core, glass cladding, primary coating, secondary coating, and ink layer, if present.

A fire resistant cable includes cable at least one conductor and at least one mica layer surrounding the at least one conductors. The fire resistant cable further includes a first layer of insulation surrounding the at least one mica layer and a second layer of insulation surrounding the first layer of insulation. The first and second layers of insulation are made of a composition based on a flame retardant ceramifiable silicone rubber. The second layer of insulation further contains a reinforcement material.

Fire resistant cable with dual insulation layer arrangement

A method of producing an optical-fiber ribbon includes applying bonding material to a major surface of an optical-fiber assembly via a dispenser that is revolving around a central axis to bond adjacent optical fibers in the optical-fiber assembly. The method, which facilitates faster line speeds, achieves an optical-fiber ribbon with an adhesive bead that forms a distorted sinusoidal pattern substantially across the width of the optical-fiber assembly.

Growing community of inventors

West Columbia, SC, United States of America

Clint Nicholaus Anderson