Alcatel

Geoffrey Witt

Stefan Richter

Pierre Gaillard

George J Dallas

Christopher L Johnson

Matthew Barber

The invention is a cable assembly in which the ripcord is bonded or woven to the cable assembly's armor tape. This arrangement helps to prevent the ripcords from moving from their initial position, therefore allowing better dissection of a cable sheath and/or jacket. The cable assembly includes a cable core (e.g., soft buffer tubes surrounding optical fibers), a tape surrounding the cable core, at least one ripcord attached to the tape, and a cable jacket surrounding the tape. In a second embodiment of the present invention, a cable assembly includes a cable core having a predetermined axial length, a cable jacket for housing the cable core along the predetermined axial length of the cable core, and a ripcord disposed between the cable core and the cable jacket along the predetermined axial length, in a manner that the ripcord is contained within the predetermined axial length, but the ripcord has a length substantially longer that the predetermined axial length. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the ripcord is disposed along the predetermined axial length in a wavy shape, thus the ripcord is made &ldquo;flexible&rdquo;, alleviating damage to the cable assembly that can occur from ripcord tension.

Cable assembly having ripcords with excess length and ripcords attached to tape

An optical fiber cable comprising a plurality of buffer tubes, binder wrapped around the buffer tubes, a ripcord disposed between the buffer tubes and the binder, and a protective outer jacket covering the buffer tubes. Upon application of a sufficient outwardly directed pulling force, the ripcord rips both the binder and the jacket thereby providing access the buffer tubes and optical fibers therein. The binder is formed of a material which melts or softens when the jacket is formed by an extrusion process so that the binder is thereby incorporated into the jacket. Alternatively, the binder is formed of a material which will adhere to the jacket when the jacket is formed by an extrusion process and is easily torn when the jacket is ripped by the ripcord.

Loose tube cable having an easily removable buffer tube binder for cable access

A cable includes a flexible, cut resistant tape provided around an optical wave guide. The optical wave guide may include a bare optical fiber and/or a soft buffer tube in which an optical fiber is provided. The tape and optical wave guide are provided in an outer sheath with a central cavity. The central cavity is sized to accommodate a predetermined gap between (1) the outer sheath and (2) the tape and the optical wave guide.

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Hickory, NC, United States of America

Geoffrey Witt