Processes for preparing a connector end on a fiber bundle optical cable

Abstract

A connector tip is fixed to one end of an optical cable of a bundle of fibers surrounded by an outer protector sheath constituted by a thermoplastic material, the tip being also constituted by a thermoplastic material heat-weldable with that of the outer sheath. The sheath is removed in the vicinity of said end, the tip is placed in position on this end so that it surrounds and is in contact with, a zone of the cable stripped of its outer sheath and with a zone of the cable provided with its outer sheath and adjacent to said stripped zone. The tip is subjected to a radial flow of ultrasound at the same time as exerting on it a radial compressive force which in the region of the tip surrounding the outer sheath, welds the surfaces in contact with the tip and with the outer sheath together and the outer sheath is gripped around the bundle of fibers and, in the region of the tip surrounding the stripped zone, the softened thermoplastic material of the tip is forced between the fibers situated at the periphery of the bundle and in the immediate vicinity of the tip, and the fibers are gripped together.