The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 19, 1996
Filed:
Aug. 30, 1994
Robert W Johnson, Marcy, NY (US);
Laser Precision Corp., Utica, NY (US);
Abstract
There is presented an apparatus and method of locating a reflective anomaly in an optical fiber. An optical generator is positioned at one end of a light path extending to and from a reflective anomaly in an optical fiber, and periodic pulses of light are injected into the fiber. A bend coupler containing directional optical detectors is clamped to the optical fiber in mid-span, between the optical generator and a reflective anomaly, and light energy is tapped. The coupler is capable of detecting and discriminating light travelling in both longitudinal directions. After signal conditioning and digitization, the light pulses are submitted to a logical network to initiate a timer that measures a time interval between the event of an interrogating light pulse, and its reflection, the result being memorized in a buffer. A microprocessor controls the system, and computes distance between the attached bend coupler and the reflective anomaly as a function of the memorized time interval. The result is then displayed for the user. The system enables a fault to be rapidly and accurately located in a multidrop installation without violating intermediate fibers.