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:
May. 23, 2000
Filed:
Mar. 31, 1998
Brian G Risch, Hickory, NC (US);
James D Holder, Hickory, NC (US);
Alcatel, Paris, FR;
Abstract
A filler rod for occupying space in a stranded optical fiber communications cable having at least one buffer tube containing at least one optical fiber is disclosed. The filler rod comprises an elongated rod extruded from a polypropylene homopolymer, a polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer (i-PP) resin material, or preferably, from a polypropylene-polyethylene copolymer having a nucleating agent disbursed therein. The resin material is foamed during extrusion so as to have a plurality of void spaces therein and a relative density which is less than 1 relative to the unfoamed resin material. As compared to rods made from high density polyethylene, the i-PP filler rods show a greater foaming efficiency, more efficient use of material, an improved combination of mechanical properties and density, reduced post-extrusion shrinkage and a substantial reduction in the sticking of the filler rods to the outer jacket that is experienced with high density polyethylene filler rods.