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:
Apr. 13, 2004
Filed:
Apr. 22, 2003
Luis M. Bocanegra, Alpharetta, GA (US);
Harold P. Debban, Snellville, GA (US);
Jennifer R. Meeks, Lawrenceville, GA (US);
Kenneth L. Taylor, Lawrenceville, GA (US);
Peter A. Weimann, Atlanta, GA (US);
Furukawa Electric North America Inc., Norcross, GA (US);
Abstract
The specification describes an improved optical fiber ribbon cable. The cable design addresses the problem of wrinkles in the cable coating that occur on the interior bend radius on moderate bending of the cable. The wrinkles are much smaller than the bend radius, and are, relatively speaking, microbends. These may cause microbending losses in the fibers even where the bend radius is relatively large. The cable design of the invention has a combination of three important features. The cable cross section is round. The encasement for the optical fiber stack is relatively hard, and is deliberately made to adhere to the optical fiber stack. Consequently the encasement medium functions as an effective stress translating medium that deliberately translates stresses on the cable to the optical fibers. The optical fibers function as compressive strength members to retard longitudinal strain on the cables, and thereby reduce wrinkling of the encasement.