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:
Nov. 09, 2004
Filed:
Oct. 26, 2001
Sasan Esmaeili, Solna, SE;
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ), Stockholm, SE;
Abstract
Apparatus for splicing optical ribbon fibers or ribbonized fibers has a splicing part for splicing the optical fibers to each other and a heating part or oven for heating a protective shrinkable sleeve for applying it around spliced portions of the fibers. A transport device is provided for transferring the spliced fibers from the splicing part to the heating part. The transport device includes clamps at the sides of the frame of the apparatus, which are elastically biased to give the spliced fibers a straight condition between the clamps. The transport device is manually operated by moving a handle lifting the clamps and the fibers along a slightly curved path to allow them to move unobstructed by the components of the splicing part. Thereafter a second handle is actuated to make the clamps slide along side rails having elongated holes in a straight path to a position in which the spliced portions of the fibers are located at the heating part. Using the transport device it is not necessary to manually handle the spliced fibers when moving them between the splicing location and the place for applying the protective sleeve to the splice. Furthermore, the fibers can be held with a rectilinear shape and stretched over the spliced portions which minimizes the risk of breaks of the individual optical fibers at the splice. As a result, the total time required to splice optical fibers to each other and to apply the protective sleeve can be reduced.