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:
Dec. 28, 2004
Filed:
Aug. 14, 2003
Luis M. Bocanegra, Alpharetta, GA (US);
Harold P. Debban, Snellville, 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 optical fiber drop cable with a flat configuration, corresponding to “A-drop” cable. The cable is dry, and has a conformal primary encasement that is coupled directly to the optical fiber(s). Coupling the optical fibers and the exterior surface of the cable provides unexpected benefits, reducing the tendency of the fiber cable to buckle or shrink-back, and reducing the susceptibility of the cable to fiber retraction. The drop cable comprises three in-line components encased in a conformal secondary encasement. The center component comprises the optical fiber(s) coupled to the primary encasement. Located on each side of the optical fiber system are strength members. In a preferred embodiment, dimensions of the three elements are chosen so that the diameter of the center component is less than the diameter of either strength member. This provides crush protection for the optical fiber system. In an alternative embodiment, the cable is round on the end portions, with the middle portion, the portion that contains the optical fiber(s), dished so that the hyphen between the end portions has concave sides.