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:
Sep. 20, 2005
Filed:
Dec. 29, 2004
Michael T. Rossi, Maiden, NC (US);
Nicholas V. Nechitailo, Conover, NC (US);
Brian Risch, Hickory, NC (US);
Michael T. Rossi, Maiden, NC (US);
Nicholas V. Nechitailo, Conover, NC (US);
Brian Risch, Hickory, NC (US);
Alcatel, Paris, FR;
Abstract
The present invention adds a gel-swellable layer in fiber optic cables to aid in protecting the fibers within the cable. The gel-swellable layer can be placed on the fibers, individual ribbons, stacks of ribbons and on the inner surface of tubes by various methods, such as co-extrusion, and can be cured by either heat curing or UV curing. The gel-swellable layers of this invention can be either smooth or textured. When the fibers are placed into the tubes and the tubes are filled with the water resistant gel, the gel-swellable layer absorbs some of the gel causing it to 'swell'. As a result of the 'swelling' a certain volume of gel is absorbed by the layer, thus reducing the capability of the gel to flow at elevated temperatures.