Fiber splice protection sleeve
US6282353A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 29, 1999 |
| Grant date | Aug 28, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 29, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06Q99/00
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A fiber-splice protection label or sleeve for one or more optical fiber fusion splices. The label is provided with a unique indicium such as a serial number in alphanumeric and/or barcoded forms. The indicium may be in the form of a strip of paper, plastic, foil, or other suitable material inserted between the inner and outer sleeve or otherwise embedded in the unit. The serial number may also be printed directly on the inner sleeve, outer sleeve, or support rod, and/or in the form of a sleeve. A hologram and/or other security feature may be used to prevent tampering or creation of counterfeit units. The number of digits are preferably chosen to allow a large number of units to be sold without duplication of numbers. Special standardized prefixes or other indicia may be chosen for government or other special applications. Serial numbers may further be encoded into a micro-miniature memory "chip" embedded in, e.g., the outer sleeve. Advantages of uniquely labeling splices includes allowing splice data associated with various splices to be easily stored and indexed for later selective retrieval, accountability for defective or problematic splices, and more efficient troubleshooting.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.