Stacks of optical fiber ribbons closely bound by respective buffer encasements, associated methods, and associated fiber optic cables

US6321013A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. · US

Inventors

• Nathan E. Hardwick, III · Dunwoody, US
• Kenneth W. Jackson · Lawrenceville, US
• Clyde Jefferson Lever · Buford, US
• Richard Norris · Powder Springs, US
• Jim J. Sheu · Houston, US
• Richard D. Small · Lilburn, US
• Carl R. Taylor · Lawrenceville, US
• Peter A. Weimann · Atlanta, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 15, 1999
• Grant date: Nov 20, 2001
• Expiry date: Sep 15, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G02B6/44384
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An optical module includes a stack of optical fiber ribbons that are within a buffer encasement, such as a thin sheath, that closely bounds the periphery of the stack. The optical modules can be rectangular, so that the optical modules can be readily stacked in a manner that results in a very space efficient fiber optic cable. The optical modules can be tested prior to being incorporated into the fiber optic cable so as to maximize the probability of the fiber optic cable being fully operable. The sheath cushions all of the sides of the stack. In some optical modules, the stack is movable relative to the sheath and the optical fiber ribbons are movable relative to one another. The sheath is preferably sufficiently rigid to maintain the stack in a stacked configuration, and sufficiently flexible to allow the optical fiber ribbons to slide laterally relative to one another so that, in an end elevation view of the stack, the stack and the sheath can transition from a non-skewed configuration to a skewed configuration. The lateral displacement between the optical fiber ribbons in the skewed configuration is different from the lateral displacement between the optical fiber ribbons in th…