Installation bundle with spacer
US6711328B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 12, 2001 |
| Grant date | Mar 23, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 12, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B6/50
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A filling body is inserted together with a loose bundle of guide tubes during installation in an existing protective duct, thus enlarging the bundle diameter (which reduces the buckling risk) and making crossing of the guide tubes impossible. The guide tubes are positioned along the outside of the filling body, providing access to the guide tubes during post-installation branching. The filling body may include radially projecting spacer ribs that separate the guide tubes, thereby preventing crossing movement and helical stranding. The guide tubes are thus constrained and carried along with the filling body in alignment with the spacer ribs, so that buckling, helical stranding and three-dimensional restrictions or tangles cannot occur. The filling body may include a thin tubular sidewall enclosing a longitudinal airflow passage that may be pressurized during installation, and deformable when unpressurized, thus providing mechanical protection against damage of the protective duct after installation.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.