Optical fiber cable having rollable ribbons and central strength member

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11520114-B2
Application number	US-201917290320-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2019
Priority date	Nov 20, 2018
Publication date	Dec 6, 2022
Grant date	Dec 6, 2022

Abstract

An optical fiber cable may include a cable jacket, a rigid tensile reinforcement member centered within the cable jacket, and a plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons around the rigid tensile reinforcement member. The optical fiber cable does not include any buffer tubes but may include a cushioning layer adjacent the ribbons.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical fiber cable, comprising:
a cable jacket;
a rigid tensile reinforcement member centered within the cable jacket;
a plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons around the rigid tensile reinforcement member, wherein the optical fiber cable includes no buffer tubes or central tube enclosing the optical fiber ribbons; and
a cushioning layer having a Young's modulus in a range of 10-200 megapascal (MPa) adjacent the plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons.

2. The optical fiber cable of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons are stranded around the rigid tensile reinforcement member.

3. The optical fiber cable of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons is bundled by a thread.

4. The optical fiber cable of claim 1 , wherein the cushioning layer is between and in direct contact with the plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons and the cable jacket.

5. The optical fiber cable of claim 1 , wherein the cushioning layer comprises one or more of: linear low-density polyethylene (LLDP), ethylene-vinyl acetate (E-VA) copolymer, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene rubber, propylene rubber, and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE).

6. The optical fiber cable of claim 1 , wherein the cushioning layer includes a water-swellable material.

7. The optical fiber cable of claim 1 , wherein the cushioning layer is between and in direct contact with the plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons and the rigid tensile reinforcement member.

8. An optical fiber cable, comprising:
a cable jacket;
a rigid tensile reinforcement member centered within the cable jacket;
a plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons stranded around the rigid tensile reinforcement member, wherein the optical fiber cable includes no buffer tubes or central tube enclosing the optical fiber ribbons;
a first cushioning layer having a Young's modulus in a range of 10-200 megapascal (MPa) between the plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons and the cable jacket; and
a second cushioning layer having a Young's modulus in the range of 10-200 MPa between the plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons and the rigid tensile reinforcement member.

9. The optical fiber cable of claim 8 , wherein each of the first and second cushioning layers comprises one or more of: linear low-density polyethylene (LLDP), ethylene-vinyl acetate (E-VA) copolymer, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene rubber, propylene rubber, and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE).

10. The optical fiber cable of claim 8 , wherein each of the first and second cushioning layers includes a water-swellable material.

11. The optical fiber cable of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the plurality of partially bonded optical fiber ribbons is bundled by a thread.

Assignees

• Ofs Fitel Llc

Inventors

• Boxer Mark A
• Bush Jeffrey J
• George John E
• Kemp Howard M
• Weimann Peter A

Classifications

• G02B6/441

  built up from sub-bundles (G02B6/4429, G02B6/4439, G02B6/4479 take precedence) · CPC title

• G02B6/4403 Primary

  with ribbon structure (G02B6/4429, G02B6/4439, G02B6/4479 take precedence) · CPC title

• G02B6/4434 Primary

  Central member to take up tensile loads · CPC title