Rollable optical fiber ribbon

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9939599-B2
Application number	US-201615216757-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 22, 2016
Priority date	Jul 31, 2015
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

An optical ribbon is provided. The optical ribbon includes a plurality of optical transmission elements. The ribbon includes a ribbon body coupled to and supporting the plurality of optical transmission elements. The ribbon body is formed from a flexible polymeric material such that the plurality of optical transmission elements are reversibly movable between an aligned position in which the plurality of optical transmission elements are substantially parallel with each other and a curved position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A rollable optical fiber ribbon comprising:
a plurality of optical transmission elements, wherein each optical transmission element includes an optical core surrounded by a cladding of a different refractive index than the optical core, the cladding surrounded by a fiber coating layer, the fiber coating layer having an inner surface contacting the cladding and an outer surface defining an exterior surface of the optical transmission elements; and
a ribbon body coupled to and supporting the plurality of optical transmission elements in an array, wherein the ribbon body is contiguous lengthwise for at least 10 cm along the length of the plurality of optical transmission elements and wherein the ribbon body is contiguous widthwise over all of the plurality of optical transmission elements;
wherein the ribbon body is formed from a flexible polymeric material such that the plurality of optical transmission elements are reversibly movable from an unrolled position in which the plurality of optical transmission elements are substantially aligned with each other to a rolled position; and wherein the ribbon body partially surrounds the plurality of optical transmission elements such that an outer surface of the ribbon body defines an outermost surface on an entire first side of the ribbon and the fiber coating layers define an outermost surface on a second side of the ribbon opposite the first side of the ribbon.

2. The rollable optical fiber ribbon of claim 1 , wherein the ribbon body includes an inner surface bonded to the exterior surfaces of the plurality of optical transmission elements.

3. The rollable optical fiber ribbon of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of optical transmission elements includes a central axis extending through a center point of the optical core, wherein in the unrolled position at least 90% of the polymeric material of the ribbon body is located on one side of central axes of the plurality of optical transmission elements, wherein in the rolled position, the central axes of the optical transmission elements surround a central axis of the ribbon when viewed in cross-section perpendicular to the central axis of the ribbon.

4. The rollable optical fiber ribbon of claim 3 , wherein, in the unrolled position, all of the polymeric material of the ribbon body is located on one side of central axes of the plurality of optical transmission elements.

5. The rollable optical fiber ribbon of claim 3 , wherein the exterior surface of each of the plurality of optical transmission elements abuts the exterior surface of at least one other optical transmission element.

6. The rollable optical fiber ribbon of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric material has a modulus of elasticity less than 1500 MPa.

7. The rollable optical fiber ribbon of claim 6 , wherein the polymeric material has a modulus of elasticity greater than 1 MPa and less than 1500 MPa.

8. The rollable optical fiber ribbon of claim 7 , wherein the polymeric material has a modulus of elasticity greater than 85 MPa and less than 1500 MPa.

9. The rollable optical fiber of claim 1 , further comprising a strength element coupled to and supported by the ribbon body such that the strength element is aligned with the plurality of optical transmission elements in the unrolled position.

10. The rollable optical fiber of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric material is a first polymeric material, wherein the ribbon body further comprises a second polymeric material, wherein the first polymeric material has a modulus of elasticity greater than the modulus of elasticity of the second polymeric material.

11. An optical ribbon comprising:
a plurality of optical transmission elements, wherein each optical transmission element includes an optical core and an exterior surface; and
a ribbon body coupled to and supporting the plurality of optical transmission elements, wherein the ribbon body is contiguous lengthwise for at least 10 cm along the length of the plurality of optical transmission elements;
wherein the ribbon body is formed from a flexible polymeric material such that the plurality of optical transmission elements are reversibly movable between an aligned position in which the plurality of optical transmission elements are substantially parallel with each other and a curved position;
wherein each of the plurality of optical transmission elements includes a central axis extending through a center point of the optical core, wherein in the aligned position at least 90% of the polymeric material of the ribbon body is located on one side of central axes of the plurality of optical transmission elements;
wherein the ribbon body is positioned relative to the plurality of optical transmission elements such that the exterior surface of each of the plurality of optical transmission elements abuts the exterior surface of at least one other optical transmission element when in the aligned position.

12. The optical ribbon of claim 11 , wherein the ribbon body partially surrounds the plurality of optical transmission elements such that an outer surface of the ribbon body defines an outermost surface on a first side of the ribbon and the exterior surfaces of the plurality of optical transmission elements define an outermost surface on a second side of the ribbon opposite the first side of the ribbon.

13. The optical ribbon of claim 11 , wherein in the aligned position all of the polymeric material of the ribbon body is located to one side of central axes of the plurality of optical transmission elements.

14. The optical ribbon of claim 11 , wherein the ribbon body comprises a plurality of bridges formed from the polymeric material coupled between the exterior surfaces of adjacent optical transmission elements.

15. The optical ribbon of claim 11 , wherein the polymeric material has a modulus of elasticity greater than 85 MPa and less than 1500 MPa and a maximum thickness between 5 μm and 150 μm.

16. An optical fiber ribbon comprising:
a plurality of optical fibers; and
a flexible ribbon body coupled to and supporting the plurality of optical fibers, wherein the ribbon body is contiguous lengthwise for at least 10 cm along the length of the plurality of optical fibers;
wherein the ribbon body is formed from a flexible polymeric material such that the plurality of optical fibers are bendable around a longitudinal axis of the ribbon;
wherein each of the plurality of optical fibers includes a central axis and at least 90% of the polymeric material of the ribbon body is located on one side of the central axes of the plurality of optical fibers;
wherein the ribbon body partially surrounds all of the plurality of optical fibers such that, when viewed in cross-section, an outer surface of the ribbon body defines an outermost surface on an entire first side of the ribbon and exterior surfaces of the optical fibers define an outermost surface on a second side of the ribbon opposite the first side of the ribbon.

17. The optical fiber ribbon of claim 16 , wherein the polymeric material allows the ribbon to bend such that an angle between center points of two of the adjacent optical fibers measured from a horizontal plane is between 10 degrees and 90 degrees.

18. The optical fiber ribbon of claim 17 , wherein the exterior surface of at least one of the plurality of optical fibers abuts the exterior surface of at least one other optical fiber.

19. The optical fiber ribbon of claim 17 , wherein the polymeric material has a modulus of elasticity greater than 85 MPa and less than 1500 MPa and

Assignees

• Corning Optical Communications LLC

Inventors

• Blazer Bradley Jerome
• Bookbinder Dana Craig
• Li Ming-Jun
• Parsons Alan Todd
• Tandon Pushkar

Classifications

• G02B6/4434

  Central member to take up tensile loads · CPC title

• G02B6/4404 Primary

  Multi-podded · CPC title

• G02B6/443

  Protective covering · CPC title