# US 12,601,883 B2 · Optical fiber ribbon and slotless optical cable

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- Number: US 12,601,883 B2
- Document ID: US12601883B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/574,494
- Filed: 2022-08-26
- Published: 2025-03-27
- Granted: 2026-04-14
- Earliest claimed: 2022-08-26
- Assignees: SWCC Corporation
- Applicants: SWCC Corporation
- Inventors: Keita Okubo; Takeshiro Nagai; Wataru Noro
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12601883B2

## CPC

- G02B 6/44: Mechanical structures for providing tensile strength and external protection for fibres, e.g. optical transmission cables (cables incorporating electric conductors and optical fibres {where features relating to the optical fibres are not of interest} H01B11/22)
- G02B 6/4403: {with ribbon structure (G02B6/4429, G02B6/4439, G02B6/4479 take precedence)}
- G02B 6/443: {Protective covering}
- G02B 6/4431: {with provision in the protective covering, e.g. weak line, for gaining access to one or more fibres, e.g. for branching or tapping (break-out terminations G02B6/4471)}
- G02B 6/4432: {with fibre reinforcements}
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS

## Abstract

An optical fiber ribbon includes a plurality of single-core coated optical fibers arranged in parallel, and a resin layer integrally coating the plurality of single-core coated optical fibers and intermittently coupling together adjacent ones of the single-core coated optical fibers. The resin layer includes, at a portion coating the single-core coated optical fibers, a thick-walled part and a thin-walled part along a longitudinal direction of the single-core coated optical fibers, the thick-walled part being formed to have a thickness equal to or greater than ½ of a maximum thickness, the thin-walled part being formed to have a thickness of less than ½ of the maximum thickness. When a length of the thick-walled part in the longitudinal direction is denoted by “a” and a length of the thin-walled part in the longitudinal direction is denoted by “b,” 4:6<b:a<8:2 is satisfied.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An optical fiber ribbon, comprising:
a plurality of single-core coated optical fibers arranged in parallel; and
a tape resin layer integrally coating the plurality of single-core coated optical fibers and intermittently coupling together adjacent ones of the plurality of single-core coated optical fibers, wherein
the tape resin layer includes, at a portion coating the plurality of single-core coated optical fibers, a thick-walled part and a thin-walled part along a longitudinal direction of the plurality of single-core coated optical fibers, the thick-walled part being formed to have a thickness equal to or greater than ½ of a maximum thickness, the thin-walled part being formed to have a thickness of less than ½ of the maximum thickness, and
when a length of the thick-walled part in the longitudinal direction is denoted by “a” and a length of the thin-walled part in the longitudinal direction is denoted by “b,” 4:6<b:a<8:2 is satisfied.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The optical fiber ribbon according to claim 1, wherein
the length a of the thick-walled part in the longitudinal direction and the length b of the thin-walled part in the longitudinal direction satisfy 5:5≤b:a≤7:3.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The optical fiber ribbon according to claim 1, wherein
the length b of each of a plurality of the thin-walled parts in the longitudinal direction is 20 to 28 mm.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The optical fiber ribbon according to claim 1, wherein
the maximum thickness of the tape resin layer is 0.01 to 0.02 mm.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

A slotless optical cable, comprising:
a plurality of optical fiber ribbons according to claim 1;
a press winding for fixing the plurality of optical fiber ribbons;
a jacket covering the press winding;
a tension member installed in the jacket; and
a rip cord installed in the jacket for tearing the jacket.