Dispenser for a continuous strip of a substrate supporting bend-sensitive items

A dispenser, comprising:

• a continuous strip of bags each containing a bend-sensitive fiber optic cable with adjacent bags of the bags adjoining each other at perforated fold lines;
• a container extending vertically from a horizontal bottom panel of the container to a horizontal top panel of the container and including a plurality of vertical side panels extending from the bottom panel to the top panel, the bottom panel and the side panels defining a storage volume, the container containing the strip of bags in a vertical stack of the bags within the storage volume, the bags in the vertical stack being folded at the fold lines in an alternating folding pattern, one of the side panels defining a covered or uncovered horizontally facing slot;
• and
• a rotatable body positioned within the storage volume vertically below a top of the slot and vertically above at least all but one of the stack of bags, the rotatable body defining a rotation axis that is substantially parallel to an elongate dimension of the slot, the rotatable body being arranged to move downward in the storage volume under a gravity force as the bags are dispensed through the slot,
• wherein the container and the rotatable body comprise the same material;
• wherein the rotatable body has a radius extending from the rotation axis perpendicularly to the rotation axis to an outer surface of the rotatable body, the radius being greater than or equal to a minimum bend radius of an optical fiber of the wound fiber optic cable;
• wherein a maximum vertical dimension of the slot is shorter than One tenth of a maximum vertical dimension of the container;
• and
• wherein an uppermost bag in the stack is attached to the container.

A method, comprising:

• folding a continuous strip of bags each containing a bend-sensitive fiber optic cable with adjacent bags of the bags adjoining each other at fold lines, the folding including folding the strip at the fold lines in an alternating folding pattern to create a vertical stack of the bags;
• loading the vertical stack of bags in a container having vertical and horizontal dimensions;
• inserting a dispensing guide in the container vertically below a top of a covered or uncovered horizontally facing slot defined by the container, the dispensing guide not being connected to the container;
• positioning an uppermost of the bags vertically above and abutting the dispensing guide and such that the dispensing guide is vertically above all of the other bags in the stack;
• attaching the uppermost of the bags to the container;
• and
• subsequent to the attaching, closing the container.

A method, comprising:

• providing a container containing a rotatable body defining a rotation axis and a continuous strip of bags each containing a bend-sensitive fiber optic cable with adjacent bags of the bags adjoining each other at fold lines, the strip being folded at the fold lines in an alternating folding pattern forming a vertical stack of the bags in the container;
• grasping an uppermost of the bags;
• and
• pulling on the strip of bags to dispense one or more of the bags through a slot defined by the container, the pulling causing the strip of bags to drag over the rotatable body causing the strip of bags to rotate the rotatable body and further causing the rotatable body to drop vertically in the container under a gravity force.