Optical fiber tape assembly and canister
AssigneeHughes Aircraft Company
InventorsRonald B. Chesler, George W. LeCompte
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical fiber is joined, preferably with an ultraviolet curable adhesive, to a strip of a flexible support material such as a plastic tape to form an optical fiber assembly. The assembly is wound onto a bobbin to form an optical fiber canister, which is then paid out upon demand. The optical fiber assembly requires little or no adhesive to hold it in place on the bobbin, as the support material of each turn aids in holding the adjacent turns in place, with the result that the bend radius during payout is increased.
Claims15
An improved optical fiber assembly for selectively winding, storing and unwinding an optical fiber, comprising:
- an optical fiber windable into a plurality of side-by-side turns;
- and
- flexible support means joined to said optical fiber and extendable between side-by-side turns for contacting and maintaining said turns in side-by-side relationship during storage and unwinding of said optical fiber.
An optical fiber assembly, comprising:
- a strip of a flexible support material;
- an optical fiber joined to the strip of flexible support material;
- said strip of flexible support matter having a width no greater than about three times a diameter of the optical fiber.
An optical fiber canister, comprising:
- a bobbin;
- a plurality of turns of an optical fiber assembly wound onto the bobbin in a side-by-side manner, the assembly including
- a strip of a flexible support material, and
- an optical fiber joined to the strip of flexible support material;
- said strip of flexible support material extending between and contacting adjacent turns of optical fiber to maintain said turns in side-by-side relationship.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.