Method and system for identifying a feature on a longitudinally advancing member and marking the advancing member based on the identification

A system for identifying an S-Z reversal feature on an optical fiber cable including a strand of optical fiber media which is stranded with S-Z reversals and which is advanced longitudinally and for marking the advancing cable based on the identification of the S-Z reversal feature, the system comprising:

• a driver for advancing the cable on a path extending between a first position and a second position and for generating encoder pulses representative of the advance of the cable on the path from the first position to the second position;
• a detector positioned at a selected position on the path which is not the same as the second position for detecting an S-Z reversal feature on the strand, wherein the detector comprises an optical reflected light sensor, wherein the sensor obtains optical image samples of the strand and generates digital intensity image data representative of the image samples;
• a marker positioned at a position along the path spaced from the selected position in the direction of the advance of the cable for applying indicia to the cable upon receipt of a marking signal;
• and
• a microcontroller coupled to the driver, the detector and the marker, wherein the microcontroller processes the intensity data for identifying image samples having an S-Z reversal feature, and wherein the microcontroller, based on the encoder pulses generated by the driver and the identification of image samples having the S-Z reversal feature, determines a position on the strand having the detected feature and transmits a marking signal to the marker to cause the marker to apply the indicia at a desired position on the strand.

A method for identifying a characteristic feature on a generally longitudinal member which is advanced longitudinally and marking the advancing member based on the identification of the feature, the method comprising the steps of:

• advancing the member on a path extending from a first position to a second position;
• monitoring the advance of the member on the path;
• detecting the feature on the member at a selected position on the path which is not the same as the second position, wherein the detecting comprises obtaining optical image samples of the member, generating digital intensity data representative of the optical image samples and processing the intensity data for identifying an image sample including the feature;
• and
• applying indicia to a desired position on the member at a position along the path spaced from the selected position in the direction of advance of the member based on the detection of the feature on the member at the selected position and the monitoring of the advance of the member on the path.

A system for identifying a characteristic feature on a generally longitudinal member which is advanced longitudinally and marking the advancing member based on the identification of the feature, the system comprising:

• a driver for advancing the member on a path extending from a first position to a second position and for generating encoder pulses representative of the advance of the member on the path from the first position to the second position;
• a detector positioned at a selected position on the path which is not the same as the second position for detecting the feature on the member, wherein the detector comprises an optical reflected light sensor, wherein the sensor obtains optical image samples of the member and generates digital intensity image data representative of the image samples;
• a marker positioned at a position along the path spaced from the selected position in the direction of the advance of the member for applying indicia to the member based on receipt of a marking signal;
• and
• a microcontroller coupled to the driver, the detector and the marker, wherein the microcontroller processes the intensity data for identifying an image sample having the feature, and wherein the microcontroller, based on the encoder pulses generated by the driver and the identification of an image sample having the feature, determines a position on the member having the detected feature and transmits a marking signal to the marker to cause the marker to apply the indicia at a desired position on the member.

An optical image detection and processing method for identifying an S-Z reversal feature on an optical fiber cable including a strand of S-Z stranded optical fiber buffer tubes which is advanced longitudinally, comprising:

• advancing the cable along a path extending from a first position to a second position;
• monitoring the advance of the cable along the path;
• obtaining optical image samples of the strand at a selected position on the path which is not the same as the second position;
• generating digital intensity data representative of the respective image samples;
• and
• processing the digital intensity data for identifying an image sample having an S-Z reversal feature.

A system for marking a generally longitudinal member which is advanced longitudinally based on optical detection of a feature on the advancing member comprising:

• an optical detector for obtaining optical image samples of the member by detecting optical reflected light from the advancing member and for generating digital intensity data representative of the image samples;
• a marker;
• a driver for advancing the member over a path extending from the detector to the marker;
• a position means coupled to the path for detecting the advance of the member along the path and generating a position data signal representative of the advance of the member along the path;
• and
• a microcontroller coupled to the detector, the advance position means and the marker, wherein the microcontroller processes the intensity and the position data signals for identifying a position on the member having the feature and transmits, based on the position on the member having the identified feature, a marking signal to the marker to cause the marker to apply indicia at a desired position on the member.

A system for identifying a position of an S-Z reversal on an optical fiber cable including a strand of S-Z stranded optical fiber media which is longitudinally advanced by optical image detection and processing and for marking the advancing cable based on the identification of the position of the S-Z reversal, the system comprising:

• a camera for obtaining optical image samples of the strand;
• a jacketing means for applying jacketing to the strand;
• a driver for advancing the cable along a path extending from the camera, to the jacketing means and then to the marker and for generating encoder pulses representative of the advance of the cable from the camera to the marker;
• a marker for applying indicia to the cable;
• and
• a microcontroller coupled to the camera, the driver and the marker, wherein the microcontroller converts the optical image samples into representative digital intensity data, correlates the intensity data of the images sampled with the encoder pulses to identify the position on the strand at which an optical image was sampled, processes the digital intensity data for identifying an image sample which includes an S-Z reversal and transmits a marking signal to the marker to cause the marker to apply indicia on the jacketing on the strand at a position corresponding to a position on the strand identified as having an S-Z reversal.