Optical fiber cable and a method of fabricating the cable
AssigneeAlcatel
InventorVincent Bourget
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The optical fiber cable includes an assembly of at least two flexible tubes accommodating optical fibers, a sheath enveloping the assembly of tubes, and at least one filamentary form strength member at the periphery of the assembly of tubes. The tubes preferably extend in the sheath in a helical or an SZ assembly. The tubes are stuck together. The sheath is preferably made of polyethylene and the tubes are preferably made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or a thermoplastics elastomer with diol flexible segments. In this method, when extruding the sheath around the tubes, the temperature at which the material of the sheath is extruded is adjusted to cause the tubes to stick together.
Claims12
An optical fiber cable including an assembly of at least two flexible tubes accommodating optical fibers, a sheath enveloping the assembly of tubes, and at least one filamentary form strength member at the periphery of the assembly of tubes, wherein the tubes are stuck together.
A method of fabricating a optical fiber cable including an assembly of at least two flexible tubes accommodating optical fibers, a sheath enveloping said assembly of tubes, and at least one filamentary form strength member at the periphery of the assembly of tubes, in which method the tubes are made of a synthetic material and the sheath is made of a synthetic material which is heated and extruded around the tubes, wherein, during extrusion of the sheath around the tubes, the temperature at which the material of the sheath is extruded is adjusted to cause the tubes to stick together.
An optical fiber cable comprising:
- an assembly of at least two flexible tubes accommodating optical fibers;
- a sheath enveloping an assembly of the tubes;
- mechanical reinforcing braids extending radically between the tubes and the sheath;
- sealing means extending radically between the tubes and the reinforcing braids;
- and
- a plurality of filamentary form strength members located in the sealing means and the sheath;
- wherein said tubes are adhered to each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.