Spliced fiber tray soft durometer material (SDM) manifold

Abstract

A manifold for holding spliced optical fibers and their protective plastic coatings in a secure and motionless manner. The manifold includes a “clamp” made from a soft durometer material (SDM) such as a high strength silicone mold-making rubber or a dry polymer gel that has been partially sliced to a depth of about 75%. The manifold permits ease of insertion of a spliced optical fiber into, and removal of that spliced optical fiber from, an SDM-slice without disturbing other fibers that are held in other slices in the manifold. In a particular embodiment the gel or rubber SDM fills a four-sided plastic box to overflow. Slices in the SDM are parallel to each other and to front and back walls of the box which has a hinged cover to exert pressure on the overflow SDM material when the cover is closed to increase holding force on splice-junctions of embedded bare-glass optical fibers, those fibers within their respective protective coatings exiting the box, left and right, via cut-outs in the side walls of the box.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.