CA1167675A - Optical fibre cable - Google Patents

Optical fibre cable

Info

Publication number
CA1167675A
CA1167675A CA000400171A CA400171A CA1167675A CA 1167675 A CA1167675 A CA 1167675A CA 000400171 A CA000400171 A CA 000400171A CA 400171 A CA400171 A CA 400171A CA 1167675 A CA1167675 A CA 1167675A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
fibres
cable according
cable
inner sheath
sheath
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000400171A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
John R. Osterfield
Stephen R. Norman
Fabrizio M. Agostinelli
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Prysmian Cables and Systems Ltd
Original Assignee
Prysmian Cables and Systems Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Prysmian Cables and Systems Ltd filed Critical Prysmian Cables and Systems Ltd
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1167675A publication Critical patent/CA1167675A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • GPHYSICS
    • G02OPTICS
    • G02BOPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/44Mechanical structures for providing tensile strength and external protection for fibres, e.g. optical transmission cables
    • G02B6/4479Manufacturing methods of optical cables
    • G02B6/4486Protective covering
    • GPHYSICS
    • G02OPTICS
    • G02BOPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/44Mechanical structures for providing tensile strength and external protection for fibres, e.g. optical transmission cables
    • G02B6/4401Optical cables
    • G02B6/441Optical cables built up from sub-bundles
    • GPHYSICS
    • G02OPTICS
    • G02BOPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/44Mechanical structures for providing tensile strength and external protection for fibres, e.g. optical transmission cables
    • G02B6/4401Optical cables
    • G02B6/4429Means specially adapted for strengthening or protecting the cables

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Communication Cables (AREA)
  • Surface Treatment Of Glass Fibres Or Filaments (AREA)
  • Ropes Or Cables (AREA)
  • Insulated Conductors (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT
OPTICAL FIBRE CABLE

An optical fibre cable includes first and second optical fibres held together by a coating of a waterproof material such as partially cured silicone rubber, which can be cleanly peeled from the fibres.
The waterproof material is covered by an inner sheath of thermoplastics material.
Strengthening strands typically of Kevlar material run longitudinally of the cable outside the inner sheath. An outer sheath surrounds the strands

Description

~ 167675 Optical Fibre Cable This invention concerns cables and more part-icularly cables including optical fibres.
The present invention provides a cable includ-ing a first and a second optical fibre coated in and coupled together by a waterproof material cleanly peelable from the fibres, an inner sheat~ of plastics material surrounding the coated fibres, elongate streng-thening strands running longitudinally of the cable around said inner sheath, and an outer sheath of plastics mat~erial surrounding said elongate strengthening strands.
The present invention furthermore provides a cable including first and second optical fibres th~ fir~t of which comprises first and second segments optically joined to one another, thé second of which spans the join in the first fibre, and means defining an outer sheath surrounding said fibres whereby the second of said fibres contributes to the 3trength of the join in the first of the fibres.
In order that the invention may be more fully understood and readily carried into effect, embodiments thereof and an apparatus for manufacturing the same will now be described by way of illustrative example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
~igure 1 is a sectional view of an optical fibre cable according to the invention, ~.

.
.

. 1 ~6767~

Figures 2 and 3 illustrate schematically appar-atus for manufacturing the cable shown in ~igure 1, Figure 4 illustrates schematically the config-uration of joints between optical fibres in the cable of Figure 1, and Figure 5 is a sectional view of another embodiment of optical fibre cable according to the invention, and Figure 6 is a sectional view of yet a further embodiment of optical fibre according to the invention.
Referring firstly to Figure 1, the cable con-tains two optical fibres 1 and 2, typically defining forward and return signal paths respectively for a duplex communication link. The optical fibres may be of conventional type, typically havingan outer ~ameter 0~7 mm and an outer tight protective coating comprising an inner layer of silicone rubber and an outer layer of nylon.
The fibres 1 and 2 are coated with a material 3 which also fills the interstitial spaces between the fibres. The material 3 is selected to be water repellent, so as to prevent water from contacting the fibres and to be sufficiently compliant that it is cleanly peelable from the fibres, so that the material can be easily cleaned from the ends of the fibres to permit jointing of the cable. Water can corrode the optical fibres and can promote surface cracks when the fibres are under stress. Also, if water freezes in contact with the fibres, the resulting mechanical pressure can cause fibre breaks. A suitable material 3 is partially cured silicone rubber, or alternatively a waxy ma.terial such as the vinyl resin soldunder the trade ~mc "Elvax" can be used. "Elvax~ is manufactured by Du Pont Company U.K. Ltd.
The fibres 1 and Z und the nate~ al 3 are ~ ~67675 surrounded by a thin but tough protective inner sheath 4 formed of a thermoplastic elastomer selected so that when applied as a hot extrudate,it does not melt or degrade the aforementioned properties of the material 3 and the aforementioned original tight protective coating put on the fibres at the time of their manu-facture. It is found that nylon is not a satisfactory material for the sheath 4 because the hot extrudate melts and sticks to the tight nylon protective coating on the fibre. A suitable material for the sheath 4 is a thermoplastic elastome~suac~ as a ~olyester elast-omer, for example "Hytrel" manufactured by Du Pont Company U.K. Ltd. The sheath 4 is of the order of 0.2 ~ 0.3 mm thick. The inner sheath 4 protects the materia~ 3 and furthermore provides a barrier to hold the fibres 1 and 2 together.
The sheath 4 is surrounded by a plurality of elongate fibroUs strands 5 running longitudinally of the cable for the purpo~e of providing longitudinal strength thereto. The strands 5 also provide a cushion-ing effect for the fibres 1 and 2 in respect of mechan-ical impacts applied transversely to the cable. Further-more the strands 5 pack the cable into a circular cross section. ,Suitable fibrous strands 5 are formed K a polyaramid yarn manufactured under the trade ~e "Kevlar" by Du Pont Company U.K. Limited.
The strands 5 are surrounded by an outer sheath 6 made of a tough plastics material. The sheath 6 is selected to have a sufficiently low coefficient of expansion that when the cable is cooled the resulting compressive force exerted by the sheath 6 on the fibres 1 and 2 is sufficiently small as not to cause optical losses in the fibres due to microbending. The sheath 6 may be formed of a thermoplastic material loaded with a material of a lower thermal expansion coefficient, for :

!

~ ~7g75 example glass fibre. Thus, the sheath 6 may typically comprise nylon loaded with say 33% glass fibre.
It is to be noted that the cable of Figure 1 is of a non-metallic construction which renders it suitable for use in areas containing electric fields, since no voltages can be induced in the cable~ Thus, the cable has application in shi~s and is also suitable for electrified railways.
A method of making the cable will now be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Referring to Figure 2, the fibres 1 and 2, are fed from separate supply reels j, 8, through a g~ide 9. The reels 7, 8 ~re mounted on a support 10 which is rotatable about an axis 11 so as to permit twisting the fibres around one another into a common strand as they leave the guide 9.
The fibres may if desired, be tui~ted according to the well known method o~ SZ stranding, although it is pre- -ferred for a two fibre cable to have the fibres paralleled.
The fibres are fed to a die 12 fed with material 3, such that the fibres are coated with the material and the spaces between them are filled with the material.
If the material 3 is silicone rubber, the coated fibres are then fed to an oven 13 to cure the coating partially.
The inner sheath 4 is then applied by means of a die 14.
The coated fibres emanating from the die 14 are wound onto a drum 15. A length of say 10 km may be wound onto the drum 15.
The composite element of the cable wound on the drum 15 is then fed to a further die 16 shown in Figure 3.
The fibres, coated with the material 3 and the inner sheath, are fed into the die together with the Kevlar material 5, and the die applies the outer sheath 6.
The cable thus made in accordance with the present invention can be of much longer lengths than ~ ~6767~

the lengths in which optical fibres are supplied, without the need for jointing adjacent cable lengths.
~eferring to the cable of Figure 1, and to Figure 4, it will be seen that the fibres 1 and 2 each comprise more than one optical fibre la, lb; 2a, 2b, 2c, the fibres being joined by factory made joints 17, for example utilising fusion splicing. The joints 17 in the two fibres 1 and 2 are arranged in a staggered fashion. Thus, when the fibres are encased in the material 3, the sheath 4 and the fibre 2a provides `support and strength to the joint 17 between the fibres la, lb. The other joints are similarly supported.
Optical fibres are typically manufactured in 1 ~2 km lengths and by means of this arrangementit is possible to provide long continuous lengths of cable.
Another example of a cable according to the invention is shown in Figure 5. The construction is generally similar to that shown in Figure 1 and like parts are,marked with the same reference numerals as in Figure 1. The cable of Figure 5 includes four opti-, cal fibres 1, 2, 18 and '19, the material 3 filling the interstices between them. It will be appreciated that other numb'ers of optical fibres could be included in , the cable, as desired. Pre~erably the o~tical fibres - 25 are twisted around one another, except typically in the case of a two fibre cable when the fibres woul'd be paralleled without twist.
Another example of a four fibre cable is shown in Figure 6. The fibres 1, 2 and 8, 9 are grouped together in pairs, each pair being surrounded by a respective coating 3a, b of the material 3 and a res-pective inner sheath 4a, b. The pairs are arranged centrally within the outer sheath 6, surrounded by the fibrous material 5.
It will be appreciated that to manufacture the 676~5 cable of Figure 5, two additional supply reels would be provided in the apparatus of Figure 2, to feed the fibres 8, 9 into the die 12. Also to manufacture the cable of Figure 6, two composite elements from two reels 15, would feed into the die 16 of Figure 3.
Many other modifications and variations falling within the spirit and scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims (17)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows.
1. A cable including a first and a second optical fibre coated in and coupled together by a waterproof material cleanly peelable from the fibres, an inner sheath of plastics material surrounding the coated fibres, elongate strengthening strands running longitudinally of the cable around said inner sheath, and an outer sheath of plastics material sur-rounding said elongate strengthening strands.
2. A cable according to claim 1 wherein said cleanly peelable material comprises partially cured silicone rubber.
3. A cable according to claim 1 wherein said cleanly peelable material comprises a vinyl resin.
4. A cable according to claim 1 wherein said inner sheath is made of a thermoplastic elastomer.
5. A cable according to claim 4 wherein said elastomer is a polyester.
6. A cable according to claim 1 wherein said strengthening strands are formed of a polyaramid yarn.
7. A cable according to claim 1 wherein the outer sheath comprises a thermoplastics material loaded with a material of lower thermal expansion co-efficient than said thermoplastics sheath material.
8. A cable according to claim 7 wherein said outer sheath is made of nylon loaded with glass fibre material.
9. A cable according to claim 1 wherein said optical fibres are twisted around one another in a given stranding pattern.
10. A cable according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said fibres includes first and second segments joined endwise to one another, the joint of said segments being spanned by an unjointed portion of the other fibre.
11. A cable according to claim 10 wherein said segments are joined by fusion splicing.
12. A cable according to claim 1 including third and fourth optical fibres coated in and coupled together by said waterproof material.
13. A cable according to claim 12 including a further inner sheath of plastics material surrounding the third and fourth optical fibres.
14. A cable according to claim 12 wherein said waterproof material fills the intersitial spaces between and couples together all of the four optical fibres, said inner sheath surrounding the four optical fibres.
15. A method of manufacturing a cable as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising feeding the first and second fibres into a first die wherein the fibres are coated with and coupled together by said waterproof material, feeding the coated fibres into a further die wherein the fibres are covered in a material to provide said inner sheath, and feeding said fibres when provided with the inner sheath into another die together with said strengthening strands so as to apply said outer sheath.
16. A method according to claim 15 including twisting in a predetermined stranding pattern the fibres fed to the first die.
17. A method according to claim 15 or 16 including partially curing the waterproof material coated onto the fibres by the first die.
CA000400171A 1981-04-01 1982-03-31 Optical fibre cable Expired CA1167675A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8110252A GB2096343B (en) 1981-04-01 1981-04-01 Optical fibre cable
GB8110252 1981-04-01

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1167675A true CA1167675A (en) 1984-05-22

Family

ID=10520843

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000400171A Expired CA1167675A (en) 1981-04-01 1982-03-31 Optical fibre cable

Country Status (9)

Country Link
AR (1) AR227463A1 (en)
BR (1) BR8201824A (en)
CA (1) CA1167675A (en)
ES (1) ES8304324A1 (en)
FR (1) FR2503385B1 (en)
GB (1) GB2096343B (en)
IE (1) IE52815B1 (en)
IT (1) IT1232599B (en)
MX (1) MX152511A (en)

Families Citing this family (40)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2169099B (en) * 1982-12-13 1987-09-23 Raychem Ltd Fibre optic cable for use at high voltage
GB2169100B (en) * 1982-12-13 1987-09-23 Raychem Ltd Fibre optic cable for use at high voltage
DE3318233C2 (en) * 1983-05-19 1985-10-31 Philips Patentverwaltung Gmbh, 2000 Hamburg Optical cable element or cable and method for its manufacture
FR2555764B1 (en) * 1983-11-24 1986-10-10 Nonclerq Bernard OPTICAL FIBER TRANSMISSION CABLE AND METHOD OF MAKING LINKS USING THE SAME
IT1173154B (en) * 1984-01-27 1987-06-18 Pirelli Cavi Spa METHOD FOR JOINING TWO OPTICAL FIBERS AND JOINTING SO OBTAINED
JPS61144611A (en) * 1984-12-19 1986-07-02 Ube Nitto Kasei Kk Reinforced optical fiber and its production
US4893893A (en) * 1986-01-31 1990-01-16 American Telephone And Telegraph Co., At&T Bell Laboratories Strengthened buffered optical fiber
EP0233805A3 (en) * 1986-01-31 1988-03-23 AT&T Corp. Optical fibre cable
US4886562A (en) * 1987-03-31 1989-12-12 The Boeing Company Method of manufacturing reinforced optical fiber
CA1307144C (en) * 1987-06-03 1992-09-08 Akira Nishimura Coated optical fiber tape
GB8714226D0 (en) * 1987-06-17 1987-07-22 Bicc Plc Optical fibre cables
DE3743334C1 (en) * 1987-12-21 1989-05-24 Standard Elektrik Lorenz Ag Optical cable
US5345525A (en) * 1992-01-28 1994-09-06 At&T Bell Laboratories Utility optical fiber cable
US5561731A (en) * 1995-06-15 1996-10-01 Siecor Corporation Flexible casing for optical ribbons
US5908873A (en) 1995-12-20 1999-06-01 Borden Chemicals, Inc. Peelable bonded ribbon matrix material; optical fiber bonded ribbon arrays containing same; and process for preparing said optical fiber bonded ribbon arrays
IT1284536B1 (en) * 1996-09-16 1998-05-21 Pirelli Cavi S P A Ora Pirelli OPTICAL CABLE FOR DATA TRANSMISSION IN LOCAL NETWORKS
US6449412B1 (en) 1998-06-30 2002-09-10 Corning Cable Systems Llc Fiber optic ribbon interconnect cable
US6249628B1 (en) * 1999-06-10 2001-06-19 Siecor Operations, Llc Fiber optic cable units
US6538045B1 (en) 1999-12-23 2003-03-25 Dsm N.V. Optical fiber coating compositions containing secondary or tertiary amino silicone-containing additive
US6636673B2 (en) 2000-12-26 2003-10-21 Corning Cable Systems Llc Fiber optic ribbon interconnects and breakout cables
US8422843B2 (en) 2008-03-28 2013-04-16 Adc Telecommunications, Inc. Multi-fiber fiber optic cable
US8224141B2 (en) 2008-05-27 2012-07-17 Adc Telecommunications, Inc. Multi-jacketed fiber optic cable
EP2294468A4 (en) 2008-05-28 2018-03-14 ADC Telecommunications, Inc. Fiber optic cable
MX2011004384A (en) 2008-10-28 2011-07-28 Adc Telecommunications Inc Flat drop cable.
FR2939911B1 (en) 2008-12-12 2011-04-08 Draka Comteq France SOLDERED OPTICAL FIBER, TELECOMMUNICATION CABLE COMPRISING MULTIPLE OPTICAL FIBERS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH A FIBER
WO2011050181A2 (en) 2009-10-21 2011-04-28 Adc Telecommunications, Inc. Flat drop cable with center strength member
AU2010321863B2 (en) 2009-11-20 2014-09-25 Adc Telecommunications, Inc. Fiber optic cable
US8915659B2 (en) 2010-05-14 2014-12-23 Adc Telecommunications, Inc. Splice enclosure arrangement for fiber optic cables
US8238706B2 (en) 2010-05-19 2012-08-07 Adc Telecommunications, Inc. Flat drop cable with medial bump
US8885998B2 (en) 2010-12-09 2014-11-11 Adc Telecommunications, Inc. Splice enclosure arrangement for fiber optic cables
US9739966B2 (en) 2011-02-14 2017-08-22 Commscope Technologies Llc Fiber optic cable with electrical conductors
US8781281B2 (en) 2011-07-21 2014-07-15 Adc Telecommunications, Inc. Drop cable with angled reinforcing member configurations
US9316802B2 (en) 2012-08-24 2016-04-19 Commscope Technologies Llc Optical fiber cable having reinforcing layer of tape heat-bonded to jacket
US11287589B2 (en) 2012-09-26 2022-03-29 Corning Optical Communications LLC Binder film for a fiber optic cable
US8620124B1 (en) 2012-09-26 2013-12-31 Corning Cable Systems Llc Binder film for a fiber optic cable
US9482839B2 (en) 2013-08-09 2016-11-01 Corning Cable Systems Llc Optical fiber cable with anti-split feature
US8805144B1 (en) 2013-09-24 2014-08-12 Corning Optical Communications LLC Stretchable fiber optic cable
US9075212B2 (en) 2013-09-24 2015-07-07 Corning Optical Communications LLC Stretchable fiber optic cable
US8913862B1 (en) 2013-09-27 2014-12-16 Corning Optical Communications LLC Optical communication cable
US9594226B2 (en) 2013-10-18 2017-03-14 Corning Optical Communications LLC Optical fiber cable with reinforcement

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GB1479427A (en) * 1975-02-05 1977-07-13 Bicc Ltd Opticle cables
DE2728586B2 (en) * 1977-06-24 1980-06-19 Siemens Ag, 1000 Berlin Und 8000 Muenchen Optical communication cable
DE2907704B2 (en) * 1979-02-28 1981-03-12 Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin und 8000 München Stranding element for optical cables
DE2944073C2 (en) * 1979-10-31 1990-01-04 Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin und 8000 München Fiber optic cable and process for its manufacture

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
MX152511A (en) 1985-08-14
AR227463A1 (en) 1982-10-29
FR2503385B1 (en) 1986-07-11
ES511409A0 (en) 1983-03-01
FR2503385A1 (en) 1982-10-08
ES8304324A1 (en) 1983-03-01
BR8201824A (en) 1983-11-22
IT1232599B (en) 1992-02-28
IE52815B1 (en) 1988-03-16
IE820719L (en) 1982-10-01
GB2096343B (en) 1984-08-15
GB2096343A (en) 1982-10-13
IT8220469A0 (en) 1982-03-30

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