GB2167002A - Manufacture of optical cables - Google Patents

Manufacture of optical cables Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2167002A
GB2167002A GB08526105A GB8526105A GB2167002A GB 2167002 A GB2167002 A GB 2167002A GB 08526105 A GB08526105 A GB 08526105A GB 8526105 A GB8526105 A GB 8526105A GB 2167002 A GB2167002 A GB 2167002A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
powder
manufacturing
optical cable
cable according
delivery tube
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.)
Granted
Application number
GB08526105A
Other versions
GB2167002B (en
GB8526105D0 (en
Inventor
Terence Alexander Ketteringham
Norman Charles Fielder
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.)
Telephone Cables Ltd
Original Assignee
Telephone Cables 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
Priority claimed from GB848428146A external-priority patent/GB8428146D0/en
Application filed by Telephone Cables Ltd filed Critical Telephone Cables Ltd
Priority to GB08526105A priority Critical patent/GB2167002B/en
Publication of GB8526105D0 publication Critical patent/GB8526105D0/en
Publication of GB2167002A publication Critical patent/GB2167002A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2167002B publication Critical patent/GB2167002B/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/44—Mechanical structures for providing tensile strength and external protection for fibres, e.g. optical transmission cables
    • G02B6/4401—Optical cables
    • G02B6/4429—Means specially adapted for strengthening or protecting the cables
    • G02B6/44382—Means specially adapted for strengthening or protecting the cables the means comprising hydrogen absorbing materials
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C48/00—Extrusion moulding, i.e. expressing the moulding material through a die or nozzle which imparts the desired form; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C48/03—Extrusion moulding, i.e. expressing the moulding material through a die or nozzle which imparts the desired form; Apparatus therefor characterised by the shape of the extruded material at extrusion
    • B29C48/06—Rod-shaped
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C48/00—Extrusion moulding, i.e. expressing the moulding material through a die or nozzle which imparts the desired form; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C48/15—Extrusion moulding, i.e. expressing the moulding material through a die or nozzle which imparts the desired form; Apparatus therefor incorporating preformed parts or layers, e.g. extrusion moulding around inserts
    • B29C48/156—Coating two or more articles simultaneously
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C48/00—Extrusion moulding, i.e. expressing the moulding material through a die or nozzle which imparts the desired form; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C48/25—Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C48/00—Extrusion moulding, i.e. expressing the moulding material through a die or nozzle which imparts the desired form; Apparatus therefor
    • B29C48/25—Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations
    • B29C48/30—Extrusion nozzles or dies
    • B29C48/32—Extrusion nozzles or dies with annular openings, e.g. for forming tubular articles
    • B29C48/34—Cross-head annular extrusion nozzles, i.e. for simultaneously receiving moulding material and the preform to be coated
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/44—Mechanical structures for providing tensile strength and external protection for fibres, e.g. optical transmission cables
    • G02B6/4479—Manufacturing methods of optical cables
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/44—Mechanical structures for providing tensile strength and external protection for fibres, e.g. optical transmission cables
    • G02B6/4479—Manufacturing methods of optical cables
    • G02B6/4483—Injection or filling devices
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
    • B29L2011/00—Optical elements, e.g. lenses, prisms
    • B29L2011/0075—Light guides, optical cables

Abstract

In order to feed water blocking or hydrogen absorbing powder into an integral optical cable of the type where one or more optical fibres (2) are loosely enclosed within at least one of a plurality of longitudinally extending closed channels (3) formed in an extrudate, the powder is fed into the narrow delivery tubes (10) which feed the fibres through the extruder and into the channels. The powder (13) is fed through the delivery tubes by an impelling means which may be either a vibrator (15), or a rotating hollow screw means which surrounds the fibre (2) within the tube (10). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Manufacture of optical cables This invention relates to the manufacture of optical cables of the kind wherein one or more optical fibres are accommodated within at least one of a plurality of longitudinally extending closed channels formed in an extrudate.
Such cables are known from, for example our co-pending patent application No. 2123978A, in which a cable is disclosed in which the optical fibres are loosely accommodated within the channels, the fibres being introduced into the channels during the extrusion process.
It is known that the performance of optical fibres deteriorates in the presence of water and thus cables have been produced in which a water blocking medium is provided in the cable. It has also been proposed in co-pending patent application No.
8428102 to incorporate within an optical cable a hydrogen trapping medium, as the presence of free hydrogen has been found to increase transmission losses for certain wavelengths. The water blocking and hydrogen trapping media may take the form of powders, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing optical cables of the kind described above wherein a powder, which may comprise one or both of said media, is introduced into at least one of the channels, not necessarily one containing a fibre. However the invention may also be used for introducing other powdered material into such cables.
Accordingly, the invention provides a method of manufacturing optical cable comprising one or more optical fibres loosely accommodated within at least one of a plurality of longitudinally extending closed channels formed in an extrudate, wherein hot thermoplastic core material is continuously extruded from a die member with one or more interior channels extending parallel to but displaced from the axis of the core and at least one of the channels is fed with powder via a delivery tube having an opening upline of the die member into which a powder material is introduced, the powder being fed downline along the delivery tube and into said channel by cyclic means.
Preferably, the delivery tube also continuously conveys an optical fibre into said channel.
In one embodiment, the cyclic means consists of means for vibrating said delivery tube in a longitudinal direction, the delivery tube being free to move in this direction.
In a different embodiment, the cyclic means consists of a screw means rotating within said delivery tube and bonded to an inner tube in which the fibre is conveyed. The screw means may be a helically wound wire such as a spring.
The powder material can be either a water blocking powder or a hydrogen trapping powder or a mixture of both.
If a hydrogen trapping powder is used, this may consist of palladium coated on finely divided carbon such as charcoal. (See, for example, our copending UK Patent Application No. 8428102).
The invention will now be more fully described by way of example with reference to drawings in which Figure I shows in cross-sectional elevation the die means and the powder feeding means for manufacturing an optical cable according to the invention; and Figure 2 illustrates schematically an alternative method of feeding powder using cyclic means.
Thus, as shown in Figure 1, an optical cable 1 consists of several optical fibres 2 loosely enclosed in channels 3 in a core 4 having a central strength member 5.
The core 4 is formed by extruding polypropylene from an extruder 6 composed of a conventional die component 7 and pierced point component 8. Molten polypropylene is forced through the gap 9 between the components 7 and 8 and is formed into a core 4 having several channels 3 extending longitudinally inside the core 4. At the same time, a central strength member 5 is drawn through a central hole in the component 8 and the core 4 is formed around this member 5.
The component 8 also loosely holds the ends of several flexible steel tubes 10 through which sheathed optical fibres 2 are positively fed into the channels 3 formed in the core 4,#the ends of the tubes from which the fibres emerge conveniently being spaced uniformly around the die axis.
These flexible steel tubes 10 extend rearwardly of the extruder 6 into a box 11 where they are secured side-by-side. For part of their length within the box 11, the uppermost parts of the tubes 10 have a portion of their wall removed to form an entrance 12 into the tubes whereby powder 13 fed from a hopper 14 can enter the tubes 10. The hopper 14 has a vibrator 15 attached to its side wall to keep the powder flowing smoothly.
The box 11, with the tubes 10 attached, is itself vibrated by a vibrator 16 attached thereto so as to cause the powder to be fed along the tubes 10 towards the extruder, the powder passing through the extruder 6 and into the channels 3 along with the optical fibres 2. The powder 13 may be finely divided carbon, such as charcoal, coated with palladium. The palladised carbon converts hydrogen to water by catalysing the reaction with any available oxygen, and, in order to prevent the resultant water reacting with other parts to generate more hydrogen, the palladised carbon is mixed with a water blocking powder such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose.
A different method of feeding the powder 13 along the tubes 10 is shown in Figure 2 where a further tube 17 carrying the fibre 2 is provided coaxially within the steel tube 10 and a wire 18 is helically wound between the tubes 10 and 17, and is bonded to the tube 17 whilst being free to move in tube 10. As the tube 17 and wire 18 are rotated, the powder is thus fed forward.
The inner tube 17 and wire 18 extend all the way from the box 11 to the extruder 6 so as to feed the powder 13 into the channels 3.

Claims (9)

1. A method of manufacturing an optical cable comprising one or more optical fibres loosely accommodated within at least one of a plurality of longitudinally extending closed channels formed in an extrudate, wherein hot thermoplastic core material is continuously extruded from a die member with one or more interior channels extending parallel to but displaced from the axis of the core and at least one of the channels is fed with powder via a delivery tube having an opening upline of the die member into which a powder material is introduced, the powder being fed downline along the delivery tube and into said channel by cyclic means.
2. A method of manufacturing an optical cable according to Claim 1, wherein the delivery tube also continuously conveys an optical fibre into the said channel.
3. A method of manufacturing an optical cable according to Claim 1, wherein the cyclic means consists of means for vibrating said delivery tube in a longitudinal direction.
4. A method of manufacturing an optical cable according to Claim 1, wherein the cyclic means consists of a screw means rotating within said delivery tube and bonded to an inner tube in which fibre is conveyed.
5. A method of manufacturing an optical cable according to Claim 4, wherein the screw means is a helically wound wire such as a spring.
6. A method of manufacturing an optical cable according to Claim 1, wherein the powder material is either a water block powder or a hydrogen absorbing powder or a mixture of both.
7. A method of manufacturing an optical cable according to Claim 6, wherein the hydrogen absorbing powder consists of palladium coated on finely divided carbon.
8. A method of manufacturing an optical cable according to Claim 6, wherein the water blocking powder is sodium carboxymethyl cellulose.
9. A method of manufacturing an optical cable substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1-2 of the accompanying drawings.
GB08526105A 1984-11-07 1985-10-23 Manufacture of optical cables Expired GB2167002B (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB08526105A GB2167002B (en) 1984-11-07 1985-10-23 Manufacture of optical cables

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB848428146A GB8428146D0 (en) 1984-11-07 1984-11-07 Optical cables
GB08526105A GB2167002B (en) 1984-11-07 1985-10-23 Manufacture of optical cables

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB8526105D0 GB8526105D0 (en) 1985-11-27
GB2167002A true GB2167002A (en) 1986-05-21
GB2167002B GB2167002B (en) 1988-08-10

Family

ID=26288426

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB08526105A Expired GB2167002B (en) 1984-11-07 1985-10-23 Manufacture of optical cables

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2167002B (en)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2185591A (en) * 1986-01-22 1987-07-22 Telephone Cables Ltd Optical fibre cable releasing oxygen to combine with free hydrogen
EP0522320A1 (en) * 1991-06-21 1993-01-13 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method and device for manufacturing an optical cable
FR2856613A1 (en) * 2003-06-30 2004-12-31 Cit Alcatel POWDER APPLICATOR FOR CABLE

Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB591402A (en) * 1944-07-08 1947-08-18 Kurt Posner Improvements in or relating to the manufacture of capsules containing liquid
GB875942A (en) * 1958-06-27 1961-08-23 Pfizer & Co C Apparatus and process for producing capsules
GB1042732A (en) * 1963-02-27 1966-09-14 Yuzo Kawamura Improvements in and relating to synthetic resin articles
GB1561466A (en) * 1978-02-16 1980-02-20 Post Office Coating of fibres
GB2046471A (en) * 1979-03-22 1980-11-12 Telephone Cables Ltd Tube containing optic fibre(s) and thixotropic fluid
GB2114771A (en) * 1982-02-15 1983-08-24 Bicc Plc Optical cable manufacture
GB2123978A (en) * 1982-07-12 1984-02-08 Telephone Cables Ltd Optical fibre cable
EP0119490A1 (en) * 1983-02-22 1984-09-26 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Device for manufacturing a light guide element
US4474638A (en) * 1982-02-26 1984-10-02 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Device for manufacturing electrical and optical cables
GB2149935A (en) * 1983-11-16 1985-06-19 Telephone Cables Ltd Optical fibre cable

Patent Citations (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB591402A (en) * 1944-07-08 1947-08-18 Kurt Posner Improvements in or relating to the manufacture of capsules containing liquid
GB875942A (en) * 1958-06-27 1961-08-23 Pfizer & Co C Apparatus and process for producing capsules
GB1042732A (en) * 1963-02-27 1966-09-14 Yuzo Kawamura Improvements in and relating to synthetic resin articles
GB1561466A (en) * 1978-02-16 1980-02-20 Post Office Coating of fibres
GB2046471A (en) * 1979-03-22 1980-11-12 Telephone Cables Ltd Tube containing optic fibre(s) and thixotropic fluid
GB2114771A (en) * 1982-02-15 1983-08-24 Bicc Plc Optical cable manufacture
US4474638A (en) * 1982-02-26 1984-10-02 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Device for manufacturing electrical and optical cables
GB2123978A (en) * 1982-07-12 1984-02-08 Telephone Cables Ltd Optical fibre cable
EP0119490A1 (en) * 1983-02-22 1984-09-26 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Device for manufacturing a light guide element
GB2149935A (en) * 1983-11-16 1985-06-19 Telephone Cables Ltd Optical fibre cable

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2185591A (en) * 1986-01-22 1987-07-22 Telephone Cables Ltd Optical fibre cable releasing oxygen to combine with free hydrogen
EP0522320A1 (en) * 1991-06-21 1993-01-13 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method and device for manufacturing an optical cable
US5283014A (en) * 1991-06-21 1994-02-01 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method and apparatus for manufacturing an optical cable
FR2856613A1 (en) * 2003-06-30 2004-12-31 Cit Alcatel POWDER APPLICATOR FOR CABLE
EP1493497A1 (en) * 2003-06-30 2005-01-05 Alcatel Powder applicator for cables
US7323057B2 (en) 2003-06-30 2008-01-29 Draka Comteq B.V. Cable powder applicator
US7575779B2 (en) 2003-06-30 2009-08-18 Draka Comteq B.V. Method of applying moisture-absorbent powder on cable elements

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2167002B (en) 1988-08-10
GB8526105D0 (en) 1985-11-27

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PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee