GB2355313A

GB2355313A - Longitudinally slidable spool for optic fibre management

Info

Publication number: GB2355313A
Application number: GB9924140A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alain Wambeke; De Weghe Gert Van
Original assignee: Tyco Electronics Raychem BVBA; Raychem NV SA
Current assignee: Commscope Connectivity Belgium BVBA
Priority date: 1999-10-13
Filing date: 1999-10-13
Publication date: 2001-04-18
Also published as: GB9924140D0

Abstract

A spool (1) for guiding fibre optic cables in a cable management rack 50 comprises a substantially longitudinal body (2) having two ends, a cable retainer (5) fitted on one end and a mounting member (6) fitted at the other end. The body (2) is slidably mounted on a support (3) fitted on the mounting member (6) so as to allow the spool (1) to extend in its longitudinal direction, thus providing easier access to the cables. Advantageously, the body (2) is provided with spaced dividing members (7) radially extending from the body (2), thus providing an even and organised distribution of the cables.

Description

2355313 Spools for Fibre Optic Cable Mannement The present invention

relates to a spool for optical fibre management. More in particular, the present invention relates to a spool for guiding fibre optic cables, comprising a body having a guiding surface and a cable retainer fitted on a front end of the body. Such spools are used in optical fibre management racks to take up cable slack (excess cable allowmg cables to be re-organized) and to guide cable slack within the rack between patch and/or splice shelves. It is noted that the term "cable" is understood to include both single fibre and multple fibre arrangements, and in particular but not exclusively so-called "pigtails" and "jumpers".

In order to introduce new cables in a rack or to re-organize existing cables, it is often necessary to remove a shelf from the rack or at least move it forward so as to allow access to the interior of the shelf. For this purpose the shelves are often configured as drawer-Eke structures which can be pulled forward while remaining supported by the rack. When access to the particular shelf is no longer necessary, the shelf may be pushed back into its original, permanent position.

Although such a system allows relatively easy access to the shelves, it has shown that the movement of the shelves is progressively more difficult when greater numbers of cables are involved, especially cables originating from and destined for different shelves. That is, it is increasingly difficult to obtain sufficient slack from all the different cable bundles for the shelves to be moveable to the extent necessary to obtain the access required. The prior art offers no solution to this problem.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a spool for fibre optic cable management which allows greater flexibility.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a spool for fibre optic cable management which allows cables ftorn different shelves to be guided separately.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a spool for fibre optic cable management which is inexpensive to manufacture.

To meet these and other objects, a spool as defined in -the preamble is according to -the present invention characterised in -that the body is slidably mounted on a support so as to allow the spool to extend in its longitudinal direction. By providing the possibility to extend the spool in its longitudinal -2 direction, it is possible to move the guiding surface of the spool forward, thus also moving the supported cables forward. In this manner, when a shelf is moved forward (that is, out from the regular position in the rack), the cables connected to this shelf may also be brought forward, thus making it much easier to reach the cables, in particular the backmost cables. In other words, with the existing cable slack shelves can be brought forward further, providing better access without cluttering the rack with excess cable. As a result, better access is obtained in a simple and inexpensive manner.

in order to prevent the body to be inadvertently pulled from the support, the support is preferably provided with limiting members for limiting the extension of the spool. The limiting members may be constituted by a protrusion of the body running in a slot in the support, which slot terminates at a certain distance from the fron end which prevents a finther forward movement of the body. Instead of a protrusion integral with the body, a screw or similar fastening device may be used. The body and the support may be constituted by two tube-like structures, the support tube being slidably fitted in the body tube. Preferably, the slot is shaped so as to provide a locking position and/or a removal position of the body.

Advantageously, the support is provided with a mounting member for mounting the spool in a rack.

The mounting member, which may for example comprise a base plate having one or screw holes, may be integral with the support.

When the spool is extended by moving the body forward over the support, some cables may be pulled off the guide surface and rest on the support rather than on the body. VVhile this is perfectly acceptable as long as the spool remains extended, it may impair the reverse movement of the body as cables may become stuck behind the back edge of the body. For this reason, the body is preferably provided at a back end with an additional cable retainer.

Preferably, both the front end cable retainer and the back end cable retainer are integral with the body.

However, it is also possible to mount separate retainers on the body, possibly removeably, so as to allow different retainers to be fitted dependent on the particular circumstances and demands.

A spool according to the invention may be used to guide and support cables and cable bundles originating from and destined for several different shelves, To be able to separate the different cable bundles, in a spool according to the invention the body is advantageously provided with spaced dividing members radially extending from the body. By providing such dividing members which may -3project from the body like "fins" different set of cables or cable bundles may be confined and kept separate, even when the body is moved to extend the spool.

Preferably, the dividing members are also integral with the body so as to provide a single structure 5 which is inexpensive to manufacture.

The invention further provides a rack for fibre optic cable management, comprising at least one spool as defined above.

Tlie present invention will further be described with reference to an exemplary embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. I shows, in perspective, a spool according to the present invention. Fig. 2 shows, in top view, the support of the spool of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows, in ftont view, the body of the support of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows, in perspective view, part of a rack fitted with the spool of Fig. 1.

The spool I shown by way of non-lintiting example in Fig. I comprises a substantially longitudinal body 2 which is slidably arranged on a longitudinal support 3. In this embodiment both the body 2 and the support 3 have a cylindrical shape. It can be envisaged, however, that the cross-section of the spool 1 has the approximate shape of a half-circle, the upper surface of the spool being curved and the lower surface being substantially flat. The exterior of the body 2 constitutes the guiding surface 9 which, in use, supports and guides cables and the like (not shown). The back end of the support 3 is provided with an integral mounting plate 10 which is suitable for mounting the spool I in a rack, for exemple by means of a screw (not shown).

A cable retainer 5 is located at the front end of the body 2. This first or front end retainer 5 serves to prevent any cables from falling off the front end of the spool 1. The body 2 is at its back end provided with an additional or back end cable retainer 6 wich serves to keep the cables on the guiding surface 9 when the spool is extended. As the back end retainer 6 prevents the cables from sliding off the back end of the body 2, the problem of any cables blocking the backward movement of the body 2 is avoided. Advantageously, both the firont end cable retainer 5 and the back end cable retainer 6 are integral with the body 2. In this way, an inexpensive yet strong structure is obtamed. It is, however, also possible to use separate retainers 5 & 6 which are fitted onto the body 2. A slot I I serves as a limiting member, as will be explained later with reference to Figs. 2 & 3.

I As can be seen from Fig. 1, in this embodiment the body 2 is provided with spaced dividing members 7 radially extending from the body 2. These dividing members of "fins" 7 serve to separate cable bundles, e.g. cable bundles originating from or destined for different shelves. In tins way, the guiding surface 9 is partioned into distinct sections, each cable bundle using a different section.

The support 3 of Fig. 2 is provided with slot I I which, in conjunction with a protrusion 8 of the body 2 (see Fig. 3), provides a member for limiting the movement of the body 2 relative to the support 3.

The protrusion 8, which preferably has a cylindrical shape and is located at the inside of the body 2 near the rear limiting member 6, is sized so as to fit into the slot I I of the support 3. At the front end of the support 3 the slot I I provides an insertion opening 12 for inserting the protrusion 8. At 13, the course of the slot I I is slightly displaced to one side while providing a short dead-end stretch or stop.

At 14 the slot ends while providing a second dead-end stretch or stop which is displaced relative to the stretch between 13 and 14. As a result, the protrusion 8 can move in a straight line in the slot between 13 and 14, while at 13 a possibility -to remove the body 2 and at 14 a locking position is provided. The dead-end stretch at 13 serves to prevent accidental displacement of the body into the removal position, that is the position in which the protrusion 8 is aligned with the insertion opening 12. It will be understood that in use the protrusion 8 can be guided through the slot 11 by handling and appropriately slightly turning the body 2.

In order to ensure a good structural integrity of the spool, the distance between the stop at 13 and the front end of the support (at 12) in the case where the protrusion 8 is located near the rear end of the body 2 is chosen to be about one third of the total effective length of the support.

Although other shapes of the slot I I can be envisaged, the shape shown in Fig. 2 has the advantage of providing the possibility of locking the body at 14 and removing the body at 12, while preventing accidental removal at 13.

Both the body 2 and the support 3 may be made of plastic, for example a polyamid material, An even stronger spool is obtained when the support 3 and possibly also the body 2 are made of metal, for example alurninium.

The rack 50 of Fig. 4 comprises a number of bars 5 1, shelves 52 and spools 1. The shelves 52, which for example are fibre splicing and/or organising shelves, can be pulled forward to access their interior.

-5Due to the spools I of the present invention, the cable bundles associated with the shelves can also be pulled forward, providing better access and allowing a greater range of travel of the shelves 52.

Although it would be possible to interconnect a number of spools I so they can be extended collemvely, it has been found that greater flexibility is obtained when all spools are individually extendible.

It will be understood by those sIdIled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and that many additions and modifications can be made without 10 departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appending claims.

Claims

1. Spool (1) for guiding fibre optic cables, comprising a body (2) having a guiding surface (9) and a cable retainer (5) fitted on a front end of the body (2), characterised in that the body (2) is slidably mounted on a support (3) so as to allow the spool (1) to extend in its longitudinal direction.

2. Spool according to claim 1, wherein the support (3) is provided with limiting members (8, 11) for limiting the extension of the spool (1).

3. Spool according to claim 2, wherein the limiting members comprise a slot (11) in the outer wall of the support (3) and a protrusion (8) at the inner wall of the body (2), the protrusion (8) being arranged to slidably fit into the slot (11).

4. Spool according to claim 3, wherein the slot (11) is shaped (at 14) so as to provide a locking position of the body (2) relative to the support (3).

5. Spool according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the slot (11) is shaped (at 13) so as to provide a removal position of the body (2) relative to the support (3).

6. Spool according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the support is provided with a mounting member (10) for mounting the spool (1) in a rack (5 0).

7. Spool according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the body (2) is at a back end provided with an additional cable retainer (6).

8. Spool according to claim 7, wherein the back end cable retainer (6) is integral with the body (2).

9. Spool according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the front end cable retainer (5) is 30 integral with the body (2).

10. Spool according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the body (2) is provided with spaced dividing members (7) radially extending from the body (2).

11. Spool according to claim 10, wherein the dividing members (7) are integral with the body (2).

12. Spool according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the body (2) and the support (3) have a cylindrical shape. 5

13. Rack (50) for fibre optic cable management, comprising at least one spool (1) according to any of the preceding claims.