SE545433C2

SE545433C2 - Splicing device

Info

Publication number: SE545433C2
Application number: SE2250086A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Magnus Hagström
Original assignee: Tykoflex Ab
Priority date: 2022-01-31
Filing date: 2022-01-31
Publication date: 2023-09-12
Also published as: SE2250086A1

Abstract

A splicing device (1) for optical fibers is provided comprising a splicing cassette (2) comprising a main body (3) and a cover (4). The main body (3) comprises at least one first inlet (5), at least one second inlet (6), a splicing area (7), and at least one attachment means (8). The splicing device (1) further comprises at least one support means (9) configured to be releasably attachable to the attachment means (8) and configured to receive an optical fiber (10).

Description

SPLICING DEVICE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a splicing device for optical ﬁbers and a method for splicing optical ﬁbers in such splicing device.

BACKGROUND Power cables buried in the ground, suspended in air or located at the sea bottom may also be utilized for conducting optic fibers for data communication. The power cable typically comprises one or more thick metal core of multiple strands for con- ducting electricity. The core is surrounded by an insulating plastic layer. Outside the plastic layer, single copper strands are wired as a shield for the magnet field created during the conduction of electricity in the core. Further to the copper threads, optic ﬁber cables are wired outside the insulating layer. The fiber cables are typically sur- rounded by a thin steel pipe for protection. Finally, an outer plastic layer is provided as an outer protection. ln order to form a continuous power cable, sections of cable are joined at regular intervals. Forjoining two sections of power cable, the plastic insulations are re- moved, the metal conductors welded together and then several layers of plastic stripes/tapes are winded around the joint to insulate the conductors.

Outside the power cable joint, the optical fiber cable ends must also be joined to- gether. This is done in a splicing box. However, optical ﬁbers are stiff and difficult to handle. Often, many fibers are drawn in parallel, and thus several fibers must be joined. While two ﬁbers are being joined and installed in the splicing box, the rest of them are in the way, complicating the work.

Another problem arising during installation of the splicing box is that the fibers tend to slide out at the edge of the splicing box.

SUMMARY The invention is deﬁned by the appended independent claims. Additional features and advantages of the concepts disclosed herein are set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the described technologies. The features and advantages of the concepts may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations partic- ularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the described technologies will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosed concepts as set forth herein. ln a ﬁrst aspect, a splicing device for optical fibers is provided. The splicing de- vice comprises a splicing cassette comprising a main body and a cover. The main body comprises at least one first inlet, at least one second inlet, and a splicing area. The main body further comprises at least one attachment means. The splicing de- vice further comprises at least one support means conﬁgured to be releasably at- tachable to the attachment means and conﬁgured to receive an optical fiber.

The splicing device is advantageous in that it provides efficient installation of opti- cal fibers. The fibers currently not being spliced are held by the support means, which means that they do not disturb the handling of the ﬁbers currently being spliced. ln a second aspect, a method for splicing optical ﬁbers in a splicing device is pro- vided. The method comprising the steps of - attaching support means in the associated attachment means, - arranging at least one first optical fiber to be spliced in the at least one first inlet such that a free end of the ﬁber faces an interior of the splicing cassette, - arranging the free end of the at least one ﬁrst optical fiber such that it is re- ceived by the first support means, - arranging at least one second optical ﬁber to be spliced in one of the at least one second inlets such that a free end of the fiber faces the interior of the splicing cassette, - arranging the free end of the at least one second optical ﬁber such that it is received by the second support means, - releasing one first and one second optical fiber from the respective support means, - splicing the free ends of the released first and second optical fibers with each other, - repeating the steps of releasing and splicing until all of the first fibers and second fibers are spliced, - removing the support means from the attachment means.

This is an advantageous method for splicing optical fibers in that ﬁbers not cur- rently being handled are supported by the support means, keeping them out of the way. The method provides for an effective and easy installment of multiple optical fi- bers in a splicing cassette. lt shortens the installment time and facilitate the work of the installer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS ln order to best describe the manner in which the above-described embodiments are implemented, as well as define other advantages and features of the disclosure, a more particular description is provided below and is illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only exemplary embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting in scope, the ex- amples will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a splicing device; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the splicing device in Fig. 1 with a cover removed from a main body and two support means; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the splicing device in Fig. 1 with the cover lifted; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the splicing device in Fig. 1 with the cover lifted and two support means; Fig. 5 is a top view of the main body of the splicing device; Fig. 6 is a perspective section view of the splicing device in Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a top view of the main body with two support means attached; Fig. 8 is a top view of the main body with two support means supporting optical fibers; Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a spliced power cable; Fig. 10 is a side section view of the main body; Fig. 11 is a perspective section view of the power cable in Fig. 9 with the splicing device; Fig. 12a is a side view of a support means according to one embodiment; Fig. 12b is a perspective view of the support means in Fig. 12a; Fig. 13a is a side view of a support means according to one embodiment; Fig. 13b is a perspective view of the support means in Fig. 13a; Fig. 14a is a side view of a support means according to one embodiment; Fig. 14b is a perspective view of the support means in Fig. 14a; Fig. 15a is a side view of a support means according to one embodiment; and Fig. 15b is a perspective view of the support means in Fig. 15a.

Further, in the figures like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Various embodiments of the disclosed methods and arrangements are discussed in detail below. While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled in the rel- evant art will recognize that other components, configurations, and steps may be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. ln the description and claims the word "comprise" and variations of the word, such as "comprising" and "comprises", does not exclude other elements or steps.

Hereinafter, certain embodiments Will be described more fully With reference to the accompanying drawings. lt will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made Without departing from the inventive con- cept. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from considera- tion of the specification and practice disclosed herein. The embodiments herein are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the inventive concept, and that the claims be con- strued as encompassing all equivalents of the present inventive concept which are apparent to those skilled in the art to which the inventive concept pertains. lf nothing else is stated, different embodiments may be combined with each other. ln order to facilitate the joining of the optical ﬁber ends, the inventor of the pre- sent invention has by insightful and inventive thinking invented a splicing device for optical ﬁbers which will be further described herein.

Referring to Figs 1-7, the splicing device 1 comprises a splicing cassette 2 which comprises a main body 3 and a cover 4. The main body 3 is in the depicted embodi- ment rectangularly shaped and comprises a number of first inlets 5 arranged along one of the short sides of the main body 3. The main body 3 also comprises a num- ber of second inlets 6 arranged along the other short side of the main body 3. Fur- ther, the main body 3 is provided with a splicing area 7 where spliced optical fibers 10 are to be arranged. The main body 3 further comprises attachment means 8, in the depicted embodiment, four attachment means 8. The main body 3 of the splicing cassette 2 further comprises a number of knobs 18. The optical ﬁbers 10 to be spliced are wound around the knobs 18 such that the ends to be spliced reaches the splicing area 7. However, winding one of the fibers around the knobs 18 may be dif- ﬁcult since the other fibers may be in the way, since optical fibers are quite stiff.

Therefore, the splicing device 1 further comprises support means 9, examples of which are shown in Figs 12-15. The support means 9 is configured to be releasably attachable to the attachment means 8 of the main body 3 and conﬁgured to receive the optical fiber 10 during splicing.

The support means 9 are temporarily mounted on the main body 3 of the splicing cassette 2 during splicing of the fibers 10. The support means 9 serve to keep away the fibers 10 not currently being handled. This greatly facilitates installation. The support means 9 may be of any material, such as metal or plastic. They may have any shape that is capable of keeping the fibers away from the center of the cassette, such as pins, cylinders or similar.

Referring to Figs 15 a-b, the support means 9 may be a straight cylinder. lt could alternatively be e.g. a curved, bent or truncated cylinder. Alternatively, it may have another cross-sectional shape, e.g. oval or square, etc.

Referring to Figs 13-14 a-b, the support means 9 may have at least one protru- sion 13. The protrusion is conﬁgured to support the optical fiber 10 such that the ﬁ- ber does not slide off the support means Referring to Figs 12a-b, the support means 9 may have at least two protrusions 13 arranged with a thinner waist 19 therebetween. The waist 19 provides support to the optical fiber 10 and holds the ﬁbers in place.

The optical fibers are led into the splicing cassette 2 through the respective ﬁrst 5 and second 6 inlets. ln order to keep the ﬁbers 10 in place, the splicing device 1 fur- ther comprises ﬁber tubes 15 arrangeable in the ﬁrst 5 and second 6 inlets. The opti- cal fibers 10 are led through fiber tubes 15 arranged in the respective inlets 5, 6. The ﬁber tubes 15 are a specific protective tube 15 in corrugated plastic, that guide the optical fibers 10 into the splicing cassette ln order to avoid that the protective ﬁber tubes 15 slide out of the splicing cas- sette 2, they are provided with retaining means 16 in the form of an outer surface structure, such as ribs/grooves that mechanically locks the tubes 15 in place. This prevents the tubes 15 to slide in their longitudinal direction, both during installation and during use of the cable The first 5 and second 6 inlets are formed as cylindrical pockets having an upper opening d. The opening d of the inlets 5, 6 are made slightly more narrow as com- pared to the diameter D of the protective ﬁber tube 15. See Fig. 10. This enables the ﬁber tube 15 to be mounted in the respective inlet 5, 6 from above, while still pre- venting it from sliding out of the inlet 5, 6 upwards When being installed or during splicing of the optical fibers.

To facilitate mounting the tubes 15 in the inlets 5, 6, slits 21 are provided in the splicing cassette 2 between at least some of the inlets 5, 6. The slits 21 facilitate a slight bending of the cassette 2 so as to widen the upper opening 20 of the inlet 5, 6 when the ﬁber tube 15 is mounted therein.

The cassette 2 is preferably made in plastic that is somewhat flexible. ln conclu- sion, the fiber tubes 15 are securely held in the inlets 5, 6 both in longitudinal and ra- dial direction both during installation and during use of the cassette Both the design of the inlets 5, 6 and ﬁber tubes 15 and the support means 9 of the splicing device 1 facilitate the installation and splicing of optical ﬁbers 10 in the splicing cassette Referring to Fig. 8, an installation method for splicing optical ﬁbers in the above described splicing device comprises: Arranging the main body 3 of the splicing cassette 2 on a power cable 17, preferably on a splicing of the power cable Attaching support means 9 in the associated attachment means (8). This is done by inserting the support means 9 in the attachment means 8, preferably being a recess, or a loop of metal strip. The attachment means 8 may be one or several. Support means 9 may be attached to all recesses 8, or only to some. Preferably, the recesses 8 are arranged in the vicinity of the respec- tive inlets 5, 6, and preferably along a circumferential border of the main body 3 of the splicing cassette Arranging a first optical ﬁber to be spliced in a ﬁrst inlet 5 of the splicing cas- sette 2 such that a free end of the fiber faces an interior of the splicing cas- sette Arranging the free end of the first optical fiber such that it is received by a support means (9). For example, this is done by bending the fiber 10 and hook it in the waist 19 of the support means 9. Preferably, the fiber 10 is bent such that the free end thereof is directed away from the splicing cassette Arranging a second optical ﬁber to be spliced in a second inlet 6 of the splic- ing cassette 2 such that a free end of the fiber faces the interior of the splic- ing cassette Arranging the free end of the second optical ﬁber such that it is received by the second support means 9, like the ﬁrst optical fiber.

Arranging further optical fibers in the same manner as the ﬁrst and second optical ﬁber described above, until all fibers to be spliced are arranged in in- lets 5, 6 of the splicing cassette 2 and supported by support means Releasing two optical fibers 10, one first and one second optical fiber, from the support means (9).

Winding the ﬁbers 10 around the knobs 18 of the main body 3 of the splicing cassette 2 such that the free ends of the ﬁbers 10 meet in the splicing area Splicing the free ends of the released ﬁrst and second optical fibers with each other.

Repeating the steps of releasing and splicing until all fibers are spliced and installed in the splicing cassette Removing the support means 9 from the attachment means Attaching the cover 4 to the main body 3. See for instance Figs 1 and - Enclosing the power cable 17 and the splicing cassette 2 in a shrink tube 22, see Figs 9 and The various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the invention. For example, the principles herein may be applied to any splicing enclosure, not only in relation to a power ca- ble. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modiﬁcations and changes that may be made to the present invention without following the example embodi- ments and applications illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1.Claims

2.A splicing device (1) for optical fibers, the splicing device (1) comprising a splicing cassette (2) comprising a main body (3) and a cover (4); wherein the main body (3) comprises at least one first inlet (5), at least one second inlet (6), and a splicing area (7), characterized in that the main body (3) further comprises at least one attachment means (8), and the splicing device (1) further comprises at least one support means (9) con- figured to be releasably attachable to the attachment means (8) and conﬁg- ured to receive an optical fiber (10).

3.The splicing device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the support means (9) comprises a first end (11) and a second end (12), the attachment means (8) being a recess complementary shaped to the ﬁrst end (11) of the support means (9), the first end (11) of the support means (9) being configured to be insertable into and releasably maintained in the recess (8).

4.The splicing device (1) according to claim 2, wherein the support means (9) comprises at least one protrusion (13) conﬁgured to receive the optical ﬁber (10), preferably wherein the at least one protrusion (13) is arranged at the second end (12) of the support means (9), most preferred wherein the sup- port means (9) comprises at least two protrusions (13) arranged at a distance from each other, forming a waist (19) therebetween conﬁgured to receive the optical fiber (10).

5.The splicing device (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one first inlet (5) and the at least one second inlet (6) is approximately semi-circu- larly shaped and comprises retaining means (14).

6.The splicing device (1) according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising at least one fiber tube (15) configured to receive the fiber (10) to be spliced, and configured to be received in one of the at least one first inlet (5) or at least one second inlet (6), the fiber tube (15), on an outer circumfer- ence, being provided with retaining means (16) conﬁgured to interact with the retaining means (14) of the at least one first inlet (5) and the at least one second inlet (6), respectively.

7.The splicing device (1) according to claim 5, wherein the retaining means (16) of the ﬁber tube (15) comprises alternatingly arranged ribs and grooves, and the retaining means (14) of the at least one first in|et (5) and at least one second in|et (6), respectively, comprises corresponding ribs and grooves. _ A method for splicing optical ﬁbers in a splicing device (1) according to any of the c|aims 1-6, the method comprising the steps of attaching support means (9) in the associated attachment means (8), arranging at least one first optical ﬁber (1 O) to be spliced in the at least one first in|et (5) such that a free end of the fiber (10) faces an interior of the splicing cassette (2), arranging the free end of the at least one ﬁrst optical fiber (10) such that it is received by the first support means (9), arranging at least one second optical ﬁber (10) to be spliced in one of the at least one second inlets (6) such that a free end of the fiber (1 O) faces the in- terior of the splicing cassette (2), arranging the free end of the at least one second optical ﬁber (10) such that it is received by the second support means (9), releasing one first and one second optical fiber (10) from the respective sup- port means (9), splicing the free ends of the released first and second optical fibers (10) with each other, repeating the steps of releasing and splicing until all of the first fibers and second fibers (10) are spliced, removing the support means (9) from the attachment means (8).

8.The method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of, before the primary step of claim 7, arranging the main body (3) of the splicing cassette (2) on a power cable (17), preferably on a splicing of a power cable (17).

9.The method according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising a step of attaching the cover (4) to the main body (3) of the splicing cassette (2).

10. The method according to any one of claims 7-9, further comprising a step of enclosing the power cable and the splicing cassette (2) in a shrink tube.