KEATTS JUSTIN WADE (US)
NIELSEN LARS KRISTIAN (US)
| US4046045A | 1977-09-06 | |||
| US4179964A | 1979-12-25 | |||
| US5325587A | 1994-07-05 | |||
| US5268531A | 1993-12-07 | |||
| US20020017335A1 | 2002-02-14 |
| What is claimed is: 1. A ribbon splitter device comprising: a handle; and a spbtter module mounted to the handle, wherein the splitter module comprises: a flexure arm and a mounting arm, the flexure arm being rotatably movable in relation to the mounting arm, and wherein the mounting arm has a ribbon slot for securing an optical fiber ribbon in perpendicular relationship to a longitudinal length of the flexure arm. 2. The ribbon sputter device of claim 1, wherein the splitter module is a unitary body with a living hinge connecting the flexure arm and the mounting arm. 3. The ribbon splitter device of claim 1, wherein the ribbon slot defines an upper ribbon landing and a lower ribbon landing, and wherein a thickness of the lower ribbon landing is less than 2 millimeters. 4. The ribbon splitter device of claim 1, wherein the splitter module has a width of 5 millimeters or less. 5. The ribbon splitter device of claim 1, wherein an offset between the distal end of the flexure arm and a distal end of the mounting arm is less than 100 pm. 6. The ribbon sputter device of claim 1, wherein a depth of the ribbon slot is adjustable. 7. A method of splitting an optical fiber ribbon at a mid-span access location, the method comprising: creating a mid-span access location in a fiber optic cable to provide access to a predetermined optical fiber ribbon; sliding a ribbon sputter device around the predetermined optical fiber ribbon such that the optical fiber ribbon is secured into a ribbon slot in the ribbon sputter device, wherein the ribbon splitter device comprises a flexure arm and mounting arm, the flexure arm being rotatable with respect to the mounting arm; and applying a force against the flexure arm to force a shear edge of the flexure arm and a shear edge of the mounting arm to separate or cut the optical fiber ribbon between adjacent fibers in the optical fiber ribbon. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the splitter module is a unitary body with a living hinge connecting the flexure arm and the mounting arm. 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the ribbon slot defines an upper ribbon landing and a lower ribbon landing, and wherein a thickness of the lower ribbon landing is less than 2 millimeters. 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the splitter module has a width of 5 millimeters or less. 11. The method of claim 7, wherein an offset between a distal end of the flexure arm and a distal end of the mounting arm is less than 100 pm. 12. The method of claim 7, wherein the force applied to split the optical fiber ribbon is less than 5 pounds. |
PRIORITY APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/592,834, filed on November 30, 2017, the content of which is relied upon and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to the mid-span access of ribbon cables.
New optical fiber ribbons have been developed with smaller nominal spacing between the individual fibers in the ribbon (i.e., a reduction to fiber spacing of 125 pm). One aspect of these new ribbons is added strength at the ribbon separation points to prevent premature splitting during the ribboning and cabling processes. This has made mid-span ribbon splitting more difficult.
[0003] Current techniques for splitting the ribbon involve taking a square shaft with a slit in it and using your finger to initiate the split. A problem with this procedure is that fingers often are unable to create the accurate split that is necessary. A tool is needed to assist in the mid-span access procedure for splitting ribbons that is accurate, reliable and will not easily break.
SUMMARY
[0001] A ribbon splitting tool comprises a flexure design that enables a shear point to be accurately placed perpendicular to an optical fiber ribbon during the splitting/separation action. Other ribbon splitting tool designs use multiple parts, are very costly and bulky, and are not made for mid-span access. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0001] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a ribbon splitter device, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0002] Figure 2 is a perspective view of the splitter module of the ribbon splitter device shown in Figure 1, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0003] Figure 3 is a side cutaway view of the splitter module mounted to the handle of the ribbon splitter device, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
[0004] Figure 4 is close up cross-sectional view of the end portion of the splitter module of the ribbon splitter device, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure; and
[0005] Figure 5 is a perspective view of an access location in an optical fiber cable with a ribbon stack, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0001] As shown in FIG. 1, a ribbon splitter device 10 includes a ribbon splitter module 20 mounted to a handle 50. As shown more particularly in FIG. 2, the ribbon splitter module 20 includes a flexure arm 22 and a ribbon mounting arm 24 that are integrally connected at a first end 26 of the splitter module 20. The flexure arm 22 and the ribbon mounting arm 24 both extend away from the first end 26 and are separated from one another by a predetermined gap 28. Thus, the first end 26 of the splitter module 26 acts as a hinge for a rotational relationship between the flexure arm 22 and the ribbon mounting arm 24 with the gap 28 determining the amount of movement any arm may have in relation to the other arm. [0002] As shown in FIGS. 1-4, the flexure arm 22 has a distal end portion 30 with an ergonomic hump feature 32 and a lip 34 that curls around the distal end portion 36 of the mounting arm 24. The distal end portion 36 of the mounting arm 24 has a ribbon slot 38 that separates the distal end portion 36 of the mounting arm 24 into a lower ribbon landing 40 and an upper ribbon landing 42.
[0003] To use the ribbon splitting device 10, as shown in FIG. 5, a mid-span access location 60 is made in a fiber optic cable 62 at the desired location to access a desired optical fiber ribbon 70. The lower landing portion of the device may have a very narrow thickness T, as shown in FIG. 4, such that the splitter module 20 is easy to slide into the ribbon stack, over other ribbons, and complete the necessary split. In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, a thickness T is less than 3 millimeters, preferably less than 2 millimeters, and may even be less than 1.3 millimeters. Those edges that may come into contact with the ribbons or fibers of a cable may be beveled to prevent damage, such as is shown with respect to the distal end 34 of the flexure arm 22 and the lower ribbon landing 40.
[0004] Splitting in this sense indicates a separation of one or more fibers away from the remaining fibers in a particular ribbon. Once split, the necessary fibers are easier to access and cut for splicing, for example. As shown in FIG. 2, a narrow width W of the splitter module 20 also makes it easy to slide the ribbon into the precision groove to the correct depth. The narrow tool width W allows the splitting to be completed while using only 4-5 pounds of force. This thin design is required for mid-span access due to the nature of the process.
[0005] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the splitter module 20 is slid around the target ribbon such that the ribbon 70 slides into the ribbon slot 38 until stopped by a detent end 39 of the ribbon slot. The depth of the ribbon slot may be sized accordingly to accurately the splitting location every time for a particular width ribbon. Different splitter modules 20 may be used with a single handle 50 and/or specific devices 10 may be made with a specific ribbon slot depth to permit efficient and accurate splitting of a ribbon between certain fibers in the ribbon every time.
[0006] With the ribbon 70 properly seated in the ribbon slot, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a force F may be applied to the distal end 32 of the flexure arm 22. Downward displacement of the flexure arm 22 in relation to the mounting arm 44 will force the ribbon 70 to split between edge 45 of the flexure arm 22 and a second edge 41 of the mounting arm 24.
[0007] By controlling the distance between the edges 41 and 45, an offset 47 allows the cut to be continuous and precise. For example, providing an offset 47 of less than 100 microns, preferably about 64 microns, between the movable top shear points to the bottom shear points allows for a precise cut between adjacent fibers of a ribbon.
[0008] The unitary design of the device 10 with a flexure arm 22 allows for greater than 20,000 splits without breaking and every split is repeatable and precise because there are no“moving” parts.
[0009] An alternative design could be using a hinged spring loaded arm instead of a machined flexure arm. An advantage to a hinged version would be lower repair cost in case the arm gets worn out. Flowever, a hinged arm may lack the preciseness of having the flexure arm 22 and mounting arm 24 hinged in a unitary body.
[00010] In accordance with yet other aspects of the present disclosure, the depth of ribbon slot 38 could be adjustable so that one tool could be used for all fiber split width variations. This could be achieved by having a T shaped bar that could be moved back and forth creating width. The bar could be indexed with a ball plunger for easy adjustment to the correct ribbon split depth.
[00011] The present inventions have thus been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments, which embodiments are intended to be illustrative of inventive concepts rather than limiting. Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that variations and modifications of the foregoing embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.