Air Jetted Micro-Cable With Outer Grooves for Extended Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The deployment of optical fiber cables is hindered by increased friction and blockages due to multiple curves and turns in microducts, limiting the distance they can be deployed before machinery needs to be moved, as existing cables are delicate and difficult to route through complex routes without disturbing structures.
Innovation Solution
The cable design incorporates a plurality of outer grooves on its surface, which create airflow passages to maintain continuous air flow and reduce friction, allowing the cable to 'float' within the microduct and extend deployment distances, while also accommodating conductors for power and grounding, and inner grooves for stabilizing optical fiber signal lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If optical fiber cable is routed through multiple curves and turns in microducts, then the cable can reach desired locations within buildings, but friction increases and deployment distance is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The cable incorporates an air channel with a curved cross-sectional shape that follows the contour of the microduct. This curved geometry allows the air channel to maintain continuous contact with the microduct wall while accommodating bends and turns, reducing friction and enabling deployment over longer distances without requiring machinery to be moved forward.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes air pressure to propel the cable through the microduct. An air channel is formed within the cable structure, allowing pressurized air to flow through and push the cable forward. This pneumatic propulsion system overcomes friction forces generated during routing through curves and turns, significantly extending the deployment distance.
2Ease of manufacture
If existing cable structures are used, then deployment is simpler, but they are more delicate and difficult to route through complex routes
Solution Approach 1:
The cable is segmented into functional components: an outer jacket, an air channel, and an inner cable core containing optical fibers. The air channel acts as a separate propulsion pathway, allowing the cable to be pushed through complex routes without compromising the integrity of the delicate optical fibers inside. This segmentation enables both ease of deployment and resistance to damage during routing.
Solution Approach 2:
The cable incorporates a flexible jacket and air channel structure that can bend and conform to the microduct geometry. This flexibility allows the cable to navigate curves and turns smoothly without kinking or damaging the internal optical fibers, while the air channel maintains structural integrity for pneumatic propulsion.
3Speed
If air jetting is used to propel cable, then deployment speed increases, but air blockages occur due to cable contact with duct walls
Solution Approach 1:
The air channel is nested within the cable structure, with the cable core positioned inside the air channel. This nested configuration ensures that the air channel remains open and unobstructed even when the outer cable contacts the microduct wall during routing through curves. The air flow pathway is protected from blockages, maintaining continuous propulsion.
Solution Approach 2:
The air channel is positioned in a different spatial dimension relative to the cable's external contact points with the microduct. By separating the air flow pathway from the cable's outer surface that contacts the duct wall, the design prevents air blockages while maintaining pneumatic propulsion effectiveness.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enables continuous airflow and reduced friction, allowing optical fiber cables to be deployed over greater distances with reduced risk of kinking or damage, and supports additional features like power transmission and grounding.
Implementation Method 1
An air channel, which allows pressurized air to be conveyed through the microduct, is formed within the cable structure
Implementation Method 2
The multiple curves can result in increased friction between the optical fiber cable and the duct, thereby limiting the distance that the optical fiber can be deployed before the machinery must be moved forward to continue deployment
Data Source
AI summary
A cable, and method and system for deploying the cable are described. The cable includes a jacket having a plurality of outer grooves formed on its outer surface. The cable can be deployed by blowing it through a microduct using a jetting apparatus. The outer grooves allow the cable to be deployed over extended distance by allow improved airflow between the first and second ends of the microduct.