Fiber Management Tray With Two-Sided Storage Basket
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fiber management trays lack sufficient storage area and efficient routing paths for optical fibers, leading to challenges in handling and re-patching optical fibers while maintaining the minimum bend radius requirements.
Innovation Solution
A fiber management tray design featuring a termination region with side panels, a storage basket with separate pockets for incoming and outgoing fibers, and a hinge for mounting to a tray tower, along with fiber routing paths and transition openings to manage and organize optical fibers effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a traditional fiber management tray design is used, then the structure is simple, but the storage area is insufficient and fiber routing is inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The storage basket is divided into multiple pockets (first pocket, second pocket, third pocket) that are segmented to accommodate different fiber types and routing paths. This segmentation increases storage capacity and organizational efficiency without requiring a completely new tray design.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray design utilizes vertical dimension by stacking multiple storage baskets and creating multi-level pockets within each basket. This three-dimensional organization maximizes storage area within the constrained horizontal space of the tray.
2Reliability
If fibers are routed without dedicated paths, then the tray structure is simpler, but minimum bend radius requirements are violated
Solution Approach 1:
Each pocket and routing path is designed with specific local characteristics - guide walls in first and second pockets, transition openings with access structures, and dedicated routing paths that provide appropriate bend radii for each fiber type and routing requirement.
Solution Approach 2:
Guide walls and transition openings act as intermediary structures that mediate between the storage pockets and termination regions. These intermediaries ensure fibers are properly guided and protected during routing, maintaining bend radius requirements without requiring complex external routing systems.
3Ease of operation
If connectors are not easily accessible, then the tray structure is simpler, but re-patching and adding pigtails becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The access structures and transition openings are pre-configured in the tray design to provide immediate access to connectors and fiber ends. This preliminary arrangement of access paths eliminates the need for complex reconfiguration during re-patching operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The termination region and storage basket are designed with universal access characteristics that accommodate multiple operations (re-patching, adding pigtails, fiber routing) through the same access structures, making the system versatile for different maintenance tasks.
4Area of stationary object
If single-sided storage is used, then the tray structure is simpler, but storage capacity for incoming and outgoing fibers is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The storage basket is segmented into multiple functional pockets - first pocket for incoming fibers, second pocket for outgoing fibers, and third pocket for additional storage. This segmentation doubles the effective storage capacity compared to single-sided storage while maintaining organized fiber management.
Solution Approach 2:
The design transitions from single-sided to multi-sided storage by utilizing both sides of the storage basket structure, effectively doubling storage capacity in the same footprint area through bidirectional fiber routing paths.
Data Source
AI summary
A fiber management tray (10) is disclosed. The fiber management tray (10) can have a body (12) including a bottom wall (14) with side walls (16) extending outwardly from the bottom wall (14). The fiber management tray (10) can include a termination region (18) that has a first side (24) and a second side (26). The termination region (18) includes a termination panel (13) that holds connectors (20). The fiber management tray (10) can include a hinge area (56) for mounting said tray (10) to a tray tower (58) and a storage basket (32) located between the termination region (18) and the hinge area (56). The storage basket (32) can include a first pocket (44) that communicates with the second side (26) of the termination region (18) and an opposite second pocket (48) that communicates with the first side (24) of the termination region (18). The fiber management tray (10) can define at least one fiber routing path on each of the first and second pockets (44, 48) of the storage basket (32). The fiber management tray (10) can define a fiber transition opening (54) for transitioning optical fibers between the second pocket (48) of the storage basket (32) and first side (24) of the termination region (18). The fiber transition opening (54) can have an access structure for allowing optical fibers to be inserted into the fiber transition opening (54).