Optical Fiber Module with Adhesive Payout Ramp
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for routing and storing optical fibers at customer premises often result in visible installations, require expensive hardware, and can physically damage surfaces, necessitating a solution for quick, safe, and hidden fiber routing with minimal visual impact.
Innovation Solution
A modular system with a fiber supply spool and connector adapter that allows for safe and hidden fiber routing, featuring a payout area with a downward ramp for adhering the fiber to the surface, minimizing visibility and damage, and incorporating a rotating spool for efficient fiber management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If wire staples are used to fasten optical fiber to wall, then installation speed and cost are improved, but visual visibility and surface damage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bonding adhesive as an intermediary substance between the optical fiber and the wall surface. This adhesive allows the fiber to be securely attached without mechanical fasteners, eliminating surface damage and visual visibility issues while maintaining installation efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical fastening system (wire staples) with a chemical bonding system (bonding adhesive). This substitution eliminates the need for puncturing or clamping the wall surface, thereby preventing surface damage and reducing visual visibility of the fiber routing
2Object-affected harmful factors
If special moldings or conduits are used to hide fibers, then visual visibility is improved, but installation cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fiber routing function from complex hidden infrastructure (moldings or conduits) and directly bonds the fiber to the wall surface using adhesive. This eliminates the need for additional hidden structures, reducing installation complexity, cost, and time while achieving the desired visual concealment
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of hiding the fiber within complex structures (moldings/conduits), the patent inverts the approach by directly bonding the fiber to the surface in a simple, clean manner. The fiber becomes visibly neat and concealed through proper bonding technique rather than through enclosing structures
3Ease of operation
If fiber is routed without bonding adhesive, then installation simplicity is improved, but visual visibility and fiber safety worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The bonding adhesive serves as a mediator that simplifies the installation process while simultaneously addressing visual visibility and fiber safety. The adhesive creates a smooth, invisible bond that protects the fiber and conceals the routing path without adding operational complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A module for installing and storing an optical fiber includes a supply spool containing fiber for routing between the module and a service module at a customer premises. An adapter inside the module connects the fiber on the spool with an outside connector associated with a device at the premises. A wall of the module has a payout opening, and an edge of the module base is set back from the outside surface of the wall at the payout opening. A ramp area formed on the base inclines downward from the spool toward the payout opening. A lower edge of the ramp area substantially coincides with the setback edge and is substantially flush with a supporting surface beneath the base. Fiber drawn from the module can be adhered to the supporting surface at the payout opening and thus ameliorate any adverse visual impact of the fiber near the module.