Optical Fiber Ribbon Spool With One-Way Winding for Splice Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing optical fiber ribbon storage solutions in splice closures are visually unappealing, costly, and difficult to maintain in outdoor, watertight conditions due to the need for large storage areas to accommodate unspliced fibers, which can bend below a specified minimum radius.
Innovation Solution
A spool device with a hub and base configuration that allows for one-directional winding of optical fiber ribbons, maintaining a minimum bend radius and enabling easy access to designated fibers for splicing, using a hook member to engage the ribbon at its midpoint and pawls to secure the spool for rotation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If large storage areas are provided in the closure to contain the remainder of the ribbon, then the ribbon can be stored safely without bending below minimum radius, but the closure becomes visually unappealing, costly, and difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the ribbon storage function from the closure body by introducing a separate spool device. The spool is inserted into the closure through an access opening, allowing the ribbon to be stored on the spool rather than requiring large internal storage areas within the closure itself. This separates the storage function from the closure structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The spool device is nested within the closure structure. The spool fits inside the closure and can be inserted or removed through an access opening. The ribbon is wound around the spool, which itself is contained within the closure, creating a nested arrangement that provides compact storage without expanding the closure footprint.
2Ease of operation
If the closure is designed to accommodate ribbon storage, then ribbon can be stored, but the closure becomes costly and difficult to maintain in outdoor watertight conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system is segmented into separate components: the closure structure and the removable spool device. The spool can be independently manufactured, tested, and replaced without affecting the closure structure. This modularity simplifies manufacturing and maintenance, as the spool can be serviced or replaced without compromising the closure's watertight integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The spool device includes self-contained features such as a pawl mechanism that automatically engages with the spool's ratchet teeth to prevent unwinding. This self-locking mechanism eliminates the need for complex external locking systems, reducing manufacturing complexity and maintenance requirements while ensuring reliable ribbon storage.
3Ease of operation
If the spool is designed to freely rotate in one winding direction, then the ribbon can be wound onto the spool, but the spool must include directional control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The pawl is pre-positioned on the base to engage with the ratchet teeth on the spool. This preliminary arrangement ensures that as soon as the spool is rotated in the winding direction, the pawl automatically engages with the next ratchet tooth, providing continuous directional control without requiring active control mechanisms or complex gearing systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The ratchet teeth and pawl mechanism serve as an intermediary between the spool rotation and the ribbon winding process. This simple mechanical intermediary allows free rotation in the winding direction while preventing rotation in the unwinding direction, achieving directional control through a minimal-complexity mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A storage device for an optical fiber ribbon. A spool includes a hub, a bottom flange, and a top flange. A spool opening extends axially through the hub and the flanges, and a circular array of recesses are formed along the edge of the opening in the bottom flange. A base has a number of circularly arrayed, pawls for engaging the recesses along the edge of the spool opening in the bottom flange so that when the bottom flange is engaged with the pawls on the base, the spool can rotate in only one winding direction. The hub has a hook member on its circumference which is formed to engage an optical fiber ribbon at a midpoint along its length while maintaining a specified minimum bend radius. When the ribbon is looped around the hook member and the spool is wound, two equal lengths of the ribbon are wound next to one another on the hub for storage. Designated fibers of the ribbon then are accessible from the stored lengths of the ribbon for splicing or other handling.