Lubricious Gel Block Coating for Easy Cable Closure Re-Entry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Telecommunications cables and enclosures face issues with gel block surfaces that become tacky and difficult to handle due to high tackiness and lack of lubricity, making re-entry and sealing challenging, especially in fiber optic networks that require frequent adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A method of coating elastomeric gel blocks with a liquid-infused surface treatment (LIS) to create a lubricious surface, reducing tackiness and improving handling, using a process that includes texturizing and applying the LIS liquid via spin coating, spraying, or brushing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If softer gel blocks are used to seal effectively over various cable sizes and geometries, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but surface tackiness increases making handling difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a lubricious coating treatment specifically to the surface of the gel block, creating a localized lubricious layer that reduces tackiness and improves handling. The bulk gel maintains its soft, compliant properties for effective sealing, while the surface layer provides low-friction characteristics. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between soft gel compliance and handling ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The gel block is combined with a lubricious coating material to create a composite structure. The bulk gel provides sealing compliance while the coating layer provides low-friction surface properties. This composite approach allows simultaneous achievement of both sealing effectiveness and handling ease that neither material could provide alone.
2Adaptability or versatility
If gel blocks are formulated to be softer for better sealing, then sealing compliance is improved, but adhesiveness increases causing difficulty in separation and re-entry
Solution Approach 1:
The lubricious coating is applied locally to the gel block surface to create a region with reduced adhesiveness. This surface treatment allows the bulk gel to maintain its soft, compliant sealing properties while the coated surface enables easier separation and re-entry operations by reducing stickiness and adhesion forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The lubricious coating acts as an intermediary layer between the gel block and external surfaces (cables, closure walls). This intermediate layer reduces direct adhesive contact, allowing the soft gel to maintain sealing compliance while the coating mediates the interaction to reduce adhesiveness and facilitate re-entry.
3Ease of operation
If traditional thermoplastic gels are used, then sufficient oil bleed out provides lubriciousness and conformability, but newer low oil bleed out gels and dry silicone gels lack this lubricious layer
Solution Approach 1:
The lubricious coating serves as an intermediary that provides the desired lubricious surface properties without requiring oil bleed out from the gel bulk. The coating material itself provides the lubricating function, eliminating the need for the gel to lose oil to create surface lubricity, thus resolving the contradiction between lubricity and oil retention.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the approach to achieving surface lubricity from relying on oil bleed out (a loss process) to applying a pre-formed lubricious coating (a gain process). This parameter change in the surface treatment method allows low oil bleed out gels and dry silicone gels to achieve adequate surface lubricity without sacrificing oil retention in the bulk material.
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
The LIS treatment provides a lubricious surface with low adhesiveness and reduced tackiness, enabling easy handling and re-entry of closures and interconnect systems, requiring minimal force to reopen, and maintaining effective sealing under pressure.
Implementation Method 1
coating an elastomeric gel block to provide a liquid infused surface treatment (LIS). The LIS treatment provides for a permanent or semi-permanent layer of liquid held in place by surface structures and/or surface particles
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and compositions for preparing an elastomeric gel block comprising a lubricious surface are provided. A closure or interconnect system sealed with the elastomeric gel block comprising a lubricious surface can exhibit reduced adhesiveness, reduced tack time, and requires substantially reduced force to re-open the closure or interconnect system.