Optical Fiber Ribbon Coating Layout to Prevent Meandering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical fiber ribbons in high-density optical fiber cables experience friction and meandering issues, particularly when fibers with different diameters are used, leading to deteriorated transmission characteristics at low temperatures.
Innovation Solution
The optical fiber ribbon design features a collective coating layer with thick and thin portions, connecting adjacent fibers at specific intervals, reducing contact area and allowing for high-density mounting without meandering, and accommodating standard splicing devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If optical fiber ribbons are mounted in high-density optical fiber cables, then the density of the cable is increased, but friction occurs between the optical fiber ribbons causing meandering and deteriorated transmission characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The collective coating layer is designed with non-uniform thickness, featuring thick portions and thin portions. The thin portions reduce contact area between adjacent optical fiber ribbons, thereby reducing friction and preventing meandering, while the thick portions provide adequate protection. This local variation in coating thickness resolves the contradiction between high-density mounting and friction reduction.
2Quantity of substance
If outer diameter of optical fibers is reduced to increase density, then more fibers can be mounted, but workability and identifiability at splicing time deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple optical fibers are bundled together in a collective coating layer to form an optical fiber ribbon. This merging approach allows numerous fibers to be mounted densely while maintaining ease of operation during splicing, as the ribbon structure enables simultaneous handling of multiple fibers and their identification is facilitated by the collective coating.
3Ease of manufacture
If uniform thickness coating is applied to optical fibers, then manufacturing is simplified, but contact area between ribbons increases causing friction and meandering
Solution Approach 1:
The collective coating layer employs non-uniform thickness with distinct thick and thin portions. The thin portions specifically reduce contact area between adjacent ribbons to prevent friction and meandering, while the thick portions maintain protective coverage. This local quality variation resolves the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and friction reduction.
Data Source
AI summary
An optical fiber ribbon includes optical fibers arranged in parallel in a direction orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the optical fibers, and a collective coating layer covering an outer periphery of each of the plurality of optical fibers. The collective coating layer includes a connected portion at which the optical fibers adjacent to each other are connected. An outer diameter of each of the plurality of optical fibers is 215 μm or less. In a cross-sectional view of each of the optical fibers, the collective coating layer includes a thick portion and at least two thin portions. A difference between the thickness of the collective coating layer in the thick portion and the thickness of the collective coating layer in the thin portion is 5 μm or more and 19 μm or less.