Protective Cap with Pull Cord Cavity for Fiber Optic Microduct Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fiber optic connectors are often too large to be pushed or pulled through microducts, requiring pre-assembled cables with a smaller footprint to minimize conduit intrusion and on-site assembly time and costs, while ensuring safe passage without damaging the connector or conduit.
Innovation Solution
A protective cap for fiber optic cables with a built-in attachment feature for a pull cord, allowing the cable to be securely attached and pulled through conduits without increasing the cable's size, featuring a hollowed cavity with distinct openings for the cord to enter and exit, and a ferrule retainer for protecting the ferrule and biasing member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If full-assembled connectors are used, then connection reliability is improved, but the connector size increases making it impossible to pass through microducts
Solution Approach 1:
The connector assembly is divided into separate components: a pre-terminated fiber optic cable with connector components that can be assembled on-site. This segmentation allows the cable to pass through microducts while maintaining the ability to form reliable connections through proper alignment features and tolerances in the segmented components.
Solution Approach 2:
The fiber optic cable is pre-terminated with connector components and alignment features before installation. This preliminary action ensures that when the cable is pulled through the microduct and connected on-site, the connection reliability matches that of fully assembled connectors, eliminating the need for complex on-site termination procedures.
2Ease of operation
If pre-assembled cables with smaller footprint are used, then ease of installation through conduits is improved, but on-site assembly time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cable is pre-assembled with connector components, alignment features, and protective caps before installation. This preliminary preparation reduces on-site assembly time by eliminating complex termination procedures, requiring only simple connection steps after the cable is pulled through the conduit.
Solution Approach 2:
A protective cap with pull cord attachment serves as an intermediary tool that facilitates both the pulling of the pre-assembled cable through the conduit and the subsequent connection process. The pull cord attachment enables efficient cable installation while the protective cap preserves the pre-assembled components until connection is required.
3Ease of operation
If pull cord attachment is added to protective cap, then cable pulling capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pull cord attachment is merged with the protective cap as an integrated feature rather than a separate component. The cavity in the protective cap body provides both protection for the ferrule and serves as the attachment point for the pull cord, eliminating the need for additional attachment devices and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective cap serves multiple functions: it protects the ferrule and optical fiber, provides a mounting point for the pull cord attachment, and facilitates the pulling of the cable through conduits. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components and simplifies the overall device structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A pre-terminated end of a fiber optic cable has a protective cap that protects the optical fiber and the ferrule assembly at the terminal end. The protective cap has an attachment feature enabling a pull cord to attach to the protective cap. The protective cap has a body including an exterior surface and a receptacle formed in the body and configured to receive a portion of the fiber optic cable, and the attachment feature. The attachment feature includes a cavity formed in a tip of the body and at least two openings formed in the exterior surface of the body and connected to the cavity.