Optical fiber cable and blowing installation technique
First Claim
1. An optical cable having an optical fibre with a glass strand for channelling light along the cable, and a jacket disposed around the glass strand, the jacket having a textured outer surface for facilitating, under the influence of a fluid drag, the advancement of the optical cable along a conduit, wherein the glass strand has a width of less than 100 microns.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This invention relates to an optical cable, in particular to an optical fibre having an axially extending glass strand for channelling light therealong, and a jacket layer disposed around the glass strand, the jacket layer having a textured outer surface for facilitating, under the influence of a fluid drag, the advancement of the optical cable along a conduit, wherein the glass strand in cross section to the axial direction has a width of less than 100 microns. The reduced width of the glass strand(s) in the cable will cause the cable to be less stiff, which will be particularly beneficially when installing the cable using a blowing technique.
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Citations
62 Claims
- 1. An optical cable having an optical fibre with a glass strand for channelling light along the cable, and a jacket disposed around the glass strand, the jacket having a textured outer surface for facilitating, under the influence of a fluid drag, the advancement of the optical cable along a conduit, wherein the glass strand has a width of less than 100 microns.
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21. A method of fabricating an optical cable having a textured outer surface, including the steps of:
- receiving a cable portion, the cable portion having at least one optical fibre and a jacket disposed around the fibre;
passing the cable portion through a medium having a plurality of particles therein; and
, causing at least some of the particles to adhere to the cable jacket so as to provide the jacket with a textured outer surface, wherein the or each optical fibre has a glass region for channelling light along the cable and wherein the or each glass region has a width of less than 100 microns.
- receiving a cable portion, the cable portion having at least one optical fibre and a jacket disposed around the fibre;
- 55. An optical cable having a plurality of optical fibres arranged in a side-to-side fashion relative to one another, each fibre having a respective glass region extending along the fibre, wherein the width of each glass region is less than 100 microns.
Specification