Stackable Splitters
First Claim
1. A cable splitter module, comprising:
- a housing having a length extending along a longitudinal axis of the housing, a width extending transverse to the longitudinal axis along a width axis, and a stacking axis that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and to the width axis, the housing comprisingan optical splitter storage area,a plurality of cable ports providing access to the optical splitter storage area for a plurality of optical fiber cables,a first end wall at a first end of the housing,a second end wall at a second end of the housing opposite the first end of the housing,a first side wall at a first side of the housing, anda second side wall at a second side of the housing opposite the first side of the housing; and
a connection member at the first side of the housing, the connection member comprisinga rigid wall member having a first end and a second end, the second end comprising a tab projecting from the wall member, anda slot extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing;
wherein the connection member is configured to connect to an adjacent instance of the connection member on an adjacent cable splitter module;
wherein the tab of the connection member is configured to slidingly engage with the slot of the adjacent connection member in a first connection configuration that restricts relative movement of the cable splitter module and the adjacent cable splitter module along the stacking axis; and
wherein the slot of the connection member is configured to slidingly engage with the tab of the adjacent connection member in a second connection configuration that restricts relative movement of the cable splitter module and the adjacent cable splitter module along the stacking axis;
whereby the cable splitter module is connectable to the adjacent instance of the cable splitter module to form a stack of connected cable splitter modules along the stacking axis.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Examples of optical splitter systems, methods and modules enable the stacking and interconnecting of one or more optical splitter modules. One example of a splitter module has a housing and one or more connection members for connecting to adjacent instances of like splitter modules. The housing includes a plurality of cable ports providing access to an optical splitter storage area. Each connection member includes a tab and a slot, the tab configured to slidingly engage with the slot of an adjacent connection member. Sliding engagement of adjacent instances of splitter modules can form a stack of splitter modules along a stacking axis. In some cases a splitter module includes a latching mechanism to removably engage an adjacent splitter module. The latching mechanism can restrict sliding engagement and thus decoupling of the adjacent splitter modules.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A cable splitter module, comprising:
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a housing having a length extending along a longitudinal axis of the housing, a width extending transverse to the longitudinal axis along a width axis, and a stacking axis that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and to the width axis, the housing comprising an optical splitter storage area, a plurality of cable ports providing access to the optical splitter storage area for a plurality of optical fiber cables, a first end wall at a first end of the housing, a second end wall at a second end of the housing opposite the first end of the housing, a first side wall at a first side of the housing, and a second side wall at a second side of the housing opposite the first side of the housing; and a connection member at the first side of the housing, the connection member comprising a rigid wall member having a first end and a second end, the second end comprising a tab projecting from the wall member, and a slot extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing; wherein the connection member is configured to connect to an adjacent instance of the connection member on an adjacent cable splitter module; wherein the tab of the connection member is configured to slidingly engage with the slot of the adjacent connection member in a first connection configuration that restricts relative movement of the cable splitter module and the adjacent cable splitter module along the stacking axis; and wherein the slot of the connection member is configured to slidingly engage with the tab of the adjacent connection member in a second connection configuration that restricts relative movement of the cable splitter module and the adjacent cable splitter module along the stacking axis; whereby the cable splitter module is connectable to the adjacent instance of the cable splitter module to form a stack of connected cable splitter modules along the stacking axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An optical splitter stacking system, comprising:
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an optical splitter housing comprising a bottom planar wall and a top planar wall, an optical splitter storage area located between the bottom planar wall and the top planar wall, a plurality of connection members comprising a linear arrangement of first side connection members and a linear arrangement of second side connection members, a first side wall comprising the linear arrangement of first side connection members, a second side wall comprising the linear arrangement of second side connection members, a third side wall comprising a cable port providing access to the optical splitter storage area, and a fourth side wall comprising a plurality of cable ports providing access to the optical splitter storage area; and a latching mechanism at the third side wall; wherein each of the first and second side connection members comprises a rigid wall member having a first end and a second end, the first end at least partially defining a slot extending along a portion of the corresponding first side wall or the second side wall, and the second end comprising a tab projecting from the rigid wall member; wherein each of the connection members are configured to slidingly engage with corresponding connection members on an additional instance of the optical splitter housing, to form a stacked arrangement of optical splitter housings; and wherein the latching mechanism is configured to removably engage an additional instance of the latching mechanism on the additional instance of the optical splitter housing to selectively stop sliding disengagement of the optical splitter housing from the additional instance of the optical splitter housing. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for arranging optical splitter modules, comprising:
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positioning a first optical splitter module next to a second optical splitter module, each of the first and second optical splitter modules comprising an enclosure housing an optical splitter assembly, a plurality of connection members comprising a linear arrangement of first side connection members located along a first side of the enclosure and a linear arrangement of second side connection members located along a second side of the enclosure, and a plurality of cable ports providing access to the optical splitter assembly for a plurality of optical fiber cables; and slidingly engaging the first optical splitter module with the second optical splitter module, the slidingly engaging comprising inserting a tab on each connection member on the first optical splitter module into a slot of each connection member on the second optical splitter module, and sliding each tab within each respect slot, the sliding occurring parallel to the linear arrangements of first side and second side connection members, thereby sliding the first and second optical splitter modules together into a stacked arrangement; and latching the first optical splitter module to the second optical splitter module to selectively prevent the optical splitter modules from sliding apart, the latching comprising engaging a single latch tab on the first optical splitter module with a single strike tab on the second optical splitter module. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification