Dry fiber optic cable
First Claim
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1. A fiber optic cable, comprising:
- at least one optical fiber; and
a fiber optic cable component including at least one water receptive agent, said water receptive agent including a mixture of at least two distinct superabsorbent substances, at least one of said superabsorbent substances characterized by a cross linked polymeric structure causing a very fast swelling rate whereby it is operative to swell at a rapid rate to quickly block the flow of water in said cable, and the other of said superabsorbent substances characterized by a cross linked polymeric structure causing a high gel strength whereby it is operative to inhibit wicking, the cross linking structure of the fast swelling rate substance being lighter than the cross linking structure of the high gel strength substance;
a. the fast swell rate superabsorbent substance, when encountering a relatively low swell resistance, reaching a higher displacement sooner than said high gel strength substance under a similar low swell resistance; and
b. said high gel strength superabsorbent substance, when encountering a relatively higher swell resistance, generally reaching a higher displacement sooner than the fast swell rate substance under a similar higher swell resistance.
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Abstract
A mixture of two water receptive agents. One of the water receptive agents is a mixture of two distinct superabsorbent substances, at least one of the superabsorbent substances is characterized by a very fast swelling rate whereby it is operative to quickly block the flow of water, and another of the superabsorbent substances is characterized by a high gel strength whereby it is operative to inhibit wicking. The other of the water receptive agents is a water soluble or a hydrophilic resin for enhancing the performance of the superabsorbent substances. An exemplary fiber optic cable (10) includes fiber optic cable components in the form of buffer tubes (25) having two co-extruded layers (26,27). Layer (26) is the mixture of the two water receptive agents.
90 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A fiber optic cable, comprising:
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at least one optical fiber; and
a fiber optic cable component including at least one water receptive agent, said water receptive agent including a mixture of at least two distinct superabsorbent substances, at least one of said superabsorbent substances characterized by a cross linked polymeric structure causing a very fast swelling rate whereby it is operative to swell at a rapid rate to quickly block the flow of water in said cable, and the other of said superabsorbent substances characterized by a cross linked polymeric structure causing a high gel strength whereby it is operative to inhibit wicking, the cross linking structure of the fast swelling rate substance being lighter than the cross linking structure of the high gel strength substance;
a. the fast swell rate superabsorbent substance, when encountering a relatively low swell resistance, reaching a higher displacement sooner than said high gel strength substance under a similar low swell resistance; and
b. said high gel strength superabsorbent substance, when encountering a relatively higher swell resistance, generally reaching a higher displacement sooner than the fast swell rate substance under a similar higher swell resistance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification
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Current AssigneeCorning Optical Communications LLC (Corning Incorporated)
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Original AssigneeCorning Cable Systems LLC (Corning Incorporated)
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InventorsWhite, Kevin T., Bringuier, Anne G.
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Primary Examiner(s)Healy, Brian
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Assistant Examiner(s)Kang, Juliana K.
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Application NumberUS09/049,417Time in Patent Office1,299 DaysField of Search385/100-113, 174/23.RUS Class Current385/106CPC Class CodesG02B 6/4411 Matrix structureG02B 6/44384 the means comprising water ...
