Connecting optical fibers
First Claim
1. An assembly for use in connecting optical fibres, said assembly comprising a housing for optical fibre joints and a fibre routing device associated with said housing, said housing having a first inlet for receiving optical fibres from a primary side of an optical fibre network and a second inlet for receiving optical fibres from a customer side of an optical fibre network and defining pathways leading from said first and second inlets to an interior region of said housing that includes locating portions for locating optical fibre joints, and said fibre routing device having an insert portion axially insertable into said second inlet for locating and supporting the routing device relative to the housing, at least two inlets for receiving optical fibres from said customer side of the optical fibre network and an outlet defined in said insert portion and connected with said routing device inlets such that fibres from said customer side of an optical fibre network received in said routing device inlets are routed into said second inlet of the housing via said routing device outlet.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An assembly for use in connecting optical fibers includes a housing (12) for optical fiber joints and a fiber routing device (70) associated with the housing. The housing has a first inlet (41) for receiving optical fibers from a primary side of an optical fiber network and a second inlet (13) for receiving optical fibers from a customer side of an optical fiber network. The fiber routing device (70) has an outlet (78) for feeding fibers from the customer side of the optical fiber network into the second inlet (13) and two inlets (72, 74) for receiving the customer-side optical fibers for feeding to its outlet.
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Citations
24 Claims
- 1. An assembly for use in connecting optical fibres, said assembly comprising a housing for optical fibre joints and a fibre routing device associated with said housing, said housing having a first inlet for receiving optical fibres from a primary side of an optical fibre network and a second inlet for receiving optical fibres from a customer side of an optical fibre network and defining pathways leading from said first and second inlets to an interior region of said housing that includes locating portions for locating optical fibre joints, and said fibre routing device having an insert portion axially insertable into said second inlet for locating and supporting the routing device relative to the housing, at least two inlets for receiving optical fibres from said customer side of the optical fibre network and an outlet defined in said insert portion and connected with said routing device inlets such that fibres from said customer side of an optical fibre network received in said routing device inlets are routed into said second inlet of the housing via said routing device outlet.
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18. A method of routing optical fibres to an optical fibre joint, said method comprising:
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introducing at least one optical fibre from a primary side of an optical fibre network into a first of two inlets of a housing for optical fibre joints;
axially inserting an outlet end of a fibre routing device into a second of said two inlets such that an outlet of said fibre routing device feeds into said second inlet and said fibre routing device is located and supported relative to said housing by engagement between said outlet end and said second inlet, said fibre routing device having a plurality of entry points for optical fibres which entry points feed to said outlet; and
introducing an optical fibre from a customer side of an optical fibre network into said housing by routing said optical fibre through a first of said entry points, said outlet and said second inlet of the housing. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. An optical fibre installation comprising:
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a plurality of housings for optical fibre joints arranged in a stack, said housings each having a first inlet for receiving optical fibres from a primary side of an optical fibre network, a second inlet for receiving optical fibres from a customer side of an optical fibre network and defining tracks for optical fibres leading from said first and second inlets to an interior region of said housing that includes locating portions for locating optical fibre joints;
a guide assembly for guiding optical fibres from said primary side of an optical fibre network into said housings, said guide assembly being mounted on said stack of housings and having at least one inlet port for receiving primary optical fibres and a plurality of outlet ports, each said outlet port being associated with a first inlet of one of said housings; and
a plurality of fibre routing devices, each said fibre routing device having an insert portion axially inserted into said second inlet of said housing such that the routing device is located and supported relative to said housing by interengagement between the second inlet of the housing and the insert portion of the routing device and an inlet end disposed externally of the housing and having at least two inlets for receiving optical fibres from said customer side of the optical fibre network, said at least two inlets being connected by passageways with an outlet defined in said insert portion such that optical fibres from said customer side of an optical fibre network received in said at least two inlets are routed into the said second inlet of the housing in which the insert portion is inserted via the routing device outlet. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification