Outside plant fiber distribution apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A connection module comprising:
- a housing including a front and two mounting flanges, a rear of the housing spaced from the front, a top spaced apart from a bottom, the top and the bottom positioned adjacent to the mounting flanges, and opposed spaced apart sides;
a plurality of connection locations having exposed openings along the front;
the bottom, the rear, and the opposed sides defining a cable notch region wherein the cable notch region defines an opening for receiving a first cable; and
a cable clamp extending from the rear in the cable notch region.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An outside plant fiber distribution apparatus includes a frame member and a plurality of fiber optic modules mounted to the frame member. The frame member includes upper and lower module mounting brackets. Each module includes a front and two mounting flanges, each mountable to one of the upper and lower module mounting brackets. At least one of the modules is configured as a connection module including a plurality of connection locations disposed along the front of the module. A rear of the module includes a cable notch region for receipt of a cable. At least one of the modules defines a storage module including first and second spools. In an interconnect system, the storage module includes a cable clamp for holding a second cable, the cables are connected through the connection locations of the connection module. In a cross-connect system, two connection modules are provided, and patch cords are used to connect the fronts of the connection modules. The modules may also house splices, and/or optical couplers, such as splitters and wave division multiplexers.
101 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A connection module comprising:
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a housing including a front and two mounting flanges, a rear of the housing spaced from the front, a top spaced apart from a bottom, the top and the bottom positioned adjacent to the mounting flanges, and opposed spaced apart sides;
a plurality of connection locations having exposed openings along the front;
the bottom, the rear, and the opposed sides defining a cable notch region wherein the cable notch region defines an opening for receiving a first cable; and
a cable clamp extending from the rear in the cable notch region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A telecommunications connection device, comprising:
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a) a housing having a front and a rear, the housing defining an interior, an exterior and an opening;
b) an outside plant telecommunications cable including a plurality of optical fibers, the outside plant telecommunications cable secured to the exterior of the housing and extending in a first direction relative to the housing;
c) optical connectors linked to the optical fibers of the outside plant telecommunications cable and positioned within the housing interior;
d) a plurality of adapters providing connection locations at the housing, the adapters including;
i) first ends accessible from within the interior of the housing for receiving the optical connectors linked to the optical fibers of the outside plant telecommunications cable; and
ii) second ends accessible from outside the housing for receiving optical connectors located outside of the housing, the second ends of the adapters being accessible from the front of the housing and being angled generally toward the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A telecommunications connection device, comprising:
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a) a housing having a front, a rear, first and second sides, and first and second ends, the housing defining an interior and an opening having a width that extends only a portion of the distance between the first and second sides;
b) an outside plant telecommunications cable including a plurality of optical fibers that enter the housing through the opening, the outside plant telecommunications cable extending in a first direction substantially perpendicular to an axis running from the first side to the second side;
c) the housing having a tab extending outwardly in a second direction from the second end of the housing, wherein the second direction is generally opposite the first direction, wherein the tab defines at least one aperture that extends therethrough in a front-to-rear direction;
d) optical connectors linked to the optical fibers of the outside plant telecommunications cable and positioned within the housing interior;
e) a plurality of adapters providing connection locations at the housing, the adapters including;
i) first ends accessible from within the interior of the housing for receiving the optical connectors linked to the optical fibers of the outside plant telecommunications cable; and
ii) second ends accessible from outside the housing for receiving optical connectors located outside of the housing, the adapters being angled such that the second ends of the adapters face forwardly and toward the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A telecommunications connection device, comprising:
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a) a housing having a front and a rear, the housing defining an interior and an opening;
b) an outside plant telecommunications cable, the outside plant cable including a plurality of optical fibers that enter the housing through the opening, the outside plant telecommunications cable extending in a first direction relative to the housing;
c) interior fibers positioned within the housing, each interior fiber having an optical connector linked thereto;
d) at least one splice component positioned within the housing for splicing at least one of the optical fibers of the outside plant telecommunications cable to at least one of the interior fibers; and
e) a plurality of adapters providing connection locations at the front of the housing, the adapters including;
i) first ends accessible from within the interior of the housing for receiving the optical connectors of the interior fibers; and
ii) second ends accessible from outside the housing for receiving optical connectors located outside of the housing, the second ends of the adapters being angled generally toward the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A telecommunications connection device, comprising:
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a) a housing having a front and a rear, the housing defining an interior and an opening;
b) an outside plant telecommunications cable, the outside plant cable including a plurality of optical fibers that enter the housing through the opening, the outside plant telecommunications cable extending in a first direction relative to the housing;
c) a tab that projects outwardly from the housing in a second direction, the second direction being generally opposite from the first direction, and wherein the tab defines at least one aperture that extends therethrough in a front-to-rear direction;
d)interior fibers positioned within the housing, each interior fiber having an optical connector linked thereto, the interior fibers being spliced to the optical fibers of the outside plant telecommunications cable; and
e) a plurality of adapters providing connection locations at the front of the housing, the adapters including;
i) first ends accessible from within the interior of the housing for receiving the optical connectors optically connected to the optical fibers of the outside plant telecommunications cable; and
ii) second ends accessible from outside the housing for receiving optical connectors located outside of the housing, the second ends of the adapters being angled generally toward the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. An optical connection device comprising:
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a housing defining an interior, the housing including a first end positioned opposite from a second end and a front and rear sides that extend between the first and second ends, the housing defining an axis that extends from the first end to the second end of the housing;
an outside plant cable secured to the housing, the outside plant cable including an optical fiber, and the outside plant cable extending away from the housing in a first direction that extends generally along the axis of the housing;
a plurality of adapters mounted to the housing, the adapters each including a first end and a second end, the first ends of the adapters receiving first fiber optic connectors from inside the interior of the housing, the second ends of the adapters forming connection locations configured to receive second fiber optic connectors from outside the housing, the adapters being angled such that the second ends face forwardly and toward the first direction; and
interior optical fibers optically coupled to the optical fiber of the outside plant cable by a splitter, the interior optical fibers being linked to the first fiber optic connectors received within the first ends of the adapters. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification