Patent ID: 6658187
Filing Date: 2003-12-02
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
An optical fiber cable assembly comprising:an optical core including a plurality of elongated, hollow buffer tubes, a plurality of elongated outer interstitial members and an elongated central interstitial member; the plurality of buffer tubes arranged with their axes extending in the same direction with each buffer tube tangent to two other buffer tubes and with each pair of adjacent buffer tubes defining an outer interstitial space therebetween, the axis of each buffer tube positioned at a corner of one of (i) an imaginary triangle and (ii) an imaginary square; each outer interstitial member received in one of the outer interstitial spaces tangent to the two buffer tubes defining the outer interstitial space with an axis of each outer interstitial member extending in the same direction as the axes of the buffer tubes; and the central interstitial member received in a central interstitial space formed between the plurality of buffer tubes, the central interstitial member positioned tangent to the plurality of buffer tubes with an axis of the central interstitial member extending in the same direction as the axes of the buffer tubes, wherein the central interstitial member and the outer interstitial members have different moduli of elasticity.