Patent ID: 6744956
Filing Date: 2004-06-01
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
A method of cross-connecting the individual optical fibers of a plurality of fiber optic ribbons, comprising the steps of:providing a first substrate having an adhesive thereon; routing a plurality of individual optical fibers onto the substrate to form at least portions of a plurality of fiber optic input ribbons, reorganizing the fibers on the substrate and forming at least portions of a plurality of fiber optic output ribbons, the fibers extending beyond input and output sides of the substrate to define input tails and output tails of the input ribbons and output ribbons, respectively; providing a second substrate having an adhesive thereon; routing a plurality of individual optical fibers onto the second substrate to form at least portions of a plurality of fiber optic input ribbons, reorganizing the fibers on the second substrate and forming at least portions of a plurality of fiber optic output ribbons, the fibers extending beyond input and output sides of the substrate to define input tails and output tails of the input ribbons and output ribbons, respectively; placing the second substrate and the fibers routed thereon on top of the first substrate and the fibers routed thereon, such that the fibers of the two substrates combine to form complete input and output ribbons along with their respective input and output tails; using a ribbonizing apparatus to gather the input and output tails into ribbon form; coating the gathered input and output tails on the ribbonizing apparatus to hold the tails in ribbon form; and stripping the coated tails from the ribbonizing apparatus.