Abstract:
A cable fanout defines an entry location for receiving a multi-fiber cable at one end, and an opposite end defining an exit location for individual cables. The cable fanout includes an inner housing having a first end defining a plurality of openings for the individual cables, and first and second side extensions extending in a longitudinal direction. The cable fanout further includes an outer housing including first and second identical halves enclosing the inner housing. One of the halves and the inner housing cooperating to form a pocket for holding epoxy around exposed fibers in the fanout during assembly. In a preferred embodiment, a snap arrangement mounts the first and second outer housing halves together.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 61/103,108, filed Oct. 6, 2008, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a telecommunications fanout assembly and method for fanning out a multi-fiber cable into individual fibers. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Cable fanouts are known which define a location where a single telecommunications cable including a plurality of signal-carrying members is fanned out or broken out into individual cables. There is a need for improved developments in this area. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    One aspect of the present invention relates to a cable fanout for connecting a multi-fiber cable to a plurality of individual cables. The cable fanout includes a housing construction having a first end defining an entry location for receiving the multi-fiber cable, and a second opposite end defining an exit location for the individual cables. The individual fibers extend in a continuous manner from the jacket of the multi-fiber cable through the housing construction to furcation or breakout tubes of the individual cables. The housing construction preferably defines a cylindrical shape. 
         [0005]    In the preferred embodiment, the housing construction includes an inner housing and an outer housing. The inner housing includes an end defining a plurality of openings for the individual cables to exit the fan out, and first and second side extensions extending in a longitudinal direction toward the opposite end. The outer housing includes first and second housing portions enclosing the inner housing. One of the first and second outer housing portions and the inner housing cooperate to form a receptacle or pocket for holding epoxy to enclose the fibers positioned in the housing construction during assembly. In a preferred embodiment, a snap arrangement mounts the first and second outer housing portions together. 
         [0006]    The present invention also relates to a method of assembly of a cable fanout. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a fanout cable assembly including a multi-fiber input cable, and a plurality of individual output cables. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a further perspective view of the fanout cable assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the fanout cable assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a top view of the fanout cable assembly, showing an upper housing portion removed. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the fanout cable assembly showing both the upper and lower housing portions in exploded view. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a side view of the fanout assembly body. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is an end view of the fanout assembly body. 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view of the fanout assembly body. 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  shows an input cable assembly in exploded view. 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  shows an output furcation cable assembly in exploded view. 
           [0017]      FIG. 11  shows the output furcation cable assembly fully assembled. 
           [0018]      FIG. 12  shows the output furcation cable assembly being assembled to an inner housing of the fanout assembly body. 
           [0019]      FIG. 13  shows the input cable assembly, and a plurality of the output furcation cable assemblies mounted to the inner housing prior to assembly with the lower housing portion of the fanout assembly body. 
           [0020]      FIG. 14  shows the fanout assembly body and cable assemblies in perspective view prior to the epoxy pouring step. 
           [0021]      FIG. 15  is a top view of the view of  FIG. 14 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 16  shows the fanout assembly body and the cable assemblies being assembled into the holding fixture. 
           [0023]      FIG. 17  shows the view of  FIG. 16  with the fixture in the clamped position. 
           [0024]      FIGS. 18 and 19  are perspective view of the inner housing of the fanout assembly body. 
           [0025]      FIG. 20  is a top view of the inner housing of the fanout assembly body. 
           [0026]      FIG. 21  is a cross-sectional view of the inner housing shown along lines  21 - 21  of  FIG. 20 . 
           [0027]      FIG. 22  is a first end view of the inner housing of the fanout assembly body. 
           [0028]      FIG. 23  is an opposite end view of the inner housing of the fanout assembly body. 
           [0029]      FIGS. 24 and 25  are perspective views of one of the outer housing portions of the fanout assembly body, the opposite outer housing portion having an identical construction. 
           [0030]      FIG. 26  is a top view of the outer housing portion. 
           [0031]      FIG. 27  is a side view of the outer housing portion. 
           [0032]      FIG. 28  is a bottom view of the outer housing portion. 
           [0033]      FIG. 29  is an end view of the outer housing portion. 
           [0034]      FIG. 30  is a cross-sectional view of the outer housing portion along lines  30 - 30  of  FIG. 26 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0035]    Referring now to  FIGS. 1-5 , a fanout cable assembly  10  is shown. A multi-fiber cable  12  is fanned out into separate output cables  14  at fanout  16 . Multi-fiber cable  12  is terminated at a distal end  32  with a multi-fiber connector  18 , such as an MTP connector. In the illustrated embodiment, multi-fiber connector  18  includes a protective strain relief boot  20 . Multi-fiber cable  12  can be any length as desired. In some embodiments, multi-fiber cable  12  can be several hundred feet long. Fanout cable assembly  10  can be used in a variety of embodiments and environments where telecommunications equipment is employed. Fanout  16  allows for the multi-fiber cable  12  to be broken out or fanned out into individual output cables  14  which are typically terminated at distal ends  34  with connectors  22 , such as SC connectors in the illustrated embodiment. For clarity, only one output connector  22  is shown. Each output cable  14  would be terminated with a connector  22  in actual use. Typically, connectors  22  include a protective strain relief boot  24 . 
         [0036]    Disposed within multi-fiber cable  12  is a plurality of individual fibers  30 , visible in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . At fanout  16 , the individual fibers  30  are broken out into the individual output cables  14 . Output cables  14  may also be referred to as furcation fibers. Often, individual fibers  30  are bare fibers, such as 250 micron fibers, which are fragile and easily damaged. The output fibers  14  with their protective jackets of fanout cable assembly offer protection of the individual fibers  30 , one per cable  14 , as the fibers extend from fanout  16  to fiber terminations in the equipment. For example, fanout cable assembly  10  can be used with a wall box where input cable  12  extends from the wall box to a remote multi-fiber connection, and fanout  16  and the output cables  14  and connectors  22  are housed within the wall box connected to fiber optic adapters in the wall box. 
         [0037]    With reference to  FIGS. 1-8 , fanout  16  includes an input end  40 , and an output end  50 . A protective strain relief boot  44  may be positioned at input end  40  for cable  12 . Fanout  16  includes a fanout assembly body  42 . Body  42  provides structure for mounting to multi-fiber cable  12  and output cables  14 . Preferably, body  42  also defines a housing for receiving epoxy for surrounding and securing fibers  30  extending between cables  12 ,  14 . In the illustrated embodiment, body  42  defines a cylindrical shape extending in a longitudinal direction from input end  40  to output end  50 . 
         [0038]    Multi-fiber cable  12  is provided as an input cable assembly  60 , such as shown in  FIG. 9 . Input cable assembly  60  includes an insert  62  and a crimp  64  which connect to proximal end  66  of cable jacket  68  and proximal end  70  of cable strength member  72 , such as aramid (Kevlar) yarn. Crimp  64  holds proximal end  66  of cable jacket  68  and proximal end  70  of cable strength member  72  to insert  62 . Insert  62  includes a notch  74  for engagement with body  42  as shown in  FIGS. 14 and 15 . 
         [0039]    Output cables  14  are provided in the form of output furcation cable assemblies  80  which provide an upjacket  82  for fibers  30  extending from input cable assembly  60 . As shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , each output furcation cable assembly  80  includes an outer tube  84  and an inner tube  86 . An intermediate strength member  88 , such as aramid (Kevlar) yarn is provided. An insert  90  mounts to proximal end  81  of outer tube  84  and proximal end  83  of strength member  88  with a crimp  92 . Inner tube  86  can also be affixed to insert  90 , such as with an adhesive, such as epoxy. 
         [0040]    As shown in  FIG. 12 , each output furcation cable assembly  80  is mounted to an inner housing  100  of body  42 . Each upjacket  82  is inserted into an opening  102  of inner housing  100  from an inside of inner housing  100 . Inserts  90  and crimps  92  act as stops in openings  102  to prevent each output furcation assembly  80  from being removed from inner housing  100 . Once each output furcation assembly  80  is in place, input cable assembly  60  is mated by inserting protruding fibers  30  through inner tubes  86 , one fiber  30  per tube  86 . 
         [0041]    Referring now to  FIGS. 13 and 14 , inner housing  100  with input cable assembly  60  and output furcation cable assemblies  80  is mounted to a lower housing portion  120  of body  42 . As shown in  FIGS. 1-3  and  5 - 8 , an upper housing portion  130  mounts to lower housing portion  120  to enclose inner housing  100 . Before upper housing portion  10  is mounted, epoxy is added to an interior of fanout  16  within a pocket  111 . 
         [0042]    A fixture  150  is shown in  FIGS. 16 and 17  for holding the elements during the fiber fixing epoxy process. Each fixture  150  includes a base  152  defining a plurality of channels  154  for each receiving a fanout cable assembly  10 . A clamping bar  156  holds clamp blocks  158  to hold each input cable assembly  60  in position during the epoxy process. As shown, notch  74  engages a shoulder  138  at inlet  139  to locate insert  62  with respect to body  42 . Once secured, epoxy or other material can be poured into pocket  111  to surround fibers  30 . 
         [0043]    Following curing of the epoxy, upper housing portion  130  is mounted to lower housing portion  120  and inner housing  100  to form body  42 . Cables  14  with interior fibers  30  are terminated with connectors  22  to complete fanout cable assembly  10 . 
         [0044]    Referring now to  FIGS. 18-23 , additional details of inner housing  100  are shown. Inner housing  100  includes a body  104  having a first end  106  and an opposite end  108  and extending in a longitudinal direction. Openings  102  for output cables  14  are located at end  106 . Extending from end  106  are two side extensions  110 . Side extensions  110  cooperate with lower housing portion  120  to form an epoxy receptacle or pocket  111 . On an exterior  109  of side extensions  110  are a plurality of ribs  112  which cooperate with mating structure on outer housing portions  120 ,  130  to hold side extensions  110  in position. A locating notch or key  118  is provided on first end  106 . Selected fibers  30  can be placed in selected openings  102  as desired. In this manner openings  102  can be filled with certain fibers for consistency between assemblies  10 . 
         [0045]    Referring now to  FIGS. 24-30 , additional details of lower housing portion  120  are shown. Upper housing portion  130  is identically configured to lower housing portion  120 . Lower housing portion  120  includes a body  122  having a first end  124  and an opposite end  126  extending in a longitudinal direction. An exterior surface  128  defines a half-cylindrical shape. Disposed on interior  132  are a plurality of side slots  134  for the ribs  112  of inner housing  100 , and end slots  136  for ends  114  of side extensions  110 . Interior  132  also defines shoulder  138  for interfacing with notch  74  of insert  62  of input cable assembly  60 . Lower housing portion  120  includes mating snaps  140 ,  142  and corresponding notches  144 ,  146  for snapping lower housing portion  120  to upper housing portion  130 . 
         [0046]    Body  42  includes a plurality of side notches  160 , for receipt of engagement structure for stacking multiple bodies  42 . Holes  162  are also provided for use in mounting to telecommunications equipment. 
         [0047]    Fanout cable assembly  10  including cylindrically shaped body  42  has a compact design. One advantage of the cylindrically shaped body  42  is that body  42  can be inserted through a corresponding small opening in the telecommunications equipment during system set up, such as a round opening between areas in a wall box. 
         [0048]    The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.