Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7110654?ie=ISO-8859-1&dq=5179747
Timestamp: 2014-10-01 09:41:52
Document Index: 260383830

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'art 78', 'art 78', 'arts 104', 'art 78', 'arts 78', 'art 78', 'art 78', 'art 78', 'art 78', 'art 78']

Patent US7110654 - Array of fiber optic splicing cassettes - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign in<nobr>Advanced Patent Search</nobr>PatentsAn array of fiber optic splicing cassettes. The array has first and second side plates connected to one another by first and second axes. The fiber optic splicing cassettes each have a base and first and second curved slots in the base. Each of the first slots is moveably engaged on the first axis, and...http://www.google.com/patents/US7110654?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7110654 - Array of fiber optic splicing cassettesAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7110654 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/682,272Publication dateSep 19, 2006Filing dateOct 9, 2003Priority dateOct 11, 2002Fee statusLapsedAlso published asDE60325250D1, EP1549980A2, EP1549980B1, US20040120680, WO2004034117A2, WO2004034117A3Publication number10682272, 682272, US 7110654 B2, US 7110654B2, US-B2-7110654, US7110654 B2, US7110654B2InventorsMichel DillatOriginal Assignee3M Innovative Properties CompanyExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (25), Referenced by (2), Classifications (5), Legal Events (5) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetArray of fiber optic splicing cassettesUS 7110654 B2Abstract An array of fiber optic splicing cassettes. The array has first and second side plates connected to one another by first and second axes. The fiber optic splicing cassettes each have a base and first and second curved slots in the base. Each of the first slots is moveably engaged on the first axis, and each of the second slots is moveably engaged on the second axis. In this way each of the cassettes may be moved between an open position and a closed position by simultaneously moving the first and second slots in one of the cassettes relative to the first and second axes.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/419,037, filed Oct. 15, 2002 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/418,149, filed Oct. 11, 2002.
TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a system that allows the management or organization of optical fibers to be used in an optical fiber telecommunication network. It relates more particularly to a system of cassettes allowing the organization of optical fibers including splices. The invention further relates to manufacturing techniques for those cassettes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of optical fibers has become more and more dominant in the telecommunication field. This results in a growing number of optical fibers to be handled, especially to be spliced and connected and distributed, and therefore systems for the management or organization of optical fibers are used to a growing extent. It is necessary to have an optimum organization of the fibers and furthermore the capabilities to conduct modifications and changes in a controlled manner whereby these changes should preferably be carried out so that if at all possible only those optical fibers that have to be changed and modified are moved while all other optical fibers essentially remain untouched so that undesired disturbances are avoided. This is particularly important since in the telecommunication area to a growing extent data are transmitted besides the pure transmission of voice signals, and interference with or interruption of these signals would be very disadvantageous.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect of the invention, it includes an array of cassettes for the management or organization of optical fibers, in which each cassette has a width and a length that is larger than the width, and a thickness that is smaller than the width. The cassettes are arranged between two side plates, which are connected to each other by spacers that are spaced apart by a given distance. The cassettes are provided with at least two curved slots, the first one being arranged towards a first longitudinal end of the cassette, and the second one being arranged further inside the cassette and being longer than the first slot. The cassettes are mounted between the two side plates so that the two spacers pass through the slots. These slots are essentially curved and so designed that an individual cassette can be moved out of the stack whereby it is rotated at the first longitudinal end and simultaneously lifted out of the stack in a direction, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cassette.
One advantage of this configuration is that the individual cassette can be moved out of the stack and access provided to the fibers, with a rotation, which is no more than 90� and preferably no more than 60�. The simultaneous shift out of the stack provides access without movement of the fibers in their longitudinal direction, and as a result no additional fiber length has to be provide or stored for this movement, and no problems occur due to fiber stresses because of the cassette movement. In this way the fibers in a cassette can be also accessed without disturbing the fibers in adjacent cassettes.
In one configuration, the cassette is designed so that the incoming and outgoing fibers pass into the cassette close to the ends of the curved slots and at the first longitudinal end of the cassette. In this case the fibers are only bent at an angle in the order of 60�90�. With the dimensions of the cassette this bending occurs at a relatively large radius that is in the order of magnitude of the width of the cassette. Typically the bending radius is larger than the bending radii within the cassette.
In another embodiment, the first longitudinal end of the cassettes are provided with two pairs of curved slots�two first ones and two longer second ones which are symmetrically arranged with respect to the longitudinal dimension of the cassette. In a typical application a stack of cassettes is arranged so that they are placed so that when opening the cassette the fibers can be accessed from the top. It is therefore normally desirable to have arrangements that are rotated around axes that are arranged on the right side or left side of the array when standing in front of it. The configuration with two pairs of axes allows stacks of cassettes to be arranged between the two side plates so that the axis configuration is either on the left side or the right side when arranging the stack, so that in the practical use the cassettes are accessed from the top.
Furthermore it is preferable to guide both the incoming and the outgoing fiber into the cassette on the same side namely the one that is closest to the two axes. This requires that one of the fibers has to be turned around at an angle of more than 180� so that it can be spliced together with the other fiber, which is directly guided to the middle portion where the splicing takes place. The middle portion can be provided with grooves or other configurations allowing to fix the splice, the grooves or other configurations preferably being arranged at an angle, which could range between 30� and 60� which would facilitate the guidance of the fibers. Furthermore, in the embodiments, which comprise two pairs of curved slots, it is advantageous to have two of these arrangements, which cross each other at an angle. In this case only those grooves are used which show into the direction from which the fibers are coming from the outside. This allows to use the cassettes with their axes either arranged on the left or the right side as described above.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Arrays of cassettes for the management of optical fibers can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1 the array 10 is mounted into an assembly 12, which is supposed to be placed onto a modular optical distribution frame (MODF) or a 483.6 mm (19 inch) rack or the like. FIG. 2 shows the same array 10 and a second array of the same kind 14 arranged in a common holding device 16 that for example can be part of a splice body for the splicing of two cables containing a multiplicity of optical fibers. FIG. 1 shows on the left side a multiplicity of fiber optic connectors 18, the fibers (not shown) are guided into the array of cassettes 10 to be spliced with incoming fibers. This is generally well known and therefore no further reference will be made to the specific embodiments of the array of cassettes 10, 14 in the environments as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 3 also illustrates the manner in which way an individual cassette can be moved out of the array to provide access to the fibers. This is achieved through the design of curved slots 52, 54. When looking at cassette 32 it can be seen that curved slot 52 has a right end 56 and a left end 58. Slot 54 has a right end 60 and a left end 62. In the closed position the axes 24, 26 touch or are at least close to the left ends 58, 62 of curved slots 52, 54. When moving a cassette out as it is shown with cassette 30, the axes 24, 26 are guided through the respective slots until these axes touch the right ends 56, 60 of curved slots 52, 54. In order to realize this effect it is necessary to provide a geometrical configuration, which allows an easy movement of the cassette. Although the exact positions and dimensions of the slots may be different for cassettes of different sizes, those and other relevant parameters can be determined by someone skilled in the art, perhaps with the assistance of a computer-aided design program. An important feature is that in this way the cassette 30 is not only rotated around an axis, but simultaneously moved out in a direction, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 36 of cassette 30. This allows a user to access the internal part of the cassette, after the cassette has only been moved at a relatively small angle, which in the illustrated embodiment is on the order of 60� without any movement of fibers inside the cassette. This is so because approximately the same length of fibers is needed for the closed cassette position as with the open cassette positions. In the configuration shown in FIG. 3 the arrangement is such that the cassette is moved at the first longitudinal end 44, utilizing the handle 48. An alternative approach will be referred to below.
FIGS. 8 and 9 show details that are related to a method of manufacturing cassettes 30. These are preferably obtained through injection molding. The advantage of using two pairs of slots is already explained above and will not be referred to in further detail. Middle part 78 is shown in detail in FIGS. 8 and 9, and it holds the fiber optic splices in position. FIGS. 8 and 9 show cassette 30 with its base plate 40, walls 42 and especially the fingers 74, 76 allowing retention of fibers. And the middle portion 78 that should hold the fiber optic splices in place. In both cases it can be seen that in this specific configuration typically two splices can be inserted from two different directions. It is often desired to have a configuration in which the number of splices varies and is for example 4, 6 or even larger. In order to avoid that for each number of splices to be fixed it would be necessary to create a new expensive molding tool, inserts could be made that would simply be replaced in the molding tool. This can be obtained from the comparison of FIGS. 8 and 9. It can be seen that FIG. 9 shows an exploded view with the middle part 78, separated from the other parts at the respective longitudinal ends 44 and 46. There are essentially two ways of generating such a cassette 30. One would be to mold three individual components separately, namely the end parts 104; 106 and the middle part 78, as shown in FIG. 9, which then are joined together through a snap in configuration or eventually combined with any other possibility to fix the parts together such as ultrasonic welding, gluing, or the like. In this case distinctive molding tools would be made and it would be possible to have different molding tools for different central parts 78. An alternative, however, is essentially shown in FIG. 8. It is also possible to only exchange the insert in the corresponding molding tool for the middle portion 78 and for example replace the shown configuration for two splices in each direction by an configuration with four splices in each direction. An insert in a tool is significantly less expensive than a completely new tool. This would allow to simply exchange the insert and mold cassettes with a different number of splice holders. The middle part 78 is provided with two pairs of grooves, which cross each other. The purpose of them can better be seen from FIG. 8. The incoming and outgoing fibers enter cassette 30 on the side, which is next to the two axes (e.g. the right side on FIG. 6). In this case the fibers are passed through the guides 108. One of the fibers is then placed into the groove onto the middle part 78 under configurations 64, 66, 72, 70 (see FIG. 3) so that it is curved around at an angle of more than 180� and in this way the end of the fiber enters the middle part 78 from a direction which is opposite to the direction of the first fiber. The two ends can then be spliced together within the middle part 78 where the grooves allow to fix the splice. Middle part 78 is provided with a second set of grooves at an angle with respect to the first set of grooves as it may be necessary to enter the fibers from the left side as it can be seen on FIG. 8 utilizing the guides 110.
Furthermore, it can be seen on FIGS. 8 and 9 that preferably the incoming and outgoing fibers are guided through guiding means 108, 110 on the side where they pass near by the axes around which the cassette is moved. The total angle of about 60� C. and the closeness of the fibers to these axes ensures a minimum movement of the fibers when opening the cassette while leaving all the other fibers completely untouched.
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