Abstract:
A caddy for dispensing fiber optic patch cord cables. The device has a housing inside of which a disk is rotatably mounted. A length of patch cord cable is wound around the circumference of the disk and an S-shaped channel is present on one side of the disk. The channel is sized to hold captive a section of the patch cord fiber optic cable, thereby preventing any loss of signal or damage to the patch cord fiber optic cable from undue bending stresses on the cable. The housing has an opening through which the two ends of the patch cord fiber optic cable protrude.

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a caddy for storing and dispensing user desired lengths of fiber optic patch cords. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The increasing use of fiber optic communication systems has led to a corresponding increase in the use of temporary connections which are usually effected by the use of fiber optic patch cords. These patch cords typically have a single strand of optical fiber encased in a suitable jacket. Another type of fiber optic patch cord is a ribbon cable having multiple strands of optical fibers. 
     Patch cords are often used in telecommunication systems where many cables are connected to sockets at the front end panels of equipment. In a research and/or testing environment, there may be multiple numbers of such patch cords connecting multiple types of equipment together. Normally these patch cords come in fixed lengths and these fixed length patch cords can lead to a veritable forest of extra length cord hanging between equipment. Similarly, the fixed length of such patch cords may require multiple patch cords to be connected together to provide the desired length. Because of these concerns, it is often quite difficult to manage such patch cords and their lengths in a research and/or testing environment. 
     The resulting forest of extra patch cords can lead to some unfortunate results as limbs and equipment can easily get entangled in these cords. Furthermore, the tangled patch cords can make the tracing of connections difficult at best. Additionally, since most patch cords look alike, it can be difficult to ensure that each of the tangled array of patch cords is correctly connected. 
     From the above, it is therefore clear that a device for managing patch cords is needed. Such a device must be simple to use, convenient to deploy, and easily scalable. It is also a prerequisite that the device shall not damage or unduly stress a patch cord. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention seeks to meet the above need by providing a caddy for dispensing fiber optic patch cord cables. The device has a housing inside of which a disk is rotatably mounted. A length of patch cord cable is wound around the circumference of the disk and an S-shaped channel is present on one side of the disk. The channel is sized to hold captive a section of the patch cord fiber optic cable, thereby preventing any loss of signal or damage to the patch cord fiber optic cable from undue bending stresses on the cable. The housing has an opening through which the two ends of the patch cord fiber optic cable protrude. To use the device, the two ends of the patch cord cable are pulled from the opening of the housing thereby unwinding two lengths of the patch cord cable from the rotatable disk. Suitable means for rewinding the patch cord cable around the disk is provided so that once the user is done with the patch cord cable, the extended length of patch cord cable can be rewound and stored in the device. With this device, a user merely pulls the required length of patch cord cable from the opening and attaches the two ends to the equipment to be coupled together, thereby only using the desired length of patch cord cable. Excess lengths of patch cord cable are thus avoided as the device stores such unwanted lengths of cord within the housing. 
     In one aspect, the present invention provides a caddy for dispensing and storing a fiber optic patch cord, the cord having two ends, the caddy comprising: 
     a housing having at least one opening through which the two ends protrude; 
     a disk inside the housing carrying the cord wound around the circumference of the disk; 
     pin means rotatably attaching the disk to the housing, the pin means being centrally located on the disk; 
     disk return means for rotating the disk about the pin means, the disk return means being capable of permitting the disk to rotate in a first direction to dispense the cord from the housing and being capable of permitting the disk to rotate in a second direction to retract the cord back into the housing; and 
     an S-shaped channel on a first side of the disk retaining a section of the cord placed in the channel such that the section is held captive by the channel; 
     wherein the or each opening is constructed and arranged to allow the cord to be dispensed and retracted without damage to the cord. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a top partial cutaway view of a device for dispensing patch cord according to the invention; 
     FIG. 1A illustrates a partial side view of an alternative embodiment of the device in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2A illustrates an engaged cord retention system to be used in the device of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 2B illustrates the cord retention system of FIG. 2A when disengaged; 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a side cutaway view of the device in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is top partial cutaway view of a second embodiment of the device in FIG. 1 using a pawl and ratchet wheel system for cord retention; 
     FIG. 5 is a side cutaway view of the device in FIG. 3 using a different cord return system; and 
     FIG. 6 is a side cut-away view of an embodiment of the invention similar to that illustrated in FIG.  3 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a caddy  10  for dispensing fiber optic patch cord cable is illustrated. As can be seen, the caddy  10  has a housing  20  in which is placed a rotatable disk  30 . The patch cord cable  40  is wound around a circumference of the disk  30 . Since the patch cord is a continuous length of fiber optic cable, to prevent damage to the patch cord cable  40 , a section  50  of fiber optic patch cord is placed in a S-shaped channel  60  located at one side of the disk  30 . This arrangement allows the two ends  70 A,  70 B of the patch cord cable  40  to both exit from an opening  80  of the housing  20 . Also, as can be seen from FIG. 1, the disk  30  has a guide hole  90  that is centrally located on the disk  30 . The guiding holes  90  are located in the housing  20  and cover  25 . The disk  30  is rotatably attached to the housing  20  by a pin  160  in the guide hole(s)  90  (see FIG.  5 ). 
     The disk  30  can rotate in two directions about the pin  160 . A first direction, as indicated by arrow  95 , dispenses the patch cord cable  40  from the caddy  10  while unwinding the patch cord cable  40  from the disk  30 . A second direction, as indicated by arrow  97 , retracts the patch cord cable  40  back into the caddy  10  by rewinding the patch cord cable about the circumference of the disk  30 . 
     To allow for the retraction of the patch cord cable  40  to be rewound around the disk  30 , a spring  100  is provided. The spring  100  has a first end  110  attached to the housing and a second end  120  that is attached to the disk  30 . The spring  100  and disk  30  are arranged so that rotation of the disk to unwind the patch cord  40  places the spring  100  under tension. 
     To prevent the length of patch cord cable dispensed by the user from being rewound around the disk  30  due to the action of the spring  100  under tension, a friction brake assembly  130  is provided, which is shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. The friction brake assembly  130  comprises a friction brake  140  and a friction brake spring  150 . The friction brake spring  150  pushes the friction brake  140  against the disk  30  when the friction brake assembly is engaged. This can be seen in FIG.  2 A. When the friction brake  140  is pushed by the friction brake spring  150  against the edge of the disk  30 , the disk  30  is prevented from rotating. This prevents deployed patch cord from being rewound around the disk. 
     When the friction brake is disengaged, as shown in FIG. 2B, the disk  30  is caused to rotate due to the action of the spring  100  that is under tension. Again as can be seen in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the engagement and disengagement of the friction brake  140  can be effected by pulling a length of patch cord  40  from the caddy. It can be seen in FIG. 2B that, when a length of patch cord is pulled from the caddy, the friction brake  140  pivots away from the disk  30 . This is effected by pivotally attaching one end of the friction brake  140  to the housing  20 . This can be seen in FIG.  2 B. 
     Referring to FIG. 1A, a side partial view of another configuration of the caddy  10  is illustrated. A top cover  25  is provided and side walls  170  of the disk  30  (see FIG. 3) are not required as the side of the housing  20  and the side of the top cover  25  effectively provide a groove  180  for holding the cable  40 . 
     To further explain the disk  30 , FIG. 3 provides a side sectional view of the caddy  10 . The disk  30  has a channel  60  on one side of the disk  30 . In this channel  60  is placed a section  50  of the patch cord  40 . It is preferred that the section  50  be the midsection of the cord  40 , so that an equal amount of cord  40  protrudes is dispensed from the opening  80 . Furthermore, as can be seen in FIG. 3, the disk  30  rotates about the guide hole  90  through which the pin  160  is inserted. It is preferred that the disk  30  have walls  170  that provide a groove  180  in which the patch cord  40  is disposed. The side walls  170  can be the portion the disk  30  against which the fiction brake  140  is pushed to provide a braking function. It should be noted that the pin  160  and guide hole  90  may be constructed as a unitary pin means assembly. The pin  160 , in this case, would be integral to the disk  30  and would be rotatably seated in a centrally located guide hole in the housing. If cover  25  is provided, then the other end of the pin  160  would also be rotatably seated in a corresponding guide hole in the cover  25 . 
     To keep the section  50  within the channel  50 , the channel  60  may be sized to hold the section  50 . Alternatively, the channel  60  may be covered by the top cover  25  to hold the section  50  within the channel  50 . 
     It should be noted that while FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the friction brake assembly  130  as a cord retention means, other systems for preventing the disk from rotating due to the tension of the spring may be used. Referring to FIG. 4, such system using a pawl and ratchet system as the cord retention means is illustrated. It must be noted that FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 1, except that the friction brake assembly has been removed and has been replaced by a pawl  190  and a ratchet  200 . Furthermore, the spring  100  is not illustrated in FIG.  4 . 
     In FIG. 4, the ratchet wheel  200  and the pawl  190  prevent the disk from rotating due to the tension of the spring  100 . Essentially, the ratchet wheel  200  and the pawl  190  allow the disk  30  to rotate in the first direction that unwinds the patch cord  40  from the disk but the action of the pawl  190  against the teeth of the ratchet wheel  200  prevents the disk  30  from rotating in the second direction to rewind the cord  40  around the disk  30 . This configuration therefore allows a user to pull and retrieve from the caddy  10 , any amount of patch cord that he or she may require but prevents the spring  100  from retrieving the dispensed patch cord until the user desires this to be done. To do this, the pawl  190  is disengaged from the teeth of the ratchet wheel  200  using suitable means such as a manual switch attached to the pawl. This will allow the disk  30  to rotate about the guide hole  90  due to the action of the spring  100 . 
     While FIGS. 1 to  4  illustrate that the spring  100  is used as a disk return means that allows the disk to rotate about the guide hole and thereby rewind the dispensed patch cord cable around the disk  30 , other systems may be used for this same purpose. A simpler system for such a function would be that illustrated in FIG.  5 . FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 3 in that it is a side cutaway view of the caddy  10  and illustrates the components of the caddy especially that of the disk  30 . However, in FIG. 5, the spring  100  is not present and has been replaced by a handle  210 . The handle  210  is attached to one surface of the disk  30  and is placed off center from the guide hole  90  of the disk  30 . This system allows the user to manually rewind the patch cord  40  around the disk  30 . It also allows the user to dispense as much cord as he or she wants from the caddy without having to deal with an automatic disk return means. The handle  210  in FIG. 5 thereby allows the user to manually rewind or unwind the patch cord cable about the circumference of the disk  30 . 
     Another detail that is of import relates to the radius of the S-shaped channel  60  that is on one side of the disk  30 . The radius of the S-shaped channel  60  must be chosen so as to avoid any bending loss that may be incurred by the bending of the fiber optic cable. By making the curves on the S-shaped channel as gradual as practicable, the bending of the section of the patch cord that is to be placed in the channel will therefore be gradual and minimize any problems regarding bending loss. 
     It should be noted that, while not illustrated in the Figures, a cover may be provided to cover the housing  20  and the components placed within. If a cover is not provided, suitable means for rotatably attaching the disk to the housing. This means can be as simple as a nut and bolt to prevent the disk from detaching from the housing. 
     To assist in the mounting of the caddy in a laboratory setting or in a test platform, latch pins  220  are provided on the outside of the housing  20  which can be inserted in suitable notches designed specifically for this purpose. Provided in conjunction with the latch pin  220  are base stoppers  230 . These base stoppers  230  can be used to position the caddy  10  at a specific distance from a wall or floor upon which the caddy may be resting. In addition to the latch pins  220  and base stopper  230 , a mounting such as shown at  240  may be attached to the housing  20  to allow the caddy to be suspended from a suitable hook or pin. 
     It should further be noted that dispensing a length of cord  40  from the opening dispenses two equal lengths of cord  40 —one length for each end that protrudes from the opening. To this end, the opening  80  need not be a single opening. Two openings may be provided to allow one opening for each length of cord dispensed. These openings need not be side by side but may be at different locations on the housing as long as the openings do not damage the cord  40  when the lengths of cord are dispensed or retracted. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the opening  80  is in a line generally tangential to the disk  30 . The allow for the decreasing amount of cord  40  wound around the disk  30  and thereby an increasing angle between a line tangential to the disk  30  and the opening  80 , the opening  80  may be large enough so that the cord  40  being dispensed through the opening  80  will always be at right angles to a first wall of the housing  20  while being parallel to a second wall perpendicular to the first wall. 
     As an alternative to the above discussion regarding the opening, the housing  20  and the top cover  25  may be used to provide the walls for keeping the cord  40  within the caddy with the side walls of the housing  20  being removed. The caddy  10  can therefore have a circumferential opening along with a suitable guide post or bar that will guide the cord  40  that is dispensed. 
     Referring to FIG. 6 one embodiment of the invention is illustrated having some of the features described above. As can be seen in FIG. 6, this embodiment has a top cover  25  to hold the disk  30  rotatably attached to the housing  20 . Furthermore, the disk return means for this embodiment is that of spring  100 . It should also be noted that the guide hole  90  and pin  160  has been replaced by a pin  190  that is integral to the disk  30 . This pin  190  cooperates with a centrally located hole  200  in the body  20 . The disk  30  can therefore rotate about the hole  200  using the pin  190 . As should be clear from FIG. 6, the top cover  25  is attached to the body  20  and, at the same time, holds the disk  30  between the cover  25  and the outer wall of the body  20 . All the other features of the invention including the channel  50 , remains the same as described above. 
     A person understanding the above-described invention may now conceive of alternative designs, using the principles described herein. All such designs which fall within the scope of the claims appended hereto are considered to be part of the present invention.