Patent ID: 7206482

Claim:
A protective casing for routing optical fibers, comprising: at least one tube, the at least one tube having at least one flexible roving at least partially embedded therein, the at least one flexible roving includes a resin matrix, the resin matrix being a water-based acrylic composition that includes an ethylene-acrylic acid, the resin matrix having a percent by weight of about 10 percent or less of the flexible roving, and the at least one flexible roving includes a water-swellable substance, wherein the at least one flexible roving is at least partially bonded with the at least one tube and the protective casing having an average shrinkage of about 1.0% or less during an average shrinkage test, wherein the average shrinkage test comprises taking a 1 meter sample of the protective casing and exposing the 1 meter sample to a 110° C. environment in a thermal chamber for at least two hours and then allowing the 1 meter sample to cool to about 20 C., thereafter the average shrinkage of the 1 meter sample is measured.