Patent ID: 7274850

Claim:
A fiber optic splice enclosure for housing an interconnection contained in a splice tray between at least one optical fiber of a feeder cable and at least one optical fiber of a drop cable, the optical fiber of the feeder cable being at least partially contained in a spliced feeder cable buffer tube and the optical fiber of the drop cable being at least partially contained in a spliced drop cable buffer tube, wherein the feeder cable or the drop cable includes one or more express buffer tubes that extend uninterrupted through the enclosure, the fiber optic splice enclosure comprising: a support frame arranged in the enclosure, the support frame including cable attachment positions for attaching the feeder cable and the drop cable; a basket arranged on the support frame and defining a containment structure having an area smaller than a surface area of the support frame for storing slack of the spliced feeder cable buffer tube and the spliced drop cable buffer tube transitioning to the splice tray, the basket being spaced away from the cable attachment positions of the support frame; an express buffer tube storage arrangement arranged on the support frame separate from the basket, the express buffer tube storage arrangement being sized to receive a substantial portion of the one or more express buffer tubes; and a splice tray mounting arrangement arranged near the basket for supporting the splice tray, the splice tray mounting arrangement being configured such that the splice tray is removable and wherein the basket is sized so as to be able to store sufficient slack of the spliced feeder cable buffer tube and the spliced drop cable buffer tube while maintaining a predetermined tube bend radius such that the splice tray is movable to a working position outside the enclosure.