Patent ID: 7835613

Claim:
Apparatus for holding fiber-optic ribbon containing a plurality of optical fibers comprising: a four-sided box formed by a solid bottom, two solid sides opposite each other and forming width and height of said box, and the other two sides forming the depth of said box while conforming to said height of said box, each of the other two sides having a plurality of similarly-shaped and regularly-spaced cut-outs formed therein opposite each other and extending from tops of said other two sides to near bottoms of said other two sides at a 45° angle measured from the plane formed by said solid bottom, thereby forming a like plurality of pairs of aligned cutouts on opposite sides of the width of said box; a cover forming the top of said box; and soft durometer material (SDM) filling said box to overflow capacity thereby forming an overflow-surface, said SDM having a like plurality of slits formed therein, each one of said slits being substantially parallel to said 45° angle, extending from said overflow-surface to a depth above said near bottoms and spanning said width of said box in alignment with a different pair of said aligned cutouts; whereby said SDM forms pairs of abutting walls of each one of said slits and envelops said optical fibers inserted into said slits, a different ribbon of said optical fibers inserted in each slit and exiting said box through its respective pair of aligned cutouts.