Patent ID: 8818156

Claim:
A furcation tube for providing fanout of a plurality of optical fibers from an optical fiber cable, the furcation tube having a first end and a second end, and comprising: a partition member; a protective jacket disposed about the partition member, the furcation tube having an outside diameter in the range between about 2.8 mm and 5.6 mm; and wherein the partition member defines a plurality of fiber channels extending from the first end to the second end of the furcation tube, each of the fiber channels sized to loosely receive at least twelve optical fibers having an individual outside diameter of at least 235 μm each such that the optical fibers contained within each channel of the furcation tube are free to move within the channel, and wherein the partition member further defines a plurality of longitudinal strength member channels extending from the first end to the second end, each strength member channel including one or more strength members disposed loosely therein.