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US4070093A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Minimizing transmission path disabling due to defective transmission members of a communications cable

Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1976-08-26
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Granted: 1978-01-24
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Expires: 1996-08-26
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Abstract

Abstract The transmission members of a communications cable are effectively rearranged in their relative locations within a cable core of predetermined end array configuration, by assigning all defective members to a designated small area of the end configuration. As a result, when gang type connectors are applied at the cable core ends preparatory to straight-through splicing, the defective members are all relegated to a designated, fixed end region of the connector. When several such cables are spliced together, the defective members occasion a minimum of transmission path disabling, because they are largely connected to each other instead of being distributed throughout the entire cable cross section where their potential disabling impact would be proliferated. The approach is particularly advantageous for mitigating transmission path disabling in optical fiber cables in which the core consists of several stacked multi-fiber ribbons.

Inventors

  • 👤 Morton I. Schwartz

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-30 21:46
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02B; G02B6/00; G02B6/24; G02B6/36; G02B6/3608; G02B6/38; G02B6/3807; G02B6/3833; G02B6/3834; G02B6/3838; G02B6/3839; G02B6/3873; G02B6/3885; G02B6/44; G02B6/4401; G02B6/441; G02B6/4411; H; H01; H01B; H01B7/00; H01B7/08; G02B6/3628; G02B6/3632; G02B6/3636; G02B6/3664; G02B6/3676

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim 42 words
A communications cable comprising a core of transmitting members defined as a complete set including one or more defective members, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT the ends of the defective members are rearranged to appear only in a defined subset of adjacent end positions.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 42 words
A communications cable comprising a core of transmitting members defined as a complete set including one or more defective members, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT the ends of the defective members are rearranged to appear only in a defined subset of adjacent end positions.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 35 words
An optical fiber communications medium comprising a series of cables constructed as defined in claim 1 and connected so that said subsets of end positions mate only with each other at the points of connection.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 54 words
An optical fiber cable section comprising a core of fibers consisting of a stack of fiber-containing ribbons forming an x-y matrix of fibers at the section ends and including one or more non-transmitting fibers, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT the non-transmitting fibers are rearranged to appear only in a defined contiguous subset of fiber end positions.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 54 words
An optical fiber cable section comprising a core of fibers consisting of a stack of fiber-containing ribbons forming an x-y matrix of fibers at the section ends and including one or more non-transmitting fibers, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT the non-transmitting fibers are rearranged to appear only in a defined contiguous subset of fiber end positions.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 36 words
An optical fiber cable comprising a series of cable sections constructed as defined in claim 3 and connected so that said subsets of fiber end positions mate only with each other at the points of connection.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 30 words
The optical fiber cable section defined in claim 3 wherein said subset embraces at each end a corner of said matrix of fiber ends linked by the same fiber lines.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 19 words
The optical fiber cable section defined in claim 3 wherein said subset occupies a fixed portion of said matrix.
Claim 9
Independent Claim 44 words
A method of mitigating broken fiber effects in an optical fiber cable consisting of a core of fibers including one or more non-transmitting fibers, comprising the steps of rearranging the broken fibers to occupy positions only within a defined contiguous subset of fiber ends.
Claim 10
Independent Claim 44 words
A method of mitigating broken fiber effects in an optical fiber cable consisting of a core of fibers including one or more non-transmitting fibers, comprising the steps of rearranging the broken fibers to occupy positions only within a defined contiguous subset of fiber ends.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 40 words
The method of claim 7 comprising the further steps of connecting together two or more sections of cable with the fibers so rearranged that said subsets of fiber end positions mate only with each other at the points of connection.
Claim 12
Independent Claim 57 words
A method of mitigating broken fiber effects in an optical fiber cable comprising a core of fiber-containing ribbons, stacked to form at its ends an x-y matrix of fiber ends and including one or more non-transmitting fibers, comprising the step of: relocating all ribbons containing a non-transmitting fiber to the top-most contiguous ribbon positions of said stack.
Claim 13
Independent Claim 57 words
A method of mitigating broken fiber effects in an optical fiber cable comprising a core of fiber-containing ribbons, stacked to form at its ends an x-y matrix of fiber ends and including one or more non-transmitting fibers, comprising the step of: relocating all ribbons containing a non-transmitting fiber to the top-most contiguous ribbon positions of said stack.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 34 words
The method of claim 9 comprising the further step of: rotating one or more of said relocated ribbons to create the smallest possible subset of fiber ends within which said non-transmitting fibers are included.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 52 words
The method of claim 10, comprising the further steps of: removing an end length from each non-transmitting fiber; and shifting the transmitting fibers into side-by-side position thus to occupy any positions vacated by said non-transmitting fiber positions and to relocate all non-transmitting fiber positions in effect to one side of said core.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 44 words
An optical fiber cable comprising a plurality of fibers spaced cross-sectionally in a predetermined configuration, in which any broken fibers of said cable are arranged to appear only in a fixed designated zone of the fiber matrix at either end of the said cable.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 44 words
An optical fiber cable comprising a plurality of fibers spaced cross-sectionally in a predetermined configuration, in which any broken fibers of said cable are arranged to appear only in a fixed designated zone of the fiber matrix at either end of the said cable.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 48 words
A communications cable comprising a core consisting of a multiplicity of individual transmission paths including one or more defective paths CHARACTERIZED IN THAT the end configuration of the transmission paths is predetermined and the defective paths are rearranged to appear only in a defined subset of end positions.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 48 words
A communications cable comprising a core consisting of a multiplicity of individual transmission paths including one or more defective paths CHARACTERIZED IN THAT the end configuration of the transmission paths is predetermined and the defective paths are rearranged to appear only in a defined subset of end positions.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 44 words
The communications cable of claim 13, further comprising a connector at each end containing the multiplicity of individual paths in a fixed geometric end configuration with the defective paths appearing only in a fixed unvarying subset of connector end positions within said end configuration.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 42 words
A communications system comprising a plurality of connectorized communications cables as described in claim 14 joined together with the defective paths of each individual cable being connected in series relation through the mating of successive said end subsets only with each other.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 26 words
The communications cable of claim 14 wherein said core comprises a stack of ribbons containing optical fibers in a fixed x-y matrix of fiber end configuration.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3702275A Cited
US3728521A Cited
US3763586A Cited
US3786840A Cited
US3978275A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1981-01-23 1981-07-25 1982-01-24 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1985-01-23 1985-07-25 1986-01-24 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1989-01-23 1989-07-25 1990-01-24 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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