Optical fiber cable containing ribbon fibers

Claim 2

An optical fiber cable comprising: a central member; a plurality of tube units wound around said central member in an alternating hand helix, said tube units having a plurality of superimposed ribbon units comprising a plurality of optical fibers held together in side-by-side relation, respectively, said ribbon units being loosely received in said tube units; a sheath of plastic material encircling said tube units; and a water blocking material in any otherwise empty spaces in said tube units and between said sheath and said tube units, wherein said plurality of superimposed ribbon units in said tube units form a group of ribbon units having a common axis in cross section and said group of ribbon units is twisted around said axis in an alternating hand helix with a same twisting pitch and twisting direction of said tube units wound around said central member, said tube units reversing said twisting direction with a predetermined reverse stranding angle φ, and wherein a clearance C between said superimposed ribbon units and said tube units is larger than 1.2 mm with a relation: C=2√di.sup.2 -W.sup.2 -T>1.2 where 2 di is a width of said ribbon unit, 2 W is a thickness of said superimposed ribbon units, and T is an inner diameter of said tube unit.

Claim 3

An optical fiber cable comprising: a central member; a plurality of tube units wound around said central member in an alternating hand helix, said tube units having a plurality of superimposed ribbon units comprising a plurality of optical fibers held together in side-by-side relation, respectively, said ribbon units being loosely received in said tube units; a sheath of plastic material encircling said tube units; and a water blocking material in any otherwise empty spaces in said tube units and between said sheath and said tube units, wherein said plurality of superimposed ribbon units in said tube units from a group of ribbon units having a common axis in cross section and said group of ribbon units is twisted around said axis in an alternating hand helix with a same twisting pitch and twisting direction of said tube units would around said central member, said tube units reversing said twisting direction with a predetermined reverse stranding angle φ, which is an angle measured around said axis between a first and a second reversing point of the alternating hand helix and given by, φ=Ψ+360 n where Ψ is an angle between 215 and 335 degrees, and n is zero or any positive integer, and a clearance C between said superimposed ribbon units and said tube units is larger than 1.2 mm with a relation, units and said tube units is larger than 1.2 mm with a relation: C=2√di.sup.2 -W.sup.2 -T>1.2 where 2 di is a width of said ribbon unit, 2 W is a thickness of said superimposed ribbon units, and T is an inner diameter of said tube unit.

Claim 4

An optical fiber cable comprising: a central member; a plurality of tube units wound around said central member in an alternating hand helix, said tube units having a plurality of superimposed ribbon units comprising a plurality of optical fibers held together in side-by-side relation, respectively, said ribbon units being loosely received in said tube units; a sheath of plastic material encircling said tube units; and a water blocking material in any otherwise empty spaces in said tube units and between said sheath and said tube units, wherein said plurality of superimposed ribbon units in said tube units from a group of ribbon units having a common axis in cross section and said group of ribbon units is twisted around said axis in an alternating hand helix with a same twisting pitch and twisting direction of said tube units would around said central member, said tube units reversing said twisting direction with a predetermined reverse stranding angle φ, which is an angle measured around said axis between a first and a second reversing point of the alternating hand helix and given by, φ=Ψ+360 n where Ψ is an angle between 215 and 335 degrees, and n is zero or any positive integer, and a clearance C between said superimposed ribbon units and said tube units is larger than 1.2 mm with a relation, units and said tube units is larger than 1.2 mm with a relation: C=2√di.sup.2 -W.sup.2 -T>1.2 where 2 di is a width of said ribbon unit, 2 W is a thickness of said superimposed ribbon units, and T is an inner diameter of said tube unit.