Wall mounted fiber splice enclosure

Details Wall mounted fiber splice enclosure Wall mounted fiber splice enclosure

1999-08-31

2001-06-26

Palmer, Phan T. H. (Department: 2874)

Optical waveguides

Accessories

Splice box and surplus fiber storage/trays/organizers/ carriers

C385S134000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06253016

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to telecommunications equipment generally and more specifically to enclosures for optical fibers.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Optical fiber communication networks have gained wide acceptance in place of the use of electrical cable systems, due to the significantly enhanced bandwidth capabilities of optical fiber and its immunity to electromagnetic and radiomagnetic interference. Very significant advantages are achievable by the use of optical fiber rather than electrical conduction media Nevertheless, a continuing problem with the deployment of optical fiber systems is providing a method to terminate optical fiber cables so as to make electrical or optical connections to fibers within the cables while providing adequate environmental protection and allowing for easy installation.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,913,522, 5,155,794 and 5,602,954 to Nolf et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,253 to Franckx et al. are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. These patents describe an enclosure for a butt splice of optical fiber cables.
FIG. 1
of the present application shows FIG. 10
b
of the above-identified Nolf patents. The enclosure includes a base plate
1
and a dome-shaped cover (not shown), which together form a hollow article for use as a butt splice case for optical fibre cables
13
. Outlets (not shown) are provided in the base
1
through which the cables
13
pass.
The hollow article contains an optical fibre organizer
30
which comprises a series of trays
5
. Each tray includes means
6
for accommodating splice tubes (not shown) which house fibre splices (not shown). The trays
5
are held in an orderly fashion on a carrier
7
which is fixed to the base
1
. The trays are hinged along their short edges. The hinging allows chosen trays to be exposed for insallation or the repair of the splice, etc.
The use of round closures is ideal for applications in which the closure is buried, because the round closure is capable of withstanding extremely high pressures.
The above-described design of fiber trays for a round closure does, however, have disadvantages. For example, the fiber slack in the round closure must be placed below the fiber trays, so the trays must be moved to access the fiber slack.
Alternative closure designs with more convenient fiber access are desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an assembly including an enclosure having a first side capable of being mounted on a wall, and a ledge on a second side opposite the first side. A first optical fiber tray has a top side for holding a fiber. A tray carrier is contained within the enclosure. The first tray is pivotally mounted on the tray carrier. The first tray has a first position on the tray carrier that is suitable for storing the first tray within the enclosure. The first tray is rotatable to a second position in which a bottom surface of the first tray rests on the ledge of the enclosure.
Another aspect of the invention is an assembly including an enclosure having a first side capable of being mounted on a wall. The assembly includes a plurality of optical fiber trays, each tray having a top side for holding a fiber . A tray carrier is contained within the enclosure. Each tray is pivotally mounted on the tray carrier. Each tray is rotatable to a first position that is suitable for storage in the enclosure with the trays parallel to and stacked upon each other. Each tray is rotatable to a second position. The top side of one of the trays is exposed when at least one of the trays is in the second position.
Still another aspect of the invention is a method of enclosing optical fiber splices. The method includes mounting a fiber enclosure on a wall. A plurality of optical fiber splice trays are pivotally mounted in the enclosure, so that each tray is rotatable to a first position that is suitable for storage in the enclosure with the trays parallel to and stacked upon each other.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4913522 (1990-04-01), Nolf et al.
patent: 5071220 (1991-12-01), Ruello et al.
patent: 5155794 (1992-10-01), Nolf et al.
patent: 5249253 (1993-09-01), Franckx et al.
patent: 5323480 (1994-06-01), Mullaney et al.
patent: 5602954 (1997-02-01), Nolf et al.
patent: 5619608 (1997-04-01), Foss et al.

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