Work holders – Plural holders to hold workpieces relative to each other – Workpieces parallel to each other
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-22
2001-01-30
Scherbel, David A. (Department: 3723)
Work holders
Plural holders to hold workpieces relative to each other
Workpieces parallel to each other
C269S903000, C144S286100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06179278
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a work station for use in fiber optic cable splicing and, more particularly, to a work station that is portable and suitable for use with various types of fiber optic cables in many diverse environments.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The use of communication cables which include a plurality of optical fibers is rapidly expanding. A fiber optic cable comprises a plurality of glass fibers, each of which is protected by at least one layer of a coating material. The optical fibers are assembled into units in which the fibers are held together by binder ribbons to provide a core. In one manufacturer's line of cables, the core is enclosed by a plastic tube and a plastic jacket.
During the service life of an optical fiber cable, the cable may become damaged. This may occur, for example, through unintentional contact by various kinds of excavation equipment, by lightning or by animal attacks. Such damage may be partial, in which case one or more optical fibers may be interrupted, or the damage may be total, such as a complete cable cut, for example.
In any case, it becomes necessary to restore service as quickly as possible. This may be done through splicing a repair fiber between “cleaned” ends of the damaged cable. The splicing may be done through an expedited temporary arrangement (i.e., a field splicing arrangement) while more work is under way to replace the damaged cable with an equivalent or enhanced system. A “field splicing” arrangement must be one which is easily installed and which is low in cost. Elements of the arrangement must be capable of being packaged quickly and efficiently, and should allow a repair technician to work in an efficient manner to prepare high quality splices.
Indeed, restoration splicing is known to be a very tedious task. It requires steady hands and a clean work environment to achieve high quality splices. Prior studies in assessing the quality of fiber splices have shown that if the technician is under stress, the splices may not be performed correctly and may need repeating multiple times to achieve an acceptable signal quality through the splice region.
A need remains, therefore, for a fiber splicing arrangement that will allow the technician to organize the work area and have a standard setup for splicing together fiber optic cables.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The need remaining in the prior art is addressed by the present invention, which provides a splicing station for use in fiber optic cable splicing and, more particularly, to a splicing station that is portable and suitable for use with various types of fiber optic cables in many diverse environments.
In accordance with the present invention, a fiber optic splicing station comprises a portable table including a flat top surface for supporting test equipment and the tools required to performing splicing operations. A recessed area is included in the table top for supporting the splice enclosure itself in an “out of the way”, yet accessible, position. A set of cable grips are disposed within the recessed area and used to hold the fiber cable in place during the splicing process. Advantageously, the grips may be of different sizes so as to adequately secure cables of different diameters. A number of fiber-holding clips are disposed on the surface of the table and used to layout and organize the various pairs of individual fibers to be spliced together.
Other and further advantages of the splicing station of the present invention will become apparent during the course of the following discussion and by reference to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 4177737 (1979-12-01), Brickman
patent: 4191111 (1980-03-01), Emmert
patent: 4281570 (1981-08-01), Hill
patent: 4335765 (1982-06-01), Murphy
patent: 4350193 (1982-09-01), McCambridge et al.
patent: 4489830 (1984-12-01), Charlesbois et al.
patent: 4588176 (1986-05-01), Anderton
patent: 4989654 (1991-02-01), Berkeley
patent: 5189725 (1993-02-01), Bensel, III et al.
patent: 5882155 (1999-03-01), Testa, Jr.
Eslambolchi Hossein
Huffman John Sinclair
AT&T Corp.
Scherbel David A.
Shakeri Hadi
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