AFL awarded new patents for fiber-optic cable and connectivity, testing

AFL’s new patent recipients include (left to right): David Reeve, field support specialist; Chris Donaldson, R&D engineer; Wink Courchaine, senior engineer; and Eddie Kimbrell, senior designer. Not pictured are Sean Adam, general manager for test and inspection, and Ted Lichoulas, engineering manager.

AFL reports that it was recently awarded four new patents. The new patents cover technologies related to the company's Optical Connectivity and Apparatus (OCA) line, fiber-optic cable, and test and inspection products.

The first patent is for the company's "Integrated Distribution Enabling Access Solution" or IDEAA. The device is a small module that changes how passive optical splitters are deployed in a network by enabling standalone mounting capability. The modular distributed splitting platform decreases deployment costs and provides immediate savings for FTTx, cross-connect, and WDM applications, AFL asserts.

The second patent covers "Apparatus and Method for Preventing Optical Fiber and Gel from Ejecting out of Buffer Tubes in Fiber Optic Cables." The technology applies to cable designs with high excess fiber length (EFL), which have the potential for gel leakage and fiber movement from the buffer tube at the splice points due to extreme temperature variations. The method and apparatus covered in the patent obviates these issues by preventing movement of the fiber and leakage of the gel on live fiber systems.

The third patent, "Fiber Optic Connector Inspection Microscope with Integral Optical Power Measurement," describes technology that enables power measurement with the use of a scope. The last patent is a reissue for "High Fiber Count Package Inner Module," a packaging technology that protects connectorized cables during shipping.