US 12,001,070 B2
Flexible optical-fiber ribbon
Ehsan Fallahmohammadi, Columbia, SC (US); Clint Nicholaus Anderson, West Columbia, SC (US); Brian G. Risch, Granite Falls, NC (US); Andrea Terry, Charlotte, NC (US); John R. Sach, Chapin, SC (US); Jeffrey Scott Barker, Statesville, NC (US); and Ryan Truong, Hickory, NC (US)
Assigned to Prysmian S.p.A., Milan (IT)
Filed by Prysmian S.p.A., Milan (IT)
Filed on Apr. 26, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/139,521.
Application 18/139,521 is a continuation of application No. 17/591,866, filed on Feb. 3, 2022, granted, now 11,656,417.
Application 17/591,866 is a continuation of application No. 16/856,268, filed on Apr. 23, 2020, granted, now 11,256,051.
Application 16/856,268 is a continuation in part of application No. 16/247,008, filed on Jan. 14, 2019, granted, now 10,782,495.
Claims priority of application No. PCT/EP2018/050899 (WO), filed on Jan. 15, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2023/0266549 A1, Aug. 24, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G02B 6/44 (2006.01)
CPC G02B 6/4403 (2013.01) 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An optical-fiber ribbon, comprising:
(i) a plurality of respectively adjacent optical fibers extending in a longitudinal direction and arranged in parallel to form an optical-fiber assembly, wherein each optical fiber includes, from its center to its periphery, a glass core, a glass cladding, a primary coating, and an outermost secondary coating comprising a cured first curable resin; and
(ii) a plurality of successive elongated rectilinear beads comprising a cured second curable resin arranged along the optical-fiber assembly, wherein the beads are configured to form elongated bonds between adjacent optical fibers in the optical-fiber assembly;
wherein, as measured by a T-peel test, the force required to separate one optical fiber from the optical-fiber ribbon is between 0.01 N and 0.2 N; and
wherein, along at least a portion of the optical-fiber ribbon that includes one or more elongated rectilinear beads, each bead is configured so that when removing an optical fiber during optical-fiber breakout the corresponding point of failure occurs (i) within the bead without damaging the optical fiber's primary coating and/or the optical fiber's outermost secondary coating, and/or (ii) at the interface between the bead and the outermost secondary coating without damaging the optical fiber's primary coating and/or the optical fiber's outermost secondary coating.