Two-sided optical fiber management tray and method of use

Abstract

An arrangement for a fiber optic distribution network includes a fiber management tray having a first major side and an opposite second major side. The arrangement also includes a fiber optic cable including optical fibers. The fiber optic cable has first and second jacketed sections and an unjacketed mid-span access location positioned between the first and second jacketed sections. The unjacketed mid-span access location can be managed by the fiber management tray with drop splicing being performed at the first major side of the tray and the remainder of the fiber management and splicing being performed at the second major side of the tray.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fiber management apparatus comprising:
 a fiber management tray including a top side and an opposite bottom side, the fiber management tray defining at least one fiber routing path on each of the top and bottom sides of the fiber management tray, and the fiber management tray defining a fiber transition opening for transitioning optical fibers between the top and bottom sides, the fiber transition opening having an access structure for allowing optical fibers to be inserted into the fiber transition opening without axially inserting ends of the optical fibers through the fiber transition opening.   
     
     
         2 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the access structure includes a slot having an open end at a periphery of the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         3 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the access structure includes a slot having an open end at a side the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         4 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the fiber transition opening includes a main portion and a slot portion, the slot portion defining an access portion, the slot portion having an open end offset from the main portion. 
     
     
         5 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the access structure is defined at least in part by a portion of the fiber transition opening that is open at a side of the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         6 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the fiber management tray is elongated along a length of the fiber management tray, and wherein the fiber routing paths define fiber routing loops that are elongated along the length of the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         7 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the fiber management tray includes a tray main body defining a top surface at the top side of the fiber management tray and a bottom surface at the bottom side of the fiber management tray, and wherein the fiber management tray includes fiber guide walls that define the fiber routing paths, the fiber guide walls projecting downwardly from the bottom surface of the tray main body and upwardly from the top surface of the tray main body. 
     
     
         8 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the fiber guide walls include oppositely positioned, parallel side walls and curved end walls that extend between the side walls. 
     
     
         9 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the fiber management tray includes buffer tube anchoring locations. 
     
     
         10 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the buffer tube anchoring locations are at the bottom side of the fiber management tray and at the top side of the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         11 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one optical splice supported at the top side of the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         12 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising an optical component supported at the bottom side of the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         13 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the optical component is selected from the group consisting of an optical power splitter and a wavelength division multiplexer. 
     
     
         14 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a fiber optic cable including a plurality of optical fibers, the fiber optic cable having first and second jacketed sections and an unjacketed mid-span access location positioned between the first and second jacketed sections, the fiber management tray managing portions of the optical fibers that correspond to the unjacketed mid-span access location, the optical fibers including a first subset of optical fibers that are managed at the top side of the fiber management tray and a second subset of optical fibers that are managed at the bottom side of the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         15 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the first subset of optical fibers has fewer optical fibers than the second subset of optical fibers. 
     
     
         16 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein buffer tubes of the fiber optic cable are anchored to the bottom side of the fiber management tray, and wherein the fiber management tray includes one or more of the fiber transition openings, and wherein the first subset of optical fibers is routed through one or more of the fiber transition openings. 
     
     
         17 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a closure for housing the fiber management tray, wherein the fiber management tray is pivotally movable relative to the closure between a stowed position and an open position, and wherein the fiber management tray can pivot at least 180 degrees between the stowed position and the open position. 
     
     
         18 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising a tray mounting tower attached to a bottom portion of the closure for pivotally mounting the fiber management tray to the closure. 
     
     
         19 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 18 , further comprising a cable anchoring plate secured within the bottom portion of the closure, wherein the tray mounting tower elevates the fiber management tray relative to the cable anchoring plate when the fiber management tray is in the stowed position such that an open space is provided between the cable anchoring plate and the fiber management tray for routing and managing buffer tubes. 
     
     
         20 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the tray mounting tower includes a portion that extends beneath and is attached to the cable anchoring plate. 
     
     
         21 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 20 , wherein the tray mounting tower includes a latching post for latching one end of the fiber management tray when the fiber management tray is in the stowed position, and a pivot mount post for pivotally attaching an opposite end of the fiber management tray to the tray mounting tower. 
     
     
         22 . The fiber management apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein a signal splitting component is mounted to the bottom side of the fiber management tray, wherein splice holders are mounted to a bottom side of the fiber management tray, wherein splice holders are mounted at the top side of the fiber management tray, and wherein drop cables are spliced only at the top side of the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         23 . An arrangement for a fiber optic distribution network comprising:
 a fiber management tray having a first major side and an opposite second major side; and   a fiber optic cable including a plurality of optical fibers, the fiber optic cable having first and second jacketed sections and an unjacketed mid-span access location positioned between the first and second jacketed sections, the optical fibers including a first subset of optical fibers that are managed at the first major side of the fiber management tray and a second subset of optical fibers that are managed at the second major side of the fiber management tray.   
     
     
         24 . The arrangement of  claim 23 , wherein the optical fibers of the first subset are routed between the first and second major sides of the fiber management tray through one or more transition openings defined through the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         25 . The arrangement of  claim 24 , wherein buffer tubes of the fiber optic cable are anchored to the second major side of the fiber management tray. 
     
     
         26 . The arrangement of  claim 25 , wherein the first subset of optical fibers has fewer optical fibers than the second subset of optical fibers. 
     
     
         27 . The arrangement of  claim 23 , wherein at least one of the optical fibers of the first subset is spliced to an optical fiber of a drop cable at a splice location, and wherein the splice location is supported at the fiber management tray.