Organizer for an optical fibre cable and method of providing a splice for an optical fibre cable

Abstract

An organizer for an optical fibre cable has at least two loop retaining sections ( 16; 33 ) facing each other with a predetermined distance such that a loop ( 10 ) of the optical fibre cable ( 12 ) is restrained between the loop retaining sections ( 16; 33 ) by an elastic resetting force of the looped optical fibre cable ( 10 ). Certain types of organizers are removably mounted to a base to be free-standing.

1 . A method of organizing an optical fiber cable comprising:
 routing a free end of an incoming optical fiber cable to a free end of an outgoing optical fiber cable to be spliced;   splicing the free ends of the incoming and outgoing optical fiber cables to form a spliced length of optical fiber cable;   storing the spliced length in an organizer having at least two loop retaining sections by:
 forming a loop by coiling the spliced length of the optical fiber cable such that a bend radius of the fibers of the spliced length are close to, but not smaller than, a minimum bend radius of the fibers, and 
 restraining the loop between the at least two loop retaining sections by an elastic resetting force of the loop. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the loop is retained in an oval form. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the loop has two essentially semicircular end sections providing a convex outer contour with a middle section preferably supported by the two loop retaining sections which defines a concave outer contour. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two loop retaining sections oppose each other. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the organizer includes fiber cable fixation devices for fixing the incoming and outgoing fiber cables. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , where the organizer of the present invention comprises a splice receptacle adapted to receive a splice holder for a splice connection. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising introducing the spliced length into the splice receptacle. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising clamped the spliced length at the splice receptacle. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the organizer has a generally C-shaped loop supporting element including a foot portion and a head portion, these two portions are arranged opposite to each other and are connected by a lug portion. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the foot portion and the head portion each define one of the loop retaining sections so that the loop retaining sections face each other. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the foot portion defines a U-shaped loop foot receptacle, which is adapted to receive a foot section of the loop, and wherein the head portion defines a U-shaped loop head receptacle adapted to receive a head section of the loop. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a distance between the two loop retaining sections is usually 5 to 15% larger than twice the minimum bend radius. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the organizer includes a cover that mounts over at least one of the loop retaining sections. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the organizer includes a base element defining cable guiding in and cable guiding out passages leading to one of the loop retaining sections. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising mounting a cover to the organizer to enclose a first of the loop retaining sections. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the cover encloses both loop retaining sections. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the spliced length of optical fiber is coiled outside of the loop retaining sections. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising removing the loop from the organizer by lifting a portion of the loop from one of the loop retaining sections and passing the lifted portion through a gap defined between the loop retaining sections. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a distance between the loop retaining sections is between 5.8 and 6.8 cm. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein fibers of the incoming and outgoing optical fiber cables are bend insensitive fibers.