Apparatus and method for winding tail section of optical fiber cable onto a spool

Abstract

Embodiments of a method of collecting a tail section of a long product, such as an optical fiber cable, are provided. In the method, a lead wire from a tail spool is unwound, and the lead wire is fed through a flange of a main spool. The tail spool and the main spool have a common rotation axis. The lead wire is attached to the long product. The tail spool is rotated while holding the main spool stationary so as to wind the lead wire and the tail section onto the tail spool. The rotation of the tail spool is stopped, and the main spool and the tail spool are rotated together so as to wind the long product onto the main spool. Also provided are embodiments of a winding apparatus using the tail spool and a tail reel that includes the tail spool and a drive mechanism.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of producing an optical fiber cable, comprising the steps of:
 extruding a cable jacket over a cable core to produce the optical fiber cable;   winding at least a portion of the optical fiber cable onto a tail spool of a winding apparatus; and   winding the remainder of the optical fiber cable onto a main spool of the winding apparatus, wherein the main spool and the tail spool have a common axis of rotation on the winding apparatus.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first winding step comprises engaging a drive wheel with an outer flange of the tail spool. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein during the first winding step, the method further comprises counting a number of rotations of the tail spool, and stopping winding of the tail spool when a predetermined number of rotations of the tail spool has been reached. 
     
     
         4 . A winding apparatus, comprising:
 a first upright leg;   a second upright leg spatially disposed from the first upright leg;   a first pintle extending from the first upright leg towards the second upright leg;   a second pintle extending from the second upright leg towards the first upright leg, the first pintle and the second pintle defining an axis of rotation;   a main spool carried on the first pintle and on the second pintle and configured for rotation about the axis of rotation;   a tail spool carried on the second pintle and configured for rotation about the axis of rotation; and   a controller configured to cause rotation of the tail spool independent of the main spool to take up a tail section of an optical fiber cable and to cause rotation of the main spool to take up windings of the optical fiber cable.   
     
     
         5 . The winding apparatus of  claim 4 , further comprising a first drive wheel controlled by the controller, the first drive wheel configured to drive rotation of the tail spool. 
     
     
         6 . The winding apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the first drive wheel resides on a mount configured to translate into contact with the tail spool to drive rotation of the tail spool and out of contact with the tail spool to stop driving rotation of the tail spool. 
     
     
         7 . The winding apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the tail spool comprises an outer flange having a first diameter and a drum having a second diameter, the second diameter being less than the first diameter;
 wherein the main spool comprises a first flange, a second flange, and a central barrel disposed between the first flange and the second flange, the first flange and the second flange having a third diameter and the central barrel having a fourth diameter less than the third diameter; and   wherein the drum of the tail spool is disposed between outer flange of the tail spool and the second flange of the main spool.   
     
     
         8 . The winding apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the controller automatically switches between causing rotation of the tail spool and causing rotation of the main spool after the tail spool has taken up the tail section. 
     
     
         9 . The winding apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to count the number of rotations of the tail spool and to stop the tail spool from rotating independently of the main spool when a predetermined number of rotations of the tail spool has been reached