Traceable cable with side-emitting optical fiber and method of forming the same

摘要

A traceable cable and method of forming the same. The cable includes at least one data transmission element, a jacket at least partially surrounding the at least one data transmission element, and a side-emitting optical fiber incorporated with and extending along at least a portion of the length of the cable. The side-emitting optical fiber has a core and a cladding substantially surrounding the core to define an exterior surface. The cladding has spaced apart scattering sites penetrating the exterior surface along the length of the optical fiber. The scattering sites scattering light so that the scattered light is emitted from the side-emitting optical fiber at discrete locations. When light is transmitted through the core, light scattered from the side-emitting optical fiber allows the cable to be traced along at least a portion of the length thereof.

主权项

1. A traceable cable formed by:
forming an optical fiber, wherein the optical fiber is formed by:
passing a glass core through a first die block that applies a UV-curable cladding onto the glass core to form an optical fiber, wherein the cladding has a lower index of refraction than the glass core;drawing the optical fiber past a laser, wherein the laser is pulsed as the optical fiber is drawn past the laser to selectively ablate portions of the cladding, the laser ablated portions defining scattering sites configured to allow the optical fiber to scatter light therefrom; andpassing the optical fiber through a second die block after selectively ablating portions of the cladding with the laser, wherein the second die block applies an acrylic coating over the cladding; and at least partially embedding the optical fiber within a jacket so that the optical fiber extends along at least a portion of a length of the jacket, wherein the jacket defines an exterior surface of the traceable cable.