(12) United States Patent
`Clark
`
`111111
`
`1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
`US006282353Bl
`US 6,282,353 BI
`Aug. 28, 2001
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`(54) FIBER SPLICE PROTECTION SLEEVE
`
`5,970,749 * 10/1999 Bloom .................................... 65/378
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Brett G. Clark, Whites Creek, TN
`(US)
`
`(73) Assignee: Amherst Holding Co., Wilmington, DE
`(US)
`
`( *) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.c. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/429,644
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Oct. 29, 1999
`
`(51)
`Int. CI? ..................................................... G02B 6/255
`(52) U.S. CI. ................................. 385/99; 385/95; 385/98;
`385/96
`(58) Field of Search .................................. 385/99, 95-98,
`385/60, 135, 134, 136, 139
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4,586,610
`4,636,271
`4,655,129
`5,009,474
`5,119,464
`5,268,983
`5,386,490
`5,481,100 *
`5,506,876
`5,621,864 *
`5,706,380 *
`
`5/1986
`1/1987
`4/1987
`4/1991
`6/1992
`12/1993
`1/1995
`1/1996
`4/1996
`4/1997
`1/1998
`
`Gandolfo ............................. 206/485
`Gandolfo ............................ 156173.1
`Wirth et al. ............................ 101/35
`Wurmser et al. ...................... 385/94
`Freychet et al. ..................... 385/147
`Tatarka et al. . ... ... ... ... .... ... ... 385/106
`Pan et al. ............................. 385/134
`Terauchi ............................... 235/462
`Homer ................................... 377/15
`Benade et al. ....................... 395/117
`Le Noane et al. ..................... 385/95
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`11-119067 * 4/1999 (JP).
`88-47072 * 2/2000 (JP).
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner-Phan T. H. Palmer
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A fiber-splice protection label or sleeve for one or more
`optical fiber fusion splices. The label is provided with a
`unique indicium such as a serial number in alphanumeric
`and/or barcoded forms. The indicium may be in the form of
`a strip of paper, plastic, foil, or other suitable material
`inserted between the inner and outer sleeve or otherwise
`embedded in the unit. The serial number may also be printed
`directly on the inner sleeve, outer sleeve, or support rod,
`and/or in the form of a sleeve. A hologram and/or other
`security feature may be used to prevent tampering or cre(cid:173)
`ation of counterfeit units. The number of digits are prefer(cid:173)
`ably chosen to allow a large number of units to be sold
`without duplication of numbers. Special standardized pre(cid:173)
`fixes or other indicia may be chosen for government or other
`special applications. Serial numbers may further be encoded
`into a micro-miniature memory "chip" embedded in, e.g.,
`the outer sleeve. Advantages of uniquely labeling splices
`includes allowing splice data associated with various splices
`to be easily stored and indexed for later selective retrieval,
`accountability for defective or problematic splices, and more
`efficient troubleshooting.
`
`43 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
`
`400
`
`\
`
`402
`
`Page 1
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 28, 2001
`
`Sheet 1 of 10
`
`US 6,282,353 BI
`
`153
`
`VIDEO
`CAMERA
`
`154
`
`155
`
`SPLICER
`
`SPLICING
`APPARATUS
`
`OTHER
`SENSORS
`
`150
`
`152
`
`INTERFACE
`
`IMAGE
`DATA
`101
`
`175
`
`120
`
`OTHER
`DATA
`
`176
`
`121
`
`122
`
`BATTERY!
`~~~l~
`
`STORAGE
`DEVICE
`
`INPUT ~..r-""---~--;;~;;;;--.L--""
`DEVICE
`INTERFACE
`............. COMPUTER
`O~P~
`DEVICE
`
`STORAGE
`DEVICE
`
`123
`107
`
`102
`
`~
`
`106
`
`FIG. 1
`
`Page 2
`
`

`
`IMAGE
`DATA
`
`ESTIMATED
`LOSS (DB)
`
`CLEAVE
`ANGLES (DEG)
`
`SPLICE
`PROGRAM
`
`DATEfTIME OP
`MANUFACTURE
`
`OPERATOR
`
`SPLICER
`NO.
`
`INTALLED
`LOCATION
`
`INDICIUM
`(SPLICE
`NO.)
`
`31804
`
`31B05
`201 ......
`
`23A17
`
`72W42
`
`B
`
`B
`B
`
`0.07
`
`0.09
`
`0.06
`
`0.09
`
`0.14
`0.25
`
`0.21
`0.32
`
`0.48
`0.12
`
`0.17
`0.63
`
`1
`
`1
`
`4
`
`2
`
`2125199
`11:31 AM
`
`2125199
`11:53AM
`
`1115199
`2:47 PM
`
`12114198
`1:14 PM
`
`JONES
`
`JONES
`
`SMITH
`
`DOE
`
`2
`
`2
`
`1
`
`3
`
`FIG. 2
`
`CROSS-
`REFERENCE
`
`31B05,31806
`
`103-A1·B22
`
`31804,31B06
`
`103·A1·B23
`
`115·A7·103
`
`112·A3-72
`
`23A15,23A16,
`23A18
`
`72W40, 72W41 ,
`72W43, 72W44
`
`d •
`rJl
`•
`~
`~ .....
`~ = .....
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`C
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`e
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`io-oo"
`
`Page 3
`
`

`
`300't
`
`DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM
`
`301
`
`BAR CODE READER
`
`BATTERY I
`
`~I
`
`INTERFACE
`
`PROCESSOR
`
`I M~MO~Y I
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`104
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`302
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`105
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`FIG. 3
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`.1
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`:MPUTER
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`121./ I
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`•
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`
`DEVICE
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`Page 4
`
`

`
`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 28, 2001
`
`Sheet 4 of 10
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`US 6,282,353 BI
`
`400
`
`\
`
`402
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`FIG.4
`
`Page 5
`
`

`
`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 28, 2001
`
`Sheet 5 of 10
`
`US 6,282,353 BI
`
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`Page 6
`
`

`
`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 28, 2001
`
`Sheet 6 of 10
`
`US 6,282,353 BI
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`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 28, 2001
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`Sheet 7 of 10
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`US 6,282,353 BI
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`Aug. 28, 2001
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`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 28, 2001
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`Sheet 9 of 10
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`u.s. Patent
`
`Aug. 28, 2001
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`Page 11
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`

`
`US 6,282,353 Bl
`
`1
`FIBER SPLICE PROTECTION SLEEVE
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention is directed generally to optical fiber
`splicing, and particularly to fiber splice protection sleeves
`having unique serial numbers.
`
`5
`
`2
`aspects of the present invention, a data collection system
`may be used for collecting and storing splice data associated
`with splices. The data collection system may be connectible
`to a splicer such that data associated with the manufacture of
`the splice can be transferred to the data collection system for
`storage, analysis, and later retrieval. Splice data that may be
`transferred to and stored by the data collection system
`(and/or generated by the data collection system) may
`include, but is not limited to, an indicium (such as a serial
`10 number or other identifying data) that uniquely or semi(cid:173)
`uniquely identifies the splice, the splice program used to
`create the splice, the date and/or time of manufacture of the
`splice, the place that the splice was manufactured, the splice
`type, the fusion temperature used to create the splice, the
`15 fusion time, the operator's identity, the identity of the
`splicer, the anticipated or actual installation location of the
`splice in an optical fiber system, an image of the splice,
`and/or any cross-referenced splice indicia may be provided
`via the input device.
`Once the splice data is stored and appropriately organized
`by the data collection system, the splice data may be later
`retrieved for the purposes of providing accountability as to
`the source of the manufactured splice.
`Accountability is facilitated when each splice has an
`associated splice indicium that uniquely or semi-uniquely
`identifies the splice. The splice indicium may be or include,
`e.g., text, numbers, alphanumeric text, a symbol or symbol
`combination, bar coding, a pattern, graphics, a shape, a
`picture, an image, a holographic image, braille, a signature,
`a trademark, a color or color combination, a marking, an
`engraving and/or relief, an icon, a texture, and/or data within
`a memory of an electronic memory device such as a micro(cid:173)
`chip. According to aspects of the present invention, each
`splice may have a label on which the splice indicium is
`printed. What is important is that the splice indicium identify
`each particular splice having such splice indicium, either
`uniquely (i.e., completely unique amongst all splices) or
`semi-uniquely (i.e., unique within a particular group or
`sub-group of splices).
`Accordingly, some aspects of the present invention are
`directed to an apparatus for receiving splice data for each of
`a plurality of optical fiber splices, each of the plurality of
`optical fiber splices being uniquely identified by at least one
`45 of a plurality of splice indicia, the apparatus comprising a
`data interface for receiving the splice data; and a data storage
`device coupled with the data interface, for receiving the
`splice data and the splice indicia from the data interface and
`for storing the splice data and the splice indicia.
`Further aspects of the present invention are directed to an
`apparatus for selecting splice data for an optical fiber splice
`based on a selected splice indicium from a plurality of
`unique splice indicia, the selected splice indicium uniquely
`identifying the optical fiber splice, the apparatus comprising
`an input data interface for receiving the selected splice
`indicium; a data storage device coupled with the input data
`interface for storing the splice data and the plurality of splice
`indicia; a processor coupled with the data storage device for
`retrieving from the data storage device the splice data
`associated with the selected splice indicium; and an output
`data interface for outputting the splice data.
`Still further aspects of the present invention are directed
`to a method for storing splice data and splice indicia
`associated with optical fiber splices, the method comprising
`65 the steps of splicing a plurality of optical fiber portions
`together to create a plurality of optical fiber splices; gener(cid:173)
`ating splice data for each of the optical fiber splices; assign-
`
`BACKGROUND
`Many optical fiber systems today require splicing of
`optical fiber segments. Such splicing is conventionally
`achieved in many ways, such as using mechanical splices or
`fusion splices.
`When manufacturing a fusion splice, it is important that
`the two fiber ends that are to be fused together are precisely
`aligned with each other. Although in practice some mis(cid:173)
`alignment cannot always be avoided, any significant mis(cid:173)
`alignment may cause an unacceptably high optical loss to be
`provided by the splice. Further optical loss and other defects
`may also be incurred due to other problems with the manu(cid:173)
`facturing of a fusion splice, such as an incorrect fusing 20
`temperature, an incorrect duration of the fusion, and an
`unclean work area where the splice is made (e.g., foreign
`particles from the air that are absorbed into the fused area
`may increase the optical loss).
`Once a splice is manufactured and installed in an optical 25
`fiber system (e.g., an optical fiber network), it may be
`desirable to know certain information about the splice, such
`as the optical loss produced by the splice, the cleave angle
`of the splice, and generally the quality of the splice and other
`manufacturing-related information. It would be desirable to 30
`have access to such information in order to provide account(cid:173)
`ability as to the source of a particular splice and/or as to the
`cause of a possible defect in a particular splice. Such
`accountability would reduce the cost and time required to
`discover specific problems with a manufacturing process 35
`and/or installation process and to reduce or eliminate such
`problems. Such accountability of splice source and quality
`would also be useful since splice operators are often rated on
`the quality of splices that the operators manufacture.
`Unfortunately, there are not presently available any meth- 40
`ods or apparatus for collecting and storing information
`associated with splices (splice data), or for providing access
`to splice data, in order to determine particular splice char(cid:173)
`acteristics and to trace back the source of the manufactured
`splice. Should a splicer operator not perform his or her job
`properly, or should an otherwise acceptable splice be later
`sabotaged or otherwise damaged, there is presently no
`satisfactory way to determine the manufacturing source of
`the splice, or whether a particular splice was manufactured
`properly but was later sabotaged or damaged after the 50
`manufacturing process. Accordingly, there is a need for an
`apparatus and method for providing accountability as to the
`manufacturing source and quality of individual splices.
`One reason that no such systems presently exist is that
`splices currently are not uniquely identifiable. In other 55
`words, splices currently are not associated with a unique
`identifier or indicium (such as a serial number). Although
`some optical fiber cables have been uniquely identified,
`splices are not. However, without providing unique identi(cid:173)
`fication of splices, it would be nearly impossible to store 60
`splice data in such a way as to provide the desired account(cid:173)
`ability discussed above. Accordingly, there is a need for the
`unique identification of splices.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`Various aspects of the present invention solve at least the
`problems described above. For example, according to
`
`Page 12
`
`

`
`US 6,282,353 Bl
`
`4
`FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another exemplary
`embodiment of a splice according to aspects of the present
`invention.
`FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another exemplary
`5 embodiment of a splice according to aspects of the present
`invention.
`FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another exemplary
`embodiment of a splice according to aspects of the present
`invention.
`FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another exemplary
`embodiment of a splice according to aspects of the present
`invention.
`FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another exemplary
`15 embodiment of a splice according to aspects of the present
`invention.
`FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another exemplary
`embodiment of a splice according to aspects of the present
`invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENTS
`
`3
`ing each of the optical fiber splices a splice indicium from
`a plurality of unique splice indicia; and storing the splice
`data and the splice indicia in a storage device.
`Still further aspects of the present invention are directed
`to a method for retrieving splice data for an optical fiber
`splice based on a selected splice indicium from a plurality of
`unique splice indicia, the selected splice indicium uniquely
`identifying the optical fiber splice, the method comprising
`the steps of selecting the selected splice indicium; inputting
`the selected splice indicium to an input device; retrieving 10
`from a storage device coupled to the input device the splice
`data associated with the selected splice indicium; and out(cid:173)
`putting data representing the splice data.
`Still further aspects of the present invention are directed
`to an optical fiber splice comprising a first optical fiber
`segment and a second optical fiber segment, the first and
`second optical fiber segments being coupled together for
`optical communication therebetween at a splice location
`within the splice; and an indicium for uniquely identifying
`the optical fiber splice.
`Still further aspects of the present invention are directed
`to a method for manufacturing an optical fiber splice, the
`method comprising the steps of splicing optical fiber por(cid:173)
`tions together at a splice location to create the optical fiber
`splice; and labeling the optical fiber splice with an indicium 25
`that uniquely identifies the optical fiber splice.
`These and other features of the invention will be apparent
`upon consideration of the following detailed description of
`preferred embodiments. Although the invention has been
`defined using the appended claims, these claims are exem(cid:173)
`plary in that the invention is intended to include the elements
`and steps described herein in any combination or subcom(cid:173)
`bination. Accordingly, there are any number of alternative
`combinations for defining the invention, which incorporate
`one or more elements from the specification, including the
`description, claims, and drawings, in various combinations
`or subcombinations. It will be apparent to those skilled in
`optical fiber technology, in light of the present specification,
`that alternate combinations of aspects of the invention, 40
`either alone or in combination with one or more elements or
`steps defined herein, may be utilized as modifications or
`alterations of the invention or as part of the invention. It is
`intended that the written description of the invention con(cid:173)
`tained herein covers all such modifications and alterations. 45
`
`20
`
`Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of a data
`collection system 100 according to aspects of the present
`invention is shown to be connected to a splicer 150. The data
`collection system 100 preferably includes a data interface
`101 for receiving and/or transmitting data, a data storage
`device 102 for storing data, a processor 103 for controlling
`data flow, controlling the selection, retrieval, and/or storage
`30 of data, and/or controlling various operations of the data
`collection system 100, a battery/power source 104 for sup(cid:173)
`plying power to the various portions of the data collection
`system 100, an antenna 105 or other wireless interface, a
`clock 106, an input device 120, and/or an output device 123.
`35 The data collection system 100 may be fully or partially
`encased in a housing 107.
`The splicer 150 may include an interface 151, a processor
`152, a video camera 153 and/or other video input device,
`splicing apparatus 154 for splicing optical fiber cables,
`and/or other sensors 155 for determining information con-
`cerning a splice, such as optical loss of the splice.
`The data interface 101 of the data collection system may
`be permanently connected, or removably connectible, with
`the interface 151 of the splicer, an input device 120, and/or
`a computer 121. The various connections to the data inter-
`face 101 of the data collection system may be in any
`physical format (e.g., electrical, optical, wireless, etc.) and
`data format (e.g., digital, analog, serial, parallel, framed,
`50 packetized, synchronous, asynchronous, etc.). In one
`embodiment, the data collection system 100 may include a
`splicer input interface and connected to the splicer 150 as
`shown in FIG. 1. There may be one or more signal connec(cid:173)
`tions between the data collection system 100 and the splicer
`55 150. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, two signal
`connections 175, 176 are used, one for transferring image
`data associated with a video image of a splice, and the other
`for transferring other data (e.g., text and/or numerical data)
`associated with the splice. However, a single signal connec-
`60 tion for transferring both the image data and any other data,
`or any other combination of signal connections, may be
`used.
`The data storage device 102 may be any type of data
`storage device and may include any permanent and/or
`65 removably connectible storage medium (wherein data is
`stored on the removable storage medium). For example, the
`data storage device 102 may include a magnetic and/or
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`The foregoing summary of the invention, as well as the
`following detailed description of preferred embodiments, is
`better understood when read in conjunction with the accom(cid:173)
`panying drawings, which are included by way of example,
`and not by way of limitation with regard to the claimed
`invention. In the accompanying drawings, elements are
`labeled with three-digit reference numbers, wherein the first
`digit of a reference number indicates the drawing number in
`which the element is first illustrated. The same reference
`number in different drawings refers to the same element.
`FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a first exemplary
`embodiment of a data collection system according to aspects
`of the present invention.
`FIG. 2 is a chart of an exemplary set of data that may be
`stored according to aspects of the present invention.
`FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of another exemplary
`embodiment of a data collection system according to aspects
`of the present invention.
`FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment
`of a splice according to aspects of the present invention.
`
`Page 13
`
`

`
`US 6,282,353 Bl
`
`5
`optical disk drive, a magnetic and/or optical hard drive, a
`ZIP drive, a magnetic tape drive, memory (e.g., a random(cid:173)
`access memory), a removable memory card, a video cassette
`recorder, and/or any other data storage device and/or
`medium appropriate for storing data.
`The processor 103 may be embodied in any form, and
`may include one or more central processing units,
`computers, controllers, and/or any other dedicated or non(cid:173)
`dedicated circuitry or other device for controlling data flow,
`controlling the selection, retrieval, and/or storage of data,
`and/or controlling various operations of the data collection
`system 100. The processor 103 may preferably be config(cid:173)
`ured to select portions of splice data related to splice indicia.
`The battery/power source 104 may include a permanent or
`replaceable battery or bank of batteries, a rechargeable or
`non-rechargeable battery or bank of batteries, a solar array,
`and/or any other device for storing and supplying power.
`The input device 120 may include a button, keyboard/
`keypad, mouse, light pen, digitizer, optical scanner, optical
`wand, electromagnetic probe/wand, bar code reader, optical 20
`character recognizer, voice recognition device, microphone,
`touch-sensitive pad, video camera, video image recognizer,
`and/or any other automatic and/or manual input device
`appropriate for reading and/or receiving a splice-identifying
`splice indicium. The input device 120 may also be used by
`an operator/user for controlling operations of the data col(cid:173)
`lection system 100. One or more of the input devices 120
`may be coupled to the interface 101 of the data collection
`system 100.
`The computer 121 may be may include one or more
`central processing units, computers, controllers, and/or any
`other dedicated or non-dedicated circuitry or other comput(cid:173)
`ing device. The computer 121 may further include and/or
`may be connected to a data storage device 122. The data
`storage device 122 may include a magnetic and/or optical
`disk drive, a magnetic and/or optical hard drive, a ZIP drive,
`a magnetic tape drive, memory (e.g., a random-access
`memory), a video cassette recorder, and/or any other data
`storage device and/or medium appropriate for storing data.
`The data storage device 122 may store any or all of the
`information that may be stored in the data storage device 102
`of the data collection system.
`The output device 123 may be any device suitable for
`presenting data and/or other information to a user and/or to
`another device such as a computer. For example, the output
`device 123 may include a display (such as an LED display,
`an LCD display, a television screen, a video monitor, a
`fluorescent display, and/or a plasma display), a speaker, a
`piezo-electric audio output device, an electrical data output
`port and/or interface, an optical data output port and/or
`interface, and/or an electromagnetic wave data output port
`and/or interface with an antenna. One or more output
`devices 123 may be coupled to the interface 101 of the data
`collection system 100.
`In operation, the data collection system 100 may be used
`to collect splice data associated with splices. According to
`one embodiment of a method for collecting and/or using
`splice data, an operator or user may connect the data
`collection system 100 to the splicer 150. Splicers currently 60
`exist that collect and provide various forms of splice data.
`For example, the Ericsson FSU925PMA splicer has a serial
`port and a video output port for providing various data
`related to the manufacture of a splice.
`The user may select a particular splice program for the
`splicer 150 to follow, create a splice of an optical fiber cable
`using the splicer 150, and manually or automatically take
`
`6
`measurements of the splice to determine whether the splice
`meets certain quality standards. Such measurements may be
`taken immediately before, during, and/or immediately after
`the splice is created. For example, the splicer 150 may
`5 generate an image (such as a video image) of the splice
`immediately after the fusing of the optical fiber cables using
`a video camera 153. The image may be a still or a moving
`image and may be, e.g., about 1 MEyte of image data per
`splice. Preferably, and in order to obtain the most informa-
`10 tion from the image, the image may be taken while the
`fusion point is still hot. An advantage of creating and storing
`the image data is that such an image often will show whether
`there is dirt or other foreign particles in the splice (caused,
`e.g., by a dirty work area) that could cause optical loss and
`other problems with the splice. It cannot be determined from
`15 the estimated loss alone whether such foreign particles exist
`in a splice. Further, the splicer 150 may determine charac(cid:173)
`teristics of the splice such as the estimated optical loss of the
`splice and/or the cleave angle of the splice using the video
`camera 153 and/or other sensors 155.
`If it is determined that the splice does not meet quality
`standards, the splice may be discarded, and a new splice may
`be created and measured as described above. If the splice
`meets quality standards, the measurements taken and/or any
`other splice data may be transferred to the data collection
`25 system 100. Alternatively, the measurements and any other
`splice data may be always sent to the data collection system
`100, whereupon the data collection system may discard or
`store separately the data associated with a splice that is
`determined not to meet quality standards.
`The splicer 150 may transfer splice data (e.g., all or part
`of the image data, the estimated loss, and/or the cleave angle
`of the splice) to the data collection system 100 via the signal
`connections 175, 176 and received by the data interface 101.
`The splice data may be in any data format and may be analog
`35 and/or digital. For example, the data collection system 100
`may receive ASCII text data from the splicer 150 in RS-232
`serial format, and video data from the splicer 150 in MPEG
`format or other standard video format.
`Additional splice data may be provided via the input
`40 device 120. For example, a splice indicium that uniquely
`identifies the splice, the splice program used to create the
`splice, the date and/or time of manufacture of the splice, the
`place that the splice was manufactured, the splice type
`(which may be defined by the splice program), the fusion
`45 temperature used to create the splice (which may also be
`defined by the splice program), the fusion time (which may
`also be defined by the splice program), the operator's
`identity, the identity of the splicer 150 or the splicing
`apparatus 154, the anticipated installation location of the
`50 splice in an optical fiber system ("installed location"), the
`customer for whom the splice was created or installed,
`and/or any cross-referenced splice indicia may be provided
`via the input device 120. In some embodiments of the
`present invention, the input device 120 may include a bar
`55 code reader, wherein the manufactured splice may have a
`label with bar coding that uniquely or semi-uniquely iden(cid:173)
`tifies the splice (as discussed in more detail below), and the
`bar coding may be read using the bar code reader and stored
`in the data storage device 102.
`Additionally or alternatively, some or all of the splice data
`may be provided automatically from the splicer 150 via the
`signal connections 175, 176. Further, the date and/or time of
`manufacture may be automatically provided by the clock
`106 in the data collection system 100 (and/or in the splicer
`65 150).
`Any or all of the above-described splice data may be
`transferred to the data storage device 102, the computer 121,
`
`30
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`US 6,282,353 Bl
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`7
`the data storage device 122 via the computer 121, and/or the
`output device 123 for viewing by the operator. Transferring
`of splice data between the data collection system 100 and the
`computer 121 may allow for full handshaking and a faster,
`better-configured connection (e.g., a serial port connection)
`than with the splicer 150. Accordingly, the splicer 150 may
`alternatively be connected to the data collection system 100
`via the computer 121.
`The operator may manipulate some or all of the splice
`data and/or the operations of the data collection system 100
`and/or the splicer 150 using the input device 120. Further,
`any or all of the splice data may be selectively and/or
`automatically deleted, archived to long-term storage, and/or
`transferred between the data collection system 100 and
`another device such as a computer, and/or between the data 15
`collection system 100 and another data collection system.
`Upon receiving some or all of the splice data, the data
`storage device 102 and/or 122 may store the splice data in
`any format suitable for convenient retrieval at a later time.
`As it would be useful to retrieve splice data for a particular 20
`splice, it is preferable to associate the splice data with the
`particular splice to which the data belongs. For example, for
`each splice, the data storage device may store the splice data
`and the splice indicium in a unique data record. Further, the
`data storage device may index the splice data by splice 25
`indicium, and/or a database having access to the data storage
`device may be configured to access splice data according to
`splice indicium.
`One exemplary embodiment of how splice data may be
`organized in the data storage device 102 and/or 122 is shown 30
`in FIG. 2. The table in FIG. 2 represents one way to organize
`and index data in the data storage device 102 and/or 122.
`There are many ways to organize the splice data in order to
`be conveniently retrievable, depending upon the user's
`desires and the storage capacity of the data storage device. 35
`For example, the data categories (represented by the separate
`columns of splice data in the table) shown in FIG. 2 may be
`stored in a different order, there may be some data categories
`omitted, and/or there may be additional data categories. In
`some embodiments, the splice data may be stored and 40
`indexed using a database application. As can be seen in FIG.
`2, the data within the various categories of splice data are
`indexed by splice indicium. For example, splice no. 31B05
`(an example of an alphanumeric text indicium wherein any
`of the digits may be a number or a letter) has an associated 45
`image data 201, estimated loss of 0.09 dB, cleave angles of
`0.21 and 0.32 degrees, and date/time of manufacture of Feb.
`25,1999 at 11:53 am. One may also determine from the data
`as stored in the data storage device and as shown in FIG. 2
`that splice no. 31B05 was created by operator Jones and is 50
`installed at location 103-A1-B23. Of course, any of the
`splice data shown in the table of FIG. 2 (and stored in the
`data storage device 102) may be in any format as is
`convenient or necessary.
`Some or all of the splice data may be partitioned within
`the data storage device 102 and/or 122 to separate splice data
`associated with one optical fiber system from splice data
`associated with another optical fiber system. Further, some
`or all of the splice data may be encrypted and/or secured
`such that the secured splice data is retrievable only upon
`entry of an authorization code. There may be a different
`authorization code for each partition. In this way, certain
`data may be accessible only by authorized users. This may
`be required for some governmental uses and by some
`customers.
`FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a data
`collection system 300. The data collection system 300 may
`
`8
`include a bar code reader 301 (and/or any other input device
`such as the input device 120), a data interface 302, an
`antenna 105 (and/or oth