Spartanburg, SC, August 3, 2020 – AFL, an international manufacturer of fiber optic cable, equipment and accessories, was awarded 12 new patents over the six months for technology and developments in connectivity, fiber management, fiber optic cable, fusion splicing, test equipment and conductor accessory products.
AFL's connectivity team received two patents. The first patent is for the AFL TITAN RTD® Multiport OSP fiber terminal, designed for quick and easy subscriber connections anywhere in the OSP network when used with AFL TRIDENT® Hardened Fiber Optic Connectors. The second patent is for the ASCEND® platform, a data center solution that provides Adaptable, SCalable, Enterprise, Network Deployment through a variety of modular cassettes and cable assemblies deployed in various size rackmount panels.
AFL Hyperscale received four patents. The first patent is for wall cabinets and fiber management trays that enable the splicing of high count OSP cables to ISP cables at the entrance facility of a hyperscale data center. The second patent is for optical distribution frames consisting of a large 6,912 fiber frame capacity with a unique inverted V adapter field design to provide greater visibility of port identification and cable management. Next, the lanyard system prevents furcation tails from getting tangled during installation. Finally, the push-pull boot connector for fiber optic cables allows for easy insertion and removal of fiber optic connectors, such as the MU and Nano connectors, in very high-density
patching applications.
AFL's conductor accessories team received two patents. The first is for single duplex clamps, part of a rail transit safety support system that prevents a contact wire from falling to the ground while electrically active in the event of a failure or breakage of that wire. The second patent is for a modular compression system that allows greater flexibility in design, allowing any length of barrel to be used without costly re-tooling or price increases for the use of larger steel forgings.
The test and inspection and fusion splicing team received three patents. The first patent is for a self-referencing method for bi-directional loss measurement. Used in AFL’s ROGUE OLTS Certifier, it enables ROGUE to test up to two fibers at a time bi-directionally measuring insertion loss, return loss and length on multimode and single-mode networks. The second patent is for an MPO test interface that dramatically reduces test time and offers highly accurate lossless power measurement in a contactless connection. And the third patent is for a new system and method for shaping optical fibers using improved user interfaces in conjunction with optical fiber processing machines. The technology is used to speed the development of equipment used for new, custom, or complex fiber shapes.
Finally, AFL's cable team received a patent for an innovative method and design for creating a helical fiber optic buffer tube within a cable.
To learn more about AFL, its products and services, visit AFLglobal.com.
About AFL
Founded in 1984, AFL is an international manufacturer providing end-to-end solutions to the energy, service provider, enterprise and industrial markets as well as several emerging markets. The company’s products are in use in over 130 countries and include fiber optic cable and hardware, transmission and substation accessories, outside plant equipment, connectivity, test and inspection equipment, fusion splicers and training. AFL also offers a wide variety of services supporting data center, enterprise, wireless and outside plant applications.
Headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, AFL has operations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan.
