Description

The process of development of an optical fiber ribbon is described from the design stages to volume production. Fibers are color-coded, then passed in series through one or more tungsten-carbide disc to produce a matrix of regularly aligned fibers coated with resin, applied in either one or two layers. Both the fiber colors and the ribbon resin are set into place using UV ovens to polymerize the UV-sensitive material. The geometrical properties of the ribbon are dependent on several process parameters: die sizes, resin pressure and temperature, ribbon drawing speed and fiber payoff tension. Each of these variables is studied.