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Patent 2076070 Summary

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Claims and Abstract availability

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(12) Patent Application: (11) CA 2076070
(54) English Title: EMPTY CONDUIT WITH DETACHABLE CABLE ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME
(54) French Title: CONDUITE VIDE MUNIE D'UN ENSEMBLE DE CABLE AMOVIBLE
Status: Deemed Abandoned and Beyond the Period of Reinstatement - Pending Response to Notice of Disregarded Communication
Bibliographic Data
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC):
  • H02G 3/04 (2006.01)
  • F16L 3/237 (2006.01)
  • F16L 3/26 (2006.01)
  • G02B 6/44 (2006.01)
  • H01B 7/00 (2006.01)
  • H01B 7/38 (2006.01)
  • H02G 1/08 (2006.01)
  • H02G 9/06 (2006.01)
(72) Inventors :
  • COLE, JAMES A. (United States of America)
(73) Owners :
  • INTEGRAL CORPORATION
(71) Applicants :
  • INTEGRAL CORPORATION (United States of America)
(74) Agent: MOFFAT & CO.
(74) Associate agent:
(45) Issued:
(22) Filed Date: 1992-08-13
(41) Open to Public Inspection: 1993-02-17
Examination requested: 1999-08-13
Availability of licence: N/A
Dedicated to the Public: N/A
(25) Language of filing: English

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): No

(30) Application Priority Data:
Application No. Country/Territory Date
07/745,727 (United States of America) 1991-08-16

Abstracts

English Abstract


"EMPTY CONDUIT WITH DETACHABLE CABLE
ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME"
Abstract
An empty conduit with a communication cable of one type
detachably connected to the outer wall of the conduit enables the
future installation of one or more communication cables,
particularly of a different type, within the conduit. Illustrated
detachable connections include frangible surrounding jacket,
frangible web and a resilient grasping extension assembly.


Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:-
1. A cable conduit having outer and inner walls for
receiving a length of a subsequently installed cable to be drawn
through said conduit, the improvement comprising:
an original cable paralleling and connected with
said outer wall and of said conduit;
attachment means detachably connecting said
original cable to said outer wall of said conduit.
2. The improvement in accordance with Claim 1, wherein
said attachment means is a frangible jacket.
3. The improvement in accordance with Claim 1, wherein
said attachment means is a frangible web.
4. The conduit in accordance with Claim 1, wherein
said attachment means is a resilient grasping extension assembly.
5. The improvement in accordance with Claim 1 wherein
said original cable and said subsequently installed cable are
different types of communication cables.
6. The improvement in accordance with Claim 5 wherein
said subsequently installed cable is an optical fiber cable.
- 7 -

Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


~7~
Field of the Invention
This invention relates generall~ to communication cable
~y~tem~, more particularly ~o cable conduit and cable a~emblies,
and even more particularly to cable conduit and cable assen~lies
with means for expanding cable capability.
Backqround of the Invention
The continuing dynamic growth in the communications
industry has resulted in the ever increasing demand for additional
and different types of communication cables. For example, the
initial installation of telephone cables in a particular locality
iS 800n overloadad, with additional cable installations required
to meet the expanding communications requirements in that
locality. Furthermore, while the vast majority of present day
telecommunication, video and data transmi6sion~ are over twisted
,pa~r telep}lone and coaxlal cables, optlcal fi~er cable~ are
clearly becoming the future transmission media for the
com~lunications industry. ~s a consequence, it become~ imperativ0
that existing non-optical fiber cable assembly ~nstallations
incorporate assemblies which provide not only for additional
future cable installations, but also the capability of installing
optical 1ber tranBmi~Sion cable~ in the futur~ with~ut the need

~?7~ 0
of unearthing or replacing the initial in~talla-tion~. .
Description of the Prior ~rt
There are existing prior art 6ys-tems which have
attempted-to provide this expanded cable capability. For example,
U.5. Paten-t No. 3,862,349 di6clo~es an underground telephone cable
as~embl~ in~tallation in which the -telephone cable i8 di~po~ed
inside a flexible outer housing having an out~ide diame-ter
suffi~iently larger than the contained tel~phone cable B0 aB to
provide fo~ Euture placemen-t of at least one additional cable, a
pull wire also being installed along side of the exi~ting cable
~or this futu~e placement. U.S. Patent No. 3,383,456 di~clo~es a
flexible conduit with the electrical conductors belng provided
within or adjacent the conduit wall so that additional conductors
when needed may be drawn through the corlduit at a later time
without having to remove the conduit.
While these prior art sy3tem~ in a broad sen~e enable
expanded cable capability, they are not completely ~ati~factory
and have a number of disadvantages a~sociated therewith. For
example, in addition to the fact that the existing cable or
conductors are located inside the conduit and would thu~ interfere
with the future placement of additional ca~les therein, as well as
increasing the pulling resistance of the future cable
installation, the overall construction and des~gn of the prior art
sy~tems are deficient in many material respects.
Ob~ect~ of the Invention
It i~ therefore the principal ob~ect of thi~ invention
to provide a new and improved conduit/communication cable a~embly
which provides for expanded cable c~pability for ~he future.
It is a Eurther ob~ect of the pre~ent ihvention to
provide a new and improved conduit/communication cable a~e~bly
which enables subsequent additions or upgrades to the existing
cable in~tallation at a minimum of installation C08t and a minimum
of inconvenience to the cu~tomer.
- ~ '
.. . . ...

i! 2~7~i~70
It is a still further object of t}liB invention to
provide an empty cable conduit and associated communication cable
assembly with new and improved means and methods for as~ociating
the cable with the conduit.
Summary of the Invention
In accordance with the aforelisted and other objects,
the present invention is directed to a conduit/communication cable
. assembly in which the existing communication cable is detachably
connected at the ou-ter surface of a flexible, elongated empty
cable condui-t, wi-th means provided for the fu-ture in~tallation of
one or more communication cables within the empty conduit long
after the condui-t/cable assembly has been installed underground.
In accordance wi-th one particular feature of ths invention, the
detachably connected cable is of ona type, for example a twisted
pair telephone cable, while the subsequently installed cable i8 of
a different type, for example an optical fiber cable.
Specific and additional features of the invention, a~
well as additional objects and advan-tages thereof, will become
readily understood by those skilled in the art from the following
detailed description, taken in conjunc~ion wi~h the accompanying
drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawinqs
.
Fiyure 1 is a partial perspec~ive view of a section of
the conduit and original communication cable combination in
accordanc~ with the teachlngs of the pxe~ent invention,
illustrating in phantom an optical fiber cable which will be
pulled through the conduit in the future;
Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the conduit and
origin~l communication cable illustrating one method of attachment
of the original communication cable to ~he condult;
F~gure 3 i~ a cro~ ~ectional view o th~ condu~t and

li 2~
origlnal communication cable illus-tr~-ting a 3econd me~hod of
attachment of the original communication cable to -the conduit;
Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the conduit and
original communication cable illustrating a third method of
attachment of the original communication cable to the conduit;
Figure 5 is a diagrammatical view of the conduit and
cable combination, illustra-tin~ the ends of the cable having been
de-tached or stripped from the conduit surface.
, ~he drawings are not neces~arily to scale, and cartain
portions may have been exaggerated to emphasize certain details of
the invention.
Description of the Preferred Embodimen-t
In the description which follows, like parts are
indica-ted throughout -the fipecification (and drawings~ with -the
6ame re~pective reference numeral~.
Referring ini-tially-to FIGVRE l of the drawings, a cable
conduit 12 having an ou-ter wall 14 and an lnner wall 16 i~
depicted. The cable conduit 12 is of the typ0 conventionally
known in the industry and is generally formed by the extrusion of
polymeric material, such as a polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride,
to form an elongated, flexible duct to serve a~ a protective
underground housing for a communication tran6mission cable. One
such form of conduit i8 currently being sold by Integral
Corporation of Dallas, Texas, the as6ignee of this inventionr
under the CABLECON tLademark.
In ac~ordance wi~h conventional approache~, the cable
conduit is buried underground with the particular transmis~ion
cable normally either already having been pre-lnserted within the
conduit or inserted within the conduit after the conduit i~
buried.
In accordance with the present inven~ion, however, and
with reference again -~o FIGU~E 1, the tran~mi8~ion cable 10 i~

~2~7~ 7~ ~
attached -to and in parallel with the outer wall 14 of conduit 12. .
Thi6 a8semh]y i6 then installed underground, and cable 10 provide~
the initial communication link at the time of installation. The
cable 10 will therefore be hereinaf-ter referred -to a~ the
"original cable", and under present day applications woul~
normally be ei-ther a twisted pair or coaxial type cable. The
conduit 12, b~ing completely empty, thus serves as a raceway for
the future insertion of a cable 20. Cable 20 will therefore be
hereinafte~ referred to as the "subse~uently installed cable", and
in this example would be an optical fiber cable.
To facilitate the future installa-tion of thP
subsequently installed cable, a 6tring or pull member lB (FIGURES
2-4~ is also preinstalled in the conduit 12, paralleling the
length of the condui-t, for use in pulling or clrawing ln the cable
20 through the empty condui-t. In addition, it is desirable that
the inner wall 16 of the conduit be prelubricated or formed of
prelubricated material to facilitate this cable pull-through.
In accordance with a principal feature of the present
invention, the original cable 10 is detachably connected to the
conduit wall 14 so that -the cable, when neces8axy, may be
~eparated or stripped ~ om the conduit 12 at it~ ~plicing ends
lOa, as illustrate ~ FIGURE 5. Accordingly, ~hree different
methods or embodiments for effec-ting this detachable conn~ction
are respectively depicted in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, and are now
described.
Referring to FIGU~E 2, the conductor cable 10 ifi
removably attached, and held in parallel proxi~ity, to the conduit
12 by a frangible polymer ~acket 24 formed along the length of the
ca~le-conduit assembly (a~ illustrated in FIGUR~ 1). This ~acket,
preferably of a thickness not greater than .030 inche~, may be co-
extruded at the same time as the e~trusion of conduit 12, with the
original cable 10 being positioned between the outer wall 14 and
~acket 24 during the co-extru~ion proce~.

29:?7~0
Alternatively, and wi-th reference to FIGURE 3, a thin
frangible web 26 may be formed intermediate, and along the length
of, the cable 10 and conduit surface 14, the web 26 retaining the
original cable 10 to conduit 12 until it is broken to Eree the
ends lOa from the conduit outer wall.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 4, a pair of
resilient grasping extensions 28 wi-th retention fingers 28a may be
integrally formed as part of, and at the time of the extrusion of,
the conduit 12, these ex-~ensions retaining the cable 10 in
parallel and proximate to the conduit wall 14. In this example,
the original cable lO will be removably connected with the conduit
after the completion o~ the extrusion process.
The detachable connection o original cable 10 with
conduit 12 enables the release of the cable, as shown in FIGURE 5,
in order to alter -the direction of the flow of the cable and
conduit at the splicing ends, for example. In -the example ~hown
in FIGURRS 1-3, the detachmen~ will be ef~ec-ted by ~electively
fracturing the jacket 24 or web 26; in the example shown in FIGURE
4, the cable 10 i5 selectively pulled free from the resilient
grasp of grasping assembly 28.
, While preferred embodimen-t~ o the present invention
have been shown and described herein, further modifications and
improvements may be made by those skilled in the art without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as solely
defined by the appended claims.
.::

Representative Drawing
A single figure which represents the drawing illustrating the invention.
Administrative Status

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Event History

Description Date
Inactive: IPC from MCD 2006-03-11
Inactive: IPC from MCD 2006-03-11
Inactive: IPC from MCD 2006-03-11
Inactive: IPC from MCD 2006-03-11
Inactive: IPC from MCD 2006-03-11
Inactive: IPC from MCD 2006-03-11
Inactive: IPC from MCD 2006-03-11
Application Not Reinstated by Deadline 2002-08-13
Time Limit for Reversal Expired 2002-08-13
Deemed Abandoned - Failure to Respond to Maintenance Fee Notice 2001-08-13
Letter Sent 1999-08-26
Inactive: Status info is complete as of Log entry date 1999-08-26
Inactive: Application prosecuted on TS as of Log entry date 1999-08-26
All Requirements for Examination Determined Compliant 1999-08-13
Request for Examination Requirements Determined Compliant 1999-08-13
Application Published (Open to Public Inspection) 1993-02-17

Abandonment History

Abandonment Date Reason Reinstatement Date
2001-08-13

Maintenance Fee

The last payment was received on 2000-08-08

Note : If the full payment has not been received on or before the date indicated, a further fee may be required which may be one of the following

  • the reinstatement fee;
  • the late payment fee; or
  • additional fee to reverse deemed expiry.

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Fee History

Fee Type Anniversary Year Due Date Paid Date
MF (application, 5th anniv.) - small 05 1997-08-13 1997-07-02
MF (application, 6th anniv.) - small 06 1998-08-13 1998-06-18
Request for examination - small 1999-08-13
MF (application, 7th anniv.) - small 07 1999-08-13 1999-08-13
MF (application, 8th anniv.) - small 08 2000-08-14 2000-08-08
Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
INTEGRAL CORPORATION
Past Owners on Record
JAMES A. COLE
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Drawings 1999-09-13 1 29
Abstract 1993-11-05 1 16
Cover Page 1993-11-05 1 15
Claims 1993-11-05 1 29
Drawings 1993-11-05 1 27
Description 1993-11-05 6 267
Representative drawing 1992-10-15 1 9
Reminder - Request for Examination 1999-04-14 1 117
Acknowledgement of Request for Examination 1999-08-26 1 193
Courtesy - Abandonment Letter (Maintenance Fee) 2001-09-10 1 185
Correspondence 1993-02-23 2 72
Fees 1999-08-13 1 35
Fees 1997-07-02 1 35
Fees 1998-06-18 1 42
Fees 2000-08-08 1 35
Fees 1996-07-11 1 43
Fees 1995-05-03 1 41
Fees 1994-08-03 1 38