AFL Receives 3 Patents

Four AFL employees have received three patents for their work in developing fiber optic products and technologies for telecommunications applications.

Brian Herbst, director of specialty cables, received a patent for a breathable down-hole fiber optic cable for use in the oil and gas industry. The cable’s outer protective tube comprises a number of optical fibers. At least one annulus is positioned between the outer protective tube and the fiber optic tube; and at lease one path extends through the length of the fiber optic cable, providing a channel for a purge gas to flow for removing a second gas, such as hydrogen, from the cable.

A patent for a removable two-piece wall plate assembly for telecommunication devices was awarded to Ted Lichoulas, R&D engineering manager, and Eddie Kimbrell, senior designer. The assembly — installed on apartments, condos and other multidwelling units — provides a multipiece cover plate that is connected to the inbound twisted pair phone line, and a modular device assembly. Electronics within the wall plate filter inbound signals, separating voice, data and video services from basic telephone signals and line noise.

Wayne Quesnel, development design engineer for AFL’s conductor accessories division, received a patent for a wedge dead end that supports optical ground wire, a fiber optic cable primarily used for the electric utility industry. The device, which shields conductors from lightning and provides a telecommunications path for internal as well as party communications, includes a single assembled frame comprising two plates.

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