EP-4735940-A1 - INSPECTION DEVICE CONFIGURED TO PROVIDE ENHANCED INSPECTION OFFIBER COLOR ORDER IN RIBBONIZED FIBER OPTIC CABLE

EP4735940A1EP 4735940 A1EP4735940 A1EP 4735940A1EP-4735940-A1

Abstract

An inspection device may include an illumination portion configured to illuminate a fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected, an imaging portion configured to image an illuminated fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected, and a controller configured to inspect a fiber optic ribbon cable. The controller may be configured to control the imaging portion to generate an image of the fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected, to generate first image values from the image of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable, and to compare the first image values with stored second image values of a selected fiber optic ribbon cable comprising colored fibers arranged in a selected color order. The controller may be configured to determine whether the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are arranged in a same color order as the fibers of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable so as to enhance accuracy of determining that the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are in a correct order before termination of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable with a connector.

Inventors

TAMEH, TAHEREH AHMADI

Assignees

Belden Canada ULC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20240627

Claims (20)

1. An inspection device configured to provide enhanced inspection of a color order of colored fibers in a fiber optic ribbon cable, comprising: an illumination portion configured to illuminate a fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected; an imaging portion configured to image an illuminated fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected; a memory portion configured to store an RGB color map for each of a plurality of known fiber optic ribbon cable; a input portion configured to permit a user to select one of the known fiber optic ribbon cables; a controller configured to inspect a fiber optic ribbon cable;wherein the controller is configured to control the imaging portion to generate an image of a fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected; wherein the controller is configured to generate an RGB color map of colored fibers from the image of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable; wherein the controller is configured to compare the RGB color map from the image with the stored RGB color map; and wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are arranged in a same color order as the fibers of the selected known fiber optic ribbon cable so as to enhance accuracy of determining that the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are in a correct order before termination of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable with a connector.
2. The inspection device of claim 1 , wherein the inspection device is configured to output an indication of whether the fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected has a same fiber color order as the selected fiber optic ribbon cable.
3. The inspection device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform a calibration by causing the imaging portion to create a calibration image of a fiber optic ribbon cable, creating an RGB color map of the image, and comparing the RGB color map of the calibration image to a corresponding one of the stored RGB color maps.
4. The inspection device of claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to perform the calibration by adjusting the light portion if the RGB color map of the calibration image does not match the corresponding one of the stored RGB color maps.
5. The inspection device of claim 3, further comprising a calibration selection portion configured to cause the controller to perform the calibration when the calibration selection portion is selected by the user.
6. The inspection device of claim 3, further comprising a display portion, wherein the display portion is configured to display images of the known fiber optic ribbon cables for selection by the user.
7. An inspection device configured to provide an enhanced inspection of a color order of colored fibers in a fiber optic ribbon cable, comprising: an illumination portion configured to illuminate a fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected; an imaging portion configured to image an illuminated fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected; a memory portion configured to store image values for a selected fiber optic cable, wherein each of the selected fiber optic cables comprises fibers arranged in a known color order; a controller configured to inspect a fiber optic ribbon cable; wherein the controller is configured to control the imaging portion to generate an image of the fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected; wherein the controller is configured to generate image values from the image of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable; wherein the controller is configured to compare the generated image values with the image values of the stored image values of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable; and wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are arranged in a same color order as the fibers of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable so as to enhance accuracy of determining that the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are in a correct order before termination of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable with a connector.
8. The inspection device of claim 7, wherein the inspection device is configured to output an indication of whether the fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected has the predetermined color order.
9. The inspection device of claim 7, wherein the image values from the image comprise a first RGB color map and the stored image values comprise a second RGB color map.
10. The inspection device of claim 7, wherein the inspection device is configured to output an indication of whether the fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected has a same fiber color order as the selected fiber optic ribbon cable.
11. The inspection device of claim 7, wherein the image values of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable comprise RGB values, and the controller is configured to perform a calibration by causing the imaging portion to create a calibration image of a fiber optic ribbon cable, creating an RGB color map of the calibration image, and comparing the RGB color map of the calibration image to a selected one of the RGB values of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable.
12. The inspection device of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the calibration by adjusting the light portion if the RGB color map of the calibration image does not match the corresponding one of the stored RGB color maps.
13. The inspection device of claim 11 , further comprising a calibration selection portion configured to cause the controller to perform the calibration when the calibration selection portion is selected by a user.
14. The inspection device of claim 11 , wherein the memory portion is configured to store image values for a plurality of known fiber optic cables; wherein each of the known fiber optic cables comprises fibers arranged in a known color order; and wherein the selected fiber optic cable is one of the known fiber optic cables.
15 The inspection device of claim 14, further comprising a display portion, wherein the display portion is configured to display images of the known fiber optic ribbon cables for selection by a user.
16. An inspection device configured to provide an enhanced inspection of a color order of colored fibers in a fiber optic ribbon cable, comprising: an illumination portion configured to illuminate a fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected; an imaging portion configured to image an illuminated fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected; a controller configured to inspect a fiber optic ribbon cable; wherein the controller is configured to control the imaging portion to generate an image of the fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected; wherein the controller is configured to generate first image values from the image of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable; wherein the controller is configured to compare the first image values with stored second image values of a selected fiber optic ribbon cable comprising colored fibers arranged in a selected color order; and wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are arranged in a same color order as the fibers of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable so as to enhance accuracy of determining that the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are in a correct order before termination of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable with a connector.
17. The inspection device of claim 16, wherein the inspection device is configured to output an indication of whether the fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected has the predetermined color order.
18. The inspection device of claim 16, wherein the controller is configured to perform a calibration by causing the imaging portion to create a calibration image of a fiber optic ribbon cable, creating an RGB color map of the calibration image, and comparing the RGB color map of the calibration image to an RGB color map of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable.
19. The inspection device of claim 18, wherein the controller is configured to perform the calibration by adjusting the light portion if the RGB color map of the calibration image does not match the RGB color map of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable.
20. The inspection device of claim 18, further comprising a calibration selection portion configured to cause the controller to perform the calibration when the calibration selection portion is selected by a user.

Description

INSPECTION DEVICE CONFIGURED TO PROVIDE ENHANCED INSPECTION OF FIBER COLOR ORDER IN RIBBONIZED FIBER OPTIC CABLE CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/523,558, filed June 27, 2023, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present disclosure generally relates to a device for detecting a color order of colored wires in a cable. More particularly, the device is configured to canfirm the accuracy of an arrangement of colored fibers in a multi fiber cable. BACKGROUND [0003] In some types of optical cables, the cables may include a plurality of individual fibers. Such cables may include optical-fibers, for example. The fibers may be configured to be optically separate from each other such that each fiber may be configured to carry its own optical signal. Each of the fibers within such a cable may be configured with a color such that the color may be used to distinguish each of the fibers from each other. For example, each of the fibers may have a colored outer coating or jacket. [0004] In some implementations, portions of such optical-fiber cables may be ribbonized with the colored optical fibers arranged in a predesignated or particular order. Additionally, a plurality of types of such ribbonized optical-fiber cables may be assembled, where some of the types of optical-fiber cables may be assembled with a different order of colors of the optical-fibers. During the assembly of such optical-fiber cables, according to conventional processes, the order of the colors of the optical-fibers may be judged by human inspection and judgment. This may lead to errors in not detecting an improperly assembled cable having an incorrect order of the colors of the optical-fibers. Detecting such errors in the order of the colors of the fibers of the ribbonized cabies may be difficult because of the small size of ribbonized portion of the optical-fibers in one or both of a length and a diameter of the optical-fibers. [0005] It may therefore be desirable to provide an inspection device that is configured to detect whether the fibers are assembled in the ribbonized cable with a proper order of the colors of the fibers so as to avoid human error in such inspection. It may be desirable to provide a device that is configured to confirm the accuracy of an arrangement of colored fibers in a multi fiber cable before termination of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable with a connector. SUMMARY [0006] According to various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, an inspection may include an illumination portion configured to iliummate a fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected, an imaging portion configured to image an illuminated fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected, a memory portion configured to store an RGB color map for each of a plurality of known fiber optic ribbon cable, an input portion configured to permit a user to select one of the known fiber optic ribbon cables; and a controller configured to inspect a fiber optic ribban cable. The controller may be configured to control the imaging portion to generate an image of a fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected, to generate an RGB color map of colored fibers from the image of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable, and to compare the RGB color map from the image with the stored RGB color map. The controller may be configured to determine whether the fibers of the inspected fiber opticribbon cable are arranged in a same color order as the fibers of the selected known fiber optic ribbon cable so as to enhance accuracy of determining that the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are in a correct order before termination of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable with a connector. [0007] According to various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, an inspection device may include an illumination portion configured to illuminate a fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected, an imaging portion configured to image an illuminated fiber optic ribbon cable to be inspected, a memory portion configured to store image values for a selected fiber optic cable, wherein each of the selected fiber optic cables comprises fibers arranged in a known color order, and a controller configured to inspect a fiber optic ribbon cable. The controller may be configured to control the imaging portion to generate an image of the fiber optic ribbon cable being inspected, to generate image values from the image of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable, and to compare the generated image values with the image values of the stored image values of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable. The controller may be configured to determine whether the fibers of the inspected fiber optic ribbon cable are arranged in a same color order as the fibers of the selected fiber optic ribbon cable so as to enhance accuracy of determining that the fibers of the inspec