A continuous length of fiber from a fiber supply is wound onto first and second sections of a spool by an apparatus and method that collect a first portion of the continuous length of fiber from the fiber supply, wind the collected first portion onto the first section of the spool, and wind a second portion of the continuous length of fiber onto the second section of the spool.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for winding a continuous length of fiber onto a spool and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for winding a continuous length of optical waveguide fiber onto first and second sections of a spool.
2. Description of the Related Art
A manufacturer of optical waveguide fiber (optical fiber) typically must dispense sections of optical fiber from a bulk spool, which contains a large amount of optical fiber, onto respective shipping spools, which are sent to customers. Both ends of the optical fiber on the shipping spool must be readily accessible for testing. Therefore, the manufacturer winds a first portion of the optical fiber onto a sample section of the shipping spool and winds the remainder of the optical fiber onto a separate, main section of the shipping spool. A conventional process for winding the optical fiber onto the sample and main sections of the shipping spool involves both manual and automatic winding steps. Specifically, at a manual winding station, an operator manually pulls a portion (typically ten meters) of the optical fiber from the bulk spool through a hole in a flange of the shipping spool and manually winds it onto the sample section of the shipping spool. The operator then transfers the shipping spool from the manual winding station to a winding apparatus, which automatically winds a desired amount of the optical fiber from the bulk spool onto the main section of the shipping spool. The operator subsequently severs the optical fiber extending between the shipping spool and the bulk spool.
The conventional process is time consuming and inefficient. For example, the manual pulling and winding steps occupy the operator's time, and the operator cannot perform the steps quickly. Furthermore, the tension in the manually-wound, optical fiber varies, and, if the operator winds the optical fiber onto the sample section too tightly, the optical fiber must be unwound and rewound. The need to transfer the shipping spool from the manual winding station to the winding apparatus further contributes to the time- consuming and inefficient nature of the conventional process.
Additionally, manual winding of the optical fiber on the sample section of the shipping spool may contribute significantly to injuries to the operator. Manual winding requires extension of the upper arm and continual rotation of the lower arm around the elbow. During a typical 12 hour shift, the operator will experience several hundred shoulder and elbow rotations per shift.

Method and apparatus for winding fiber on a spool


Embodiments of this application provide a network optimization method, a network optimization system, and a network device, and relate to the communications field. A first network device adjusts, if it is detected that a communications link between the first network device and a second network device is in an abnormal state, a metric of at least one data flow received by the first network device; and the first network device selects a transmission path for the at least one data flow based on adjusted metric, and transmits the at least one data flow to the selected transmission path. In this way, load of the communications link is reduced, and the communications link is restored to a normal state.

Through a distributed traffic engineering technology, a transmission path is selected for a data flow mainly based on an interior gateway protocol (IGP). In other words, a shortest path is selected by calculating an IGP metric of each transmission path, to transmit the data flow.
However, an existing distributed traffic engineering technology has the following problems because a shortest path algorithm is used.
When congestion occurs on a selected shortest path, the data flow (a data flow being transmitted or a data flow newly delivered) on the shortest path is still transmitted on the path according to the shortest path algorithm. This increases link load, and affects data flow transmission quality.

Method, system, and device for data flow metric adjustment based on communication link state


A coupling member of the type having a generally tubular body portion with a recessed annular element having a sealing surface portion, a swivel nut attached to the body portion and wherein the swivel nut has a concave frustoconical surface for engaging a second coupling member.

The invention relates to pipe joints and couplings, but more particularly, the invention relates to a coupling member with a swivel nut and a resistive stop in conjunction with a frustoconical surface or flexible lip sealing means.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,316 to Chohan discloses a coupling member with a flexible lip that is effective as a sealing means when used in conjunction with a convex, tapered surface of a second coupling member that is commonly referred to as a flare type fitting. Most flare type fittings have a tapered or frustoconical surface at an angle of 37 degrees or 45 degrees. While coupling members of the type disclosed in the '704 patent have proved useful in effecting a fluid type seal when used with a flare fitting, they are subject to being over-tightened particularly for coupling sizes of less than 3/4 in. Over tightening may occur because such couplings offer very little tactile feel to an operator when torquing a swivel nut to effect a seal with a flare type fitting. Coupling members below 3/4 in. are susceptible to over torquing because the flexible lip operates at a smaller diameter and thereby provides less resistive torque than larger diameter fittings. Also, a swivel nut for the smaller swivel nut may have more threads per lineal inch than a larger nut and thereby has a greater mechanical advantage.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,704 to Christensen discloses a flexible lip fitting where the flexible lip is pressed against a non-standard, concave type frustoconical sealing surface. While the '704 fitting includes a positive stop which would preclude over-torquing of the coupling members during interconnection, the design requires the coupling members to be used in conjunction with each other as specially designed parts; in other words, the member with the lip seal could not be used in conjunction with a standard flare type fitting having a convex frustoconical sealing surface.

Coupling member with a torque resistive-stop