Aspects of skew in modern 12-fibre ribbon manufacturing

Minimising the skew in optical fibre ribbons is sometimes a difficult task. You have to consider both the fibre and the ribbon manufacturing process. When it comes to the ribbon process, pay-off tensions have to be adjusted carefully in order to keep good control of the fibre excess length and the ribbon geometry. New, in-line ribbon manufacturing techniques have improved ribbon manufacturing conditions in terms of production volumes, lead times, scrap reduction and geometry control. In parallel transmission applications the skew parameter of the ribbon must also be considered. In this paper the skew of 12-fibre ribbons are being discussed with off-line and in-line manufacturing methods in mind.