Optical fiber holder and method using same
 A holder for a plurality of fibers has a top wall, a bottom wall, and first and second side walls. The top wall is preferably releasably hinged to one of the two side walls so that the plurality of fibers may be contained within the holder. The fibers are maintained in a certain order within the holder by selecting the spacing between the two side walls to be greater than the outer diameter of the cables but less than twice the outer diameter of the cables. In this manner, two adjacent fibers cannot switch places with each other within the holder. The holder may have one or more intermediate walls positioned between the two side walls to divide the plurality of fibers into two or more groups. By maintaining the fibers in a fixed certain order, the fibers cannot become intertwined with each other and the chance that the fibers become bent is reduced. Since the chance that the fibers become bent is reduced, the risk of fiber breakage or signal loss is also reduced. The fiber holder also reduces the amount of time needed to unravel a group of intertwined fibers and therefore increases the efficiency of the coupling process. 
Lucent Technologies Inc.
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Masami
Saito