Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
I
1 FIBER OPTIC CONNECTOR HAVING OPERA TABLE
FIBER RETENTION MEANS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to fiber optic
cutting and terminating apparatus and pertains more
particularly to fiber optic devices wherein a bridging
of fiber cutting and termination phases is provided.
BACKGROUND OF m E INVENTION
In giber optic connection schemes known prior to
the invention set forth in cop ending, commonly assigned
Canaan patent application Serial No ~05~298 Of
applicants.herei~, filed on June 16, 1982 and entitled
"Fiber Optic Connector Having Fiber Cutting Means",
field termination of optical fixers was attended by
labor-intensive, separate attention to the phases of
fiber preparation for termination, on the one hand, and
fiber termination, on the other hand. In the former
phase, such stops as fiber jacket stripping, end face
cutting and polishing were customary steps. In the
latter phase, the prepared fiber was typically placed in
a housing and secured therein and that housing was
manipulated relative to another housing having a
termination device to be so placed therein that the
fiber end face and termination device were accurately in
registry
In applicants' referenced cop ending application,
there is disclosed a fiber optic connector or component
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1 in which a cutting device and a termination device are
supported in fixed mutual relation, e.g., in a common
housing. A companion housing provides for retentive
engagement of the fiber. The housings are join able in a
first precutting relation wherein the fiber spans the
housings, are mutually movable into a second relation
effecting fiber cutting and are further mutually movable
into a third relation providing registry of the
termination device and the termination end face
resulting from the cutting The apparatus comprised of
the common and companion housings remains in place,
constituting a connector. In its provision of a
bridging method as between fiber preparation for
termination and termination itself and apparatus for
both cutting and terminating a fiber, the invention of
applicants' cop ending application provides an evident
lessening of labor intensity in fiber optic field
termination.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has as its object the
provision of further fiber optic cutting/terminating
method and apparatus of type having the bridging
character of the referenced application.
A further object of the invention it to provide
improved component parts of fiber optic connectors.
In attaining the foregoing and other objects, the
invention provides apparatus generally of type
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1 encompassed by the referenced cop ending application and
embodying translational movement of housings for
effecting cutting and termination, but wherein retentive
Sacramento of a fiber is realized in the course of
mutual displacement of the housings.
In its particularly preferred embodiment, the
invention uses one housing as a parent housing and
arranges the companion housing as an insert housing,
i.e., the parent housing has an insertion channel for
receiving the insert housing. The parent housing has a
cutting blade disposed adjacent its insertion channel.
The insert housing has a fiber receiving channel and
includes deflectable means engage able with a surface of
the insertion channel in the course of insertion to
secure the fiber as it is cut by the cutting blade and
as the fiber termination end face is thereafter moved
into registry with a terminating device or termination
registry surface in the parent housing.
In other aspects, the invention provides for a
pre-latched relationship as between its parent and
insert housings for ready non-retentive disposition of a
fiber therein preparatory to cutting and termination and
for a fully latched relationship between the housings
following fiber Sacramento, cutting and termination.
The foregoing and other features and aspects of the
invention will be further evident from the following
detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof
and from the drawings wherein like reference numerals
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32 lo
1 are used to identify like parts throughout.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of apparatus in
accordance with the invention with its parent and insert
housings in unassembled condition.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the Fig. 1
apparatus with its housings in pre-latched condition.
Fig I repeats Fig. 2 but with a fiber disposed
non-retentively in the insert housing.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the Fig. 1
apparatus with its parent and insert housings assembled
in fiber termination condition and with an optical fiber
secured therein.
Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the parent housing
of Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is a left side elevation of the insert
housing of Fig. 1.
Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the Fig. 3 assembled
housings and fiber as seen from plane VI-VI of Fig. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to Fig. 1, fiber optic apparatus 10 has
parent housing 12, which supports blade 14 having
cutting edge aye t blade 14 being insertable into housing
12 through slots 16 and 18 and then suitably staked or
otherwise secured therein. Forwardly of blade 14,
housing 12 defines insertion channel 20, which opens
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1 into sidewall 22 of housing 12 and is bounded by ceiling
24, 100r 26, interior wall 28 and rear wall 30.
Ceiling 24 provides arcuately sectioned detent tracks 32
and 34 and floor 26 provides corresponding detent tracks
36 and 38. Rearwardly of blade 14 and aligned rear wall
30, housing 12 provides fiber remnant exit chute 40
which opens exteriorly of housing 12.
Insert housing 42 has channel 44 extending
there through for receiving an optical fiber. At its
left ward sidewall 46, insert housing 42 has ribs
48,50,52 and 54 (Fig. 53, extending outwardly of housing
surfaces 56 and 57 and being of the same arcuate section
as detent tracks 32-38 to intermit therewith, as
discussed below. At its ruptured end, housing 42 has
flange 58 extending upwardly of housing top surface 56
- and configured to be insertable in guide 60 of parent
housing 12. Fiber gripper 62 is cantilever supported in
- insert housing 42, and includes mutually angled sections
64 and 66, the apex 68 there between being disposed
upwardly of surface 56. Considering Fig 5, gripper
section 66 terminates likewise at surface aye, which is
disposed downwardly of insert housing surface 56, and
has gripper end section 69 depending therefrom.
Undersurface aye of gripper 62 has ribs 70 and 72 of
insert housing 42 extending therefrom to base 74 in
facing relation to fiber channel 44.
Parent housing 12 desirably provides an EM
(electromagnetic interference) shielded environment for
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1 any optoelectronic transducers or semiconductors
necessary to complete a communication channel and hence
may be constituted of aluminum, carbonized plastic, or a
plastic that is coated, e.g., with chrome on a
nickel-copper under plate. The plastic composition need
provide rigidity and may be a polycarbonate. Insert
housing 42 may be a resilient member molded from a high
coefficient of friction thermoplastic, e.g., a Dupont
elastomers available under the trade name HYTREL. This
selection of materials enables a compression ox ribs
48-54 in the course of insertion of housing 42 into
parent housing 12, as is now discussed in connection
with Figs. 2 and 3.
Fig. 2 shows respective housings 12 and 42 in what
may be termed a pre-latch joinder condition, i.e., the
housings are secured in first stage assembly. To reach
such pre-latch condition, insert housing 42 is
registered sidewardly of parent housing 12 with sidewall
46 of the former aside the sidewall 22 of the latter and
with ribs 48-54 engaging sidewall 22 and with flange 58
in registry with guide 60. Housing 42 is now urged into
insertion channel 20, ribs 48-54 compressing toward
surface 56 under the applied insertion force. As the
insertion proceeds to the point at which compressed ribs
48 and 52 enter into registry with track 34 and
compressed ribs 50 and 54 register with track 38, the
ribs revert to their original state, thereby securing
the housings. Engagement between flange 58 and the
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1 sidewalls of guide 60 assures parallel disposition as
between the ribs and tracks in the course of insertion.
The housing parts are so dimensioned that blade cutting
edge aye is left ward of i.e., in non-interfering
relation with, fiber channel 44 and that surface aye of
gripper 62 is nested noncontiguously below ceiling 24 of
parent housing 12.
With the apparatus so assembled, optical cable 76
of Fig. I to be terminated is pushed into channel 44
to extend rearwardly outward of flange 58, preferably to
extend beyond the terminus of exit chute 40 of parent
housing 12. Cable 76 is a plastic fiber cable in the
illustrative embodiment and, as may be seen in Fig. 6,
the cable includes core aye, cladding 76b and jacket
76c. The fiber is at this time non-retentively disposed
in insert housing 42, as gripper 62 is outwardly
self-biased to its Fig. 5 disposition. Thus, cable 76
will rest in openings 78 and 80 of insert housing 42
aligned with channel 44 and will centrally engage ribs
70 and 72 along base 74.
Final assembly of the socket 10 with cable 76 is
seen in Figs. 3 and 6, and is reached by further
application of insertion force to insert housing 42 from
its fiber-containing Fig. I pre-latch condition. In
the course of this activity, three functions take place
as characteristic of the structure thus defined.
In a first function, cable 76 is caused to be
retentively secured in channel OWE Thus, as gripper
1 section 66 enters insertion channel 20, it engages
ceiling 24 of housing 12 and a gemming action occurs
whereby gripper 62 is deflected downwardly and the
extent of ribs 70 and 72 carried by gripper 52 is forced
into engagement with jacket 76c of cable 76. Such
gemming action continues to the point at which gripper
apex 63 engages ceiling 24, gripper trailing section 64
being forced into alignment with surface 56 of insert
housing 12.
In the course of continued insertion and following
the point at which cable 76 is retentively secured in
insert housing 42, opening 80 eclipses blade cutting
edge aye and a second function, that of full fiber
separation by cutting occurs, such separation forming a
fiber termination end face at opening 80. The remnant
of cable 76 enters exit chute 40 and is dispensed from
apparatus 10.
During final stage insertion, ribs 48-54 of insert
housing 42 again undergo compression toward surface 56
upon leaving tracks 34 and 38, again encountering
ceiling 24 of housing 12. The ribs remain compressed
until they register with tracks 32 and 36 r whereupon
ribs 48 and 52 expand into track 32 and ribs 50 and 54
expand into track 36. The third referenced function is
thus attained, namely, that of final retention of insert
housing 42 in parent housing 12. The assembly may be
released by insertion of a screwdriver or like tool in
disassembly slot 86 which tapers from front wall 88 of
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1 housing 12 into interior side wall 28 and insertion
channel 20.
Since the distance Do (Fig. 1) between the center
of opening 78 and sidewall 46 is made equal under the
invention with the distance Do (Fig. 4) between interior
wall 28 of housing 12 and the center of active device
residence channel 82 thereof, fiber core aye is
centrally registered with active device 84, e.g., a
photo diode, which may be assembled in apparatus 10
permanently or may be installed by a user. As will be
appreciated, the cylindrical interior wall of channel 82
is a termination registry surface with which core aye is
aligned and installation of an active device in channel
82 compels device-core registration. Where it is
desired to interconnect two fibers, as opposed to the
illustrative single fiber to active device termination,
the second fiber is placed in channel 82 in place of the
active device.
In its several aspects, the invention contemplates
a bridging method as between fiber preparation for
termination and termination itself, apparatus for both
cutting and terminating a fiber, a fiber optic connector
for both separating and terminating a fiber and a fiber
optic connector component part for separating a fiber to
render same readily field-terminatable.
Various changes to the foregoing embodiments and
practices may be made thereto without departing from the
invention. Thus, while blade 14 is shown as a separate
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1 component of the socket, it may be fabricated integrally
with the parent housing. While a pre-latch condition
is preferred, one can of course practice the invention
without same where desired. While a single fiber ton-
munition with an active device is described, terminal
lion and inter coupling of plural fibers by use of an
interconnecting loop in the parent housing and modify-
cation of the insert housing to retentively secure such
fibers is within the contemplation of the invention.
Joint termination of a fiber cable and an accompanying
electrical conductor also flows from the invention. In
this adaptation, one jointly supports the cable and the
conductor in the insert housing for movement into ton-
minuting registry respectively with an active device and
an electrical contact, e.g., of insulation displacement
type, in the parent housing. Further, while the pro-
determined locus of relative movement of the fiber and
separation device is rectilinear, the invention contem-
plates other than such likewise relative movement or
successive translations of the housings.
Likewise, although discussion has been had portico-
laxly of the cutting and termination of plastic fibers,
skilled artisans will appreciate the ready adaptation
of the invention to other varieties of optical elements.
Also, while the term cutting has been used above and
separation of fibers to form termination end faces has
been by cutting in an interference path fully through
the fibers, those skilled in the art will recognize
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1 other fiber separation practices, e.g., surface nicking
of a fiber and subsequent pulling to effect separation
and termination end face formation.
The particularly disclosed and depicted embodiments
of the invention and methods are thus intended in an
illustrative and not in a limiting sense. The true
spirit and scope of the invention are set forth in the
following claims.
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