Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Specification
IMPROVED FIBEROPTIC CONNECTOR AND
IMPROVED FIBEROPTIC CONNECTOR SPLICE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fiberoptic connectors and splices,
and more particularly to
connectors that mechanically, frictionally engage optical fibers therein at
multiple points of contact, and to fiberoptic
connector splices that include multiple separate points of alignment of
connectors disposed within the splice.
Description of the Prior Art
Connectors that hold optical fibers therewithin utilizing mechanical,
frictional engagement are known in the
art, such as are described in my issued U.S. Patents 5,216,735 and 5,305,406;
and optical fibers are engaged within the
connector using my impact mount device disclosed in patent 5,305,406. These
prior art connectors achieve a single
point of mechanical, frictional engagement, that being at the front tip of the
connector where the mechanical
deformation of the connector tip is achieved. The present connector invention
is an improvement upon these prior art
connector in that it includes multiple points of mechanical, frictional
engagement of the optical fiber. It is a fiuther
improvement in that it achieves the multiple mechanical, frictional engagement
points utilizing a single impact process.
Connector splices are well known in the prior art. However, such prior art
splices generally provide a single
point of alignment of the connectors within the splice. My invention,
disclosed herein, includes multiple points of
alignment of the connectors within the splice, to achieve a higher quality and
more reliable splice.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A fiberoptic connector for engagement to the end of a fiberoptic cable has an
inner terminus member that is
mechanically, frictionally engaged to an optical fiber portion of the
fiberoptic cable. There is also an outer terminus
member that is mechanically, frictionally mounted upon the optical fiber. The
outer terminus member has a terminus
bore formed therein, having a cone shaped impact mount surface. The inner
terminus member is disposed within the
terminus bore, such that the cone shaped impact mount surface is disposed in
contact with an impact mount surface of
said inner terminus member. The fiberoptic connector splice for the aligned
interconnection of two fiberoptic
connectors includes a first alignment sleeve portion to align first portions
of the fiberoptic connectors, and a second
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alignment sleeve portion to align second portions of said fiberoptic
connectors. The two sleeve portions may be a part
of a single alignment sleeve member.
It is an advantage of the fiberoptic connector of the present invention that a
stronger engagement of the
optical fiber within the connector is achieved.
It is another advantage of the fiberoptic connector of the present invention
that a plurality of mechanical,
frictional optical fiber engagement points are contained within the connector.
It is a further advantage of the fiberoptic connector of the present invention
that a single impact mounting step
results in multiple mechanical, frictional optical fiber engagement points
within the connector body.
It is yet another advantage of the present invention that a more reliable
optical fiber connector is produced.
It is an advantage of the fiberoptic connector splice of the present invention
that a more reliable
interconnection of fiberoptic connectors is achieved.
It is another advantage of the fiberoptic connector splice of the present
invention that connectors are aligned
within the splice at multiple points of alignment.
It is a further advantage of the fiberoptic connector splice of the present
invention that a strong, reliable splice
between optical fibers can be achieved with mechanical means and without the
use of epoxy type materials.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become
understood by those of ordinary
skill in the art upon reading the detailed description which follows.
IN THE DRAWTNGS
Fig. I is a perspective view of the improved fiberoptic connector of the
present invention;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the connector depicted in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the tip of the connector depicted in Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view depicting a first step in the assembly of the
connector depicted in Figs. 1-3;
Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view depicting a second step in the assembly of
the connector depicted in Figs. 1-3;
Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view depicting a third step in the assembly of the
connector depicted in Figs. 1-3;
Fig. 7 is a side cross-sectional view of a connector splice of the present
invention;
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the inner sleeve of the splice depicted in
Fig. 7;
Fig. 9 is a side cross-sectional view of a second splice embodiment of the
present invention;
Fig. 10 is a side cross-sectional view of the splice sleeve of the splice
depicted in Fig. 9;
Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view of another splice embodiment of the present
invention;
Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the splice sleeve of the splice depicted in
Fig. 11;
Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a first step in the assembly of the
splice sleeve depicted in Fi2s. 11 and 12;
and
Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the completed splice depicted in Fig. 12;
and
Fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the splice 200 of the present invention,
utilized to join the two
tetminus fiberoptic connectors 10 of the present invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The fiberoptic connector, or terminus, of the present invention is depicted in
Figs. 1, 2 and 3 wherein Fig. 1 is
a perspective view, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is
an enlarged view of the tip of the connector
as depicted in Fig. 2. As depicted in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the connector 10 is
engaged to the end of a fiberoptic cable 12.
The fiberoptic cable 12 includes a fiber jacket 14 which sutrounds a buffer 16
which surrounds an optical fiber 18,
such that the tip 20 of the optical fiber 18 projects to the tip of the
connector 10.
The connector 10 includes a generally cylindrical inner tetminus member 24 and
a generally cylindrical outer
terminus member 28. The inner terminus member 24 includes a first axially
disposed bore 30 having a diameter
sufficient to slidably engage the fiber jacket 14. The length of the bore 30
is generally sufficient to permit the crimping
32 of the inner terminus 24 to the fiber jacket 14. An axially disposed inner
bore 36 having a diameter that facilitates
the slidable engagement of the buffer 16 therewithin is fotmed at the inner
end face 40 of the bore 30. A shoulder 44 is
formed into the outer surface of the cylindrical inner terminus 24, such that
a nose portion 48 of the inner terminus 24
is formed. The nose portion 48 includes a conically converging section 52
which terminates in a forwardly projecting
impact mount tip 56. The impact mount tip 56 includes an axially disposed
optical fiber bore 60 formed therethrough
such that the optical fiber 18 projects through the optical fiber bore 60.
The outer terminus member 28 includes a generally cylindrical body portion 68
having an integrally formed
inwardly sloped cone shaped portion 72 which tenninates in an impact mount tip
portion 76 having a polished
connector engagement surface 80 formed at the front thereof. An inner terminus
insertion bore 84 is axially formed
within the outer tetminus member 28, such that the nose portion 48 of the
inner terminus member 24 projects
therewithin. The bore 84 terminates in an inwardly projecting cone shaped
impact surface 88 which terminates in a
further inner bore 92. The bore 92 terminates in a inwardly directed cone
shaped bore 94 which terminates in an
axially disposed optical fiber passage bore 96, through which the optical
fiber 18 projects to its tip 20.
As is best seen in Fig. 3, the outer edge portion of the outer terminus tip 76
is mechanically defotmed 100
which results in the mechanical deformation of the outer portion 102 of the
optical fiber bore 96. The defotmed
portion 102 serves to mechanically, frictionally engage the optical fiber 18
within the tip 76 of the outer terminus
member 28. In a like manner, the outer edge of the inner terminus tip 56 is
mechanically deformed 106, resulting in
a mechanical deformation 108 of the outer portion of the inner terminus
optical fiber bore 60. The mechanical
deformation 108 results in the mechanical, frictional engagement of the
optical fiber 18 within the inner terminus tip
56.
It is therefore to be understood that the two terminus optical fiber connector
10 includes two separate and
distinct mechanical, frictional engagement points of the optical fiber 18
within the connector 10, those points being the
mechanically deformed portions 102 and 108 at the tips 76 and 56 respectively
of the outer and inner terminus
members 28 and 24 respectively.
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 depict steps in a preferred method for manufacturing the two
terminus connector depicted in
Figs. 1-3 and described hereabove. As depicted in Fig. 4, the inner terminus
24 is placed upon the fiberoptic cable 12
such that the fiber jacket 14 resides within the bore 30. The inner terminus
24 is then crimped 32 onto the optical fiber 12.
The outer terminus 28 is then placed upon the projecting optical fiber 18 and
moved downwardly toward the inner
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terminus 24 until the inner cone shaped surface 88 of the outer terminus 28
makes contact with the tip 56 of the inner
terminus 24, as is depicted in Fig. 5 and ituther next discussed.
As depicted in Fig. 5, the outer terminus 28 is positioned upon the inner
terminus 24 such that the inner
sloped surface 88 makes contact with the outer edge 110 of the tip 56 of the
inner terminus 24. The connector
assembly is then placed within an impact mount device such as is described in
my
U.S. Patent No. 5,822,483. Thus,
as depicted in Fig. 5, the nose 76 of the outer terminus 28 is disposed within
a cone shaped bore 114 formed in the nose
pottion 118 of an impact driver 120. The projecting end of the optical fiber
18 resides within a central bore 122
formed within the impact driver nose I 18. It is to be noted that the outer
edge portions 126 of the tip 76 make conmct
with the surface of the cone shaped bore 114, while simuttaneously the outer
edges 110 of the tip 56 of the inner
terminus make contact with the surface of the cone shaped bore 88, and that a
gap 130 exists between the shoulder 44
of the inner tetminus 24 and the rearward portion 132 of the body 68 of the
outer tetminus 28. The rearward portion
136 of the inner terminus 24 is placed against a stationary block or anvil
140, which block 140 includes a passage 144
formed therethrough for the projection of the optical fiber cable 12
therethrough. The effect of the impact driver 120 is
next described with the aid of Fig. 6.
Fig. 6 depicts the connector 10 following the assembly impact from= the impact
driver 120. As depicted
therein, the effect of the impact driver 120 is to compress the outer terminus
28 onto the inner terminus 24 while
simultaneously mechanically deforming the outer terminus tip edge 126 and the
inner terrrtinus tip edge I 10. Thus, as
depicted in Fig. 6, the outer terminus tip edge has been mechanically deformed
100 whereby the optical fiber bore 96
within the tip 76 has been mechanically collapsed 102 to frictionally engage
the optical fiber 18 that passes
therethrough. In a like manner, the outer edge I 10 of the inner terminus nose
56 has been mechanically deformed 106,
whereby the optical fiber bore 60 within the tip 56 has been mechanically
collapsed 108 to frictionally engage the
optical fiber 18 therewithin. It is also to be noted that the gap 130 has also
been reduced by the impacted movement of
the outer terminus 28 upon the inner terminus 24.
It is therefore to be understood that the preferred method for manufacturing
the connector 10 utilizes a single
impact step which results in two mechanical, frictional engagements of the
optical fiber 18 within the connector 10,
one internal engagement 108 at the internal terminus tip 56, and a second
frictional engagement 102 at the outer
terminus tip 76.
A first preferred embodiment of the fiberoptic connector splice 200 of the
present invention is depicted in
Figs. 7 and 8, wherein Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the generally
cylindrical splice 200 and Fig. 8 is a perspective
view of an inner sleeve component thereof. As depicted in Fig. 7, the splice
200 joins a first optical fiber 202 having a
generally cylindrical fiberoptic connector 206 engaged thereto with a second
fiberoptic cable 210 having a second
generally cylindrical fiberoptic connector 214 engaged thereto. Fiberoptic
connectors 206 and 214 include a generally
cylindrical body portion 215 and 216 respectively, and a forwardly projecting
cylindrical nose portion 218 and 220
respectively, having the tip of their respective optical fibers centrallv
disposed therewithin. In the preferred
embodiment, the optical fiber is mechanically, frictionally engaged within the
respective tip 218 and 220 of the
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connector, however such an optical fiber engagement is not required for the
functioning of the splice 200, and other
engagement methods of the optical fiber within a fiberoptic connector 206 and
214 are contemplated.
The splice 200 includes a cylindrical inner alignment sleeve 224 and a
cylindrical outer alignment sleeve 228.
The cylindrical inner sleeve 224 is depicted in Fig. 8. The significant
features of the inner sleeve 224 are that it
5 possesses a cylindrical bore 232 having a diameter that is substantially
identical to the diameters of the cylindrical
connector tips 218 and 220 that project therewithin, as depicted in Fig. 7.
The inner sleeve 224 thus serves to align the
tips 218 and 220 of the fiberoptic connectors 206 and 214, such that optical
transmission between the two optical fibers
located within the respective tips can be accomplished. The length L of the
sleeve 224 is slightly less than the
combined length of the two tips 218 and 220 that are disposed within the bore
232, such that the optical fibers disposed
within the tips 218 and 220 make flush contact within the sleeve 224. The
outer alignment sleeve 228 is a cylindrical
member having a connector insertion bore 240 formed therethrough. The diameter
of the bore 240 is substantially
identical to the diameter of the body portions 215 and 216 of the connectors
206 and 214 respectively, such that the
connectors 206 and 214 are slidably engagable within the bore 240 of the outer
alignment sleeve 228. The outer
diameter of the sleeve 224 is also substantially identical to the diameter of
the bore 240, such that the sleeve 224 is
slidably engagable within the bore 240.
It is therefore to be understood that the inner alignment sleeve 224 serves to
align the tips 218 and 220 of the
connectors 206 and 214 respectively, and the sleeve 228 serves to align the
body portions 215 and 216 of the
connectors 206 and 214 respectively. Thus, the connector splice 200 includes
two separate connector alignment points,
those being within the inner alignment sleeve 224 and within the outer
alignment sleeve 228. To provide strength to
the splice, cable jacket sleeves 250 and 252 are placed upon the cables 202
and 210 respectively. The inner diameter
of the sleeves 250 and 252 is approximately equal to the diameter of the
fiberoptic cable passing therethrough, such
that the cable is slidably engagable within the respective cable sleeves 250
and 252. The outer diameter of the cable
sleeves 250 and 252 are preferably approximately equal to the outer diameter
of the outer alignment sleeve 228. An
outer splice sleeve 260 encloses the alignment sleeves 224 and 228, together
with the inner ends of the cable sleeves
250 and 252. The sleeve 260 provides strength and stability to the overall
splice.
In assembling the splice 200, the various sleeves are crimped onto components
disposed therewithin. Thus,
the outer alignment sleeve 228 is crimped 266 at each end to the body portions
215 and 216 of the connectors 206 and
214 respectively disposed therewithin. The cable sleeves 250 and 252 are
crimped 270 to the fiberoptic cables 202 and
210 respectively disposed therewithin. The outer splice sleeve 260 is crimped
274 to hold the cable sleeves 250 and
252 therewithin. In this manner, a strong, stable splice is created which
possesses two fiberoptic connector alignment
points (within sleeves 224 and 228) therewithin.
An alternative fiberoptic connector splice 300 is depicted in Figs. 9 and 10,
wherein Fig. 9 is a side cross-
sectional view of the overall splice 300 and Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view
of the connector alignment sleeve 310
utilized within the splice 300. Initially, it is to be noted that the splice
300 includes several components that are
identical to components utilized in splice 200 and described hereabove. For
ease of comprehension, the similar
components are numbered identically. Thus, the splice 300 joins two fiberoptic
cables 202 and 210 together. Each
cable 202 and 210 has a fiberoptic connector 206 and 214 respectively engaged
to the tip thereof, which connectors are
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joined at the tips 218 and 222 thereof. Optical fiber sleeves 250 and 252 are
crimped 270 to their respective fiberoptic
cables 202 and 210, and an outer splice sleeve 260 is crimped 274 to the
fiberoptic cable sleeves 250 and 252 disposed
therewithin.
The feature which distinguishes splice 300 from splice 200 is that splice 300
utilizes a single unitary
alignment sleeve 310 in place of the two afignment sleeves 224 and 228.
Alignment sleeve 310 is a generally cylindricai member having a fiberoptic
connector aligtunent bore
configuration formed therewithin. The bore configuration includes a first
connector body alignment bore 314 having a
diameter that is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the connector
body 215 of connector 206. The bore 314
terminates in a cone shaped bore 318, which intemally terminates in a
connector tip alignment bore 322. The
connector tip alignment bore 322 has a diameter which is substantially equal
to the outer diameter of the connector tip
218 such that the tip 218 is slidably engagable therewithin. In a similar
manner, a second connector body bore 326 is
formed within the sleeve 310 in axial alignment with the bore 314. The
diameter of the bore 326 is substantially
identical to the diameter of the body portion 216 of the connector 214, such
that the connector 214 is slidably
engagable therewithin. The bore 326 terminates in a cone shaped bore 330 which
terminates in the connector tip bore
322.
With reference to Figs. 9 and 10, it is therefore to be understood that the
connector sleeve 310 is formed to
slidably engage the two connectors 206 and 214, such that two connector
alignment portions exist. The first alignment
portion comprises the slidable engagement of the two connector tips 218 and
220 within the connector tip alignment
bore 322. The second connector alignment portion comprises the slidable
engagement of the connector body portions
215 and 216 within the alignment bores 314 and 326 respectively. To achieve
proper alignment and contact between
the connector tips 218 and 220, it is important that the length S of the
connector tip alignment bore 322 be less than the
combined length of the two connector tips 218 and 220. Additionally, it is
important that the surface slope of the cone
shaped bores 318 and 330 be greater than the slope of the corresponding
portions of the connectors 206 and 214.
A further fiberoptic connector splice 400 of the present invention is depicted
in Figs. 11, 12, 13 and 14,
wherein Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view, Fig. 12 is a perspective view of an
alignment sleeve 410, Fig. 13 is a cross-
sectional view depicting a sleeve manufacturing step and Fig. 14 is a cross-
sectional view of a manufactured sleeve.
As depicted in Fig. 11, the fiberoptic connector splice embodiment 400
includes many identical elements to those
previously discussed regarding splice embodiments 200 and 300. Specifically,
for ease of comprehension, the similar
components are numbered identically. Thus, the splice 400 joins two fiberoptic
cables 202 and 210 together. Each
cable 202 and 210 has a fiberoptic connector 206 and 214 respectively engaged
to the tip thereof, which connectors are
joined at the tips 218 and 222 thereof. Optical fiber sleeves 250 and 252 are
crimped 270 to their respective fiberoptic
cables 202 and 210, and an outer splice sleeve 260 is crimped 274 to the
fiberoptic cable sleeves 250 and 252 disposed
therewithin.
The connector sleeve 410 includes a cylindrical tubular portion 412 having a
connection alignment bore 414
which acts to align the body portions 215 and 216 of the connectors 206 and
214. The connector 410 also includes a
molded connector tip alignment portion 416 that is preferably though not
necessarily composed of a moldable plastic
material. With reference to Figs. 12 and 13, the sleeve 412 includes at least
one outer mold material reservoir 420
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having a passage 424 formed through the sieeve to the interior bore. As
depicted in Fig. 13, to manufacture the sleeve
410 two molding plugs 428 and 430 are inserted into the sleeve bore 414. The
plugs 428 and 430 are genemlly shaped
like the connectors 206 and 214, such that a mold void 434 is formed.
Thereafter, a moldable material, such as a
suitable plastic material is injected into the reservoir 420, through the
passage 424 and into the void 434 to fill the void.
Fig. 14 depicts the connector sleeve 410 following the injection of the
plastic materia1416 into the mold and
the removal of the mold plugs 428 and 430. It is therefore to be seen that the
inner molded portion 440 possesses the
general cross-sectional shape of the connector tip alignment portion of the
sleeve 310. Specifically, a connector tip
alignment bore 444 together with cone-shaped surfaces 448 and 450 are formed,
which correspond to the connector tip
alignment bore 322 and cone shaped surfaces 318 and 330 of alignment sleeve
310. It is therefore to be understood
that the alignment sleeve 410 with its molded inner connector tip alignment
portion 440 must possess generally the
same dimensions and tolerances as aligunent sleeve 310 in order that it
fanction to align two connectors 206 and 214
as depicted in Fig. 11. Thus, alignment sleeve 410 likewise includes two
connector alignment portions, a connector tip
alignment portion represented by alignment bore 444 and an outer connector
body alignment portion represented by
sleeve bore 414.
Fig. 15 depicts the utilization of the splice embodiment 200 of the present
invention to connect two of the two
terminus fiberoptic connectors 10 of the present invention. The splice 500
depicted in Fig. 15 connects a first two
terminus fiberoptic connector l OR with a second two terminus fiberoptic
connector I OL, where R refers to the rig]tt
hand connector and L to the left hand connector and components thereof. The
splice 500 includes an inner connector
alignment sleeve 510 which includes an alignment bore 512 having a diameter
sufficient to slidably engage the
projecting tips 76R and 76L of the two connectors. The splice 500 further
includes an outer connector alignment
sleeve 520 having a connector bore 522 having a diameter sufficient to
slidably engage the connector body portions
215R, 216R, 215L and 216L of the connectors l OR and I.OL respectively. Cable
jacket sleeves 526 and 528 are
crimped 530 to the fiber jacket of the fiberoptic cables interconnected to the
connectors I OR and IOL. An outer splice
sleeve 540 is formed with a bore having a suitable diameter to slidably engage
the outer alignment sleeve 520 and the
jacket sleeves 526 and 530, and the outer splice sleeve 540 is crimped 542 to
the jacket sleeves 526 and 528.
It is therefore to be understood that the splice 500 includes multiple
alignment points for the fiberoptic
connectors disposed therewithin. Specifically, the inner alignment sleeve 510
serves to align the tip portions 76R and
76L of the connectors IOR and IOL. The outer splice sleeve serves to align the
body portion 215R and 215L of the
outer terminus members 28R and 28L. The outer alignment sieeve aiso serves to
align the body portions 216R and
216L of the inner terminus members 24R and 24L of the connectors l OR and I OL
respectively.
While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain
specific embodiments, it will
become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the detailed
description that certain alterations and
modifications in form and detail can be made in the described embodiments,
without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that the following
claims are intended to cover all such
alterations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the
invention.
