Optical waveguides – With disengagable mechanical connector
Patent
1992-12-10
1996-07-02
Ullah, Akm E.
Optical waveguides
With disengagable mechanical connector
385147, G02B 636
Patent
active
055331572
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A common way to connect the front ends of two optical fibers is to polish their tips and have the tips abut each other. Due to the fact that the tips of the optical fibers have small diameters (e.g. 0.005 inch or 0.13 millimeter) they are commonly mounted in a cylindrical tip member that lies in a ferrule, or terminus body. The terminus body is mounted on the yoke of a connector which attaches to another connector that holds the other optical fiber. The terminus body must have some resilience in moving towards and away from the other optical fiber, in order to assure that the tips will abut despite some tolerances in how close the fiber tips approach each other when the connector housings are connected. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,516,829 and 4,804,243 by Borsuk et al describe the use of coil springs to bias the terminus bodies forwardly and allow them to deflect rearwardly. However, coil springs require additional space and add to the difficulty of mounting the terminus assemblies, especially in a multi-fiber arrangement where several terminus bodies are to be individually resiliently mounted on a yoke. Apparatus that simplified and compacted the biasing portion of the optical fiber assembly and which otherwise facilitated mounting of the terminus bodies on the yoke, would be of value.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an optical fiber connector is provided that resiliently mounts a terminus assembly on a yoke of the connector housing, in a simple manner. The yoke has a hole and the terminus body lies in the hole, with a forward shoulder on the body lying slightly forward of the yoke front surface and a rear shoulder lying behind the yoke rear surface. The terminus body is biased forwardly by a leaf spring portion of a spring member. The leaf spring portion has a forwardly bowed middle that engages the forward shoulder of the terminus body, and has opposite end parts that abut the yoke front surface. Where two or more terminus assemblies are to be mounted in holes in the yoke, a single spring member can be used which has two or more leaf spring portions.
The hole in the yoke can be in the form of a slot that extends from the periphery of the yoke. This enables mounting of each terminus body separately by sliding it sidewardly along the slot. In one arrangement, the spring member is movable on the yoke, so after the terminus body is installed, the spring member is moved to move the middle of the leaf spring portion against the front shoulder of the body. In an other version, the leaf spring portion lies beside the slot, and as the body is slid into the slot its front shoulder slides over the middle of the leaf spring portion.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularly in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a partially sectional, exploded, and isometric view of a connector assembly constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exploded isometric view of a portion of one of the connectors of the assembly of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a partially sectional side view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1, showing a terminus assembly and a portion of the surroundings thereof, prior to full mating of the connectors.
FIG. 4 is a partial isometric view of the apparatus of FIG. 3, with a portion of the spring member and yoke shown in phantom lines.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the terminus assembly of the apparatus of FIG. 3.
FIG. 6 is a plan view of a yoke and spring member constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 7 is a view taken on the line 7--7 of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a view taken on line 8--8 of FIG. 7.
FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view of a modified form of the apparatus of FIG. 8.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 illustrates a connector assembly 10 which includes a first connector
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ITT Corporation
Peterson Thomas L.
Ullah Akm E.
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