Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-03
2002-04-02
Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
C439S354000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06364685
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to connectors and, more specifically, to a connector for use with optical fibers or electrical conductors and having a latch to effect its disengagement with a mating connector.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Optical fiber connectors are an essential part of substantially any optical fiber communication system. For instance, such connectors are used to join segments of fiber into longer lengths, to connect fiber to active devices such as radiation sources, detectors and repeaters, and to connect fiber to passive devices such as switches and attenuators. The principal function of an optical fiber connector is to hold two optical fiber ends such that the core of one of the fibers is axially aligned with the core of the other fiber. This way, all of the light from one fiber is coupled to the other fiber. This is a particularly challenging task because the light-carrying region (core) of an optical fiber is quite small, for example, in single-mode optical fibers the core diameter is about 8 microns.
Because of the growing acceptance of optical fiber in television, data, and telephone (multimedia) communications, the need to provide higher density interconnection arrangements has emerged. Furthermore, it is always desirable to reduce cost while still providing a connector that is acceptable to customers. Recognizing the engineering challenge posed by the alignment of two very small optical fiber cores, it is still desirable to provide connectors which are smaller, less expensive, and yet more convenient for users to manipulate.
To this end, a connector was introduced which is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,634, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. This connector is commercially available from Lucent Technologies as the Lucent LC connector, and is referred to herein as the “LC connector.” Reference is made to
FIG. 9
which shows a perspective view of an optical fiber connector
110
which, together with bend-limiting strain-relief boot
102
, terminates optical cable
130
. This optical fiber connector has a generally rectangular shape with a square cross section. The outside surface of the connector
110
includes a spring latch
120
which is used for securing the connector to an associated receptacle in order to prevent unintended decoupling between the two.
Spring latch
120
is molded into the housing and includes a “living hinge”
125
which allows tab
126
to be moved up and down in a direction which is generally perpendicular to the central axis of connector
110
. Spring latch
120
includes a pair of shoulders
121
that are positioned on opposite sides of a tab
126
and are automatically deflected downward during insertion into an associated receptacle. Spring latch
120
returns to its original position by its own restorative force. Each of the shoulders
121
includes a vertical surface
122
which interacts with a corresponding vertical surface within the receptacle to hold the connector
110
and receptacle together, that is, until the latch is once again deflected downward and the connector is partially ejected from the receptacle due to the force from an internally disposed spring used to bias the ferrule forward. It is noted that latch
120
is a cantilever beam which is made from a material that can be deformed somewhat by the application of force, but returns to its original shape after the force is removed. The connector and latch are typically molded from a commodity thermoplastic in order to achieve a low-cost, lightweight housing for optical components contained therein. A fingernail groove
123
is positioned at the back end of latch
120
along with a tab head
124
that facilitates manipulation of latch
120
. Although the LC connector is effective in providing alignment of two very small optical fiber cores, it tends to have an awkward feel when being released from a mating connector. More specifically, when releasing the latch, there is a tendency to push the connector forward thereby making the backward withdraw of the connector from the receptacle more difficult. This is especially true if the LC connector is in a confined space and there is little room to manipulate the latch. Such a situation arises, for example, when the LC connector is integrated with a built-out attenuator (BOA).
The applicant has recognized that the principal cause of the connector's awkward feel and its tendency to be pushed forward when being released is the combination of the inaccessibility of the preferred location to depress the latch--namely the area around the fingernail groove
123
, and the geometry of the accessible portion--namely the tab head
124
, which has a backward slope. When a user attempts to depress the latch and is unable to reach the area around the fingernail groove
123
as is often the case when the connector is used in a tightly-packed backplane application or is coupled to a BOA, he is more or less forced to apply force to the more-accessible but backward-sloping tab head
124
. Any downward force applied to the tab-head will necessarily have a forward force component associated with it due to the slope of the tab head. Thus, the action of the user depressing the latch by using the tab head
124
will cause the connector to be pushed forward thereby making release from the associated connector more difficult.
The awkward feel of the LC connector is magnified with the anti-snag protector embodiment as shown in FIG.
10
. This embodiment is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,977. Briefly, the latch
120
comprises a trigger
130
which prevents the connector
110
from snagging on other cables. The patent also states that the trigger
130
makes the latch
120
easier to operate. When releasing this latch
120
with the trigger
130
, however, not only must the user overcome the problems described above with respect to the latch
120
, but also he must overcome a forward force vector imparted by the trigger
130
itself. More specifically, the trigger
130
pivots about a single rear point. Since the trigger is attached to the housing of the connector at a single point, the trigger necessarily travels in an arc when being actuated to effect the connector's release. This arc necessarily means that a component of the force being applied to the trigger, at some point, is not perpendicular to the axis of the housing. In other wards, during a portion of the trigger's travel during actuation, a component of the force used to actuate the latch is axial to the housing. Furthermore, given the forward rotation and particular geometry of the trigger
130
, this axial force component is directed forward, particularly during the beginning of its deflection. Therefore, as the user actuates the latch, a forward axial force is applied to the connector making its withdrawal from the receptacle more difficult.
Therefore, a need exists for a connector which is similar in size and function to the LC-connector but which does not introduce a forward force component when its latch is actuated. The present invention fulfills this need among others.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a connector having a latching mechanism, which, when actuated, does not introduce a significant forward force to the connector. To this end, the latching mechanism comprises an articulated latch having joints configured such that the moment on one side of the actuation point is substantially reduced if not canceled by an opposing moment on the opposite side of the actuation point. This way, the net rotation on the latch is minimized. Minimizing the net rotation on the latch reduces the axial force on the connector.
In a preferred embodiment, the connector comprises: (a) a housing having a longitudinal axis and a front and back orientation and being adapted for receiving a signal carrying medium; and (b) an articulated latch connected to the housing at one or more primary joints and having a plurality of sections, wherein at least one of the sections has an engageme
Nguyen Son V.
Sircus Brian
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