Supports – Instrument in panel
Reexamination Certificate
1996-12-20
2001-12-04
King, Anita (Department: 3632)
Supports
Instrument in panel
C248S027300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325335
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to optical fiber communication, and in particular to a clip for an optical cable connector.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The use of fiber optic cables for communication is growing rapidly. The particular requirements of fiber optic cables requires special designs for connectors to connect ends of cables together and specially designed termination boxes to, among other things, insure the minimum curvature radius of the fiber optic cable is not exceeded.
With fiber optic connectors, the need to clean, inspect and test is a common activity in the field. The connectors are commonly mounted on a panel or housing and connect two fiber optic cables together. While the front part of the connector is readily accessible outside of the panel or housing to test the fiber optic cable entering the front, the fiber optic cable entering the rear portion of the connector is often within the panel or housing and inspection and testing is more difficult.
In response to the wishes of customers to obtain easier access to the rear portion of the connector after installation in the panel or housing, Siecor has, in certain cases, utilized a mounting plate with very small screws for removably mounting the plate, clip and SC coupler in the panel or housing. This increases the cost of assembly and is less desirable to the customer because of the necessity of removing the screws and replacing the screws during the inspection. A need therefore exists for a technique to provide improved access to the rear portion of the connector which is inexpensive to manufacture and easy and reliable to use in the field.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,735 discloses a separate retainer that can be removed from a frame. This retainer requires that the frame or panels be specially constructed to accommodate the retainer thus preventing retrofitting of existing connector/frame designs. Additionally, the retainer requires too much space thus sacrificing density of connectors. Additionally, the retainer requires simultaneous “squeezing” of the retainer while pulling which can be difficult to do given the small size of the retainer and limited access.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a clip is provided for securing a coupler to a support with the support having an aperture defining opposed edges. The clip is retrofittable to existing coupler/support arrangements and allows push-pull insertion/removal of the coupler from the support. The clip includes a back having first and second ends, a first side extending from the first end of the back and a second side extending from the second end of the back. A first tab extends at one end thereof from said first side with the first tab having a first portion extending away from the first side when exposed to no external force and a second portion extending toward the first side when exposed to new external force. The clip further has a second tab which extends at an end thereof from said second side and has a first portion extending away from the second side when exposed to no external force and second portion extending toward the second side when exposed to no external force.
The clip is mounted on the coupler and the clip and coupler are inserted into the support from the front thereof. The first and second tabs resiliently hold the clip and coupler to the support, but permit the clip and coupler to be removed from the support from the front of the support by sufficiently deflecting the first and second tabs.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3248078 (1966-04-01), Ast
patent: 3446467 (1969-05-01), Bailey et al.
patent: 3706869 (1972-12-01), Sorenson
patent: 4406936 (1983-09-01), Ohashi
patent: 4707765 (1987-11-01), Ohashi
patent: 5200884 (1993-04-01), Ohashi
patent: 5214735 (1993-05-01), Henneberger et al.
patent: 5217190 (1993-06-01), Reed et al.
patent: 5238426 (1993-08-01), Arnett
CCS Holdings, Inc.
King Anita
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