Electrical connectors – Combined with nonelectrical feature
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-02
2002-12-31
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Combined with nonelectrical feature
C439S540100, C439S541500, C439S701000, C385S077000, C385S078000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06500026
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hybrid connector, in which electric and optical connectors are integrally formed, so that a simple connecting operation completes the connection between the electric and optical connectors, and to a process for assembling the hybrid connector.
(2) Description of the Related Art
With regard to various vehicles including motorcars, extremely many signals from various sensors and those for controlling various electronic equipment have to be handled. When these signals are transmitted by using individual signal lines, the number of the signal lines becomes enormous, causing a wiring harness to be very heavy. In addition, in recent years, information transmitted from various electronic equipment has been enhanced and made much denser, causing a wiring harness to be furthermore heavy. Therefore, recently, a part of a wiring harness has been replaced by an optical fiber cable (optical fiber cord) and for example, a system in which an optical fiber cable connects nodes with each other has been employed.
When a part of a wiring harness is to be replaced by an optical fiber cable, for example for a motorcar manufacturer, an operation for connecting the electric and optical connectors becomes complicated and troublesome. Consequently, recently, a hybrid connector, in which electric and optical connectors are integrally formed so that a single connecting operation completes the connection between the electric and optical connectors, has been developed for its practical use.
However, since the hybrid connector is formed in such a way that the electric and optical connectors are integrally constituted therein, the hybrid connector is forced to have many components. Especially, the assembly of the optical connector is troublesome because it requires many man-hours. Furthermore, there has been a problem that optical element modules constituting the optical connector can not be stably positioned upon the assembly.
If the optical element modules can not be stably positioned upon the assembly, it affects the workability of the assembling operation and sometimes affects the optical loss characteristic after the assembly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to solve the problem described above and to provide a process for assembling a hybrid connector, by which the assembling operation can be simplified and the optical element modules can be stably positioned so that the workability of the assembling operation is improved and the optical loss is reduced, as well as to provide such a hybrid connector.
In order to attain the above objective, a first aspect of the present invention is to provide a process for assembling a male hybrid connector having electric and optical connector members formed integrally with each other, the optical connector member including: at least one optical element module having an optical element; sleeves, each of which has an optical waveguide, provided in accordance with the number of the optical element modules; a housing shared with the electric connector member, the housing having receiving cylinders for holding the sleeves therein; and a case for holding the optical element modules, the process comprising the steps of:
a first assembly step of reaching a provisionally inserted state, in which each sleeve is partway inserted into the corresponding receiving cylinder;
a second assembly step of reaching a completely inserted state, in which each optical element module is pressed against an end face of the corresponding sleeve exposed from the receiving cylinder so as to further insert the sleeve into the corresponding receiving cylinder, and then engaging each second projection formed on the optical element module with a corresponding hollow portion formed in the receiving cylinder so as to align a position of the optical element with an axis of the corresponding receiving cylinder; and
a third assembly step of engaging the case with the receiving cylinder, while the case holding the optical element modules, so as to fix a position of the optical element module.
According to the constitution described above, the hybrid connector is assembled through a process including the first to third assembly steps. That is, the optical connector portion of the hybrid connector is assembled in the first to third assembly steps.
In the first assembly step, the sleeve is provisionally partway inserted into the receiving cylinder of the housing. In the second assembly step, the optical element module is pressed so as to insert the sleeve further into the receiving cylinder, thereby the sleeve is completely (fully) inserted into the receiving cylinder. At this time, the projection of the optical element module engages with the hollow portion of the housing side, thereby the position of the optical element is aligned with the axis of the receiving cylinder.
In the second assembly step, the assembly of the sleeve and that of the optical element modules are carried out simultaneously, thereby the assembly operation is simplified.
In the second assembly step, each projection of the optical element modules engages with the hollow portion of the receiving cylinder, thereby no clearance arises and each position of the optical element modules is stable thereafter. Therefore, the workability improves and the optical loss is reduced.
In the second assembly step, the optical element module is pressed against the sleeve so that the sleeve is inserted into the receiving cylinder, thereby the optical loss due to the clearance between the sleeve and the optical element module is minimized.
In the third assembly step, the case holds the optical element modules. The case engages with the receiving cylinders, then each position of the optical element modules is fixed. Since these assemblies are carried out simultaneously, the assembly operation is simplified. Since the position of the optical element module is stable, the workability for assembling the case is improved.
A second aspect of the present invention is to provide a process for assembling a male hybrid connector having electric and optical connector members formed integrally with each other, the optical connector members including: at least one optical element module having an optical element; sleeves, each of which has an optical waveguide, provided in accordance with the number of the optical element modules; a housing shared with the electric connector member, the housing having receiving cylinders for holding the sleeves therein; and a case for holding the optical element modules, the process comprising the steps of:
a first assembly step of reaching a provisionally inserted state, in which each sleeve is partway inserted into the corresponding receiving cylinder;
a second modified assembly step of reaching a completely inserted state, in which each optical element module is pressed against an end face of the corresponding sleeve exposed from the receiving cylinder so as to further insert the sleeve into the corresponding receiving cylinder, and then placing the optical element module on a first wall formed in the housing or holding the optical element module between a pair of walls formed in the housing so as to prevent the optical element module from rotating; and
a third assembly step of engaging the case with the receiving cylinder, while the case holding the optical element modules, so as to fix a position of the optical element module.
According to the constitution described above, the hybrid connector is simply assembled. The position of the optical element module is stabilized so as to improve the workability and to reduce the optical loss.
A third aspect of the present invention is to provide a process for assembling a male hybrid connector having electric and optical connectors formed integrally with each other, the optical connector member including: at least one optical element module having an optical element; sleeves, each of which has an optical waveguide, provided in accordance with the number
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP
Bradley P. Austin
Gilman Alexander
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
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