Optical waveguides – With disengagable mechanical connector – Structure surrounding optical fiber-to-fiber connection
Patent
1997-03-07
1998-07-21
Ullah, Akm E.
Optical waveguides
With disengagable mechanical connector
Structure surrounding optical fiber-to-fiber connection
G02B 638
Patent
active
057845123
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a lens connector for optical through-connection of light guides, comprising two lens connector halves whose frontal faces face one another and which each comprise a coupling housing provided with an internal space open at the front and rear of the coupling housing and with an optical system housed in the frontmost portion of the internal space, the end of the light guide being fastened in the rearmost portion of the internal space, all this being arranged in such a way that in the one lens connector half the light beam emanating from the guide fastened therein is widened by the optical system and in the other lens connector half the received light beam is focused, by the optical system housed therein, onto the light guide associated therewith, aligning means being present for the mutual alignment of the lens connector halves.
A connector of this type is disclosed by the International Patent Application WO 93/17359.
Various connecting methods and types of connectors for light guides are known, viz the fused-splice join, the so-called BUTT-coupled connector and the lens connector.
In the case of the fused-splice join, the ends of the glass fibre cable are joined to one another permanently in a laboratory by means of fusing or gluing. Welding of the glass fibre cable ends precludes contamination and consequently attenuation, but it is no longer possible to take the coupling apart.
In the case of the BUTT-coupled connector, also known as direct connector, the ends of the glass fibre cable are pushed into a ferrule provided with a small amount of adhesive. This adhesive is cured and the glass fibre cable is then ground down in a holder and is then polished. The same is done to the glass fibre cable which is to be connected thereto. The two ferrules which form the precision elements of the connector halves, are pushed into a sleeve, a requirement being for the glass fibre cables to form a precise fit by their end faces and to be in line with each other. Any deviation, however small, leads to large attenuation losses by which the transmission of information is seriously disturbed.
In the case of the lens connector the two glass fibre cable ends, ground down and polished, have positioned between them two lenses, one each for each glass fibre cable. The light beam from the one glass fibre cable is widened by the one lens and is preferably parallelized, and by the other lens is focused again onto the other glass fibre cable. Between the connector sections to be coupled, the light ray is thus parallel and much wider than the light beam in the glass fibre cable itself. The lens connector is therefore largely insensitive to particles of dust on the glass fibre cable and to any centre line errors.
The lens connector according to the International Patent Application WO 93/17359 comprises two lens connector halves, each lens connector half comprising a coupling housing with a continuous internal space. The end of one or more light guides to be through-connected is fastened in a plug which is accommodated in the rearmost portion of the internal space of the coupling housing and is retained therein. Adjoining the free end of the plug there is positioned, in the frontmost portion of the internal space, an optical system in the form of a rod lens. The through connection is achieved by the two connector halves being positioned on top of one another with the lenses facing one another, the alignment of the coupling housings and the mutual fastening thereof being effected with the aid of coupling sleeves which are fastened to the free end of the respective coupling housing by means of a press fit.
The coupling sleeves are provided with pins and recesses, in the coupled state the pins of the one coupling sleeve being inserted into the recesses of the other coupling sleeve. Thus a concentric alignment is achieved. Angular errors which are caused by the centre lines of the lens connector halves forming an angle with each other, are not corrected, however.
The abovementioned connecto
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Holec Projects B.V.
Ullah Akm E.
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