Optical waveguides – With disengagable mechanical connector
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-06
2003-02-11
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Optical waveguides
With disengagable mechanical connector
C439S567000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06517252
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an optical connector to optically connect an optical receiving module and an optical transmitting module to respective optical fibers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wiring harness has been used for connecting equipment or accessories of an automobile. However, the wiring harness has been enlarged and has increased its weight according to the increase of equipment or accessories and their circuits. A fiber optic communications system which sends signals to the accessories by using the optical fiber cable used as a part of the wiring harness has been proposed in order to solve the above problem.
In the above fiber optic communications system, the signal light transmitted from the optical fiber cable is converted into electrical signal, and the electrical signal is converted into the signal light outputted to the optical fiber cable. For this purpose a receptacle
103
shown in
FIG. 16
(an equipment side connector) has been proposed.
The receptacle
103
in
FIG. 16
couples with a mating optical connector, i.e. a non-shown optical plug (an optical fiber side connector). And, the receptacle
103
is attached to a printed circuit board
120
or the like of an accessory. On the printed circuit board
120
, a hole
122
for a bolt
121
is formed.
The receptacle
103
has a housing
107
, an optical receiving module and an optical transmitting module
104
, and a pair of sleeves
101
. The housing
107
is formed in a box-shape. The housing
107
is made of a base material of insulative synthetic resin and a thin insulation film formed on the surface of the base material. The housing
107
has a pair of accommodating chambers
108
opening on an external wall and a flange portion
123
projecting outwardly.
The flange portion
123
is formed flatly along the printed circuit board
120
. A screw hole
124
for a bolt
121
is formed in the flange portion
123
. The screw hole
124
is bored through the flange portion
123
. And, in the housing
107
the optical plug fits.
The optical receiving module and the optical transmitting module
104
are accommodated in the respective accommodating chamber
108
. The pair of sleeves
101
are made of light-readable material in a cylindrical shape and are inserted into respective non-shown transferring tubes of the housing
107
. The sleeve
101
consists of a core and a clad having different indexes of refraction and arranged coaxially.
The sleeve
101
is arranged between the optical fiber and a light-receiving surface of the optical receiving module
104
and also between another optical fiber and a light-emitting surface of the optical transmitting module
104
and connects them optically.
And, a cap
110
is installed after accommodating the optical receiving module and the optical transmitting module in the accommodating chambers
108
. The cap
110
is formed of elastic synthetic resin in a rectangular tabular shape.
The cap
110
is attached to the housing
107
by means of engaging projections
110
a
and engaging recesses
110
b
engagable each other. The engaging projection
110
a
projects outwardly from the periphery of the cap
110
. The engaging recess
110
b
is formed on the internal surface of the housing
107
.
The optical plug has a pair of optical fibers, a pair of ferrules, and a plug housing of synthetic resin. The pair of optical fibers are arranged in parallel. The ferrule covers the optical fiber with its end being exposed. The plug housing accommodates the ferrules and couples with the housing.
The receptacle
103
coupled with the optical plug receives the signal light transmitted from one of the optical fibers on the light-receiving surface of the optical receiving module
104
through one of the sleeves
101
. And, the optical receiving module converts the signal light into the electrical signal. And, the optical transmitting module
104
converts the electrical signal into the signal light and transmits it toward the other optical fiber through the other sleeve
101
.
And, the above receptacle
103
is fixed to the printed circuit board
120
by means of the bolt
121
and the screw hole
124
through the above hole
122
. When the bolt
121
is screwed to the screw hole
124
, an insulation film formed over the screw hole
124
is removed. And, through the bolt
121
the base material of the housing
107
is electrically connected to the conductive pattern of the printed circuit board
120
, whereby an earth circuit reaching the printed circuit board
120
from the base material of the above housing
107
is formed.
With respect to the above prior art receptacle
103
, however, when the receptacle
103
is mounted on the printed circuit board
120
, i.e. a substrate member, the bolt
121
has to be screwed in the screw hole
124
from the back side of the printed circuit board
120
, thereby increasing the assembling cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector capable of reducing its mounting cost on the substrate member.
In order to achieve the above object, an optical connector comprises: a housing, having a base material of conductive resin and an insulation film covering a surface of the base material, to accommodate an optical receiving module and an optical transmitting module; and a fixing member, attached to the housing, to fix the housing to a substrate member by engaging with an engagement receiving portion of the substrate member, wherein the housing has a press-fit receiving portion to which the fixing member is pressedly inserted, and upon inserting the fixing member in the press-fit receiving portion the insulation film over the press-fit receiving portion is removed thereby to put the fixing member into contact with the base material.
In the above optical connector, when the fixing member to engage the engagement receiving portion of the substrate member is pressed in a press-fit receiving portion of the housing, the fixing member is put into contact with in the base material, of the housing, of conductive resin. Therefore, the housing can be fixed to the substrate member by pressing the fixing member in the press-fit receiving portion and engaging the fixing member with the engagement receiving portion.
According to the above-described structure of the present invention, since the housing can be fixed to the substrate member by inserting the fixing member in the press-fit receiving portion of the housing and by engaging the fixing member with the engagement receiving portion, labor required for mounting the receptacle onto the substrate member can be reduced.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 6217346 (2001-04-01), Cubon
patent: 6331122 (2001-12-01), Wu
patent: 9-61677 (1997-03-01), None
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP
Nguyen Khiem
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Optical connector does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Optical connector, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Optical connector will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3174989