Optical waveguides – Accessories – Splice box and surplus fiber storage/trays/organizers/ carriers
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-25
2004-01-13
Bruce, David V. (Department: 2882)
Optical waveguides
Accessories
Splice box and surplus fiber storage/trays/organizers/ carriers
C385S134000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06678457
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an optical splitter module, more particularly, to an optical splitter module comprising couplers attached with optical connectors and an encasing means containing the couplers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional optical splitter modules contain a plurality of optical fiber couplers in a case and allow selective use of optical signals having a wavelength of 1310 nm or 1550 nm. The optical splitter module allows simultaneous monitoring between a service provider and a subscriber by dividing a portion of the optical signals, thus enabling prompt restoration and easy maintenance and repair of telecommunication jamming.
A conventional optical splitter module
10
shown in
FIG. 1
a
has couplers attached with optical connectors and a case containing the couplers. The case comprises an adaptor holder
11
with optical adaptors attached thereto, a housing
12
, and a cover
13
mounted on the housing. As shown in
FIG. 1
b,
the housing includes a front portion
14
, a bottom portion
15
and sidewalls
16
. An upper portion of the housing is shown, opened. The front portion
14
of the housing is formed by upwardly folding a portion extending from the bottom portion of the housing. The front portion
14
of the housing is provided with an opening
17
for mounting an adaptor holder
11
of
FIG. 1
c
with a plurality of optical adaptors attached thereto, and defines a front portion of the module when the adaptor holder is mounted on the module. The adaptor holder
11
has a wrinkled portion with a plurality of alternatively formed peaks and gullies and is inserted into opening
17
of the front portion of the housing. Both ends of the adaptor holder
11
are threaded into the front portion
14
of the housing. The cover
13
is mounted on the opened upper portion of the housing, and thus, the adaptor holder
11
is inserted and mounted between the bottom portion
15
of the housing and the cover
13
. A front edge of the bottom portion
15
of the housing
12
and a front edge of the cover
13
, which are adjacent to the adaptor holder
11
, are manufactured to be in a straight line. According to the conventional optical splitter module, the front portion
14
of the housing is formed by upwardly folding a portion of the bottom portion
15
of the housing. Thus, the front portion
14
of the housing need to have an upper portion
18
and a lower portion
19
, each generally having a height of more than 5 mm and extending transversely along the opening into which an adaptor holder, generally having a height of 15 mm, is inserted to support the adaptor holder. This increases the height of the front portion
14
of the housing generally up to about 27 mm, which results in problems such as increase in the overall height of the module
10
. This, in turn, limits the number of modules that can be mounted within a chassis.
FIG. 2
shows a housing
12
′ of another conventional optical splitter module. The housing
12
′ does not require upper and lower portions
18
and
19
, as shown in
FIG. 1
b
, extending transversely along an opening of front portion
14
′ of the housing. Thus, the height of the front portion
14
′ of the housing
12
′ can be somewhat reduced. However, as shown in the illustrated conventional module of
FIG. 2
, an adaptor holder is inserted and mounted between a bottom portion
15
′ of the housing and cover. Therefore, the height of the front portion of the housing is defined by adding the thickness of the bottom portion
15
′ of the housing and the thickness of the cover, which are generally about 2 mm, to the height of the adaptor holder, which is generally about 15 mm. Therefore, it is impractical to manufacture the module with a lower height without downsizing the optical adaptor per se.
The adaptor holders in conventional optical splitter modules have the additional problem of being unable to securely and tightly hold the optical adaptor, because the adaptor holder is supported by only threading on both ends of the front portions
14
and
14
′ of the housings
12
and
12
′, and the middle portions of the adaptor holder are not fixed.
The present invention is intended to solve the problems of conventional optical splitter modules as described above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide an optical splitter module capable of improving the inserting capabilities of modules within a standard chassis by reducing the height of the optical splitter module.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical splitter module capable of tightly securing an adaptor holder by engaging the middle portion of the adaptor holder with the housing and a cover when the adaptor holder is mounted to the housing and the cover of the optical splitter module.
One aspect of the present invention is an optical splitter module including couplers to which one or more optical connectors are attached. The optical splitter module comprises an adaptor holder for fixing a plurality of optical adaptors in a line, the adaptor holder having a height the same as or smaller than the height of the optical adaptors; a housing having a means for fixing the couplers; and a cover adapted for preventing the coupler from being externally exposed. The adaptor holder, the housing and the cover are mechanically fixed to or engaged with one another, and the height of the optical splitter module is smaller than the sum of the thickness of said housing, the thickness of said cover and the height of said optical adapters.
Another aspect of the present invention is an optical splitter module including couplers to which one or more optical connectors are attached. The optical splitter module comprises an adaptor holder for fixing a plurality of optical adaptors in a line, the adaptor holder has a height the same as or smaller than that of the optical adaptor, the adaptor holder comprises a wrinkled portion with a plurality of periodically formed peaks and gullies in a longitudinal direction, the wrinkled portion having a plurality of adaptor insertion holes formed therein for receiving and supporting a plurality of optical adaptors; a housing having a means for fixing the couplers, the housing comprising a bottom portion, sidewalls extending upwardly from one or more edges of the bottom portion, and fixing portions for fixing the adaptor holder thereto, the front edge of the housing having a toothed portion formed therewith, the toothed portion corresponding to the peaks and gullies of the wrinkled portion of the adaptor holder; and a cover adapted for preventing the coupler from being externally exposed, the cover being mounted on the sidewalls of the housing, the front edge of the cover having a toothed portion formed therein, and the toothed portion corresponding to the peaks and gullies of the wrinkled portion of the adaptor holder.
A further aspect of the present invention is to provide an optical splitter module, wherein one or more holes are formed on the wrinkled portion of the adaptor holder, and wherein on the front edge of the housing or on the front edge of the cover, tabs with threaded holes are formed on positions corresponding to the positions of the holes of the adaptor holder.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide an optical splitter module wherein each peak and gully of the toothed portions of the housing and the cover are engaged with the wrinkled portion of the adaptor holder, and has a projection portion adapted to be extended by the thickness of the adaptor holder so that the adaptor holder is mounted on the toothed portions of the housing and the cover.
In the preferred embodiments as summarized above, the angles between the peaks and gullies of the wrinkled portions of the adaptor holder and angles between each adjacent teeth in the toothed portions of the housing and the cover are in the range of 80° to 100°. The lengths of the two sides forming each of the peaks and gullies are substantially identical, and
Jun Soon Nam
Kim Seong Gwon
Moon Jong Ha
Baker & Botts LLP
Bruce David V.
Suchecki Krystyna
Unicom Technologies, Co., LTD
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