Optical waveguides – With disengagable mechanical connector – Optical fiber/optical fiber cable termination structure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-30
2001-04-17
Ullah, Akm E. (Department: 2874)
Optical waveguides
With disengagable mechanical connector
Optical fiber/optical fiber cable termination structure
Reexamination Certificate
active
06217230
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical (fiber) connector, for example, used in a multiplex transmission line of an automotive vehicle, a receptacle provided in the optical connector, and a manufacturing method for the receptacle.
2. Prior Art
There has been a generally known optical connector (disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. H. 6-33443) that was proposed by the same assignee of the present application. The optical connector has an optical fiber cable, an optical element module, and a sleeve provided therebetween. The optical element module is also called as a light-receiving/light-emitting optical module, a transmission module, an FOT (Fiber Optic Transceiver), or the like.
Referring to
FIG. 27
, there is shown the optical connector, in which denoted
201
is the sleeve and
202
the optical connector.
The sleeve
201
is mounted in a receptacle
203
(an instrument side connector) composing the optical connector
202
. The receptacle
203
accommodates a pair of optical element modules
204
,
204
(a light-emitting element module
204
and a light-receiving element module
204
). There is also shown an optical plug (an optical fiber cable side connector)
205
provided with a pair of optical fiber cables
206
,
206
(one of them is illustrated). The optical plug
205
is an optical connector mating with the receptacle
203
via the sleeve
201
that optically connects the optical element modules
204
,
204
to the optical fiber cables
206
,
206
.
The optical connector
202
will be discussed in detail together with the sleeves
201
,
201
. The optical connector
202
has the receptacle
203
and the optical plug
205
mating with each other.
The receptacle
203
, as illustrated in
FIGS. 27 and 28
, has a synthetic resin housing
207
including accommodation chambers
208
,
208
in each of which an optical element module
204
made of an elastic material like a rubber is held by a back sheet
209
. In a rear face of the housing
207
, there is provided a cap
210
attached thereto. At the front of the accommodation chambers
208
,
208
holding the optical element modules
204
,
204
, there is provided a pair of receiving cylinders
212
,
212
each extending coaxialy with one of lenses
211
,
211
. The receiving cylinders
212
,
212
each receive one of the sleeves
201
,
201
inserted therein.
The sleeve
201
consists of a cylindrical holder
214
and an optical fiber cable
213
(a plastic, multi-mode optical fiber cable) bonded to the holder
214
. The optical fiber cable
213
consists of a core and a cladding (not shown). The sleeve
201
has each end surface given an extremely precise grinding.
Meanwhile, the optical plug
205
mating with the receptacle
203
, as illustrated in
FIGS. 27 and 29
, has a pair of ferrule assemblies
215
,
215
, a plug housing
217
, a spring cap
218
engagedly secured to the plug housing
217
, and a boot
219
engagedly secured to a rear portion of the spring cap
218
. The ferrule assemblies
215
,
215
cover the optical fiber cables
206
,
206
, each of which has an exposed leading end extending forward. The plug housing
217
has a cylindrical partition
216
for protecting the ferrule assemblies
215
,
215
received therein.
The plug housing
217
also has shoulders
217
a
,
217
a
abutting against rim flanges
215
a
,
215
a
each outwardly formed on a rear half of the ferrule assembly
215
. Between the flange
215
a
and an inner cylinder
218
a
of the spring cap
218
, there is mounted a spring
220
for resiliently biasing forward the ferrule assembly
215
.
When the flange
215
a
is abutting against the shoulder
217
a
(FIG.
29
), a fore end portion a of the ferrule assembly
215
(corresponding to the position of a light receiving/emitting end surface of the optical fiber cable
206
as illustrated in
FIG. 29
) is not extending from a fore end b (
FIG. 29
) of the plug housing
217
to stay at a withdrawn position therein.
Referring to
FIG. 27
, the receptacle
203
and the optical plug
205
having such constitutions will be further discussed in electrical and optical connection thereof
On engagement of the receptacle
203
and the optical plug
205
, the receiving cylinders
212
,
212
enter the plug housing
217
, and at the same time, the ferrule assemblies
215
,
215
enter the receiving cylinders
212
,
212
. Each ferrule assembly
215
abuts against a leading end of the receiving cylinder
212
with an adequate contact pressure therebetween by the resiliency of the spring
220
.
In this state, between the leading end a (
FIG. 29
) and the sleeve
201
, there is only a minimum clearance (not shown), minimizing a clearance optical loss thereof.
Nevertheless, the aforementioned prior art has the housing
207
that accommodates the sleeves
201
,
201
and the optical element modules
204
,
204
inserted therein. This assembling work is very laborious and is not good in workability, resulted in a higher manufacturing cost.
Furthermore, the sleeve
201
and the optical element module
204
are defined separately from each other, which provides clearances therebetween. Such clearances cause another optical loss (clearance loss) in addition to the clearance loss between the leading end a (
FIG. 29
) and the sleeve
201
. This may cause an adverse effect on an optical communication thereof.
Moreover, the receptacle
203
is completed after a plurality of steps each forming the housing
207
, the optical element module
204
, the sleeve
201
, and the cap
210
, together with steps for sequentially assembling these constitutions. The large number of steps cause a higher manufacturing cost.
In addition, the assembling step of the optical element module
204
includes a forming step of the lead pin (no reference numeral) having an optical element and a molding step of a body (no reference numeral) from a transparent resin for protecting the lead pin.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector having a receptacle that allows a less optical loss, a reduced cost, and an improved workability in assembling. The present invention also provides a manufacturing method of the receptacle. Another object of the invention is to provide an optical connector less in manufacturing cost with achieving a satisfactory optical communication.
For achieving the first object, an aspect 1 of the present invention is a manufacturing method for a receptacle for receiving an optical plug which is connected to an optical fiber cable and has a ferrule at one end thereof. The method includes the steps of:
forming a lead pin (or lead frame) having an optical element of a light-emitting element or a light-receiving element,
forming a molded body and a core to define an optical element module sub-assembly, the molded body protecting the optical element, the molded body and core being made from a light-propagating transparent resin material to be assembled unitarily with the lead pin, the core extending from the molded body in such a direction as to align with the optical element, and
forming a transparent housing unitarily with the optical element module sub-assembly, the housing having a cladding portion surrounding the core and an engagement chamber for the optical plug, the transparent housing having a refractive index smaller than the transparent resin material of the molded body.
An aspect 2 of the present invention is a receptacle manufacturing method dependent on the aspect 1, wherein the lead pin is joined to a carrier during the step for forming the lead pin, and the lead pin joined to the carrier is transferred to a next step.
An aspect 3 of the present invention is a receptacle manufacturing method dependent on the aspect 2, wherein the carrier is joined a plurality of the lead pins in which the lead pin having the light-emitting element and the lead pin having the light-receiving element are arranged in after one another relationsh
Armstrong, Westerman, Hattori, McLelland & Naughton, LLP
Ullah Akm E.
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
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