Optical waveguides – With disengagable mechanical connector
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-31
2003-04-15
Feild, Lynn D. (Department: 2839)
Optical waveguides
With disengagable mechanical connector
C439S145000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06547444
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A typical fiber optic connection between a first fiber optic component and a second fiber optic component (e.g., between two fiber optic cables, between a fiber optic cable and a fiber optic module, etc.) is formed by aligning an optical interface of the first fiber optic component (e.g., an end of a fiber optic cable) with an optical interface of the second fiber optic component (e.g., an end of another fiber optic cable or a fiber optic module).
Clean optical interfaces tend to form fiber optic connections with less light distortion and less light energy loss than dirty optical interfaces. Accordingly, fiber optic component manufactures and companies that install fiber optic equipment typically take steps to provide clean optical interfaces. For example, fiber optic cable manufacturers typically polish the optical interfaces of fiber optic cable assemblies (a portion of fiber optic cable with a fiber optic connector terminating each end) prior to releasing such assemblies into the stream of commerce.
Nevertheless, once a fiber optic component is removed from its packaging and handled, it becomes susceptible to dust and dirt. Over time the accumulation of dust and dirt can become significant, e.g., after unplugging and plugging-in a fiber optic connector of a fiber optic cable assembly multiple times. In extreme situations, the amount of light energy loss can become so great that light detection circuitry at the end of the fiber optic pathway is no longer able to detect the light signal.
To avoid such situations, fiber optic equipment installation companies typically train their technicians to clean the optical interfaces of fiber optic cable assemblies prior to use, i.e., prior to connecting the fiber optic cable assemblies with other fiber optic components. For example, some companies train their technicians to wipe the optical interfaces with cleaning material (e.g., cleaning fabric or cleaning paper) that tends to remove dirt and dust from the optical interfaces without depositing additional dirt and dust. Other companies train their technicians to apply a stick-on adhesive to the optical interfaces and then remove the stick-on adhesive in order to remove the dirt and dust. Yet other companies train their technicians to spray the optical interfaces with fluid from an aerosol can to blow away the dirt and dust from the optical interfaces.
Furthermore, some fiber optic component manufacturers attempt to protect the connectors of fiber optic cable assemblies by providing a fiber optic coupling, called an adaptor, which has a trap door on each end to receive a fiber optic cable connector. When a first fiber optic cable connector plugs into an end of the adaptor, the trap door at that end opens to allow the first connector to enter. When a second fiber optic cable connector plugs into the other end of the adaptor, the trap door at the other end opens to allow the second connector to enter and form a set of fiber optic connections with the first connector within the adaptor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Unfortunately, there are deficiencies to the above-described conventional approaches to maintaining clean optical interfaces on fiber optic components. In particular, the performance evaluations of technicians are typically based, at least in part, on the amount of time the technicians take to install and activate their fiber optic equipment. Accordingly, some technicians may forget to clean or purposefully omit cleaning the optical interfaces of the fiber optic equipment in their haste to finish installations. For example, some technicians perform a visual inspection of the optical interfaces prior to any manual cleaning step. If there is no visual sign of dust or dirt on the optical interfaces, the technician concludes that cleaning is unnecessary and does not clean the optical interfaces. Nevertheless, such dirt and dust could exist but simply be visually undetectable. As a result, the visually undetectable dust and dirt degrades performance of the fiber optic component (e.g., distorts the fiber optic signals, reduces the effective length of the fiber optic pathways, etc.).
Additionally, in the conventional cleaning approach that involves a technician wiping optical interfaces with cleaning material (e.g., fabric or paper), the cleaning material can become contaminated (e.g., from prior use). Accordingly, the technician could inadvertently introduce dirt and dust onto the optical interfaces rather than remove dirt and dust.
Furthermore, some fiber optic components are disposed in locations which are difficult for a technician to access. For example, fiber optic modules could be mounted to a backplane within a card cage. Such modules could be easily accessible by a long circuit board having corresponding fiber optic modules mounted thereon, but difficult for a technician to reach manually. Accordingly, having a technician manually wipe the hard-to-reach optical interfaces with cleaning material or manually apply and remove a stick-on adhesive could be extremely burdensome. As such, the technician may chose to eliminate that part of the installation procedure even though it is technically required by the fiber optic installation company.
Additionally, the above-described conventional adaptor, which has a trap door on each end, provides no protection to fiber optic cable connectors when the fiber optic connectors are not plugged in. That is, prior to being plugged-in, the fiber optic connectors are susceptible to dust and dirt and can become contaminated. Furthermore, the trap doors of the adaptor tend to trap dust and dirt within the adaptor which interferes with the ability of fiber optic connectors to form a reliable set of fiber optic connections within the adaptor.
In contrast to the above-described conventional approaches to ensuring that optical interfaces are regularly cleaned when handled (e.g., requiring technicians to perform manual cleaning procedures) and to protect fiber optic connectors of cable assemblies with an adaptor having trap doors, the invention is directed to techniques that control access to optical interfaces using film having windowed sections and non-windowed sections. The windowed and non-windowed sections are selectively positioned over an optical interface location that holds an optical interface in order to selectively expose and protect that optical interface. Preferably, such positioning occurs in an automated manner such that a technician need not perform an extensive manual cleaning step each time fiber optic equipment requires handling, e.g., each time a fiber optic connector of a fiber optic component is unplugged and re-plugged.
One arrangement of the invention is directed to an optical component having an optical interface, and an optical connector. The optical connector includes (i) an optical connector housing that holds the optical interface in an optical interface location of the optical connector housing, (ii) film having windowed sections and non-windowed sections, and (iii) a film positioning assembly coupled to the optical connector housing.
The windowed and non-windowed sections of the film are interleaved with each other. The film positioning assembly selectively positions the windowed and non-windowed sections of the film over the optical interface location in order to selectively expose and protect the optical interface. Accordingly, a non-windowed section of the film can cover the optical interface location when the optical component is unconnected (e.g., when the optical component is handled by a technician), and a windowed section of the film can be moved over the optical interface location as the optical component is connected to another component in order to enable the other component to access the optical interface at the optical interface location.
In one arrangement, the film positioning assembly includes a source reel and a destination reel, each of which is coupled to the optical connector housing. The source reel rotates to provide the sections of the film. The destination reel rotates to re
Chapin & Huang , L.L.C.
David E. Huang, Esq.
Feild Lynn D.
Prasad Chandrika
Teradyne, Inc.
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