Connector apparatus
First Claim
1. Apparatus for interfacing between an electronic circuit and optical fibers comprising a housing composed of electrically insulative plastic material having a first side with an aperture therethrough and a second side with at least one row of apertures therethrough, a lead frame mounted in the housing, the lead frame including a plurality of electrically conductive elements having first and second end portions, the first end portion formed into terminal configurations, each terminal configuration aligned with a respective aperture in the second side of the housing, a relatively massive thermally and electrically conductive pad disposed on the second end portion of one of the lead frame elements, a semi-conductor chip bonded to the pad, the chip having a plurality of optical elements, each optical element having a bonding pad, electrically conductive leads connecting each bonding pad with a respective second end portion of the other lead frame elements, a guide plate formed of moldable plastic material overlying the chip, the plate having fiber guiding surfaces formed therein and having indexing surfaces for properly locating the fiber guiding surface relative to the optical elements of the chip, and a cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers extending through the aperture on the first side of the housing with respective fibers received on the fiber guiding surfaces and in optical communication with respective optical elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A connector assembly comprises a lead frame mounting one or more semiconductor chips, having optically active areas, a fiber guide and optical fibers held in optical communication with the chips. The fiber guide is formed of a plate like member having two or more reference points, in order to precisely locate the fibers relative to the chip. Several embodiments of the guide are shown including a plate having fiber receiving bores extending therethrough as well as a plate having fiber receiving grooves extending along sides thereof preferably used in conjunction with a bar biased against fibers disposed in the grooves. The bar, which may be made of elastomeric material is shown having a straight edge facing the grooves while a variation of the bar is provided with an additional set of grooves. The lead frame mounts a relatively large thermally and electrically conductive pad which in turn mounts the semiconductor chip having optically active areas. Fibers are trained through respective bores or grooves and epoxied in alignment with respective optically active areas. The connector is adapted to be mounted on one side of a backplane while the electronic components such as drivers and amplifiers, associated with matching electrical characteristics of transmitting and receiving circuitry to those of the photo emitting and detecting elements of the chip are mounted on a second side of the backplane. A single connector may contain either or both photo emitting and photo detecting elements.
73 Citations
15 Claims
- 1. Apparatus for interfacing between an electronic circuit and optical fibers comprising a housing composed of electrically insulative plastic material having a first side with an aperture therethrough and a second side with at least one row of apertures therethrough, a lead frame mounted in the housing, the lead frame including a plurality of electrically conductive elements having first and second end portions, the first end portion formed into terminal configurations, each terminal configuration aligned with a respective aperture in the second side of the housing, a relatively massive thermally and electrically conductive pad disposed on the second end portion of one of the lead frame elements, a semi-conductor chip bonded to the pad, the chip having a plurality of optical elements, each optical element having a bonding pad, electrically conductive leads connecting each bonding pad with a respective second end portion of the other lead frame elements, a guide plate formed of moldable plastic material overlying the chip, the plate having fiber guiding surfaces formed therein and having indexing surfaces for properly locating the fiber guiding surface relative to the optical elements of the chip, and a cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers extending through the aperture on the first side of the housing with respective fibers received on the fiber guiding surfaces and in optical communication with respective optical elements.
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15. Apparatus for interfacing between an electronic circuit and optical fibers comprising a housing composed of electrically insulative plastic material having a first side with an aperture therethrough and a second side with at least one row of apertures therethrough, a lead frame mounted in the housing, the lead frame including a plurality of electrically conductive elements having first and second end portions, the first end portion formed into generally female shaped terminal configurations, each terminal configuration aligned with a respective aperture in the second side of the housing, a relatively massive thermally and electrically conductive pad disposed on the second end portion of one of the lead frame elements, a semi-conductor chip bonded to the pad, the chip having a plurality of optical elements, each optical element having a bonding pad, electrically conductive leads connecting each bonding pad with a respective second end portion of the other lead frame elements, a guide plate formed of moldable plastic material overlying the chip, the plate having fiber guiding surfaces formed therein and having indexing surfaces for properly locating the fiber guiding surface relative to the optical elements of the chip, a cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers extending through the aperture in the first side of the housing, respective fibers received on the fiber guiding surfaces and biased against respective optical elements in optical communication therewith, and clear epoxy disposed between the fibers and their respective optical elements.
Specification