Gender selectable fiber optic connector and associated fabrication method
First Claim
1. A gender selectable fiber optic connector comprising:
- a housing;
a ferrule operably connected to said housing, said ferrule including a forward portion that extends beyond said housing and that defines at least one lengthwise extending alignment groove; and
a shroud defining a passageway therethrough, said shroud being adapted to be mounted upon the forward portion of said ferrule such that the forward portion of said ferrule extends through the passageway, said shroud being selected from the group consisting of shrouds having a male configuration and shrouds having a female configuration, wherein the male configuration of said shroud includes at least one guide pin extending lengthwise through the passageway for engaging the respective alignment groove defined by said ferrule to produce a male fiber optic connector, and wherein the female configuration of said shroud is free of guide pins so as to produce a female fiber optic connector.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A gender selectable fiber optic connector is provided which can be readily converted between male and female configurations following assembly and polishing of the connector. The gender selectable fiber optic connector includes a housing, a ferrule operably connected to the housing such that a forward portion of the ferrule extends beyond the housing, and a shroud adapted to be mounted upon the forward portion of the ferrule such that the forward portion of the ferrule extends through a passageway defined by the shroud. In order to alter the gender of the fiber optic connector, the shroud has both male and female configurations. In this regard, the male configuration of the shroud includes at least one guide pin extending lengthwise through the passageway defined by the shroud for engaging a lengthwise extending alignment groove defined by the ferrule in order to produce a male fiber optic connector. In contrast, the female configuration of the shroud is free of guide pins such that mounting the female configuration of the shroud upon the ferrule produces a female fiber optic connector. In addition to the gender selectable fiber optic connector and the associated shroud, a method of fabricating the gender selectable fiber optic connector is provided. Moreover, an outlet assembly is also provided for receiving a fiber optic connector having a rectangular shape in lateral cross-section, such as an MT connector or the gender selectable fiber optic connector having a rectangularly-shaped shroud, and for precisely aligning the rectangularly-shaped fiber optic connector with a substantially cylindrical ferrule, such as a DC or QC ferrule, so as to increase the flexibility with which different types of ferrules can be interconnected as well as the precision of the resulting interconnection.
212 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A gender selectable fiber optic connector comprising:
-
a housing; a ferrule operably connected to said housing, said ferrule including a forward portion that extends beyond said housing and that defines at least one lengthwise extending alignment groove; and a shroud defining a passageway therethrough, said shroud being adapted to be mounted upon the forward portion of said ferrule such that the forward portion of said ferrule extends through the passageway, said shroud being selected from the group consisting of shrouds having a male configuration and shrouds having a female configuration, wherein the male configuration of said shroud includes at least one guide pin extending lengthwise through the passageway for engaging the respective alignment groove defined by said ferrule to produce a male fiber optic connector, and wherein the female configuration of said shroud is free of guide pins so as to produce a female fiber optic connector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A shroud for mounting upon a forward portion of a cylindrical ferrule, the shroud comprising:
-
a shroud body defining a lengthwise extending passageway; and at least one guide pin partially embedded within said shroud body and extending lengthwise through the passageway defined by said shroud body, said at least one guide pin also extending beyond at least one end of said shroud body, wherein the passageway defined by said shroud body has a substantially circular shape in lateral cross-section, and wherein at least a portion of an exterior surface of said shroud body has a rectangular shape in lateral cross-section such that the shroud can adapt the ferrule of a first type of fiber optic connector for use with a second type of fiber optic connector. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
-
-
12. A method for fabricating a gender selectable fiber optic connector comprising the steps of:
-
providing a multi-fiber ferrule having an exterior surface which defines at least one lengthwise extending alignment groove; mounting the ferrule upon a plurality of optical fibers such that end portions of the optical fibers are exposed at a forward end of the ferrule; polishing the forward end of the ferrule and the exposed end portions of the optical fibers; selecting a shroud defining a lengthwise extending passageway for mounting upon the ferrule following said polishing step, said selecting step comprising selecting the shroud from the group consisting of shrouds having a male configuration and shrouds having a female configuration, wherein the male shroud configuration includes at least one guide pin extending lengthwise through the passageway for engaging the respective alignment groove defined by the ferrule, and wherein the female shroud configuration is free of guide pins; and mounting the selected shroud upon the ferrule such that the ferrule extends through the passageway defined by the shroud in order to produce a male fiber optic connector if a male shroud configuration is selected and a female fiber optic connector if a female shroud configuration is selected. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification