Optical connector
First Claim
1. A connector comprising:
- a housing comprising a first attachment area for receiving and permanently attaching to a plurality of optical waveguides; and
a light coupling unit disposed in and configured to move within the housing and comprising;
a second attachment area for receiving and permanently attaching to a plurality of optical waveguides received and permanently attached at the first attachment area; and
a plurality of curved surfaces, each curved surface corresponding to a different optical waveguide in a plurality of optical waveguides received and permanently attached at the first and second attachment areas, the optical waveguide having a first core diameter, the curved surface being configured to change a divergence of light from the optical waveguide such that light from the optical waveguide exits the connector along an exit direction different than a mating direction of the connector, the exiting light having a second diameter greater than the first core diameter, the connector being configured so that when the connector mates with a mating connector in a mating direction, the light coupling unit rotates causing the optical waveguide to bend.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Optical connectors are provided for connecting sets of optical waveguides (104), such as optical fiber ribbons to each other, to printed circuit boards, or to backplanes. The provided connectors (100) include a housing (110) that has an attachment area (102) for receiving and permanently attaching a plurality of optical waveguides. Additionally, the provided connectors include a light coupling unit (120) disposed in and configured to move with the housing. The provided connectors also include a second attachment area (108) for receiving and permanently attaching to the plurality of optical waveguides that causes each optical waveguide to be bent between the two attachment areas. The provided connectors utilize expanded beam optics with non-contact optical mating resulting in relaxed mechanical precision requirements. The provided connectors can have low optical loss, are easily scalable to high channel count (optical fibers per connector) and can be compatible with low insertion force blind mating.
56 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A connector comprising:
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a housing comprising a first attachment area for receiving and permanently attaching to a plurality of optical waveguides; and a light coupling unit disposed in and configured to move within the housing and comprising; a second attachment area for receiving and permanently attaching to a plurality of optical waveguides received and permanently attached at the first attachment area; and a plurality of curved surfaces, each curved surface corresponding to a different optical waveguide in a plurality of optical waveguides received and permanently attached at the first and second attachment areas, the optical waveguide having a first core diameter, the curved surface being configured to change a divergence of light from the optical waveguide such that light from the optical waveguide exits the connector along an exit direction different than a mating direction of the connector, the exiting light having a second diameter greater than the first core diameter, the connector being configured so that when the connector mates with a mating connector in a mating direction, the light coupling unit rotates causing the optical waveguide to bend. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A connector comprising:
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a housing comprising an input attachment area for receiving and permanently attaching to a plurality of optical waveguides; a lower light coupling unit disposed in and configured to move within the housing and comprising; a lower attachment area for receiving and permanently attaching to a plurality of optical waveguides received and permanently attached at the input attachment area; and a plurality of lower curved surfaces, each lower curved surface corresponding to a different optical waveguide in a plurality of optical waveguides received and permanently attached at the lower attachment area; and an upper light coupling unit disposed in the housing vertically offset from the lower light coupling unit and configured to move within the housing and comprising; an upper attachment area for receiving and permanently attaching to a plurality of optical waveguides received and permanently attached at the input attachment area; and a plurality of upper curved surfaces, each upper curved surface corresponding to a different optical waveguide in a plurality of optical waveguides received and permanently attached at the upper attachment area, each curved surface in the pluralities of lower and upper curved surfaces being configured to change a divergence of light from the optical waveguide corresponding to the curved surface, the optical waveguide having a first core diameter, such that light from the optical waveguide exits the connector along an exit direction different than a mating direction of the connector, the exiting light having a second diameter greater than the first core diameter, the connector being configured so that when the connector mates with a mating connector in a mating direction, each of the lower and upper light coupling units rotates causing any optical waveguide received and permanently attached at the input attachment area and the lower or upper attachment area to bend. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification