AU620256B2

AU620256B2 - Fibre optic connector

Info

Publication number: AU620256B2
Application number: AU57721/90A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter Kriegisch; Wolfgang Pickel
Original assignee: Alcatel NV
Current assignee: Alcatel Lucent NV
Priority date: 1989-06-28
Filing date: 1990-06-21
Publication date: 1992-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 2010-06-21
Also published as: DE8907863U1; AU5772190A

Description

0 0 00 0 o 0 0 0., 0 0 00 o oo..

0 0 00 00 COMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952-1969 COMPLET'E SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED "FIBRE OPTIC CONNECTOR" 0 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 a 00 The fo.11owing statement is a full -description of this invention, including the best method of perfonning it known to us:- This invention concerns a connector for optical waveguides which comprises a connector body with a shank and a connector pin mounted therein, a compression nut on the shank, and a flattened portion at each of the long sides of the round connector body. Such connectors are used especially in equipments for optical communication systems.

Connectors of the aforementioned type are already known which are designed to mate, for example, with free connectors of complementary construction, fixed feed-through connectors and equipment connectors. The plug pins of two mated connectors must, however, only be engaged with low force, because the polished faces of the optical fibres fitted in the plugs are eas- 0 ily roughened by frequent insertions, thus causing undesirable increases in 00 0 0 o attenuation.

0 00. For this reason, the coupling nuts are only tightened with a relatively 00 0 000 low torque. In order to ensure this, for example, the sleeve-like coupling 0 00 00 0 nut has a clamping spring with a knurled outer surface arranged around it, which acts as a slipping clutch when the permissible torque is exceeded.

0 On the one hand this ensures that the plug pins are only engaged with the 00. permissible force, but on the other hand the danger exsists that vibration or 0 0O shock, for example during transport of equipment containing installed connec- 0 00 0 0 0 00 20 tors, can cause unnoticed loosening of the coupling nut.

An object of the present invention is to prevent the unintended loosening of a connector of the aforementioned type.

t According to the invention there is provided a connector for optical waveguides comprising a connector body with a shank and a connector pin mounted therein, a compression nut on the shank, and a flattened portion at each of the long sides of the connector body, wherein said connector includes a locking member for preventing said compression ut from loosening, said locking member comprising a retaining clip removably snap-fitted to the connector body and the compression nut.

00 0 0

O

0 0 0 0 0 O0 0 0 ~0c The invention is described, further in the following with reference to an example shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a connector with locking member, partly sectioned; Figure 2 shows a plan view of the locking member of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a side view of the locking member of Figure 2, looking into the section which grips the connector body; Figure 4 shows the other side view of the locking member of Figure 2, looking into the section which grips the coupling nut.

In Figure 1 the complete connector is designated as 1. It consists hasically of a round body 2 with a shaft 3 from which projects the plug pin 4.

0 '0 This carries the glass fibre of the optical cable 5 fitted into the back. The 0 body 2 has two flat portions 6 on the sides, parallel to each other, by means of which the body can be held when turning the nut 7 fitted on the sheft 3.

0 shown in Figure 1, the complete connector 1 is combined with a locking 0 member 8. This corists of a charnel-like clip 9 which is basically U-shaped in cross-section. The clip 9 has a receptacle 10 for gi-ipping r;he flats 6 on the connector body 2, and a receptacle 11 to grip the shaft 3. Both sections C0 are defined by two fixed sidewalls 12 which produce the U-shaped crosssection. The sidewalls 12 have V-shaped inner edges 13, forming lead-ins, 0 20 which extend in the region of receptacle 11 for shaft 3 from the edge to the rounded part of the smaller diameter receptacle (Figure 3 and Figure 4).

0 0 Adjacent to the receptacle 11 for shaft 3 there is a further receptacle 0 14 for the coupling nut 7. The walls of this receptacle corsist of spring sections 15 which are separated from the previoisly mentiones sidewalls 12 by a slot 16 running transversely through the clip 9. At the ends of the spring sections 15, the inner edges each have a retaining lip 17 which trips the coupling nut 7 when a clip 9 is pushed onto a connector 1.

The clip 9 is a one-piece component which is preferably produced cheaply from thermoplastic material by injection moulding. It is intended to be fairly thin-walled and thus is light-weight as well as allowing the recepta- 000 000 0"0 0 0 O0 00 0 0 000 0000 0 00 0 0 0 I- ri- -I~Pbl -rr -~LCI~I*CI cles 10, 11 for body 2 and shaft 3 to be moulded with grer' precision. The clip 9 is installed by simply pushing it onto the mated connector 1. When seated correctly, the body 2 is held against rotation by the flats 6 in receptacle 10, while the c '.ing sections 15 clamp the coupling nut 7 and prevent it from loosening. The locking member 8 is thus easily fitted and can be removed again without tools. Naturally already installed, mated connectors can be readily retro-fitted with locking members 8.

4 0 a a 0 0 oQ 00 0 0 o4 oo a o o0 4 0 ooo 1 0o00 0 0 00oo S400 0 00 0 0 0 o oo O0O0 00 4 4 04

Claims

1. A connector for optical waveguides comprising a connector body with a shank and a connector pin mounted therein, a compression nut on the shank, and a flattened portion at each of the long sides of the connector body, wherein said connector includes a locking member for preventing said compression nut from loosening, said locking member comprising a retaining clip removably7 snap-fitted to the connector body and the compression nut.

2. A connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the retaining clip is ar- ranged on the connector body so as to be locked against rotation.

3. A connector as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the retaining clip is 0 a U-shaped channel section which has a first receptacle with fixed sidewalls ~:for the flattened portion of the connector body and a second receptacle with 00% 0 0 sidewalls in the form of spring sections for clamping the compression nut in 00 0

4 A connector as claimed in claim 3, wherein between the said fixed sidewalls of the retaining clip, a third receptacle for the shank of 'the con- 0 0 nectar body is provided.4 00

5. A connector as claimed in claim 3, wherein said fixed sidewalls and said spring sections are separated by a slot extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of -the retaining clip.

6. A connector as claimed in any one of claims I to 5, wherein the re- taining clip is in the form of a one-piece plastic injection moulding. DATED THIS NINETEENTH DAY OF JUNE 1990 ALCATEL~ N.V.