CN218567702U - Sealing cap for optical cable, optical cable assembly and base station antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to a sealing cap for an optical cable, the sealing cap being provided with an outer shield on an end section of the optical cable, the sealing cap comprising: the sealing part is inserted into the outer shield and is in interference fit with the outer shield; a stopper portion continuous with and protruding with respect to the sealing portion, wherein a stopper step is formed between the stopper portion and the sealing portion, the stopper step being configured to abut against an end side of the outer shield to prevent the sealing cap from further entering into the outer shield; and a grip portion extending outwardly from a surface of the stopper portion facing away from the seal portion. Advantageously, an improved sealing measure for the unused cable can be provided by means of the sealing cap. In addition, the application also relates to an optical cable assembly and a base station antenna.

Description

Sealing cap for optical cable, optical cable assembly and base station antenna

Technical Field

The present application relates generally to the field of antennas and, more particularly, to a sealing cap for an optical cable, an optical cable assembly and a base station antenna.

Background

With the development of communication technology, especially 5G communication technology, optical fiber transmission is increasingly applied in FTTA (fiber to the antenna) and related fields. The associated base station antenna may typically include multiple radios (i.e., RRU equipment) and thus require a large number of optical cables to connect to the RRU equipment. However, there may be application scenarios where the operator does not temporarily need all RRU devices to be in use. Thus, a portion of the cable needs to be temporarily idle, i.e., the cable (or its connector) needs to be temporarily disconnected from the corresponding RRU equipment. The free cable is thus suspended overhead on the base station tower. Therefore, it is desirable to provide good water and dust protection for these unused cables, especially their fiber optic connectors, to avoid future failure and consequent impact on fiber transmission performance. In some cases, it is desirable to achieve an IP67 protection rating for these unused cables. Accordingly, there may be a need to provide improved sealing measures against these unused cables to achieve a desired level of protection.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

It is therefore an object of the present application to provide a sealing cap for an optical cable, an optical cable assembly and a base station antenna which overcome at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art.

According to a first aspect of the present application, there is provided a sealing cap for an optical cable, provided with an outer shield on an end section of the optical cable, characterized in that the sealing cap comprises: a sealing part which is used for being inserted into the outer protective cover and is in interference fit with the outer protective cover; a stopper portion continuous with and protruding with respect to the sealing portion, wherein a stopper step is formed between the stopper portion and the sealing portion, the stopper step being configured to abut against an end side of the outer shield to prevent the sealing cap from further entering into the outer shield; and a grip portion extending outwardly from a surface of the stopper portion facing away from the seal portion. Thereby, the sealing cap for the cable can be well adapted to the outer shield provided on the cable end section, providing an improved sealing measure against an idle cable to reach a desired protection class, e.g. IP67 protection class.

In some embodiments, the sealing portion includes a first end face continuous with the stopper portion and a second end face opposite the first end face, the sealing portion having a shape that tapers from the first end face toward the second end face.

In some embodiments, the seal is a prismoid seal or a frustoconical seal.

In some embodiments, the first end face of the sealing portion is continuous to the intermediate region of the stopper portion.

In some embodiments, the gripping portion has a frosted surface.

In some embodiments, the grip has a grip widening.

In some embodiments, the grip widening structure is a T-shaped structure or a fan-shaped structure.

In some embodiments, the seal is a solid structure.

In some embodiments, the seal includes an avoidance groove configured to avoid pinching between the seal and the fiber optic connector within the outer shroud.

In some embodiments, the sealing cap is a one-piece sealing cap.

According to a second aspect of the present application, there is provided a cable assembly comprising a cable and an outer shield disposed on an end section of the cable, the outer shield having a trailing end sealingly coated on the cable and a leading end for plugging onto a radio, and the cable assembly further comprising a sealing cap plugged onto the leading end of the outer shield, the sealing cap being configured as a sealing cap according to some embodiments of the present application.

According to a third aspect of the present application, there is provided a base station antenna comprising a first radio and a first cable assembly for the first radio, wherein the first cable assembly is configured as a cable assembly according to some embodiments of the present application, wherein a cable of the first cable assembly is disconnected from the first radio and a head end of an outer shield of the cable assembly is sealed by a sealing cap.

In some embodiments, the base station antenna further comprises: a cellular antenna assembly comprising a reflector plate and a radiating element mounted on the reflector plate; a second radio configured to feed radio frequency signals to and/or receive radio frequency signals from a cellular antenna assembly; a second optical cable assembly for a second radio, the second optical cable assembly plugged onto the second radio.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an exemplary perspective view of an assembly of RRUs with cables plugged thereto;

fig. 2 is an exemplary perspective view of an assembly of RRUs along with idle fiber cables;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of a fiber optic cable;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary perspective view of a cable assembly comprised of the cable of FIG. 3 along with a sealing cap for the cable;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the cable assembly of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary perspective view of the sealing cap for a fiber optic cable of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary perspective view of the outer shield of FIGS. 3 and 4 disposed over an end segment of a fiber optic cable;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are exemplary variations of a sealing cap for a fiber optic cable;

fig. 9 is a variation of a sealing cap for a fiber optic cable.

Detailed Description

The present application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several embodiments of the present application. It should be understood, however, that the present application may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, the embodiments described below are intended to provide a more complete disclosure of the present application and to fully convey the scope of the present application to those skilled in the art. It is also to be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in various ways to provide further additional embodiments.

It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the meaning commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art unless otherwise defined. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

In this document, spatial relationship terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "back", "high", "low", and the like may describe one feature's relationship to another feature in the drawings. It will be understood that the terms "spatially relative" encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, features originally described as "below" other features when the device in the drawings is turned over may now be described as "above" the other features. The device may also be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the relative spatial relationships may be interpreted accordingly.

Herein, the term "a or B" includes "a and B" and "a or B" rather than exclusively including only "a" or only "B" unless otherwise specifically stated.

In this document, the terms "schematic" or "exemplary" mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration," and not as a "model" that is to be reproduced accurately. Any implementation exemplarily described herein is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description.

In this document, the term "substantially" is intended to encompass any minor variations due to design or manufacturing imperfections, tolerances of the devices or components, environmental influences and/or other factors.

In this context, the term "partially" may be a portion of any proportion. For example, it may be greater than 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or even 100%, i.e., all.

In addition, "first," "second," and like terms may also be used herein for reference purposes only, and thus are not intended to be limiting. For example, the terms "first," "second," and other such numerical terms referring to structures or elements do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context.

The present application provides a sealing cap for a fiber optic cable that is well adapted to an outer shield disposed on a fiber optic cable end section, providing improved sealing measures against an idle fiber optic cable to achieve a desired level of protection, such as IP67 protection.

Additionally, the present application further provides a cable assembly including a cable and an outer shield disposed over an end section of the cable, the outer shield having a tail end sealingly wrapped over the cable and a head end for plugging onto a radio, and the cable assembly further including a sealing cap plugged to the head end of the outer shield.

Referring now to fig. 1-7, a sealing cap 10 for a fiber optic cable 20 and associated cable assembly 100 according to some embodiments of the present application will be described.

As shown in fig. 1, an assembly of a radio device 30 in an operational state with an optical cable 20 plugged thereto is shown. The radio 30 may be of conventional construction and will not be described in further detail herein. An exemplary radio 30 may be an RRU obtained from Zilink. The radio 30 in operation may be configured to receive radio frequency signals from the connected optical cable 20 and further feed the cellular antenna assembly with radio frequency signals, and/or to receive radio frequency signals from the cellular antenna assembly and further transmit radio frequency signals to the connected optical cable 20.

It should be understood that a plurality of such radios 30 may be included in a base station antenna, with a portion of the radios 30 being operable to connect with a respective optical cable 20 and another portion of the radios 30 being idle to disconnect from a respective optical cable 20.

As shown in fig. 2, an assembly of a radio 30 with an idle fiber optic cable 20 is shown. When a radio 30 is in an idle state, the corresponding cable 20 is also temporarily idle, i.e., the cable 20 (or its connector) is disconnected from the corresponding radio 30. The free cable 20 is thus suspended overhead from the base station tower. It is therefore desirable to provide good water and dust protection for these unused fiber optic cables 20, and particularly their fiber optic connectors 24, to avoid future failures and the resulting loss of fiber optic transmission performance. In some cases, it is desirable to achieve an IP67 protection rating for these unused fiber optic cables 20. The improved sealing means provided by the present application for these unused fiber optic cables 20 will be described in detail below.

As shown in fig. 3 and 7, the cable assembly 100 may include a cable 20 and an outer shield 22 disposed over a cable end section. The outer shield 22 may have a tail end 221 sealingly coated on the optical cable 20 and a head end 222 for plugging onto the radio 30. The trailing end 221 of the outer shield 22 may have an opening through which the fiber optic cable 20 passes and tightly encases the fiber optic cable 20 by means of a skirt around the opening to ensure a tight connection between the outer shield 22 and the fiber optic cable 20 and to achieve a desired level of protection. The head end 222 of the outer shield 22 may have an opening that opens outwardly to allow the fiber optic connector 24 (shown in fig. 5) of the optical cable 20 to extend out of the open opening for plugging into a radio frequency port of the radio 30. When the optical cable 20, or its fiber connector 24, is plugged onto the radio frequency port of the radio 30, the open head end 222 of the outer shield 22 may be tightly fitted onto the radio 30, thereby achieving a good level of protection (water and/or dust) at the connection. However, once the optical fiber cable 20, or its fiber optic connector 24, is disconnected from the corresponding radio 30, the fiber optic connector 24 is exposed to the ambient environment due to the open head end 222, and is thus susceptible to water and/or dust.

To this end, the present application proposes a sealing cap 10 adapted to said outer shield 22. As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the sealing cap 10 may be inserted into the open head end 222 of the outer shroud 22 with a tight fit to achieve a desired level of protection against unused fiber optic cables 20.

As shown in fig. 6, the sealing cap 10 may include a sealing portion 12 for insertion into the outer shroud 22 (i.e., a head end 222 thereof) and interference fit with the outer shroud 22, a stopper portion 14 continuous with the sealing portion 12 and protruding relative to the sealing portion 12, and a grip portion 16 extending outwardly from a surface of the stopper portion 14 facing away from the sealing portion 12. The seal cap 10 of the present application may be a one-piece seal cap 10. The sealing cap 10 may be made of plastic or rubber or the like. In some embodiments, the sealing cap 10 may be integrally formed by compression molding of silicone rubber. It should be understood that the seal cap 10 of the present application may also be a split seal cap 10. For example, the grip portion 16 of the sealing cap 10 may be subsequently bonded or plugged to the stopper portion 14.

Advantageously, a desired level of protection may be provided for an unused fiber optic cable 20 by an interference fit between the seal 12 and the outer shield 22.

Advantageously, a stop step 18 may be formed between the stop portion 14 and the sealing portion 12, the stop step 18 may be configured to abut the head end 222 of the outer shroud 22 to prevent the sealing cap 10 from further entering the outer shroud 22. Thus, the sealing cap 10 may only be inserted into the outer shroud 22 to a limited depth of insertion, thereby effectively avoiding a collision or pinching between the sealing cap 10 and the fiber optic connector 24 within the outer shroud 22 that could otherwise damage the performance of the fiber optic connector 24.

Advantageously, the sealing caps 10 have outwardly extending grips 16 to facilitate the removal/insertion of the respective sealing cap 10 by an operator.

In some improved embodiments, the sealing portion 12 of the sealing cap 10 may include a first end surface continuous with the stopper portion 14 and a second end surface opposite to the first end surface. Advantageously, the sealing portion 12 may have a shape tapering from the first end face towards the second end face. It should be understood that the "taper" may be a continuous taper or a stepped taper. The tapered seal portion 12 may advantageously reduce the resistance of an operator to inserting the seal portion 12 into the outer shroud 22, thereby facilitating manual operation by the operator.

In some improved embodiments, the first end face of the sealing portion 12 may be continued to an intermediate region of the stopper portion 14 in order to form the annular stopper step 18.

In some embodiments, the seal 12 may be a prismoid seal (as shown in fig. 6). In some embodiments, the seal 12 may be a frustoconical seal.

It should be understood that the shape of the tapered seal portion 12 may be varied and is not limited to the current embodiment. In other embodiments, a labyrinth structure may be provided on the sealing portion 12 to further improve the sealing effect.

In some improved embodiments, the gripping portion 16 has a frosted surface. The provision of a frosted surface facilitates optimum hand-held operation by the operator, preventing the sealing cap 10 from slipping off during operation.

In some improved embodiments, the grip 16 has a grip widening structure 161. As shown in fig. 8A, the grip widening structure of the grip portion 16 may be configured as a T-shaped structure. As shown in fig. 8B, the grip widening structure of the grip portion 16 may be configured as a fan-shaped structure. It should be understood that there may be many variations with respect to the grip portion 16, and should not be limited to the present embodiment.

Referring to fig. 9, a variation of the sealing cap 10 for a fiber optic cable 20 is shown. Unlike the sealing portion 12 of the solid structure in the above embodiment, the sealing portion 12 of the sealing cap 10 in fig. 9 may have an escape groove 121. An escape groove 121 may be provided at a section of the seal portion 12 facing the outer shield 22. The relief groove 121 serves as a receiving space for receiving the optical fiber connector 24 inside the outer shield 22, thereby effectively preventing the sealing portion 12 from being squeezed against the optical fiber connector 24 inside the outer shield 22 and damaging the performance of the optical fiber connector 24.

Some embodiments of the invention are described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the specific structure shown in the above embodiments is illustrative only and not limiting. In addition, a person skilled in the art may combine the various features described above in many possible ways to form new solutions or make other modifications, and such new solutions are all included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (13)

1. A sealing cap for a fiber optic cable, wherein an outer shield is provided over an end section of the fiber optic cable, the sealing cap comprising:

the sealing part is inserted into the outer shield and is in interference fit with the outer shield;

a stopper continuous with the seal portion and protruding with respect to the seal portion, wherein a stopper step is formed between the stopper and the seal portion, the stopper step being configured to abut against an end side of the outer shield to prevent the seal cap from further entering into the outer shield; and

the gripping part extends outwards from the surface of the limiting part, which is away from the sealing part.

2. The sealing cap for an optical cable of claim 1, wherein the sealing portion comprises a first end face continuous with the retention portion and a second end face opposite the first end face, the sealing portion having a shape that tapers from the first end face toward the second end face.

3. A sealing cap for a fiber optic cable as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sealing portion is a prismoid or a frustoconical sealing portion.

4. A sealing cap for an optical cable as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first end face of the sealing portion is continuous to a mid-region of the retention portion.

5. A sealing cap for a fiber optic cable as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gripping portion has a frosted surface.

6. The sealing cap for fiber optic cables of claim 1, wherein the grip portion has a grip widening structure.

7. The sealing cap for fiber optic cables of claim 6, wherein the grip widening structure is a T-shaped structure or a fan-shaped structure.

8. The sealing cap for a fiber optic cable of claim 1, wherein the sealing portion is a solid structure.

9. The sealing cap for a fiber optic cable of claim 1, wherein the sealing portion includes an escape groove configured to avoid pinching between the sealing portion and a fiber optic connector within the outer shield.

10. A sealing cap for a fibre optic cable as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing cap is a one-piece sealing cap.

11. Optical cable assembly, characterized in that it comprises an optical cable and an outer shield arranged on an end section of the optical cable, said outer shield having a tail end sealingly coated on the optical cable and a head end for plugging onto a radio device, and in that it further comprises a sealing cap plugged onto the head end of the outer shield, said sealing cap being configured as a sealing cap for an optical cable according to one of claims 1 to 10.

12. A base station antenna comprising a first radio and a first cable assembly for the first radio, wherein the first cable assembly is configured as the cable assembly of claim 11, wherein the cable of the first cable assembly is disconnected from the first radio, and wherein a head end of an outer shield of the cable assembly is sealed with a sealing cap.

13. The base station antenna of claim 12, further comprising:

a cellular antenna assembly comprising a reflector plate and a radiating element mounted on the reflector plate;

a second radio configured to feed radio frequency signals to and/or receive radio frequency signals from a cellular antenna assembly;

a second optical cable assembly for a second radio, the second optical cable assembly plugged onto the second radio.

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