GB2044949A

GB2044949A - A terminating connector for a fibre optic able

Info

Publication number: GB2044949A
Application number: GB8005718A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: APW Electronics Ltd
Current assignee: APW Electronics Ltd
Priority date: 1979-03-07
Filing date: 1980-02-20
Publication date: 1980-10-22
Also published as: GB2044949B

Abstract

A terminating connector for a two way fibre optic cable has a housing 10 of insulating material connected to the cable 11 and containing a light-emitting circuit 17 and a light-detecting circuit 19. The housing 10 has sockets 12 providing electrical connections to the circuits and adapted to make a plug-in connection to a circuit to be connected to the cable. The connector may be permanently attached to the cable 11 (Figure 1 not shown) or be detachable from the cable 11 as shown. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A terminating connector for a fibre optic cable Electronic packaging systems in which printed circuit boards and modules make electrical contact with edge connectors are well known. A typical form of packaging provides rows of connector terminal pins which project rearwardly from the equipment.

Electrical connections may be made between these pins by wire wrapping or other well established techniques.

It is often required to connect certain of these terminal pins to remotely situated electrical installations, and this can be performed by multi-wire cables. In some instances this has the advantage that some of the wires need to be electrically screened. It is therefore sometimes attractive to use a fibre optic cable for making such a connection since such a cable requires no screening and has numerous other advantages.

Hitherto the fibre optic cable, together with its associated circuitry, has been terminated directly onto a circuit board by mechanical means, which has the disadvantage of preventing subsequent easy removal of the board for maintenance or replacement.

The invention provides a terminating connector for connecting a two way fibre optic cable to an electrical circuit comprising a housing of insulating material, containing a light-emitting circuit and a light-detecting circuit connected to optical fibres for transmitting light signals through the cable, and terminals connected to said circuits which are operative to establish a plug-in connection to said electrical circuit. The connector is accordingly compatible with the circuit, can readily be connected to the circuit and easily be removed for maintenance or replacement.

Two embodiments of terminating connectors according to the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a connector which is permanently attached to a two way fibre optic cable and part of equipment to which the connector may be detachably connected, and Figure 2 is a sectional view of an alternative form of connector which is detachable from the cable.

The terminating connector shown in Figure 1 includes a housing 10, moulded from plastics material, which is permanently connected to a two way fibre optic cable 11. The housing has a multiplicity of sockets 12 which can be plugged to pins 13 projecting rearwardlyfrom electrical connectors 14 attached to tie bars 15 of a rack for accommodating circuit boards. The connectors may be two-part connectors (e.g. DIN 41612 edge connectors) where the circuit board itself forms the male plug-in part, or any other form of connector which carries rearwardly projecting pins onto which the terminating connector may be plugged to make electrical contact.

As shown in Figure 2, which shows the terminating connector plugged into a connector 14, the housing 10 contains a circuit board 16, electrically connected to contacts in the sockets 12 which mate with the pins 13. The board 16 carries a transmitting circuit 17, which converts electrical signals received from the pins 13 into optical signals which are passed to an optical fibre 18, and a receiving circuit 19, which converts optical signals, passed through another optical fibre 20 from equipment connected to the remote end of the cable, into electrical signals which are supplied to the pins 13.

The circuits 17 and 19 are conventional, the circuit 17 containing light-emitting diodes and the circuit 19 is a photo transistor device.

While it is preferred to connect the outgoing and return optical fibres into cable 11 directly to the circuits 17 and 19, the cable 11 may be detachably connectableto the housing 10 as shown in Figure 2.

In this case the cable 11 can be coupled to the housing 10 by screw couplings 21 with the ends of the optical fibres 18A, 20A in the cable abutting the ends of short lengths 18, 20 of optical fibre in the housing which are respectively connected to the circuits 17 and 19.

As an alternative to providing sockets 12 in the housing 10, the housing may have a slot 22 for reception of the edge of the circuit board, the slot containing contacts, connected to the circuits 17 and 19, which coact with conductors on the board.

The connector thus integrally embodies the lightemitting and detecting circuits and provides a means of converting signals from electrical to optical form (and vice versa) for the purpose of communication between remotely situated electrical installations.

It can mate electrically and mechanically directly with circuit boards or with commercially available circuit board connectors.

The terminating connector may also contain a multiplexer to enable it to scan sequentially the circuit board or the connector pins 13 for potential outgoing information. It may also contain circuitry to route incoming optical information to particular connector pins 13 after conversion to the electrical equivalent.

1. A terminating connector for connecting a two way fibre optic cable to an electrical circuit, comprising a housing of insulating material, containing a light-emitting circuit and a light-detecting circuit connected to optical fibres for transmitting light signals through the cable, and terminals connected to said circuits which are operative to establish a plug-in connection to said electrical circuit.

2. A connector according to claim 1, in which the housing has a plurality of sockets, containing contacts connected to said circuits, for cooperation with pins connected to said electrical circuit.

3. A connector according to claim 1, in which the housing has a slot for receiving the edge of a printed circuit board, a slot containing contacts connected to said circuits and adapted to make contact with conductors on the board.

4. A connector according to claim 1, in which the cable is permanently connected to the housing.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. SPECIFICATION A terminating connector for a fibre optic cable Electronic packaging systems in which printed circuit boards and modules make electrical contact with edge connectors are well known. A typical form of packaging provides rows of connector terminal pins which project rearwardly from the equipment. Electrical connections may be made between these pins by wire wrapping or other well established techniques. It is often required to connect certain of these terminal pins to remotely situated electrical installations, and this can be performed by multi-wire cables. In some instances this has the advantage that some of the wires need to be electrically screened. It is therefore sometimes attractive to use a fibre optic cable for making such a connection since such a cable requires no screening and has numerous other advantages. Hitherto the fibre optic cable, together with its associated circuitry, has been terminated directly onto a circuit board by mechanical means, which has the disadvantage of preventing subsequent easy removal of the board for maintenance or replacement. The invention provides a terminating connector for connecting a two way fibre optic cable to an electrical circuit comprising a housing of insulating material, containing a light-emitting circuit and a light-detecting circuit connected to optical fibres for transmitting light signals through the cable, and terminals connected to said circuits which are operative to establish a plug-in connection to said electrical circuit. The connector is accordingly compatible with the circuit, can readily be connected to the circuit and easily be removed for maintenance or replacement. Two embodiments of terminating connectors according to the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a connector which is permanently attached to a two way fibre optic cable and part of equipment to which the connector may be detachably connected, and Figure 2 is a sectional view of an alternative form of connector which is detachable from the cable. The terminating connector shown in Figure 1 includes a housing 10, moulded from plastics material, which is permanently connected to a two way fibre optic cable 11. The housing has a multiplicity of sockets 12 which can be plugged to pins 13 projecting rearwardlyfrom electrical connectors 14 attached to tie bars 15 of a rack for accommodating circuit boards. The connectors may be two-part connectors (e.g. DIN 41612 edge connectors) where the circuit board itself forms the male plug-in part, or any other form of connector which carries rearwardly projecting pins onto which the terminating connector may be plugged to make electrical contact. As shown in Figure 2, which shows the terminating connector plugged into a connector 14, the housing 10 contains a circuit board 16, electrically connected to contacts in the sockets 12 which mate with the pins 13. The board 16 carries a transmitting circuit 17, which converts electrical signals received from the pins 13 into optical signals which are passed to an optical fibre 18, and a receiving circuit 19, which converts optical signals, passed through another optical fibre 20 from equipment connected to the remote end of the cable, into electrical signals which are supplied to the pins 13. The circuits 17 and 19 are conventional, the circuit 17 containing light-emitting diodes and the circuit 19 is a photo transistor device. While it is preferred to connect the outgoing and return optical fibres into cable 11 directly to the circuits 17 and 19, the cable 11 may be detachably connectableto the housing 10 as shown in Figure 2. In this case the cable 11 can be coupled to the housing 10 by screw couplings 21 with the ends of the optical fibres 18A, 20A in the cable abutting the ends of short lengths 18, 20 of optical fibre in the housing which are respectively connected to the circuits 17 and 19. As an alternative to providing sockets 12 in the housing 10, the housing may have a slot 22 for reception of the edge of the circuit board, the slot containing contacts, connected to the circuits 17 and 19, which coact with conductors on the board. The connector thus integrally embodies the lightemitting and detecting circuits and provides a means of converting signals from electrical to optical form (and vice versa) for the purpose of communication between remotely situated electrical installations. It can mate electrically and mechanically directly with circuit boards or with commercially available circuit board connectors. The terminating connector may also contain a multiplexer to enable it to scan sequentially the circuit board or the connector pins 13 for potential outgoing information. It may also contain circuitry to route incoming optical information to particular connector pins 13 after conversion to the electrical equivalent. CLAIMS

5. A connector according to claim 1, in which the housing contains short lengths of optical fibre connected to the light-emitting and light-detecting circuits and carries means for detachably connecting the cable to the housing with the optical fibres in the cable abutting the portions of optical fibre in the housing.