TWM472200U - Optical fiber connector and adapter - Google Patents

Abstract

An optical fiber connector and adapter according to the present invention are provided. At least one indentation is formed on the connector and a protrusion mating with the indentation is formed within the adapter so as to physically limit the insertion of a connector plug into a particular adapter.

Description

Fiber optic connectors and adapters

This author is related to a fiber optic connector and adapter, and more particularly to a fiber optic connector and adapter having key features.

Fiber optic cables are often provided with connectors at one end, and adapters that house these connectors have long been an integral component of fiber optic communication systems. For example, the fiber optic connectors and adapters can be interconnected to make the fiber sections longer, or to connect the fibers to active or passive components. However, in some cases, for security reasons, or to facilitate the management of the communication network, there is a need to physically limit a connector to only be inserted into a particular adapter, thereby preventing information from being improperly transmitted.

Referring to Fig. 1, a conventional LC type fiber optic connector 100 has a substantially rectangular shape with a square cross section. The connector 100 includes a housing 110 having a rectangular shape, a top side wall 111, a bottom side wall 112, a right side wall 113 and a left side wall 114, wherein the right side wall 113 is opposite to the left side wall 114 and the top side wall 111 The bottom side wall 112 is connected. A resilient latch 120 is provided on the top side wall 111. The latch 120 is integral with the housing 110 of the connector 100 and has a movable pivot 125 at the bottom for allowing the tab 126 to be vertically connected to the connector. The central axis 150-150 moves up and down. The latch 120 has a pair of protrusions 121 on opposite sides of the lug 126. Additionally, a ferrule 140 extends from the opening 116 of the housing 110. Also included within the housing 110 is a spring (not shown) that allows the sleeve 140 to move back and forth through the opening 116. In addition, on the right side wall 113 and the left side wall 114 of the housing 110, two opposite protrusions 160 are respectively disposed.

Referring to FIG. 2, a conventional LC type fiber optic adapter 200 is, for example, an LC. The duplex fiber optic adapter includes a substantially rectangular housing 210 having a top side wall 211, a bottom side wall 212, a right side wall 213 and a left side wall 214. The housing 210 has an axial cavity therein which is partitioned into two parts by a partition wall 215 which is parallel to the right side wall 213 and the left side wall 214 and which is connected to the top side wall 211 and the bottom side wall 212. Described by the top side wall 211, the bottom side wall 212, the partition wall 215 and the right side wall 213 is a right axial cavity having an opening 208 in the axial direction. Similarly, the left side axial cavity is defined by the top side wall 211, the bottom side wall 212, the partition wall 215 and the left side wall 214, and has an opening 208 in the axial direction. On the left side wall 214 and the partition wall 215, a recess 220 is provided to be paired with the protrusion 160 on the connector 100. Similarly, recessed portions 220 are also provided on the right side wall 213 and the partition wall 215, respectively. When the connector 100 of FIG. 1 is fully inserted into the adapter 200 from the opening 208, the protrusions 160 on the connector 100 are embedded in the recess 220. In the left and right axial cavities of the housing 210, an axial hollow cylinder 240 is provided for receiving the sleeve 140 of the connector 100. In addition, the adapter 200 also includes an interlocking mechanism 230 that mates with the latch 120 of the connector 100 such that when the connector 100 is fully inserted into the adapter 200, the latch 120 will lock onto the interactive locking mechanism 230.

In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the manufacturer has designed the hollow cylinder 240 of the adapter 200 to have a special shape, and the opening 116 of the connector 100 is designed to have a pair with the hollow cylinder 240. Thus, only the connector 100 whose opening 116 is mated with the hollow cylinder 240 can be inserted into the adapter 200, thereby achieving the purpose of physically limiting the ability of a connector to be inserted only into a particular adapter.

However, when the user inserts any connector 100 into the adapter 200 without paying attention to the shape of the hollow cylinder 240, it will not find that the connector 100 cannot be inserted into the adapter 200 until most of the connector 100 is inserted.

In view of this, there is a need to provide a fiber optic connector and an adapter to solve the above problems.

The present invention provides a fiber optic connector and an adapter, and a recess and a corresponding protrusion are respectively disposed on the connector and the adapter, and the connector can be physically restricted to only one connector. Insert a specific adapter.

In one embodiment, the fiber optic connector of the present invention includes a housing and a latch. The housing has a first sidewall, a second sidewall, a third sidewall and a fourth sidewall, wherein the first sidewall is opposite to the third sidewall and is connected to the second and fourth sidewalls. A recess is formed at an edge of the third side wall adjacent to the second side wall, extending from the front end of the housing. When the fiber optic connector is inserted into a fiber optic adapter, the projections on the fiber optic adapter are received within the recesses on the third side wall of the fiber optic connector. The latch is disposed on the first side wall of the housing.

In another embodiment, the fiber optic adapter of the present invention includes a housing, a hollow cylinder, and a protrusion. The housing has an axial cavity formed by a first side wall, a second side wall, a third side wall and a fourth side wall, wherein the first side wall is opposite to the third side wall, and the second and the second side The four side walls are connected, and the axial end of the axial cavity has an opening. The hollow column system is axially disposed within the axial cavity of the housing. The projection is formed at the edge of the third side wall within the axial cavity such that when a fiber optic connector is inserted into the fiber optic adapter, the projection is received within the recess of the fiber optic connector.

In order to make the above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the following description will be made in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

100‧‧‧Fiber Optic Connectors

110‧‧‧shell

111‧‧‧ top side wall

112‧‧‧ bottom side wall

113‧‧‧ right wall

114‧‧‧Left wall

116‧‧‧ openings

117‧‧ ‧ junction

118‧‧‧ junction

119‧‧‧ front end

120‧‧‧Latch

121‧‧‧Protrusion

125‧‧‧ hub

126‧‧‧ ears

140‧‧‧ casing

150‧‧‧ axis

160‧‧‧ Protrusion

200‧‧‧Fiber Adapter

208‧‧‧ openings

211‧‧‧ top side wall

212‧‧‧ bottom side wall

213‧‧‧ right wall

214‧‧‧ left wall

215‧‧‧ partition wall

220‧‧‧ recess

230‧‧‧Interlocking mechanism

240‧‧‧ hollow cylinder

300‧‧‧Fiber Optic Connectors

310‧‧‧ recess

312‧‧‧ wall

314‧‧‧ wall

350‧‧‧ Protrusion

400‧‧‧Fiber Optic Connectors

500‧‧‧Fiber Optic Connectors

510‧‧‧faced

600‧‧‧Fiber Adapter

700‧‧‧Fiber Adapter

800‧‧‧Fiber Adapter

Figure 1: A perspective view of a conventional LC type fiber optic connector.

Figure 2: A perspective view of a conventional LC-type fiber optic adapter.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the optical fiber connector of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the optical fiber connector of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the optical fiber connector of the third embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the optical fiber adapter of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the fiber optic adapter of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the optical fiber adapter of the third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 3, the fiber optic connector 300 of the first embodiment of the present invention is similar to the fiber optic connector 100 of Fig. 1, and also includes a housing 110, a latch 120 and a projection 160, but the opening 116 is circular. For the sake of brevity, the sleeve 140 is omitted from the drawing. Different from the optical fiber connector 100, a rectangular recess 310 is formed at an edge of the bottom side wall 112 of the optical fiber connector 300 adjacent to the right side wall 113 and the left side wall 114, extending from the front end 119 of the housing 110, The aspect ratio of the recess 310 may be greater than 1, equal to 1, or less than one.

Referring to Fig. 4, the fiber optic connector 400 of the second embodiment of the present invention is similar to the fiber optic connector 300 of Fig. 3, and also includes a housing 110, a latch 120 and a protrusion 160, but the opening 116 is circular. Unlike the fiber optic connector 300, the recess 310 of the fiber optic connector 400 is formed along the junctions 117, 118 of the bottom sidewall 112 and the right side wall 113 and the left side wall 114, and the two walls 312, 314 of the recess 310 are The left side wall 114 and the bottom side wall 112 are parallel, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 5, the optical fiber connector 500 of the third embodiment of the present invention is similar to the optical fiber connector 100 of FIG. 1, and also includes a housing 110, a latch 120 and a protrusion 160, but wherein the hollow cylinder 240 is cylindrical. . Unlike the fiber optic connector 100, the fiber optic connector 500 is formed with a face 510, such as a flat surface, at the interface 117, 118 between the bottom sidewall 112 and the right side wall 113 and the left side wall 114, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 6, the fiber optic adapter 600 of the first embodiment of the present invention is similar to the fiber optic adapter 200 of FIG. 2, and also includes a housing 210 and a hollow cylinder 240. Unlike the fiber optic adapter 200, a rectangular shape is formed at the edge of the bottom side wall 212 in the left and right axial cavities of the housing 210 of the optical fiber adapter 600 adjacent to the right side wall 213, the left side wall 214, and the partition wall 215, respectively. A protrusion 350 is mated with the recess 310 of the fiber optic connector 300. When the connector 300 is inserted into the adapter 600, the protrusion 350 is received within the recess 310 of the connector 300.

Referring to Figure 7, the fiber optic adapter 700 of the second embodiment of the present invention is similar to the fiber optic adapter 600 of Figure 6. However, the difference is that the protrusions 350 of the optical fiber adapter 700 are also connected to the right side wall 213 and the left side wall 214 and the partition wall 215, that is, the adapter. The protrusions 350 of the 700 are formed at the boundary between the right side wall 213, the left side wall 214, the partition wall 215, and the bottom side wall 212, respectively. The protrusions 350 of the adapter 700 described above are mated with the recesses 310 of the fiber optic connector 400 such that when the connector 400 is inserted into the adapter 700, the protrusions 350 are received within the recess 310 of the connector 400.

Referring to Figure 8, the fiber optic adapter 800 of the third embodiment of the present invention is similar to the fiber optic adapter 700 of Figure 7. However, the difference is that the protrusions 350 of the fiber optic adapter 800 are triangular, and are formed at the boundary between the right side wall 213, the left side wall 214, the partition wall 215, and the bottom side wall 212, respectively. The protrusion 350 of the adapter 800 described above mates with the face 510 of the fiber optic connector 500 such that when the connector 500 is inserted into the adapter 800, the protrusion 350 will contact the face 510 of the connector 500.

According to the fiber adapters 600, 700, and 800 of the present invention, since the protrusions 350 are disposed at the boundary between the right side wall 213, the left side wall 214, the partition wall 215, and the bottom side wall 212, the user is thus more easily seen, thereby reducing the insertion of the optical fiber. The connector causes the risk of damaging the fiber optic adapters 600, 700, 800. To make the user more visible, the protrusions 350 are preferably adjacent the opening 208 of the housing 210, such as closer to the opening 208 than the hollow cylinder 240. To achieve such a design, the length of the recess 310 or the cut surface 510 on the connector 300, 400, 500 needs to be increased so that the protrusion 350 can be received in or in contact with the recess 310.

It should be noted that although this creation is exemplified by a duplex fiber optic adapter, a simplex or other multiplexed fiber optic adapter can still be applied to this creation.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the foregoing embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the present invention can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. . Therefore, the scope of protection of this creation is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application attached.

111‧‧‧ top side wall

112‧‧‧ bottom side wall

113‧‧‧ right wall

114‧‧‧Left wall

116‧‧‧ openings

119‧‧‧ front end

120‧‧‧Latch

300‧‧‧Fiber Optic Connectors

310‧‧‧ recess

Claims (10)

An optical fiber connector for inserting a fiber optic adapter, the fiber optic adapter comprising a protrusion, the fiber optic connector comprising: a housing having a first sidewall, a second sidewall, a third sidewall and a fourth sidewall The first sidewall is opposite to the third sidewall and is connected to the second and fourth sidewalls, wherein a recess is formed at an edge of the third sidewall adjacent to the second sidewall, extending from a front end of the housing When the fiber optic connector is inserted into the fiber optic adapter, the protrusion on the fiber optic adapter is received in a recess on the third side wall of the fiber optic connector; and a latch is disposed on the first side wall of the housing. The fiber optic connector of claim 1, wherein the recess is rectangular. An optical fiber connector for inserting a fiber optic adapter, the fiber optic adapter comprising a protrusion, the fiber optic connector comprising: a housing having a first sidewall, a second sidewall, a third sidewall and a fourth sidewall The first sidewall is opposite to the third sidewall and is connected to the second and fourth sidewalls, wherein a recess is formed along the boundary between the second sidewall and the third sidewall, extending from the front end of the housing When the fiber optic connector is inserted into the fiber optic adapter, the protrusion on the fiber optic adapter is received in the recess of the fiber optic connector; and a latch is disposed on the first side wall of the housing. The fiber optic connector of claim 3, wherein the recess has two walls that are parallel to the second side wall and the third side wall, respectively. An optical fiber connector for inserting a fiber optic adapter, the fiber optic adapter comprising a protrusion, the fiber optic connector comprising: a housing having a first sidewall, a second sidewall, a third sidewall and a fourth sidewall The first sidewall is opposite to the third sidewall and is connected to the second and fourth sidewalls, wherein a surface is formed along the boundary between the second sidewall and the third sidewall, when the optical fiber connector is inserted into the In the fiber optic adapter, the protrusion on the fiber optic adapter is in contact with the cut surface of the fiber optic connector; and a latch is disposed on the first side wall of the housing. The fiber optic connector of claim 5, wherein the section is a plane. A fiber optic adapter for docking with a fiber optic connector, the surface of the fiber optic connector having a recess, the fiber optic adapter comprising: a housing having an axial cavity, a first side wall, a second a sidewall, a third sidewall and a fourth sidewall are formed, wherein the first sidewall is opposite to the third sidewall and is connected to the second and fourth sidewalls, and the axial end of the axial cavity has an opening a hollow cylinder axially disposed within the axial cavity of the housing; and a protrusion formed at an edge of the third sidewall within the axial cavity, wherein the fiber optic connector is inserted into the fiber optic adapter The projection is received within the recess of the fiber optic connector. The fiber optic adapter of claim 7, wherein the protrusion is closer to the opening of the axial cavity than the hollow cylinder. The fiber optic adapter of claim 7, wherein the protrusion is rectangular. The fiber optic adapter of claim 7, wherein the protrusion is connected to the second side wall.