US20110091164A1 - Hardened Low Back Reflection Optical Fiber Physical Contacts and Connectors Containing Such Contacts and Method for Making the Same - Google Patents
Hardened Low Back Reflection Optical Fiber Physical Contacts and Connectors Containing Such Contacts and Method for Making the Same Download PDFInfo
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- US20110091164A1 US20110091164A1 US12/904,194 US90419410A US2011091164A1 US 20110091164 A1 US20110091164 A1 US 20110091164A1 US 90419410 A US90419410 A US 90419410A US 2011091164 A1 US2011091164 A1 US 2011091164A1
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- fiber optic
- physical contact
- optical fiber
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- protective film
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- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
- G02B6/38—Mechanical coupling means having fibre to fibre mating means
- G02B6/3807—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs
- G02B6/3833—Details of mounting fibres in ferrules; Assembly methods; Manufacture
- G02B6/3847—Details of mounting fibres in ferrules; Assembly methods; Manufacture with means preventing fibre end damage, e.g. recessed fibre surfaces
- G02B6/3849—Details of mounting fibres in ferrules; Assembly methods; Manufacture with means preventing fibre end damage, e.g. recessed fibre surfaces using mechanical protective elements, e.g. caps, hoods, sealing membranes
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/255—Splicing of light guides, e.g. by fusion or bonding
- G02B6/2552—Splicing of light guides, e.g. by fusion or bonding reshaping or reforming of light guides for coupling using thermal heating, e.g. tapering, forming of a lens on light guide ends
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
- G02B6/38—Mechanical coupling means having fibre to fibre mating means
- G02B6/3807—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs
- G02B6/381—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs of the ferrule type, e.g. fibre ends embedded in ferrules, connecting a pair of fibres
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
- G02B6/38—Mechanical coupling means having fibre to fibre mating means
- G02B6/3807—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs
- G02B6/381—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs of the ferrule type, e.g. fibre ends embedded in ferrules, connecting a pair of fibres
- G02B6/3818—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs of the ferrule type, e.g. fibre ends embedded in ferrules, connecting a pair of fibres of a low-reflection-loss type
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
- G02B6/38—Mechanical coupling means having fibre to fibre mating means
- G02B6/3807—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs
- G02B6/3833—Details of mounting fibres in ferrules; Assembly methods; Manufacture
- G02B6/3846—Details of mounting fibres in ferrules; Assembly methods; Manufacture with fibre stubs
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
- G02B6/38—Mechanical coupling means having fibre to fibre mating means
- G02B6/3807—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs
- G02B6/3873—Connectors using guide surfaces for aligning ferrule ends, e.g. tubes, sleeves, V-grooves, rods, pins, balls
- G02B6/3874—Connectors using guide surfaces for aligning ferrule ends, e.g. tubes, sleeves, V-grooves, rods, pins, balls using tubes, sleeves to align ferrules
- G02B6/3878—Connectors using guide surfaces for aligning ferrule ends, e.g. tubes, sleeves, V-grooves, rods, pins, balls using tubes, sleeves to align ferrules comprising a plurality of ferrules, branching and break-out means
- G02B6/3879—Linking of individual connector plugs to an overconnector, e.g. using clamps, clips, common housings comprising several individual connector plugs
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T29/00—Metal working
- Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
- Y10T29/49826—Assembling or joining
- Y10T29/49885—Assembling or joining with coating before or during assembling
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T29/00—Metal working
- Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
- Y10T29/49826—Assembling or joining
- Y10T29/49888—Subsequently coating
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T29/00—Metal working
- Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
- Y10T29/4998—Combined manufacture including applying or shaping of fluent material
Definitions
- Physical contact optical fiber connectors are widely used in the communication industry. These connectors have one or more optical fiber physical contacts which are supported by ferrules which also physically align the contacts. These optical fiber physical contacts are often formed by polishing the end face of the optical fiber to a precise radius of curvature.
- a connector actually includes two connector halves which are intermatable. However, a connector half is often simply referred to as a connector. Thus, the single or multiple contacts are actually received within a connector half. When a corresponding connector half containing fibers and contacts are mated with the other connector half, the optical fiber contacts are brought together at their respective radii of curvature. If the intermated surfaces of the optical contacts are clean and undamaged, the contacts should have reasonably low insertion loss and small back reflection.
- the ends of the fibers or contacts have been prepared by several methods, including scoring and breaking the fibers, as well as polishing the ends.
- Optical fiber connector contacts having very low back reflection become more important at higher data rates.
- the current practice to obtain low back reflection is to angle polish the physical contact. However, because of this angle, the connector must be keyed to have the proper orientation to mate with its corresponding angle-polished contact.
- a fiber optic connector for use with a fiber optic network having at least one predetermined operating wavelength.
- a first housing containing at least one optical fiber is provided.
- the optical fiber has a free end forming a physical contact.
- the physical contact is coated with a protective film.
- the optical thickness of the protective film is at least 0.10 of the operating wavelength of the fiber optic network.
- a fiber optic connector for use with a fiber optic network having at least one predetermined operating wavelength including a first housing.
- the first housing contains at least one optical fiber.
- the optical fiber has a free end forming a physical contact.
- the physical contact is thermally shaped.
- the thermally shaped terminus is coated with a thin protective film.
- the optical thickness of the film is less than twice the operating wavelength of the fiber optic network, but is at least 0.10 of the operating wavelength.
- a method for manufacturing a fiber optic connector including providing a length of at least one optical fiber.
- the optical fiber has first and second free ends.
- the first free end forms a physical contact.
- a quick connect device is attached to the optical fiber wherein the physical contact projects from one end of the quick connect device and a portion of the optical fiber projects from the other end of the quick connect device thereby forming a termini.
- a vacuum is applied to the termini.
- the physical contact is coated with a protective film while the vacuum is applied.
- FIG. 1 is a simplified partial side elevational view showing two mating optical fiber physical contacts of the subject invention.
- FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a fiber optic connector and a plurality of the fiber optic contacts of FIG. 1 .
- FIG. 3 is a front view of the fiber optic connector of FIG. 2 .
- FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the fiber optic connector of FIG. 3 taken through section line A-A.
- FIG. 5 is a more detailed sectional view of a portion of fiber optic connector of FIG. 4 .
- FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a fiber optic termini with a quick connect device which may be used in connection with the apparatus of the subject invention.
- FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the quick connect device of FIG. 6 having been spliced to fiber optic cable.
- FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an apparatus used in the manufacture of the optical fiber physical contacts of the subject invention.
- FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing one of the holes in the apparatus of FIG. 8 receiving a termini and a quick connect of FIG. 6 .
- optical fiber 10 having core 12 and cladding 14 .
- optical fiber 16 having core 18 and cladding 20 .
- Fiber 10 is encapsulated by alignment ferrule 21 and fiber 11 is encapsulated by alignment ferrule 23 .
- optical fibers 10 and 16 are mounted in corresponding connector halves which are designed to be intermated.
- Optical fiber 10 includes tip 22 , which forms a physical contact.
- Optical fiber 16 includes tip 24 , which forms a corresponding physical contact.
- These contacts 22 and 24 are preferably not angle polished, but preferably have coating thickness adjusted for low reflection and may be thermally shaped for additional reflection reduction.
- This thermal shaping may be done by various methods known to those skilled in the art, including the methods taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,413,450 and 6,738,554, both assigned to Megladon Manufacturing Group. The teachings of these two Megladon Patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
- Each physical contact 22 and 24 is coated with thin film 26 , which is made of a hard material, i.e., a material having a Knopp hardness which is greater than the Knopp hardness of optical fibers.
- the preferred coating material is Al 2 O 3 , also known as corundum. Corundum is a very hard material, and thus resists scoring. Other hard coatings may also be used.
- this corundum film is thin enough so that light passing through is substantially unaffected, i.e., insertion losses are low but thick enough to resist scoring, and the optical thickness is adjusted so that reflection is low.
- the thickness of film 26 should be at least 0.10 of but less than 1.00 of the operating wavelength of the light within the fibers.
- the thickness of the film can be as high as 2.00 of the operating wavelength of the light within the fibers.
- FIG. 2 shows a plurality of optical fibers 10 having physical contacts 22 all of which are mounted in connector body 28 .
- Multi-fiber cable 30 extends from the rear of connector body 28 .
- the embodiment of FIG. 2 utilizes quick connect optical fiber device as shown in FIG. 6 which are known to those skilled in the art such as the quick connect devices described in U.S. Patent Publication No. US2009/0060427 invented by Wouters. The teachings of the Wouters Patent Publication are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
- FIG. 6 shows termini 34 including quick connect device 37 , optical fiber 10 and physical contact 22 , physical contact is coated at the tip by corundum film 26 . After coating, which is described below, termini 34 is placed in connector body 28 , and optical fiber 10 is spliced to a corresponding optical fiber located within cable 30 by a splicing technique known to those skilled in the art.
- a spliced cable 30 /termini 34 is shown in FIG. 7 with the splicing area indicated as item 35 .
- contact 22 has been thermally shaped, although the invention is not limited to a thermally shaped contact.
- corundum thin film coating 26 is applied to the contacts in a vacuum chamber using a coating process known to those skilled in the art.
- the reel which can be very large depending on the length of the cable, must be placed within the vacuum chamber which can be impractical and expensive.
- termini 34 individual termini may be placed in the vacuum chamber for disposition of the corundum coating application without the cable attached since the termini may be spliced onto the cable after coating of the film has taken place.
- a single layer vacuum coating run is expensive, and there could be several layers for the embodiment in which the film is used or an anti-reflective coating in addition to providing the hardware discussed above.
- each item will need to be rotated inside of the vacuum chamber during the coating process.
- the quick connect optical fiber termini approach many more contacts can be coated at the same time with a single coating run, and/or a smaller vacuum chamber may be used, resulting in a substantial money savings. If the connector is terminated to a short patch cord(s) the quick-terminated optical fiber termini are not needed since a short patch cord(s) will easily fit into the vacuum chamber.
- FIG. 8 illustrates a plate 36 which may be used to segregate the fiber tips 22 from the remainder of the termini during the coating process.
- Plate 36 includes a plurality of holes 38 which are adapted to receive termini 34 so that the tip 22 projects below the bottom of plate 36 and the remainder of the termini projects above the plate 36 as shown in FIG. 9 .
- a single termini is shown. In reality, it is preferred that each hole in plate 36 receives a termini for the sake of efficiency.
- Plate 36 is sized with a protective cover on the top of the plate within the vacuum chamber such that the coating occurs in the bottom of the plate, and only the tips 22 are coated. Plate 36 is also rotatable so that the coating is uniform.
- termini 34 are removed from the plate and thus from the vacuum chamber and inserted into connector 28 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 .
- Termini 34 is spliced to optical fiber 40 , which is received within cable 30 , at splice region 35 using splicing techniques known to those skilled in the art, including techniques described in the Wouters patent publication.
- the hard corundum coating can be applied onto several layers of anti-reflective coating to also form a thicker hardened anti-reflective coating, which may in some instances eliminate the need for thermally shaping the contact.
- the outer layer may be hard corundum and the inner layers may be made of other low or high index of refraction materials having hardness closer to the glass fiber.
- This anti-reflective coating can be used for one or multiple wavelength bands of operation, including, but not limited to, the bands centered around 850 nm and 1,300 nm or 1,310 nm and 1,550 nm for example.
- the thickness of the anti-reflective coating depends on the number of layers of the film which are used. For example, the thickness might vary between 0.10 and 2.00 times the operating wavelength. However, where thermally shaping is used, the hardened coating further increases the hardness of the thermally shaped contact.
- Multi fiber circular connectors such as the one shown in FIG. 2
- the physical contact fiber end faces described herein are axially symmetric, rugged and have low back reflection and may be used with single or multi-fiber connectors.
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Abstract
A fiber optic connector for use with a fiber optic network having at least one predetermined operating wavelength is provided. First housing contains at least one optical fiber. The optical fiber has a free end forming a physical contact. The physical contact is coated with a protective film. The optical thickness of the protective film is at least 0.10 of the operating wavelength of the fiber optic network. Preferably, the physical contact is thermally shaped. Also preferably, the optical fiber is attached to a quick connect device forming a termini. The physical contact of the optical fiber can be readily coated with the protective film by placing the termini in a vacuum chamber.
Description
- This is a U.S. non-provisional application relating to and claiming the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/252,197, filed Oct. 16, 2009.
- Physical contact optical fiber connectors are widely used in the communication industry. These connectors have one or more optical fiber physical contacts which are supported by ferrules which also physically align the contacts. These optical fiber physical contacts are often formed by polishing the end face of the optical fiber to a precise radius of curvature. A connector actually includes two connector halves which are intermatable. However, a connector half is often simply referred to as a connector. Thus, the single or multiple contacts are actually received within a connector half. When a corresponding connector half containing fibers and contacts are mated with the other connector half, the optical fiber contacts are brought together at their respective radii of curvature. If the intermated surfaces of the optical contacts are clean and undamaged, the contacts should have reasonably low insertion loss and small back reflection. In addition, it is important to correctly match these intermated optical contacts; for example, the corresponding intermated contacts must be correctly sized and aligned. Ideally, two fibers should be optically and physically identical and held by a connector that aligns the fibers precisely so that the interconnection does not exhibit any influence on the light propagation there through. This ideal situation is impractical because of many reasons, including fiber properties and tolerances in the connector.
- The ends of the fibers or contacts have been prepared by several methods, including scoring and breaking the fibers, as well as polishing the ends. Optical fiber connector contacts having very low back reflection become more important at higher data rates. The current practice to obtain low back reflection is to angle polish the physical contact. However, because of this angle, the connector must be keyed to have the proper orientation to mate with its corresponding angle-polished contact.
- In accordance with one form of this invention, there is provided a fiber optic connector for use with a fiber optic network having at least one predetermined operating wavelength. A first housing containing at least one optical fiber is provided. The optical fiber has a free end forming a physical contact. The physical contact is coated with a protective film. The optical thickness of the protective film is at least 0.10 of the operating wavelength of the fiber optic network.
- In accordance with another form of this invention, there is provided a fiber optic connector for use with a fiber optic network having at least one predetermined operating wavelength including a first housing. The first housing contains at least one optical fiber. The optical fiber has a free end forming a physical contact. The physical contact is thermally shaped. The thermally shaped terminus is coated with a thin protective film. The optical thickness of the film is less than twice the operating wavelength of the fiber optic network, but is at least 0.10 of the operating wavelength.
- In accordance with yet another form of this invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a fiber optic connector including providing a length of at least one optical fiber. The optical fiber has first and second free ends. The first free end forms a physical contact. A quick connect device is attached to the optical fiber wherein the physical contact projects from one end of the quick connect device and a portion of the optical fiber projects from the other end of the quick connect device thereby forming a termini. A vacuum is applied to the termini. The physical contact is coated with a protective film while the vacuum is applied.
- The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is set forth in the independent claims. The invention, however, may be better understood in reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
-
FIG. 1 is a simplified partial side elevational view showing two mating optical fiber physical contacts of the subject invention. -
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a fiber optic connector and a plurality of the fiber optic contacts ofFIG. 1 . -
FIG. 3 is a front view of the fiber optic connector ofFIG. 2 . -
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the fiber optic connector ofFIG. 3 taken through section line A-A. -
FIG. 5 is a more detailed sectional view of a portion of fiber optic connector ofFIG. 4 . -
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a fiber optic termini with a quick connect device which may be used in connection with the apparatus of the subject invention. -
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the quick connect device ofFIG. 6 having been spliced to fiber optic cable. -
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an apparatus used in the manufacture of the optical fiber physical contacts of the subject invention. -
FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing one of the holes in the apparatus ofFIG. 8 receiving a termini and a quick connect ofFIG. 6 . - Referring now more particularly to
FIG. 1 , there is providedoptical fiber 10, havingcore 12 and cladding 14. There is also providedoptical fiber 16, havingcore 18 and cladding 20. Fiber 10 is encapsulated byalignment ferrule 21 and fiber 11 is encapsulated byalignment ferrule 23. As will be discussed below,optical fibers -
Optical fiber 10 includestip 22, which forms a physical contact.Optical fiber 16 includestip 24, which forms a corresponding physical contact. Thesecontacts - This thermal shaping may be done by various methods known to those skilled in the art, including the methods taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,413,450 and 6,738,554, both assigned to Megladon Manufacturing Group. The teachings of these two Megladon Patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
- Each
physical contact thin film 26, which is made of a hard material, i.e., a material having a Knopp hardness which is greater than the Knopp hardness of optical fibers. The preferred coating material is Al2O3, also known as corundum. Corundum is a very hard material, and thus resists scoring. Other hard coatings may also be used. Preferably this corundum film is thin enough so that light passing through is substantially unaffected, i.e., insertion losses are low but thick enough to resist scoring, and the optical thickness is adjusted so that reflection is low. For the embodiments in which a single layer of the film is applied, the thickness offilm 26 should be at least 0.10 of but less than 1.00 of the operating wavelength of the light within the fibers. For embodiments in which multiple layers of film are applied, the thickness of the film can be as high as 2.00 of the operating wavelength of the light within the fibers. -
FIG. 2 shows a plurality ofoptical fibers 10 havingphysical contacts 22 all of which are mounted inconnector body 28.Multi-fiber cable 30 extends from the rear ofconnector body 28. Preferably the embodiment ofFIG. 2 utilizes quick connect optical fiber device as shown inFIG. 6 which are known to those skilled in the art such as the quick connect devices described in U.S. Patent Publication No. US2009/0060427 invented by Wouters. The teachings of the Wouters Patent Publication are hereby incorporated herein by reference. -
FIG. 6 showstermini 34 includingquick connect device 37,optical fiber 10 andphysical contact 22, physical contact is coated at the tip bycorundum film 26. After coating, which is described below, termini 34 is placed inconnector body 28, andoptical fiber 10 is spliced to a corresponding optical fiber located withincable 30 by a splicing technique known to those skilled in the art. A splicedcable 30/termini 34 is shown inFIG. 7 with the splicing area indicated asitem 35. Preferably, contact 22 has been thermally shaped, although the invention is not limited to a thermally shaped contact. - It is preferred that corundum
thin film coating 26 is applied to the contacts in a vacuum chamber using a coating process known to those skilled in the art. In embodiments in which the connector is terminated to a reel of optical fiber cable, if quick connect optical fiber termini are not used, the reel, which can be very large depending on the length of the cable, must be placed within the vacuum chamber which can be impractical and expensive. Usingtermini 34, individual termini may be placed in the vacuum chamber for disposition of the corundum coating application without the cable attached since the termini may be spliced onto the cable after coating of the film has taken place. A single layer vacuum coating run is expensive, and there could be several layers for the embodiment in which the film is used or an anti-reflective coating in addition to providing the hardware discussed above. In addition, each item will need to be rotated inside of the vacuum chamber during the coating process. By using the quick connect optical fiber termini approach, many more contacts can be coated at the same time with a single coating run, and/or a smaller vacuum chamber may be used, resulting in a substantial money savings. If the connector is terminated to a short patch cord(s) the quick-terminated optical fiber termini are not needed since a short patch cord(s) will easily fit into the vacuum chamber. - During the coating process, it is important that only the
tip 22 of the optical fiber be coated since the coating materials are very expensive and it would be wasteful to coat other parts of the termini. -
FIG. 8 illustrates aplate 36 which may be used to segregate thefiber tips 22 from the remainder of the termini during the coating process.Plate 36 includes a plurality ofholes 38 which are adapted to receivetermini 34 so that thetip 22 projects below the bottom ofplate 36 and the remainder of the termini projects above theplate 36 as shown inFIG. 9 . For illustration purposes only, a single termini is shown. In reality, it is preferred that each hole inplate 36 receives a termini for the sake of efficiency.Plate 36 is sized with a protective cover on the top of the plate within the vacuum chamber such that the coating occurs in the bottom of the plate, and only thetips 22 are coated.Plate 36 is also rotatable so that the coating is uniform. Once thetips 22 have been coated,termini 34 are removed from the plate and thus from the vacuum chamber and inserted intoconnector 28 as illustrated inFIGS. 4 and 5 .Termini 34 is spliced tooptical fiber 40, which is received withincable 30, atsplice region 35 using splicing techniques known to those skilled in the art, including techniques described in the Wouters patent publication. - The hard corundum coating can be applied onto several layers of anti-reflective coating to also form a thicker hardened anti-reflective coating, which may in some instances eliminate the need for thermally shaping the contact. In some multi-layer embodiments, the outer layer may be hard corundum and the inner layers may be made of other low or high index of refraction materials having hardness closer to the glass fiber. This anti-reflective coating can be used for one or multiple wavelength bands of operation, including, but not limited to, the bands centered around 850 nm and 1,300 nm or 1,310 nm and 1,550 nm for example. The thickness of the anti-reflective coating depends on the number of layers of the film which are used. For example, the thickness might vary between 0.10 and 2.00 times the operating wavelength. However, where thermally shaping is used, the hardened coating further increases the hardness of the thermally shaped contact.
- Multi fiber circular connectors, such as the one shown in
FIG. 2 , are often used in harsh environments. Since such connectors must be keyed if the contacts are angle-polished, the contact orientations are hard to maintain. The combination of a hardened surface, scratch resistant contact and low back reflection without the need for keyed contact orientation is a great benefit for harsh environment multi-fiber circular connectors. - The physical contact fiber end faces described herein are axially symmetric, rugged and have low back reflection and may be used with single or multi-fiber connectors.
- From the foregoing description of various embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent that many modifications may be made therein. It is understood that these embodiments of the invention are exemplifications of the invention only and that the invention is not limited thereto.
Claims (19)
1. A fiber optic connector for use with a fiber optic network having at least one predetermined operating wavelength comprising:
a first housing;
the first housing containing at least one optical fiber;
the optical fiber having a free end forming a physical contact;
the physical contact being coated with a protective film; and
the optical thickness of the protective film being at least 0.10 of the operating wavelength of the fiber optic network.
2. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 1 wherein the optical thickness of the protective film is between 0.25 and 1.00 of the operating wavelength.
3. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 1 wherein the physical contact is thermally shaped.
4. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 1 wherein the protective film is primarily AL2O3.
5. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 1 wherein the protective film is in the form of a single layer.
6. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 1 wherein the protective film is in the form of multiple layers.
7. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 1 , further including a quick connect device; the physical contact projecting from one end of the quick connect device and a portion of the optical fiber projecting from the other end of the quick connect device thereby forming a termini.
8. A fiber optic connector for use with a fiber optic network having at least one predetermined operating wavelength comprising:
a first housing;
the first housing containing at least one optical fiber;
the optical fiber having a free end forming a physical contact;
the physical contact being thermally shaped;
the thermally shaped terminus being coated with a thin protective film; the optical thickness of the protective film is equal to or less than twice the operating wavelength of the fiber optic network but is at least 0.10 of the operating wavelength.
9. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 8 wherein the protective film is primarily AL2O3.
10. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 8 wherein the optical thickness of the protective film is between 0.25 and 1.00 of the operating wavelength.
11. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 8 wherein the protective film is in the form of a single layer.
12. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 8 wherein the protective film is in the form of multiple layers.
13. A fiber optic connector as set forth in claim 8 , further including a quick connect device; the physical contact projecting from one end of the quick connect device and a portion of the optical fiber projecting from the other end of the quick connect device thereby forming a termini.
14. A method for manufacturing a fiber optic connector comprising:
providing a length of at least one optical fiber;
the optical fiber having first and second free ends; the first free end forming a physical contact;
attaching a quick connect device to the optical fiber wherein the physical contact projects from one end of the quick connect device and a portion of the optical fiber projects from the other end of the quick connect device thereby forming a termini;
applying a vacuum to the termini; and
coating the physical contact with a protective film while the vacuum is applied.
15. A method as set forth in claim 14 , further including thermally shaping the physical contact prior to the application of the vacuum
16. A method as set forth in claim 14 , further including isolating the physical contact from the remainder of the optical fiber during coating.
17. A method as set forth in claim 14 , further including inserting the termini into a connector housing; and splicing the termini to another optical fiber received in a fiber optic cable.
18. A method as set forth in claim 14 , further including providing a plate with protective cover received in a vacuum chamber thereby dividing the vacuum chamber into first and second compartments; inserting the termini into one of the holes so that the physical contact projects into the first chamber; coating the physical contact in the first compartment.
19. A method as set forth in claim 18 , further including rotating the plate during coating.
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US12/904,194 US20110091164A1 (en) | 2009-10-16 | 2010-10-14 | Hardened Low Back Reflection Optical Fiber Physical Contacts and Connectors Containing Such Contacts and Method for Making the Same |
US14/543,062 US9383525B2 (en) | 2009-10-16 | 2014-11-17 | Hardened low back reflection optical fiber physical contacts and connectors containing such contacts and method for making the same |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US25219709P | 2009-10-16 | 2009-10-16 | |
US12/904,194 US20110091164A1 (en) | 2009-10-16 | 2010-10-14 | Hardened Low Back Reflection Optical Fiber Physical Contacts and Connectors Containing Such Contacts and Method for Making the Same |
Related Child Applications (1)
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US14/543,062 Division US9383525B2 (en) | 2009-10-16 | 2014-11-17 | Hardened low back reflection optical fiber physical contacts and connectors containing such contacts and method for making the same |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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US20110091164A1 true US20110091164A1 (en) | 2011-04-21 |
Family
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US12/904,194 Abandoned US20110091164A1 (en) | 2009-10-16 | 2010-10-14 | Hardened Low Back Reflection Optical Fiber Physical Contacts and Connectors Containing Such Contacts and Method for Making the Same |
US14/543,062 Active 2030-11-16 US9383525B2 (en) | 2009-10-16 | 2014-11-17 | Hardened low back reflection optical fiber physical contacts and connectors containing such contacts and method for making the same |
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US14/543,062 Active 2030-11-16 US9383525B2 (en) | 2009-10-16 | 2014-11-17 | Hardened low back reflection optical fiber physical contacts and connectors containing such contacts and method for making the same |
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US (2) | US20110091164A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US8737782B2 (en) * | 2012-09-21 | 2014-05-27 | Browave Corporation | Dynamic optical circulator device |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US10663673B2 (en) * | 2017-11-28 | 2020-05-26 | Optical Cable Corporation | Fiber optic connectors having diamond-like carbon thin film coated optical fibers |
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US5812724A (en) * | 1994-05-31 | 1998-09-22 | Kanagawa Academy Of Science & Technology | Optical fiber having core with sharpened tip protruding from light-shielding coating |
US5930421A (en) * | 1996-03-29 | 1999-07-27 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Optical fiber and method for coupling optical fibers |
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US6067396A (en) * | 1997-03-27 | 2000-05-23 | Deutsche Telekom Ag | Physical-contact optical fiber connector |
US6413450B1 (en) * | 2000-10-20 | 2002-07-02 | Megladon Manufacturing Group | Thermal shaping of optical fibers |
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US20090060427A1 (en) * | 2006-12-01 | 2009-03-05 | Wouters Vincent A | Quick terminated fiber optic termini and fiber optic cable, and method for making |
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US6141475A (en) * | 1998-07-23 | 2000-10-31 | Molecular Optoelectronics Corporation | Optical waveguide with dissimilar core and cladding materials, and light emitting device employing the same |
-
2010
- 2010-10-14 US US12/904,194 patent/US20110091164A1/en not_active Abandoned
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- 2014-11-17 US US14/543,062 patent/US9383525B2/en active Active
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US5812724A (en) * | 1994-05-31 | 1998-09-22 | Kanagawa Academy Of Science & Technology | Optical fiber having core with sharpened tip protruding from light-shielding coating |
US5930421A (en) * | 1996-03-29 | 1999-07-27 | Hitachi, Ltd. | Optical fiber and method for coupling optical fibers |
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US8737782B2 (en) * | 2012-09-21 | 2014-05-27 | Browave Corporation | Dynamic optical circulator device |
Also Published As
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US9383525B2 (en) | 2016-07-05 |
US20150101172A1 (en) | 2015-04-16 |
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Owner name: OPTICAL CABLE CORPORATION, VIRGINIA Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:LEONARD, TEDDY W.;WILKIN, NEIL D.;REEL/FRAME:025135/0738 Effective date: 20101013 |
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