Patent Application
20090196555
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan Patent Application Serial Number 097148176 filed Dec. 11, 2008, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical fiber connector, and more particularly, to a boot for an optical fiber connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
The application of fiber optics to the telecommunication and data storage industries is expanding ever day. Fiber optics enables the high-speed transmission of communications and data. Connectors for optical fibers can be found in the back of instrumentation, telecommunication, routing, and switching cabinets. These cabinets accept a large number of fiber optical connectors. The optical fibers project away from the connector and tend to bend toward the ground due to the effect of gravity or the optical fibers are bent in a different direction due to an externally applied force. An optical signal passing through an optical fiber can experience a power loss if the bend radius of the optical fiber is too great. In order to prevent the optical fiber from being bent beyond a minimum bend radius, strain relief boots can be attached to the optical fiber in a region adjacent to the connector. The strain relief boot provides for a gentle, smooth, non-abrupt transition of the optical fiber from the connector to some other environment so as to maintain the optical signal at an acceptable power level.
Typically, strain relief boots have a straight, unbent shape when they are not subject to an externally applied force. Such a strain relief boot is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,681.
In order to solve the above problem, referring to
In addition, referring to
However, the bending angle of the boot 300 is adjusted through teeth. The teeth will cause the bending angle not to be adjusted arbitrarily. Furthermore, the mechanism of the moving portion 330 is a little bit complicated and the boot 300 can be angled only in a direction.
Accordingly, there exists a need to provide a flexibly bended boot to solve the above-mentioned problems.
The present invention provides a flexibly bended boot for an optical fiber connector.
In one embodiment, the boot of the present invention includes an elastic hollow body which is cylindrical and defines an axial direction. A protrusion portion is integrally formed on the outer surface of the body along the axial direction. In addition, a member with the property of plasticity is axially embedded in the protrusion portion. The member can be integrally formed and is a metal wire, such as an iron wire
According to the present invention, the boot can be bent to a desired shape in subjection to an external force. When the boot is bent, the member will also be bent accordingly. The boot can still be kept in the desired shape even though when the external force vanishes. The boot can be bent to its original shape with an appropriate force.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
According to the present invention, the boot 400 can be bent to a desired shape in subjection to an external force. When the boot 400 is bent, the member 440 will also be bent accordingly. Since the member 440 has the property of plasticity, the boot 400 can still be kept in the desired shape even though when the external force vanishes. Similarly, the boot 400 can be bent to its original shape with an appropriate force. It is to be noted that the member 440 with the property of plasticity according to the present invention is one that can be bent to a desired shape in subjection to an external force and still be kept in the desired shape even though the external force vanishes. The member 440 can be bent to its original shape with an appropriate force.
It will be appreciated that the boot of the present invention can be used in any type of optical fiber connector, such as FC, SC or LC type connector.
Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 097148176 | Nov 2008 | TW | national |
