1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector. More particularly, the present invention relates to an MPO style or type of connector, wherein the alignment pins, sockets, or pin/socket are electrically connected to two separate conductors, so as to enable the transfer of power or communication signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cords and cables with multiple-fiber push-on/pull-off (MPO) connectors are generally known in the art. Such connectors relate to IEC-61754-7 and EIA/TIA 604-5 (FOCIS 5) standards, which are incorporated herein by reference. MPO patch cords have MPO connectors that typically exist in two genders—male with alignment pins or female without alignment pins.
In
Fiber ends 23 are located in a single row and are aligned between the first and second alignment pins 19 and 21. Although
In
Fiber ends 37 are located in a single row and are aligned between the third and fourth holes 29 and 31. Although
A genderless or hermaphroditic MPO connector, having one pin and one hole, is also known in the prior art. U.S. published Applications 2001/0007603; 2004/0117981 and 2011/0249943, each of which is herein incorporated by reference, show genderless MPO connectors.
Additional background art can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,391,572 and 7,898,736, each of which is herein incorporated by reference. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,391,572 and 7,898,736, metallic pins are described as being formed as alignment pins or electrical connectors. A second embodiment in the two patents shows pins, of a different connector, being attached to a computer backplane.
The Applicant has appreciated that the typical male MPO connector includes two alignment pins, which are typically formed of a metal which are connected to each other by a metal pin clamp. Most metals are conductive and hence the two alignment pins are electrically connected. It would be no change to the outer configuration, shape or dimensions of a standard male MPO connector to fabricate the alignment pins from a highly conductive metal, such as copper, or a copper, silver, or gold clad steel and to form the inner pin clamp of a nonconductive material, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
Typical female MPO connectors have two holes formed in the non-conductive ferrule body and no conductive metal is present in the holes. However, by another embodiment of the present invention, the holes could be surrounded or lined by a conductive sleeve to receive the conductive pins of the male MPO connector.
In the case of the genderless MPO connector, having one alignment pin and one alignment hole, another embodiment of the present invention would form the alignment pin of a conductive metal and surround the alignment hole with a conductive sleeve.
In each embodiment, each alignment pin and/or conductive sleeve may be electrically connected to a first or second terminal of the MPO connector.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limits of the present invention, and wherein:
The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity. Broken lines illustrate optional features or operations unless specified otherwise.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, an and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y. As used herein, phrases such as from about X to Y” mean from about X to about Y.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being on, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.
Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly.
In one embodiment and as best seen in
A plurality of fiber ends 17 are situated in at least one row located on the mating face 47. The first alignment pin 43 extends out of the first opening 53 of the ferrule 49 and away from the mating face 47. The first alignment sleeve 45 is aligned within the second opening 55 in the mating face 47 and extends into the ferrule 49 away from the mating face 47. The plurality of fiber ends 17 are situated between the first alignment pin 43 and the second opening 55 leading to the first alignment sleeve 45.
As best seen in
As best seen in
Like the first embodiment, the first alignment pin 43 and the second alignment pin 73 may pass entirely through the ferrule 49, e.g., an MT-type ferrule, to a backside of the ferrule 49, opposite to the mating face 47. Also, the backside ends of the first and second alignment pins 43 and 73 may function as wire connections. If power is to be transmitted, the first alignment pin 43 may serve as a first terminal or positive terminal and the second alignment pin 73 may serve as a second terminal or negative terminal, or vice versa.
The plurality of fiber ends 17 are situated in at least one row located on the mating face 47. The first alignment pin 43 extends out of the first opening 53 of the ferrule 49 and away from the ferrule 49. The second alignment pin 73 extends out of the second opening 55 of the ferrule 49 and away from the ferrule 49. The plurality of fiber ends 17 are situated between the first alignment pin 43 and the second alignment pin 73.
As best seen in
Like the first embodiment, the first alignment sleeve 45 and the second alignment sleeve 83 may pass entirely through the ferrule 49, e.g., an MT-type ferrule, to a backside of the ferrule 49, opposite to the mating face 47. Also, the backside ends of the first and second alignment sleeves 45 and 83 may function as wire connections. If power is to be transmitted, the first alignment sleeve 45 may serve as a first terminal or positive terminal and the second alignment sleeve 83 may serve as a second terminal or negative terminal, or vice versa.
The plurality of fiber ends 17 are situated in at least one row located on the mating face 47. The first alignment sleeve 45 is aligned within the second opening 55 of the ferrule 49 and extends into the ferrule 49 away from the mating face 47. The second alignment sleeve 83 is aligned within the first opening 53 of the ferrule 49 and extends into the ferrule 49 away from the mating face 47. The plurality of fiber ends 17 are situated between the first opening 53 and the second opening 55.
As best seen in
As with the first embodiment, the first alignment sleeve 45 and second alignment sleeve 83 may be formed in the shape an open-ended cylinder formed of a resilient metal with an open gap 65. The open gaps 65 may enlarge against the resiliency of the metal to allow a first alignment pin 43 and a second alignment pin 73 of a second MPO connector 75 (
As noted in the above embodiments, the first and second conductors 57 and 59 are electrically connected to the first and second terminals, e.g., alignment pins and/or sleeves. In one embodiment, the first and second conductors 57 and 59 may be embodied by twenty-two gauge insulated conductors. Twenty-two gauge conductors have a diameter of about 0.64516 mm (slightly less than the diameter of the alignment pins 43 or 73, which is about 0.698 mm). A twenty-two gauge wire can carry about 7.0 amps. Of course, larger diameter wires may be used, or parallel wires may be used, if greater amperages are desired.
The attachment between the first and second conductors 57 and 59 and the first and second terminals may be by any known manner, such as a wire wrap, soldering, screw terminal or insulation displacement connector (IDC). In the case of a wire wrap, the backside ends of the alignment pin or alignment sleeve may include a flare 77, as illustrated in
The power transmission system may be used to power a remote cell antenna, in-line optical signal amplifier, optical-to-electrical (O/E) transducer, electrical-to-optical (E/O) transducer, wireless network module or other equipment. The first and/or second conductors 57 and 59 may also be used for communication signaling, e.g., for data transmissions. For example, the first and second conductors 57 and 59 may be a twisted pair and be used to transmit a differential communication signal to the first and second terminals. Further, the first and/or second conductors 57 and 59 may be used for intelligent patch cord tracing purposes in systems such as the IPatch™ system. In such a system, the first or second conductor 57 or 59 may function as essentially a “ninth wire,” e.g., a wire which passes an electrical signal or voltage to indicate a connection by a patch cord between two ports on a patch panel. Alternatively, the first and second conductors 57 and 59 may both be used to pass an electrical signal or voltage to indicate a connection by a patch cord between two ports on a patch panel. The indication may include powering indicator LEDs at MPO ports to indicate attachment points for ends of MPO patch cords on a patch panel and/or creating a computer-based mapping of the attachment points.
Although a single row of eight fiber ends 17 has been depicted in
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/201,571, filed Aug. 5, 2015, which is herein incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62201571 | Aug 2015 | US |