Fiber optic connector assembly employing fiber movement support and method of assembly

Abstract

A fiber optic connector assembly and method employing one or more fiber movement supports. The one or more fiber movement supports are each disposed around one or more optical fibers and are configured to inhibit kinks or sharp bends from occurring in the one or more optical fibers. The fiber movement support is more rigid than an optical fiber. Thus, when a force is exerted on an optical fiber in a direction angled to the axis of the optical fiber, the force is directed to the fiber movement support. The fiber movement support translates the non-axial force in a direction toward the axis of the optical fiber. This causes the optical fiber to be pushed back towards the fiber optic cable instead of the kinking or bending the optical fiber, thus avoiding or reducing high insertion losses resulting from bending of the optical fiber.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to a fiber optic connector assembly and method employing one or more fiber movement supports disposed around one or more optical fibers to inhibit sharp bending in the one or more optical fibers. The fiber movement support is more rigid than the optical fiber, so the fiber movement support translates force exerted on the optical fiber towards the axis of the optical fiber to inhibit bending.[0003]2. Technical Background[0004]Optical fiber is increasingly being used for a variety of applications, including but not limited to broadband voice, video, and data transmission. Benefits of optical fiber use include extremely wide bandwidth and low noise operation. With the increasing and varied use of optical fibers, it is important to provide efficient methods of interconnecting optical fibers. Fiber optic connectors have been developed for this purpose. It is important that fiber optic connectors...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]Embodiments of the present invention include a fiber optic connector assembly employing one or more fiber movement supports. The one or more fiber movement supports are each disposed around one or more optical fibers contained inside an optical connector housing. The one or more fiber movement supports are configured to inhibit sharp bends from occurring in the one or more optical fibers as a result of a force exerted on the one or more optical fibers in a direction angled to the axis of the one or more optical fibers. The fiber movement support is more rigid than an optical fiber. Thus, when a force is exerted on an optical fiber in a direction angled to the axis of the optical fiber supported by the fiber movement support, the force is directed to the fiber movement support. The fiber movement support translates the non-axial force in a direction towards the longitudinal axis of the optical fiber. This causes the optical fiber to be pushed back towards and / or into the fiber optic cable, thus avoiding or reducing kinking or bending of the optical fiber. In this manner, high insertion losses that can occur as a result of bending are avoided or reduced. Embodiments of the invention also include a method of assembling a fiber optic connector assembly employing a fiber movement support.

[0012]In one embodiment, one or more optical fibers from a fiber optic cable are exposed on an end portion and are inserted into a rear end of a fiber optic connector housing. The exposed optic fiber includes a bare portion of optical fiber. The end portion of the optical fiber is inserted into a dedicated fiber movement support, which is inserted into a ferrule holder passage defined by a ferrule holder of a fiber optic connector sub-assembly. The end portion of the optical fiber extends through the fiber movement support, into the ferrule holder passage, and through a ferrule held by the ferrule holder in the fiber optic connector sub-assembly. The ferrule holder extends through a front end of the connector housing with the bare optical fiber exposed through the ferrule of the fiber optic connector sub-assembly. The longitudinal axis of the ferrule holder passage is offset from the longitudinal axis of the fiber optic cable and thus is angled with respect to the axis of the optical fiber. Thus, if a force is exerted onto the ferrule and back onto the optical fiber contained therein, the force is exerted in a direction that is angled to the axis of the optical fiber and thus not an axial force with respect to the optical fiber. This is because the longitudinal axis of the ferrule holder passage is angled to the axis of the optical fiber contained therein. However, the fiber movement support translates the non-axial force in a direction toward the axis of the optical fiber to direct or push the optical fiber back into the fiber optic cable thus avoiding or reducing kinking or bending of the optical fiber.

Problems solved by technology

Bending of an optical fiber, and in particular excess bending of an optical fiber such as illustrated in FIG. 3, results in high insertion loss.

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