Optical Fiber Connector Asymmetry Prevents Misassembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional optical fiber connectors often assemble incorrectly, leading to defective connections and reduced manufacturing efficiency due to potential upside-down connections of their components.
Innovation Solution
The optical fiber connector design includes a distal housing, core tube, extension tube, spring, proximal housing, and end tube, with a slidably mounted assembly protrusion in a slot to prevent incorrect assembly by ensuring proper alignment and secure connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional optical fiber connectors use simple housing connection structures, then manufacturing is easier and device complexity is reduced, but assembly correctness deteriorates and defective rate increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by providing the distal housing with a slot and the proximal housing with an assembly protrusion that fits into the slot. This asymmetric design creates a directional connection structure where the protrusion can only engage with the slot in one specific orientation, thereby preventing incorrect assembly while maintaining ease of manufacture through a simple geometric feature rather than complex mechanisms.
2Device complexity
If conventional optical fiber connectors lack anti-misassembly features, then device complexity is reduced, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to incorrect assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The asymmetric connection structure consisting of a slot in the distal housing and an assembly protrusion in the proximal housing provides a simple geometric constraint that guides correct assembly. This approach improves manufacturing precision by preventing misassembly through the inherent geometric mismatch, while adding minimal complexity to the overall device structure.
Data Source
AI summary
An optical fiber connector in accordance with the present invention prevents its components from being assembled incorrectly and comprises a distal housing, a core tube, an extension tube, a spring, a proximal housing and an end tube. The distal housing has a slot. The core tube is mounted longitudinally in the distal housing and has a distal tube and a proximal tube. The extension tube is mounted around and connected to the proximal tube. The spring is mounted around the proximal tube of the core tube and the extension tube. The proximal housing is connected to the distal housing and mounted around the core tube, the extension tube and the spring and has an assembly protrusion that is mounted slidably in the slot to prevent the proximal housing from being connected to the distal housing incorrectly.