US 11,029,472 B2Granted

Optical ferrule and connector

Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company

InventorsTakayuki Hayauchi, Terry L. Smith

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Abstract

(Problem) To provide an optical ferrule that can easily accommodate multicore optical fibers, without an accompanying increase in the number of components. (Resolution Means) The optical ferrule 1 includes a guide opening 14 formed by an upper wall 10, a bottom wall 11, and a pair of side walls 12 and 13; a guide part 15 that extends forward from the upper wall 10 and the guide opening 14; and an optical coupler 20 provided on the upper surface of the upper wall 10. The optical coupler 20 has a waveguide aligning part 21 that aligns and holds an optical waveguide 2, and a light direction converter 22 that changes the direction of light from the optical waveguide 2 and emits the light toward an opposing optical ferrule 1.

Claims16

Dependent claims

An optical ferrule, comprising:

an upper wall;
a bottom wall on the opposite side of the upper wall;
a pair of side walls that face each other and connect the upper wall and the bottom wall, such that a guide opening is formed on an inside thereof together with the upper wall and the bottom wall;
a guide part that extends forward from the upper wall and the guide opening;
and
an optical coupler provided on an upper surface of the upper wall so that the upper wall is disposed between the optical coupler and the guide opening;
the optical coupler having a waveguide aligning part and a light direction converter, the waveguide aligning part aligns and holds an optical waveguide, and the light direction converter comprising:
an entrance surface that receives incoming light from the optical waveguide that is aligned and arranged by the waveguide aligning part;
a light direction converting surface that receives light from the entrance surface propagated along an incoming axis, and reflects the received light, wherein the reflected light is propagated by the light direction converting surface along a direction converted axis that is different from the incoming axis;
and
an exit surface that receives light from the light direction converting surface and propagates the received light along an outgoing axis, and transmits the light as outgoing light emitted from the optical ferrule;
the optical ferrule having an integrated structure.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/115,428Filed 18 Feb 2015 · us provisional application
Priority: 18 Feb 2014
Published: US 2017/0168248 A115 Jun 2017
Granted: 8 Jun 2021
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification15 codes

G02B 6/3885
Connectors using guide surfaces for aligning ferrule ends, e.g. tubes, sleeves, V-grooves, rods, pins, balls: multicore or multichannel optical…
G02B 6/3821
Of a low-reflection-loss type: with axial spring biasing or loading means
G02B 6/3829
Characterised by form or shape: bent or angled connectors
G02B 6/383
Characterised by form or shape: hermaphroditic connectors, i.e. two identical plugs mating with one another, each plug having both male and female…

Family

Application61/940,922Us provisional application · filed 18 Feb 2014
US 2017/0168248 A1Pre-grant publication · published 15 Jun 2017
US 11,029,472 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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