# US 11,307,363 B2 · Ferrule assembly, method for manufacturing a ferrule assembly and optical fiber fixing mold

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 11,307,363 B2
- Document ID: US11307363B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/341,298
- Filed: 2017-10-09
- Published: 2021-09-23
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2016-10-11
- Assignees: CommScope Technologies LLC
- Applicants: Commscope Technologies LLC
- Inventors: Dong Xue; LiMing Wang; Daokuan Zhang; Jianfeng Jin
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11307363B2

## CPC

- G02B 6/3865: {fabricated by using moulding techniques (shaping techniques of plastic materials in general B29C; producing plastic optical fiber connectors B29D11/0075)}
- G02B 6/3608: {Fibre wiring boards, i.e. where fibres are embedded or attached in a pattern on or to a substrate, e.g. flexible sheets (optical ribbon cables in support members G02B6/4401)}
- G02B 6/3696: {by moulding, e.g. injection moulding, casting, embossing, stamping, stenciling, printing, or with metallic mould insert manufacturing using LIGA or MIGA techniques (shaping the mould surface by machining B29C33/38; moulding techniques B29C39/00, B29C43/00, B29C45/00, B29C48/00, B29C59/00; stamping, printing or embossing techniques B81C1/00444; surface micromachining using LIGA B81C2201/032)}
- G02B 6/38: having fibre to fibre mating means
- G02B 6/3833: {Details of mounting fibres in ferrules; Assembly methods; Manufacture}
- G02B 6/3839: {for a plurality of light guides}
- G02B 6/3861: {Adhesive bonding (adhesives in general C09J)}
- G02B 6/387: {Connector plugs comprising two complementary members, e.g. shells, caps, covers, locked together}
- G02B 6/3885: {Multicore or multichannel optical connectors, i.e. one single ferrule containing more than one fibre, e.g. ribbon type (optical ribbon cable G02B6/4403, G02B6/448)}
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS

## Abstract

The present disclosure provides a method for manufacturing a low loss ferrule assembly having prefabricated optical fibers, a low loss ferrule assembly having prefabricated optical fibers manufactured according to the method and an optical fiber fixing mold for manufacturing the ferrule assembly, wherein a method for manufacturing a high-precision ferrule assembly comprises: disposing both ends of a plurality of optical fibers within a plurality of grooves at both ends of an optical fiber fixing mold, such that the plurality of optical fibers maintain a specific distance therebetween; disposing the plurality of optical fibers within a housing, and causing the plurality of optical fibers to be fixed relative to the housing, wherein the housing is of a split type; cutting and polishing the optical fibers at a first side of the housing. The solution provided by the present disclosure implements the ferrule assembly of the high-precision optical fiber connector with low costs. The method is simple and effective and has great use value.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for manufacturing a high-precision ferrule assembly, comprising:
disposing fiber cores of a plurality of optical fibers within a plurality of grooves at each of two ends of an optical fiber fixing mold, such that the plurality of optical fibers maintain a specific distance therebetween;
disposing the plurality of optical fibers within a housing positioned within an opening of the optical fiber fixing mold, the opening being positioned between the grooves of one of the ends and the grooves of the other of the ends, and causing the plurality of optical fibers to be fixed relative to the housing; and
cutting and polishing the optical fibers at a first side of the housing.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein disposing the fiber cores includes:
disposing a plurality of cladded optical fibers having a cladding layer into a fixture;
stripping off the cladding layer at both ends of the plurality of cladded optical fibers to expose the fiber cores;
disposing the fixture into the opening of the optical fiber fixing mold; and
applying a tensile force at both ends of the plurality of optical fibers, such that the optical fibers are drawn straight within the grooves on opposite sides of the opening.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
generating the plurality of grooves in the optical fiber fixing mold through nanometer etching, such that the plurality of grooves maintain a specific distance therebetween, wherein the plurality of grooves are V-shaped grooves or U-shaped grooves.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein disposing the plurality of optical fibers within a housing includes:
disposing guide elements at two sides of the plurality of optical fibers;
removing the fixture, and mounting the plurality of optical fibers and guide elements in the housing;
filling a curable body into a gap between the plurality of optical fibers and the housing;
curing the curable body through ultraviolet irradiation, such that the plurality of optical fibers are fixed relative to the housing; and
removing the guide elements.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method according to claim 4, wherein filling a curable body includes:
filling the curable body into the gap between the plurality of optical fibers and the housing by injection or by using a capillary phenomenon.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The method according to claim 4, wherein the curable body is epoxy resin.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

A high-precision ferrule assembly, wherein the ferrule assembly is manufactured according to a method of claim 1.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the housing is a split type housing.

### Claim 9

A method of manufacturing a high-precision ferrule assembly, comprising:
inserting a plurality of optical fibers into at least one optical fiber hole of a housing;
positioning fiber cores of the plurality of optical fibers into a plurality of grooves at each of two ends of an optical fiber fixing mold, such that the plurality of optical fibers maintain a specific distance therebetween, and such that the housing is positioned within an opening of the optical fiber fixing mold, the opening being positioned between the grooves of one of the ends and the grooves of the other of the ends;
causing the plurality of optical fibers to be fixed relative to the housing; and
cutting and polishing the optical fibers at a first side of the housing.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method according to claim 9,
wherein the grooves are provided on two opposite sections of the optical fiber fixing mold on opposite sides of the opening of the optical fiber fixing mold; the method further including:
applying a tensile force to both ends of the plurality of optical fibers, such that the plurality of optical fibers are drawn straight within the grooves on both of the two opposite sections.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method according to claim 10, further comprising:
generating the plurality of grooves in the optical fiber fixing mold through nanometer etching such that the plurality of grooves maintain a specific distance, wherein the plurality of grooves are V-shaped grooves or U-shaped grooves.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method according to claim 10, wherein causing the plurality of optical fibers to be fixed relative to the housing, includes:
filling a curable body in a gap between the plurality of optical fibers and the housing; and
curing the curable body through ultraviolet irradiation, such that the plurality of optical fibers are fixed relative to the housing.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method according to claim 12, wherein filling a curable body, includes:
filling the curable body into the gap by injection and/or by use of a capillary phenomenon.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The method according to claim 12, wherein the curable body is epoxy resin.

### Claim 15 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the housing is an integral type housing.

### Claim 16

A method, comprising:
providing a mainboard, the mainboard including pairs of aligned grooves on opposite sides of an opening of the mainboard;
positioning optical fibers in the grooves on both of the opposite sides of the opening;
positioning a ferrule housing in the opening such that portions of the optical fibers are positioned within the ferrule housing;
applying a tensile force to the optical fibers in the grooves on both of the opposite sides of the opening;
fixing the optical fibers relative to the ferrule housing; and
cutting the optical fibers at a first side of the ferrule housing.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the fixing the optical fibers includes injecting an adhesive into the ferrule housing and curing the adhesive.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the housing is a split-type housing, and the method includes connecting portions of the ferrule housing to each other about the optical fibers.

### Claim 19

A method, comprising:
providing a mainboard, the mainboard including pairs of aligned grooves on opposite sides of an opening of the mainboard;
positioning portions of optical fibers in a ferrule housing;
positioning the ferrule housing in the opening;
positioning other portions of the optical fibers in the grooves on both of the opposite sides of the opening;
applying a tensile force to the optical fibers in the grooves on both of the opposite sides of the opening;
fixing the optical fibers relative to the ferrule housing; and
cutting the optical fibers at a first side of the ferrule housing.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, wherein the fixing the optical fibers includes injecting an adhesive into the ferrule housing and curing the adhesive.

### Claim 21 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, wherein the housing is an integral-type housing.

### Claim 22 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, further comprising inserting guide elements into the housing on opposite sides of the optical fibers.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The method of claim 22, further comprising positioning the guide elements in aligned guide element grooves defined by the mainframe on both of the opposite sides of the opening, the aligned guide element grooves being sized differently than the aligned grooves.