# US 2019/0170931 A1 · Optical connector

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- Number: US 2019/0170931 A1
- Document ID: US20190170931A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/313,724
- Filed: 2017-06-21
- Published: 2019-06-06
- Earliest claimed: 2016-07-04
- Assignees: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
- Applicants: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
- Inventors: Taiji SAKAMOTO; Takashi MATSUI; Kazuhide NAKAJIMA; Kotaro SAITOH
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190170931A1

## CPC

- G02B 6/02042: {Multicore optical fibres}
- G02B 6/02: Optical fibres with cladding {with or without a coating}
- G02B 6/36: Mechanical coupling means (G02B6/255, G02B6/42 take precedence)
- G02B 6/3831: {comprising a keying element on the plug or adapter, e.g. to forbid wrong connection (keying element on the ferrule G02B6/3851; keying element for electrical coupling H01R13/64)}
- G02B 6/3834: {Means for centering or aligning the light guide within the ferrule}
- 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 6/3672: {with fibres arranged in a regular matrix array}
- G02B 6/3676: {Stacked arrangement}
- G02B 6/3873: {Connectors using guide surfaces for aligning ferrule ends, e.g. tubes, sleeves, V-grooves, rods, pins, balls}
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS

## Abstract

An optical connector is provided which includes at least one multi-core block fixing and holding a plurality of multi-core optical fibers in a state where a position in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis of each multi-core optical fiber and a rotation angle around the optical axis are in a predetermined state, and a ferrule including an accommodating portion accommodating the multi-core block.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An optical connector comprising:
at least one multi-core block fixing and holding a plurality of multi-core optical fibers in a state where a position in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis of each multi-core optical fiber and a rotation angle around the optical axis are in a predetermined state; and
a ferrule comprising an accommodating portion accommodating the multi-core block.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein:
the multi-core block has a rectangular cross-sectional shape having a clearance with respect to a design value;
the accommodating portion of the ferrule has a rectangular cross-sectional shape; and
when an allowable value of a rotation angle of the multi-core block in an optical axis direction in the accommodating portion of the ferrule is determined, the larger the clearance is, the smaller a number of the multi-core blocks to be accommodated in the accommodating portion of the ferrule is, and the smaller the allowable value of the rotation angle is, the smaller the number of the multi-core blocks to be accommodated in the accommodating portion of the ferrule is.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The optical connector according to claim 2, wherein:
the cross-sectional shape of the multi-core block is an a×b rectangle having a clearance of Δa and Δb with respect to a design value, the cross-sectional shape of the accommodating portion of the ferrule is an x×y rectangle; and
the number m×n of the multi-core blocks to be accommodated in the accommodating portion of the ferrule is determined so that the allowable rotation angle of the multi-core block in the accommodating portion of the ferrule satisfies both the following formulas (1) and (2).
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(
Formula
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1
)
sin
-
1
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(
a
+
m
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a
a
2
+
b
2
)
-
sin
-
1
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(
a
a
2
+
b
2
)
≤
Allowable
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rotation
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angle
(
1
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sin
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1
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(
a
a
2
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b
2
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-
cos
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n
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a
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≤
Allowable
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rotation
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angle
(
2
)

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The optical connector according to claim 3, wherein in the number m×n of the multi-core blocks accommodated in the accommodating portion of the ferrule, n=1 and m≤5.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The optical connector according to claim 3, wherein in the number m×n of the multi-core blocks accommodated in the accommodating portion of the ferrule, n=2 and m≤5.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The optical connector according to claim 3, wherein the multi-core block rotates with a clearance within a range of a maximum of m·Δa/2 and n·Δb/2 in the accommodating portion of the ferrule.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein each of the multi-core optical fibers comprises a plurality of cores and a cladding surrounding the plurality of cores;
in the plurality of cores, each of a distance between a core center and a center of the cladding is equal to each other; and
each of the multi-core optical fibers has allowable rotation angle deviation determined based on the distance.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The optical connector according to claim 1, wherein each of the multi-core optical fibers comprises a plurality of cores and a cladding surrounding the plurality of cores;
in the plurality of cores, a distance between at least one core center and a center of the cladding is different from a distance between the other remaining core centers and the center of the cladding; and
each of the multi-core optical fibers has allowable rotation angle deviation which is determined based on a maximum distance.