Optical rotary joint for single and multimode fibers
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsRobert Rickenbach, Gilbert F. Perleberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides a rotary joint for optical fibers comprising a plug assembly and a first ferrule having a fiber-entry end mounted coaxially therein, a receptacle assembly and a second ferrule having a fiber-entry end mounted coaxially therein, wherein at least one of the plug-mounted ferrule and the receptacle-mounted ferrule is biased outwardly from a fiber entry-end of the ferrule, and an alignment sleeve for optically connecting the first and second ferrules and maintaining the optical connection during rotation of one of the plug assembly and the receptacle assembly about an axis parallel to a longitudinal direction of the assembly relative to the other of the plug assembly and the receptacle assembly.
Claims30
A rotary joint for optical fibers comprising:
- a plug assembly and a first ferrule having a fiber-entry end mounted coaxially therein;
- a receptacle assembly and a second ferrule having a fiber-entry end mounted coaxially therein, wherein at least one of said plug-mounted ferrule and said receptacle-mounted ferrule is biased outwardly from a fiber entry-end of said ferrule;
- and
- an alignment sleeve disposed over facing portions of said ferrules for optically connecting said first and second ferrules and maintaining said optical connection during rotation of one of said plug assembly and said receptacle assembly about an axis parallel to a longitudinal direction of said assembly relative to the other of said plug assembly and said receptacle assembly.
A rotary joint for optical fibers, each terminating in a ferrule mounted coaxially in a relatively rotatable adapter, wherein said ferrules are clamped together in an optically transmitting position by an alignment sleeve, said rotary joint comprising:
- a slot in said alignment sleeve for allowing resilient expansion and contraction of said alignment sleeve.
A rotary joint for optical fibers, each terminating in a ferrule mounted coaxially in a relatively rotatable adapter, wherein said ferrules are clamped together in an optically transmitting position by an alignment sleeve, wherein said ferrules are positioned asymmetrically within said sleeve so that during rotation of one of said ferrules friction is reduced.
A rotary joint for optical fibers, each terminating in a ferrule having a glass core and mounted coaxially in a relatively rotatable adapter, wherein said ferrules are clamped together in an optically transmitting position by an alignment sleeve, said rotary joint comprising:
- a longitudinal gap, defined by at least one of said terminated fibers recessed within at least one of said ferrules, between said glass cores of said optically connected ferrules to prevent galling of said cores during rotation of one of said plug assembly and said receptacle assembly.
A rotary joint for optical fibers, each terminating in a ferrule having a glass core and mounted coaxially in a relatively rotatable adapter, wherein said ferrules are clamped together in an optically transmitting position by an alignment sleeve, said rotary joint comprising:
- a concentric jacket;
- an insert mounted inside said jacket and recessed from said contact surface by approximately 0.005 inches;
- and
- a pocket formed between said insert and said contact surface.
A rotary joint for optical fibers, each terminating in a ferrule mounted coaxially in a relatively rotatable adapter and having a fiber-entry end, said rotary joint comprising:
- an alignment sleeve mounted in one of said relatively rotatable adapters and disposed over facing portions of said ferrules so as to clamp together said ferrules in an optically transmitting position during rotation of one of said adapters with respect to the other of said adapters.
A rotary joint for optical fibers, each terminating in a ferrule mounted coaxially in a relatively rotatable adapter, wherein said ferrules are clamped together in an optically transmitting position by an alignment sleeve, said rotary joint comprising:
- an insert for concentric mounting of said sleeve, wherein said insert is adapted to be removably mounted in one of said adapters.
A rotary joint for optical fibers, each terminating in a ferrule mounted coaxially in a relatively rotatable adapter, said rotary joint comprising:
- an alignment sleeve for clamping together said ferrules in an optically transmitting position;
- and
- an antirotation assembly in at least one of said adapters for minimizing rotation of said ferrules in at least one of said adapters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.