US 6,154,592 AGranted

Optical connector

AssigneeKel Corporation

InventorRyuichi Tagashira

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Abstract

An optical element 30 is inserted into a cover 40, and then the cover 40 is mounted onto a housing 10. At this moment, the upper ends of lateral contacts 20a and 20c, which are provided in the housing, enter lateral clearance slots 52a, which are provided in the cover, while the upper end of a central contact 20b enters a central clearance slot 53a. At the same time, the lateral leads 33a and 33c of the optical element are pressed down by a front bottom 52 of a groove, which is provided in the cover, into the slits 22 of the contacts 20a and 20c while the central lead 33b of the optical element is pressed down by a rear bottom 53 of the groove into the slit 22 of the contact 20b. In this construction of an optical connector, the leads are not bent, so they can be made relatively short. In this way, the axial length of the optical connector can be made relatively short to realize a miniaturization.

Claims16

Dependent claims

An optical connector comprising:

an optical element, which is formed in a cylindrical figure, said optical element having a light-capturing/emitting surface on an axially frontal face and an element lead, which extends axially rearward from a rear face of said optical element;
a housing having a base portion and an optical fiber receptacle, said base portion including an element receptor portion formed on an upper side thereof to accommodate and retain said optical element, said optical fiber receptacle being fromed in front of said element receptor portion to accept and retain a ferule attached to an end of an optical fiber;
a contact which is made of an electrically conductive material and is provided in said housing, said contact passing vertically through said base portion in rear of said element receptor portion, said contact including at an upper end thereof a lead connector portion, to which said element lead is connected, and at a lower end thereof a contact lead portion, which is used for connection to a circuit board, etc.;
and
a cover which includes an element holder portion to accommodate and retain said optical element, said cover being mountable on said housing, covering said base portion;
wherein:
when said optical element, while being oriented such that said light-capturing/emitting surface faces said optical fiber receptacle and said element lead extends straight rearward, is mounted into said element receptor potion, said element lead is brought into contact with said lead connector portion of said contact;
said lead connector portion is formed in a "U" figure with a slit which opens upward;
and said element lead is lowered and press-fit into said slit of the lead connector portion of said contact to mount said element lead into said element receptor portion.

6 more elements

An optical connector comprising:

an optical element, which is formed in a cylindrical figure, said optical element having a light-capturing/emitting surface on an axially frontal face and an element lead, which extends axially rearward from a rear face of said optical element;
a housing having a base portion and an optical fiber receptacle, said base portion including an element receptor portion formed on an upper side thereof to accommodate and retain said optical element, said optical fiber receptacle being fromed in front of said element receptor portion to accept and retain a ferule attached to an end of an optical fiber;
a contact which is provided in said housing, said contact passing vertically through said base portion in rear of said element receptor portion, said contact including at an upper end thereof a lead connector portion, to which said element lead is connected, and at a lower end thereof a contact lead portion, which is used for connection to a circuit board, etc.;
and
a cover which includes an element holder portion to accommodate and retain said optical element, said cover being mountable on said housing, covering said base portion;
wherein:
when said optical element, while being oriented such that said light-capturing/emitting surface faces said optical fiber receptacle and said element lead extends straight rearward, is mounted into said element receptor potion, said element lead is brought into contact with said lead connector portion of said contact and
a clearance slot is provided in said cover at a location where said lead connector portion of said contact faces said cover such that when said cover is mounted onto said housing, said lead connector portion will come into said clearance slot.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/116,137Filed 15 Jul 1998
Priority: JP 9-2074481 Aug 1997
Granted: 28 Nov 2000
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

G02B 6/4292
Coupling light guides with opto-electronic elements: the light guide being disconnectable from the opto-electronic element, e.g. mutually self…
G02B 6/4245
Fixing or mounting methods of the aligned elements: mounting of the opto-electronic elements
G02B 6/426
Details of housings: mounting, engaging or coupling of the package to a board, a frame or a panel
G02B 6/4283
Electrical aspects: with electrical insulation means