Fiber-optic interconnection stabilization apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11662269-B2
Application number	US-202117152512-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 19, 2021
Priority date	Mar 9, 2018
Publication date	May 30, 2023
Grant date	May 30, 2023

Abstract

A fiber-optic interconnection stabilization apparatus for a measurement system is provided. The apparatus may comprise a main body comprising an enclosure and two openings. The enclosure may encase a fiber-optic cable within the main body in an organized manner. The two openings may fit connecting ends of the fiber-optic cable such that the connecting ends of may be exposed in order to connect two modular components of a measurement system and form a closed measurement loop. The main body, when in a closed configuration, may stabilizes the fiber-optic cable encased within from external conditions, such as mechanical, thermal, or other environmental conditions that may affect measurements.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of using a fiber-optic interconnection stabilization apparatus in a measurement system, the method comprising:
providing a main body comprising an enclosure and two openings, wherein the main body is in an open configuration or a closed configuration;
encasing a fiber-optic cable within the enclosure of the main body in an organized manner, the fiber-optic cable having two connecting ends;
fitting each of the two connecting ends of the fiber-optic cable to one of the two openings of the main body, wherein the two openings of the main body are separated by a predetermined distance such that the two connecting ends of the fiber-optic cable are separated by the predetermined distance and are exposed to provide interconnectivity between two adjacent modular components of the measurement system and form a closed measurement loop, and wherein the predetermined distance between the two openings of the main body matches a distance between ports of the two adjacent modular components; and
providing stabilization to the fiber-optic cable inside the enclosure from external conditions when the main body is in the closed configuration.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the main body comprises a top portion attached to a bottom portion to form the closed configuration of the main body.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the main body has a clamshell design.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein an interior of the enclosure comprises a molded area around which the fiber-optic cable is organized.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the molded area has a cylindrical shape around which the fiber-optic cable is to be coiled.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the main body is formed of material that is at least one of metallic, rubber, plastic, carbon fiber, glass, and moldable material.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the external conditions are at least one of mechanical, thermal, and environmental.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the two openings comprises at least one of a translation gap, a rotation gap, an axial gap, and a u-shaped bracket to provide compatibility to different types of connecting ends and flexibility of movement within for the fiber-optic interconnection stabilization apparatus.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement system measures at least one of insertion loss (IL), optical return loss (ORL), polarization dependent loss (PDL), and extinction ratio (ER).

10. A method of making a fiber-optic interconnection stabilization apparatus in a measurement system, the method comprising:
providing a main body comprising an enclosure and two openings, wherein the enclosure of the main body comprises a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion attached to the bottom portion to form a closed configuration of the main body, wherein:
the enclosure to encase a fiber-optic cable within the main body in an organized manner, the fiber-optic cable having two connecting ends; and
each of the two openings of the main body to fit one of the two connecting ends of the fiber-optic cable from within the main body, wherein the two openings of the main body are separated by a predetermined distance such that the two connecting ends of the fiber-optic cable are separated by the predetermined distance and are exposed to provide interconnectivity between two adjacent modular components of the measurement system and a closed measurement loop, and wherein the predetermined distance between the two openings of the main body matches a distance between ports of the two adjacent modular components; and
wherein the main body, when in the closed configuration, stabilizes the fiber-optic cable from external conditions.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the main body is formed of material that is at least one of metallic, rubber, plastic, carbon fiber, glass, and moldable material, and wherein the enclosure comprises a molded area in a cylindrical shape around which the fiber-optic cable is coiled and organized.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein each of the two openings comprises at least one of a translation gap, a rotation gap, an axial gap, and a u-shaped bracket to provide compatibility to different types of the two connecting ends of the fiber-optic cable and flexibility of movement within for the fiber-optic interconnection stabilization apparatus.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the measurement system measures at least one of insertion loss (IL), optical return loss (ORL), polarization dependent loss (PDL), and extinction ratio (ER).

Assignees

• Viavi Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Adams Robert Matthew
• Philipson Joshua
• Debs Elias
• Peach-Donovan Shauna
• Graves Jeff

Classifications

• G02B6/3897

  Connectors fixed to housings, casing, frames or circuit boards (G02B6/44528 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G02B6/4457

  Bobbins; Reels · CPC title

• G01M11/33 Primary

  with a light emitter being disposed at one fibre or waveguide end-face, and a light receiver at the other end-face · CPC title

• G02B6/3823

  containing surplus lengths, internal fibre loops (provisionally see also G02B6/444) · CPC title