Cable assembly with cable attach structure having off-axis fiber routing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9778427-B2
Application number	US-201414269363-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 5, 2014
Priority date	Nov 9, 2011
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

A cable attach structure for attaching a fiber-optic cable to a rear end and a connector to a front end is disclosed. In one embodiment, the cable attach structure is a portion of a fiber optic cable assembly having a fiber optic cable with at least one optical fiber and a connector attached to the optical fiber. The fiber optic cable is attached to the cable attach structure at a rear end and circuit board is attached to the cable attach structure at the front end. The cable attach structure also routes the at least one optical fiber away from the centerline of the connector for off-axis fiber routing. In other embodiments, the optical fiber can enter the connector from a first direction and attach to the connector in a second direction if desired.

First claim

We claim:

1. A fiber optic cable assembly, comprising:
a fiber optic cable comprising at least one optical fiber;
a connector attached to an end of the at least one optical fiber;
a cable attach structure comprising a front end, a rear end, and a longitudinal centerline, the front end having a slot at the centerline, the cable attach structure routing the end of the at least one optical fiber inserted in the rear end of the cable attach structure such that the end of the at least one optical fiber extends out of the front end of the cable attach structure away from the longitudinal centerline of the cable attach structure and the slot;
a circuit board secured to the cable attach structure within the slot; and
an active component positioned on the circuit board.

2. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cable attach structure includes an insert.

3. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cable attach structure includes one or more clearance grooves.

4. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cable attach structure comprises one or more pins for securing the circuit board within the slot.

5. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the optical fiber enters the connector from a first direction and attaches to the connector in a second direction opposite from the first side of the circuit board.

6. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical fiber enters the connector on a first side of the circuit board and attaches to the connector on a second side of the circuit board opposite from the first side of the circuit board.

7. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 6 , wherein the circuit board has a notch for making a transition from a first direction to a second direction.

8. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the connector includes at least one lens.

9. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , the fiber optic cable further including a first strength member, and a second strength member, wherein the first strength member and the second strength member are disposed on opposite sides of the at least one optical fiber, and the cable attach structure having a first protrusion and a second protrusion, wherein the first protrusion and the second protrusion are disposed on opposite sides of the at least one cable attach structure, and the first strength member is secured to the first protrusion and the second strength member is secured to the second protrusion.

10. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , further including a crimp band for securing one or more strength members of the fiber optic cable.

11. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the rear end comprises a barrel.

12. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 11 , wherein the fiber optic cable is attached to the barrel using a crimp band.

13. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cable attach structure comprises a fiber channel that extends from a first opening at the rear end to a second opening at the front end.

14. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a connector nose piece attached to the circuit board.

15. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a multi-piece shell.

16. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the circuit board is capable of performing optical-to-electrical (O-E) or electrical-to-optical (E-O) signal conversions.

17. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cable attach structure comprises passages that are disposed at a front end and extend through toward the medial portion of the cable attach structure.

18. A cable attach structure, comprising:
a body comprising:
a front end and a rear end;
a fiber channel extending between a first opening at the front end and a second opening at the rear end, wherein the fiber channel is tapered such that the fiber channel at the first opening is smaller than the fiber channel at the second opening, and such that the fiber channel at the first opening is located off a longitudinal centerline axis of the cable attach structure; and
a slot at the front end for receiving a circuit board, wherein the first opening is located on one side of the slot.

19. The fiber optic cable assembly of claim 18 , wherein the cable attach structure comprises a body with a rear end having the fiber optic cable attached to the rear end, and a front end with a portion of the circuit board attached to the slot, thereby forming a fiber optic cable assembly.

20. A method of making a fiber optic cable assembly, comprising the steps of:
providing a fiber optic cable comprising at least one optical fiber;
providing a cable attach structure comprising:
a front end, a rear end, and a longitudinal centerline;
a slot along the longitudinal centerline of the cable attach structure at the front end; and
a fiber channel extending between the front end and the rear end for routing the at least one optical fiber away from the longitudinal centerline of the cable attach structure and the slot;

attaching the fiber optic cable to the rear end of the cable attach structure;
providing a circuit board and securing the circuit board within the slot at the front end of the cable attach structure; and
coupling the fiber optic cable to a first side of the circuit board.

Assignees

• Corning Optical Communications LLC

Inventors

• Isenhour Micah Colen
• Knecht Dennis Michael
• Liu Xin
• Luther James Phillip

Classifications

• G02B6/3887

  Anchoring optical cables to connector housings, e.g. strain relief features · CPC title

• Y10T29/49124

  On flat or curved insulated base, e.g., printed circuit, etc. · CPC title

• G02B6/428

  containing printed circuit boards [PCB] · CPC title

• G02B6/423 Primary

  using guiding surfaces for the alignment · CPC title

• G02B6/4284

  of optical modules with disconnectable electrical connectors (latching arms for electrical connectors H01R13/627) · CPC title