Blind-mating optical ferrule assemblies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9910228-B2
Application number	US-201415325004-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 31, 2014
Priority date	Oct 31, 2014
Publication date	Mar 6, 2018
Grant date	Mar 6, 2018

Abstract

Example implementations relate to blind-mating optical ferrule assemblies. For example, an apparatus to blind-mate optical ferrule assemblies can comprise a first optical ferrule assembly including a ferrule housing and a ferrule disposed at least in part within the ferrule housing, a semi-final alignment pin and a semi-final alignment hole disposed on the first optical ferrule assembly to align the first optical ferrule assembly with a second optical ferrule assembly, and a final alignment pin and a final alignment hole disposed on the first optical ferrule assembly to further align the first optical ferrule assembly to the second optical ferrule assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical blind-mate connector apparatus, comprising:
a first optical ferrule assembly including a ferrule housing and a ferrule disposed at least in part within the ferrule housing;
a semi-final alignment pin and a semi-final alignment hole disposed on the first optical ferrule assembly to align the first optical ferrule assembly with a second optical ferrule assembly;
a semi-final alignment base recessed from a surface of the optical ferrule assembly by a distance; and
a final alignment pin and a final alignment hole disposed on the first optical ferrule assembly to further align the first optical ferrule assembly to the second optical ferrule assembly.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the semi-final alignment pin and the semi-final alignment hole are disposed on a base of the ferrule housing; and
the final alignment pin and the final alignment hole are disposed on a surface of the ferrule.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the semi-final alignment pin is on an opposite side of the apparatus relative to the final alignment pin.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the semi-final alignment pin extends further outward from a surface of the first optical ferrule assembly than the final alignment pin.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the semi-final alignment pin and semi-final alignment hole are tubular in shape.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the ferrule is independently movable within the ferrule housing.

7. A system for blind-mating optical ferrule assemblies, the system comprising:
an optical blind-mate connector adapter to blind-mate a first optical ferrule assembly to a second optical ferrule assembly with coarse tolerance;
a plurality of semi-final alignment features disposed on each of the first optical ferrule assembly and the second optical ferrule assembly to blind-mate the first optical ferrule assembly and the second optical ferrule assembly with a tighter tolerance relative to the sleeve housing;
a semi-final alignment base recessed from a surface of the optical ferrule assembly by a distance; and
a plurality of final alignment features disposed on each of the first optical ferrule assembly and the second optical ferrule assembly to blind-mate the first optical ferrule assembly to the second optical ferrule assembly with a tighter tolerance relative to the semi-final alignment features.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the final alignment feature is a final alignment pin or a final alignment hole and the semi-final alignment feature is a semi-final alignment pin or a semi-final alignment hole.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the distance by which the semi-final alignment base is recessed decreases in response to blind-mating of the first and second optical ferrule assemblies.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein each of the semi-final alignment features has a coarse tolerance relative to the final alignment features.

11. A system for blind-mating optical ferrule assemblies, the system comprising:
an optical blind-mate connector apparatus including an opening to provide coarse alignment of a first optical ferrule assembly and a second optical ferrule assembly;
a first optical ferrule assembly to blind-mate with a second optical ferrule assembly within the optical blind-mate connector apparatus, the first and the second optical ferrule assemblies each having a plurality of semi-final alignment features and a plurality of final alignment features for blind-mating the first and the second optical ferrule assemblies; and
a semi-final alignment base recessed from a surface of the first optical ferrule assembly by a distance.

12. The system of claim 11 , the semi-final alignment features to align a positive mating force applied by the first optical ferrule assembly against the second optical ferrule assembly such that a first optical ferrule on the first optical ferrule assembly positively mates with a second optical ferrule on the second optical ferrule assembly.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the optical blind-mate connector adapter is mounted on a mid-plane.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of final alignment features includes a final alignment pin and a final alignment hole and the plurality of semi-final alignment features includes a semi-final alignment pin and a semi-final alignment hole.

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Entpr Dev Lp

Inventors

• Leigh Kevin B
• Megason George D
• Allen Joseph

Classifications

• G02B6/3882 Primary

  using rods, pins or balls to align a pair of ferrule ends · CPC title

• G02B6/3885

  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) · CPC title

• G02B6/3878

  comprising a plurality of ferrules, branching and break-out means · CPC title

• G02B6/3825

  with an intermediate part, e.g. adapter, receptacle, linking two plugs · CPC title